The Jackal and the Serpent: A Rare Syncretic Anubis
Deep within the 2nd-century Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa in Alexandria, Egypt, stands a fascinating example of ancient religious fusion: the anguipede Anubis (serpent-legged Anubis).
This striking relief perfectly embodies the melting pot of the Greco-Roman-Egyptian world. The traditional Egyptian jackal-headed god is depicted wearing Roman military armor and holding a spear, while his lower body transforms into coiling serpent tails. By merging Anubis with the Hellenistic protective serpent deity Agathos Daimon, this unique imagery represents a powerful hybrid sentinel—a cosmic guardian tasked with warding off evil and shielding the threshold of the tomb.
"The complete comprehension of the Pentagram is the key of the two worlds. It is absolute philosophy and natural science.”
"By the Pentagram is also measured the exact proportions of the great and unique Athanor necessary to the confection of the Philosophical Stone and the accomplishment of the Great Work. The most perfect alembic in which the Quintessence can be elaborated is conformable to this figure, and the Quintessence itself is represented by the Sign of the Pentagram."
— Eliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic
"As man’s physical body has five distinct and important extremities–two legs, two arms, and a head, of which the last governs the first four–the number 5 has been accepted as the symbol of man.
By its four corners the pyramid symbolizes the arms and legs, and by its apex the head, thus indicating that one rational power controls four irrational corners.
The hands and feet are used to represent the four elements, of which the two feet are earth and water, and the two hands fire and air. The brain then symbolizes the sacred fifth element–æther–which controls and unites the other four.
If the feet are placed together and the arms outspread, man then symbolizes the cross with the rational intellect as the head or upper limb."
— Manly P. Hall
"When the masters in alchemy say that little time and money are needed to accomplish the works of science, above all when they affirm that one vessel is alone needed, when they speak of the great and unique Athanor which all can use, which is ready to each man's hand, which all possess without knowing it, they allude to philosophical and moral alchemy.
As a fact, the strong and resolute will can arrive in a short time at absolute independence, and we are all in possession of the chemical instrument, the great and sole Athanor which answers for the separation of the subtle from the gross and the fixed from the volatile.
This instrument, complete as the world and precise as mathematics, is represented by the sages under the emblem of the Pentagram or five-pointed star, which is the absolute sign of human intelligence. I will follow the example of the wise by forbearing to name it: it is too easy to divine."
— Dogme et rituel de la haute magie by Eliphas Lévi
“We often want it so badly that we ruin it before it begins. Overthinking. Fantasizing. Imagining. Expecting. Worrying. Doubting. Just let it naturally evolve”
В 2013 году в районе Сармизегетуза, Румыния, была найдена бронзовая матрица возрастом около 2000 лет, принадлежащая гето-дакам. Этот восьмиугольный объект весит 8,24 кг и имеет толщину 5 см, он служил для создания сложных украшений и медальонов.
На поверхности матрицы изображены 112, а по некоторым сведениям, и меньше, детализированных фигур как реальных, так и мифических животных, что свидетельствует о высоком уровне металлургического мастерства древних мастеров.
The Enenra: Japanese smoke spirits [Japanese folklore; yokai]
This yokai is a sentient smoke cloud from Japanese folklore. As the story goes, a pauper once lit a fire to repel the mosquitoes from his home. The smoke from the fire was very thin and took on strange and unnatural shapes, eventually taking the shape of an ethereal living being, which was then given the name Enenra, or 'net smoke'.
As such, Enenra is composed entirely of smoke. There’s not a lot of backstory here, and it’s left ambiguous whether there are more individuals of this ‘species’ out there.
Toriyama Sekien, in his 18th century yokai encyclopedia, was the first to give a face to the smoky phenomenon. He gave it a friendly appearance with a large, round, smiling head for an almost cute aesthetic, communicating to the reader that this is not a malicious being. With this, he created the design that most future depictions of this creature would be based on.
