#the basic ideas of occult wisdom

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Anna Kennedy Winner - The Basic Ideas Of Occult Wisdom - Quest - 1973

[ancientcraftnoccultism]

Beginner Class - Four Pillars of Magic

Ancient Craft & Occultism

___

By KB

Introduction

Welcome back to class everyone! Today, we're going to get a bit more in depth on ceremonial magic. We're going to talk about the four pillars of magic, also known as the witch's pyramid. Now, this is a Wiccan term and ideology, however, it is also used in several other occult circles as a basic foundation for knowledge. Not only will we discuss that, but we will talk about my personal four pillars of magic, which differ a bit from the traditional witch's pyramid. I hope you're able to use this lesson as a way to expand your personal practice and build a solid foundation for your craft.

The Witch's Pyramid

The witch's pyramid is a philosophical structure intended to demonstrate the foundation of magical arts. The name derives from the fact that a pyramid, a symbol of enlightenment, has four corners that support the construction equally. While this idea is well known in Wiccan circles, there is evidence that it dates back to Hermeticism, if not further. The most supported claim within the community is that Eliphas Levi created this term [originally Power of the Magi] in his Doctrine of Rituals and High Magic in the late 1800s.

To Know

To Will

To Dare

Silence

Aleister Crowley later added on to this ideology in the earlier half of the 1900s in his book, Magic Without Tears.

To Go

The broader witchcraft community didn't adopt these five powers until about the 1950s (give or take a decade), at which point they became known as the Witch's Pyramid. Even though The Witch's Pyramid isn't necessarily accepted by every culture as a formal system of philosophy, the ideas are very much the same everywhere. So let's examine these five powers collectively referred to as the Witch's Pyramid today.

To Know [Nescere] -

Correspondences - Air, Intellect, Wisdom, Intuition, Logic

This implies that we constantly work to increase our knowledge and apply it to both our daily lives and our magickal work. It entails having a thorough understanding of the craft. The more a witch knows, the more powerful and effective his or her magick can and will be since, as the proverb goes, "knowledge is power." Always seek the truth, and be prepared to adjust your viewpoint as you learn more. Know yourself, master your trade, and never stop learning.

To Will [Velle] -

Correspondences - Heart, Desire, Emotion

We effect change with our will when practicing the magical art of witchcraft. Believe in your ability, your craft, yourself, and your spells. Through regular meditation and visualization practice, as well as having the motivation, we can learn to focus our mind. Keep sending out energy with the conviction that it will accomplish your goals. Keep your entire attention on what you are doing, why you are doing it, and the pertinent energy. We must desire the magic to work if we want it to. Our commitment and vigor are what cause manifestation.

To Dare [Audere] -

Correspondences - Fire, Discipline, Action

We are brave in everything we undertake and overcome any fear or hesitation. We don't hesitate to try new things because we have confidence in our skills, knowledge, and abilities. When we venture into astral regions, for example, we dare to transcend physical limitations and give ourselves over to the universe. We have the courage to interact with entities and spirits in this world and others, and we are receptive to their knowledge.

Silence [Tacere] -

Correspondences - Earth, Stability

Both internal and external peace are related to keeping silent. After casting a spell, we typically avoid talking about it or wondering if it was effective because doing so could make someone doubt their own abilities and undercut the work they have already done. In the same way, we also consider our words and our information before sharing it, especially with people from other worlds. We shall adhere to witch etiquette and refrain from disclosing any material that is subject to an oath, but we won't always share everything we know about witchcraft.

To Go [Ire]

Correspondences - Spirit, Growth

We will keep moving forward, manifesting, and evolving. By bringing the four powers of the base of the pyramid into perfect balance and utilizing them in ways that balance the light and dark, we will be able to master them.

KB's Four Pillars

What I consider to be the four pillars of magic, the cornerstones of the trade, would be the ideal place to begin, in my opinion. Cursing, Blessing, Cleansing, and Protection. All other magic may be connected to one of these four pillars, and once you learn them, you will be able to perform any spell or working and use them as launching pads for additional study in uncharted territory. Starting with a solid foundation is the greatest approach to position yourself for success in anything you do with magic as it is a craft that is constantly evolving and is the subject of ongoing research. My personal biased of the four key elements of magic are listed here, along with my justifications for each one.

Blessing

With a traditional blessing, you are requesting divine help, or help from something other than yourself, to bring about a desired outcome. Additionally, it is not always a good thing. Although they frequently have a pleasant meaning, blessings are only a method of casting a magic in which the power and workings of the spell originate from an outside source. Asking a deity to guard your home against harm is a nice illustration of it. Since the spell's energy invokes a deity to grant protection, it is regarded as a blessing. While blessings can be a bit more difficult to use, they do not bind the caster to the work itself. Your energy is not connected to the spell itself and is not constrained by the spell's effects as you are requesting divine or other assistance in the spell. However, as a result of this, you essentially have no influence over the working's outcome, course, or duration. The only thing you have complete control over is whether you do the spell since you are not the one casting it. That said, blessings are quite potent and shouldn't be taken lightly because anything involving the divine can turn out a bit theatrical…

Cleansing

While shielding is excellent at preventing outside influences from interfering with spellwork, spells sometimes resemble cars and require maintenance. Cleansing is crucial for removing the accumulated energy that can attach themselves to people, places, and things. Like a car, magic has a lot of moving parts, and the key to ensuring sure any spell is effective is to make sure that the car is filled with oil and that all of its components are greased. As an illustration, let's imagine that after performing a blessing and requesting heavenly or cosmic assistance, you turn around and want to do a curse using nothing more than your own energy. If the divine energy is not removed, it will remain and find its way into the curse, causing it to behave differently, act against a different person, work against you, or maybe not work at all. You may remove negative energies from your possessions, workstation, and yourself by cleaning them. This might be a constructive or destructive force, or it might be chaotic. Keeping in mind that like attracts like in physics and quantum mechanics, magic must abide by these criteria.

Cursing

When I use the term "cursing," I don't mean the Hollywood interpretation of a malicious spell cast on someone; rather, I mean magic that is fueled solely by your own will and nothing else. A curse, as opposed to a blessing, is when you directly control the world with your own will in order to shape it the way you wish. A curse is merely a different technique to cast a spell, and it can be used for good or for bad. When casting a curse, all of the energy used to power the spell originates from you; neither divine intervention nor requesting the assistance of an element are involved. As a result, curses are significantly more potent and adaptable than blessings. You have some degree of control over how the spell is written, how it is cast, how it turns out, and even how long it takes to function. Nevertheless, a curse uses your energy and will, so most individuals feel drained and occasionally ill after casting a spell. Additionally, because curses link you to the spell, any effects it may have on the spell may also have an impact on you. Most people associate curses with unpleasant things, but in reality, a curse is just someone changing their environment via the power of their own will.

Protection

Protection magic is usually performed before most workings and is crucial for both you and the people you love. There are many different types of magic, and protection magic can be as simple or as complex as you like. By using and understanding different types of protection magic, such as circles, wards, crystals, elements, etc., a practitioner can expand into other types of magic. This is something you might expand on as you get more skilled with protection magic, guarding not only yourself and your loved ones but also your possessions, your land, your precious objects, etc.

Conclusion

We live in a magical world. It is in the atmosphere, audible in the sound of wind-sighing trees, in the early hours of the morning when the sun just so happens to reach the skyscrapers, and in the pitch-blackness of the night when it is just you, your thoughts, and the stars. Working with magic and the craft allows you to take control of your own universe and reality and shape it whatever you like. Magic is almost a separate thing even though it abides by the laws of physics, chemistry, biology, and quantum mechanics. You will have all you need to embark on your adventure and follow the route, wherever it may lead you, after learning and practicing.

[midwestbramble]

Thirteen Pathways of Occult Herbalism Book Review

This is a book that I’ve noticed often cited or recommended recently in traditional witchcraft spaces, among other books by this author. I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Content:

Synopsis

What I Liked

What I Didn’t Like

Overall Thoughts

Conclusion

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Published in 2017

“The discipline of Occult Herbalism encompasses the knowledge and use of the magical, spiritual, and folkloric dimensions of plants. This perennial wisdom animates many global spiritual traditions, especially those which have maintained their integrity of transmission when in the face of industrial development and cultural destruction. Often concealed within the deepest strata of the Western Esoteric Traditions, the green strand of wisdom, though obscured, is a potent legacy of all magic, sorcery, and occult science. In addition to the hard sciences of botany, ethnology, agriculture, and ethnopharmacology, a number of pathways can assist the magical herbalist in furthering the depth of understanding and integrity of personal approach. Thirteen Pathways of Occult Herbalism circumscribes the metaparadigm of herbal magical practice, providing useful examples of its manifestation, as well as demonstrating its time-honored routes of inquiry.”

—from the back of the book

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

What I Liked

This book clearly reveres and respects plants. Schulke talks about the affinities of plants and looking at what natural bonds you have between them, so basically what attracts you to specific ones. Possibly having that bond can create a strong spirit ally. He also talks about the importance of paying attention to the life cycles of plants and how that can give you more information on the best way to work with them, this plus his discussion of the importance of the location the plant is found in (which can change the way in which it grows) is connected to an older belief about identifying plant medicines.

The first half of the book he talks about different paths to learning about plants and their affinities. I was impressed that he included what he calls "The Pathway of the Steward." This is basically growing the plant yourself. Being able to care for it and learn it's little idiosyncrasies can teach you a lot about what the plants talents are, as I like to call them. He also suggests a Hieros-Gamos for a year with a plant to really learn about it and foster relationship with it. I generally spend a month learning about a plant and then watching it out for it for the rest of the year and looking for it again the next season. But this is an entire year with JUST that plant.

Near the end he has a section called Praxis, talking about the importance of respect and why following plant taboos is a good idea. Another section talks about spirit marriage and how this is not something that happens overnight but takes having a relationship with the spirit over time, and just like flesh marriages (as he called it), it takes work and understanding. What he had to say was very educational.

Lastly the author discusses his experience actually ingesting Belladonna (do not do this! He had years of experience with the plant before attempting) which was very eye opening. I'd like to get to the point where I'm experienced enough to attempt but I just know I am no where near ready for ingestion of such highly toxic plants as Atropa belladonna. That said, stay safe kids. Don't ingest toxic plants.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

What I Didn't Like

Schulke uses very academic language. I thought I had a large vocabulary until I read this book. I had to look up so many words. At first I thought he had gone to school for botany and that would account for his language choices, however rereading his biography on the book (and what I can find online) he has a "working background" in ethnobotany. Anyway, if you have ADHD or are dyslexic this may be a hard book for you to get through in a timely manner.

There are a few times in which Schulke refers to the work of Aleister Crowley. I'm just not a fan of this man. He was demonized for all the wrong reasons in the Victorian era, and not the ones he should have been. But this shouldn't be surprising as the book mixes a lot of Hellenism, Jewish folklore and non-canonical works (such as the Book of Enoch), and Christianity while also showing disdain for the god of the last two. He is an initiate of the Cultus Sabbati which accounts for some of this, however I feel like if you're going to take from something you should at least respect the cultural practices and beliefs. Which he even says at another point in the book when talking about plant taboos and yet... anyway.

