Some UPG, As A Treat…

Heart Girt with a Serpent Talon Abraxas

Why are Russia and China so big? Don't worry about it, that just happened during the big bang. They just spawned like that dude. Colonization only happens with America or something. Don't worry about it.

Your Sight shall be in my Sight

in whose name you rest here

I will not disturb you

but hoped that you

in the name of peace may sleep

so that I may see the Hidden

and see its power

hear in celebration

and help in need.

Could you

O Holy Ghost

give to me of your power

In the name of the Holy Crucified One

Amen.

— From The Graveyard Wanderers— The Wise Ones And The Dead In Sweden by Thomas Johnson

These words were uttered as their speaker crossed themselves over a gravestone in a churchyard. When the speaker had finished the invocation, they then made the sign of the cross over each of their eyelids, three times. To the Klok— “The Wise Ones”, the folk healers and magicians of Scandinavia— graveyards, burial mounds, old execution sites and other such areas where the spirits of the dead dwelt were sacred places. In Sweden, these individuals were known as Kyrkogårdsgångare, or Graveyard Walker. The term is related to gengångare, which in Swedish means “those who walk again”. The word can be translated as “ghost”, but their form is entirely corporeal; not see-through or specter-like as phantoms in the Anglosphere tend to be.

The dead serviced the Graveyard Walkers in many ways. One could summon the spirits of the departed and ask for their service in everything from revealing secrets and hidden knowledge to obtaining lottery numbers. Or, a Graveyard Walker could utilize the dead in a more tangible fashion: both the left collar bone of an elderly man and the left ring finger of a corpse were considered to be among the best amulets for protection. (However, before the Wise One left the earthly plane, they must of course return the borrowed bone back to its original resting place.) Everything, right down to the very soil of the graveyard, was used: from rubbing Graveyard dirt on the skin to cure rashes, to drinking it in a slurry to restore a loss of appetite.

But how did one become a Graveyard Walker and a Wise One? There is the aforementioned invocation of course, but there was also the ancient practice of Uttesittning. Uttesittning is a ritual where one meditates in nature from sunset to sunrise, opening the soul and merging with the world of the spirits. There is one legend where one would go to a churchyard or any other places affiliated with burial or the dead for three consecutive Thursday nights to perform an Uttesittning ritual (Thursdays were important, as they were sacred to the old god Thor). On the third and final Thursday, a dark man might perhaps appear and reward the one performing this ritual with a gift. There are some stories that claim that the gift was a Book of Black Arts— a Svarteboken, or “black book”, also known as a Cyprianus (named after St. Cyprian). It was said these Black Arts Books would be written in blood, or written on black pages with white ink. A Wise One would keep all their spells in such books, which contained everything from Kabbalist literature to farm and home recipes.

The Wise Ones and Graveyard Walkers are endlessly fascinating to me, as well as folk magic in general. I hope to create many more artworks inspired by this topic, and I hope that I’ve piqued your interest in it as well!

For more books on this subject:

Gårdbäck, Johannesburg Björn. Trolldom: Spells and Methods of the Norse Folk Magic Tradition. The Ironwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology (YIPPIE), 2015.

Johnson, Thomas. The Graveyard Wanderers — The Wise Ones and the Dead in Sweden. Society of Esoteric Endeavor, 2013.

Sibley, J.T. The Way of the Wise. XLIBRIS, 2013.

A special thanks to my friend Eli, for all your insight into Swedish folklore and folk magic!

Mother, Queen, Harlot

I feel the need to state that I am not a Thelemite and that my relationship and understanding of Babalon is informed mostly via direct contact with Her.

 It was almost 10 years ago that I first felt Her presence. She would not give me a name but simply images, symbols, and emotions that represented her. I saw images of sex, blood, fire, blades, and serpents. Feelings of lust, love, passion, rage, sovereignty and feminine power.

 Truth be told I wasn’t in the place to have a spirit like that be active in my life so it would be a few years before I set up a shrine to Her.

Her shrine was simple. An inexpensive goddess statue with a red costume rosary wrapped around it, a red candle, and a letter opener with a crown motif. I would burn incense and meditate on Her, sometimes seeking guidance, sometimes just simply being with her. I began referring to Her as “The Red Queen” while still not having a proper name. I was becoming comfortable with her ambiguity and in turn she was helping me become comfortable with myself.