Like many yokai in Japanese folktales, it is connected to an animistic tradition where a supernatural identity is given to a phenomenon or object. The Enenra also carries a connotation of poverty with it, because Sekien implied that the smoke is so ghostly thin because the pauper only had a little bit of firewood and couldn’t afford more. The kanji used for the ‘ra’ syllable refers to thin gauze fabric, such as the netting that trappers used.
Sources:
Yoda, H. and Alt, M., 2016, Japandemonium Illustrated: the Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien, 319 pp., p. 180.
Van der Linden, M., 2018, Toriyama Sekien och hans arv: En analys av Toriyama Sekiens yōkai kataloger, deras kawaii-estetik och Sekiens inflytande på det japanska folkets föreställningsvärld, Linnéuniversitetet, Växjö, Kandidatuppsats, 36 pp., p. 20-22.
Fluorite is a lovely crystal that comes in a variety of colors. In this inaugural post of Crystal Crumbs, a series on the many crystals we meet in witchcraft, let's meet fluorite and her many faces.
Chemical Makeup
Fluorite is a halide mineral, meaning it is composed primarily of an anion of a halogen gas. Other examples include halite, which you may know as rock salt or NaCl! Cl- is an anion of chlorine. In fluorite's case, its chemical makeup is CaF2, with fluoride (F2) being the dominant anion.
Fluorite forms primarily in cubic shapes, but it can also form in octahedrons, or other complex isometric shapes. Fluorite ranks at 4 on the Mohs hardness scale, and is in fact the reference mineral for that level. This means it is harder than calcite, but is easily scratched by quartz and other harder minerals.
Pure fluorite is colorless like quartz, but chemical impurities give it a wide spectrum of possible colors, which fluorite is prized for in lapidary and jewelry-making. These impurities can include:
iron
manganese
rare earth elements like yttrium, cerium, samarium, thulium, etc
uranium
radioactive interference and heat during formation
hydrocarbons
Natural Companions/Lookalikes
Because fluorite comes in many colors, including colorless, it can often be mistaken for other minerals. Additionally, because it primarily grows in voids in hydrothermal vents and hot springs, it is often a companion to other minerals. These companions include:
quartz
calcite
baryte
sphalerite
galena
pyrite
dolomite
chalcopyrite
muscovite
rhodochrosite
Lookalikes include:
quartz (especially amethyst)
halide (similar shapes and composition)
calcite
tourmaline
History
Fluorite has been known to many civilizations for centuries, primarily for its use in decoration. Pliny the Elder described it in Naturalis Historia as a purple-and-white mottled stone, and it is believed that a mineral described in Sanskrit alchemical texts called vaikrānta may refer to fluorite. However, it truly rose to prominence in 16th century Germany, when scientist Georgius Agricola described it in his works on mineralogy and metallurgy. In iron smelting, fluorite is used to reduce the viscosity of slag, giving rise to its name, coming from Latin fluere, to flow. In his work, Agricola originally named it "fluorspar", a name still used today in industrial contexts. In 1852, fluorescence was discovered through the use of UV light on fluorite, and the element fluorine was also named after it.
Other Names
fluorspar (original name, industrial context)
murrina/myrrhina (classical studies, archaeology)
flourite
several other synonyms, available on mindat.org
Traditional Uses
Fluorite has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, labeled as a spirit-calming stone. It has also been used as a decorative stone for thousands of years across ancient Rome and Egypt. Fluorite has seen uses symbolically to improve blood flow (owing to its name), dental health (fluoride is a known element necessary for teeth), as well as generally calming and balancing several systems.
Modern Uses
In mundane life, it is used in optics to create lenses, and high-purity fluorite is often used as a source of hydrofluoric acid and pure fluorine gas. Magically, fluorite is a popular choice for focus, clarity, and purification, owing to its associations with intellect and "flow". It is used by many holistic practitioners for purposes relating to the joints, muscles, bones, and teeth.
