“Most witches don’t believe in gods. They know that the gods exist, of course. They even deal with them occasionally. But they don’t believe in them. They know them too well. It would be like believing in the postman.” ― Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad
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“‘All right,’ said Susan. ‘I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable.’
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
‘Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—’
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
‘So we can believe the big ones?’
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
‘They're not the same at all!’
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
‘Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—’
MY POINT EXACTLY.” ― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather
I group these two challenges together because a lot of my personal philosophy on the existence of gods comes from Pratchett’s work, and it’s quotes like these that I feel really describe my relationship with the gods and with my craft. I was unable to find one of the more descriptive quotes from Small Gods and some of the other great passages from Hogfather and from the Tiffany Aching subseries, but essentially what I’ve derived is this:
All gods exist in potentia, but belief in them builds them up, gives them strength and shapes them into all the facets human beings need them to have. The stories we tell give them their powers, their ability to affect our lives. They all exist, whether we believe in them or not, but the belief is what makes them real to us on this plane.
Words and stories have power, especially in planes other than this material plane; telling a story and putting all of your belief into it can make it true in some planes.
Sometimes witchcraft is like telling yourself a story, and you’ve got to believe in your story in order to make it be. I break down my astral and godphone experiences like this: 88% of it is ‘real’, and the other 12% is my imagination, my story. And that adds up to it 100% being, not true or false or real or unreal, just being, and that’s enough.
If you believe in something (metaphysical), such as astrology or deities or spirit work or astral travel, then it affects you, and it’s true for you. For instance, my friend doesn’t believe in zodiac signs, and that’s fine. I do, and I like to feel the energy of my signs and I like knowing about other peoples’, because to me, it’s something that matters.
How I got onto the kemetic/hellenic path is something separate. About four years ago, probably after reading the Tiffany Aching books, I began to research Wicca, and I found it very interesting. I bought a bunch of eclectic practitioner books and I followed that path for about a year and a half, and for a while it worked. And then I was introduced to the kemetic community on tumblr, and started to think about maybe working with S.
I’ve struggled with depression for about five years now, and it really hasn’t been very easy. So, one day I’m binge-watching Xena: Warrior Princess, and Hades appears on the screen, and then suddenly H is sitting on the couch next to me, complaining about the actor and the character. “And oh, no dying for you yet, by the way.”
And after that my death god family just sort of fell together, and here I am. I offer my morning coffee to H and Dj (and now also F, my spirit companion), and do what I can when I can. Seph annoys me on a near-daily basis, S is pretty busy, Dj’s got a million things to do but always time for some coffee, and H gives the Best. Bugs. Ever.
My dream temple, like my dream altar, would have several layers. The ground floor would be dedicated to S, and would have lion statues guarding the entrance. There would be a life-size statue of S sitting on a throne, and a sandstone table for offerings. The walls would have torches or candles, and at the foot of the statue a small fireplace.
There would be a second, underground floor, dedicated to H. That would be lit by sparse lanterns, and only when someone was there. The walls would be made of stone, and inlaid with emerald and bloodstone designs. Instead of a statue, there would be a skull on a pedestal. The table would be stone. Owl statues would guard the bottom of the descending staircase.
The top floor would be an observatory, dedicated to Dj. There would be a lot of bird imagery and zodiac symbols. There would be a laboratory-height table pushed up against a wall, with two stools, and always a pot of coffee left there. There’d be a set of blankets and fluffy pillows too, just in case of some late-night stargazing.
Outside there would be the gardens, dedicated to Seph. There would be a labyrinth in the garden, and in the center a grove of fruit trees. At each dead end there’d be an offering tray of sweets and a bowl with milk or wine for faeries.
6. My dream altar setup would probably include three separate altars, as it is now; one for chthonic deities (H and Seph, and Ereshkigal and Anubis if I work with them!), one for other deities (S and Dj, and Bragi if I get the chance to work with him again!), and one for spirit companions and astral work. (If I start doing fae work like Seph keeps urging me to, I would have a fae altar as well.)
My chthonic altar would have a skull on it, as it does now, and would have statues of H and Seph, and my bloodstone crystal ball. Most of my stones would be on that altar, as they would fall under H’s domain. There would probably be owl statues and cervid statues. This altar would have my needlewands and a chalice. It would be in a chest or a box, so that it could be left in darkness.
My general deity altar would have a statue of S and a statue of Dj, and my athame and an incense burner. There would be an ibis figure and a lion figure as well. It might be the higher shelf of a set on top of the chthonic altar.
My spirit altar would have unicorn, fae, and forest-themed art, and also a spyglass for F. It would be the lower shelf.
7. “Taxidermist Taxidermist” by Lady Lamb. This song, particularly the lyrics “Lie, oh lie, oh lioness, my lioness / Sharp and ambivalent / Won't you lie on my skins?” reminds me of S, and overall the lyrics make me think of the Blood aspect, something I connect to my craft.
“In Our Nature” by José González. This entire album gives me a very earthy feel, and I’ve used it as the background track to several of my rituals. I feel very connected to the earth element, and try to use that energy when I can.
“Overture” by Clark Powell. I’ve used this song as my anchor several times that I’ve astral traveled; it’s a long song and easy to come back to.
1. I chose to join team Corvus because corvids have been a big symbol for me. A famous raven gave to me one of my dearest pseudonyms. The corvid as a symbol of death has particular relevance for me because of the deities I work with. Djehuty in particular I have come to associate with the curiosity and trickster nature of ravens in stories.
I strive for intelligence and knowledge through my experience, and am sometimes too honest.
2. @magicalmoodmemes is my fair buddy!!
5.
I draw a lot of my inspiration for how I approach my craft from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels; Tiffany Aching made me want to become a witch in the first place.
A lot of songs can inspire me, recently I’ve been listening to a lot of vampire-related songs.
I absolutely love pretty words, I love words so much.
Sometimes when I hear people talking about things tangentially related to things I’m working on it gives me inspiration.
If I find art that gives me a familiar astral feel that can inspire me to travel that day.
Heh, some of the kemetic fandom posts inspire me to do little goofy devotional things for my gods.
I said Discworld, but fantasy books in general are really inspiring.
Sometimes just going through my tarot cards and checking in can help inspire me or pick me up if I’m feeling down!
8. and lo, feel the earth / steadfast and older than time / energy unlocked
• began with mirror visualization; spoke a bit to astral self before being pulled through the mirror
• I looked like everything my soul was at once
• wound up at a fae tea with Seph and my astral self, possibly
• fought with Seph, rather unsuccessfully
• Seph pushed me fully back into the physical
Time out: 10min
Trip 2:
• astral self stood up and was in my astral jungle
• this time the form was a vampiric fae god creature that shifted from human to feline forms
• greeted S the Willow
• used earth fortress ring to access the underworld and find H
• H and I met S on a hill above the fortress
• Aslan’s How
• S and H and I drank in the eclipse energy
• and then everyone kinda showed up; Seph lay her head in my lap, Dj was off to the side pontificating, Bragi and Lord Anubis showed up, Ereshkigal showed up, even Death was there
• and we all sat and watched the sun and the moon
• until everyone started to fade, and it was just Seph and I, and it was time to go home.