It was around this time that I began working with a teacher who was helping me with visionary work and spirit flight. It was during one of our sessions that I made a breakthrough and came face-to-face with my Red Queen. She sat on a scarlet cushion in a rooms who’s lamps were draped with red scarves. Her hair was a deep brown almost black, her skin was an inhuman pale white. Her arm was casual laying across one upraised knee. She has gold bangles and armlets, gold anklets and rings, a gold hoop around her neck and in her ears, but ironically no crown. Her clothes were reminiscent of an Indian saree the colour of blood. 

I sat across from her and bowed, placing my head on the cushioned floor. When I raised my head, she locked eyes with me. 

“I am have many names, I am many. I am Ishtar, I am Innana, I am Lilith, I am the Queen of Heaven and Hell. But you, you will know me as Babalon.”

Thats when I returned to my body. I was flooded with joy and exhilaration, She had told me Her name, I had a better focus. 

I knew that Babalon was a goddess in Thelema, but I knew next to nothing about Her other than that. To this day I still don’t really know much about her role in Thelema but I've been considering studying it. I’ve continued to go straight to Her when it comes to offerings, prayers, etc. Reading how others interact with her from time to time. Her shrine has grown but not by much, She’s comfortable with it being simple but beautiful. I have been searching for a new statue for Her though, something that I feel fits her better. 

Babalon, The Red Queen, has been my strongest spiritual ally during my transition. She has held my hand and guided my feet as I find my femininity, rediscover my sexuality, and navigate the world as a woman. I’ve taken her epithet “Mother of Abominations” as a sort of trans mother goddess. Trans people are Her children and Her prophets. We are the drops of blood from Her Grail, we are the swords in Her hands. I doubt this is what Crowley had in mind when conceptualizing the goddess but honestly, I don’t care. 

I’ve come to understand Babalon in three sort of facets or faces. The Mother (of Abominations), The Sacred Whore, and The Warrior-Queen. I don’t know if any other people would agree with me or if there is literature to back it up but this is my personal gnosis. 

The Mother I already discussed above. The Sacred Whore and Warrior-Queen are both reminiscent of Ishtar/Inanna, but the Sacred Whore for me personally aligns with her Lilith aspect. Babalon-Lilith is feminine sexuality embodied, but even more she is the taboo side of femme sex, she is trans and kink, she is queer, she is unbridled and selfish, she is the side of our sexuality that is without limit and free. She’s taught me to not be ashamed of what I like and what I want when it comes to sexual satisfaction. My sexuality is mine and no one else's.

The Warrior-Queen is the aspect I am the least in touch with. I’m a pacifist person and seek non-violence in my regular life as much as I can. I have a rather hot temper that I’ve had to learn to keep under control. My most powerful weapon is my tongue and I’d rather talk my way out of a situation than ever resort to violence. Maybe my disconnect with the Warrior-Queen is that I need to recontextualize what it means for me, personally, to be a warrior. We’ll have to see how it plays out. 

I’ll leave this post with an A.I. generated art piece I made as a devotional act using the phone app “Dream”

Heresy As Healing

When I first got into paganism and witchcraft, I did what I think a lot of people do and took a very hard turn in to “fuck Christianity!” The literature and discourse of the early and mid 2000′s didn't help this mindset either. There was a lot of talk about how Wicca (I was an eclectic wiccan at the time) was the survival of an ancient pre-Christian religion and that Christianity stole its practices, holidays, and pretty much everything else, from paganism.

Needless to say my religious baggage went unpacked for YEARS?

That was until i left my more Wicca-inspired practice and found “traditional witchcraft”. In these spaces i found something that i had been lead to believe was impossible: Witchcraft and Christianity coexisting. Not only coexisting, but a style of witchcraft created by almost biblical teachings on their heads and pulling out the magic. Lucifer and Azaezel being sources of witch-power, Cain being the first Sorcerer, the witch’s horned one as the Devil! Seeing the witch-trials as not simply a tragedy, but pulling wisdom and magic from the confessions. All of this was new and exciting!

