Spectral Stars

Practitioner of my own magic. They/she/he.

[dr-auraturatus-deactivated20221]

✨💖Not to gate-keep, but you shouldn't be doing magic if...💖✨

...Your magical/spiritual/religious practice has made you colder towards your fellow man; more indifferent towards tragedy; less concerned about harm you or others may cause.

If doing this work has made treating people as means to an end, or thinking of lives as a resource, sound like sensible or acceptable ideas...

Something has gone PROFOUNDLY wrong. You ought stop, take stock of the whole situation & reboot your spirituality; possibly abandoning those paths.

"By their fruits you shall know them" is evergreen advice re the occult.

If the ppl there are a MESS (physically, emotionally, mentally) and not getting better, then the path is probably not gonna be a good one to be walking.

[positivity-in-pain]

i love this. 😂

[lexablackbird]

that is some galaxy-brain advice that just short-circuited my endless rumination on the similar question, “what is my true self?”

[hagoftheholler]

Just a reminder that shadow work is a psychology concept- not a witchcraft concept. If you don't feel comfortable or safe enough to do shadow work by yourself, then don't do it. This isn't a requirement to practice magic.

[windvexer]

Just an fyi - you can totally over-ward and it sucks

Putting lots of spells around you that limit energetic access to you can do some wild sh*t.

In my belief system, all our relationships are formed through energetic exchange. Our connection to our immediate environments are formed through energetic exchange. Our ability to communicate with spirits and receive their help is due to energetic exchange.

Over-warding can cause weird stuff to happen, like:

You feel out of step with your environment

People start ignoring you; won't reply to your messages even though they normally would, etc

Your psychic senses feel dull or muted

You're having more trouble with divination, or the same messages seem to be coming through again and again when normally you'd receive a variety of messages

Your spells aren't manifesting, especially spells that would bring something into your life

You no longer get the same feelings around certain environments that you normally would (such as always feeling a certain way on a hiking trail you love, but then you kinda just feel nothing)

You're suddenly going nowhere in life - opportunities are passing you by

It has suddenly become really hard for you to be able to make changes in your life which normally you'd be able to accomplish

You get the sense that you're in a cocoon and you can't quite reach the world

Yes, these symptoms can happen for LOTS OF OTHER REASONS (including mental illness) and experiencing them does not automatically mean you've over-warded.

Here is the fun lil part: Some of these are also symptoms of hexing, leading people who have over-warded to be at risk of warding even more to try and solve the problem.

Most people aren't at risk for this IMO. But if you've been doing a lot of warding and stuff doesn't feel right, you might have taken your Nemo self out of the ocean and plopped down into an aquarium made for one.

[normal-horoscopes]

How do you apply consistency to practice, Taker of Cares? How do judge a successfully executed spell, They Who Takes Care?

If the thing you wanted to happen happened the spell worked, if it didn't, it didn't.

[lurelurk]

Follow people who practice differently than you.

You'll say a lot less ignorant things, you'll learn a little bit more about how other people think and practice, you'll also most likely be inspired and encouraged to branch out and adapt things for your own.

Stop following only people who practice the same as you do.

You're doing nothing but oversaturating your craft and surrounding yourself with people who more than likely honor the same holidays and Beings as you do in similar if not the same ways.

Follow more people from different religions, practices, spiritualities and craftspeople.

A community is nice to have but the people who will really change your practice/cause a huge shift in your beliefs are likely not it.

[violentviolette]

if ur politics are centered in any way on rooting out the "bad" people in the world and then being able to live in a utopia then congratulations, uve ended up at fascism and I am not in any way exaggerating

the only way to truly and genuinely prevent harm is by first acknowledging that all human beings are capable of causing harm to others if given the right circumstances, including u

u genuinely must first understand and accept that if given the right circumstances u personally would harm others and that the only way to prevent that is to be constantly checking ur own behavior and making sure there are safeguards in place to protect people against harm. none of us are immune to propaganda, neither are we immune to causing harm

otherwise, if u believe that any innate part of u (being a woman, gay, a person of color, ect.) means that u couldn't possibly be capable of harm, then it is only a matter of time and circumstance before u hurt another person, if u aren't already

[windvexer]

oracle cards: beware! dark moon ahead. find your inner strength.

tarot: betrayal is already upon you. look to traditions of honor in order to restore your broken heart.

playing cards: your boyfriend is cheating with becky, time to throw hands

[windvexer]

So I'm feeling a little down and very low energy, and writing and helping brings me joy, so here's some "it's far too overcast and cold for me to be mentally well" witch ideas:

Light incense. Don't visualize or do magic. Light it up and say, "yay, I like incense."

Make tea. Sloosh it around in your mug a little. Say, "it's just like the ocean." Drink the ocean.

If you are a little cold, say, "I manifest warmth." Go find a bigger, cozier sweater or a blankie. Get warm. Your spell has manifested. You are magic.

Find some of your clickity clackity rocks. Make a crystal grid of no more than three rocks. No matter what grid you make, the intent is, "I have just done a productivity." When you are done, your spell has simultaneously been cast and become manifest.

Wash one dish. Look at it and know that it loves you. You and the dish are friends now.

Imagine what kind of cat you would like to have, if you did want a (new) cat. Think about its appearance and personality. Give it a name. It is now your thoughtform. Enjoy.

Watch that one Netflix show you've been saving forever for a time when you're ready to focus. Do or do not focus. When you are done watching the show, say, "I knew it."

