Hey everyone! I'm part of an autistic genderfluid host of a system of 15 who has been practicing the occult on and off for about 4 years, specifically in the realms of demonolatry and chaos magic. This is my personal journal and brain dump ground for my personal experiences and how my plurality occasionally affects my experiences. I try my best to be mindful of cultural appropriation as I'm aware of its reach in western occultism. I'd advise not to take these posts as educational or anything because a lot of it is gonna be either UPG or just not correct, at which point feel free to correct me on anything.
I'm an anarcho-communist, a musician, and a staunch anti-zionist. I recognize that those who I wish not to interact with me may do so regardless, but to be clear about those who aren't welcome here:
-Zionists
-Nazis
-TERFs
-exclusionists of any kind (sysmeds, transmeds, etc.)
-Those who "don't believe in closed practices"
-Racists (see above)
-Ableists of any variety
-New Agers and the like
That'll be all for now. You can find my posts through all the reblogs with #personal writings.
Y'all just wanna make fun of kids you think are stupid
Right
Like that's what it actually is right
Every time there's a conversation about godspousal, sacred marriage, henosis, theurgy, or any of the many many many terms used to describe loving the divine, there's always the disclaimer
"I'm not calling out the REAL practitioners who have real relationships with their deities and take it SERIOUSLY. I'm only calling out the silly little girls who think they're dating Apollo omg get off tiktok!"
But you also have absolutely no way of telling who is a serious practitioner with years of experience and who is someone role playing.
??
Okay, I'm gonna be 100% straight right now, there are very obviously lots of people who just roleplay with deities for the sake of fun or comfort. Some people are very frivolous with their practice and don't put the work in or have the due respect they should.
I personally don't give even the slightest inch of a shit how legitimate or professional anyone else is with their deities or practice,
There have literally always been silly people in every single subculture ever, I personally don't get much of a kick from making fun of them. Especially when I suspect they are just a dumb ass 13 year old kid.
If you think these people aren't serious... why would you take them seriously??
Legitimately, when I see some random ass child calling demon lords their besties and playing around with names, I think, oh haha that's cute.
??
Like cool they're having fun. They OBVIOUSLY do not know what tf they're doing but hey, they will figure it out.
You think the GODS aren't prepared to deal with silly people? You think this is the first time anyone has tried to fuck Apollon? Are you serious?
"Those silly girls summoning Lucifer have no idea!"
You're excited for that outcome. You would love for some teenage girl to be horrified, wouldn't you?
Unfortunately the very likely outcome is that the divine spirit will ignore them or meet them on their own terms. The Gods aren't going to dominate a child or take a edgy teen seriously. Why are you pretending the Gods don't know about amateurs.
People learn and grow, I didn't know jack shit about how to do things properly when I started. Had someone stunted my curiosity and love for what I was growing because it seemed wrong, I would have lost so much of my path. Magic, spirituality, faith, and most of all love, are supposed to be messy. Psychology is messy, none of these things exist in a vacuum. That's the part of the craft I love so much, it's a craft. You build it yourself, but you can only build it for yourself.
Why do you guys care so much about people you believe to be idiots? I personally think many practices are dumb as hell, why would I spend time arguing with those people about how dumb I think they are. Why does their dumb assery even affect me at all???
"Because then people won't take you/us seriously!"
If anyone refuses to take me seriously because of something other people are doing then... I probably don't care about their shallow opinion anyways?? And who is taking me seriously? Whose approval am I supposed to be winning?
"If we let people just do whatever people will think there are no rules!"
Babe people have been doing whatever they want this whole time.
If some dumb ass 15 year old loves Lucifer like a best friend and later grows into a genuine practitioner, that's awesome. And if that same dumb ass continues to be a dumb ass, I will not care. I don't really enjoy making fun of people I consider to be naive. Ignorance is bliss, let them be bliss. I personally don't care about being "taken seriously" by anyone but my Lord.
The comments are always "OMG I KNOW SOME GIRL SERIOUSLY THOUGHT LOKI LOVED HER LIKE OMG GROW UP"
Wow so funny. A lonely person found comfort in a Lord of outcasts. Let's all point and laugh!
I could write a whole paragraph here about how the Gods are always closest to the outcasts but I'm too tired. The person happily collecting stones for their divine spouse knows more about the purpose of Henosis than you ever will. We are only a couple decades free of orthodoxy babes, this is a beautiful time to be a pagan.
"THIS IS RELIGION IT'S SERIOUS ITS NOT A COPING MECHANISM!!"
Little girls who play with dolls are the priests of churches you can never enter son lay down and listen to the music of creation you're so miserable
By the way we still have that really bad white supremacy, xenophobia, queer phobic problem in the pagan community to deal with. I'm way more concerned about that mentality continuing to spread rather than the belief that you might be able to kiss a God so. Yeah. I continue to focus on the real problems rather than being distracted by frivolous infighting nyah
More pagans need to internalize that most deities will be antagonistic in some myths and protagonistic in others, and neither of those portrayals will completely capture their actual character when you start worshipping them.
btw if you’re fat and your partner doesn’t love you wholeheartedly, if they’re attracted to you “despite” your body, if they avoid touching you, if they look away from certain parts of you, you’re allowed to break up with that person. look at me. you can do better. you are not unloveable and you don’t have to settle i fucking promise.
[Image Description: tags by user biblicalhorror that read #also goes for physical disability btw. End ID.]
ALSO GOES FOR DISABILITY, DISABILITY JUSTICE AND FAT LIBERATION INTERTWINED 4 FUCKING EVER I LOVE U FAT PEOPLE I LOVE U DISABLED PEOPLE I LOVE U FAT DISABLED PEOPLE YOUR BODY IS NOT A BURDEN ON THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU !!!!
things you're probably doing wrong in your witch/pagan practice
These types of lists are usually trying to sell you something, whether it's a course to "teach you the right way" or an ideology.
