#khthonic witch

[khthonicdove]

i got a bunch of fake bones from the dollar tree (54 for $3.75!!!) and turned them into a psephoi set specifically for my Khthonic altar! i’m very happy with them and i’ll be working on adding some of the usual interpretations into my BoS and i’m very excited to start getting my own reactions and interpretations once i use these regularly

[good-thymes]

Me: “I don’t take spiders in my house as a sign. They are there all the time. It’s mundane.”

*at least 15 baby spiders crawling on my purse*

Me: “Hm.”

[d3zydration]

Digital Sketchbook (06.20.2024)

I'm about to make a big update post for my main website, but I didn't feel like using up storage on some preview shots. At the top, we've got progress on my 2d model for my YouTube channel, along with the many outfits I've made for her. Once I'm done with all the shading, I can break down the pieces and start the rigging process. I've probably got more outfits than I need, and there are some side characters I may make that I've had bouncing around in my head and on my channel for a long time that I'll probably also make, but once the bulk of it is done, I can focus on rigging while that happens.

On the bottom left, we've got a new Hesiodos (Hesiod) piece I'm working on. I wasn't happy with how the first one turned out, and honestly, I need to get back into the flow of more realistic works. Painting pieces directly from photo reference is easy enough, but it's a bit more difficult using a marble statue, as I did with my first piece, and more difficult still drawing from the mind while trying to translate those references as accurately as possible. I'm also using a more gouache-inspired brush set for this one. I've been super fascinated with acrylic gouache lately and am planning to start doing traditional pieces again in marker, watercolor, and acrylic gouache. I've been really into the work of Amina Illustration and I'm A Wonder.

My YCH (Your Character Here) commission piece "Little Witch" still has 5 available slots left on my Etsy shop (which is discounted from what you would pay for a custom commission with those specifications) - but I had also started on a number of other ones back in autumn of last year: A little graveyard chibi pin-up, a chibi girl holding a pumpkin spice latte, a woman kissing the cheek of a scarecrow, and a vampiric take on Klimt's The Kiss. I also started on a few general ones: one inspired by the style of Bratz, one inspired by the style of Monster High, and one inspired by the lo-fi girl. I'll still be wrapping them up and making them available whenever they're complete, but they aren't at the forefront of my workload at the moment - especially since I'm planning on moving away from Etsy.

Along that line, I also have plans to work on a couple of emote, clip art, and marketing packs, some stickers (including sticker sheets for my planners), a magickally-accurate Sailor Moon chibi series, and a couple of fan oracle decks. First on my to-do list, however, is a ton of website graphics for my new websites, the next batch of designs and styles for the Luxe Gothique Boutique, and a rework of my Khthonic Wiccan art series, as it's something else I just wasn't satisfied with.

And that's just artwork! I have a lot of writing in the works now, as well. I've got two books, my Mythos Reimagined series, and my webcomic, A Little Town Called Lorauvial, in the works, as well. This is a lot, I know, but I'm making progress each day. I just want to make so many things. I can't possibly keep it all locked away forever. 👻💚

Anyway, stay tuned for my update article. I'm going to be getting on that shortly with info on my other goings-on. Be there or be square.

[candlewitches]

noumenia?

its a monthly holiday/celebration for the new moon!! technically its 3 days! deipnon on the last sliver of the moon, noumenia on the first day of the new moon, and agathos daimon the day after

on deipnon you make an offering dinner for hekate (and in theory place it at a crossroads but a lot of modern worshippers if they observe deipnon at all offer it at their usual altar/shrine) and purify the house which for me usually just means cleaning my room rip

observances of noumenia vary a fair bit from what ive seen but in general you set the pace for what u want to do that month so like.. in theory if you’re productive on noumenia and start new projects and make offerings, the next month will be fruitful and productive as well! its also a good time to make plans for any other offerings, rituals, or holidays for the month!

and agathos daimon i am not super familiar with bc i only just started observing deipnon and noumenia a few months ago but the gist is its to honor your agathos daimon or the spirit of your house! so you make offerings to the agathos daimon and for some people you would also include ancestor veneration on this day

[koraki-grimoire]

Witchcraft in Hellenismos

Disclaimer: This post is non-exhaustive, and though I'll try to equally spread my focus, it will inevitably lean towards the kinds of magik I personally practice.

Often, in modern pagan circles, people are under the impression that Ancient Hellenismos either didn't have or despised witchcraft. This is largely from three causes. The first is simply misreading, or failing to come across witchcraft in the Hellenism they research. Second is only reading about or adhering to branches that didn't like witchcraft (usually due to it being perceived as hubristic) and therefore assuming that's the most popular opinion. Finally, sometimes people apply their assumptions based on Christian and Germanic culture to Hellenismos, and assume it carries the same attitudes.

