Podcast Episodes For Witches And Occult Lovers

❣ Skincare Magick ❣

(Gif from this video)

Every so often, use some moon water to wash your face.

Avoid using essential oils directly on your face, they can clog your pores.

Apply body wash or soap to your skin in clockwise circles to open your body up to positivity.

Enchant your moisturizers, acne creams, and cleansers for an added boost.

Draw sigils in your face cream.

Try adding herbs and herb-based products into your routine. Witch Hazel is very popular for treating skin related issues.

If you use pore-cleaning masks, use them to pull the negative energies from your skin.

Use your ring finger to massage products into your skin to ground yourself.

Brew Black tea and then refrigerate it until it’s cool. Then apply it as you would astringent.

Use coconut oil to easily remove makeup. Cleanse and wash after.

Rub a sliced orange on elbows and heels to soften rough and cracked skin. Rinse when finished.

Massaging your face is a wonderful way to ground yourself or begin meditation.

Hi, my housemate just started a medication that has serotonin syndrome as a possible side effect. I remember a while back you talking about foods you had to avoid with medications like that. Could you please remind me of them? They're far back in your blog and I can't find the post.

Wow did this arrive out of order. Sorry it wasn’t answered earlier, @noxnoctisanima

If you’re taking any sort of medication that raises serotonin, avoid like the plague: grapefruit of any sort in any form; bergamot oranges or oil or bergamottin itself (which means no Earl Grey tea, nope, can’t do it, along with lemon peel, lime peel, and certain orange peels because of their bergamottin content), hibiscus (this one is such a fucker and makes zero sense), Rose Hips (same problem as the hibiscus, absolute wtf), and no St. John’s Wort or anything that works in similar fashion. Cut your alcohol intake down to almost nill or completely zero. Oh, and no yerba mate for you. It interferes with neurological meds for neurotransmitters (including ones for dopamine, like Welbutrin), and by “interferes” I mean “stops fucking working.”

These are also troublespots for SSRIs:

non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) – a common type of painkiller that includes ibuprofen, diclofenac or naproxen

antiplatelets – a type of medication used to prevent blood clots, such as low-dose aspirin and clopidogrel

theophylline – a medication used to treat asthma

clozapine and pimozide – medications used to treat schizophrenia and psychosis

lithium – a medication used to treat severe depression and bipolar disorder

triptans – a type of medication, such as naratriptan, sumatriptan and zolmitriptan, used to treat migraines  

other antidepressants – including tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)

Basically, as with any medication, watch your ass, but SSRIs in particular can be dangerous when given to people who also have chronic pain by doctors who don’t stop and fucking *think.* Pain boosts adrenaline, which in turn boosts dopamine, serotonin, and several others. If you’re in pain all the time, your serotonin is often already sky-high. Adding an SSRI on top of that can kill you with one dose.

So if your friend has chronic pain, and their doctor didn’t take this into consideration, they need to go revist this doctor and beat them with a folded metal chair. (Just don’t get caught, and it wasn’t my idea.)

Last thing: if your friend goes from feeling depressed to better with no other difficulties? Great! If your friend’s “better” becomes “completely apathetic” it’s time to adjust doses and/or medications, because apathy is not the result you’re wanting. Also, purple-blue fingernails and toenails = call your doctor right fucking now, and prepare to possibly suffer dropping an SSRI cold turkey.

(Why do I know all this shit? Because one of my previous doctors tried to kill me three fucking times and blew off her own incompetence when I pointed it out. Also every time the intake nurse would put “NO SSRIs” on my file, someone would conveniently go back afterwards and remove that notation…)

Okay, so one more thing: most fucking idiot/useless doctors go right to SSRIs first for patients who come in with depression, most often without actually doing the blood tests that YES, THEY DO EXIST, DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE to see what your primary neurotransmitters that affect mood are actually doing. You should be tested for all 7 of your primaries: acetylcholine (neurotransmitter used by neurons in the control of functions ranging from muscle contraction and heart rate to digestion and memory), norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, GABA, glutamate, and endorphins before you are prescribed *any* sort of anti-depressant, but the 4 most important ones are usually norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and GABA.

