realm-of-the-occult

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hi! i don’t think the server link is working :(

Oh hello, here you go. A fresh new link. We’ll check the old one out tho and fix it☁️

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slavic cult of the dead - complaints and curiosities

as you know, a great part of knowledge we possess about the beliefs of old slavs comes from sources much less educational in nature and more aimed at lamenting and complaining and ridiculing the pagan ways. Adam Fischer gives us a plethora of such wonderful compaints in his 1923 work Fête des morts where he gathers examples from various chronicles and sermons, regarding the slavic beliefs surrounding their dead.

Cosmas of Prague laments in his chronicles regarding old Czechia: “So they would bury their dead in forests and meadows and then organise games in accordance with pagan ways on the crossroads, seemingly to soothe the souls, but they would also play ungodly jokes and call upon the spirits, and having put on masks, they would go wild in celebration themselves: these disgusting blasphemies the young duke (Bretislav I) would have to root out.”

A sermon from Czechia from XII century mentions that people would worship their dead relatives as deities (home deities, a belief spread widely across slavic people) and “call upon angels giving them false names”

Similarly, Al-Mas'udi mentioned that Slavs would burn the bodies of their dead and then venerate them as ancestral deities.

Other Arabic source mentions that Slavs would visit the burial site of their dead on the first anniversary of their passing and offer them 20 jugs filled with honey, and then gather around the grave to have a feast before heading back home.

Sources regarding Rus lamented that people would heat up bath houses for the dead: leave them towels and bowls of food and drink, and pour ash on the ground around the bath house to see whether the dead would leave the marks of their presence in it.

The 1551 Synod laments that people in Russia would still gather at the graves and have feasts in the name of their ancestors, and the custom remained strong for years to come, as in 1634 Adam Olearius had a chance to observe it and describe in detail during his travels. 

A 1497 Polish sermon mentions that people still practiced lighting small fires for the souls of their dead in the belief that the souls would gather around the fire to warm themselves.

Another text from the XV century complains that there are sinners who not only worship some foreign false gods but also organise pagan plays and games during which they summon demons; then the text laments that there are people who, during that period, refuse to sleep underneath a roof, refure to speak to other people, or only walk barefoot. Some would leave parts of their supper as offerings to demons (most likely house spirits and ancestral deities) and some would refuse to wash the dishes after supper on Good Friday so that “souls could eat from them”

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｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ｡ ﾟ. November will bring blessings.

ﾟ･｡･ﾟ

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my pronouns are *chainsaw revving sound* and *blood splattering sound*

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For those who celebrate, a blessed Samhain. 🍂

For others, happy Halloween. 🎃

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enchanting jewelry

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Animal materials and their correspondences

Antlers :

Strength, endurance, masculine energy, (it can symbolise the horned god), protection, strong connection nature and the earth element, deflecting hexes/baneful energy, hope

Horns :

Wealth, the home, determination, aggressive protection, connection to that which is man made, cursing/hexing

Wings :

Adventure, deviating from the norm, sending/receiving messages, travel, starting a new adventure/path, hope, luck, wishes, comfort, (the type of bird would also affect the correspondences)

Chicken feet :

Wisdom, work, loyalty, connection to one’s property/land, safe keeping of the home, the fire element, (other bird feet can be used as well but may have slightly different correspondences)

Fur/feathers :

Creativity, warmth, connection to the air element, shielding from negative energy, protection, invisibility/hiding, warding (again, the type of animal affects the correspondences)

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Beginner Class - Casting A Circle

Ancient Craft & Occultism

___

By KB

Introduction

Welcome back to class everyone! ♡ As you may have noticed, we're moving out of getting familiar with our own energy and beginning to establish our own path in the craft! It's important to note that everyone's path will be different, which is one of the main reasons for so many various forms of the same essential practices. Today we will be discussing casting circles in ceremonial work. Casting circles IS NOT ESSENTIAL when it comes to ceremonial work, although specific paths do adhere to this tradition. It's also very beneficial when starting your path to find what does & doesn't work for you! Let's get into it.

What Is A Circle?

Essentially, a circle is an energetic barrier that is used as protection, concentration, and raising energy. The magic circle represents fullness, perfection, and unity as well as the cosmos' creation, the womb of mother Earth, the seasonal cycle, and birth-death-regeneration. It becomes possible to transcend the physical and to awaken the mind to greater and deeper levels of consciousness inside the circle.

Since ancient times, when they were drawn around the beds of sick people and new mothers to shield them from demons, circles have had a magical, protective connotation. The ruins of stone circles in Britain are evidence of the significance of circles in early paganic rituals. Modern Paganism and Witchcraft use sacred circles that are derived from Western ceremonial magic. Despite these significant variances, there are some parallels.