In actuality, the view of witchcraft was historically more neutral. Witches weren't typically seen as hags, but maidens, respectable men, priests, and more. It should also be noted that, frankly, "witch" is a slightly tonally incorrect translation usually applied to the word "pharmakis."

For historical attitudes towards witches, we can read works surrounding mainly Medea and Kirke, as well as Hekate if we go past pharmakeia.

But pharmakeia and nekromankia (necromancy) are far from the only forms of witchcraft or magik--which in Ancient Greek would be "mageia" or "goeteia" depending on time and place, but will simply be called "magik" here.

So, with that very long introduction, let's get into types of magik.

Pharmakeia - Herbal Sorcery, Witchcraft

Pharmakeia is perhaps the most recognizable form of magik in historical Hellenismos. As mentioned, it was associated with the heroine Medea, as well as the goddess/nymph/hero (it's complicated) Kirke. This was magik performed using the aid of herbs, and both historically and now blends magik and science. It includes brewing poisons, casting curses, potionmaking, transmutation, and more. Kirke, famously, used pharmakeia to transform men into swine, whereas Medea tended towards poisoning, but both had variety in their craft.

Generally, when pharmakeia is translated, it's done very broadly compared to other kinds of magik. For example, pharmakeia is usually translated, especially in the Odyssey, to "witchcraft" or "sorcery." Pharmakis--the word for a practitioner of pharmakeia--is usually translated to "witch." This often leads to misconceptions of witchcraft in Hellenismos being specifically oriented around herbs and transmutation, when that's only a small piece of the picture.

Nekromankia/Nekromanteia - Necromancy

Nekromankia is far more famous now in its Anglicized pop-culture form, but it was most certainly present in Hellenismos. It's important to clarify that in Ancient Hellas, nekromankia was magik pertaining to the dead, not things such as zombies and raising the dead. In Hellenismos, the maintenance of good relationships between the dead and the living is of great importance. There were plenty of festivals devoted to placating and celebrating the dead--not to mention the monthly Attic holiday Hekate's Deipnon, devoted to honoring Hekate, goddess of nekromankia. So, unsurprisingly, there were witches who gravitated towards this as a craft.

Multiple Hellenic deities were associated with nekromankia, the most notable of which being Hekate, but also Persephone. Though, of course, any khthonic deity--especially khthonic theoi who also had non-khthonic aspects--were relevant, such as Haides or Hermes. A practitioner of nekromankia would be referred to as a nekromanteías.

Manteia - Divination, Oracles

It should be noted that manteia is heavily contested as being a form of witchcraft or even magik in Hellenismos, but it certainly meets the qualifications. The main reason this debate exists is controversy around magik in Hellenismos in general, since as most Hellenists know manteia is so central to so much of our religion, and those who dislike magik are insulted by it being considered that. Additionally, the definition of magik is constantly in flux--it's debated in modern magik circles, and it's even harder to apply a definition we can hardly agree on to an ancient culture with its own independent definitions.

Manteia is, most simply, the power to give prophecies, divination, and the use of oracles. It's the power of the Pythia (Delphic Oracle), it's in the Olympian Alphabet Oracle, it's every single seer and prophecy and divinatory method known to us.

Someone who practices manteia is called a mantis (usually translated as "soothsayer" or "diviner") or a khresmologos ("oracle"), depending on station.

Heliomanteia - Solar Magik

Heliomanteia is hard to find detailed historical information on, but most simply, it's magikal invocation of the sun. This is generally done by attempting to harness the power of the sun, or by requesting the aid of solar deities (namely, Helios).

Interestingly, Helios had many associations with witchcraft and warding off evil. It could be assumed that, due to the qualities attributed to Helios, heliomanteia would be best used to reveal truth, ward off evil, harness the power of fire, promote life, and similar.

Presumably, a practitioner of heliomanteia is a heliomantis.

Goeteia - Magik, Charms

Goeteia (in modern times "goetia") is a term for magik that fell out of style for general magik around the 5th century BC in favor of mageia. It, additionally, was shoehorned into a dichotomy of theurgy (divine, "professional," and virtuous magik) and goeteia (low, malicious, and fraudulent magik). This was largely due to political and social overhaul. The name became associated with fraudulent and harmful magik, and talk of goeteia in Ancient Hellas is a major source most anti-witch Hellenists use.

The goes (practitioner of goetia) was maligned, seen as hubristic and either trying to go against the power of the gods or intending to scam others. Plato famously portrayed them as malicious frauds, and he was not alone. Since the term "goes" is generally translated as "witch," it's not a leap to figure out why this lead to a lot of anti-witch Hellenists.

However, before this (and technically after), "goeteia" simply meant magic, charms, and similar. As a unique practice, and not simply an umbrella term for witchcraft, it can be considered channeling, a relative of nekromankia, or baneful magik, depending how much one leans into the later definition.

