#Illusions

[illustratus]

Astolfo in his turn is lured to Atlante's Palace of Illusions (Orlando Furioso) by Gustave Doré

[palatinewolfsblog]

"Religion is at its best when it makes us ask hard questions about ourselves. It is at its worst when it deludes us into thinking we have all the answers for everybody else." Archibald McLeish.

[that-vexaholic-cryptid]

[hektor-world]

I want all of you, forever, you and me, everyday.

[diana-andraste]

Elona, Jacek Poremba (also Jacka Poremby)

[philosophybits]

The perfect clarity of all the images we see in dreams which is the precondition of our unquestioning belief in their reality again reminds us of conditions pertaining to earlier mankind, in whom hallucination was extraordinarily common and sometimes seized hold on whole communities, whole peoples at the same time. Thus: in sleep and dreams we repeat once again the curriculum of earlier mankind.

Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human, 12

[ad-caelestia]

illusions and distortion in witchcraft

an illusion is defined as something that is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted, or something that distorts your perception.

distortion involves altering the natural or original state, shape, or condition of an object or giving a misleading impression of such.

illusions can affect all of the 5 senses - seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling.

illusion vs glamour vs shield

i feel like the terms can be synonymous depending on your desired outcome but, this is how i break it down:

illusions: creating things that don't exist; what you perceive and what you want others to see

glamours: altering what already exists; how you perceive and how you want others to see things

shields: a combination of both but commonly used for protective workings

when to use an illusion spell

when you want to alter, manipulate, or distort the perception of reality.

invisibility (masking yourself or your energy)

distorting one's appearance or the appearance of other objects

confusion

distraction

disorientation

persuasion

how to cast an illusion spell

however you want, although i'm partial to raising energy in whatever method i choose, directing it into a thing, and then using said thing to activate the spell whenever i want.

correspondences & ideas for illusions

herbs:

anything psychotropic or hallucinogenic in nature - think chamomile, cannabis, datura, wormwood, mugwort, damiana, gingko, nutmeg, salvia, valerian, poppies, coffee, tea, etc.

OR whatever corresponds to your specific intent

crystals:

agate (confusion)

alexandrite (delusions)

amethyst (delusions)

celestite (detachment)

diamond (confusion, disorientation)

kunzite (distraction)

moldavite (delusions)

obsidian (conflict within others)

etc.

not to mention, crystals have refractive properties, too! you can use that idea for distortion. (check out my a-z crystal list and curse correspondences for some more ideas)

cosmic:

moon - emotions, imagination, and the unconscious mind

neptune and pluto - illusions and metamorphosis

dark matter and black holes - invisibility and darkness

elements: if you consider the example of "driving down the road and thinking you see a puddle of water up ahead but then it just disappears when you get close to it," mirages could technically incorporate all of the elements:

earth is the foundation for the mirage, or the road you're driving down

fire provides heat

air is heated by the road

the actual mirage appears as water

and! when water turns to ice, it can create optical illusions like parhelia (sun dogs), sun haloes, and light pillars because of its interaction with sunlight.

plus lots of other cool stuff so use your imagination and good luck!

♡ luna

© 2025 ad-caelestia

[schizopositivity]

I'd love it if more people understood the difference between hallucinations and illusions. So let me try to explain with examples. [TW: examples of auditory hallucinations and illusions described as you experiencing them]

1. Imagine you are home alone with your windows closed and it's silent. And then you hear unfamiliar voices talking about you, it sounds like they are coming from another room. You go to check but no one is there. Your brain created entire voices of people out of thin air. This is a hallucination. There is nothing but your brain creates something.

2. Now imagine you are in the same scenario but your windows are open but the curtains are closed. You hear your neighbors having a conversation, and you hear it as them talking about what you are doing in that moment. They couldn't possibly see what you are doing, so realistically they can't be talking about you, but your brain makes you change the words and hear it that way. This is an illusion. There is something but your brain changes the real thing into something unreal.

It's not always easy to know the difference when you are experiencing it. But if you do know which one it is (nothing there and something unreal appears or something there changes to something unreal) then I think it can be really helpful to label the symptom accurately.

For me it was helpful to gage the effectiveness of my medication. I noticed that I have more illusions than hallucinations, and for me that was a sign of improvement. It can also go the other way, to see if your psychosis is getting more severe.

[vhscorp]

Bien qu’ils ne soient souvent qu’illusions, nos rêves nous protègent du désespoir…

V. H. SCORP

[thirdity]

The original void is amorphous, sterile, homogeneous, symmetrical. It is perfect. No reality can emerge there. It is absolute illusion. This symmetry has to be broken if a law-governed materiality is to establish itself — an imperfection, in which real bodies emerge (but where can such an imperfection possibly come from? What sets off breakings of symmetry?). Of that imperfection, we — human beings — are the trace, since perfection is of the order of the inhuman. We are also, however, the heirs of the Void, of the Nothing, of that primal scene of absence, that perfectly indecipherable and enigmatic state of the Universe — a situation which will never be compensated for by the real and the hegemony of the real. We are the heirs both to symmetry and to breakings of symmetry, and our imperfection is as radical as the radical illusion of the Void can be.

Jean Baudrillard, The Perfect Crime

[belamercado]

The illusions of childhood are necessary experiences: a child should not be denied a balloon just because an adult knows that sooner or later it will burst.

The Ladies' Home Journal, September 1948

[trinalwilliams]

"The universe whispers secrets, guiding us to the doorstep of our truest selves."

Tlw

[thesleepyblueocean]

"I adored you without thinking of you physically. I kissed your smile and adored your illusions."

Julia de Burgos, Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos

[witchrealms]

(x)

[whump-galaxy]

The Whumper using magic to make themselves look like the Whumpee’s friends, family members, or teammates when torturing them. Eventually the Whumpee refuses to believe anyone coming to save them is real. They can’t get the cruel voices of their own loved ones out of their own mind.