In ceremonial magic, the circle stands in for a sacred location where the magician summons and controls deadly and elusive spirits and entities. The circle must be carefully cast in order to protect against them. In order to avoid having a summoned entity seize him and strike him down or experience something terrible, the practitioner must never leave the circle while performing a ritual, not even accidentally swinging his arm outside of it. Detailed directions for casting the circle with consecrated ritual materials during specific astrological conditions and hours of the day or night are provided in grimoires and other magical texts. A floor that has been well cleaned is used to form the circle, and salt might be used to emphasize the border.

In modern Paganism and Witchcraft, circles are formed based on the amount of space available, the number of participants, and the goal. They can be measured out with a string or traced on the ground, or they can simply be established by traversing the circumference. Outside, circles might not be perfectly round. A circle is cast after expelling bad energy. The high priestess in Wicca may symbolically sweep it away with a broom. Participants' consciousness is prepared through esoteric techniques like breathing exercises, drumming, visualization, and meditation. The circle area contains the altar and the necessary ritual supplies. Pagans and witches working alone could just have a few tools. The four quarters, or cardinal points, are marked with candles, stones, or other things placed on the ground. These circles can be cast for protection, for example, to ward off psychic attack or protect a home against intruders. magic circles do not last indefinitely; protective ones must be periodically recharged through ritual.

Why Cast A Circle?

Ritual magic can be hindered by a variety of things, including distractions from the real world, other people's opposing wills, and chaotic entities who feed off the practitioner's efforts, to mention a few. Casting a circle might help you block out outside distractions and maintain your attention on the task at hand. Many practitioners cast the circle with psychic protection in mind because a magical trance can be a psychically vulnerable state.

The inner barrier of the circle is just as significant as the outer one. Like all energy that we are aware of, magical energy has a propensity to ricochet and disperse throughout the cosmos. Its natural habit is motion. The basic idea behind ritual is to temporarily focus part of that energy for a specific reason. You may gather more energy and hold onto it longer in a circle. A well-constructed circle provides spirits or deities with a comfortable landing area for the length of the ritual if your activity entails calling forth spirits or deities.

All of this can be summed up by noting that a magic circle serves two main functions: to keep outside disruptions out and to keep ritual energy inside. Without a doubt, this is greatly oversimplified. So let's suppose the circle is a tool to help your magick be more powerful.

How Do I Cast One?

Well, this one is honestly all up to you. As with most things in witchcraft, everything depends upon the practitioner. Regardless of whatever way you decide to cast your circle, all methods share a form of concentration/visualization and commitment to self belief.

Four cardinal points are evenly spaced around the circumference of a conventional circle. They are connected to the Wiccan seasonal calendar, the four directions, and the four elements. The Quarters, in my opinion, are legendary beings that have made appearances in numerous world faiths. You can think of them as tent poles to balance the energy and form of the circle. All of them are typical procedures in circle-casting: Visualizing the circle's boundaries, walking around it, cutting a boundary with a dagger or sword, calling the Quarters, lighting candles, setting objects along the circle's edge, and performing a ritual cleaning inside the circle. You might incorporate some or all of these components into your casting.

Some individuals favor using an athame, a length of cord, stones, or candles for each of the four quarters when casting the circle. Setting up the circle's boundaries can be made much easier with the use of these tools. Since participants may not be familiar with the ins and outs of circle-casting, more tools are typically employed in larger and more public rituals. Numerous calls, shrines at the Quarters, chants, and textual evocations are frequently used in large public circles to increase visibility. There isn't a technique that is superior to the others. The participants' will and other circumstances will affect the circle's strength.

Here's a small guideline to help those who aren't sure where to begin this exercise.

Ground & Center Yourself

Set the four cardinal points with correspondences if you wish

Light an incense (or visualize) and use it as a wand to "trace out" your circle.

As you face each cardinal point, call to the spirits of the direction if you wish.

You will have a very distinguished energetic feeling, which will feel different for everyone, but you will know once your circle has formed a solid foundation.

Of course, there are MANY ways to cast a circle, this just may be the most basic for those who aren't sure where to begin.

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The Asatru Folkist Assembly can take Stone Henge from our cold, dead motherfucking hands.

For those not in the know; the Asatru Folkist Assembly are a “Pagan” organisation that is extremely racist, sexist, ableist etc. They’re trying to get a foothold in the UK and are starting with an event at Stone Henge. Stone Henge is a VERY important Pagan site in England, with Pagans visiting almost every month. A petition has been made to try and stop this. Please for the love of all that is holy, sign the petition, share it, reblog this post.