People who are obsessed with controlling your practice are often involved in the occult/spiritual community because they're more interested in having a cultish following rather than real spiritual development.
That's not to say there aren't any rules in witchcraft/paganism, but these rules aren't universal. Each practice comes with a personal set of rules, often unique to the practitioner.
Don't let others define how your practice should look like. Experiment and find what does and doesn't work for you!
However, if you aren't working to decolonize your practice and are actively disrespecting a practice, you are doing something wrong.
A piece of advice Lord Lucifer once gave me that feels extremely relevant right now.
Stop trying to be virtuous. Obsession with moral purity is a trap.
No, really. Stop trying to be as morally pure and correct as possible at all opportunities. Accept and embrace that you will not always be the one who is morally righteous, that you do not have to actively agree with something to let it just be. That things do not have to be for the greater good, to be. You don’t need to constantly pass judgment or take a stance, some things can exist without your moral approval.
I think people who are overly concerned with seeming good, seeming politically correct, often sacrifice genuine efforts for optics. You want to feel morally pure by saying that violence is bad. But do you actually reduce any harm in the world by blanketly moralizing violence? Moral declarations are satisfying, but ineffectual.
Has your stance that sex work is harmful, degenerate and bad, saved a single victim? Has it liberated a single woman? Has it untraumatized a single trafficking victim?
No. Condemnation doesn’t heal wounds.
Become the most concerned with reducing harm where it can tangibly be reduced, not being as good and right as possible at all times so you can feel good and right. Instead, focus on authenticity, autonomy, and practical impact. Because the reality of the situation is you simply cannot be in the right all the time, and your attempt to will likely lead you to inaction when it is needed. Making grand moral statements about things doesn’t purify you in any way. It doesn’t save anyone from anything. And you didn’t achieve anything good by making that statement. All you did was pat your own ego. Thats it.
I made a very controversial post a while ago about demoralizing paraphilias, because to have a fetish is not to be an abuser. That post riled up a lot of people, understandably.
In light of the Kirk assassination, I’ve been thinking about that post a lot.
When I made that post, my boyfriend was actually the one to approach me with some questions.
“Is it wrong for a victim of CSA to hunt down and murder their abuser years later, if you remain firm on the idea that murder is bad? You say the state shouldn’t be allowed to execute predators, so should victims be able to get their own revenge?”
And I appreciated that question a lot. Because, yes, I do intrinsically believe that murder is wrong, not morally correct. But is shooting a nazi wrong? Is it okay for a child to kill a child rapist? (Outside of immediate self defence)
And my answer is, I don’t know. And I don’t have to. I simply would not stop a child from killing their rapist. And if I can sleep peacefully at the end of the day having made that choice, then that is fine to me, and I accept that.
That’s it.
If I had the power to prevent this act of violence, would I do stop it?
No. I would not. I would not dip my hands into that situation at all, because it does not concern or involve me. I do not have to make moral excuses for anyone.
Do I accept that that decision is not “morally correct”?
Yes I do.
To be a bystander in the face of violence is not morally virtuous. I accept that I do not have to be the virtue at all times. If a child wants to murder their rapist, I’m not going to say that child is morally right. I don’t have to. My main concern would be reducing tangible harm against victims where possible, which would probably include some form of intervention and therapy for a young victim.
It doesn’t actually have to be morally right for me to allow it to happen. I don’t have to make a moral stance about any of this. It’s not actually required. By my own standards, I can live peacefully with myself knowing that I did not stop a child from getting their revenge. The tangible harm that was added to the world by my inaction does not wear down on my conscience.
That’s it.
Is it wrong for a person to murder another person. I’d say yes, generally.
Is it wrong for a victim of abuse to murder their abuser? By the sheer act of murder being murder, I’d probably say yes to that too. Morally speaking, murder usually isn’t great.
But would I ever stop a person from destroying their abuser? No. I personally would not go out of my way to prevent that. I can acknowledge that murder in itself is probably morally wrong without feeling the need to prevent it from occurring in every situation, because not all situations are equal.
Would I blame an oppressed people for destroying their slave masters? No. I can acknowledge that murder is wrong while also acknowledging that the harm caused by slave owners exceeds the harm that would occur if they were executed. I believe that people deserve freedom. So no, I am not going to prevent the death of a slave owner, nor am I going to feel conflicted about it.
Would I defend a rapist from being murdered by the furious father of the girl they abused? No.
But does that make murder okay? No.
Murder doesn’t have to be okay for me to turn the other cheek and mind my business.
Gun violence does not have to be morally okay now just because a nazi got executed.
And if I am pleased that a Nazi was murdered, that doesn’t mean I am now in support of gun violence. Nor does it mean I think murder is now okay.
Having a natural empathetic response to violence is normal and healthy. You are naturally inclined to take a stance. But the reality is, your emotional reaction does not speak to the inherent ethics of the situation. Your human empathy can and will be hijacked to instil a state of complacency. You must be willing to use your discretion. We cannot be indiscriminate.
I can sit and debate about logistics all day.
“Well murder is only okay in this scenario because… and murder is only excusable in these circumstances because…”
And I can continue to contradict myself, because making blanket rules that don’t apply in all situations will always lead to an inadequate assessment.
Or, I can stop pretending to be a moral authority on anything. I can accept what I do and do not have control over and go from there. This is a rejection of categorical ethics in favor of situational discretion.
Is sex work work? Is sex work worthy of compensation and respect?
“Well sex work is bad but women who have no choice are okay but women who do it as a choice are wrong!”
