libersapientia

[libersapientia]

No spell needed to find lost object. I just stood between floors, compassed up, called its name and then saw the compass needle turn and knew where I needed to look, and sure enough, my roomie put it somewhere not obvious.

The lesson is, if you name your things and they have identity, they are easily called. No pendulum, no intercessors, no setup.

[libersapientia]

Something I'll never understand is folks who are all "I'm a witch, I'm in contact with the Otherworld, I have autonomy and my freedom, and also I love and respect the federal government SOO MUCH and I love to be a narc."

(No this isn't about taking bones, haha, remember that wichblr fiasco?)

Yeah, I just don't get how you get into this current and don't deeply question authority and instead show cop behavior where no harm is done and no policing is necessary. Kill the cop in your head, and report back once that guy's rot has fertilized something actually useful.

Everyone else, keep it secret, keep it safe, you know? The only good gatekeeping ever serves is to keep stuff safe. Keep Silent. ACAB includes the guy in your head.

[libersapientia]

Black sun, mixed technique on canvas 2011, paris www.danovski.pl

[libersapientia]

I can't think of where I first read this almost-proverb about witchcraft, but it goes something like: once you step on the path, you never really leave the path. It's as if to say, every meandering bunny trail you follow, every time you step off the main trail and into the dark bush, every time you think you are really lost in the dark woods, that too is part of your path. If you were to violate the folktale rule of looking back, if you were to make the Orphic error and steal a glance over your shoulder, you would see that all the looping and wandering was always your true path. You always make it back to the main trail. There are many moments, many more if your path is crooked, fewer if your path is quite direct, but there are always moments when you come emerging from the tree line, changed, and find yourself sure-footed once again on the main trail. The main trail is not your destination, and the goal is not to stay on it and never divert. You'd only cover less ground. You wouldn't find the things in the woods you're meant to encounter.

Still, it is a relief when you find yourself on the main path because your energy is no longer bound up in stumbling over roots and trying to discern in the dark. It becomes easier to walk, and it is well lit, and you once-again have the sense of moving closer to your destination. You can relax but you cannot slow down, in fact you find yourself moving further faster.

This is all more metaphor for the alchemical process, also. It's all metaphor because witchcraft, and in truth all magic, is the poetic meta-reality. Metaphor is the bridge between temporal and embodied understanding and that of the Spirit.

Art and poetry and magic is the same stuff, ultimately. Without it, we live a half-life, a purely bio-mechanical life. In order to really be living and thriving, we need it, and we all have access to it. By birthright. I never really understood gatekeeping in magic because we are all born magic-capable, and there are already real guardians at every threshold. I understand keeping particular rites and closed cultural practices within their cultural current and undistilled, but gatekeeping in general seems absurd, really, like what makes you think that you're a better gatekeeper than the Choronzon? Or a person's own Ego or Shadow, which is perfectly tailored to them. No one is gonna be a more effective gatekeeper in magic than a person's own demons and unconscious cast of nutty "villains."

I actually get the sense that it is time for everybody to reach out and claim their artistic and magical birthright, harness their co-creative agency, and start integrating all their Stuff. So please, do it. Do it messy, do it wrong, do it vulnerable, do it with gusto. AUDARE.

If you're out there in the Woods, and see sometimes other travelers like will-o-the-wisps, call to them "keep going" and honor the one precious Law, and send them your Love, love them as you have been loved, and as yourself.

My perspective, where I am now on the great path, is a hermetic Vedanta kind of deal, YMMV.

[libersapientia]

Witch’s Riddle by Sarah Anne Lawless

[libersapientia]

When you cast a spell, you are becoming as a God...

You are taking power into you, using your body, you shift and change the power and fill it with your intention. You call upon and invoke powers of death, life, dark, light, and all others. And then you send forth your will as the spell flies.

A wise witch is mindful of which powers they call on for that reason. Transmutation of power is divine, but we are not. And our bodies may carry the stain of our actions for a long time.

And stains may scare away potential new friends, or quickly make new enemies.

[libersapientia]

“Sigil Nullifier”

Requested by: sass-master-hades

NOTE: This sigil nullifies other sigils. It is intended to prevent other sigils from accidentally activating, such as in cases where sigils are recorded in a grimoire for reference or where a sigil is displayed for purely decorative purposes. On a singular basis, the most effective placement of this Sigil Nullifier is on the underside of the recorded or displayed sigil. Where sigils are recorded in a book, the Sigil Nullifier is most effective when drawn twice: once on the first page of the book, and once on the last page. 

