#arthurian magick

[warmth-and-wonder]

Woe to the red dragon! Woe to the land, sundered beneath the splinters of a table round! Woe to the house of Pendragon! Endless is our grief, and eternal our patience

[link]

[herald-heroic]

I WILL praise the sovereign, supreme king of the land, who hath extended his dominion over the shore of the world.

the Raid on the Otherworld, the Book of Taliesin from the Four Ancient Books of Wales

[wildbasil]

I’ve had a few messages asking me to elaborate on my comic and I gotta say, I’m super honoured that people are enjoying my silly little drawings and want to know more!!

In short, Gwyn, Edern and Blodeuwedd are figures from medieval Welsh literature and folklore. I just think they’re neat 😌🌸

Gwyn

Warrior, Arthurian knight, fairy king and supernatural huntsman, Gwyn is associated with lonely places, like moorlands and mountaintops. He’s evasive, untrustworthy and, especially in earlier texts, has a pretty bad temper. In Culhwch and Olwen, he abducts the object of his affection, Creiddylad, right before her marriage. When her fiancé raises an army against him, Gwyn goes off the deep end a bit, raining violence down on his opponents and taking a bunch of them prisoner. He even tortures one guy into insanity by forcing the guy to eat his own dad's heart. Gwyn’s really caught the imagination of writers throughout time, and at least he seems to have chilled out somewhat over the centuries. For some reason, I like imagining him as tired and sort of past it as a mischief-maker.

Edern/Yder/Ider

Edern is a spirited, confident youth and, like his brother, is a knight of King Arthur. He’s slightly better at it, though. Less violence, more chivalry. Apparently a bit of a hunk too since, in the Romance of Yder, Guinevere admits that Edern would be her first choice if she ever remarried (and it seems Edern was Guinevere’s lover in some traditions). He’s also impatient and cocky, frequently rushing ahead into danger, which normally ends badly for him. In Geraint and Enid, he appears as the ill-mannered Knight of the Sparrowhawk. Despite boasting the title of jousting champion for two years running, he ends up getting beaten badly by Geraint and, begging for mercy, is forced to admit that he’s behaving like a little shit. I like imagining him as a dumbass younger brother.

Blodeuwedd

Blodeuwedd is an owl now, but she used to be a woman. When Lleu Llaw Gyffes was cursed to never have a human wife, his meddling uncle Gwydion magicked him one out of flowers. This flower lady was named Blodeuwedd. When she had an affair and, with her lover, tried to kill Lleu, Gwydion punished her by turning her into an owl, a creature reviled by humans and birds alike. But Blodeuwedd never asked to be a woman and she never asked to be an owl; I think it’s impossible not to feel compassion for her. There’s no real connection between her and Gwyn, but I enjoy imagining them as weird friends. After all, Gwyn’s pretty disliked and feared too.

A (Very, Very Short) Reading List

Here are some links if you want to learn more!

Firstly, I recommend reading Sioned Davies’ translation of The Mabinogion, which is a collection of eleven medieval Welsh stories.

The Mabinogion translated by Sioned Davies (2007)

But there are some free translations online too:

The Mabinogion translated by Charlotte Guest (1877)

In particular, these are the stories I mentioned above:

Culhwch and Olwen

Geraint son of Erbin

Math son of Mathonwy

And here's one of my favourites (not from the Mabinogion): the story of St Collen and Gwyn ap Nudd.

Thanks for reading!!

[arsene-inc]

A TTRPG collection retrospective

And so my TTRPG in book format collection has reached 70...not books......licences.... and a lot of them are complete. I miss when I had space to tidy stuff.

So here are all my books :

The PBTA and adjacent games

The first style of games that really hooked me

Monster of the week , the first game I ever gm'd

World Wide Wrestling

Masks, my most played game this year

Urban Shadows

Dungeon World, bought because I did not have any "generic" fantasy system.

Apocalypse Keys

Blades in the dark , the game that bought me where I am, introduce me to french ttrpg content creators when I responded to an ad for a player.