They can have Stone Henge over our dead fucking bodies. Credit to Ocean Keltoi for raising awareness on this.

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Slavic resources in english: my collection of academic resources for beginners on the subject of slavic folklore, paganism and folk magic

Is Slavic paganism closed? - my thoughts

Slavic offerings

Slavic creation myths

My translation: Veles

My translation: Yarilo

My translation: Mokosh

Mokosh: offerings and devotions

Quotes: Perun and Veles as Saints

Quotes: Prophet Elijah and Saint Nicholas, a folktale

Quotes: Sources for Rod and Rozhanitsy

Quotes: Kupala, Kostroma, Yarilo and Mara - seasonal rituals of the Slavs

Quotes: Russian domovoi lore

What’s a zagovor and how it’s built.

Key tags: #slavic paganism #slavic folklore #slavic art #magia Slavorum  #asks

Other recommended tags: #slavic folk - traditional clothing and folk art, #ancestral veneration #wooden architecture #embroidery #folk magic

My asks are open but please keep in mind that I did not receive academic education in the field of Slavic studies. Any answers I might provide will be based on my experiences as a Polish person and Slavic pagan as well as my own unsystematized research.

Slavic paganism is an open path, however please approach it respectfully by educating yourself on Slavic culture and making an effort to not propagate already rampant misinformation any further.

Lastly I’d like to disclaim that as helpful as the words “Slavs” and “Slavic” can be at the beginning of your research it is of paramount importance to remember that the “Slavs” were never a unified ethnocultural group or civilization. 

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Simple Moon Spell - One Dozen Wishes

Intent: To create a jar of potential wishes, to be used as needed.

Materials:

Small Jar

Whole Bay Leaves (12)

Moonlight

In addition to their usefulness in spells for protection, wisdom, and healing, bay leaves are a potent ingredient for wishmaking. This spell does not specifically create a wishing spell, but it prepares a small supply of leaves for future spellwork, using the fulfilling energy of the full moon to pre-charge the component.

Obtain a bag of whole bay leaves. These can usually be found in the spices and seasonings aisle at the grocery store, or you can order them from a botanical supplier if you wish. Prepare a clean, dry jar with a lid as you see fit. Select twelve leaves, as whole and unbroken as possible, and place them into the jar. Cap the jar and leave it to soak up the moonlight on the next full moon evening.

When you have need of some wishmaking magic, take a single leaf from the jar, write your wish upon it, and use it in your spell. The use of the leaf depends on your casting method - you can include it in a jar or sachet charm, cast it into fire or water, or bury it to help your desired results grow, to name just a few.

Use the leaves as needed and when the supply is exhausted, you can pick twelve new leaves and refill the jar.

Happy Witching! 🔮🍃

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How to reference in your grimoire

If you intend on sharing your grimoire with the public or you're a fan of a more academic style of writing then you're gonna want to reference your sources to avoid any kind of plagiarism.

You may have already learned how to reference at your college/uni, in which case follow that method, but if you haven't let me show you what i've been doing in my grimoire.

The referencing style I was taught in my degree is a form of APA 7th edition. This style is best for essays and small research papers and since my grimoire is essentially a bunch of mini contextual essays stuck together I thought it was appropriate.

Here's the format:

Author Surname, Author Initials. (Date of publication/release). Title of source: sub-heading/title of chapter. Publishing company/website. Place of publication/website link. [Format]

So for example, the book I'm currently reading is Buried by Professor Alice Roberts. If I were to reference this book in this format it would look something like this:

Roberts, A. (2023). Buried, An Alternative History of The First Millennium in Britain: Water and Wine. Simon and Schuster. London. [Book]

(Its up to you whether you decide to put the chapter before the book title, it doesn't make a difference, but I prefer doing it this way.)

This reference will need to follow an in-text citation. You can do that by adding a little number in parentheses next to your quote or paraphrase that corresponds to the number on your list of references OR you can make a mini reference following this method:

(Author Surname, Author Initials. (Date of publication). Page number if required)

So following this method an in-text citation would look like this:

(Roberts, A. (2023). p1)

Tips

If you are citing a source with multiple authors, organised them alphabetically by surname, your in text citation only needs to include the first one.

If you're referencing an online upload of an old source like Internet Archive or Project Gutenberg, include the original authors name first, uploaders name/ID second and mark which is which in parenthesis, then the date of original publication if you can find it, followed by the date it was uploaded to the site.

If you are referencing a film/TV episode, use the name of the director and include (Dir) next to their name.

If you can't find a date of publication/upload then write DNA instead.