[libersapientia]

In summary, the instantaneity of Self-illumination is the immediate result of contact with the innermost sanctum of our own being. By entering the cross-roads of our awarenesses we enter the gnostic states of the Lord and Lady — the Initiatic Conclaves of Cain-Mahazhael and Liliya. Whilst these Mysteries are transmitted through contemporary lineages of Traditional Witchcraft, they may also be cognized by any Receptive Mind as Immediate Realisations of Magical Heredity. Herein is the arcanum: the unveiling of the eternal spirit-procession — the continuity of all past and future transitions of entity through which the Indivisible ‘I’ will pass — is attained by going-forth to the Sabbat, the Mystical Rite at the ‘Cross-roads’ or Transvocatory Point between all Space and Time. At this Point lies our Eternal Ancestry: the Grave is the Womb of the Quintessence Azoth.

’The Great Sorcerer draws Power from his own Death. Now!’

Andrew Chumbley, Gnosis for the Flesh Eternal: A Brief Introduction to the Lore Of the Sabbatic Craft Tradition With reference to the transmition Of the Quintessential-Azoetic Current

[libersapientia]

“Seal of Astaroth overlaid on the Star of Ishtar” (2020).

A potent symbolic representation of the Goddess called Venus/Aphrodite/Isis/Ishtar/Inanna at various times and places.

“Inanna is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess associated with love, beauty, sex, war, justice and political power. She was originally worshiped in Sumer and was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians under the name Ishtar.

She was known as the “Queen of Heaven” and was associated with the planet Venus and her most prominent symbols included the lion and the eight-pointed star.” - Text excerpted and summarised from Wikipedia.

The links from the list of powers associated with the Goddess are to the relevant Tarot Major Arcana, which show the same Goddess manifesting in different spheres of power.

There is one Goddess, many forms.

[libersapientia]

“The Four Watchtowers”, as received by Edward Kelley in a dream (1584).

[libersapientia]

November 5: #secbloggednanowrimo

Yall are spoiled because I’m typing out all these spells for you. -sigh-

Golden Moon

A spell to make you receptive to all the opportunities within your touch.

Ingredients 2 Mirrors 3 Orange Candles Some orange Cord Honesty Seeds

Place the mirrors opposite each other so that one mirror reflects a moonbeam back into the other. Take one of the candles and warm it so that you can scratch your initials at the top in warm wax. Stand midway between the mirrors with the candles around you, so that you can see your initials on the candle. Light the candles and return to your place, holding the orange cord in your right hand and the honesty seeds in your left.

Stand in the beam of moonlight and absorb its energy while the candle burns and frees the letters of your name. Turn around clockwise, seven times, trailing the cord around you to gather the moonbeams about your body. Open yourself to receive all that comes your way. Then retire and sleep with the honesty seeds under your pillow. Bury them the next day. (Card Type: Golden Opportunities, Spells & Charms, by Nicola De Pulford)

Honestly, this has the making of a very interesting and very complete spell for me, but there are definitely things that make me a little confused about what it’s doing. So for instance, we have these three candles here. We take one candle from the three and carve out initials on only one of the candles, not the other two. To me, it would make sense if the author things we only have three initials (which is not the case for a vast number of people) that you would carve a single initial into each candle. So I’m not really sure why the other two candles need to be present here.  

Even if we go based on the occult “rules” of numbers in magic (so 1,3,5,7,9, etc being all very magical numbers in general – which can be linked to social ideas or can be linked to Hermetic principles depending on what kind of reason why they are magical), it doesn’t make sense that you’d have just a random three in here if they don’t collectively serve a purpose here. Like there’s something here about the reason why this author has chosen three candles and it’s not super explained. And the same thing goes with the color choices here (orange specifically). I assume it’s again about trying to blend in with some level of correspondence, but why not use gold (though that is the Sun’s color technically if memory serves me) or not Silver here. I guess it’s about trying to capture the “Golden” without capturing the Solar aspect of things.

