#personal praxis

[carbon-heart]

A Petition

O Star-Crowned Queen,

Lady Fate, Pale and Dread Mistress,

I ask of you this favor.

Hold me within your cloak and hand

cleanse me of sorrow and doubt

Let your eyes within the stars shine upon this house,

upon my resting place

and encompass it with blessing and protection.

Make whole what was once broken.

Be kinder to me than you once were, O Fate,

be kind to me, Lady Fate, be kind.

[blackthornwren]

You can build an entire cosmology from the wreckage left by storms; from earthquakes and volcanoes, from falling stars, from the scarring of frost and fire. The stories of gods are buried within our own natural histories.

[carbon-heart]

The altars and all the shrines have been given a bi-weekly dust, and in particular the shrine rack (a wire storage rack meant for books in one corner of my room) has been organized in a way that everyone is happy with.

A friend among the Fair Folk dropped by to give some input on how the appropriate nook in my desk should be configured. I'm happy with it right now, except for the fact that the little desk fountain that sits in the middle of it is inexplicably not working. Putting new batteries in it did not help. Will be looking for a new one presently.

[carbon-heart]

I find it very interesting how the main two tutelary spirits in my practice have spheres of influence that intersect.

Dame Fate is a lady of stars, yes, but she also rules over a lot of other stuff. Creation. Ingenuity. Innovation. Clear thought and Knowledge. Love and pleasure. Fire, as it pertains to all of the above...

All things that have been said, at various times, to be under the rulership of the Devil.

idk just something I've been thinking about. The venn diagram is practically a circle at this point :)

[carbon-heart]

In my experience, tarot cards are good for divining on relationships between things; because they have a system of elements kind of baked in, they're great for brainstorming spell construction, what kind of "element type" (for lack of a better word) is influencing a situation and how to remedy it, and identifying rulerships of spirits. It's more conceptual.

Playing cards, by contrast, are more concrete: still with plenty of room for spirits to put their two cents in, but I find they tend to be better for reading on more mundane events. There's also less information, visually, with a deck of playing cards. That doesn't necessarily mean it's better, just less packed with stuff to sift through.

(Side note: I've been thinking about picking up geomancy for a while. I'd be interested to see how it compares to either.)

[carbon-heart]

Twilight Necromancy

Walk round a graveyard thrice, counterclockwise. If the architecture doesn't permit this, walk past the gate thrice and knock on it thrice.

"Cusp of night and close of day,

Hearken to the spell I say.

Thrice I circumambulate,

Thrice my actions consecrate.

I call the fallen and forgotten,

All the dead, answer my calling.

Let them all now be awoken,

Secrets of the grave be spoken.

Whisper them in depth of trance,

Join me in the spirits' dance."

[dionysianfreak]

there's always a palpable buzz in the air as Dionysia celebrations get closer

[blackthornwren]

Incantation Magic

(Just some thoughts, not meant to be comprehensive, barely even coherent)

Incantatory magic to me is an elegant simplicity of words strung together in order to commend oneself to the protection and favor of divinity. The appeal to the spirits is a call to come forth, to guard the petitioner. The words themselves build around the caster as an armor - the words tell a story and, in the telling of it, makes story come to life by mimicking the events in the present time; a sort of microcosm, macrocosm effect. By telling the stories of the spirits (Christian or not), the speaker is viewed literally as calling down the essences, the spirits, of those same stories - seen as very real and independent beings with their own agency and arsenal - to enact upon themselves. Therefore, if the gods hold divine weapons and armor, the petitioner calls upon the gods to loan them the use or power of such instruments of fortitude and protection.

Healing magics by way of incantation weave similar stories to different effect. A charm might tell the story of an injury and how a god or spirit (often a saint) cured it. In this instance, the caster is asking to be loaned the same ability - essentially letting that spirit guide their hands to undertake the healing in the same way that spirit once did. Another form uses the stories of magical items, similar to the lorica (breastplate). The item's story is told and mimicking actions may take place during the recitation to pull on the power of the item itself and its history.

Incantatory storytelling is also used to drive out spirits that may be harmful, banishing them. In this case, the caster uses scenarios in their story that are either "impossible" or hearken to specific realms of spirits, place locations. Either way, it serves the purpose of sending it back or sending it away to a place that either doesn't exist or that cannot be escaped from (the impossibility, the non-existence, creates a perfect trap). By impossibility, it's not just a place that does not exist but also specific scenarios that would never happen. For example, in order for that spirit to be released a condition would need to be met that could never be met. It would be released on a date that would never occur, or under a circumstance that could never happen.

The storytelling aspect of incantation lends history and credence, adding weight to the words. Naming the gods or spirits involved is an immediate way to connect to them, to garner their interest, to appeal for their aid, and to put some of their power to the words being spoken and it's intended effect - if they decide to assist, that is.

"Apportioning" by incantation was used in similar fashion as the method of banishing I've described above, but by driving out the spirit of a sickness or the evil eye using a combination of various locations and repetition. The incantations would describe sending away the illness or spirit causing illness/misfortune to various places - a portion to the mountains, a portion to the rocks, a portion to the hills, a portion to the sea, and so on. By doing this, the purpose was to divide up the affliction or spirit and the "pieces" would be so many and so scattered, the malevolence would have no hope of ever reforming itself.

Symbolism within the words points to the powers ascribed to the being who is called upon for aid. Columkille portrayed as standing astride land and water denotes power over both land and sea. God being referred to as the King of Elements conveys his power as ultimate, dominion over all the elements and therefore, all else that falls under them. Charms calling upon Michael or Patrick evoke their strength, while Brigid and Mary are often called on for healing. Christ's baptism features in several healing charms meant to stop blood flow, and Christ himself is called upon by saints in healing charms - Peter's toothache, and Lucy's eyes. Brigid in particular is called for the protection of cattle and livestock but is also appealed to during childbirth as the midwife of Mary and foster-mother of Christ, and there may even have been a time when Brigid was appealed to as a healer of sight and eye-related injuries. As the spirit's regional folklore grew, so did their repertoire.