I personally don’t give a single shit why any woman is doing sex work at any given moment. I am not desperate to moralize the act of sex work in itself. Sex work is a service just like massage therapy is. It is an occupation. Whether a woman is forced to or wants to be a sex worker is irrelevant to me because rape is not sex and trafficking is not work. I refuse to collapse rape/trafficking into the same category as consensual sex work. The separation is necessary to create space to advocate for both victims and voluntary workers without contradiction.
I want all sex workers to be safe and protected in their work regardless of their circumstances. I can debate all day about which sex workers are morally pure, and which ones are fuelling a harmful industry. Or! I can just focus on making the entire industry safer for all women and sex workers in general. I can stop telling women what they should and should not do, and start protecting women regardless of the choice they make. That is what saves victims and reduces harm. Making grand statements about the morality of the trade does not. And I’m not interested in debating it.
Is it more virtuous to destroy white supremacists? I don’t know. I am not inclined to make the statement that murdering any human is ever a virtuous action. I don’t have to. You don’t have to.
What I do know is that the destruction of white supremacy requires the destruction of its forefathers. There has never, in the history of mankind, been a revolution that achieved its goals through peace. Gay rights, women’s rights, slavery abolishment, these things all came from violent civil unrest.
When we try to make grand moral statements like “violence is bad”, we neuter ourselves of our ability to exercise just retribution. I can acknowledge and generally agree with the sentiment that assault is a bad thing to do to someone. And that sentiment should hypothetically extend to people guillotining the mega rich. But you could say that by the sheer act of being a billionaire, the mega rich have already slaughtered thousands, and that destroying one billionaire may save a thousand people. And I wouldn’t argue with you on that. I wouldn’t need to.
I am never going to assert that killing nazis makes you as bad as a Nazi. Or that killing rapists makes you a rapist. I do not think that malice and aggression towards fascism is a negative trait to have. In fact I think it is incredibly important that complacency is not encouraged. I do not think it is wrong to wish misfortune upon your oppressors. It is a healthy mentality to have.
But does that make it right?
It does not matter.
Will I excuse the murders of mega ceos because it benefits the greater good? No. I don’t have to. No one actually has to.
Moral purity does not save lives. It does not free slaves.
Lord Lucifer has really helped me dismantle the idea that aggression, anger, and even violence are inherently wrong and negative things to feel. They are in fact the fertile soil in which liberation is planted and grows. Those in power want you to hesitate. Those in power want you to debate about how right and wrong it is to fight back while they slaughter your peers in mass. The alt right are not having debates about how entitled you are to life and liberty. Do not make the mistake of assuming everyone is as good natured as you are. And do not assume your good nature makes you immune to complacency, it doesn’t.
The oppressors don’t hesitate to act with violence or coercion, while the oppressed are paralyzed by moral debates over whether fighting back is right.
Become far less concerned with being a good and right person.
Donate to charity because that’s the right thing to do ❌
What charity? If your concern is with just doing right, your execution will be lacklustre. What harm are you trying to undo? Which communities are you trying to support? Are you giving your money to real local mutual aids groups that benefit your community? Or are you donating to for profit mega funds that keep marginalized people in a perpetual state of need?
Donate to your local grassroots organizations because you want the homeless people in your city to eat tonight, because you genuinely care about these people. ✅
Give your local tweaker $20 so he can eat a meal tonight.
“But it’s probably better to donate to a homeless shelter so you know for certain the money won’t be spent on drugs!”
You don’t care about improving the lives of the real people around you. You don’t have consideration for the real people in your community. You care about feeling good about the things you’re doing because they seem morally superior. You care less about real impact and more about clear optics.
Can you extend your efforts to addicts and whores and lazy people? Does your empathy extend to people who don’t always do the same right thing? Can you forgive yourself and do better if you are wrong?
And if not, then what actually makes any of what you’re doing right?
My tldr is this:
You are going to be pronounced the villain one day. Eventually, you will have to accept something that isn’t virtuous to obtain real progress. You will have to accept that your team isn’t full of angels, but people who are complex and morally grey in all circumstances. You will have to learn where your empathy is needed, and when it is being manipulated. And you must be willing to remain firm on your convictions, even when you aren’t being deemed the “good guy”. Because being “good” for the sake of being good means absolutely nothing. It achieves absolutely nothing and saves no one.
Be smart, be patient and don’t rush to take a moral stance on every single thing that happens. Prioritize the tangible ways things can change rather than indulging endless hypothetical debates about how things should or shouldn’t be.
And be kind to yourself. Right now it is very easy to get sucked into cycles of guilt or to be consumed by online arguments. Try to keep a firm grasp on reality and the real people in your life that you truly care for. Do not engage in debates about who deserves to die today, focus on caring for those who are still living. Do these things and you will obtain a virtue that can never be taken from you.
A piece of advice Lord Lucifer once gave me that feels extremely relevant right now.
Stop trying to be virtuous. Obsession with moral purity is a trap.
No, really. Stop trying to be as morally pure and correct as possible at all opportunities. Accept and embrace that you will not always be the one who is morally righteous, that you do not have to actively agree with something to let it just be. That things do not have to be for the greater good, to be. You don’t need to constantly pass judgment or take a stance, some things can exist without your moral approval.
I think people who are overly concerned with seeming good, seeming politically correct, often sacrifice genuine efforts for optics. You want to feel morally pure by saying that violence is bad. But do you actually reduce any harm in the world by blanketly moralizing violence? Moral declarations are satisfying, but ineffectual.
Has your stance that sex work is harmful, degenerate and bad, saved a single victim? Has it liberated a single woman? Has it untraumatized a single trafficking victim?
No. Condemnation doesn’t heal wounds.