Unless what the author means for you to do based on this “around you” is that you have basically these three candles here and each of the candles will have your initials on them wherever you look. And you’ll have some configuration of candle where you have literally these candles with the initials pointed toward you so you can see them, all burn, all waiting for you to burn them down. So that when you spin, you’re spinning not only in the moonbeam mirror pathway, but also so you’re spinning  with the candles on the edges so there’s always a candle in some kind of sight line as you’re spinning. But I’m not sure, so I presume from these step forward it’s just the one candle and around here means “near” and not literally “around.”

What is hard for me to figure out is basically how are you passing a moon beam back to a mirror while reflecting the mirrors to each other. I assume what’s happening here is both mirrors are actually at a kind of angle passing light between each other. And they are far enough apart that it’s able to cast a lot of light in a particular location. The reason being that you need to be able to move around, turn around specifically in this spell. Also its not clear to me that the candles would need to be on the floor either. Nor the mirrors, but when I first read it I assumed that that was the case. But I don’t think that’s particularly necessary. In fact, I would thing that having the mirrors stand up a bit or be at a height near your waist would or might be the best. So this particular set up may be best with smaller mirrors that you can set on some tables or on some chairs of the same height, angled in a way to catch moonlight.

Like this requires a lot of set up, unlike a lot of spells generally and some consideration about what you’re looking for. But I feel like it would be easier to have a candle at a height that’s reasonable for you to see. Especially if you’re basically waiting for your initials to be fully burned down / melted down. That could take a little bit of time to be honest if you’re using a particularly large candle. But I like that we’re having a moment right, there’s a specific time that this particular spell starts and that’s right after this candle has melted your initials. Like that entire process is basically dependent upon you being willing to pay attention to see when that has been done so you can start the next step of the process.

Sometimes people come up on spells like this which requires a small sacrifice of your patience (and your time because this is not a quick spell by any means. This requires set up and checking that you have the right angle and that you have enough room to work with here. It requires time. ) and as well your awareness of the case. You’re gonna be holding up this cord and these seeds in your hands waiting, watching this candle burn down patiently. I don’t think I’d be uncomfortable unless I accidentally carved my initials too low.

And another thing about carving here, as well as the goal of letting the wax burn down the initials, the author really hasn’t given us any methodology for how those initials should be carved. In that, are we carving them horizontally? Vertically (vertical would be more time for sure, so there may be an advantage in that because you’re literally bathing in the moonlight for longer because of that)? What about spacing? Are the initials right next to each other? Are they spaced out? How did we carve them exactly? Can I make them very small letters, as long as I could see them? What about carving them at the top of the candle like on the top layer side of a tealight candle? What if I used sharpie instead of carving? The author of this spell hasn’t really given us a lot of material when it comes to these kinds of considerations. Instead the author has left it up to us.

For me personally, I wouldn’t make them itty bitty or tiny. I think if that’s the case, why are we standing in this moonbeam then? Like, I think the point of the spell is that you do spend some time being in the middle of these two mirrors passing light between each other for a significant (notice, I say this, and what I mean is significant to you / not necessarily significant as in a very long amount of time) amount of time to make you really set into this particular spell.

It doesn’t feel like the kind of spell that you can just hop to it and then go about your day. And obviously it’s meant to be done at night, because you’re expected to sleep and then bury these seeds again in the morning on the next day after you’ve slept on them. So I think there’s a little bit that you can play with if you have the time and the patience as well as the strength to be in between those mirrors for a very long time. I know it says that you’d be standing, but I honestly don’t think that is truly a requirement here. I think you can sit down on the floor as long as you are still in the middle of these mirrors if you’d like to wait that way. But at the same times, I think you need to be able to get up freely to start the turning around process. It may be harder to do if you have some mobility aids that you’re using as well, so please make some considerations while you’re working out the feasibility of turning, especially if you need to back up and come forward, maybe larger mirrors would be easier to keep yourself in frame.

Like the entire point of being in between these mirrors is that your absorbing that moonlight that’s passing between them. So does it really matter if you’re standing?

Okay so now that you’ve absorbed all you can absorb, and you’ve waited and the candles have burned down what’s next. So then you spin in place (however you’re doing it) clockwise – seven rotations. While you tail this orange cord around you binding these moonbeams to you. I feel like this cord here has a much larger role to play that I would have done after spinning. Like for instance, I would have maybe had seven strands of orange cord at a specific length or seven lengths of a cord and then knotted the cord after one rotation tying the beams in the cord with each rotation. Or I might even wound the cord around my arm or wrist after each rotation and then tied it off after I was finished. Something about the fact that the cord is not really being tied here and being used in a kind of way to tie it down makes this feel like the cord isn’t getting used the way I would really want it to be used. Does that make sense? Like there’s something unfulfilled about the fact that we’re not actively working the cord. Hell, I’d even take you whipping the cord after the rotation to be like, beating the moonbeans further into your person.