Band of Blades

Brinkwood

Sig, City of Blades

City of Mist

English Import

Agon 2nd edition, still a favorite

Kids on broom

Slayers ( and a one)

Nova ( and a two)

Rune ( and a three for GilaRPGs)

DIE RPG ( really need to choose a good group to play this)

Heart the city beneath (yeah i like Rowan, Rook & Deckart)

Dragonbane ( A friend is a die hard Free League fan)

Wildsea

DotDungeon

Liminal

Tattered Magick

International Games translated in French

Mausritter

Thousand year Old Vampire

The Magus

Colostle

Warpland

Troika, my cursed game, the sessions are always canceled

Paleomythic

Vaesen

Spire, the city must fall

Genesys

Dragons conquer America

Sins of the father

Fate core

Nobilis 2nd edition, the big beautiful white book

Mage 20th

Castle Falkenstein

Cryptomancer, the 70th game

French indies ( with quick pitch)

Etoiles - a Stargate game

Aventures a Plumes/ Feathered Adventures - Play diceless Ducktales

Cités abimés / Broken Cities - 30's surrealism the game

Anime was a mistake - play every anime

Prosopopée - Mushishi the game

De mauvais reves - a cursed family in the Great North

Glorieuses - housewives in the 80's trying to escape boredom with wrestling

Temple des vents / Colosse de Grisantre - solo game of a fantasy wanderer

Les veilleurs - solo game / You are the Hero book, with Titan cults

Bois Dormant - post apocalyptic hopepunk gmless game inspired by Sleeping Beauty

Explorateur des Bruines/Libretés - Kids trying to survive an alternate dimension of murderous mermaids hiding in the rain

Les Héritiers de l'Hypogryphe Saoul - Urban fantasy where magic was just revealed to the world, along with things so old even the magicals forgot about them

Argyropée - Renaissance fantasy in a city where murder is impossible and leaving too long makes you die of depression

Speedrun - a system to speedrun TTRPG sessions and campaign

Bigger/Mainstream? French Games

Insectopia - Medfan but you are all insects

Cats la mascarade - Cats are secretly psychic

Donjons et Chatons - medfan but you're kittens and a cartoon planned for 2025

Donjon & Cie / Dungeon, Inc. - Monsters in the dungeon are just corporate employees

Terre 2 - scifi I don't really care about, i just told my parents to buy it when they saw it a -70% in a thrift shop

Nautilus - Play Jules Verne Hundred Leagues under the sea

Meute - French werewolfes with 2 souls : mortal human and immortal wolf

Rotting Christ - The Band. A ttrpg for metalheads

Knight - Epic Horror, The Arthurian Myth with mechas. It's great

Nephilim - the urban fantasy occult french game (basically The Secret World as a ttrpg)

Chroniques Oubliés Contemporain - generic system for modern adventures

Les Héritiers - All sorts of fae in 1901 dreaming of the end of the world in 1914

Ecryme - translation funded on KS, coming soon : Steampunk where the water rose, leaving only small islands, plus the water is highly acidic, melting everything except stone and steel

Les Oubliés - Korrigans & little people the size of a finger in a french city during the Religion Wars

Subabysse - sorta pulpy scifi where water rose so humanity went to live under the sea

Waiting for (dear god all the crowdfunding)

Fabula Ultima translation

Nephilim supplements

Arc Doom translation

Eat the Reich

Meute campaign

Babel, french game of book magic

Break!

Monsterhearts translation

Dragonbane bestiary

Triangle Agency

Wilderfeast

The Hidden Isle

[lisa-and-shadow]

Ambrosius keeps being a pompous little manlet when he talks to my Arisen.

Time to teach him who's boss.

The name "Ambrosius" really tickles me. I know it's historical with ties to the Arthurian legend. But it SCREAMS fancy lad who gets bullied. I'm gonna carry him around the Forbidden Magick Research Lab until I can find a locker to shove him into.

Fine. She'll apologize.

Oh. I think he liked it.

[queer-cock-witchcraft]

Why I Post Dick

Nobody asked, but I'm going to post about it anyway!

There are several reasons why I reblog naked men I find very attractive. The biggest reason is that I am very, very Queer. But it's much deeper than that. Yes, I know Tumblr banned porn. Much to the detriment of most of us, I think. But in spite of this I still post attractive, naked men displaying rather large phalluses.

This is mainly because Sex Magick is a big part of my practice. I am a Dionysian Phallic Worshiper most of all. I view Cock as the literal Creator of all things. My blog is part Grimoire, part Shrine/Altar to the Great God, Phallus. I could go into detail on all the reasons why I believe this but honestly? I don't feel like it. Just look at Nature Herself and you will understand why sex is sacred. It doesn't take long to realize that most things are Phallic.

Dionysus is the Phallic God of Wine, Revelry, & Theatre. He is also very androgynous! He helped me embrace the fact I am nonbinary and because of him, I embraced Queer as my title. So, this blog is partly a Shrine to him. I worship him through being true to myself and through my sexual worship of sexy, big dicked men (yes I realize the Greeks hated large phalluses but I have fetishes).