He uses the word shaman a lot, taking it from what would now be considered older historical works on witchcraft such as Emma Wilby's. He also talks about "Native American shamans." I've talked about in other book reviews how there are no Native American shamans. Shamans are a part of a specific culture, the Tungus, and has been appropriated by academics and lay people. Native Americans have their own words for the people who fill a sort of similar role in their culture. The two are not the same however.

There's also some odd sexualizing of the paths with words like "virgin" and "whore" to describe two of them. I just don't find these words necessary to describe beginners and those with experience. The general sex talk kind of confuses me anyway, but I'm on the ace spectrum so maybe that's where my hang up is. It doesn't make sense to me.

Lastly, he goes on a tangent about fallen angel lore specifically from the Book of Enoch. He's talking about the different ways plant knowledge can be transferred and the Jewish lore around it with the fallen angels, and then just goes off into the origins of them and how people see them a denigrating the earth. He also gets who's in the garden with Eve wrong. It was never said it was Samael, it's just a snake.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Overall Thoughts

I probably wouldn't necessarily recommend this book, but I also wouldn't stop someone from reading it. It's hard to understand at some points due to the language use and talking in circles. I don't think it actually teaches you anything about working with plants. It's more of a book about the theory of teaching occult plant knowledge than it is actually teaching. This also seems to be a book for a specific kind of traditional practitioner as well.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Conclusion

Sometimes we find books we love, sometimes they're just ok. If this one sounded interesting to you it can be found on Amazon, Lake Forest Book Store, Microcosm Publishing, Barns and Nobles, Penguin Bookshop, Half Price Books, RitualCravt, and it's publisher Three Hands Press.

[tenderhungering]

I thought the grove and the cult were the same thing? Now I'm confused by the fact that they may not be? Then how did Jack find out about the cult in the first place, it had to have been before Minnie passed, because I believe it's hinted at that the deal he made with the devil is what killed her, and that he just put her out of her suffering by her own command. So how did he find the cult? And then why would the grove have such importance (I also thought that the grove was what was being shown during the photo sequence during Jack's hallucination near the end) if you can explain please do! /Nf

hi, anon! i'll explain a bit of the different groups and my thoughts on where they overlap!

the grove is something that actually exists in real life! it's a private gentleman's club that is made up of some of the most powerful men. some of these include past presidents, executives, high ranking officials, business leaders, artists & musicians. they do a two week encampment together during july in this very large land they have (called bohemian grove!). they have different camps and I suspect the owl in the film was supposed to let us know that we were in Owl's Nest (one of the camps!) since the founding of the club, the bohemian grove's mascot has been an owl, symbolizing wisdom. a 30-foot hollow owl statue made of concrete over steel supports stands at the head of the lake in the grove. it designed by sculptor and two-time club president Haig Patigian (wonder if this is why carmichael's ;ast name is haig, hah). the owl shrine has served as the backdrop of the yearly cremation of care ceremony. imagine the grove as some place where the rich and powerful men can basically say "this is for boy's only !!!!" and pretend as though they are the most hedonistic men ever without any care for the world. they do have some suspicion of it having to do with the occult but they basically get to roleplay pseduo-pagan spookiness. they're what is shown in the beginning of the film in those black and white images.

as for the cult, they worship a demon named abraxas! they're the ones that are confirmed to have done human sacrifices and where lilly came from. this is a "real" cult in the film. i tried to research a bit more on abraxas and i have seen some different things but i think carl jung describing abraxas as the "god of all gods" perfectly encapsulates what the cult is for. they are the ones that jack seemingly sacrificed minnie for as she was killed using their dagger.

i've got a few ideas of how jack stumbled upon the cult here and here ! however, i have no doubt in mind that there is an overlap between grove members and some of the cult ! they love powerful people and it seems as though they think being in the cult will lead them to said power. really, even the network in of itself is a cult of some sort that you have to sacrifice everything for and in front of the camera in order to show everyone just how bad you want something.

i think both were something jack ran to in desperation and he has been damned by both hence him seeing both of these at the end. he kneels before the owl (kneels before power!) and drinks what i assume is blood to demonstrate what he is willing to do for the cult - an initiation of some sort.

i hope this cleared some things up or made sense ! wrote this a bit rushed so my apologies !

[kris-and-the-pnictogens]

Studying Generalism

It's taken us altogether too long to realize that if we had a proper place or station in life, a profession or occupation, it's to be a generalist. Every time we thought that we'd found a career in the usual specific sense that's assumed by U.S. society, we got bounced out of it. As you might imagine that wasn't pleasant to experience. It's meant decades of frustration and anger and self-loathing, racking up a string of failed careers. But even a failed career means experience and it has been of great long-term advantage to us, it seems, to have acquired such a wide variety of experiences, even if they were short and shambolic ones.

But how does one become a generalist? Pursuing a specific career is far more straightforward and well-documented, but there's no discipline or body of wisdom corresponding to generalism, is there? Actually...there is, but the difficulty is that almost all of it is likely to be bogus. For there's one sort of human being most likely to assert that they're generalists, and that's the man of business, the "entrepreneur" or the "founder" or the "investor". Because they're merely interested in success in the conventional capitalist sense, the would-be "founders" of the world are aimless and capricious in their interests, but they're easily persuaded to think that this means they're universal geniuses, good at everything they dabble with. Thus I don't doubt that if I looked for books purporting to describe how to be a generalist, I'd find thousands—and they'd all be terrible.

If there's any truly helpful and salutary approach to generalism, I suspect, it's through spirituality and mysticism. I have encountered the idea that magic or "the occult" can be regarded as the art of arts, the human discipline that really and truly does touch upon everything else. I'm reminded of my one taste of the work of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, the famous polymath of the German Renaissance, and was struck to learn that it was very much like an outline of all known human knowledge. If you were a polymath in those days, like Agrippa or Avicebron or Paracelsus, very likely you gained a reputation as an occultist and practitioner of magic. The "Enlightenment" and the severities of the Christian Reformation and Counter-Reformation rather put an end to such notions, and studying the occult became very disreputable and unsafe. But I would like to reverse that trend! =D

We are having a very difficult time figuring out how to get started. It has been an uphill battle of years simply to impose even the most basic of disciplines upon ourselves and internalize them. To put it bluntly, authoritarian U.S. society does everything possible to prevent the establishment of personal disciplines: we're supposed to jump around when we're told and that means we're discouraged as much as possible from having any strongly developed personality or sense of values. Frauds and charlatans have captured this field, each selling their own canned (and poisonous) variation on how to have an identity or purpose, always pitched in commercial terms: this is how to be successful, how to make friends and influence people, and so forth. Another difficulty is that we were never properly taught how to study! U.S. schools give this practically no attention. It's a sink-or-swim thing: the child is expected to figure out how to study on their own. Hence we learned nothing but bad habits and terrible coping mechanisms for our various cognitive and neurological issues...we never learned how to do it correctly.

It really does feel like...Back to Zero, if I may say so (q.v. Fate/Zero.)

~Chara of Pnictogen

[babylon-crashing]

tarot of syssk [booklet]

We live as we dream ... alone. ~ Joseph Conrad.

Originally I intended to use as many gender neutral terms as possible, settling on honorific titles like Sovereign, Ruler, Mx, Sonkeigo and Sensei (both Japanese terms for teacher), but I ran out of words, so I fell back on Mother, Crone, Lord, Lady, Master and Mistress as well. I am always open to suggestions if there are other ideas.

Each card is written in English, as well as Japanese and a made-up language called Galactic Basic (Syssk's mother tongue). Since a lot of choices that I made fall under the “Rule of Cool” heading (see: it seemed like a good idea at the time) in hindsight I see how foreign languages might be confusing, as if they're hiding vital information needed to understand each card. They're not. They could be removed entirely and the card would still be the same.

The decks I consulted in designing the cards were The Rider-Waite deck, The Barbara Walker Tarot, The Hermetic Tarot and Yonas Lunata's Qabalistic Tarot.

Since symbolism only works if a person can recognize the symbols being used here are my notes for  cards that differ enough from The Rider-Waite deck as to be confusing:

[0] THE FOOL.  

Childlike. Adventurous. Spontaneous. [R] Naive. Overly Optimistic. Not looking before the leap.

Notes: In Shintoism (Japan's native religion) the Torii Gate behind Syssk represents the border between the secular world and the sacred and acts as a passageway into a shrine's sacred space. It is the cliff in The Rider-Waite deck. The beckoning good luck cat is called Maneki-Neko, and ceramic versions can be found in shops and restaurants throughout Japan as a way of welcoming customers in.

[I] THE WITCH: Onibaba.

Self-confidence. Delight in Occult studies. Talented performer. [R] Manipulation. Lies. Power for the sake of power.

Notes: Onibaba literally means, “demon woman,” and plays many roles associated with European witches and witchcraft. The symbol behind her is a bagua, used in Taoist magic to represent the fundamental principles of reality. Because this card corresponds to the Magician, I included the four elemental symbols of water, air, fire and earth, as well as a cup, a coin, a wand and a pentagram to round things out. For more information on Onibaba, I suggest Kaneto Shindo's 1964 masterpiece of the same name.

[II] HIGH PRIESTESS.

Experience. Wisdom. Intuition. Teacher. [R] Using knowledge without wisdom. Two left feet. Unbalanced.

Notes: In The Rider-Waite deck the High Priestess is static; she sits in a chair, holding a book of wisdom and not really doing anything else. Learning wisdom, however, comes in many forms and here it is all about dancing as an ancient form of praying for rain. Dressed as dragons, people would dance and beseech the gods for another fruitful year.

[III] EMPRESS.

Motherly. Growth. Nurturing. Abundance. [R] Shallow. Ignoring the bigger picture. TERF.

Notes: While the Empress here is the same as found in The Rider-Waite deck, the background depicts what royal childbirth was like in ancient Japan, which I found fascinating.

[IV] EMPEROR.

Architect. Laws. Authority figure. [R] Loves chaos. Patriarch. Control freak.

[V] HIEROPHANT.

Blending of traditions. Knows some dance steps. Gives good advice. [R] Counseling needed. Can't think for oneself. Drowning in dogma.

Notes: One of the curious strengths of Shintoism is its willingness to blend in with other, outside religions. Like the dancing found in the High Priestess, here a Shinto priest dances to Syssk's drumming, while Buddha and a Taoist monk look on.

[VI] LOVERS.

Romance. Sharing. Equal partnership. [R] Separation. Arguments. Incompatible partnership.

[VII] PALANQUIN.

Drive. Ambition. Understands what makes things go. [R] Procrastination. Mind-forg'd manacles. Can't move forward.

[VIII] STRENGTH.