Something. It’s looking like it’s just kind of like a ribbon or something – and if that’s really what we’re doing, kind of like a maypole thing -then I want a ribbon. I want something that’s lighter and that will basically flow more, and I’d like it to be significantly longer. And I’d want to hold it above my head so that the wrapping wraps down my arm all the around around my body. Rather than a smaller cord that I just hold onto. Something again is just not complete.

I don’t like the “open yourself to receive all that comes your way” portion of things. We’re looking for opportunities not specifically bad opportunities. I think that opens too much, like be selective when we’re talking about what it is. Basically something at the end of this spell, after seven rotation, feeling like you are pulling in all the good opportunities would be more of that kind of thing. Whether that’s you visualizing new good opportunities, converting even the bad things into good opportunities because you worked on them, or something else entirely that you’re basically untouchable by anything particularly negative.

The honesty seeds are those like paper circular plants, if you know what I’m talking about, also referred to as money planets. So I do like that we have this element of I’m going to plant this as well as do this other portion of work on this spell. Like I think it does tie in a bit and kind of gives you a measuring stick or something to really look at to tell if you need to do the spell again, if your money plant looks a little dead. But it also means that you may need to care for it inside your home, especially if it’s in the middle of winter.  But that particular thing, I like.

I also really enjoy that we’re sleeping on the spell as well. Adding some “Dream” opportunities as well to this mix really spices that up for me. I do really love spells that have this element of shoving something under your pillow so you can gain from it. Like there’s plenty of spells that utilize that – whether it’s shoving a tarot card or a crystal or even an apple. It’s stuff like that makes the entire thing really sing to me because it’s employing a feature that makes it really personal to you in a manner that might not have already been stated.

Yup, I think it’s a bit incomplete in it’s description, but very interesting as a spell. There’s not a whole lot that is being done, like for instance we’re not getting a visualization (unless we’re doing that) and we’re also not getting a chant in this one. So that means this can be done as a pure action spell, and we love that here on this blog.

–

Final Count: 2001

[libersapientia]

The Many Faces of the Devil

When we step forward to meet the Devil as a Witch, it’s often in the traditional imagery of half man, half beast - tall and horned, he offers up his black book for us to sign. He invites us to his dance. He is the Grand Sabbat’s Master of Ceremonies, it’s his show and he’s running the game. But the Devil of the Witches has many names, many faces, many guises - I’m only presenting a few of them here. It is the Devil who claims the hindmost.

He is the instigator, the initiator of the witches; it is he who guides the left hand, the father of witches. The Devil is a musician and an architect, a gambler and a master craftsman. He knows the language of your heart’s desire and he knows what tempts you, what you yearn for. He teaches us that it is not wrong to feel the hungers of want and need. The Devil fans the flames of the Witch, he is the blacksmith at the forge - a great and terrible being, frightening in his efficacy. A being of immense power, the Devil brands the Witch, claiming him or her for Elphame’s own.

The Devil is a guide and a guardian through the forest of faery, straight into the Court of Elphame and it’s Queen. He is her Consort, together they are a mythic pairing woven into a timeless dance throughout space and time. Life and Death bloom as one in their footsteps; a wicked, whirling waltz without end. His black robes pick up the leaves of the forest, setting them on fire and turning them to ash. Her dainty slippered feet follow swiftly behind, emerald buds of new growth blooming under her.

Like legends of the fair folk - and it is only fitting, as the Devil is one of the fair folk - there are many tales of the Devil dancing with young, beautiful women and sometimes whisking them off to Hell (or perhaps off to Faery?), sometimes they are saved by a priest but tormented by the Devil afterwards for evading him.

It is in this way that we can see a more solid connection between Witches, the Devil, and the good people under the hills. It is said that those who step into a fairy circle can be compelled to dance until they die, go mad, or drop from sheer exhaustion. Fairy circles have also been thought to be a mark left from where the Devil set his milk churn. Additionally, they are said to be a ring left behind from where witches had danced the night before. Witches have their own similar tales of causing harm in regards to dancing or taking control of humans, such as hag riding.

