The Opps (forces Beyond My Understanding) Are Holding Me By The Scruff Of My Neck Like A Kitten (not

I’ve been meaning to make some kind of portable altar for a while, figuring I’d just put together some kind of tiny kit for travel or something. Then I was like HEY WAIT, I COULD JUST DRAW ONE IN MY GRIMOIRE, and voila :D

So fun fact about my practice:

I don't like having practical tools with only magical use. My athame is a plain old pocketknife. I use it to physically cut stuff. My normal broom is blessed & is what I cleanse with (so is my vacuum, because, carpet). My ritual jewelry is worn daily. My ritual mugs are just my morning coffee mugs, but I pick out which one is best for the working I'm doing (Death work, Ouija mug). And my herbs, hoooo boy, it's my normal spice rack.

Just because it's mundanely practical & useful, doesn't mean it isn't magical. If anything, being interacted with more makes it more powerful.

This is my rant, so as per ushe,

Go Forth & Get Weird With It

I got a reading by @planetbabysitter

It was absolutely amazing! Her reading style is beautiful, intuitive and so detailed, she touched on personal things I have been instinctively holding close to my chest that played a huge part in my life and even my identity. I didn't know someone else could understand me like that but she absolutely did and her reading reflected that perfectly.

It helped me navigate these feelings I had been suppressing for so long and understand myself on a deeper level, encouraging me to see things from a fresh perspective.

She gave me the clarity and guidance I couldn't find on my own and I highly recommend getting a reading from her, it's so worth it

Knots of Chaos Curse

This is a fabulous spell to use on someone who hurts others for his or her own benefit.

Materials:

- Length of jute or hemp cord cut to the height of your target.

Find the center of the cord and tie the first knot there, saying:

"By knot of one, you come undone,

Tie the second knot to the right of the first, saying:

By knot of two, chaos brews,

Tie the third knot to the left of the first, saying:

By knot of three, you'll want to flee,

Tie the fourth knot to the right of the second saying:

But knot of four just lock the doors,

Now alternating left and right, tie the remaining knots as follows chanting the related verse.

The fifth knot:

By knot of five, you lose your drive,

The sixth knot:

By knot of six, your mind plays tricks,

The seventh knot:

By knot of seven, you'll wish for heaven,

The eight knot:

But knot of eight just slams that gate.

The ninth knot:

By knot of nine, your strength declines,

The tenth knot:

By knot of ten, you cannot win,

The eleventh knot:

By knot of eleven, you'll wish for seven,

The twelfth knot:

But that is shelved by knot of twelve.

The thirteenth knot:

It's the thirteenth knot that does you in

And leaves you paying for your sins.

It brings you right down to your knees

And leaves you begging for release.

But none shall come until you've paid

For what you've done, the games you've played,

The folks you've hurt, the lives you've frayed.

And only then shall you receive

Your life again and a reprieve."

Bury a hole at least nine inches deep and bury the cord in the ground.

The Daemonic Witxh's notes: this is a very effective curse and well deserved for those that abuse and harm others on a regular basis. As far as disposal goes, if you don't want to bury it or cannot, you can throw it somewhere else. Get creative. Think of your enemy and the best place to put it. If you feel you might want to untie it at a later date, you can keep it somewhere. I have a cigar box I use for such spells. Also, you can dress the cord in a type of oil after. Banishing, confusion, domination oil, etc. I've had this in one of my grimoires for years and this has become a favorite!

As I always recommend, strengthen your shields/wards and make sure you are doing protection spells on yourself regularly.

Source (this spell is from a book)

Occultists, witches and spiritualists really need to stop peddling the lie that spirituality, witchcraft, paganism, etc. isn’t a psychological phenomenon as well as a mystical one. Your psychology will in fact, fundamentally inform your experiences with spirituality.

And we also need to stop pretending that spirituality and witchcraft are somehow contrary to mental illness. Or that having a mental illness means you can’t do witchcraft.

I’ll be completely honest with you guys and say that certain people with certain afflictions are more predisposed to different “mystical” experiences than others. I don’t think it’s a great coincidence that I am so great at visualization given that I was raised in a severely neglectful household. It doesn’t surprise me that many pagans are lonely people. This doesn’t mean to say that spirituality is “filling” a hole within anyone (although if it is, that’s great for you) but more so that, well, this path is unpopular for a reason. Alternative subcultures are alternative for a reason, and outcasts and rejects usually find a home there for a reason.

This also doesn’t mean to say that people who engage in witchcraft and spiritualism are inherently mentally ill. There is still a difference between hallucinations and spiritual encounters. And there was never any rule that said that both of these things cannot happen to a single person. For the safety of yourself and others we should be aware of the warning signs of dissociation and hallucination, but that doesn’t make anyone “wrong” for experiencing those things. And experiencing those things doesn’t mean you cannot explore spirituality or do witchcraft.

