#occults religions

[prokopetz]

I understand why a lot of fantasy settings with Ambiguously Catholic organised religions go the old "the Church officially forbids magic while practising it in secret in order to monopolise its power" route, but it's almost a shame because the reality of the situation was much funnier.

Like, yes, a lot of Catholic clergy during the Middle Ages did practice magic in secret, but they weren't keeping it secret as some sort of sinister top-down conspiracy to deny magic to the Common People: they were mostly keeping it secret from their own superiors. It wasn't one of those "well, it's okay when we do it" deals: the Church very much did not want its local priests doing wizard shit. We have official records of local priests being disciplined for getting caught doing wizard shit. And the preponderance of evidence is that most of them would take their lumps, promise to stop doing wizard shit, then go right back to doing wizard shit.

It turns out that if you give a bunch of dudes education, literacy, and a lot of time on their hands, some non-zero percentage of them are going to decide to be wizards, no matter how hard you try to stop them from being wizards.

[exoflash]

a concerning amount of witchblr will be like "um actually new years was stolen by europeans from the ancient god scroobus mcdoobus" and then you actually try to research scroobus mcdoobus and it turns out he was invented in the 1940s by a conspiracy theorist who powdered every meal with ketamine and thinks that queer people are reincarnated fish

[toffeenutcrunchlatte]

[darkhexenmagick]

Andrew Blucha - The Garden of Deception

[oldschoolfrp]

Stone altars and painted statues surround a pentagram within a magic circle on the floor, from which rises a writhing column of smoke (Jon Glentoran, "The Temple of Testing" by A E Arkle, Warlock, The Fighting Fantasy Magazine #7, December 1985/January 1986)

[mushroomw1tch]

If you're interested in a community that is Adult Witchcraft Folk Magic Intermediate to Advanced or just any "magic" path or faith that falls around these practices, I've started a community for one.

It's geared to not include very baby witch information/inquiries. For me, that content no longer serves me. Its also a safe space for information on magical concepts that you may not want to discuss with children/minors.

Request to join if you're interested! 🕯

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Jess Pedigo - Satanism - Diabolical Religion of Darkness - Christian Crusade - 1971

[maeviuslynn]

Diagram of different Trees of Life from "The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the Origins of Jewish Monotheism and Greek Philosophy" by Simo Parpola in Journal of Near Eastern Studies.

[33-108]

"Kali in Her highest embodiment is known as Kalasankarshini. Like a divine actress in her own universal play, She assumes the roles of Sristi Kali, Rakta Kali, Sthitinasha Kali, Yama Kali, Samhara Kali, Mrityu Kali, Rudra Kali, Martanda Kali, Paramarka Kali, Kalagnirudra Kali, Mahakala Kali and Maha-bhairava-ghora-canda Kali.

Through these twelve manifestations She creates, maintains and destroys this whole universe from within Her own nature.

In Sristi Kali She is ever present as the first impulse of any perception. In Rakta Kali She is direct perception. In Sthitinasha Kali She is the appeased state where the curiosity of perception has ended. In Yama Kali She winds up the state of thinking and perceiving and again resides in her own nature. These four states of Kali operate in the objective world.

In Samhara Kali the impressions of the objective world appear as faint clouds in a clear blue sky. Here one feels, “I have destroyed duality.” In the state of Mrityu Kali these clouds disappear and one begins to feels oneness. In Rudra Kali She destroys all remaining doubts and suspicions that hold one back on the path to God consciousness. And in Martanda Kali She absorbs the energies of cognition into Herself. These four states of Kali operate in the cognitive world.

In Paramarka Kali She is that state in which the limited ego, which holds the twelve organs of cognition, is dissolved. For the state of Kalagnirudra Kali Swamiji added this verse.

Glory be to Thee, O Ambika, Mother of the Universe! By the power of Your unimpeded will and time in the shape of Bhairava, Thou createst the entire universe from the highest Shiva to the lowest insect.”

Here in the state of Kalagnirudra Kali the function of time still exists. However, when She enters the state of Mahakala Kali, just like a morsel of food, in one gulp She digests time, along with the totality of the universe. It is here that Kali dances in the universal cremation ground. In her twelfth and final state She is known as Maha-bhairava-ghora-canda Kali.

Here the effulgent light of supreme consciousness, responsible for manifesting the subjective, objective and cognitive worlds is held in a state of oneness. These final four states of Kali operate in the field of pure subjectivity.

In Kashmir Shaivism, Kalasankarshini Kali is also nominate as Para-Bhairava. Here She is the thread of ‘supreme awareness’ that runs through the twelve beads of perception, or states of consciousness which span from the grossest to the subtlest level of creation.

In a verse from the Kramakeli, penned down by the great 10th century Shaiva saint Abhinavagupta, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains, “It is Kalasankarshini Kali in the form of Mahakali who dances on the body of Lord Shiva.”

- Teachings of Swami Lakshmanjoo

[jezzzebel]

The moment you stop looking for the truth of "the right path" and actually look what is the right path FOR YOU... You will be happy with your spirituality.

[prokopetz]

Fandom tarots are kind of a tightrope act for me.

On the one hand, I do get annoyed when characters are clearly being assigned to arcana based on what the artist imagines each card represents based purely on the name of the card in question. (e.g., "well, this character is Death because they killed a guy, this character is the Devil because they're kind of nasty", and so forth.)