Anyway: Good luck, because getting proper treatment for this shit is a handbasket of fuckin’ Nope.

Déjà Vu - the experience of being certain that you have experienced or seen a new situation previously – you feel as though the event has already happened or is repeating itself. The experience is usually accompanied by a strong sense of familiarity and a sense of eeriness, strangeness, or weirdness. The “previous” experience is usually attributed to a dream, but sometimes there is a firm sense that it has truly occurred in the past.

Déjà Vécu - is what most people are experiencing when they think they are experiencing deja vu. Déjà vu is the sense of having seen something before, whereas déjà vécu is the experience of having seen an event before, but in great detail – such as recognizing smells and sounds. This is also usually accompanied by a very strong feeling of knowing what is going to come next.

Déjà Visité -  a less common experience and it involves an uncanny knowledge of a new place. For example, you may know your way around a a new town or a landscape despite having never been there, and knowing that it is impossible for you to have this knowledge. Déjà visité is about spatial and geographical relationships, while déjà vécu is about temporal occurrences. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about an experience of this in his book “Our Old Home” in which he visited a ruined castle and had a full knowledge of its layout. He was later able to trace the experience to a poem he had read many years early by Alexander Pope in which the castle was accurately described.

Déjà Senti - Déjà senti is the phenomenon of having “already felt” something. This is exclusively a mental phenomenon and seldom remains in your memory afterwards. In the words of a person having experienced it: “What is occupying the attention is what has occupied it before, and indeed has been familiar, but has been forgotten for a time, and now is recovered with a slight sense of satisfaction as if it had been sought for. The recollection is always started by another person’s voice, or by my own verbalized thought, or by what I am reading and mentally verbalize; and I think that during the abnormal state I generally verbalize some such phrase of simple recognition as ‘Oh yes—I see’, ‘Of course—I remember’, etc., but a minute or two later I can recollect neither the words nor the verbalized thought which gave rise to the recollection. I only find strongly that they resemble what I have felt before under similar abnormal conditions.”

Jamais Vu - Jamais vu (never seen) describes a familiar situation which is not recognized. It is often considered to be the opposite of déjà vu and it involves a sense of eeriness. The observer does not recognize the situation despite knowing rationally that they have been there before. It is commonly explained as when a person momentarily doesn’t recognize a person, word, or place that they know. Chris Moulin, of Leeds University, asked 92 volunteers to write out “door” 30 times in 60 seconds. He reported that 68 per cent of his guinea pigs showed symptoms of jamais vu, such as beginning to doubt that “door” was a real word. This has lead him to believe that jamais vu may be a symptom of brain fatigue.

Presque Vu - Presque vu is very similar to the “tip of the tongue” sensation – it is the strong feeling that you are about to experience an epiphany – though the epiphany seldom comes. The term “presque vu” means “almost seen”. The sensation of presque vu can be very disorienting and distracting.

dealing with the worst case scenario

your condom breaks

you feel a lump on your breast

your friends are ignoring you

you’re stranded on an island 

you got rejected by a crush

you get into a car accident

you got stung by a bee/wasp

you got fired from your job

you’re in an earthquake

your tattoo gets infected

your house is on fire

you’re lost in the woods

you get arrested abroad

you get robbed

your partner cheated on you

you’re on a ship that’s sinking

you fall into ice

you’re stuck in an elevator

you hit a deer with your car

you have food poisoning

your pet passed away

you fall off of a horse

you or your friend has alcohol poisoning

you have toxic shock syndrome

your house has a gas leak

Treat yourself. Talk to your local undead spirits. Befriend the strange entities hiding within the shadows of your bedroom. Let the strange whispering creature made of eyeballs and dark matter envelop your brain. Become one with your town’s secret underground hivemind. You’ve earned it.

