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Invocation vs. evocation

I was looking around on Reddit for something on r/DemonolatryPractices and realized how many people there don't know the difference between an invocation and an evocation and were throwing around how they wanna evoke demons and it made me feel a bit sick reading that. I became a demonolator mainly through S.Connolly's works, so I wanna quote her to explain the difference, hoping that it'll clear things up at least for a few people.

"Remember that evocation suggests calling a Demon to physical manifestation against his will while invocation is a prayer asking the Demon to be present or to bless the rite."

"Invocation- The act of calling on (a higher power) for assistance, support, or inspiration. CM's say this is the internal, but by definition this would technically be external because the actual definition suggests a power outside the self. However, since we are each a part of the divine and all that is I can see where they get their "internal" definition. Invocation is what we Demonolators do. We do not evoke Demons under any circumstance.

"Evocation - The act of summoning (like you might a servant or subordinate) an entity (implied: against its will. Also implied: Demons are servants.) CM's say this is the external, but by definition the implication of evoke is both internal and external and suggests something the magician creates from or evokes from himself or forces from another source.

"NOTE: Demonolators find evocation VERY disrespectful."

Quoted from: The complete Book of Demonolatry by S. Connolly; chapter: Proper Invocation, Tools, Ritual Execution and Layout

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The Satanic Bible – book review

Sooo I finished reading the Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey this week, finally. I have a couple of thoughts on it, so I thought I'd share them for those who have, and maybe more importantly, for those who haven't read it. (I'm quite opinionated, so if you're a big fan of his work, consider scrolling)

Firstly, my overall opinion on this books is that it gets progressively worse the more you read. It starts out with some interesting philosophical takes – much of which are not LaVey's own, as I learned. The only truly original part of this book is LaVey's system of magic, which calls upon powers that LaVey does not even believe in, and the deeply rooted despise that he has for Christians, the left-hand-path(LHP), and pretty much anyone who practices magic differently than him.

Imo, LaVey is not a philosopher, nor is he a religious leader. He called a new kind of Satanism into life only to abandon it after it started to evolve on its own (like every religion does). His attempts at being progressive failed miserably. He tried hard to be better than Christians by being inclusive and scientific, but that doesn't hide the fact that he doesn't know what he's talking about.

His magical concept is male-centered and heteronormative, some might even say sexist. His understanding of asexuality is extremely limited and in my opinion (as an asexual), quite controversial and insensitive. LaVey's approach to magic is to stress the fact that he doesn't really believe in magic, so his religion will appeal to the modern and progressive masses. He makes his satanism look scientific by claiming Satan does not exist, but still claims to be speaking for him. Also a bold claim to make.

Yet, when the satanic movement was over and people no longer cared about his edgy ideology, LaVey ditched his own religion, said he didn't wanna be associated with it anymore (he's the founder lmao) and called his fellow satanists "weirdos" and "freaks".

In an attempt to be liberating, he pushed yet another dogma onto people, centering his concept of magic almost entirely around sexuality. And the worst thing yet – LaVey was full of hate and faux pity for 'outsiders'. His work pushes a strong we-vs-them agenda. Wether it's satanists versus Christians or RHP vs LHP, it's ridiculous. LaVey actively slanders and makes fun of people who follow the LHP. He could educate on the topic. He could explain how white and black magic don't exist, how everything is balanced, how dark and light coexist in nature and justify his choice of the RHP that way. But instead, he incorporated his despise for white-light religions & practitioners into his satanic rituals. Rituals which leave nearly no room for any kind of spirituality.

LaVey says himself in the satanic Bible in the chapter about devices used in Satanic rituals: "Satanism is a religion of the flesh, rather than of the spirit". And I couldn't have said it better. His religion has nothing to do with growth and spiritual development. It leaves you exactly where you are, but hey, you can use magic to get money, luck or sex! LaVey didn't believe in Satan, nor any other higher being, yet he used them for his greedy desires and fetishes. He focused in on a minor part of what Satanism really is and got stuck there.

LaVey Satanism, as I see it, it a blunt sexualization of the occult and it holds no spiritual value to me. I don't see TSB as a piece of spiritual educational literature. Rather as a historical and cultural classic that may be of use to understand the evolution of modern occultism. But it's nice to be able to say that I've read it.

My words are a bit harsh here and there, so I wanna clarify that I don't have a problem with anyone choosing to practice this religion respectful of others.

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Maturing is realizing that a lot of the stuff people call "spiritual awakening" is just maturing.

If you're under the age of 25, like me, your frontal lobe is not yet fully developed and you will face a bunch of small and big aha moments that might seem like a fucking epiphany to you. I know some days you make a realization and you feel like fuckin' Buddha himself, but I promise it's just your brain growing up.