Don't have access to fluorite, or not interested in buying new crystals but using what you have? Try some of these crystals that carry some of the same properties:
Fluorite functions well on its own, but it can also be paired with other crystals and various herbs/botanicals for specific properties.
quartz: amplification of fluorite's focus and clarity
amethyst: amplification of psychic and spiritual development/protection
black tourmaline: grounding and shielding
selenite: purification of environment and energy
labradorite: intuition and communication
calcite: emotional and mental harmony
lepidolite: anxiety relief
moldavite: spiritual transformation
rose quartz: adds compassion and love to mental focus
pyrite: adds willpower to mental focus
lavender: adds calming and peaceful energy
cinnamon: accelerates workings and brings willpower and manifestation to your focus
thyme: cleansing and balancing
rosemary: amplifies mental clarity and purification, protection
bay leaf: set intentions for your newfound focus, protection
sage: wisdom and mental clarity, purification
You can also choose crystals and herbs that align elementally or zodiacally with your purposes.
Extra
Cleansing/charging notes:
Please be aware that fluorite is not safe to submerge in water for extended periods of time, as it contains toxic fluorine. You should also refrain from contact with salt, and do not drink water that has had fluorite in it. Avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight, which can fade the colors of the crystal. Otherwise, cleanse and charge your fluorite in any way that you prefer.
Please remember that these posts do not constitute medical advice and are purely for entertainment and spiritual purposes.
Sources:
mindat.org
Muse + Moonstone
Wikipedia
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
FossilEra
Natural Gemstones
space-queen on Tumblr
The Citrine Circle
CrystalanceMe & Qi
Disclaimer: The content below mention of serious injuries, abortions and physical wounds so please read with discretion.This is an astrological interpretation based of charts I have observed and research I have done. This is for informational purposes and should not be used as medical advice. Please consult a healthcare professional for any physical concerns.
Lilith in Pisces: death may involve hidden or misdiagnosed conditions, escapism (drugs, alcohol, etc), issues with fluids and medication or could be very peaceful
Aquarius in 3h: sudden death involving the nervous system, likely away from home or during a period of travel
Sun opposite Uranus: sudden, unpredictable physical events. Affect nervous system, spasm, sudden pain and high impact or heart palpitations.
Leo placements or dominant: injuries in spinal, sudden back spasms. Prone to fevers and inflammatory conditions. Chronic upper back pain or injury from slump/bad posture. (Because of emotional pressure).
Mars in Leo: risk of burns, cuts, sudden inflammation especially in the back or chest area. (If mars is afflicted it can indicates surgeries related heart or spine)
Pluto in 5h: wound or sickness in lower abdomen, belly, stomach and liver. Intense traumatic experiences with pregnancy and childbirth. Likely to have many abortions. Back and spine issues or surgery.
Chiron in Leo: visible facial or chest scar.
Rahu in Aries: scar on forehead or head. High blood pressure, inflammation and nerve related issues are also common. Rahu being unexpected events that can lead to surgeries in repairing or change physical appearance. Wound from sharp object or weapons will appear in one’s whole life especially in early stages.
Aries placements: headache, migraines, fever, burnout and blood related issues.
Sun opp Jupiter: weight gains, enlarged heart, or over stretching muscles. Prone to taking on physical feat your body isn’t prepared for.
We all have emotions. Some of us just have an easier time dealing with them than others… I’m talking to you, Aquarius.
So what happens when your Moon sign is confronted with its own wave of emotional chaos?
Let’s find out.
Aries Moon
Your impulsivity is intense. The way you go from 0 to 100 is honestly a bit scary, even to yourself. You lose your shit quickly, loudly, physically. It doesn’t stay internal, it comes out. Aries rules the first house, the body, so your emotions need a physical outlet. Sex, fighting, working out, whatever it is, it has to move through you or it will consume you.