Become the most concerned with reducing harm where it can tangibly be reduced, not being as good and right as possible at all times so you can feel good and right. Instead, focus on authenticity, autonomy, and practical impact. Because the reality of the situation is you simply cannot be in the right all the time, and your attempt to will likely lead you to inaction when it is needed. Making grand moral statements about things doesn’t purify you in any way. It doesn’t save anyone from anything. And you didn’t achieve anything good by making that statement. All you did was pat your own ego. Thats it.
I made a very controversial post a while ago about demoralizing paraphilias, because to have a fetish is not to be an abuser. That post riled up a lot of people, understandably.
In light of the Kirk assassination, I’ve been thinking about that post a lot.
When I made that post, my boyfriend was actually the one to approach me with some questions.
“Is it wrong for a victim of CSA to hunt down and murder their abuser years later, if you remain firm on the idea that murder is bad? You say the state shouldn’t be allowed to execute predators, so should victims be able to get their own revenge?”
And I appreciated that question a lot. Because, yes, I do intrinsically believe that murder is wrong, not morally correct. But is shooting a nazi wrong? Is it okay for a child to kill a child rapist? (Outside of immediate self defence)
And my answer is, I don’t know. And I don’t have to. I simply would not stop a child from killing their rapist. And if I can sleep peacefully at the end of the day having made that choice, then that is fine to me, and I accept that.
That’s it.
If I had the power to prevent this act of violence, would I do stop it?
No. I would not. I would not dip my hands into that situation at all, because it does not concern or involve me. I do not have to make moral excuses for anyone.
Do I accept that that decision is not “morally correct”?
Yes I do.
To be a bystander in the face of violence is not morally virtuous. I accept that I do not have to be the virtue at all times. If a child wants to murder their rapist, I’m not going to say that child is morally right. I don’t have to. My main concern would be reducing tangible harm against victims where possible, which would probably include some form of intervention and therapy for a young victim.
It doesn’t actually have to be morally right for me to allow it to happen. I don’t have to make a moral stance about any of this. It’s not actually required. By my own standards, I can live peacefully with myself knowing that I did not stop a child from getting their revenge. The tangible harm that was added to the world by my inaction does not wear down on my conscience.
That’s it.
Is it wrong for a person to murder another person. I’d say yes, generally.
Is it wrong for a victim of abuse to murder their abuser? By the sheer act of murder being murder, I’d probably say yes to that too. Morally speaking, murder usually isn’t great.
But would I ever stop a person from destroying their abuser? No. I personally would not go out of my way to prevent that. I can acknowledge that murder in itself is probably morally wrong without feeling the need to prevent it from occurring in every situation, because not all situations are equal.
Would I blame an oppressed people for destroying their slave masters? No. I can acknowledge that murder is wrong while also acknowledging that the harm caused by slave owners exceeds the harm that would occur if they were executed. I believe that people deserve freedom. So no, I am not going to prevent the death of a slave owner, nor am I going to feel conflicted about it.
Would I defend a rapist from being murdered by the furious father of the girl they abused? No.
But does that make murder okay? No.
Murder doesn’t have to be okay for me to turn the other cheek and mind my business.
Gun violence does not have to be morally okay now just because a nazi got executed.
And if I am pleased that a Nazi was murdered, that doesn’t mean I am now in support of gun violence. Nor does it mean I think murder is now okay.
Having a natural empathetic response to violence is normal and healthy. You are naturally inclined to take a stance. But the reality is, your emotional reaction does not speak to the inherent ethics of the situation. Your human empathy can and will be hijacked to instil a state of complacency. You must be willing to use your discretion. We cannot be indiscriminate.
I can sit and debate about logistics all day.
“Well murder is only okay in this scenario because… and murder is only excusable in these circumstances because…”
And I can continue to contradict myself, because making blanket rules that don’t apply in all situations will always lead to an inadequate assessment.
Or, I can stop pretending to be a moral authority on anything. I can accept what I do and do not have control over and go from there. This is a rejection of categorical ethics in favor of situational discretion.
Is sex work work? Is sex work worthy of compensation and respect?
“Well sex work is bad but women who have no choice are okay but women who do it as a choice are wrong!”
I personally don’t give a single shit why any woman is doing sex work at any given moment. I am not desperate to moralize the act of sex work in itself. Sex work is a service just like massage therapy is. It is an occupation. Whether a woman is forced to or wants to be a sex worker is irrelevant to me because rape is not sex and trafficking is not work. I refuse to collapse rape/trafficking into the same category as consensual sex work. The separation is necessary to create space to advocate for both victims and voluntary workers without contradiction.
I want all sex workers to be safe and protected in their work regardless of their circumstances. I can debate all day about which sex workers are morally pure, and which ones are fuelling a harmful industry. Or! I can just focus on making the entire industry safer for all women and sex workers in general. I can stop telling women what they should and should not do, and start protecting women regardless of the choice they make. That is what saves victims and reduces harm. Making grand statements about the morality of the trade does not. And I’m not interested in debating it.
Is it more virtuous to destroy white supremacists? I don’t know. I am not inclined to make the statement that murdering any human is ever a virtuous action. I don’t have to. You don’t have to.
What I do know is that the destruction of white supremacy requires the destruction of its forefathers. There has never, in the history of mankind, been a revolution that achieved its goals through peace. Gay rights, women’s rights, slavery abolishment, these things all came from violent civil unrest.
When we try to make grand moral statements like “violence is bad”, we neuter ourselves of our ability to exercise just retribution. I can acknowledge and generally agree with the sentiment that assault is a bad thing to do to someone. And that sentiment should hypothetically extend to people guillotining the mega rich. But you could say that by the sheer act of being a billionaire, the mega rich have already slaughtered thousands, and that destroying one billionaire may save a thousand people. And I wouldn’t argue with you on that. I wouldn’t need to.
