#graveyard spirit

[lilibat]

Halloween 2024 at Night

[winged-lights-and-krill-frights]

same hat

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The girls are back (from the grave)

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[thecupidwitch]

Graveyard Etiquette🪦

Before you go protect yourself you don't want a spirit attached to you.

Bring coins as offerings to the gatekeepers.

Bring with you offering for the spirits (food, water, flowers ect...) and leave it by a tree or away from the headstones for the spirits.

Make sure you don't step on anyone and apologiz if you do by accident.

Clean up neglected tombstones.

Ask before you take dirt. Use your intuition or divination to get a response.

Don’t take anything that is left for the dead.

Don't leave trash behind and if you find trash clean it.

Leave the way you came.

tip jar

[mishoarts]

time repeats itself?~

Doomed siblings ,my favourite trope ,,

[fastpassers shhhh]

[dewardin]

[ex0skeletal-undead]

Graveyard of the Melodies by João G. Santos

[sictransitgloriamvndi]

[sugarfatale]

[weirdlookindog]

Émile Bayard (1837–1891) - The Evocation of Spirits

Illustration from Paul Christian’s 'Histoire de la magie', 1870

source

[nervous-things]

[lilibat]

One of my graveyard spirit props, close up

[witchofspirits]

November 2nd is All Souls' Day and of course as a death witch/spirit worker I'm going to the cemetery.

Here's what you can do to celebrate this holiday and honor the dead:

Visit your local cemetery, and before entering, ask for permission to do so. Whether that be to a guardian (gargoyle, gates, christ, etc) or the spirits themselves.

Clean the grave of a deceased loved one or someone else's that looks like no one has visited them in a while. Trust me, they'll appreciate it, even if they don't know you.

Leave offerings to the guardian statue of the cemetery for their hospitality or to a loved one to show that you still keep them close to your heart

Put up a photo of a deceased loved one or pet on your altar or create an altar for them

Light a white candle for someone who passed (whether you knew them directly or not)

Honor the death deities you work with or that are from your pantheon (Hades, Anubis, Hel, Santa Muerte, etc)

Things to keep in mind:

Don't invite a random spirit to follow you back home, you don't know who or what can go with you.

Always protect yourself when interacting with spirits, energies, and entities. This includes when entering a graveyard/cemetery. You can do so by carrying a crystal, putting up a ward, protection shield, or creating a sigil or protection charm (ring, necklace, charm bag, etc). This must always be on you.

Be respectful to the dead!!!!! How would you feel if someone comes into your space taunting you or stepping on you? If you want to speak to them, do so kindly and calmly, hold a conversation instead of yelling, "If you're here, punch me in the face!" That's taunting and it's not nice.

Don't step on grave areas. If you accidentally do so, make sure to apologize. It's also recommended to say "excuse me" if you need to walk through a tight space where it's difficult to move forward without stepping on them.

Avoid direct pictures of grave stones. I know some people do it because "aesthetic", but I personally think it's rude. It's like shoving a camera in someone's face who didn't give consent to take a picture with you. If you want to do cool photography, you can do that without invading their space or showing their names.

[wolfhoundwitch]

A Guide to Graveyard Work

One of the earliest introductions I had to spirit work as a baby witch was graveyard work. In short, this practice involves building relationships with the deceased spirits of a graveyard, by communicating, leaving offerings and being mindful of their space. It is part of a wider practice known as death work, but this focuses specifically on how to enter and respect what is essentially the 'home' of the spirits you are working with. You can further build on your practice from this.

This is a handy guide to the different aspects of the practice, looking into the appropriate offerings and etiquette, written with a lot of love.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Graveyard Etiquette

There are rules you must follow in graveyards, whether for your personal safety, out of politeness, or following the law of your country. Sometimes these overlap. But sometimes, the rules you hear might be no more than baseless superstition, which there is a lot of concerning graveyards. There are way too many superstitions to list, however -

Some good rules to follow are:

Don't begin this work with the intention of taking from the graveyard or using the spirits in your practice. In the same way you wouldn't take from a stranger, it's important to build a relationship before you ask for things.

Try not to stand on graves where possible, out of respect for the dead but also those mourning them. Sometimes, graveyards are set up so that it is impossible to go anywhere without stepping on something, which is okay so long as you're not intending disrespect. However, do be wary that headstones can fall and the ground can shift.