[normal-horoscopes]

Was having trouble getting my woodburning stove to pick up the other morning. Did all the normal fire reviving tricks like a normal person and got nothing. Wrote 火 on a post-it and tossed it in there in annoyance. Fire started back up. :)

Literally the correct way to do magic

[normal-horoscopes]

"idk normal shit isn't working lemme try some fuckin uhhhhhh runes"

[windvexer]

Each practitioner's craft, faith, and daily practice is like an ocean shore hidden from the road by a long stretch of trees.

When they come running up the wooded path to show us a particularly vibrant stone from their beach, we are fools to think that we know what the beach looks like. We are fools to think every pebble looks like the special one brought up to the road.

We do not know how the stone was cleaned or polished, carved or tumbled, before it was brought to us.

Practitioners posting snippets of their craft are not obligated to draw us a map of their shores. They are not obligated to explain exactly what was cleaned from the shiny stone before they shared it with us, or how the stone might have been reshaped to show off its natural hues.

We are all standing at the trailhead, waiting to see what a practitioner might share. But that's as far as it goes. We don't know what's down there, and to mistake the showcase at the edge of the road as the coastline itself is silliness.

[normal-horoscopes]

Do I think "the Time Cube" is true or accurate in literally any way shape or form? No.

Do I understand what the dude behind "Time Cube" was trying to convey with his theory? Yes.

Does it make sense to me? Yes. In the same way it makes sense that a child would think bird seed creates birds.

Do I know how I'd go about explaining the meaning of Time Cube to another person? No.

You've done it! You've broken Occult Knowledge down to it's barest essentials!

[spectralstars]

I feel like those who give personal-correspondence people flack for disregarding the dominant narrative around some herb or stone, or for disregarding the spirit of the herb or stone itself, for just pulling things from their own selves, often forget something:

Where exactly do you think people get personal correspondences from?

And how do you think the world speaks to people?

Cinnamon isn’t baneful for me because I just decided it was one morning, it’s baneful for me because I tried having it around to make penicillin taste less bad when I had strep throat and now it smells like the taste of penicillin. Maybe correspondence is purely psychological and all its sickening and confusion-inducing properties are solely fueled by my reaction when I smell it—or maybe that’s what cinnamon approached me with. Maybe that’s the relationship we’ve forged.

Just thinking out loud on a post.

[sigilseer]

I’m super introverted and I have really bad social anxiety, but still, sometimes I yearn for that occult friend group experience. Dare I say…a Weirdling coven. 

We’d do things like:

-Rallying everyone together to go investigate something one of us discovered that she thinks might be a fairy mound (it’s an old rusty truck that’s been thoroughly reclaimed by nature, and there’s just something about it). 

-Creating servitors together over coffee and giving them stupid names like Dave. Dave helps you find clothes that make your butt look great AND are comfortable AND have real pockets. Everyone loves Dave. 

-Gathering on a full moon or a new moon or a whatever moon for a “ritual” night, which usually involves Netflix, smoking lots of weed, doing some -very- casual magic, and potentially summoning something ill-advised. On no wait, it’s just Dave. We’re all good here. 

-Trecking out to some random hill on some random night with flashlights, ritual paraphernalia, junk food and joints to watch for UFOs or whatever else might decide to show up

-Introducing each other to our personal deities and hanging out with them. Wanna chill and talk trash with this beauty goddess I met a few days ago? Maybe we can draw some sigils on each other while we’re at it. 

[fianceworms-deactivated20200214]

Your craft is your own.

You don’t have to do the same spells as everyone else. You don’t have to have the same ingredients as everyone else. You don’t have to practice like everyone else.

You can make use of what is in your cabinets. Eggshells, nutmeg, syrup, apples, liquor, vanilla.

You can make use of what is in your environment. Flowers, leaves, roots, seashells, carcasses.

You can make use of the heavens. The sun, the moon, the planets, the constellations.

You can make use of the spirits. Angels, ghosts, demons, gods, fae, lands.

You can make use of yourself. Sing, dance, scream, whisper, remain still, dress up, abandon your clothes, dream, stay alert, leave your body, find your creatures.

You can make use of your hands. Potions, infusions, tinctures, oils, incenses, washes, wines, idols, knives.

You can do magic. Craft poppets, carve names into apples, dress candles with blood, pray over talismans, bury witch bottles, create beasts, invoke, evoke, spit curses and blessings, listen to spirits, burn things, reverse them, consecrate them, break them, carve them, paint them, feed them, instruct them, make them rot, bring them alive, sacrifice them.

Your craft is what you make of it, not what is popular.

[tea-and-antlers]

Witches

Get out there. Pack a backpack, fill it with water and trinkets and notebooks. Put on your best shoes and go ahead. Go stick your feet in the pond. Pick up cool sticks in the forest and whittle them with open scissors. Pick common flowers and dry them in your room. Tie wool ribbons to trees and write little messages for others to find.  Prowl the streets of your area and pick pebbles out of the cracks in sidewalks. Find coins and bring them home. Look for abandon objects on the subway. Go dumpster diving, find fun free things you’d never expect to own from the trash. Use mud and stones to make tiny houses, use walnut shells as bowls and leave some water for the new inhabitants. Pick up sand from the beach or the desert or the local park and fill a little sack with it. Bury seeds in eggshells under your favorite trees. Get lost in the woods. Be that one person who does weird stuff, collect the words tossed around about you and save them in a paper envelope; they’re yours.

Just go. You are a being of chaos and calamity and there is a whole world out there waiting to be found.

[normal-horoscopes]

So much of magic is defined by being counter-something. It feels so rare that someone sits down to define their own personal cosmology. What an intimate exercise in imagination, in wonder.