Another Phallic God I work with is Cernunnos. I know some don't see the sexual side of him (indeed, some even hate the idea entirely). But over the years I have found him to be quite the sexual, Phallic God I know him to be! His energy is very similar to Dionysus in many ways. I worship him in the form of the Greenman, Lord of the Vine, & the Lord of Primal Animalistic Desire.

Here's a God I bet you have never thought could be Phallic: Merlin of the Arthurian Legend. In his form as Wyllt, he is the Wildman of the Woods. His energy is incredibly sexual and Phallic, not unlike Cernunnos or the Greenman. Very similar to Dionysus indeed! The Wizard Staff is overtly phallic in nature. He wasn't always the old Wizard most know him to be. I have always worked with him in a much younger, much more sensual form.

[hadit93]

Fantasy: A Magical Gateway

Something I have noticed in myself and a lot of other magicians is that many of us got into magic as a result of being fascinated by the images of magicians, witches, and wizards in fantasy stories as well as the original fantasy stories- myths and legends.

I believe being interested in fantasy is not only a gateway into magical practice, but also a necessary trait. The ability to suspend one's belief and utilising imagination are key features in Magick in my opinion. We start off admiring the imagination of others, but eventually many of begin practicing the skill of imagination- creative visualisation- and forming worlds, characters, and beings of our own.

For me as a child my fascination began with Merlin and King Arthur, I was absolutely obsessed with the Arthurian legends as a child. I watched every film I could find concerning Merlin- which in the 90s was quite a few! After this of course came Harry Potter, I was hooked. I read the books, I watched the films, I could probably sit and recite lines even now. My favourite film as a very young child was The Wizard of Oz, not because of Dorothy, but because of the witch! I even once dressed as the wicked witch for halloween, much to my father's disapproval!

Then you have those who like to play roleplaying games such as Dungeons and Dragons etc. I've always wanted to try playing such games but could never find anyone willing to. However, the amount of imagination and suspension of belief involved in these things is brilliant. It seems to be a very good tool of training and utilising the imagination and I know a lot of occult teachers grew up playing such games. I believe they are successful in their magic due to the early nurturing of these tools.

For me I loved writing stories about the supernatural in general: magic, vampires, ghosts etc. I would often play games involving magic, and on many occasions, when there were no kids about to play with I could be found in the garden communicating with the leprechauns. Don't ask me what we spoke about or why I believed leprechauns were living in my garden in England. But 5 year old me firmly believed it!

Now, this is not to say when you commune with spirits it is all imaginary in the sense that it is fake. This is not the case, but it is through the imagination faculty that communication occurs in my opinion. What I mean by this is that the spirits and the magician can utilise the matrix of the imagination to form impressions to each other and thus use the creative faculties of the mind to communicate with each other. This is what happens when a magician accesses and utilises the so-called 'astral plane'. It is the astral light of Eliphas Levi. It is the creative faculty of the mind.

Spirits are discarnate beings, we need to give them form or they need to give themselves form. I believe it is a mutual endeavour. We give them form in our minds eye and they take references, words, and aspects from our minds to give themselves shape also. I believe when we stare into scrying devices all we are doing is distracting our conscious minds and allowing the imagination to run wild. To daydream, to be lost in reverie.

Stories are important. Myths and Legends are important. The bible is important. Why? Because they have shaped humanity, they have shaped us as individuals in society, and their imagery is imprinted upon us. The spirits speak through these archetypal images. But I personally believe new stories are also important. New tales of magic, drawing upon key archetypal images, are also of importance. Fantasy as a genre is important, and as a side note, science fiction too!

The next time you play D & D, watch movie, read a book. Allow yourself to get lost. Allow yourself to imagine yourself as the main character. Allow yourself to be lost in the story. Allow your mind to run wild. Do the same the next time you are scrying, do not try to control what happens. Don't disregard anything. Simply be receptive to the imagination. Allow it complete freedom. Your magic will thank you.

[daughters-of-liberty]

Why isn't asexuality an identity? (I don't want to debate, you just got me curious)

Like I said: stop pathologizing the human condition. Not everyone wants to have sex all the time. I think it's absurd that now mere feelings are regarded as sexual identities.

You have things like demisexual, which is someone who only wants to have sex after they've made an emotional bond...like that's revolutionary or something.

You have allosexual and alloromantic, which are just basically normal people. Cause that needs a term right? Everything needs a fucking category, now.