Some people believe you shouldn't take any photos of the graves. I personally think that if the grave is old enough, it doesn't matter too much. If the grave is modern, it might be inappropriate for those in mourning to see you taking photos.

You can clean up trash, but be mindful of what might be considered trash. Obvious thrown-away food and drink packaging might be appropriate to clean up, but what if someone left a deceased one's favourite food at their grave? Or what if you decide to get rid of a toy or letter left there? Try to avoid cleaning up around the actual graves and focus on cleaning near the gates or in empty areas.

Don't trespass! If the cemetery has set entry times, enter and leave only within those times. Don't jump the fence, and don't enter any areas that are clearly gated or off-limits.

Leave an offering when asking to take something from the cemetery grounds. I don't feel it necessary to leave an offering each time you enter, especially if you plan on visiting often. But, if you want to take something like graveyard dirt or plants growing there, leave an offering for sure. And make sure to ASK. If you feel wrong, it's a no.

If you EVER find anything askew in a graveyard, such as vandalism, theft, or even dug up bones (it happens, I've found them before) PLEASE report it straight to the groundskeeper, associated church, or relevant authorities. It is not your responsibility to attempt to fix these things, or take things for yourself.

Offerings

You can leave offerings at the gate, or on specific graves if you want to work directly with that spirit. You don't always need to leave an offering, but it is a good thing to do when building a relationship and especially when asking to take from the site.

Some good offerings are:

Coins, especially two coins. There is a belief that the two coins are placed on the eyes of the deceased to pay the ferryman taking them over the river Styx. This has been maintained as a tradition.

Flowers. Even better if you look into Victorian flower symbolism for older grave sites and base your offering on this.

Origami. I would often fold multiple tiny cranes and leave them as offerings on individual graves. The best part is they are biodegradable.

I would be wary of leaving any kind of food or drink, as you might attract animals or even cause harm to the ecosystems living there. The same goes for anything made of plastic or that could hurt an animal.

Natural items such as seashells, feathers or stones are great, safe options for offerings.

You could also burn a candle or incense, but remember to stay with them while they burn and make sure they are extinguished when you leave.

Offerings don't have to be physical - you could say a few kind words, sing to them, or even just dedicating time to sit with the dead or talk with them can be an offering in itself.

Protection

I personally don't go into my practice thinking I could get possessed or followed by a demon at any given moment. However, I do think it's important to remember that graveyards can be full of a lot of upset, angry, and occasionally malevolent energies. Even if you don't intend to, these energies can attach to you or be taken home by you and can make you feel off.

Here are some ways you can protect yourself:

Cleanse yourself before and after entering a cemetery, even just by meditating and visualising or by using incense.

Check out my post on shielding techniques, and try to familiarise yourself with the visualisation techniques until you feel comfortable doing them.

Charm an item of clothing, such as a piece of jewellery, as an amulet to ward against negative energies that you can wear.

Find or create a protective sigil or rune that you can draw on something or on yourself.

You can pray to any deities you work with to ask for protection, especially if these deities are associated with death or spirits.

Communication

People who practice death work might communicate with the dead in different ways. They might be clairvoyant, use divination, feel energies or sometimes even just know what the spirits are saying. In any sense, spirit communication is a skill that is very much required in this practice. @koscheys-skull said it best here. You need good communication skills, in the sense that you are still talking to PEOPLE. And you need to go in with good intentions. If you are going in purely with the intention of using the dead for your own benefit, you won't get very far. If you can't talk to and actively listen with some semblance of empathy, you won't get very far. Death work is not an aesthetic, it is not for you to take your emo photos and be disrespectful. it is a serious, difficult and tolling practice that takes a lot of time and refining.

If you have gotten this far, I wish you all the best. It is a difficult but ultimately fulfilling part of spirit work, and if you are ready to dedicate the time and effort to it, you will get a lot out of it.

Thanks for reading! Please visit my tags for more guides, and feel free to reach out with requests for more information. Lots of love.

[aroaessidhe]

faves of 2024: novellas

Walking Practice

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins

The Salt Grows Heavy

Dehiscent

As Born to Rule The Storm

The Butcher of the Forest

Graveyard Shift

Pluralities

Rose/House

The Brides of High Hill

Small Gods of Calamity

The Labyrinth Beckons

Party of Fools

The Fireborne Blade

The River Has Roots

[minloe]

“Ah, another one for the collection,” I say as I carefully select a shiny thing (new piece of media) to collect (consume in a concerningly short amount of time).