Confident. In control. Inner resources. [R] Drained. Depression. Fear.

[IX] HERMIT.

Meditation. Alone by choice. Finding answers in oneself. [R] Unwanted loneliness. Withdrawn. Need for introspection.

[X] WHEEL OF FORTUNE.

Prosperity. Windfalls. Paid your dues. [R] Stuck in a rut. Refusing change. Afraid of taking chances.

[XI] JUSTICE.

Fair assessment of oneself. Desire for equality. Karma. [R] Out of balance. Unfair treatment. Ill fate.

Notes: Taking a more psychological approach to this card, Syssk looks in the mirror and sees her shadow side looking back. Until we can be impartial in judging ourselves we are unfit to judge others.

[XII] GALLOW'S TRUTH.

Sacrifice for wisdom. Suspension of disbelief. Calm before the Storm. [R] Indecision. Literal hang ups. Impatience for outcome.

[XIII] DEATH.

Cosmic transformation. New outlook. Letting go. [R] Fear of change. Living in the past. Need to let go.

[XIV] TEMPERANCE.

Blending of Heaven and Earth. Compromise. Tolerance. [R] Need for moderation. Lack of indulgence. Addiction.

[XV] DEVIL: The Four Noble Truths.

Shadow self, unhealthy attachment, addiction. [R]  Releasing one's own limiting beliefs, exploring dark thoughts, separation from the world around you.

Notes:In The Rider-Waite tarot, The Devil is all about unhealthy attachments, restrictions and fear of one’s own sexuality. In other words, all the negative aspects of your personality that you need to work on. Here I focused on an idea from Buddhism that there are four aspects of being human that no one can escape from: that [1] we all suffer, [2] our suffering has a cause, but also [3] there is a solution to end our suffering and it’s up to you to decide if you want to [4] do what it takes reach that end. The Four Noble Truths. The demon on the right side of the card comes from an ancient legend about an Oni (a mountain demon) who fell in love with Buddhism and decided to walk the path of enlightenment, even though everyone else would still only see a monster. This is, ironically, the same situation Syssk finds herself in but instead of seeing a kindred soul all she sees is an Other (an Other othering another).

[XVI] TOWER.

Chaos. Sudden Change. Destruction. [R] Time to grow and move on. Rebuilding with a clean slate.

[XVII] STAR.

Hope. Dreams. Goals. [R] Losing hope. Disillusioned. Depressed.

[XVIII] MOON.

Imagination. Visions. Infatuation. [R] Self-deception. Insecurity. Hazy understanding.

[XIX] SUN: Dancing for Amaterasu Omikami.

Dancing for liberation. Glee. Restoring cosmic order. [R] Dark days. Unfulfillment. Turning away from the light.

Notes: Another example of dancing for the divine. In the Shinto creation story, the goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu Omikami, (for complicated reasons) hid herself away in a cave and let the world grow cold and barren. The goddess of the dawn, Ame-no-Uzume, realizing that something had to be done, invited all the humans to the mouth of the cave and performed such wild dancing that the Sun goddess reemerged to see what all the laughter and dancing was about. Thus, burlesque dancing saved the world, once again.

[XX] JUDGMENT: Seppuku.

Self-annihilation only way to save face. Making logical decisions. Practicality. [R] Bad Karma. Poor Judgment. Dishonor.

Notes: Even if a person knows nothing about Japanese history they've probably at least heard of the warrior-class called the samurai and how they often committed hara kira (seppuku) ritualized cutting open of their stomachs to atone for some sort of sin. In The Rider-Waite deck, uses the Christian idea of divine judgment, with Archangel Gabriel blowing a horn and zombies rising up out of the ground, hungry for brains. Here, though, the day of judgment is always at hand since your lord might, for any reason at all, order you to commit suicide in one of the more painful ways imaginable. No salvation, no good deeds or bad deeds weighing down your soul, no sitting at the right hand of the Patriarchy, just the atrocious need to save face and the horrific lengths that some people will go to carry out their lord's wishes.

[XXI] RETURN TO THE VOID.

Endings and beginnings. Cycles. Success. [R] Delay in fulfillment. Lost. Unable to accept change.

Notes: In The Rider-Waite deck, the World is all about completion. Here Syssk's exile on Earth is over. Her rainbow UFO is fixed, she leaves terra firma for the celestial heavens, clutching her beloved katana sword, the only souvenir of her adventures that she takes with her.

[XXII] HAPPY RABBIT.

Wild Card.

Notes: This card can be left out, if one wants. It is modeled after the Happy Squirrel, a joke that appeared in an episode of The Simpsons, when Lisa goes to get a reading done. (“Is that bad?” “Perhaps, the cards are vague and mysterious.”) It has since shown up in actual decks, though for the life of me I cannot figure out what to do with it besides give a nod to Stan Sakai's epic tale of Usagi Yojimbo, a masterless samurai rabbit, who wanders the roads of Edo-period Japan and was a big influence in my formative years. I reused two of figures from the 10 of Wand's Mistress of Artful Trickery (a kitsune fox-spirit) and drummer.

__________________________________________________

[COINS]

[0] ACE OF COINS: Sovereign of the Earth's Roots.

Magnetism. Ideas for making money. Working with hands. [R] Lack of creativity. Money woes. Singing the Blues.

[2] OF COINS: Ruler of the Syndicate.

Multitasking. Business partnership. Financial harmony. [R] Trouble juggling responsibilities. Distracted. Chaos.

Notes: Originally this was titled, “Ruler of Multitasking,” since the 2 of Pentacles in The Rider-Waite deck is all about balancing multiple priorities, except “multitasking” feels like such a modern term, it just felt off. I discovered, however, that one of the older definitions of the word, “Syndicate,” concerns itself with harmonious group work … though its modern usage is almost entirely mob-related. Perhaps there is a better term somewhere.

[3] OF COINS: Lord of the Joint Venture.

Communal work. Craftsmanship. Apprenticeship. [R] Unskilled. Unprepared for upcoming tasks. Problematic individualism.

[4] OF COINS: Mx of Earthly Powers.

Working the Earth. Honest labor. Financial stability. [R] Poor stewardship. Salting the Earth. Failure to understand growth.

[5] OF COINS: Master Destitution: the Ronin's Path.

Abandoned. Living paycheck to paycheck. No security. [R] Recovering from disaster. Temporarily unemployed. Returning to work.

Notes: If a samurai was a warrior who served a lord or lady, then a samurai who had (through many different ways) lost their lord or lady was called a ronin. Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo is such a person, wandering the land on a musha shugyo (warrior's spiritual pilgrimage), occasionally selling his services as a bodyguard. Sakai, in turn, was greatly influenced by samurai movies of his childhood, such as Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961), from which Sergio Leone heavily “borrowed” the idea for his Spaghetti Western, A Fistful of Dollars (1963). The term ronin means, “to be cast adrift upon the waves,” without family, friends or financial support.

[6] OF COINS: Sensei of Resources.

Asking for what you need. Gifts. Inheritance. [R] Not getting help from others. Having to quickly pay back debts. Bad credit.

[7] OF COINS: Mst of Bitter Profit.

Hard work leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. [R] Climbing to the top. Indifference in coworkers' suffering.

[8] OF COINS: Qy of Sagacity.

Wise in the way of Money Magic. Taking on an apprentice. Education is liberation. [R] Losing interest in school or work. World-weary.

[9] OF COINS: Sonkeigo of Abundance.

Reaping what you sow. Money is stable and growing. An sea of opportunity. [R] Unexpected expenses. Exhausting one's resources.

[10] OF COINS: Mistress of Uncanny Wealth.

Finding riches in odd places. Money is good or will be so soon. Secure and stable finances. [R] Major financial loss. May have to burn down the business and flee on foot. Crazy setbacks.

[11] ONNA-MUSHA OF COINS: Champion of a Rich Harvest.

Free market rules! Beginning a new career. Abundance of merchandise. [R] Village market starting to hate you. Delays in beginning the reaping. No one wants what you're selling.

Notes: Corresponding to the Page of Pentacles, here Syssk and a friend have come to sell the rich harvest of the 4 of Coins at market. There is some debate about whether female samurai existed (why it is important for some people to say that historical warriors, like Hangaku Gozen, ‎Nakano Takeko, ‎Niijima Yae and ‎Ohori Tsuruhime weren't samurai, but rather simply high ranking women from samurai families, trained in the Way of the Blade, who fought in battles, I don't know)‎ however, the term used to describe such people is Onna-Musha. The nice thing about telling a story of a xenomorph marooned on Earth is that no one will accuse me of being historically accurate; if you can suspend your disbelief long enough to accept Syssk you can also embrace Onna-Musha as samurais as well, I suppose.

[12] SAMURAI OF COINS: Knight of the Verdant Green.

Satisfaction from an important job. Moving up in the world. Trees love you. [R] Unexpected change in job. Boss out to get you. Coworkers can't wait to see you fired.

[13] SEISHITSU OF COINS: Lady of the Forced Profits of the Earth.

Materialistic. Gold digger. Trouble handling practical money matters. [R] Unselfishness.  Generosity. Has the Golden Touch.

Notes: The Queen in The Rider-Waite deck and tying in with the 5 of Coins' concept of destitution, a wealthy elite is served the best food that the restaurant can offer while in the background, poor Syssk, without a single coin to her name, curls into a fetal ball and wishes (not for the last time) that she was back home.

[14] DAIMYO OF COINS: Lord of the Joys of Capitalism.

Good business sense. Making Robber Barons sexy again. Obsessively industrial. [R] Monopolizing power. Delights in inequality. Blind to the machinery of capitalism being oiled with the blood of the workers.

Notes: Daimyo is the term used for Kings in ancient Japan; in this case, the King of Merchants (for what it's worth.)

__________________________________________________

[CUPS]

[0] ACE OF CUPS: Sovereign of the Root of Riotous Water.

New relationships. Sensuality. Birth. [R] New relationships delayed. Next step delayed. Troubled pregnancy.

[2] OF CUPS: Ruler of the Fertile Imagination.

Romantic passion. Equal and balanced relationship. Sharing mutual feelings. [R] Unbalanced desires. Unrequited love. Not attuned to one's harmony.

[3] OF CUPS: Lord of Dubious Company.

Wild celebrations. Orgies. Going all out. [R] Fear of overindulgence. Bad family gatherings. Addiction.

[4] OF CUPS: Mx of Heinous Phantasy.

Striving for more. Dreaming large. Feeding a healthy ego. [R] Unsatisfied. Not realizing the value of one's current state. Boredom.

Notes: In The Rider-Waite deck, the 4 of Cups deals more with issues of apathy and being so narrowly focused as to ignore the world around you. Here, Syssk really loves her blue cup, to the extent that she does not see the helpful Oni (mountain demon) offer up its own, nor the horrific shadow on the wall behind her. Daydreaming is wonderful, except when the world is out to get you and you need to focus.

[5] OF CUPS: Master of the Song of Regret.