And then, my personal favorite: aroflux. Which refers to someone whose "capacity for sexual or romantic attraction changes over time". So...basically...EVERYONE!

It's absurd. And how many stories I've seen from people be like "I thought I was ace, then I met so-and-so and started having sexual feelings towards them" and I'm just like, yeah see that's normal. But then they take a hard left and say "am I actually DEMI?!" Like, Jesus Christ! You're normal! Lots of people don't feel sexual attraction ALL THE TIME. When I was single, I didn't even feel sexual attraction all the time, and I was totally boy crazy!

In my opinion, so-called asexuals and demisexuals are just otherwise normal people living in a hypersexual culture, where they're made to feel weird for not wanting to have sex with randos, or wear skimpy clothing, or make overtly sexual jokes. A society that calls you a prude or a goody-two-shoes for being modest!

Combine that with people having no spirituality anymore, they've replaced a higher calling with some new facet of "self discovery", which inevitably always ends with someone realizing they're pan or trans or demi or ace. This is why people just need to get off the computer, leave their bubbles and sit by a tree for a few hours.

Not everything you feel is an identity. Not everything you feel needs to be politicized. There are people whose lives are so empty, so hopelessly barren, they can't just...be. Just exist. They have to categorize every part of their personality.

Just look at when the average person introduces themself, for example: "Hi, I'm Bea. I'm bisexual aroflux heteroflexible, and my pronouns are she/her/them. I'm a practicing syncretic Scottish witch, with heavy leanings towards druidry and Irish reconstructionism, and am self trained in the Arthurian and Avalonian schools of magick. I am human, but I have faekin, elfkin, treekin, rainkin, and moonkin thoughts and feelings." Like, bitch, I don't need your whole life story, including your religion and favorite sex position. Okay?

Just exist. Be you. No tags. No labels. No boxes. No categories. HUMANS DO NOT FIT INTO NEAT CATEGORIES. We aren't movies or books or music. And hell, movies, books, and music don't fit into neat categories either. Neither do trees or animals or cloud types or vegetables or planets or fucking rocks. And, yet, all those things are able to be without the need for you to know their innermost thoughts and feelings.

Why isn't asexuality an identity? Basically, because humans think too much about inconsequential shit.

Hope this helps.

[halfawitch-willow]

November 17th - Choose Your Own SwynAU

Summary: 

If you asked the people living in Swynlake, they’d tell you that living in the shadow of one of the most famous theme parks in the world has its ups and downs. Many children spent their childhood running through the park, and over half of the town’s residents work at the Magick Kingdom to some capacity. The whole town is buzzing with anticipation now that the park is getting ready to reopen for the start of the Spring season.

But rumors are going around that there have been mysterious visits to the park offices during the winter, with a severe but beautiful woman walking the snowy, closed park with a critical eye. There was that safety scare with Enchantra at the end of the last season, where the coaster broke and a local man was injured, but that’s all taken care of and resolved… Right? 

Those rumors of a lawsuit are just that, rumors. They wouldn’t shut down the park over one accident and risk changing the lives of everyone in Swynlake forever, would they?

Come to the Magick Kingdom, either as a guest or an employee, and experience the spring season for yourself. Will you continue on blissfully unaware of the looming danger, or strike first and try to sabotage the lawsuit? Will you help bring thrills and excitement to the guests in the park, or get swept up in backstage drama?

As the gates at the front of the park say: Make Your Own Magic.

Location: 

The Magick Kingdom is opening its doors for the spring and summer season! Located just outside the small, picturesque town of Swynlake, Magick Kingdom is one of the most popular theme parks in the United Kingdom, known for its intricate theming and wide variety of attractions. Explore Lyons’ Castle, go paddle-boating on Atlantis Lake, shop on Main Street, and ride some of the most thrilling coasters in the world: Enchantra, Demon’s Run, Kohaku River Rapids, and the Maleficent! There’s also the haunted walk-through attraction, The Hauntly, 

If thrill rides aren’t your fancy, there are plenty of other kinds of entertainment to be found in the Magick Kingdom! Come see our world-renowned magical zoo with creatures from all over the world, explore the sprawling Zeniba climbing structure with your family, or come see our world class performers at any of the three venues in the park, including the skating show at the Ahtohallan Ice Arena! Meet with King Arthur’s court at our Round Table character dining experience or at any of the meet and greet locations around the park, or book our exclusive Backlot Tour to see where the real magic happens backstage.