I hate it when “spiritualists” who are actually just anti-vax conservatives push the narrative that people with mental health issues cannot participate in spirituality. I also despise the notion that mental health issues are inherently a sign of an energetic imbalance. We’re all walking around with a special concoction of brain soup in our heads, it doesn’t surprise me that Ares devotees tend to have BPD, that many Aphrodite devotees struggle with self harm, that many people who work with angels have paranoia or generalized anxiety.

There was never any rule that said that you cannot use your deities or magic to help you cope with your mental health. I know some people will say “the Gods aren’t here to be your friend or hold your hand through life” but I’ve seen no evidence to suggest that’s true. I see no reason why a God like Ares couldn’t help his devotee with BPD come down after a bout of rage, I see no reason why Dionysus couldn’t help his devotee with their alcoholism or substance abuse, I see no reason why Aphrodite couldn’t help a devotee with relapse or negative self talk.

Witchcraft and paganism were historically used as a tool for survival, to bring people ease, to help people feel safe and secure, blessed and protected. That applied to all people, including those with mental health issues.

It was only recently that I truly understood the power and significance of offerings

In the past, I had tried deity worship. I made offerings that felt accepted but never in return for anything, it was just an act of servitude. It didn't feel right to ask for things. For the longest time, I was alone. I felt lonely, and part of my dabbling in deity practices was an attempt to reach out to someone, to something, to feel less alone, to feel like someone is out there watching over me, caring about me, taking care of me. I felt like a little girl with noone to hold her close and lift the burden on her heart, noone to make her feel light again

Later on, I moved on to other things. It just wasn't a good fit. Ideologies and beliefs shifted and the deity I would turn to when things got hard was the night sky. Tear filled eyes looking up to the stars and pouring my heart out over whatever was hurting me. Funnily enough, I ended up getting what I asked for during those sessions and I chalked it up to my tears being the offering, the energy I released during those moments, an equal exchange as all things are. Still, the night sky wasn't what I was looking for, though it gave me comfort at times

Recently I was in the hospital visiting someone. One of the doctors approached me and asked me for a favor because none of the staff could leave the room due to an emergency. They were out of a sort of bandages and she needed me to go get some from a nearby pharmacy. She showed me the empty pack to know what to get and money to buy it

I paid for it myself and returned the money. They tried to argue but I refused. They've done so much for me, it was the very least I could do. It was nothing, a natural course of action

And yet, walking out of the gates it felt like I paid off a debt, something shifted and I felt like an exchange had been made

An offering accepted.

I pray I am right.

My mind started racing, so many possibilities opened up yet the paths leading to them are still unclear. What do I offer? Who do I offer it to? The universe? The night sky? A familiar?

🔮 Absolutely random, assorted facts from my experience with Tarot:

You can set rules with your deck. Don’t like reversed cards? Don’t pull them. Don’t interpret them. Request not to get them. Don’t care about the position of the card and want only its meaning? Ask for it.

You can pull confirmation cards. If you are working with a companion, you can set up their personal confirmation card. If you’re working with the deck and the general universe, you can pick a feel-good card (or a rare card if you want) and request it whenever you want to get a vibecheck.

You can repull. If it feels weird, it probably is weird. If you keep pulling the same card all over again, it’s probably correct. But if you pulled one weird one that just doesn’t seem like it belongs, repull. Your deck - your rules.

You don’t need to sweat too much over “official meanings”. So what if the Tower means “something bad”? If it means something positive for you, go with your feelings first. Each practitioner will have their own associations with the cards. I for one quite like the Tower, but I genuinely hate getting the High Priestess. It’s individual.

You don’t need to work with a specific Deity, spirit, or daemon. The cards are powerful tools without any additional presence.

You can assign a deck to a particular entity. I have four decks, out of which three belong to (a) companion(s) of mine. This is completely individual and fully relies on who you want to touch your cards.

You can confuse the cards. When the reading starts to feel like it just reiterates your feelings, it probably is. Or you worded your question badly and the cards don’t know what to tell you. Or you already know the answer. Or maybe something else.

You might be turning your spread into multiple spreads. If your session with tarot can be broken into a number of smaller sessions, you are probably overworking yourself. It helps to step back and think whether or not your multi-card spread turned into a multitude of smaller spreads. Is that why nothing is making sense?

You might be told to read cards some other time. Bias, moods, instability, or the cards just being not in the good state - all of these can affect whether they agree to work with you in the first place. I’ve had decks that stayed “silent” for months on and decks that were willing to work with me every day. It depends.