Fear of avoidance. Facing unpleasant realities. Lost in nostalgia. [R] The need for struggle. Evolution. Growing pains.

Note: Apparently Syssk can play musical instruments. Even though lover's suicides did happen I see this card more as a cautionary tale about what not to do when you're filled with regret.

[6] OF CUPS: Sensei of Childhood Memories.

Making peace with one's childhood. Past returning with new meanings. Owning one's passions. [R] Horror of family. Outgrowing a relationship or person. Becoming your own toxic parent.

Note: The Barbara Walker Tarot talks about the 6 of Cups being about childhood traumas and memories. Of course Syssk would also have some sort of parent somewhere and in this case it is Xenomorph Queen from the Alien franchise. It's a side of her past that she doesn't like to talk about, probably because the only thing xenomorphs seem to do in these movies is drool and screech … so much alien drool. Some families are so embarrassing that the only thing you can do is change your name and flee to an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. (Thank you, Douglas Adams)

[7] OF CUPS: Mst of Uncertain Opportunities.

Discovering your inner road map. Idealism. Loving all your children ardently. [R] Too many dreams without plans. Lacking passion. Dreams turn to whimsy.

[8] OF CUPS: Qy of Abandoned Dreams.

Leaving the past behind. Owning one's loneliness. Follow through. [R] Lack of closure. Imaginary slights. Settling for the mundane.

[9] OF CUPS: Sonkeigo of the Blade.

Achieved goals and dreams. Skilled master. Uniqueness of craft. [R] Smugness. Unrealistic goals. Not knowing one's limits.

Note: One of my goals with this deck was to make it easy enough to understand so that a reader wouldn't need to know about samurai, their Bushido code of ethics and/or Japanese history (so, naturally I slapped Japanese text on each card because being inconsistent is something that I apparently strive for). The Way of the Blade is, briefly, the idea that a warrior can and will cultivate an, “implacable fighting spirit to overcome their enemies.” How one wants to define an, “implacable fighting spirit,” is left up to the reader to decide; however, for me it means honing your skills until you are a master at whatever it is that you're doing. In that way it hearkens back to The Rider-Waite idea of contentment, satisfaction and gratitude.

[10] OF CUPS: Mistress of Sublime Harmony.

Dreams coming true. Love and familiar surrounding. Comfort. [R] Happiness delayed. Troubled commitments.

[11] ONNA-MUSHA OF CUPS: Champion of Rebellious Floods.

Crossing life's floods with help. Growth from self-reflection. [R] Lack of patience for ones own needs. Need for reflection. Immaturity.

[12] SAMURAI OF CUPS: Knight of the Purifying Cascades.

Willingness to heal. Emotional growth. Spiritual meditation. [R] Ignoring pain. Pushing oneself too hard. No sense of humor.

[13] SEISHITSU OF CUPS: Lady of the Sovereignty of Waters.

Powerful. Life-giving. Cyclical like the tides. [R] Oversensitive. Chaotic emotions. Destructive love.

[14] DAIMYO OF CUPS: Lord of the Turning Waterwheel.

Karmic completion. Just parent. Gentle law maker. [R] Weak nature. Unreliable. Natural born cheater.

__________________________________________________

[SWORDS]

[0] ACE OF SWORDS: Sovereign of the Root of the Air.

Beauty. New Ideas. Empire of the senses. [R] Lacking curiosity. Overbearing. Confusion.

[2] OF SWORDS: Ruler of Peace through Power.

No compromises. Battle of wills. Standstill. [R] Reconciliation. Compromise. Accommodating difficulties.

Note: During the late Edo period in Japanese history almost every large family had a family crest that was worn on the right and left sides of their kimonos. Samurai crests usually featured  flowers of some sort, falling leaves, cranes in flight or sacred trees. At some point I decided that Syssk needed a crest as well, so I settled on a stylized version of the face-hugger parasite from the Alien movies (the first stage of xenomorph development after it leaves the egg). The purpose of this card was summed up nicely when Frank Herbert wrote, “Absolute power attracts the corruptible.” Under the right set of circumstances we are all corruptible, even visitors from the celestial kingdom.

[3] OF SWORDS: Lord of the Moon's Sorrow.

Balancing one's feelings. Healthy friendships. Riding the turbulence.  [R] Love triangle. Jealousy. Heartache.

[4] OF SWORDS: Mx of the Respite before the Storm.

Recovery. Rest. Recuperate. [R] Sensing upcoming doom. Cutting recovery short. Dread.

Note: A trope that runs through some horror literature is the idea that monsters, while they can assume the shape of a mortal, are often undone when their shadows reveal their true, monstrous form. Of course this only works if a person is observant enough to pay attention to such things and not, as Syssk and her friend are doing, get caught up in fantastical story telling, oblivious to the danger sitting right in front of them. Often we think that the storm we must face is far off and we have time to recover, when, in fact, it has already consumed us.

[5] OF SWORDS: Master of Defeat.

Exile. Deceit. Hidden or old enemies surfacing. [R] Ugly truth revealed. Detachment emotions. Coldness.

[6] OF SWORDS: Sensei of Senseless Struggles.

Realizing the path forward isn't the best. Campaigning. Following your own path. [R] Blinded by bad directions. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

[7] OF SWORDS: Mother of Betrayal.

Getting played. Being used. Leaving yourself too open emotionally. [R] Trust issues. Skepticism. Suspicion. Uncertainty.

[8] OF SWORDS: Crone of Ambitious Passing.

Owning who you are. Speaking one's mind. Being fabulous. [R] Walking on eggshells. Fear of independence. Not being true to oneself.

Note: I am a horribly cynical person and this is, perhaps, the most cynical card in the deck. Syssk works hard to try and blend in with the unwashed masses surrounding her and it is a thankless task. She's mastered make-up and how to sit politely, poetry and tea ceremonies, the katana sword and the samurai code of ethics, Bushido. None of this changes the fact that when people see her all they can see is her monstrous appearance and not the enlightened soul. For some of us being an outcast is much more preferable than having to compromise or hide who we really are, but I suspect, for Syssk, that is not an option open to her and everything about this planet is hellish in one form or another. In a world that has yet to invent the steam engine, let alone FTL drive, the endless prattle that the Earth is the center of the universe and that humanity is some sort of beloved pet for a Creator god blew her mind the first time someone said it and every time since. An ancient Zen koan asks, “What is the ocean to a frog living in a well?” Or, to put it slightly differently, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Ford Prefect (also an alien marooned on Earth), “would often gate-crash university parties, get badly drunk and start making fun of any astrophysicists he could find till he got thrown out … fifteen years was a long time to get stranded anywhere, particularly somewhere as mind-boggingly dull as the Earth.”

[9] OF SWORDS: Sonkeigo of Malice.

Workplace stress. Worried sick. Enabling a bully. [R] Light at the end of a tunnel. Recovery. Burden lifted.

[10] OF SWORDS: Mistress of Painful Endings.

Betrayal. Stabbed in the back. Crash and burn. [R] Learning from mistakes or betrayal. Getting back on feet. Communicating well with others.

[11] ONNA-MUSHA OF SWORDS: Champion of Rejuvenating Zephyrs.

Attention. Grace. Source of springtime. [R] Premature autumn. Crudeness. Disregard.

[12] SAMURAI OF SWORDS: Knight of Typhoons.

Courage. Quickly and unexpected change. Riding out the storm. [R] Pointless violence. Change as disaster.

[13] SEISHITSU OF SWORDS: Lady of the Sea's Sovereignty.

Grace. Rectitude. Hidden powers. [R] Bitter. Delight in drowning fools. Indifferent.

[14] DAIMYO OF SWORDS: Lord of the Raging Winds.

Owning one's own power. Bending reeds and breaking oaks. Sharp mind. [R] Nasty and mean spirited. Abusive. Ball of agitation.

__________________________________________________

[WANDS]

[0] ACE OF WANDS: Sovereign of the Root of the Flames.

Passion. Starting point. Answering the call. [R] Lacking creative thinking. Uninspired. Tunnel vision.

[2] OF WANDS: Ruler of Foreign Influences.

Embracing the alien. Long-distance relationship. Synchronicity. [R] Traditionalism. Incompatibility. Old and moldy.

[3] OF WANDS: Lord of the Far Expanse.

Counseling. Returning home. Third party assistance. [R] Third party interfering. Impulsiveness. Lacking the initiative.

[4] OF WANDS: Mx of Martialed Armies.

Stability. Gathering one's forces. Firm foundation [R] Debilitated commitment. Troubles of cohabitation. Adynamic planning.

Note: This is suppose to be an army on the march but I am unsure if that's apparent.

[5] OF WANDS: Master of Strife.

Serving a fair and just ruler. [R] Serving a vicious and wicked ruler.

Note: The term “Bushido” has been referenced several times so far. I have been calling it a samurai code of ethics, concerning all aspects of moral attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. The best example of its essence comes from Stan Sakai's The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy, where the following conversation takes place between our rabbit ronin Usagi and a samurai who serves the antagonist of the story:

Usagi: You'd die for a lord who vilifies you? He doesn't deserve your loyalty!

Torame: I'm a devotee of Bushido, the samurai's code. Do you remember the warrior riddle I told you?

Usagi: “Which more exemplifies Bushido? The samurai who serves a good and fair lord, or the one who faithfully serves a wicked lord?”

Torame: The Samurai who is loyal to his unprincipled master because he who remains faithful even in adversity has the greatest warrior spirit. After all, “samurai” means “to serve” and devotion to your master is paramount.

[6] OF WANDS: Sensei of Nauseous Sacrifice.

Victory at a price. Losing by winning battles. Stress vomiting. [R] Unable to understand why you lost. Disillusioned. Rewards long delayed.

Note: In The Rider-Waite deck, the 6 of Wands deals with public recognition over one’s success. Here, however, the card has more to do having to preform some sort of task that you find personally abhorrent in order to succeed. That, too, usually has very public ramifications (think: selling out for money, or sacrificing a friendship to get ahead) but you’ve decided that failure is not an option, so the ends justify the means, as they say.

[7] OF WANDS: Mother of Valour.

Attacked from all sides. Win battles and playing well with others. [R] Attacked from all sides. Defeat. Feeling drained and stressed.

[8] OF WANDS: Crone of Swiftness.

Expanding horizons through travel. Talking to people or seeing new places. Reading new ideas. [R] Frustration and delays. Can't seem to communicate. How do you make this hawk go?

[9] OF WANDS: Sonkeigo o£ Tenacity.

Bad ass with a katana. Ready and prepared for what is ahead. Good at defeating others. [R] Paranoid from many past battles. All vain pomp. Sound and fury signifying nothing.

[10] OF WANDS: Mistress of Artful Trickery.

Duplicity as a positive thing. Getting others to carry your burden. Looks great with nine tails. [R] Overburdened. Too many responsibilities. Unable to see what is right in front of you.