Roles & Suggestions:

GUEST: Become a passholder at the Magick Kingdom! Get perks like free parking and discounted meal plans, and visit friends and family who work in the park. Go on your favorite rides and try to ignore the still, looming coaster at the back of the park that hasn’t operated since the accident the year before. Make invasive TikToks of the face characters, like a dick. Maybe you’re a reporter trying to get the scoop on the accident and the fallout, or maybe you’re a lawyer looking to get a foot in the door for the case. 

PERFORMER: Princess and princess and mythical figures from Arthurian legend wander the park to interact and pose for pictures with the guests. Knights perform acts of daring on and off horseback at Lyons Castle, and jesters flip and twirl through the park to dazzle guests with acrobatic feats. They all parade through the park twice a day. The Snow Queen show is the long-running ice skating show in the Ahtohallan Ice Arena, where skaters spin and dance on the enchanted rink. The most coveted role in the park is performing in the fireworks show, a musical spectacular that caps off the guests’ visit at the end of the day. Auditions are in the fall for next year’s cast.

CREW: Working behind the scenes, crew includes the costume department and the stage crew. Stage managers run the shows and are the most coveted role in the park for crew, but competition is fierce. Crew have to apply for what show they want to work at during the season; everyone wants to work the Snow Queen show, and only the bravest dare to work Storytime in Pixie Hollow, which has the highest turnover in the park. Costumers work mainly in the shop in the Warehouse, where all of the decorations for the park are stored and where there are several rehearsal stages.

PYROTECHNICS: Wanna blow shit up? This is where you go to blow shit up. Fireworks happen every night and they have a certain extra magical oomph to make them really showstopping. The odds of losing an eyebrow or two to a firework that went off too soon is never zero.

OPS: The cogs that keep the Magick Kingdom running; OPS includes ride operators, character handlers, photographers, food service workers, and ticket booth attendants. Like the cast and crew, most OPS employees are assigned to a certain ride or part of the park that is their “home”, though it isn’t uncommon for them to be trained at multiple locations across the park to swing in if necessary. They deal with the guests the most, which means they are stronger than any M6 agent alive.

ZOOLOGY TEAM: The animal handlers of the park. They help take care of the magical creatures in the zoo, the fish in the lake, and the horses the knights use for their show. As a whole, they do not care about the rest of the park and tend to stay as far away from other people as possible. That being said, if the park shuts down, they’ll have to rehome the animals to lesser zoos, and that will not stand. For the first time in the storied history of the park, the Zoology team is ready to work with the rest of the employees.

SECURITY: The security team at Magick Kingdom is an elite force of security officers that patrol the park and the grounds day in and day out. Rumor has it that the evaluation to be accepted as a guard is harder than the test to join the Swynlake police force. High School Never Ends, and if the performers are the popular kids, security are the jocks. They get called in when guests get too rowdy or for the occasional fight -- Magick Kingdom is a wet park, after all. They also include Emergency Services, which is the first aid team for the park. Biggest perk? Security gets the Nice Golf Carts. The Crew weeps with envy.

ENGINEERS: The engineers on the Magick Kingdom payroll are responsible for making sure the rides and attractions all run smoothly! They’re the ones climbing up the coasters at 5 AM with a harness older than any of their living relatives to check all the bolts are tight and the gears are greased. They work tirelessly to keep the Magick Kingdom running, and the breakdown of Enchantra was a personal affront to them all. They’ve triple-checked every ride in the park before opening, and some have even been secretly leading their own investigation into what caused the Enchantra derailment. There’s also a few roller coaster designers who are scouting the park for a place to put their latest designs, but they do not get along well with the park engineers. Think architect vs. construction crew; one of them comes up with the crazy ideas, one of them makes sure they’re physically possible.

ADMIN: The team behind the behind the scenes. Admin includes the owner of the park, the board of directors, the accountants, HR, marketing, all the business side of running such a popular park. This entire department has been on fire since the moment Enchantra derailed, and it’s not looking like it’s going to improve any time soon with Eboshi stalking the halls and the park. They’ve tried to keep a lid on just how bad the situation really is to not scare the employees or guests, but rumors are starting to get out. About the Enchantra lawsuit and the lawyers circling overhead, waiting for the lawsuit to deal the deathblow and leave the park up for grabs.

Willow Park Role: OPS - Character Handler and Photographer Favorite Ride: Maleficent

Willow had known she wanted to be a princess from the moment she first stepped into the Magick Kingdom.