This can be a dangerous Moon when unhealed. Especially in the 12th house, you might turn that anger inward without even realizing it. Self sabotage, self destruction, pushing yourself too far. You don’t always see that you’re the one hurting you.
You need to release it before it turns on you. Go run. Go move. Don’t let it sit.
Taurus Moon
You don’t react right away. You absorb. You tolerate more than you should because you hate disruption, instability, and losing control. You stay calm on the surface, even when something in you is already starting to crack, waiting for the moment it all feels like too much. You lose interest when you realize you’re not building in the same direction as the other.
People mistake your patience for permission. They keep pushing because you don’t react, but you are reacting, slowly, quietly, storing it in your body. Over time it builds into something solid, something unmovable.
And when you finally decide to move on, you make sure you have seen enough. Enough to not question it, enough to not go back, enough to not look behind you.
By the time it comes out, it’s not emotional anymore. It’s decided. You leave without looking back, like whatever you built all this time never even mattered.
Gemini Moon
Your emotions don’t stay in one place long enough to fully land. The second something feels too heavy, your mind jumps in, analyzing, rationalizing, talking, joking, anything to keep it from settling.
You feel things, but you don’t always stay in them. You split between feeling and explaining, constantly shifting between the two. Sometimes you don’t even know which one is real anymore.
You can talk about your emotions endlessly without actually touching them. That distance keeps you safe, but it also keeps you disconnected.
It’s not that you don’t care. Everything just moves too fast inside your head for anything to fully settle.
Cancer Moon
It always feels like too much. Even when you don’t show it, it runs deeper than anyone realizes. People don’t understand that their present actions reopen past wounds. For you, it’s never just about now, it’s layered, emotional memory stacking on top of itself.
There’s a quiet hopelessness that creeps in. A feeling that no one really gets it, no one listens the way you listen, shows up the way you show up.
You give without hesitation, you feel without limits, and that creates an imbalance that slowly drains you.
It’s not just the pain, it’s the realization that you are not being held the same way you hold others.
Leo Moon
You feel things deeply, but your pride is tied into it. You don’t just want to be loved, you want to be chosen, appreciated, recognized. When that doesn’t happen, it hits something personal, something tied directly to your sense of worth.
You try to play it off, keep your dignity, act like it doesn’t bother you. But it does, more than you’ll admit, more than you want anyone to see.
You give a lot of yourself, your warmth, your attention, your presence, and you expect that to be valued. When it isn’t, it feels like rejection.
Because it’s not just about the situation, it’s about what it says about your place in someone’s life.
Virgo Moon
You don’t let yourself fall apart, you analyze instead. You try to understand what went wrong, how it happened, what you could have done differently. And somehow, it always comes back to you.
You carry this quiet pressure to get it right, to fix things, to not be too much. So you manage your emotions instead of expressing them, turning them into something practical, something you can control.
They don’t disappear. They turn into tension, overthinking, and constant low level anxiety. You start doing more to make up for your discomfort, avoiding the real issue.
Suddenly nothing is right, you start nitpicking, fixing, complaining. That’s when you know it’s time, when you don’t feel like helping them anymore.
Libra Moon
You avoid conflict at all costs. You smooth things over, keep the peace, say what needs to be said to maintain balance, even if it means ignoring what you actually feel.
You prioritize harmony so much that you slowly start abandoning yourself in the process. It feels easier to adjust than to disrupt.
But it builds under the surface. You start to feel unseen, unheard, but you don’t say anything right away.
By the time you do speak, you’ve been holding it in for a long time, having reenacted the argument over and over in your head, planning what you will say in advance, but it never comes out like it was supposed to right ? Cause you were not meant to hold theses feelings in, in the first place.
Scorpio Moon
You feel everything intensely, but you don’t show it. You keep it contained, controlled, hidden, not because it’s not there, but because it’s too much. You may have been told you were too much, so you learned early on to silence your intensity.