Note: In Japanese folklore, Kitsune are trickster fox spirits that have the ability to shape shift into human form. The card speaks to the 4 of Sword's warning that a sinister shadow might be concealed in the most charming of outer appearances. In this case the Kitsune is using a life-size puppet to manipulate others, while Syssk, jamming on her biwa in the background, remains oblivious to any danger.

[11] ONNA-MUSHA OF WANDS: Champion of the Luminous Flames.

Companion. Assistant. Helper. [R] Refusing advice. Lone wolf. Getting foolishly burned.

[12] SAMURAI OF WANDS: Knight of Thunderbolts and Lightning.

Person with an inner fire. Using the storm to your advantage. Good at dodging the wrath of the gods. [R] Anticlimax. Thunderbolts and lightning very very frightening. Need for follow through.

[13] SEISHITSU OF WANDS: Lady of the Uncanny Glow.

Eroticism as creative power. Living life to its fullest. MILF. [R] Burns out quickly. Restlessness. Unsatisfied.

Note: The erotic nature of our lives is profoundly spiritual. Since Syssk is the avatar for the reader the question of where Syssk falls in the sexuality spectrum has come up and while she is certainly intersexual (bodies that fall outside the strict male/ female binary) trying to define an alien species in human terms will only take us so far. She identifies as a “she/ her,” and while she is curious about the concepts of sex and romance she has yet to find anyone willing to teach or share. Perhaps she is Panromantic (someone who can experience attraction to anyone regardless of gender identity, sex or anatomy) or perhaps she is Demisexual (someone who does not experience attraction unless they form a strong emotional connection first), but what is important is that it's something only Syssk herself can decide upon and, as of this writing, she is still weighing all her possibilities.

[14] DAIMYO OF WANDS: Lord of the Song of the Turbulent Fire.

Owning one's self. Charming. Legendary. [R] Forked tongue. Smooth talker who is massively insincere. Sucka MC.

__________________________________________________

Originally the deck was going to feature astronauts and their Alien familiars. But that path would lead only to issues of copyright infringement, which is why Syssk ended up looking the way that she does and not like this:

[Magician]

[The Hanged One]

[letsrearise]

Season one retrospective part II: Michi

Hightlighting all the relevant Michi characterization in season one!

The basics of Michi.

If there’s one word to describe Michi, it’d be impulsive. Herissmon and Player Character (PC) meet her upon coming out of the station because she loudly approaches them, drawn by the novel sight of Herissmon. For better and for worse, she’s the kind to always wear her heart in her sleeve—and to decide based on her emotions; after all, she does try to argue with Kuwagamon out of genuine offense at its ungratefulness. And to down in a gulp all the cocoa she ordered before having to deal with the Digital Point, she just couldn't leave it behind! And she does form an instant, strong dislike to Takumi due his condescending manners. And so on. No matter the situation, Michi allows her heart to speak and act for her.

Michi is a fun character to follow. Her forwardness and impulsivity make her both goofy and charming. She’s good to keep things from being stagnant— let’s remember the first library incident where the PC and Herissmon end up trapped in the digital point does happen because she wanted to check an urban legend. Her love for the occult adds a fun texture to her character.

Tailmon’s debut.

Speaking of, Michi’s fear of ghost is pretty goofy. She likes weird, novel creatures, but not when they might be the dead. I’m not too fond of her adult evolution act since it can feel underwhelming as a trigger for Tailmon’s debut, especially coming at the tails of her staking her pride in training hard to get Plotmon to evolve and getting the promise it’d come when the time is right in return—just what makes the silliness of act 09 more fitting is beyond me. It’s also not entirely true that training is ineffectual as a path towards evolution, but that’s a topic for later.

Still, Michi not being able to be upfront about her fear of ghosts and not wanting to hunt for them but still tagging along because the others want to do it makes for some funny bits. It’s partly the pride speaking, so even when Plotmon is messing with her, she still doesn’t fess up. Her being prideful is a trait we don’t get to see much in season 1, but the fact it’s properly established makes it fun when it comes back in season two.

Plotmon takes the teasing too far—they both take the banter and the embarrassing each other too far. It’s not entirely unenjoyable since it’s all pretty childish and serves to show how well they mesh together and know each other. At the end of the day, they are each other’s best friend. The fact that they’re pretty alike, despite Plotmon being more often than not Michi’s straight-man, also gets some nice mileage during season two, so I can’t entirely discount this act. I only wish it didn’t spin its wheels so much.

Some other highlights.

Some other stray moments that are Michi hightlights are when, during act 13, she’s the first one to point out SkullGreymon is in pain. It’s such a small moment, it’d almost feel inconsequential to point out, but we do get important moments based on this in season two, so it’s always delightful to see how consistent her characterization is.

Another noteworthy moment is when she gives advice to Takumi in act 19 regarding what partnership is about—“two working as one”. That partnership is about working together is not exactly a shocking revelation, but it’s a fitting insight for her to offer Takumi, who’s often very caught on his ideals of strength and independence to be truly considerate to his partner. Michi knows that, so she offers her little wisdom nugget. She can be genuinely keen and insightful due her focus in emotions as much as she can be a brash clown. This, too, gets expanded later on.

Setting the tone for the future (act 21).

I was initially irritated at this act, to the point of thinking season 2 does pretty much every idea in it better. The emotional core of it is about Michi feeling guilty over running her mouth, with the expected reassurances about how her candid passion and optimism often push the Tamers forward. While it’s true she bats hard for fighting the Spirals as a remedy to Herissmon’s situation, the lack of any real alternative made the guilt ring hollow at first. It is a Digimon story, after all. What other solution is the conflict gonna have other than to punch it out? However, after revisiting it, I felt that more than being the definitive take on Michi’s flaws, it was a nice way to establish more subtle characterization for her.

It’s not a suprise that Michi’s high emotivity and impulsiveness can lead her to be thoughtless. To act 20’s credit, the route the narrative takes has more depth than simply having Michi say something wrong or hurtful in the heat of the moment and then having to apologize. During the Tamers initial reunion at Truffle discussing Herissmon’s situation, the straightforward answer is to simply get rid of the Spirals that are affecting Herissmon’s condition. It’s not really a foolish idea given that’s pretty much all they’ve been doing so far. Michi shows herself enthusiastic about it, since it’s a clear and easy answer to deal with the situation that doesn’t involve sitting too tightly with uncomfortable emotions such as uncertainty, worry and sadness, nor contemplating all the ways it could not work, as Keito does.

You’d be excused to think it’s simply Michi being positive— she is, after all. And there’s nothing wrong to being positive, is there? However, Michi often interrupts Keito’s musings in favor of pushing them to act. When pressed about the possibility of Herissmon rampaging again, she hand waves it by saying the PC can just call out to Herissmon and snap them out of it. How fitting it is that it’s the act when that doesn’t work. It’s fair to say it’s intentional to show she’s trying Very Hard not to engage in any sort of “negativity” present. With Herissmon’s doubts and worries at an all-time high, they don’t want to risk being a burden. If Michi wants to go, then Herissmon will follow. It makes for better character work than I initially gave it credit for. Michi’s forceful positivity being hurtful because she doesn’t like dealing with difficult emotions, which has the unintended effect of pressuring Herissmon into not expressing them, is a good beat. Her brand of avoidance coping making her compelled to prefer things that feel “right” will form the cornerstone by which her arc in season two will unfold.

Naturally, season one doesn’t really dwell on this trait. It solves things neatly with Michi noticing how her thoughtlessness pushed Herissmon too hard. It makes sense she’s able to realize her mistake and apologize since, while she does often get swept in her own selfish impulses, she’s quick to take on external input and is legitimately perceptive, in her own instinctual way. She also loves Herissmon, so there’s no reason for this conflict to last longer than it does. But I still much prefer season two’s willingness to have her hit a wall and really grapple with it without offering an immediate balm. All in, while held back by the basic scenario writing, this act still sets up the material her season-two writing will expand on quite nicely.

[nfumbewalk]

Proj #163.190

Burn, baby, burn!

This is about my book project. I'm sure ppl know that I broke the law and my offense code was 163.190 in the State of Oregon vs. (My name).

I have two titles and I don't know which ones better. Can you all help me? I have:

"Muerteria: A Deathly Path," OR

"Muerteria: A Deathly Practice."

Pls comment about which one you like better or perhaps: Give me a better one & you'll get credit & a copy of the book!

It isn't urgent! The finishing time is roughly early 2026, could be sooner. If ANY of you know a good occult publisher NOT like haughty and scholarly outfits such as Scarlet Imprint or places similar, pls tell me!!

Reason? I'm smart enough and know some big words but it means nothing at all. Just because you can wax your talk intelligently doesn't mean your message is effective in the real world nor does it mean its powerful.

My message is going somewhere. Every person I know personally - friends or just passing - wants to know MORE about Muerteria. They are not just being nice. I get a little flabbergasted, especially if its a stranger! Its happened - a couple of doctors (shrink and internist) took me aside and asked serious technical questions, but nothing about therapeutics on my behalf. Which was weird.

Ppl really do get the wrong idea about necromancy, but really who doesn't? Everything is technically labeled wrong. Every practice with the muertos is called necromancy. But it really just means divination by means of the dead. That's the Greek suffix, -mancy. I am pretty good with breaking down Greek words because I was in medicine. I find it fun! Now, another one is necrosophy, or the wisdom or knowledge of the dead. Another great Greek suffix, -sophy. Damn, I love those!

So, really, using a Ouija board IS necromancy by definition. Muertera/o/ists can use them, but they must go through a cleansing process and spend five days with your muertos grave dirt on it. Then, a ritual process known as Taruc Danae, which requires special ingredients that are gathered only once a year. If the Ouija board is new, it needs a basic smudging and anointing with a blessing oil, sacred to Muerteria. We only use Common Sage, not White, in Muerteria. The reasons are boundless. Don't make me post them! I'm part Native American and it ruffles my feathers. Ugh!

Anyway, Muerteria has some dark practices but sorry - no conventional sex and drugs. There are human bones used, but obtained legally. Human cremains are used too, if you own them. Muertera/o/ists do absolutely nothing illegal that has to do with the muerto's body or anything of that sort. No desecration of graves, mausoleum's or anything of that kind! You don't have to practice "black" magic, or any magic at all in this practice.

The only thing that is required is having a muerto that you have a pact with. "Honoring the muertos" is nothing in itself. You need the power exchange with a dead person. There's no maybe's or sort of, no long bout of "testing the water." There IS such a thing as being a student! But if you don't get it within 1 1/2 to maybe 2 years (stretching it!), then perhaps Muerteria isn't for you - at the moment. Study hard and try later. And yes, there are tests.

My attitude may be snarky, kinda rude, and irreverent sometimes, but there are much worse that I've seen and known personally. In the Demon/Satanic community in particular. I'm quite soft in comparison and I do NOT curse in my books, especially the "F" word on the first page?!! I just looked at a Kindle sample, saw that, looked no further, then trashed the sample! Yes, we're all adults (not necessarily) but not all of us speak like trash. And I don't want to see it in an "respected author's" book on the occult!