Beginning my research into this amazing new avenue was the first step in healing my heart and soul from the hitherto ignored scars left by my time in the Church. The more I walked this strange and crooked path, the more I found value in heresy. Calling to the Man in Black at a crossroads, flying from my body to the Witch’s Sabbath, reciting the Lord’s Prayer backwards. All of these were powerful in ways I never thought they could be. I laughed at myself. If you had told me at 18 that in 5 years id be dancing with the Devil, I would have raged about there being no Devil in the Craft. While I understand now why the 90s-2000s were so “anti-devil” and “love and light” I’m glad that we can now look at witchcraft and its history with a more nuanced lens.

Now in some ways I've come full circle. I am not a Christian, and I don't think i ever will be, but I pray to saints, I have a growing interest in Mary, I use psalms and bible verses in my spell work, i craft rosaries as a devotional act to the spirits I serve and honour. My patron goddess has even started to come to me with Marian imagery and titles.

In Fayerie Traditionalism/Fayerism we’re encouraged (sometimes outright told) to avoid and expunge all Abrahamism from our lives and certainly from our Sorcery. We’re told that there is no magic or value in Abrahamic traditions. This has been my biggest hurdle with this path. For me, i find so much power in using folk magic that would be deemed “witchcraft” by the Church, regardless of how much scripture is in it. I think to continue this idea of “there's no place for Christianity in witchcraft” does such a disservice to the history of witchcraft in Europe and the US. So many practices would not exist if our ancestors had not learned to synchronize and hide in plain site. I’m not calling on God when I use a psalm to heal, I'm speaking words of power that have been spoken for centuries by other healers and workers. When I pray the rosary, I do it to honor my ancestors who found comfort in it. 

For me, the catholic folk magic and heretical aesthetics do not deter me from path of Fayerie Traditionalism, it is simply another avenue to the same goal. The spirits of this tradition have not shown any ill-will to how I work. Gwynn still comes when I call him “Devil” or “Master” and Gwynnevar herself told me to call her “Our Lady Down Below” or “Our Lady of the Mound/Hill” Taking back my power from Christianity and seeing the Wisdom in its heresy has made me a better person and a stronger sorcerer. I have not lost my faith in the Fayerie People but have come closer to them. 

All this is to say:

Be free

Be powerful

Be a Heretic

Nema

The Lady and the Stag - ArtofMaquenda

(Please ignore my nails I’m between sets 😝) MY MURKSTAVE AREIVED!!! For those that don’t know, wands are my favourite magical tools. Now I’d seen several staves/wands from @poisonersapothecary but could never justify buying another wand (I have six lol) but when I saw these specific ones I knew I had to have one. My phone cannot do this beautiful piece justice. Thank you so much Coby for you amazing work as always. I was not expecting the cute cauldron or the lovely thank you card, both were a wonderful surprise. Okay I’ll stop gushing now 🖤 #witch #traditionalwitchcraft #pagan #murkstave #myrkstafir #magicaltool #wand #necromancy #banefulmagic #spiritwork #fayerism #cunningwoman https://www.instagram.com/p/CjAFvFEujoX/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Here’s my contribution to the #regionalwitchcraftchallenge started by Via Hedera

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So I wasn’t sure if I should have taken part in this because #Maine doesn’t really have anything (that I know of) that is specific to the region.

To make up for that, I try to incorporate as much of the local flora, fauna, and landscape as I can.

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-Maine black bear skull, gifted from a local hunter

-Novena candle (one side of my family is Catholic and that has started to influence my craft)

-Locally harvested cedar

-Two keepsakes of my departed grandparents

-Birch Water (à la “An Carow Gwyn”) with bark harvest from my property

-An antique rosary found while thrifting

-A hag stone from the coast of Maine

-Selected bones from my casting kit that are all local animals (red fox, coyote, beaver, bobcat)

-An arrowhead from our state museum

-Ritual blade made from white-tail deer

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Andy Goldsworthy

A Lesson for Young Witches

If you cannot find representations for a given element, remember…

You are supported by a rigid skeleton made of minerals. You are earth.

Your body is over 70% fluid. You are water.

Your lungs take in and expel breath. You are air.

Your blood is warm and your brain runs on electrical impulses. You are fire.

Your essence, however you describe it, resides within you. You are spirit.

You are composed of gifts from every element, and every element is given marvelous life in you.

Never feel that you are insufficiently magical for lack of icons or accoutrements or accessories.

You are ALWAYS magic. You are ALWAYS enough.