But nothing actually disappears. You go deep with your emotions, sitting with them, analyzing them, replaying them until they become part of you. Every hurt stays, every betrayal adds another layer.
You don’t react often. But when you do, it’s deliberate, it’s cold and it cuts. You know exactly what to say to destroy them, because people have tried to do it to you countless times.
When it finally comes out, it’s overwhelming, consuming. And once it’s over, there is no going back. They’re dead to you.
Sagittarius Moon
You don’t like sitting in heavy emotions. When things get too intense, you instinctively move away, physically, mentally, or both. Staying in it feels suffocating.
You tell yourself it’s not that deep, laugh it off, distract yourself, shift focus. Anything to avoid feeling stuck in something you can’t control.
You convince yourself there are better things to focus on, learning, discovering, moving forward. But avoidance doesn’t erase anything.
The feeling stays. It comes back in quiet moments, like a wave of melancholy that follows you, reminding you that you never really dealt with it.
Capricorn Moon
You don’t trust emotions easily. You see them as something to control, manage, contain. You handle things, move forward, keep functioning, because you feel like you don’t have time to fall apart.
You were not taught how to feel, so when emotions come up, you acknowledge them, but you don’t know what to do with them. They just sit there, unprocessed.
You carry everything alone. Responsibility, pressure, expectations. And over time, it hardens, turning into something heavy you can’t put down.
Eventually it catches up to you. Your body feels it, your mind feels it. And the structure you relied on starts to crack.
Aquarius Moon
You detach before things get too intense. It’s automatic. You step back from your emotions and observe them instead of fully feeling them. It feels safer that way.
You keep an emotional distance from the world, almost afraid that if you let yourself react fully, you might lose your faith in it. So you stay slightly removed.
You understand what’s happening, but you don’t always connect to it in the moment. Reality takes time to settle in.
You process later, alone, when no one’s watching, trying to convince yourself that what you feel isn’t real.
Pisces Moon
You don’t just feel your emotions, you absorb everything around you. Other people’s feelings, the atmosphere, the unspoken tension. It all blends together so much that you cannot always tell where you end and others begin.
Feeling this much starts to feel like a curse. There is no off switch, no clear boundary between you and the world around you.
You give too much, feel too much, carry too much. And eventually, it becomes overwhelming in a way you cannot even fully explain.
It is not one thing, it is everything at once, almost like you are drowning in your own sorrow.
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You know the move. Click it.✨
Match magic is a versatile and easy sort of spellcrafting. Unfortunately, fire is a necessity so this is not for people who can’t light matches.
The basic concept of match magic is that the matchstick is charged with intent. Then, the match is burned to release the intent so the magic can go do its work. As the match burns, watch the flame to divine the success or manifestation of the spell.
1. Getting prepared
The only thing you really need are wooden matches. Lighters do not work for this particular kind of thing because the main focus is on charging and burning the wood, not the fire itself. I can find a box of 250 large wooden matches for a dollar here.
When you hold a lit match, the match cannot burn all the way down (or you will really burn your fingers!) This may lead you to feel like the entire spell has not been released. There are three solutions I have found and perhaps one will resonate with you depending on your beliefs:
a. Mark a line on the match with a pencil, and put the intent only on the burning end. When the flame reaches the pencil mark, blow it out. All the intent will be released without your fingers being burned.
b. After the match is lit, carefully and firmly grasp one end with a pair of tweezers. This will allow the entirety of the match to burn, releasing all the intent.
c. Recognize that the bit of unburnt match left over works to ‘ground’ the magic in your life, helping keep the intent attached to the physical plane as it goes about and does its work in the ethereal or astral.
If you choose, you may watch the match burn down in order to divine the success of the spell, or the path it will take during manifestation. The shape of the charcoal may also give you a clue as to the success of the magic. However, in order to read the omens in the flame, you should have a good understanding of what a regular, mundane match looks like when it burns. Get your box of matches and decide on a few things:
Will you be holding all your matches perfectly horizontal, or vertical, or in some other fashion?