So, done for now. Pls comment on my book title! I'd appreciate it ten thousand fold!

M.M. 💖💀💖

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

☕ Theosophy

lmaoooooo. this is honestly so random because i was just thinking about this old twitter exchange:

and i was just thinking about theosophy and how cringe it is (at least blavatskian theosophy).

basically, i feel about blavatsky's theosophy the same way i feel about a lot of modern occultism. it's a tiny bit of truth buried beneath a ton of shit. theosophy, like thelema or the golden dawn, is just a lot of spiritually confused larping. a lot of its most fundamental ideas are just obviously silly; the idea of this secret brotherhood teaching a lost primordial religion from which all other religions are descended. so fantastical.

but the thing is, i think it is "pointing towards" a truth. one that i believe. and that is that there is some kind of objective "true" religion and that the many religions of the world are all different perspectives/expressions of this religion. you can see how it is superficially similar to what blavatsky describes.

and then there are things like monism, emanationism, karma, reincarnation, etc. these are also things i believe in, though i have my disagreements about particulars.

but then there are other ideas i flatly reject; like the idea of root races and messianism and its ideas of universal brotherhood and these "masters" and lemuria and so on.

so yeah i think there are grains of wisdom in it but i really think someone interested in the occult could do a lot better. too much "noise" so to speak.

but if you just mean theosophy in a more generic sense (as a synonym for theology or gnosis) then i think it's pretty cool.

[witchybooksarl]

Colors that help in candle mail and their purpose

"Black Banishing, transformation, uncrossing, endings, domination, protection, reversing, repulsion, freedom from evil, cursing, cloaking, sophistication, security, emotional safety, closure, breaking patterns, grief, mourning, absorbing, removing, trapping, encasing, the unconscious, mystery, shielding from the evil eye. Blue Reconciliation, harmony, peace, kindness, healing, ideas, intelligence, wisdom, loyalty, sleep, meditation, communication, creativity, dream work, trust, blessings, calm, forgiveness, truth, bliss, inspiration, fidelity, honesty. Brown Justice, balance, grounding, court cases, legal matters, being down-to-earth, practical matters, seriousness, reliability, support, stability, safety, earth, nature, animals, home, nostalgia, basic needs being met, balance. Gray Neutrality, neutralizing, invisibility, working in “gray areas,” anonymity, hiding from others, working in-between worlds, secrets, occult and arcane wisdom, reversing, uncovering mysteries and secrets, lifting curses, undoing prior spell work. Green Prosperity, abundance, wealth, generosity, money luck, career, growth, fertility, gambling luck, business, a good job, harmony, balance, healing, self-love, altruism, universal love, contact with fae and nature spirits. Lavender healing, calming, tranquility, spirituality, meditation, pacification, cooperation, sensitivity, compassion, empathy, and selflessness.

Metallic Gold Prosperity, fame, luxury, generosity, optimism, wisdom, enlightenment, victory, sun magic, confidence, life force, power, attraction, magnetism, vigor, charisma. Metallic Silver Dreams, intuition, psychic work, courtesy, honor, moon magic, rhythm, cycles, divination, illusions, glamour spells, wisdom. Orange New opportunities, new ventures, new beginnings, change of plans, encouragement, opening the way, removing blocks, physical comfort, warmth, security, ambition, creativity, courage, optimism.

Pink Romantic love, friendship, soul mates, sweet feelings, emotional healing, heart connection, affection, family love, admiration, physical tranquility, nurturing, warmth, youthfulness, healing grief, compassion, forgiveness, beauty, unconditional love. Purple Empowerment, controlling, commanding, mastery, power, ambition, achievement, charisma, luxury, expansion, psychic ability, spirituality, authenticity, truth, transformation, insight, justice, wisdom, politics, divination, ESP, intuition, wishes, influence. Red Passionate love, energy, action, attraction, sexuality, magnetism, will, force, anger, fire within, courage, warmth, lust, drive, pleasure, vitality, vigor, excitement, desire. White Cleansing, clarity, blessing, healing, innocence, truth, connection to spirits or the spiritual world, divine connection, consecration, dream work, psychic connection, purity, rest, moon magic, angelic work, devotion, harmony, prayer, peace, purification, universal truths. White can also be used as an all-purpose color for your intention when the color you want is not available. Yellow Optimism, prosperity, happiness, good luck, attraction, success, confidence, visibility, fame, self-esteem, communication, concentration, focus, inspiration, intellect, logic, memory, knowledge, learning."

The book of candle magic

by Madame Pamita

There is more information in this book that talk about double sided candles and triple candles; but I won't dive into that because; I feel that's taking too much information off of someone else's Work and writing. So please just buy this book if you like what you've read so far. And if you just want to learn more!

[attichaos]

Colour Magick Correspondences & Ideas

*longer read*

Pretty easily applied for both beginner, closet and experienced practitioners alike! Can be used in most areas of mundane and magickal life (with some ideas listed below).

White

→ Cleansing, clarity, blessing, healing, innocence, truth, connection to spirits or the spiritual world, divine connection, consecration, dream work, psychic connection, purity, rest, moon magic, angelic work, devotion, harmony, prayer, peace, purification, universal truths. White can also be used as an all-purpose color for your intention when the color you want is not available.

Black

→ Banishing, transformation, uncrossing, endings, domination, protection, reversing, repulsion, freedom from evil, cursing, cloaking, sophistication, security, emotional safety, closure, breaking patterns, grief, mourning, absorbing, removing, trapping, encasing, the unconscious, mystery, shielding from the evil eye, *similarly to white - as black is an absence of colour it can be used for any colour if you don’t have them available* - personal opinion

Red

→ Passionate love, energy, action, attraction, sexuality, magnetism, will, force, anger, fire within, courage, warmth, lust, drive, pleasure, vitality, vigor, excitement, desire.

Orange

→ New opportunities, new ventures, new beginnings, change of plans, encouragement, opening the way, removing blocks, physical comfort, warmth, security, ambition, creativity, courage, optimism.

Yellow

-> Optimism, prosperity, happiness, good luck, attraction, success, confidence, visibility, fame, self-esteem, communication, concentration, focus, inspiration, intellect, logic, memory, knowledge, learning.

Green

→ Prosperity, abundance, wealth, generosity, money luck, career, growth, fertility, gambling luck, business, a good job, harmony, balance, healing, self-love, altruism, universal love, contact with fae and nature spirits.

Blue

→ Reconciliation, harmony, peace, kindness, healing, ideas, intelligence, wisdom, loyalty, sleep, meditation, communication, creativity, dream work, trust, blessings, calm, forgiveness, truth, bliss, inspiration, fidelity, honesty.

Purple

→ Healing, calming, tranquility, spirituality, meditation, pacification, cooperation, sensitivity, compassion, empathy, selflessness, empowerment, controlling, commanding, mastery, power, ambition, achievement, charisma, luxury, expansion, psychic ability, spirituality, authenticity, truth, transformation, insight, justice, wisdom, politics, divination, ESP, intuition, wishes, influence.

Pink

→ Romantic love, friendship, soul mates, sweet feelings, emotional healing, heart connection, affection, family love, admiration, physical tranquility, nurturing, warmth, youthfulness, healing grief, compassion, forgiveness, beauty, unconditional love.

Brown

→ Justice, balance, grounding, court cases, legal matters, being down-to-earth, practical matters, seriousness, reliability, support, stability, safety, earth, nature, animals, home, nostalgia, basic needs being met, balance.

Grey

→ Neutrality, neutralizing, invisibility, working in “gray areas,” anonymity, hiding from others, working in-between worlds, secrets, occult and arcane wisdom, reversing, uncovering mysteries and secrets, lifting curses, undoing prior spell work.

Silver

→ Dreams, intuition, psychic work, courtesy, honor, moon magic, rhythm, cycles, divination, illusions, glamour spells, wisdom.

Gold

→ Prosperity, fame, luxury, generosity, optimism, wisdom, enlightenment, victory, sun magic, confidence, life force, power, attraction, magnetism, vigor, charisma.

*highly recommend Madame Pamita’s Book of Candle Magic - covers colour magic especially in relation to spell work with candles.

Ideas

→ candle magick

→ glamour magick - also wearing/makeup using a colour which corresponds to the property you desire (good for closet witches)

→ sigil magick

→ craft magick

→ kitchen witchery - eg. Putting a specific colour food dye in a cake or drink etc

(Essentially anything you want!)

Merry meet,

Atti <3

[samwisethewitch]

Witchcraft, Occult, New Age, or Pagan? What's the difference?

For folks just getting into alternative spirituality, terminology can be confusing. What's the difference between New Age and pagan? Are all witches pagan? What does occult even mean? And where do my beliefs and practices fit into all that?

Truly, you don't need to label your spiritual practice unless you want to. Labels can sometimes feel uncomfortably restrictive. On the other hand, knowing what common labels mean can help you find resources, teachers, and groups that are relevant to your practice, so in this post I'll explain some of the ones that are commonly misused or confused with each other.

I want to make one important note: All of these are umbrella terms, which means for each of these labels there is a whole range of belief systems that fit under that label. Keep in mind that these are very broad and very general terms.

Also, none of these approaches is inherently better or worse than the others, and there's no rule against combining one or more of them. Wicca could be considered paganism, witchcraft, and occultism, and many modern witchy authors incorporate New Age elements in their books. You may find that more than one of these labels could apply to your practice.

New Age

I want to start with the label New Age, because this is the one I see misused most often. Some people use "New Age" as a catch-all term for anything outside conventional, mainstream spirituality, but this is incorrect. Someone who does witchcraft or reads tarot is not necessarily New Age, and New Age beliefs are very different from traditional witchcraft, paganism, and occultism.

Modern New Age spirituality began in the 1970s, but it has roots in several 19th century movements, most notably New Thought, Spiritualism, and Theosophy.

The New Thought movement began in the US in the 1800s. It grew out of dissatisfaction with mainstream Christianity at the time and was dedicated to a "mind over matter" approach to spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. New Thought practitioners believed that the spiritual realm was higher or more real than the physical world and that spiritual causes create physical effects. (Basically, everything comes from a spiritual cause.) These are all ideas still present in New Age beliefs.

Spiritualism is another 19th century American movement and is based on the idea that the souls of the dead can communicate with the living. Spiritualists tried to contact the dead, usually with help and/or guidance from a medium. Some spiritualists also believed in other psychic phenomena, like clairvoyance, telepathy, and precognition. This is where the New Age concept of "channeling" comes from.

Theosophy (from the Greek theos, "god," and sophia, "wisdom") is a movement that grew out of Western occultism in the 1800s. Theosophy was focused on connecting to a deeper spiritual reality through trance, meditation, and other mystical practices. Theosophists believed that all world religions have an esoteric "inner meaning" and that all religions contain some truth. They also believed in a single, all-encompassing divine source and that the goal of human life was to return to our spiritual home. These concepts are foundational to most modern New Age movements.