She was young and had just moved to Swynlake from the Boiling Isles when she first saw the princesses of King Arthur’s court, floating around the park like flowers caught on a breeze. She’d begged her dads for a princess dress and tiara from the shop, and while her Dad worked as an engineer, Willow would run through the park, gathering any kids she could find to join her ‘court’ for the day. It was during one of those games that she met her best friend, Eilonwy Llyr.

It was also during one of those games that Willow discovered her Talent. According to Willow at eight years old, that meant it was fate. She was meant to be a princess one day.

Willow continued to adore the park as she grew, getting a summer job as soon as she was sixteen along with Eilonwy, and when they were old enough to audition -- Willow for the princess role, Eilonwy for one of the knights -- they went together.

Only one of them walked out a princess, and it wasn’t Willow.

The cruel, mocking words from the audition hall seemed to follow Willow everywhere, to the point where she couldn’t even go into the Warehouse anymore without crying. She became a handler instead so she could stay with her friends who were all performers, and tried to suppress the heartbreak. She did her best to put on a good show for the guests, joking and playing along with Eilonwy as she did her meet and greets through the park, but it was clear to those who knew her that some of her passion had died in that audition.

A few years have passed since the disastrous audition, and Willow was finally ready to face the Warehouse again. Her friends have been helping her prepare for this audition for weeks; Edward helped run the lines and songs for the fireworks show with her, Eilonwy taught her all of the dances and little mannerisms princesses needed to know, and Hunter gladly vented with her while they trained together for his security team evaluation. Willow felt confident that not only could she get the role, she would get the best damn show in the park -  the fireworks.

Except there wouldn’t be a fireworks show if the park shut down after the season. Willow’s dad was an engineer on Enchantra, and she knew that the allegations of poor upkeep causing the derailment were false. She’ll do anything to protect the park and her dad’s reputation, even if that means giving up on her dreams to be a princess forever.

Other Potential Characters:

Eilonwy Llyr // Performer - Princess

Eilonwy hated being a princess, but every time there was an opening for a knight, she was passed over. It didn’t help that she was an exceptionally good princess, so casting never wanted to give her the role she really wanted. And she’d be an amazing knight! She could outride and outperform most of the current roster. But this was her year! Eilonwy was going to become a knight, or so help her, she wouldn’t be coming back to the park at all.

Edward Andalasia // Performer - Prince

Everyone agreed, Edward was born to be a prince. He was a hit with the guests and crew alike, and had been the primary prince for the fireworks show for a few years now. It was hard to be on top, though, and Edward knew that several of his fellow castmates were willing to sink to any low to get his covetous role. He couldn’t help that he didn’t like the drama that most of the performers seemed to revel in, and was instead content to just hang out with Eilonwy, Willow, and Hunter outside of work. With the help of his friends, can he remain the gleaming Prince Charming of the Magick Kingdom?

Hunter Belos // Performer - Knight

Hunter’s taken the security evaluation test three times. He passed the written exam with flying colors every time, securing a perfect score last year, but every time he got to the physical exam, he never made it to the finish line. It was embarrassing, especially when he had to see the people who did make it through the test watching from the sidelines as he performed at Lyons Castle as the Golden Guard. This was his year, though; he was going to become a real security guard and leave his gleaming golden armor behind… Just as soon as he figured out how to convince the stablekeeper to let him keep his show mount, Flapjack, when he left.

Amity Blight // OPS - Ride Operator on Maleficent

Amity was not a Swynlake native, and she really didn’t get all the hype about the Magick Kingdom. It felt exploitative at best, with how often they bragged about the number of Magicks they hired. But it was the best paying job in town, and after going no contact with her parents, she needed the money to get into school and get her degree. She may have thought twice if she knew her ex-best friend, Willow, was working in OPS as well. Her parents had basically run the Parks off the Isles, and Amity didn’t know how to approach her now. Was the money really worth staying at this job? Hopefully next year the park would close and she wouldn’t have to make that decision at all.

[solophenttwo]

No dream, this time, of kings or swords or stars moving, but a dream half-waking, broken and uneasy, of the small gods of small places; gods of hills and woods and streams and crossways; the gods who still haunt their broken shrines, waiting in the dusk beyond the lights of the busy Christian churches, and the dogged rituals of the greater gods of Rome. In the cities and the crowded places men have forgotten them, but in the forests and the wild hill country the folk still leave offerings of food and drink, and pray to the local guardians of the place who have dwelled there time out of mind. The Romans gave them Roman names, and let them be; but the Christians refuse to believe in them, and their priests berate the poorer folk for clinging to the old ways— and no doubt for wasting offerings which would do better at some hermit's cell than at some ancient holy place in the forest. But still the simple folk creep out to leave their offerings, and when these vanish by morning, who is to say that a god has not taken them?