Theourgía - Deity Work, Divine Magik

Theourgia (in modern times "theurgy") quite literally translates to "deity work" or "god(s) working." It is ritual, sometimes magik, done with the intent of invoking one or more of the theoi. This was the ritual magik often performed by priests. In fact, it could be considered the mainstream magik of Ancient Hellas--assuming, of course, that one considers it magik.

It's not only historic magik that was central to the religion, but sets historical precedent for the controversial phrase "deity work." The existence of theurgy as the "higher form" of magik in Ancient Hellas is singlehandedly enough evidence to prove the phrase is not and would not be considered inherently hubristic. It should be noted that this form isn't inherently superior, but if you asked Plato, he would disagree.

There are certainly more forms of mageia in Ancient Hellas--For example, I skipped over amulets (periapta), which were almost incontestably the most common magik in a lot of Ancient Hellas, since they could technically fit under some other crafts and because they're the easiest to research on your own. It's a similar case with potions, too.

One important takeaway is the hard line between magik, religion, and science is a fairly recent invention. Pharmakeia could act as medicine, not just sorcery. Many potions were also medication. Frankly, the more women were involved, the more practical it tended to be, with 'spells' often being genuine aids to childbirth and/or birth control. This didn't make them any less magikal, and the magik doesn't make it less real.

And I hope I made it very, very clear, but witchcraft has always been in Hellenismos, and isn't inherently hubristic. That is a myth, and is rooted often in historical (and modern) classism, misogyny, xenophobia, or similar. Always consider your source's incentive to stigmatize before discounting all Hellenic witches.

[teawiththegods]

I'm gonna pester you a couple times tonight, apparently! So, I've seen some posts with kthonic (cthonic?) And other specific types of deities (the Hermes question you answered a bit ago had another word too) ... can you define those, or point to resources to understand those differences? (Tbh just. Kinda need sources in general and idk if you have a master post of books?) (Still learning to navigate the theoi site but I'm rummaging through that too) (I appreciate you!!)

DO IT! I’m just reading and watching the Dem Debate (For Zeus! And you know bc civil duties and shit) so totally up for answering questions!

Ohhhh yeah those are easy!

Ouranic deities are pretty much any deity that lives above the surface of the Earth (think the Olympians)

Khthonic deities dwell below the ground in The Underworld. (Hades, Thanatos, Hekate, etc)

Why those are important is because the Ancient Greeks (and many modern worshipers today) believe there are different rules of worship for Khthonic deities since they are associated with death and the dead. Most Ancient cultures believed in handling Underworld gods different than the Celestial gods.

Also it is possible for a god to have aspects of both such as Hermes who has Ouranic roles (messenger of the gods for example) and Khthonic role (guide of the dead)

A great book I always recommend is Greek Religion by Walter Burkert! It breaks down all aspects of the religion as it was practiced by the Ancient Greeks.

And for more on Khthonic worship specifically you can check out @death-witch-envy

[teawiththegods]

Hey dadmom this might be a bit dark/sad but i know you work with Persephine a lot and sometimes Hades too so i wanted some advice. A friend of mine passed away recently and i wanted to give some kind of offering to Hades just as a "hey, please watch over my friend because i cant anymore" kind of thing. I mostly work woth the Olympians and most of my offerings are incense but ive heard that cthonic gods dont like incense much so im not really sure what to use so any guidance would be nice.

I’m so sorry to hear about your friend, love. <3

I’ve actually never come across the whole Khthonic deities not liking insense, but I guess it’s because of the smoke rising up. 

I’m devoted to two Khthonic deities, one being Persephone, and have never had any issues using insense as an offering. 

But if you don’t want to use that you can also make a cup of tea or give some kind of food/drink offering. Lighting a candle works too, perferably a black one. 

Also here’s a link to a post by @death-witch-envy who is a Hades devotee, with a list of some offering ideas which includes incense!

[teawiththegods]

It’s very true!

Though my whole point was that Recons can’t keep saying “THIS IS WRONG! THE GODS HATE IT” when that wasn’t even the universal belief in Ancient Greece! 

I was just reading how it was common to ask assistance from Demeter, Persephone, Hekate, and Hermes when it came to curse tablets. And they could be buried in the temples of Khthonic deities. So obviously there is some traditional belief that the gods can and will help when it comes to magic. And in this case baneful magic of all things! So people can’t shame witches or say their being hubristic when there’s actual evidence of gods being asked to assist with magic in antiquity. 

It ultimately comes down to beliefs, personal preferences, and your own relationships with the gods. 

Complementing what the other anon said, Selene is also not particularly fond of witches, especially the ones who practice the OG hellenic kinda witchcraft, and many new pagans identify themselves as witches so yk 👀

Where is this Selene not being fond of witches coming from?? Never heard of that before.