The fair folk are tricksters, and they come by it rightly for their father the Devil is nothing if not wily. He is always willing to deal, but you must be willing to pay the price…or outsmart a trickster. I would advise caution in attempting to deceive the Devil, for he will have his due.

[libersapientia]

What is a spell that you appreciate in your attempts to focus yourself on a particular task?

[libersapientia]

I believe the Gods are the mirror of ourselves. Created by our ancestors’ need for answers and meaningfulness (zingeving), which we’ve fed through the years with worship and sacrifice and stories. We gave them their power and through it they became both the collective of all the people who helped maintain them, and grew beyond it. And because they came from us they are a mirror of us. They show us the parts of ourselves that we need, that we wish to emulate, or that we missed in our interactions with others. But it is all within us. They are within us.

However, simply because they live within the realm of the imagination doesn’t mean that they do not have power, quite the opposite. Human inventiveness, creativity, and imagination, our love and compassion and kindness, are the most powerful things we have. They are the source of our power. They are the source of the power of the Gods. Divinity is found within.

When I call upon deity I call upon this collective archetype that we built together, for ages and ages, and I call upon this power within myself. I use the mirror that is the collective stories and the art and the experiences and rituals of others, to call forth my own power. That power that has been with me since birth, but that I have kindled and nurtured and made grown.

I think the Divine is something that we’ve created ourselves. With our own sense of imagination and wonder at the world around us. We saw the beauty of nature and Named it, and we told its stories, and made it sacred. We had so much love for the world around us, and so much love for ourselves, that we made it powerful. That we lifted it above and beyond us and made it mighty. And isn’t that the most amazing thing?

The power of humanity, the power of love and curiosity. The Divine is not somewhere far removed from us, on a different plain of existence looking down upon their creations. It is us. All of us. Throughout all of time and space. All coming together, living life, looking for answers, being hopeful, seeking spiritual meaning, loving each other and the world around us, being kind. That is what builds and sustains Gods.

[libersapientia]

Cartomancy

The firstmost rule is easily had: Red cards are good and black cards are bad. The secondmost rule shall bring greater fruits: It deals with the meanings of each of the suits. The Hearts count as love, family, and friends. Diamonds are money, wealth, means, and ends. Clubs shall mean work, callings, and plans, And Spades are the troubles that plague every man. The thirdmost rule toward number inclines; Just note the card’s pip and read here their signs: An Ace brings beginnings, And Two gives exchange, Three shows things growing, But Four does not change. Five is the body, Its health and its stead, Six shows a path that the Seeker shall tread. Seven brings troubles that Fate has assigned, While Eight shows ideas and thoughts in the mind. Nine heralds changes, And Ten is the end, While Kings are the symbols of power and men. Queens are the emblems of women and truth, A Knave is a message, a girl, or a youth.

Source: http://web.archive.org/web/20070825141732/http://www.hedgewytchery.com/indexb.html 

This site is “captured” so get in there while it’s still around.

[libersapientia]

Magic to find a lost item!

I've seen tidbits like these circling Tumblr but I thought I'd make a post describing specifics.

Ingredients needed: Pin/needle/anything of that nature, and somewhere you can safely stick that item such as a pincushion.

What you do: Stick the sharp object into the pincushion with the intention of "pinning down" that item for you to find.

Optional: You can add oils to the pin, I would recommend protection oils so the item is returned to you safely. You can also surround the pincushion with crystals and/or herbs of your choosing to help get the item back.

Once the item is returned to you, remove the pin from the cushion and thank your tools for helping you get the item back.

[libersapientia]

Honestly? The longer I spend on witchblr the more disinclined I am to share much of anything about my practice. People want to be taught but then they respond to posts like

Why do you assume that's not just mental illness? Have you seen a psychiatrist or doctor about that? Let me ask you intrusive questions about your medical history.

This post is BAD because it is UPG! (yes dude, what do you expect? you think your personal practice is universal?)

Ummm, you didn't leave a disclaimer on this post so now I'm going to make a bad faith response about how it COULD be interpreted to be about appropriation!! How dare you write a post that doesn't cover every possible situation??

My personal experience is not like this which means you're an IDIOT and a FAKE!



There's also the fact that a personal practice is... you know... personal. Secrecy is sometimes an important ingredient.