MAGIC MEMORY AID

Sprinkle ground cinnamon and cloves into some honey—rosemary honey, if at all possible.

Add a few drops of pure vanilla extract.

Inhale the fragrance and let the dish sit beside you for a minimum of an hour while you’re studying.

Just before the exam, slide a sprig of rosemary through the scented honey and rub it against the back of your neck.

Taken from Judika Illes’s Magic when you need it.

*magical girl transformation but i turn into this*

Incense Blending: A Guide

Blending your own incense can be a very powerful tool for pagans, no matter what path they choose to practice. A blend you have made has the benefit of being filled with your intentions and power, as well as the more mundane (but no less important) benefit of knowing what has been put into it. This guide is for making cone incense, as it’s easier to form than stick incense and in my experience, burns longer. 

Items Needed (the recipe I’m using is mine for my Samhain incense; the steps are the same for all cone incense, but the recipe differs). 

Mortar and pestle: don’t use the same one you do for grinding herbs for tea or food, incense is not meant to be ingested and in some cases can be harmful.

¾ tsp. Makko or another natural incense base: Makko is a common incense base most notably used in incenses of Japanese origin. 

1 tsp. Myrrh resin: This has a very pungent aroma, but works very well at holding all the parts of the incense together. There are other resins that work just as well for other blends (i.e benzoin gum).

1 tsp.crushed mugwort leaves: You want them to be small enough to stick to the Myrrh resin

1 tsp. Frankincense tears: tears are small chunks of resin, If you grew up in a Catholic environment (like yours truly) you’ll likely recognize these as the incense from funeral masses and Christmas/Easter/Lent.

2 tsp crushed Rosemary Leaves.

Pipette or eyedropper for water.

1. Combine your ingredients in a small bowl. and mix them together, making sure they’re all nicely crushed up.

2. Begin to add small amounts of water to the mixture. Using a pipette or an eyedropper prevents you from adding too much. remember, you can always add more….you can never take it back out.

3. Stir until the blend reaches the consistency of play-doh.

4. Once that happens and your blend has formed a paste, you can begin to form incense cones with your hands, make sure the cones are flat on the bottom.

Once you’ve formed your cones….let them dry for 24-48 hours and they’re ready to go!

Masterpost of Resources for Hellenic Polytheism

I made a masterpost in April, and updated it again today… and then I realized it was in desperate need of organization. Instead of separating my resources from everyone else’s, because that honestly doesn’t do anything, this is a more organized version with mine mixed in, too. Let me know if you find any good resources you think I should add to this list!

Khaire, everyone!

                                   Last Updated 1/21/19

Household Worship & Getting Started

Basic Supplies for Hellenic Polytheism - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

Building Your Worship - @pomegranateandivy​

Sacredness of a Home - @baringtheaegis​

Household Gods - @hearthfirehandworks​

Getting Into Hellenismos (Dorms) - @baringtheaegis​

Rituals, Offerings, and Prayers/Praise

Why You Should (Probably) Eat That Offering - @songbirdspells

Note on ‘Proper’ Offerings - @poemsandmyths​

How to Pray to, Praise, and Worship the Theoi - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​​

Tips for Worshiping the Theoi When You Are Non-Verbal - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​​

(Modernized) Ancient Ouranic Offering Ritual - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

(Modernized) Nekromanteion Ritual - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

Why You Should (Probably) Eat That Offering - @songbirdspells​

Note on ‘Proper’ Offerings - @poemsandmyths​

Why Worship a God of War? - @honorthegods​

Communication With the Theoi, and Why It’s Okay to Not Receive Signs/Messages - @pomegranateandivy​ 

Offering DIY: How to Make Recycled Paper - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

Recipes for the main 13 (part one) // (part two) - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

​Recipes for Other Theoi (part one) - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

Epithets of The Theoi

My Personal Unique Epithets for the Theoi - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

My Personal Epithets for Persephone - @breathing-in-gilded-dust

My Personal Epithets for Haides - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