The Hollow Hills, Mary Stewart

[warmth-and-wonder]

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO ARTHURIAN PAGANISM

Do you like digging through rarely translated Welsh manuscripts and crusty PDF’s searching for a little known truth that cannot be found? Do you enjoy wild goose chases but religious this time? Do you want a spiritual practice focused on digging in and coming to your own conclusions? Do the legends of King Arthur and his knights inspire a spiritual admiration? Then, you’ve stumbled upon the right tumblr post.

This is meant to be a base level introduction to Arthurian Paganism, an open path anyone from anywhere can follow. I am not an expert, and and do not wish to be treated as such. However, I do think I have enough information to springboard someone else’s journey.

Let’s gets started!

WHAT IT IS

Many religions have a concept of hero worship or hero cults. Worshipped in the terms of divinity or pseudo divinity, sometimes compared to the concepts of local gods and Catholic saints, but not exactly. It could be said this concept dates back to heroes like Gilgamesh and Enkidu, all the way back in 2900 bce! Such, Arthurian Paganism is the tradition of revering Arthur and other Arthurian figures just as one would revere other ancient heroes.

The historicity of Arthur has been subject to lengthy debate. Evidence can point to him being a Briton chief who fought back an Anglo-Saxon invasion shortly after the fall of Rome, or point to him not existing at all. That mystery is a piece of what makes Arthur unique to practitioners who revere him. We will never know the real truth of who he was until his messianic return. (If that even occurs as well!)

It is also worth noting the Christianization of Arthur’s story. The Anglo-Saxons won the war, and with them brought ancient Christianity. Fairies became demons and queens became virgins, and those virgins bore pentacles on their shields. This strange melding of Pagan and Christian symbolism merged into a story that could survive. Christian authors contributed to and thus preserved Arthur’s story through centuries of distance. This merging of legends and religions is an important part of this path. Practitioners wishing to stray further from Christian symbolism must do a bit more digging to access the Pagan meanings underneath.

Because of the lack of a solid ground line, historical or spiritual, this is a branch of worship filled with personal findings and UPG more so than any other form of Paganism. Arthur expects you to quest for what the truth is, who he is,who you are and what you believe. It’s up to you in the end regarding the heroes, villains, and relationships wound up in this tale. We quest just like the knights who scoured for the Grail and the Questing Beast, and we come up short like them as well.

“So many scholars have spent so much time trying to establish whether Arthur existed at all that they have lost track of the single truth that he exists over and over.”

-John Steinbeck

WHAT TO DO

Interacting with heroic figures is done similarly to how we interact with spirits and deities. Create them an altar, leave them offerings, wear devotional jewelry and listen to songs with spiritual significance! Invite them to reveal the unseen to you, and to work with you in spells and rituals. These figures, Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin, Morgana, Mordred and more, they can interact with you as any other spiritual being would. Invite them in, and develop a personal and unique relationship as you progress on your never ending quest.

As is good advice with any unseen being, start with a tarot reading or a prayer. Sit with them, introduce yourself, state your curiosity and intentions. Doing a tarot reading is how I got started!

There are also several ways to include these figures in your craft. Biblomancy using Arthurian literature, calling upon them in spells, and keeping a chivalrous code of honor in your magick. Also use Arthurian symbols such as red dragons, grails and goblets, circles or spirals of stones, triskelions, celestial bodies, fairies/faeries, and the general aesthetics of the knights of yore.

If you believe you are being contacted by an Arthurian figure, I encourage you to listen. Merlin sent me hawks, Arthur appeared in the clouds. These signs can be invitations! Don’t be afraid to accept, for the thing awaiting you just might be the holy grail.

INCOMPLETE BEGINNER BLIOGRAPHY

Arthurian Magick: the complete book of meditations, rituals, and visualizations- John and Caitlín Matthews are wonderful sources, but I will only put my favorite books of theirs here for brevity’s sake. This is the big book of Arthurian spells and the perfect place for anyone interested in him to begin.

Arthurian Tarot- also by the Matthews’. This deck is one of the most visionary, insightful, and detailed I’ve ever worked with. Jam packed with Arthurian symbolism and the history to back it up. There is a digital version available as an app that is my favorite digital divination method ever, and is excellent for witches who cannot have physical decks for any reason.