P. S. One more time: this is just my experience. It is not universal.

the more i look into it, the more i'm understanding the "ignore correspondences" way of working.

if you look into any crystal or herb's correspondence, "protection" nearly always appears. not all crystals and herbs can be for protection, surely?

that's because people make up their own correspondences for things, and different people choose different crystals and herbs for protection, causing correspondences to clash a lot.

for example, i've seen amethyst listed as a protection crystal a lot. although there is a lot of history behind that correspondence, it does not resonate with me. i prefer to use amethyst for aiding with divinatory work, enhancing psychic senses, and sometimes to help with anxiety. i use other crystals for protection, such as obsidian and hematite.

so, there you go. if you see correspondences you don't like, go make up your own. nothing can stop you creating a path of your own.

The Specific Seven

Tagged by: @planetbabysitter, my beloved

Rules: Fill out the seven fields and tag others.

Relationship Status: taken & very in love

Favorite Color(s): I fucking love purple

Song In My Head: All The Things She Said by t.A.T.u.

Last Song Listened To: you're not gonna believe this, but it's All The Things She Said by t.A.T.u.

Last Thing Googled: Arthur Morgan's birthday. I needed to refresh my Useless Knowledge of Video Game Characters archives

Favorite Food(s): coffee, Monster energy drink - only the classic flavor. If it doesn't taste like battery acid, it's not an energy drink - my father's cooking, various salads and fruit

Dream Trip: realistically? Italy, Ireland, the U.K. Ideally? The parallel universe I sometimes dream about. Parallel universe me seems very stressed and interesting

Tagging all of Tumblr because I don't really know many people here to be specific 🫡

The cemetery as a place of power in my practice

Magic is often centered around location, especially places of power. Finding them, or making them. We do it when we follow the directions in old grimoires to go to crypts or wild places. As well as when we construct circles and sacred spaces in our homes or ritual spaces. We are setting aside a hallowed area for our work, a place to build force. A place of power. Some people find this place out in the forest, on the beach, in a church, their own personal temple, or other various locations. I found my place in a cemetery.

A few years into college I began getting more into ceremonial style magic, and the construction of a ritual space became a prominent part of that. I tried out various styles of circle casting, from calling the corners to demonic conjurations for the directions. As I was learning to cast a circle I often found myself without enough space to operate in my dorm. At home in my bedroom I could do a make-shift set up, but here at school and after when I had roommates space was VERY tight. So I began working almost entirely outside. I'd go to wooded places, beaches, parks at night and various other spots near my school to practice. 

After college I moved in with an old partner and happened to have an unmonitored cemetery near by. So this became my go to spot for practicing my witchcraft and any ritual work I had planned. Unknowingly I had created a habit of casting my circle in the same spot in the same way over weeks for various magical needs that arose. This connection with the land built up to the point where I felt a call and response in my environment. The spirits of the cemetery started to take notice of me and the work I was doing in their space, and eventually took active interest. It was at this moment that the way I saw the cemetery changed, it had become a place of power for me. I felt safe there at night now and didn't even pay attention when that switch in my brain happened. 

My draw to this cemetery was purely circumstantial, and it being a good available working place for my craft. My practice has blossomed here, as most of my spirit court has come out of my work done on those grounds. As I reflect, you'd think based on my craft now that I had some kinda obsession with the dead, but that was never really the initial drive. I'd say that affinity has grown from this relationship with this location. Which I think in turn lends itself back to the cemetery becoming a focal point of me consistently.

I've done some much circle casting and ritual work in that space that I no longer feel it's necessary there when I'm working at night. The space is liminal and separate enough without the pomp and circumstance of ritual that I can just begin the work that needs doing and get on my way. Keeping me from having to be out longer than I have too, avoiding any unwanted eyes. 

Many things lend themself to doing magic in a cemetery. There's it's obvious connection with the underworld and the dead being a place we bury our deceased, but I also see my local cemetery as a place of living since many animals and plants call it home. It's large enough that I've seen coyotes, eagles, fireflys, and other little critters there, as well as variety of plant life. There are also the mourners and the workers in this graveyard who are characters of this space too. So I use this cemetery as an access point/nexus, through which i can connect with the land and it's spirits. I use the graveyard as as a point of communion, with the spirit of my city and other realms. 

Another facet that gives power to my work is the emotional energy that pools in graveyards. Grief is a powerful experience that brings forth many emotions, and this cemetery holds children, veterans, and founding members of my town. So the psychic weight in this place can be heavy, loaded, and complicated. Which is something a skilled practitioner can draw on. I've also found that spirits from this graveyard love to feed on grand displays of emotion, joyous or sorrowful. So often I'll capitalize on that and use this was an emotional outlet that nourishes my spirits. Plus no one thinks twice of someone having a good cry in a cemetery.

Through my time in this space I've built in a intimate connection with it as an access point for Spirit. Making it more than just a place of power for simply being a cemetery, it is truly a holy place set aside from others in my practice.