Will you be holding the match with your fingers or some other tool?
How long will you allow each match to burn?
Ensure that you are wherever you are likely to do your match spells most often (it may be over an altar, or for me, my desk). Turn off any fans in the area, close windows, and generally reduce any drafts as much as possible.
When you have an idea of how you want the little ritual to go, light about ten uncharged matches in your working area and carefully observe how they burn. Note how high the flames tend to go, how quickly the flames move along the match, in what way the wood curls when it is burned, et cetera. Carefully save these burned matches (you could also take a photo) and use them as a control group to compare against your magical matches. You may or may not notice a distinct difference between how your plain matches compare with your magical ones; my magical matches tend to burn in a corkscrew shape and the flames often reach much higher.
2. Understanding the nature of match magic
Match magic is not a big kickass sort of spell. It can be powerful and forceful, but it is more like a paintball gun than a cannon. The wood itself can only hold so much energy, and the energy is released quickly instead of through a long, steady burn. This is really more like quick fix-it Band-aid magic than anything else. Here is what I have found match magic to be appropriate for:
Motivation
“Get me through the day/this class/this meeting”
Quick fix for anxiety, although only for a short amount of time
A nudge for someone to do something
Gaining focus for a task ahead
Because the matches burn so quickly, they are also appropriate for on-the-go devotionals or to add quick power to an existing spell. Many of us will leave tea lights on an altar to empower something; if you cannot leave a tea light burning, charging and burning a match may be a sufficient substitution.
Here is one paradigm explanation for how match magic “works”: Wood is good at holding magical intent and charge. The physical item is also excellent as a focus point. As you gather power, you can store it in the match. When you intuit that you have collected enough energy for the magical task at hand, use your magical willpower to imprint your intent on the raw energy. After you ‘stamp’ your intent in to the energy, the match is now a self contained charm. However, we want the magic to move ahead of us and around us in order blaze the trail for our success. When the match is lit, the energy is rapidly released and goes on its merry way.
The fire in this spell is transformative; full of changes. It transforms our intent in to reality; it releases contained energy in to flowing energy; it converts one situation in to another.
3. Charging the matches
Do not bother using your own energy for this kind of spell; you can actually get the energy within the match quite dense, and you may end up draining yourself. Instead, call upon an external energy. If you ground with a root system, you can call upon the powers of the earth to work for you. If you can gather energy from the space around you, do that - you can also use energy stored in crystals, or whatever other method you typically use for raising spell-energy.
In this spell, your energy is the wheel, not the clay - call upon energy from something else and use your magical reservoir to shape it.
Before you begin, ensure you have a simple statement of intent. The statement is probably better off being positive instead of negative. Here are some examples:
POSITIVE:
I will get all of my homework done today
Laura will skip class today
That dog will be silent today
NEGATIVE:
I will not be sleepy
My bills will not come in the mail today
John will not call me today
Hold a single match in your hand (marked with a pencil if that is how you prefer to do it). Call energy to you and direct it in to the match. At first the energy may be very thin and in a cloud around the matchstick. Compress the energy down until it is all contained within the wood. Draw up and compress more and more energy until you feel you have gotten enough. The matchstick may seem to be glowing very brightly, if you can ‘see’ energy, and if you can feel energy the matchstick may make your skin feel quite weird. Using your magical will, keep the energy within the matchstick contained. Simultaneously use your will to stamp your statement of intent in to the energy, forming it and molding it so it is programmed to your will. If you don’t get what I mean, just imagine that the matchstick is full of all this raw, smooth energy. Then mentally shout at it until you intuit that the energy is programmed.
After this, you may wish to do a sealing action (“so mote it be”). Then immediately light the match and hold it in the same way you did during your practice runs. Watch the match burn and see if you can determine how the spell will go. Blow the match out when it is time and keep or discard the charcoal and leftover wood however it feels right to you.