Temples of the Grail: the search for the world’s greatest relic- again, by John Matthews and Gareth Knight. A very detailed history of the Grail and what it could be, a subject of fierce debate and incredible importance!

Histories of the Kings of Britain - a pseudo historical list of kings written in roughly 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. More often considered an epic rather than a historical document, and is considered to be the text that introduces Merlin into Arthurian mythos.

Gwaine and the Green Knight - written by the mysterious Gwaine and/or Pearl poet in the 14th century. Perfect example of the merging religions I touched on earlier.

the Four Ancient Books of Wales - four important 13-15th century texts that contain some of the earliest mentions of Arthur in Welsh.

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and Le Morte D’Arthur - both by Sir Thomas Malory in the 1400’s. Both contain important stories and even important prophecies!

SOME EXTRA RESOURCES

Masterpost of Arthurian offerings- a work in progress for ideas and inspiration for items to fill your altar spaces

My devotional playlist- devotional playlists are excellent for meditation, shufflemancy, and spiritual mindfulness. This is the one I use

FINAL NOTES

First, thank you for reading this far! I hope I managed to impart even the slightest semblance of useful information.

Secondly, I wish you luck on this never ending quest. If you have any other resources, tips, or guidance to share please discuss it in the notes! If you have questions, my ask box is open.

All of magick, and perhaps even life, is an eternal search for more knowledge. Arthur himself was placed onto the trail of an unobtainable, impossible quest too. It matters not that his attempts can be described as futile, for the futile is sacred. For each and every aspect of his life and longer reigning mythos was foretold in prophecy. For even today there remains those who seek the same impossible journey to find the king, the grail, the truth, and simply the journey itself.

[lady-boa]

Hey, I saw your post about types of water and what you can do with them. Is there any use for Lake water, because I do live close to a Great Lake.

Hey, thanks for bringing this up! I forgot about lakes, despite living next to a bunch of lakes. So I had to do a bit of research…

So the major consensus among witches is that lake water is good for Peace, Relaxation, Contentment, and Self-Reflection. This conclusion is probably drawn from the fact that Lakes have little to no motion unlike rivers and rain, and maybe the self-reflection comes from several different myths- like one particular strand of the Greek Narcissus myth where he falls in love with his reflection in the lake, and can’t move away from it, leaving him to self-reflect for the rest of his days.

I also came to some of my own conclusions from my own research, that lake water may also be used for Healing, Compassion, Protection, Mystery, and Enhancing Psychic Abilities. I came to this conclusion while researching mythology; The Lady of the Lake and the other Lake Ladies in mythology oft heal and protect the ones that come to them, at the same time showing compassion. Lakes are also known in mythology for hiding things and creatures- hence mystery. The calm waters are good for meditation and enhancing psychic abilities. 

[ajramseyart]

New Prints available!

Here they are!! Finally! Now everyone can have a piece of Arthur and Uther!!

They are listed in my etsy, like in my bio. 

[adapembroke]

I too feel that sadness when I see the Elves leave at the end of the Lord of the Rings. I feel the same way when I get to the end of Arthurian novels and films (at least the ones that understand that the old Arthurian Mythos is also a tale of our connection to the Spirit of the Land) and I see Arthur being carried away on the ship to Avalon, sailing to the west, and the Otherworld. They do symbolise Magic leaving the world with the arrival of industry and so-called progress. And with that arrival a separation was felt, and so we search for the Grail once more, to bring healing to the wound created by that perceived separation.

Damh the Bard, “There is no separation, you are part of me”

[edwincourtenay]

Drawn to Dragons? Attracted to Arthurian legend? Mildly obsessed with Merlin perhaps? If your answer to any of the above is YES then this Sunday’s (August 30th) up and coming Zoom Workshop with Edwin Courtenay - DRACONIS - might just be for you!! Exploring the spiritual origin and purpose of these “galactic beings” we will be experiencing meditations, exercises (with Dragon Symbols, Magic and Dragon Runes) PLUS live trance channellings from the Spirit of the Merlin himself AS WELL AS finding out which Dragon Spirit we are aligned too!! For more information and to book go to ... http://www.edwincourtenay.co.uk/draconis.php #dragon #spirit #arthurian #kingsrthur #merlin #magick #magik #wicca #pagan #elemental #runes #edwincourtenay #zoom https://www.instagram.com/p/CEZoQOVBY_5/?igshid=1cxiqldt5kc10

[triste-le-roy]

Title page and images from The Story of King Arthur and his Knights (Howard Pyle, 1903).

(via Wikimedia Commons, Ragged Claws Network, & Blogspot)