I am never going to assert that killing nazis makes you as bad as a Nazi. Or that killing rapists makes you a rapist. I do not think that malice and aggression towards fascism is a negative trait to have. In fact I think it is incredibly important that complacency is not encouraged. I do not think it is wrong to wish misfortune upon your oppressors. It is a healthy mentality to have.
But does that make it right?
It does not matter.
Will I excuse the murders of mega ceos because it benefits the greater good? No. I don’t have to. No one actually has to.
Moral purity does not save lives. It does not free slaves.
Lord Lucifer has really helped me dismantle the idea that aggression, anger, and even violence are inherently wrong and negative things to feel. They are in fact the fertile soil in which liberation is planted and grows. Those in power want you to hesitate. Those in power want you to debate about how right and wrong it is to fight back while they slaughter your peers in mass. The alt right are not having debates about how entitled you are to life and liberty. Do not make the mistake of assuming everyone is as good natured as you are. And do not assume your good nature makes you immune to complacency, it doesn’t.
The oppressors don’t hesitate to act with violence or coercion, while the oppressed are paralyzed by moral debates over whether fighting back is right.
Become far less concerned with being a good and right person.
Donate to charity because that’s the right thing to do ❌
What charity? If your concern is with just doing right, your execution will be lacklustre. What harm are you trying to undo? Which communities are you trying to support? Are you giving your money to real local mutual aids groups that benefit your community? Or are you donating to for profit mega funds that keep marginalized people in a perpetual state of need?
Donate to your local grassroots organizations because you want the homeless people in your city to eat tonight, because you genuinely care about these people. ✅
Give your local tweaker $20 so he can eat a meal tonight.
“But it’s probably better to donate to a homeless shelter so you know for certain the money won’t be spent on drugs!”
You don’t care about improving the lives of the real people around you. You don’t have consideration for the real people in your community. You care about feeling good about the things you’re doing because they seem morally superior. You care less about real impact and more about clear optics.
Can you extend your efforts to addicts and whores and lazy people? Does your empathy extend to people who don’t always do the same right thing? Can you forgive yourself and do better if you are wrong?
And if not, then what actually makes any of what you’re doing right?
My tldr is this:
You are going to be pronounced the villain one day. Eventually, you will have to accept something that isn’t virtuous to obtain real progress. You will have to accept that your team isn’t full of angels, but people who are complex and morally grey in all circumstances. You will have to learn where your empathy is needed, and when it is being manipulated. And you must be willing to remain firm on your convictions, even when you aren’t being deemed the “good guy”. Because being “good” for the sake of being good means absolutely nothing. It achieves absolutely nothing and saves no one.
Be smart, be patient and don’t rush to take a moral stance on every single thing that happens. Prioritize the tangible ways things can change rather than indulging endless hypothetical debates about how things should or shouldn’t be.
And be kind to yourself. Right now it is very easy to get sucked into cycles of guilt or to be consumed by online arguments. Try to keep a firm grasp on reality and the real people in your life that you truly care for. Do not engage in debates about who deserves to die today, focus on caring for those who are still living. Do these things and you will obtain a virtue that can never be taken from you.
Finally got his sigil on me! Decided to go with a mirrored design so I can always see it right side up. Didn’t hurt at all which surprised me because I thought finger tattoos were intense.
I love how simple and subtle it is, it’s the perfect little possession mark. Im so excited to show him!
Nazis will never be welcome in paganism. They have no space in our communities, we will have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to nazis. You have no right to the cultures, gods and religions you hijack to spread your disgusting ideologies. You will find no refuge or comraderie amongst pagans.
Reblog to let nazis know they’re not welcome here.
In Irish folklore, mythology, symbolism, and spirituality, the numbers 3 and 9 are very important. They come up often.
3
land—sea—sky
life—death—rebirth
triskele, triquetra, and treefoil/3 leaf clover
aspects of the Morrigan: Badb—Macha—Nemain
three sons of Uisnech
three cup-bearers of Nechtain
Three is sacred—a number of harmony and life.
9
The number nine is seen as the number of ultimate completeness, 3 x 3 =9. This creates extra potency, magic, and power.
Often a salve or remedy must be repeated 9 times, for 9 days until an ailment is rid of. Sometimes cures call for a 9th son of a family to perform the cure.
You may plan to “feed” a spell over the course of 9 days, to increase its effectiveness and add power. You may tie 9 knots in a piece of string or twine for an intention, especially powerful with the color red (expelling demons).
Protecting home and fortune: Irish folk customs for Bealtaine
Bealtaine, also known as May Day, marked a pivotal point in the Irish calendar. It signified the arrival of summer, a time of light, warmth, and the promise of a bountiful season ahead. However, Bealtaine also held a sense of unease. This was a time when the boundary between our world and the Otherworld thinned, inviting the potential for both blessings and misfortune from the unpredictable Good Neighbors. To navigate this delicate balance, people turned to time-honored traditions and a heightened awareness of the risks of everyday life.
Appeasing the Good Neighbors
On Bealtaine, it was widely believed that the Good Neighbors became particularly active. To ensure their goodwill and prevent them from causing mischief, people would leave out food and drink as offerings. The belief was that the the Good Neighbors were attracted to these offerings and would be less likely to cause trouble if they were satisfied.