If you wish, call appropriate and relevant energies instead of just using whatever. Air energy is appropriate for focus and mindfulness, while Mars energy is appropriate for acts of aggression.
Because the spell is released with fire it will by nature be quick to take effect and quick to burn out. Keep that in mind while writing up your spells.
me, every single time i see people (especially women) talking about the divine feminine energy, or the sacredness of the womb or whatever it is now:
[image description: a two-panel photo of a person dialling a number and then placing the phone to their ear. the contact is saved as ‘Ursula K. Le Guin’ /end ID]
context is this quote by her:
But I didn’t and still don’t like making a cult of women’s knowledge, preening ourselves on knowing things men don’t know, women’s deep irrational wisdom, women’s instinctive knowledge of Nature, and so on. All that all too often merely reinforces the masculinist idea of women as primitive and inferior – women’s knowledge as elementary, primitive, always down below at the dark roots, while men get to cultivate and own the flowers and crops that come up into the light. But why should women keep talking baby talk while men get to grow up? Why should women feel blindly while men get to think?
“If women allow themselves to be consoled for their culturally determined lack of access to the modes of intellectual debate by the invocation of hypothetical great goddesses, they are simply flattering themselves into submission (a technique often used on them by men). All the mythic versions of women, from the myth of the redeeming purity of the virgin to that of the healing, reconciliatory mother, are consolatory nonsenses; and consolatory nonsense seems to me a fair definition of myth, anyway. Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths gives women emotional satisfaction, it does so at the price of obscuring the real conditions of life. This is why they were invented in the first place.”
― Angela Carter, The Sadeian Woman: And the Ideology of Pornography
GRIMTALK is a weekly snapshot of my personal Grimoire as it progresses each week and this week on GRIMTALK is Healing Poppets.
A poppet is a physical representation of a person and is used in both baneful and beneficial witchcraft. Historically, poppets have been made out of roots carved into the shape of a human, grain or corn shafts, paper, wax, potatoes, clay, branches, and cloth figures stuffed with herbs.
Poppets also usually contain a taglock from the person they are to represent such as hair, finger/toenail clippings, blood, spit, tears, sweat, mucus, semen or urine. This taglock ensures that the poppet will only work on the person they represent.
Healing poppets are especially useful because you can target them towards a person’s specific needs. Cloth poppets are perfect for assisting with healing because they can easily be placed under the pillow or mattress of someone who is sick or injured.
Cloth poppets are quite easy to make. Simply, draw a humanoid figure on a piece of paper. Cut out the figure and transfer the outline to a folded-over piece of cloth. Cut the cloth around the paper outline so that you have two humanoid cloth shapes.
Now you can sew, draw or paint sigils, words or symbols onto the poppet to assist with healing. You can also sew on a little heart, yarn hair and button eyes if you wish.
Pin the two sides together and begin to stitch them around the edges. When three quarters of the poppet is stitched, fill it with the appropriate herbs and a taglock. Then finish sewing up the poppet and place it under the pillow or mattress of your target.
*(Note: Around the world, serpents have been to symbolise life, death and rebirth for thousands of years. Because snakes can heal as well as hurt – add shed snake skin to the poppet to speed the healing process.)
To see any of the previous weekly photos, check out the GRIMTALK page!
The best way to dispose of a poppet really depends on how it was used.
If I have used a poppet for healing, I normally remove any taglocks from the poppet and then burn it to symbolically “burn away/kill the sickness which was drawn into the poppet”. I know that I’m going to burn it when I first make it so I make it with materials which are not toxic or release harmful fumes when burnt.
You can also bury them, chop them up, disassemble them, throw them in the attic or a shoe box to be forgotten… it really depends on how you used the poppet in the first place because your disposal of the poppet should be equally as symbolic.