If you found spirituality during puberty, you'll easily be led to assume that your mental development are steps of your spiritual journey. Which isn't really wrong, as each part of your development is always as much physical as spiritual, but before jumping to conclusions about awakenings, aliens reaching out to you or breaking the matrix and being chased by the space government—

Please consider that your brain might just be doing it's thing. You're maturing. It's okay.

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Little reminder that you didn't come onto this crusty dusty earth to stress about meaningless stuff.

Little reminder that society is unnatural and the government is fake and it's time to stop caring about anyone's opinion.

Little reminder that's it's okay to be human. Just human. You can't be more anyways, so enjoy the human experience. It's supposed to be beautiful, so make it beautiful.

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My brother once told me that they have a bunch of guys in their class, who, when provoked, will threaten them that they'll come with their cousins and beat them up. I asked him what he says to those boys. And my absolutely perfect little brother replied:

"I tell them my brother is a witch and can curse them. They're all Muslims and they're scared as fuck."

I love him. I've never cursed anyone btw, it's an empty threat. But it works and I love that he's so proud of being my brother. They're my biggest supporter.

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In my old school class, people knew I was into witchcraft. They reacted in different nuances of terror to this information, but at the end of the year they became almost chill with it. Here are two funny stories that happened to me:

Girl S (Muslim) came up to me and told me following story: "I have this friend who really wants to lose weight and she bought herself a losing weight spell on Etsy for like 100 bucks. What do you think about that?"

In my humble opinion, I told her that that's trash and that that's not how magic works. Yes, you can technically buy spells online, but I'd check out the person before buying anything from them, and it's definitely not worth the money. 100% ripoff. She wasn't too surprised about my answer lol

In the second story, girl N (Christian) asked me if I knew any spells to help her let go/move on from her ex boyfriend, since I'm a witch and all? So I explained her the concept of a simple cord cutting.

Her response was "are you sure that's nothing with like, the devil or anything?" Ahem. Yes. Pretty sure. I told her that anyone could do it, she could even put up a picture of Jesus or whatever to make her more comfortable with it.

I don't know if she ended up doing it. But I did what I could. I loved teaching my classmates little bits about magic and witchcraft and in turn learning more about their religions and beliefs. I love exchanging knowledge and experience. It's so much fun. Sometimes I miss that class even though half of them were idiots.

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ao3 turns 15 today

reblog if youre older than ao3

(there's a lot of people asking about this, but the legal age to use social media is 13, except in few countries. so yes, there are people here under 15)

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Localise your practice. You don’t need to offer the things traditionally associated with your deity if you don’t have them. No wheat or barley to offer Renenutet? The dandelion in your garden will do just fine if that’s what fits your practice. No moonstone for Artemis? A pretty rock you picked from the forest will look amazing on her altar.

Our gods were worshipped around a wide geographical range, with diverse cultures, plants and animals. Don’t let the unavailability of certain resources stop you from worshipping in a way that is authentic to you.

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Today, my dad started cutting down a yew tree from our backyard that I love very much. It was there all throughout my childhood. Me and my siblings climbed on it, played in it's branches and made potions out of its fruits. My brother has been friends with the spirit of that tree for years, so it's especially sad for them. They are trying to save cuttings of the tree. I asked them what their spirit friend said and he replied "been awfully quiet."

Grieving for our dear tree friend rn.

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The "relief from leaving monotheism to newfound stress about polytheism" pipeline strikes again

people who follow a lot of gods that you worship STOP FEELING UPSET/ANNOYED WITH YOURSELF IF YOU FOCUS ON ONE DEITY AND PAY LESS ATTENTION TO OTHER DEITIES. oh my goodness i found myself doing this so oftennnnn they arent mad! DONT OVERWHELM YOURSELF

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The Dutch word for “matchstick” is “lucifer”.

LUCIFER.

LIGHT BRINGER???

I love language so much.

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The witchy autistic urge to take home a rock from every place you've ever been to✨

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Ars Goetia demons when you research them: Grand duke of HELL, commander of xy legions of demons, superior spirit, destrOyer of empires, he will rip out your tongue and eat it if you disrespect him!

Vs.

Ars Goetia demon when you actually meet them: "I do in fact love nature very much, everything beautiful and grotesque within it. I do also really love that drawing you made of me, lemme seeeeee, wow that's so cool, when will you make more?"

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Today I wrote a prayer to Lord Verrine to thank him for helping me heal from my sickness during a really stressful time where I had no time to be sick or to take time for a proper recovery.

In reply to this, he showed me what he looks like and said it's "one if his many faces". He was super sweet. I drew the image for him and he loved it. I haven't worked with him for a long time yet so it was really special and heartwarming that he trusts me this much already.

Also, his favorite word is "lovely"