Epithets and Titles of Aphrodite - Theoi.com

Epithets and Titles of Apollon - Theoi.com 

Epithets and Titles of Ares - Theoi.com   

Epithets and Titles of Artemis - Theoi.com 

Epithets and Titles of Asklepios - Theoi.com

Epithets and Titles of Athena - Theoi.com 

Epithets and Titles of Demeter - Theoi.com 

Epithets and Titles of Dionysos - Theoi.com

Epithets and Titles of Haides - Theoi.com

Epithets and Titles of Hekate - Theoi.com

Epithets and Titles of Hephaistos - Theoi.com 

Epithets and Titles of Hera - Theoi.com

Epithets and Titles of Hermes - Theoi.com

Epithets and Titles of Hestia - Theoi.com

Epithets and Titles of Persephone (mainly worshiped alongside Demeter) - Theio.com

Epithets and Titles of Poseidon - Theoi.com

Epithets and Titles of Selene - Theoi.com

Epithets and Titles of Zeus - Theoi.com

Lyma & Miasma

The Debate on Daily Purification and the Difference Between Miasma and Lyma - @sisterofiris

A Follow Up on Pollution and Purification - @sisterofiris

How we Pick Up Lyma and a Note on Binding/Veiling - @sisterofiris

Festivals 

Hellenic Revivalist Calendar - @pomegranateandivy​

Hellenic Polytheism Festivals and Information - @pomegranateandivy​ 

Hellenion.org (Site for reconstruction of the Hellenic Polytheistic religion with festival calendars, ritual ideas, and more… highly recommended)

Link to their 2019 calendar page

Link to their festival directory

Elaion.org (Another group for Hellenic Polytheists with rituals, festival calendars, etc. Very wonderful as well)

Link to their 2019 calendar page 

Link to their Resource Page

Arete and Other Values

Hellenic Polytheism and Depression - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

The Pillars of Hellenismos - @honorthegods​

Veiling

Amaranta’s Guide to Basic Hair Binding and Veiling - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

Hellenic Veiling - @pomegranateandivy

Books, Academic Posts, and Other Resource Masterposts

Tons of Great Books for Hellenic Polytheists (with free PDFs) - @breathing-in-gilded-dust​

Hellenic FAQ - @pomegranateandivy

Magic in Ancient Greece and Rome - @bayoread​

Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies - @songbirdspells​

Recommended Books About Hekate - @teawitch​ & @the-witching-tree​

Information and Tips About Persephone’s Worship (And some for Aphrodite as well) - @honorthegods​

Free Academic Resources Masterpost - @secondgenerationimmigrant​

Site for Learning Ancient Languages - @witchofeindor​

Information About Hekate - @baringtheaegis 

Theoi.com (a site full of information about all of the gods and goddesses that we really know about. Good for basic information. Not the end-all-be-all, and as with any site, can sometimes be inaccurate, though usually great for beginner things, epithets, etc.)

The Monster Compilation of Free Online Resources for Classical Studies - @honorthegods​

Ancient Greek Mountain Cultus - @sisterofiris​

baringtheaegis.blogspot.com (This a wonderful, wonderful blog) - @baringtheaegis​

Two Book Recommendations with Free PDFs - @nessotropheion​

Great Sites for Research - @pomegranateandivy

The Greek Alphabet Oracle (similar to Nordic rune-casting) - Apollonius Sophistes

Sisterofiris’ Resources and Tags Page - @sisterofiris

How I Personally View the Idea of Destiny and Free Will as a Hellenic Polytheist - @breathing-in-gilded-dust

Hymns/Prayers Masterposts

My Hymns, Prayers, and Poetry (WIP) - @breathing-in-gilded-dust

Prayers and Devotionals - @pomegranateandivy

Blogs I recommend:

@pomegranateandivy

@honorthegods

@sisterofiris​

@songbirdspells​

@baringtheaegis​

@thepastelpriestess​