You all know May is the month of the fairies. Great people or men that lived long ago rises from their graves on every night in the month of May to fight the old battles that they fought long ago these men are called fairies. The bad fairies do great harm and trouble in the month of May they kill cattle take away milk and butter from the cows and alot of other mischief. Source
"The fairies come around our houses too to do mischief as well as they come to the cattle; you should sweep the hearth very clean and leave food aside for them. If you don't the fairies will come when you are asleep and will torment you by tricking you or pinching you." Source
Primrose
Primrose was believed to ward off the Good Neighbors, and scattering them in the doorways and window sills of the home created a barrier no troublesome spirit could cross.
"During the first three days [of May] fairies entered the house. They came disguised as old men or women in order to steal coals and in order to prevent them primroses were scattered on the doorway no fairy could pass this flower." Source
"The best preventive of fairy power was to scatter primroses on the threshold, for no one could pass the flowers and and the house and house-hold were left in peace." Source
"Guard the house by a string of primroses across the door on the first three days of May. The fairies can pass neither over nor under the string." Source
Rowan
This tree was seen as potent protection against otherworldly forces. A branch hung above a cow's stable door could ward off those who might steal the milk, ensuring the cow's blessing for the year. Branches decorated with spring flowers were also placed around the house for a bit of extra good luck.
On May Day before sunrise the eldest member of the family gets up, he goes out, pulls a branch of the rowan tree and hangs it over the cow's stable door. This is done to prevent the fairies from taking any of the milk from the cows. Source
Another custom is to get a branch of Rowan tree and decorate it with may flowers and primroses and leave it in the middin standing. Then strew may-flowers into each outhouse door and on the doorstep and in the windowsills. This is to welcome the good fairies so that there will be good luck round the year. Source
If you put a rowan tree up the Chimney nothing can bring the butter out of the house. Source
The May bush: blessing and protection
The May bush was a common custom in Ireland, particularly in Leinster, South and West Ulster, and some areas of Munster and Connaught. The May bush often featured hawthorn branches brought home and decorated with flowers, ribbons, and colorful eggshells saved from Easter.
The May bush was believed to protect the home from evil spirits, particularly fairies and witches. It was also thought to bring good luck and prosperity, especially in relation to milk and butter production.
It is a great custom also to make a May bush on May day. This consists of a bush, which is put standing in the dungpit. The bush is decorated with flowers and eggshells. The eggshells are kept after Easter Sunday. Source
On May morning a Maybush was placed outside each house. It usually was a yellow furze bush with a number of eggshells stuck on the thorns. Source
The people around this place make May-bushes on the first of May. They pull a bush and gather flowers and tie them on to the bush with strings and stick it on the ground and after that they say their prayers around it to honour our Blessed Mother and they make a little Altar and put flowers every day on it during May. The people long ago used to make May-bushes and they also used to make a little Altar. Source
The evening before the first of May the people go out and get a piece of a certain tree which they call May Pole. They put this bush outside the door and they put all the egg shells they had on Easter Sunday on it. They also put a lot of flowers out side too. If the people do not put up the May Pole the fairies will come. They also tie May Pole to the cow's tail and if they do not, the fairies come and take the milk from the cow. Source
Guarding your luck
Bealtaine is a time that came with a heightened fear that any careless act could invite bad luck for the whole year. During Bealtaine, even seemingly simple acts held risk.
Giving away even staples like milk, butter, or coins risked also surrendering your good fortune. Lending a tool or sharing even a hot coal from your hearth could lead to unexpected misfortune.
On May eve no one cares to give away any milk or butter fearing their luck would be taken. Source
Long ago the people used to have a large number of pisreogs on May day...They would not give away anything to anybody on May day, only to a beggar man. When he would come in they would give him great welcome. They would say he was bringing in the good luck. The old people would not allow anybody to bring fire outside the door. Everybody would have matches on May day. The old people would not allow any fire outside the door. Source
On May Eve or May Day nothing is given out of the house. Source
They considered it unlucky to give butter or milk way to any person on May Day as they would be giving away their luck. No stables were to be cleaned out on that day. The first person to go to the well in the morning was supposed to have luck for the rest of the year. It is not right to give money to anyone on that day. But if you get money on that day you will be getting it for the year. Source
The people of the house do not put out the ashes on that day or if a person asked for a coal they would be refused. Source
Another custom of the Irish, they would not lend any article or give either milk or food even to beggars. They would not light a fire on May Day until it was late in the day for fear that the people would see the smoke and would bring the butter. Source
The customs surrounding Bealtaine offer a fascinating glimpse into the rich tapestry of Irish folklore and the enduring human desire to shape our luck through ritual and tradition. Whether leaving offerings to appease unseen spirits, scattering flowers as wards against misfortune, or cautiously guarding their possessions, people sought to influence the unseen forces that shaped their lives. These traditions, born in a different time, speak to a fundamental human desire for control, for a sense of agency in the face of an uncertain world. While the specific fears and beliefs may have shifted, the impulse to use ritual and superstition as a means of navigating life's unpredictability remains surprisingly relatable.
The Otherworld is a realm not quite separate from our own, all around us and yet not always accessible or visible to us. It has been interpreted as one expansive world and as having numerous realms and kingdoms within the one Otherworld, and is home to many beings – gods, fairies, and spirits of all sorts, along with some of the most honored and beloved dead.
It is described in ‘the Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries’ by W.Y. Evans-Wentz:
‘But this western Otherworld, if it is what we believe it to be – a poetical picture of the great subjective world – cannot be the realm of any one race of invisible beings to the exclusion of another. In it all alike – gods, Tuatha De Danann, fairies, demons, shades, and every sort of disembodied spirits – find their appropriate abode; for though it seems to surround and interpenetrate this planet even as the X-rays interpenetrate matter, it can have no other limits than those of the Universe itself.’