Always put your references at the back of your grimoire. If your grimoire contains multiple chapters, group them by each chapter and then organise either alphabetically or chronologically. If your in-text citation uses numbers, organise your reference list chronologically. If you're using a mini reference, organise your reference list alphabetically.

This last bit is especially important for practitioners who intend to publish their work. Please please please do not skip referencing! I've read so many traditionally published witchcraft books who's authors don't do this or do it half-assed and I can't stand it.

Readers deserve to know where your information is coming from so they can be the judge on whether or not it's appropriate for them to practice themselves. Not doing so creates a cycle of ignorance among readers and new practitioners that encourages the spread of cultural appropriation, poor media literacy and poor historical and scientific understanding. Always cite your sources.

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Hey Witches!

Today, lets talk about decolonizing paganism!

(buckle up cause its a long one)

Witchcraft is a great and broad practice that has been around for a long time. Its great for religious and non-religious individuals.

But over time, it seems that the lines are blurred on what is acceptable in our individualized practice.

It is crucial for any and every witch to be aware about how to be respectful towards closed practices and to spread that awareness.

What is a closed practice?

Closed practices are those that you can only be a part of if you were born into the community, or if you have been initiated into it.

I commonly see closed practices promoted in neo-pagan books and blogs. I also see it heavily engrained in "wicca" influencers (which can be very convoluted and controversial if you learn from bad sources) Without proper research, this information reaches public spaces full of naïve and impressionable baby witches and actively harms communities and cultures that hold sacred and closed practices.

What are some examples to look out for?

✨ One i have seen countless of times is the promotion of white sage as a method of "smudging" or "cleansing" a space.

white. sage. is. for. a. closed. indigenous. use.

Native Americans have been telling us for YEARS that purchasing and using white sage from your local store

1) steals from native americans and

2) takes away the whole purpose of the sage

DO YOUR RESEARCH

✨ Closed Spiritualism Practices

Vodou and many other African-based spiritualities are plundered to add to Wicca or eclectic witchcraft. Most of these practices are closed as well. To join Vodou, one must find a priest and commit to the practice. Like Kabbalah (Jewish Mysticism), it is not something that can just be plucked up and added to your own.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

✨here are some great sources to begin with!!

(the @ applies to tiktok)

@jewitches, who runs a blog full of information about the Kabbalah and Jewish witchcraft.

@quiibunnie, is an Indigenous practitioner

@thathoneywitch, practices Hoodoo.

@imbigsowhat, has several videos talking about Vodou.

DO YOUR PART: DO THE RESEARCH

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pay for what you've done

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Mabon Altar Ideas & Correspondences

Mabon, also known as the Autumn Equinox, marks the midpoint between the summer and winter solstices. It's a time to celebrate the abundance of the harvest season and express gratitude for the blessings of the year. One way to honor this occasion is by setting up a Mabon altar, adorned with items and symbols that resonate with the energy of the season. Here are a few ideas for when you’re putting your altar together.

The Altar Cloth: Choose an altar cloth in rich autumnal colors such as deep red, orange, or brown. These colors represent the changing leaves and the bountiful harvest.

Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables: Incorporate apples, pumpkins, squash, and corn, or any local harvests you have in your area. These are traditional symbols of the harvest and abundance during Mabon.

Candles: Use candles in colors associated with Mabon, such as gold, yellow, orange, or deep red. These represent the changing colors of the land. Alternatively, you could use black and white candles to represent the balance of dark and light on the equinox.

Crystals: Consider placing crystals like citrine, amethyst, or jasper on your altar. These stones resonate with the energies of balance, gratitude, and abundance.

Symbols of Balance: Include items that represent the balance of day and night, such as a yin-yang symbol or two candles, one for the sun and one for the moon.

Leaves and Acorns: Collect fallen leaves and acorns to symbolize the changing season and the promise of new growth in the future.

Chalice and Bread: A chalice filled with wine or cider and a loaf of bread represent the traditional elements of water and earth, symbolizing the harvest's bounty.

Deity Representations: If you work with specific deities in your practice, add representations of them to your altar. Some gods and goddesses associated with Mabon include Demeter, Persephone, and the Green Man.

Mabon Correspondences

Colors: Deep red, orange, yellow, brown, and gold.

Herbs: Sage, marigold, hops, and thistle.

Foods: Apples, grapes, nuts, grains, and root vegetables.

Symbols: Scales, cornucopias, and the autumn wreath.

Activities: Apple picking, making wreaths, offering prayers of gratitude, and sharing a feast with loved ones.

Intentions: Reflect on balance in your life, give thanks for your blessings, and set intentions for the darker months ahead.

May you be blessed with abundance and gratitude.

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𝑪𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒓 🗝️