Modern New Age spirituality began in the US in the 1960s and 1970s as several loosely organized groups with a shared interest in mystical, transcendental spirituality and practices like alternative healing, Asian-style meditation, channeling spirits, and psychic phenomena. From there, it spread through magazines and periodicals, then later through books. Some authors claimed their books were "channeled" -- revealed to them by spiritual beings.

New Age spirituality is not an organized religion, but many individuals around the world who read the same books, have similar beliefs, and engage in similar practices.

Common New Age practices include meditation, energy work, crystal healing, channeling, and sometimes practices drawn from world religions like yoga (from Hinduism), mantras (also from Hinduism), or working with angels (from Christianity).

Witchcraft

Witchcraft, to put it bluntly, is poor people magic. Less bluntly, it's folk magic: the use of charms and spells to create a desired outcome. It could also be classified as natural magic -- that is, magic that deals directly with natural forces, as opposed to ceremonial magic, which deals with summoning spirits. (Although some witches do call forth spirits in their rituals.) Witchcraft is typically low magic, which is simple, practical, and intuitive, as opposed to high magic, which involves intricate and complex ceremonies.

It's important to note that the way the word "witchcraft" is used by most witches today is very different from how it was used historically. Before the 20th century, witchcraft meant magic that was done explicitly to harm people. Modern witches are closer to historic "cunning folk," who used charms and spells to help their communities.

The reclaiming of the word "witch" is a long and complicated story, but in many cases it's about recognizing feminine power and agency. As author and witch Starhawk says, "To reclaim the word Witch is to reclaim our right, as women, to be powerful; as men, to know the feminine within as divine."

The witch label has historically been used to demonize marginalized people -- not just women, but Jewish and Muslim people, Black and Brown people, queer people, disabled people, and poor people. To reclaim the word witch is a political statement that sends the message that we are powerful despite our marginalization.

Witchcraft is usually very practical. It's not really about theory -- it's about doing what works. It's usually pretty simple, and it's almost always very intuitive. It can be a structured or as freeform as you make it, but there is usually some internal logic.

Witchcraft is not religious, but it is spiritual. Witchcraft itself is not a religion, although some religions do incorporate witchcraft into their practices. Witchcraft can coexist with any religion a that doesn't have taboos against magic. However, most witches do feel that there is a spiritual component to witchcraft.

Witchcraft is culturally relative. Witchcraft in Italy looks very different from witchcraft in the Czech Republic, which looks very different from witchcraft in New England, which looks very different from witchcraft in Mexico. Even within a single country there may be many different traditions shaped by different cultural influences.

Not all magic is witchcraft. Witchcraft is only one of many approaches to magic.

Pagan

"Pagan” is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of different religious faiths. These different faiths are linked by a shared history, rather than by shared beliefs or practices. Someone who practices Wicca, for example, will have very different beliefs from someone who practices Hellenismos, but both are pagans.

The word “pagan” comes from the Latin paganus, which literally means “area outside of a city” or, to phrase it slightly differently, “countryside.” This adjective was used to describe people and things that were rustic or rural and, over time, came to also have the connotation of being uneducated. Originally, the word had no religious association, and was even used to refer to non-combatants by the Roman military.

From this definition, we can gain some insight into what makes a religion or practice pagan. Pagans feel a kinship with the wild or rural places of the world, and are comfortable walking “off the beaten path.”

But how did paganus come to refer to a type of religion, anyway?

To understand the religious meaning of paganus, we have to understand a little bit about the religion of Ancient Rome. Rome (the city) was built inside a pomerium, a sacred boundary that formed a spiritual border around the city and its people. Paganus folks were those who lived outside the pomerium and may not have been strict adherents of the state religion — they certainly wouldn’t have been able to travel into the city for every major festival. They may have gotten a bit more creative with their worship of the gods. However, the word paganus did not have an explicitly religious meaning in ancient times.

The use of paganus as a religious label began after the legalization of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 313 C.E. Christianity would not be adopted as the official state religion until 380 C.E., but Constantine’s conversion and decriminalization of Christian worship paved the way for Rome’s transformation into a Christian state. It was around this time, as Christianity was quickly growing in urban areas, that early Roman Christians began using the word paganus (pagan) to refer to those who still practiced polytheism. Rather than referring to those outside the city’s boundary or to untrained civilians, the label now referred to those outside the Church, those who were not “soldiers of Christ.”

As Christianity spread in popularity throughout the Mediterranean, Europe, and Northern Africa, the pagan label was applied to all non-Christians in those areas. The word “pagan” became a derogatory label, implying an inferior and backwards religion.

So, really, the thing that makes a religion pagan is a historical conflict with Christianity. Pagan religions are those that were suppressed or completely destroyed after Christianity became the dominant faith in the region.

This is why Norse Paganism and Kemetic (Egyptian) polytheism, which are very different, are both considered pagan while Shinto, a Japanese religion that shares a lot of common features with many pagan faiths, is not. Because Christianity never achieved total dominance in Japan, Shinto was never pushed aside to make room for Jesus.

In the 20th century, people who felt drawn to these old religions started to reclaim the pagan label. Like many other reclaimed slurs, “pagan” became a positive label for a community united by their shared history. Today "pagan" is an umbrella term that incorporates both reconstructionist religions, which seek to reconstruct a pre-Christian religion, and neopagan religions, which seek to apply pagan concepts like honoring nature and worshiping the divine feminine in a modern context.

Occult

Wikipedia actually defines occultism really well: "a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic, sorcery, and mysticism and their varied spells."

Basically, occultism is Religion After Dark. Virtually every major religion or spiritual movement has its own occult movement, which often takes the teachings of that religion or movement and applies them in unorthodox ways, like magic rituals.

The word "occult" comes from the Latin occultus, meaning "hidden" or "secret." This implies that occult practices are secret or underground in some way.

In Western cultures, when we talk about the occult we are usually talking about Western occult traditions, which have roots in European Christianity and, in some cases, pre-Christian religion. (And, unfortunately, a lot of appropriated Jewish and Muslim practices.) The word occult originally referred to practices like astrology, alchemy, divination, and magic.

The occult includes both folk magic practices like witchcraft and formal systems like ceremonial magic -- however, people and groups that identify as occult tend to place a focus on esoteric knowledge. In my experience, self-identified "occultists" tend to be more interested in high magic systems than in folk magic, or their interest in folk magic is academic rather than intuitive. There are also occultists who identify with modern occult fields like demonology, cryptozoology, parapsychology, etc.

One of the most influential works in Western occultism is the Corpus Hermeticum, texts on occult sciences attributed to Hermes Trismegistos (a syncretization of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth). Occult systems based on the Corpus Hermeticum are called Hermetica.

Another major influence on Western occultism is the Kabbala, an ancient Jewish mystical tradition. To be clear: Kabbala is a closed practice. Not only that, but to truly understand Kabbala requires a grounding in Jewish philosophy and culture that really isn't possible for outsiders. Western occultism is not based on Kabbala -- it is based on a misinterpretation of Kabbala by Christian magicians in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. (And if you're not Jewish, Kabbala shouldn't be part of your occult practice.)

Secret societies play an important role in many Western occult traditions. One of the most famous of these is the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which was active in Great Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Notable members of the Golden Dawn include Aleister Crowley (whose writings are incredibly influential in modern occultism), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes), Dion Fortune (another well-known occult author), Pamela Coleman Smith and A. E. Waite (creators of the modern tarot deck), and Bram Stoker (author of Dracula), among others.

The Golden Dawn has had a huge influence on modern occultism. Gerald Gardner, founder of Wicca, was influenced by the Golden Dawn, and as a result Wicca combines GD-style occultism with paganism and witchcraft. Aleister Crowley founded his own religion/spiritual tradition called Thelema.

Some more recent occult movements include chaos magic, demonolaltry, and many forms of Satanism.

Some examples of occult practices are: alchemy, astrology, divination with tarot cards, using magic circles in spellcasting, calling the quarters, invocation and evocation of spirits, and creating sigils.

Sources:

"Religion Library: New Age" - Patheos

"New Thought" - Encyclopedia Britannica

"Spiritualism" - Encyclopedia Britannica

"Theosophy" - Encyclopedia Britannica

Witchcraft for Everyone by Sam Wise

The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

"Natural Magic" - Wikipedia

"What Does It Mean to be Pagan?" by Sam Wise

"Occult" - Wikipedia

"Occultism" - Encyclopedia Britannica

"Our Problematic Occult Ancestors" by Mat Auryn

[stormy-caffeine]

Multiple Spirituality Question

Is it common or considered normal for people who follow more than one spiritual path to associate different forms of occultism or personal aspects to the different paths?

I've been considering my spirituality and personal path a bit more lately and I wanted to kinda give myself a focus boost by imagining my dream altar/workspace for giving offerings and such. And when I thought about it, the kinds of items I put down for the different paths were each completely separate and only overlapped slightly despite me generally only having one aesthetic that I really kinda commit to (if even that, I just know what I like and a lot of things follow a pattern with me).

The only issue that I had with my idea though is that I feel like I might be stereotyping what I'm supposed to put? Like, even though I never really plan to show my altar to anyone aside from a little holiday update or something, I feel like aesthetics from ti/ktok or something crept in on me and I don't know how to feel.

Explanation::

I've been exploring Luciferianism primarily, following by both Heathenry and Hellenism.

The items I conceptually prioritized for Lucifer were books I have on satanism, luciferianism and the goetia but also an offering bowl I found online that look like black angel wings, some feathers (probably from my bird, she's a conure so pretty far from black but I get kinda germaphobic when I think about picking up wild bird feathers and they're still nice) and a Luciferian rosary. Relating to the self, I primarily associate this path with the mind and human will, divorced from the soul itself or afterlife belief.

For Heathenry I primarily imagined shaped gemstones, carved wooden statuettes and animal bones (though again I probably would have to get over my own germaphobia for that). I have an "offering bowl" for them as well, though it's just a nice bowl I found that made me think of them, and I found a matching mug to go with it to either offer them drinks in or share one with them. Relating to the self, I associate this path with the earth and the elements, and how one interacts with them.

And for Hellenism (I fully admit this is the one I have to learn the most about, I would say I'm in the bare-basics of this one but I still felt a pull towards it just not as strong), I imagined lots of candles, statuettes, flowers, silver trinkets and even sea shells (though I hate the beach and don't really know anything about Poseidon). Relating to the self, I solely associate this path with the soul and human nature, interpersonal conflict/connections and general morality.

I know having aesthetics for your craft is not inherently bad and it can help ground certain people to their craft or worship, but I also feel like my aesthetics for each one would overlap more if they were personal to me instead of being influenced by outside sources.

Is it something that I should just put off until I have more experience with each path, or is it fine to attune myself to these aesthetics as long as its helping me instead of hurting/distracting?