This cosmological concept descends from the ancient Celtic religions, and the Otherworld (by its many names) is found throughout the lands in which the Celtic tribes resided and lives on within the traditions preserved by reconstructionist and traditional Celtic pagans and Celtic folk magic practitioners. The Otherworld, along with other Celtic pagan beliefs, can also be found within many neo-pagan and neo-druidic practices and movements.
NAMES OF THE OTHERWORLD
The Otherworld bears many names across the Gaelic and Brythonic mythologies and cosmologies.
Irish
In Irish tales, the names of the Otherworld or realms within the Otherworld include:
Tír na nÓg – ‘the Land of the Young’ or ‘the Land of Youth’
Tír Tarngire – ‘the Land of Promise or ‘the Promised Land’
Tír-Innambéo – ‘the Land of the Living’
Tír N-aill – ‘the Other Land’ or ‘the Other World’
Tír fo Thuinn – ‘the Land Beneath the Wave’ (meaning a land underwater)
Mag Mell – ‘the Plain of Delight’ or ‘the Plain of Happiness’
Mag Már – ‘the Great Plain’
Mag Réin – ‘the Plain of the Sea’ or ‘the Sea Plain’
Emain Ablach – ‘the Isle of Apple Trees’
Ildathach – ‘the Many-Colored Land’
Welsh
In Welsh narratives, the Otherworld has been called:
Annwn or Annwfn
DESCRIBING the OTHERWORLD:
In Irish Cosmology & Mythology
Beliefs as to what the Otherworld is like and where it is located range widely. It’s been described as a world beneath our own that can be entered through some portals in caves or at the base of hills and mountains. In many old Irish manuscripts, it’s described as being located somewhere in the Western Ocean. The phantom island of Hy-Brasil is believed by many to be part of the Otherworld. Irish myth tells of Hy-Brasil being cloaked in mist (perhaps féth fíada, a magical mist) or fog which renders it invisible. However, once every seven years the island becomes visible to the human eye for a whole day.
In the Irish tale ‘Immram Brain maic Febail’ (‘the Voyage of Bran mac Febal’), Bran embarks upon a quest to the Otherworld via a sea voyage. Some days into their journey, Bran and his company encounter Manannán mac Lir upon his chariot. Manannán informs them that though their surroundings appear as the sea to them, to the god it appears as a great field of flowers. In this tale, the realms of the Otherworld are depicted as individual islands somewhere in the Western Sea.
In the story ‘Echtrai Cormaic I Tir Tairngiri’ (‘the Adventures of Cormac in the Land of Promise’), Cormac enters the Otherworld and encounters great bronze palaces, houses of white silver that are thatched with the wings of birds, and a courtyard, in the center of which is a great fountain or well with five streams flowing from it. There is said to be a fairy palace beyond the fountain, and there Cormac encounters ‘the loveliest of the world’s women’.
In many tales and poems, the Otherworld is depicted as being incredibly beautiful and as having very many apple trees, hazelnut trees, and great oak trees. It’s said to have plains filled with colorful flowers and dew of honey. And of the food available in the Otherworld, there is nothing that is not irresistibly delicious. Those who dwell within the Otherworld do not age, nor do they feel pain or take ill. Some believe that it is the fruits that grow within the Otherworld that provide its inhabitants with their everlasting youth and good health. Others believe that it’s the Otherworld itself that keeps one young and well.
In modern day, the Otherworld is most known for being the realm of the fairies and their courts. It is less commonly – outside of Irish historians, practitioners of Celtic paganism and Druidry, and keepers of the age-old tradition of Celtic storytelling – understood as the realm of deities, as the realm of all the Sídhe-folk. Here, the Tuatha dé Danann are believed to reside.
The Tuath dé Danann are a tribe of gods and goddesses descended from the goddess Danu. The Tuatha dé Danann are said to have moved from our physical realm to the realm of the Otherworld after facing defeat at the Battle of Tailte. Manannán mac Lir – a famed warrior, sea god, and king over the surviving Tuatha dé Danann – conceals the Otherworld from humankind via féth fíada, a magical mist that is used by the Tuatha dé Danann to render themselves invisible to humankind. Though, it is believed that seers or those with the gift of second sight can see Otherworld portals and entrances, as well as being able to see those that dwell within the Otherworld.
Time moves differently within these realms. Many tales state that one could spend what felt like a few days in the Otherworld, only to return to this world and find that their friends and family had all died, and many years had passed whilst they were away.
In Welsh Cosmology & Mythology
In Welsh tales, the Otherworld (called Annwn) is not ruled over by Manannán mac Lir but by Arawn and, later, Gwyn ap Nudd. In many of the Welsh legends, Annwn is described as a world of eternal youth, free of illness and disease, where no one could ever go hungry for there were endless supplies of food and drink. It was a realm of incomparable beauty where the gods, fairy folk, great ancestors, elves, and spirits reside. Like in Irish myth, Annwn is believed to be either a subterranean realm, under the sea, or on an island to the west. It is also a magical realm hidden from humankind.
Some tales depict a paradise-like world that is like all the best and most beautiful things within our own world with sprawling gardens, plainlands, and orchards, while others describe a ‘hellish’ place (most likely an outcome of the Christianization of the Welsh culture and beliefs). Both interpretations, though, speak of Annwn as the land of the dead.
The Welsh epic ‘Cad Goddeu’ (‘the Battle of the Trees’) tells of a battle between Arawn’s army and the forces of Gwynedd. The army come forth from Annwn is described as being made up of unearthly creatures, such as enormous beasts bearing one hundred heads, great serpents, and giant toads with claws.