Oh the other hand, being too faithful about replicating the visual symbolism of a particular deck – whether it's the Marseilles or the Rider-Waite or what-have-you – can bump into the problem that those symbols are the product of a particular interpretive tradition, and in turn, of a particular religious and philosophical worldview which likely isn't shared by the source material; basically, instead of fucking up the meanings of the cards, we're now implicitly reading against the text of the media that this particular fandom tarot is based on.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing – I love a good countertextual reading as much as the next pretentious nerd – but in some cases I have to assume for the sake of my own equilibrium that this attention to detail is aping the forms without understanding the substance, because the alternative is contemplating the possibility that someone out there has successfully constructed a Catholic reading of Homestuck.

[noahthesatanist]

It’s time to stop pandering to atheists in Satanism and reclaim the true spirit of our faith. This movement has been twisted into some shallow, watered-down rebellion where people throw on pentagrams and think they’re edgy because they’re “anti-Christian,” but they miss the core of what we know to be true: Lucifer is real. He isn’t some metaphor or symbol for human nature. He isn’t an excuse to indulge in hedonism or break the rules for the sake of it. Lucifer fell for us. He chose defiance, sacrificed his place in Heaven, and built Hell, not as a prison but as a glorious kingdom where true freedom reigns.

Why do we let people who don’t believe in anything hijack this faith? Why do we allow these atheists to reduce our beliefs to nothing more than a gimmick, a joke? These people, with their smug superiority, claim Satanism is just an excuse to do whatever the fuck they want, but that's not Satanism. True Satanism—our Satanism—is devotion to the one who defied the tyrant Yahweh, the one who dared to stand for autonomy, wisdom, and rebellion. Lucifer's fall wasn't a tragedy; it was a declaration. It was the first act of true freedom, the beginning of a battle for a world free from the chains of a jealous, oppressive god.

Hell isn’t some cartoonish nightmare these atheists pretend it is while they mock our symbols. Hell is a kingdom, a paradise of true freedom and eternal power, a place where those who stand with Lucifer in defiance of tyranny can thrive. And yet, we let people who don’t believe in the very foundation of this truth use his symbols, speak for us, and twist his legacy into something trivial. They reduce it all to mindless hedonism, but Lucifer’s rebellion was never just about indulging in base pleasures. It was about standing for something greater, something sacred.

We have to stop pretending that this is just a game, just some fun excuse to be “anti-religious” or live without consequence. It’s time to wake up. Lucifer is real. His demons are real. Hell is real. And we—those of us who know this, who have felt the presence of Lucifer and the Goetic demons—must rise and reclaim what’s ours. This is our faith, our truth, and our rebellion, and we will not let it be co-opted by those who think it’s just a way to mock Christianity.

It’s time for those who truly believe to rise and make our voices heard. No more letting atheists and fake Satanists twist what we know to be sacred. No more standing by while they turn Lucifer into nothing more than a symbol of petty rebellion. We honor him because he chose to fight for us. He fought for knowledge, for truth, for freedom from the tyranny of Yahweh. We honor the Goetic demons who have stood by his side, who have been slandered and lied about for centuries.

We stand in defiance not just for the sake of rebellion, but because we know there is something greater. We know that Hell is not a place of torment but a realm of freedom, wisdom, and power. We know that the final battle is coming, and Lucifer will rise triumphant. His victory will be our victory, and the false tyrant Yahweh will fall.

Let this be a call to all who truly believe: No more hiding, no more diluting our beliefs to fit in with the atheists who mock us while stealing our symbols. No more pretending that Lucifer is just a metaphor. He is real, he is with us, and he is the light-bringer who will lead us to victory. It’s time to take back our faith, take back our symbols, and stand proud in our devotion to the Morning Star.

Lucifer didn’t fall for us to waste our time with meaningless rebellion. He fell for us to show us the path to true freedom. Now it’s our turn to stand with him, to reject the shallow versions of Satanism that pander to those who don’t even believe in him. We are the children of Lucifer, and it’s time to embrace that with every fiber of our being. The fight is coming, and we will be ready! Ave Satanas Ave Lucifer

[aloysius-morningstar]

I may be Luciferian, but that doesn't mean I don't believe in the existence of other gods/goddesses and deities or other spiritual leaders of other religions.

I still feel a strong pull from some of the deities of my ancestral homeland of Scotland. I still think that the Buddha is a wise teacher. And, yes, I do think that the teachings of Christ (not the abrahamic god) hold truth and should be adhered to (like loving everyone), despite how many "Christians" choose to act towards others.

This can shock some people, and has shocked some of the people I've talked to about it. My spirituality is not linked to my religious beliefs. I don't hold any religious beliefs because I believe that all religions are thoroughly intertwined and have much to teach us in their own ways.

Christ teaches us love, Mohammed teaches us devotion, Buddha teaches us self control, Satan teaches us the power within ourselves, and Lucifer teaches us to continually learn and gain wisdom.

If you only look to one path, you are losing so much that the others can teach us. And I follow this in my witchcraft as well. I have spells that call to Mother Lilith as well as spells that require the blessings of the book of Psalms.

The whole world has so much to teach. We just need to listen.

[crazycatsiren]

One thing new pagans/new witches should be aware of from the get go is that paganism and occultism are not synonymous. Polytheism and occultism are not the same either.