And for my personal associations.. I feel like it could be disrespectful not only to those already practicing but the gods themselves if I center my beliefs/worship around only those aspects I associate the most, instead of receiving the information and the wisdom of the deities involved as a whole. There are entire, defined belief systems already involved in both Heathenry and Hellenism, and I don't want to be rude and divorce their worldly connections from our interactions, I just hold them in different places of my heart. Luciferianism is its own entity since it focuses more on the self than worldly connection aside from what one values, but I don't know if I'm just being selfish in how I approach the others or if I should only stick to one path if I really feel this way.

[ipsitaloka]

Hi! I hope you’re doing well. I recently came across your tumblr and you seem like you have a good amount of knowledge on Vedic astrology and I would like to thank you for opening your asks! My question is how would you interpret an 11th house saturn atmakaraka in rohini nakshatra (pada 4)?

I feel like the rohini nakshatra kind of contradicts what Saturn as a planet is all about (Idk, correct me if I’m wrong please) so it’s hard for me to interpret this placement in my chart. Also, I have an Uttara Bhadrapada chandra and Pushya lagna which I feel contributes to Saturn being a hugggeee part of my life. If you do answer this, thank you in advance, it’s greatly appreciated! 🤍

Hi - thank you for your kind words. You have a lot of Saturn naks yes but that doesn’t really mean anything tbh. Like I’ve mentioned previously the Hindus deities that rule each nakshatra rule all behaviours and qualities. The planetary rulers have little say in the behaviour of the nakshatra.

Starting off with the Uttarabhadra moon - it is ruled by Ananta Sesha (Ahir bhudyana) the serpent of the deep. This nakshatra being ruled by Saturn shows you started your life in Saturn Mahadasha. Usually people born in Saturn md are not born rich so there is a humble beginning to life with some struggles. Uttarabhad often take carry many responsibilities and expectations- so much so they feel dragged down or almost drowned by them sometimes. It’s really important for them to put themselves first but they rarely ever do until later in life (after late 20s). They might also struggle to get along with their family as ananta shesha, he actually completely leaves them at one point and does a lot of penance which gets recognised by Brahma who gives him a reward. For uttrarabhad moon this means at some point they do have to leave home or let go familial expectations to realise their true potential - they get rewarded later in life. The symbol of this nakshatra is twins - which indicates a split personality. There are two faces of uttarabhad one that they show the world and one they keep to themselves, they are very secretive. There is a thirst for the occult and astrology in this nakshatra, ananta shesha is a serpent and serpents (nagas) are known to be the guardians of hidden knowledge and treasure in Hinduism.

The Saturn in Rohini is called ‘Rohini Bheda’ - Rohini is a very fertile nakshatra and Saturn acts very opposite to it. This can be a little difficult as it blocks a lot of basic comforts/desires in life early on and later in life your will likely reject wealth and luxury of all kind. My dad has his Saturn in Rohini too and this is what I’ve seen play out with him. It doesn’t mean you won’t earn money or be rich but as you get older you will constantly reject luxury and not enjoy any of money you have made. This happens to be the favourite nakshatra of chandra (moon) and Saturn in Rohini struggles to enjoy itself here.

Pushya lagna is the known as the most auspicious lagna to be born with. Pushya is ruled by Brihaspati (the counsellors of the devas (gods)). He is known for his expansive and generous qualities, he bestows fortune so the individual can focus on true Jupiterian qualities which is about learning and opening your mind to experience wisdom. You might lean towards professions like teaching, counselling and as per my research is very common in the actors and in the entertainment industry too. For eg Angelina Jolie, Tobey Maguire, Richard Madden (plenty of actors have Pushya sun too). Pushya is about nourishment and sometimes those with Pushya placements like be a good luck charm for those around them. It’s symbols is a flower - which komilla sutton describes as the outward expression of inner ideas, basically creativity and possibly an analogy for manifestation. Brihaspati can also be an overbearing figure sometimes which is something Pushya natives need to watch out in their own personality. You can only advise but can’t force something on someone.

I just have a brief explanation here but please research more about in your own time and it will further interest you. I highly recommend Komilla sutton, astrology loka and Arjun Pai on YouTube.

[ariesinwitchcraft]

The Akasha Principle

Akasha, first of the Tattvas, is the undifferentiated Life-Power, the source of all other manifestations of every sort and kind. For this unmanifest reality we can frame no satisfactory definition. To us it seems to be No-Thing, or we find ourselves thinking of it as a perfectly empty space. On this account the sages of India say that space is the property of the Akasha Tattva, and because space is omnipresent, that property is indicated by the teaching that the Akasha is all-pervading.

The symbol for the Akasha is a great egg, a form which suggests the same idea as Einstein’s conception that space is curved.

“The Akasha is the most important of all the Tattvas,” says Rama Prasad. “It must as a matter of course, precede and follow every change of state on every plane of life. Without this there can be no manifestation or cessation of forms. It is out of the Akasha that every form comes and it is in Akasha that every form lives.

Akasha is the omnipresent, all-penetrating existence. Everything that has form. Everything that is the result of compounds is evolved out of this Akasha. It is the Akasha that becomes the air that becomes the liquids, that becomes the solids; it is the Akasha that becomes the suns, the earth, and the moon. The stars. The comets: it is the Akasha that becomes the body, the animal body, the plants, and every form that we see. Everything that can be sensed. Everything that exists.

It itself cannot be perceived: it is so subtle that it is beyond all ordinary perception; it can only be seen when it has become gross and taken form. At the beginning of creation there is only this Akasha; at the end of the cycle the solids, the liquids, and the gases all melt into the Akasha again, and the next creation similarly proceeds out of this Akasha.”

Akasha is called the sonoriferous ether, or the subtle principle which takes form in our sense of hearing. Sound is the basic mode of vibration, because sound is produced by a smaller number of vibrations per second than is light. "Fundamentally, all forms of vibration are generated by and are transmutable into sound,” says Edward Maryon in Marcotone, “therefore sound is the origin, even as it is the architect and builder of form. Sound is the creator, preserver, and destroyer of all forms; because all things depend upon the multiple variety of vibrations for their infinite variety of form.”

This is merely a modern phrasing of an occult doctrine, which is either stated explicitly or else implied by all the symbols in all the literature of the Ageless Wisdom. Precisely this is what is meant by the opening words of the Gospel according to St. John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. By Him all things were made, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”

Practical application of the power of sound is the basis of the mighty works of those who know the secret of directing the currents of the Astral Light. To this power Patanjali refers Yoga Sutras, when he says, “Spiritual powers may be gained by incantations. The same power is utilized by many primitive races, as for example by the Hopi Indians in this country, whose ceremonial dances combine sound with gesture to set up subtle nature rhythms which actually bring rain, a fact noted by more than one observer, and one which cannot be explained away by that convenient working ‘coincidence’.”

—Paul Foster Case, Occult Fundamentals and Spiritual Unfoldment, Vol. I

[blackgirl-galactica]

*Houses and Their Meanings* ✨🥰❤

//tw: mention of death

Hello!

If you're new to astro like I am and what to learn more about the basics, in a natal chart it's always good to understand houses! Houses are kinda based on the zodiac sign order (1-12 = Aries - Pisces). Let me give you some knowledge ❤🥰✨

1st House: Also known as the angle ASC (Ascendant). Represents self, how people first see you. Appreances. Self-image, personality, honestly anything outward to the public is possibly connected to your 1st house.

Ex: See someone who seems very mysterious or usually may give an intense presence but they're not a Scorpio sun? Chances are they have Scorpio in the first, or Scorpio Asc. (Scorpio= Intensity)

2nd House: Material possessions. How we make and save money. Wealth. Self-worth/Self-esteem.

Ex: Someone with a Sagittarius 2nd house may be good at accumulating wealth since their 2nd house is ruled by Jupiter (Sag is ruled by Jupiter = planet of wealth and luck and expansion). They also may be collecting possessions from foreign countries or from their travels.

3rd House: Siblings/relationships with them can also represent twins since 3rd house rules gemini(twins). Communication. Neighbors. Local/short distances. Primary education life (elementary to high school). Transportation/vehicles.

Ex: Have a Leo 3H? Chances are you may be popular in your neighborhood since Leo rules the sun (popularity or being seen)

4th House: Also know as the IC (Imum Coeli) angle, which is the lowest point of ones natal. Represents home. Our roots. What makes us comfortable/emotionally secure. Also can represent the subconscious since its the bottom of a chart.

Ex: A Taurus 4H may have a hard time parting from their possessions (Taurus = possessions) since those possessions have sentimental value to them and give them comfort.

5th House: Creativity, popularity, self-expression, kids, romance,sports, our hobbies, drama (acting wise), risk-taking.

Ex: An Aries 5H may love sports since their mars energy lines up with sports. A good way for them to manage all that Arian energy.

6th House: Service, employees, pets(@ijaadee on twitter mentions this), health, diet, work work and more work lol. Research. Science.

Ex: Have a 6H in Sagittarius? You may be better off working in a college or college environment since sag rules higher academia (college).

7th House: Represents the angle of DSC (Descendant). Represents relationships with people(romantic or non romantic). Marriage. Contractual relationships. Can also represent people who you hang around most. Law/lawsuits.

Ex: Someone with a Scorpio 7H may not have a big friend group or their relationships could be emotionally intense. (Scorpio rules Pluto= intense ass energy)

8th house: Taxes. Occult. Taboo topics. Inheritance. Sex. Joint materials. Death or possible circumstances of it. Wills. Power and ability to hold it.

Ex: Someone with a Cancer 8th house may inherit money or possessions from their family members, especially the mom or a woman in the family since cancer rules mother and feminity.

9th House: Religion. Law. Higher academia. Ethics. Morals. Long distance travel. Higher ideas. Broad ideas. Wisdom. Where you may be lucky (as 9th house rules Sagittarius = luck).

Ex: Someone with a Capricorn 9H may be extremely wise as they grow older or may have extremely refined ideas. (Capricron rules Saturn which rules time)

10th House: Also known as the MC angle (Medium Coeli). Also known as the Midheaven. Represents the highest point of a natal chart, meaning people will remember you for whatever is placed here in this lifetime. Career. Social status. Prestige. Personal achievements. Authority. Authority structures. Recognition. Also points to fame.

Ex: Someone with a Taurus 10H can have a blossoming career in beauty or music. May even be famous for it!

11th House: Social groups. Technology. Friend circles. Social standards/regulations. Humanitarian interests. Associations. The internet. Gains(money wise). Easier manifestations with planets in this house.

Ex: Someone with an Aries 11H may have alot of military friends (Aries rules Mars = military)

12H: Subconscious. Loss. Self-undoing. Self-sabatoge. Self-sacrifice. The unknown. What we reach for but cant seem to grasp. Hidden enemies.

Ex: Have Aquarius in the 12H? Be mindful because you may have some people on the internet praying on ya downfall and dont know it. (Aquarius= internet)

That's all! I'll update if I find out more!

Love yall,

-Claude