The well-known ‘Preiddeu Annwfn’ (‘the Spoils of Annwn’) is another tale mentioning the Otherworld. It is the story of a journey into the Otherworld led by King Arthur. The tale depicts various realms or kingdoms within the Otherworld, including the Fortress of the Mound, the Fortress of Hardness, the Fortress of Mead-Drunkenness, and the Glass Fortress; though some interpret these names to be alternate names for the Otherworld in its entirety and not of individual lands traversed by Arthur within the Otherworld.
The legendary island of Avalon is also seen as a later interpretation of Annwn. Avalon famously features in Arthurian legends as the paradisical Isle of Apples.
ENTERING the OTHERWORLD:
Many of the old tales speak of humans gaining access to the Otherworld. Sometimes they were invited or summoned there by some god or spirit (as Manannán mac Lir was known to do), sometimes they were stolen away or kidnapped by one of the Otherworld’s inhabitants, and some folk entered the Otherworld of their own design during those times of year when the walls between their world and the Otherworld were lowered, such as during Samhain and Beltane. There are also many tales of folk (some quite famous, such as Cuchulainn, Lanval, and Ossian) being lured or enticed away by a fairy to the Otherworld to live as the fairy’s lover. It is also believed that musicians would be stolen away to the Otherworld to entertain its inhabitants.
As mentioned already, many believe openings at the base of hills and mountains to be entrances to the Otherworld. So, too, are ancient burial mounds, bogs, and caves seen as Otherworld gateways. It is also believed that patches of mist or fog could have within them some opening to the Otherworld, as in the Irish tale ‘Echtra Cormaic I Tir Tairngiri’. In this story, King Cormac sets out from Tara with many soldiers to find his way into the Otherworld to take back his wife, daughter, and son (whom he lost in a trade-off for a magic silver bough). On his way, a thick fog befalls the party. When the fog is lifted, Cormac is alone in the plains of a foreign land, having been taken into the Otherworld.
In some tales, one could enter the Otherworld after they were gifted an apple or a branch bearing apples (such as the magic silver bough mentioned in the story above) from a sacred apple tree. The apple or branch was magical and acted as a key, allowing one to pass into the realm of the Sídhe-folk so long as the apple or branch was in their possession.
Sídhe, though now commonly used in reference to those inhabitants of the Otherworld, are the mounds, hills, or places believed to provide access to the Otherworld. Previously, the term sídhe was used specifically to mean the palaces, courts, or halls in which the spirits of the Otherworld resided.
TECH DUINN:
In Irish lore, there is a separate Otherworld where one goes after death. This realm of the dead is Tech Duinn, the domain of Donn – an ancient god of the dead and ancestor of the Gaels. Tech Duinn means ‘the House of the Dark One’ (‘Donn’ means ‘the dark one’).
There is a 9th-century poem which states that Donn’s dying wish was to have his descendants gathered to him when they died – “To me, to my house, you shall all come after your deaths.” While the Otherworld is often described as being a paradise of great beauty, that is not how Tech Duinn is usually depicted. Rather, it is most commonly portrayed as a frightful place of darkness and dread. Why, I do not know. Perhaps this is simply due to it being the home of Donn, the Dark One.
Tech Duinn is said to lie at or beyond Ireland’s western coast. It is believed that the entrance to Tech Duinn lies on, within, or beneath Bull Rock, an islet bearing a natural tunnel and resembling a portal tomb. Bull Rock lies off the western point of the Beara Peninsula.
A line from Yeats comes to mind in regard to the Otherworld in general, but specifically when speaking of Tech Duinn and Donn’s dying wish -
‘In Ireland, this world and the world we go to after death are not far apart.’
Suffice it to say, the Otherworld has inspired numerous poems and exciting and moving tales, pieces of a time long gone by preserved (hopefully) forever through art. And today it is the source of much scholarly exploration and debate. How much of the Otherworld as we understand it now has been altered by Christianization? How many of the old tales were twisted and reinterpreted to suit the narratives of the Church? We do know that a great deal of this occurred within the preservation of Celtic lore and history, and what tales we have of the Otherworld were not left untouched by this. I hope that this piece, as brief as it is, might inspire others to explore the old Celtic tales in their many interpretations, for there is much to be enjoyed there, as well as much to be learned.
SOURCES & FURTHER READING:
'Cad Goddeu'
'Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia' - Koch, John T.
'Celtic Myths and Legends' - Rolleston, T.A.
'Dictionary of Celtic Mythology' - MacKillop, James
'Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore' - Monoghan, Patricia
'the Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries' - Evans-Wentz, W.Y.
'Hy Brasil: the Metamorphosis of an Island' - Freitag, Barbara
'Immram Brain mac Febail'
'Irish Fairy Tales' - Stephens, James
'the Lord of Ireland' - Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí; Prof.
'the Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales' - trans. Ford, Patrick K.
'the Mabinogian - A New Translation' -Davies, Sioned
'Myth, Legend, & Romance: An Encyclopedia of Irish Folk Tradition' - Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí
'the Mythology of Ancient Britain and Ireland' - Squire, Charles
'Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature' - Byrne, Aisling
'Preiddeu Annwn'
'the Religion of the Ancient Celts' - MacCulloch, J.A.
‘the Sacred Isle: Belief and Religion in pre-Christian Ireland’ - Ó hÓgain, Dáithí; Prof.
So I've been writing letters to some of the Greek gods and let me tell y'all this is an eye opener. Like words have come out of me that I didn't know I had.
With Hestia "The home is ever changing, but the hearth remains the same. You can draw people in with your light, and they may rest there awhile. They may leave. They may stay. You won't know till it happens and sometimes it wont be okay for awhile. It's a part of it. "
With Artemis "Will the moon take my voice, cradle it like so many before me? I wonder. "
These are the ones I wanted to share even though I have more. I hope these help someone.
💜💜✨️
Personal Journal Thing @systemdoesoccultstuff - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
