#unverified personal gnosis

[beautyofaphrodite]

Aphrodite Epithets and Associations- Part 2

So I made a little post listing some associations I have for some of Aphrodite’s epithets and I only did three so here are some more! The first post is linked here. Each post I do of this kind of thing will include three epithets, so there will likely be a part three, which will be linked here when posted.

This post is mostly UPG!

Aphrodite Philomedes

- Laughter (obviously)

- Big smiles

- dancing

- singing

- running around

- bright colors

- dandelions

- wildflowers

- flowy dresses

- happy tears

Aphrodite Chrysea

- Jewelry

- elaborate baths

- tattoos and piercings

- Jazz music

- Gold (of course) and silver

- Ruby

- Red and white roses

- candles

- candy

- weddings

Aphrodite Antheia

- flowers in general

- gardens

- tea parties

- bunnies

- strawberries

- pinks and greens

- white doves

- swans

- orchestral music

- humming

[trickortrick]

Me: Loki, why did you take your mother’s name?

Loki: Let’s see, Loki Laufeyjarson sounds smoother than Loki Farbautison. Eh?

Maaaybe I just wanted to be controversial and mock a tradition I don’t like.

Oh, maybe I loved my mother dearly.

Or maybe, you are not the only child who was abandoned, when they needed their father the most.

Most possibly? A mix of everything above, like all the good answers tend to be.

[maidenofsophia]

The Magdalene

Who is She?

This is a question I've been asking since I was a little girl. Despite going to a Christian primary school, I have few memories of being taught about her, other than her being a penitent prostitute and the first witness to the resurrection.

When I was ten I watched an animation movie called the Miracle Maker starring Ralph Phiens as Yeshua and Miranda Richardson as the Magdalene. In that movie she's portrayed as being a mentally ill woman tortured by hallucinations, is healed by Yeshua and becomes one of his closest disciples. I should also add the two are VERY touchy feely with each other in that movie, it's a beautifully chaste semi-romantic bond.

In 2003, when I was getting into Wicca, I met someone in a Pagan chat room who called himself a Gnostic Christian Witch. He said that the Magdalene was his goddess, that she was the Holy Mother Spirit (Sophia) incarnate in her Daughter form, just as the Father was with the Son; Yeshua. This....blew my mind. And led me down a rabbit hole of a bunch of Gnostic and heretical texts.

Then the Da Vinci Code came out and this whole belief about Magdalene being Jesus' wife came into the mainstream. But while everyone seemed to be obsessing over their romantic and sexual life and what children they might have had, none of this really phased me because it the first Gnostic Witch I met already held this belief - but he stressed that it came secondary to who Magdalene was as a spiritual leader in her own right.

Since then I have heard so many different versions of who the Magdalene "really" was that it's hard to list them all but I'll give it a go:

- She was originally from Egypt and trained as a priestess of Isis. Yeshua met her on his travels as he was studying before coming into his role as a teacher himself and they formed a strong bond, she anointed him in the name of God the Mother and he in turn helped to heal her chakras (seven demons), something which he had learned after having travelled to the East. It was at Yeshua and Magdalene's own wedding where he turned water into wine, they had a daughter called Sarah who Magdalene escaped to France with following Yeshua's death.

- Another Gnostic path I came across believed she had no human birth but was Sophia come down in human form, just as the Logos came down as Yeshua. While the Logos returned to the heavens, Sophia remained incarnate as the Magdalene with the promise to keep returning in woman form upon her death until the Second Coming.

- Another believed her to have been a priestess of Asharah, whose temple was sacked and she was subjected to horrific abuse, SA and being cast out and nearly stoned to death until being saved by Yeshua.

- the Ecclesia Pistis Sophia have an oral tradition which was written down into a book by Tau Malachi which said she was born into a wealthy Jewish family, had great spiritual gifts but was forced to suppress them, was forced into marriage by her wicked father and then was attacked and assaulted. These "Sophians" believe that she accepted the spirit of Lilith into herself in order to survive and upon meeting Yeshua he healed her and she became the 'fulness' of the divine feminine with Eve and Lilith becoming one in her. She became Yeshua's "Holy Bride" and they had a son called Michael, rather than a daughter. The same story of her travelling to France occurs.

- Kaia Ra, author of the Sophia Code, claims to have channeled the spirit of the Magdalene who revealed her upbringing to her. That she was the daughter of wealthy parents who, as opposed to her origins in the Ecclesia Pistis Sophia, decided to nurture their daughter's spiritual gifts, that she was given lessons at her home but also travelled with her father to various places and connected with many faces of the divine feminine. She meets a fellow priestess, Mother Mary, who becomes like a second mother to her. She meets Yeshua and joins him on his mission of revealing gnosis but she is not beneath him in any way, it is very much a co-equal journey they go on but in the patriarchal society he is the one who is elevated. She and Mother Mary travel to France after Yeshua's death.

There are probably more that I've forgotten and sadly most of the websites I used to come across in the 00's are now lost.

But all of these stories have shaped my relationship with the Magdalene in some way. Parts I've agreed with, others that don't sit right with me. I don't know if we'll ever know the full truth. Even the ancient texts can only tell us so much, being written decades if not over a hundred years after the Magdalene lived and not even in the language those who knew them would have spoken.

The "canonised" gospels tell us that the Magdalene was the first to see Yeshua after his death. For me that at least speaks of his importance to her. His wife? His best friend? His co-preacher and partner in ministry? Personally I don't think it matters, it speaks of the same thing. Love. He loved her. Whether that love was romantic or platonic or something else, it was love and respect and the deepest trust.

They also tell us that she supported him and the men by her means, implying she was very wealthy, and yet she is not mentioned in relation to any man, neither as daughter or wife of mother. She is simply the Magdalene, ie from Magdala, a fishing village. The name also means Tower, which gives an image of strength and earnest faith.

Luke and Mark both say that Yeshua healed Magdalene of seven demons. I find it interesting how this event takes place off page, as opposed to a lot of other miracles we see Yeshua perform. For me this implies it was a rather intimate healing session between the two of them rather than one the public or disciples witnessed. But this could have been either some sort of exorcism as depicted in the Miracle Maker, or a healing of her mental and spiritual health with something similar to chakra healing as was believed by my Gnostic friend.

Interestingly the gospels do not say that she was the woman who anointed Yeshua's feet and head, this seems to have been either Mary of Bethany or the unnamed 'sinful' woman and it doesn't really make sense why the writers would name Magdalene specifically later but not state it to be her here. But given there is contradictions on where this happened as well as who did it, I don't think it's a stretch for anyone to still believe the Magdalene did anoint him herself at some point.

And then you get to the Gnostic gospels and the apocryphal texts and these just elevate the Magdalene even further when she was clearly already an important figure before. The Gospel of Philip connects her to Sophia and says that Yeshua would kiss her often and the disciples were jealous that he "loved her more than them". The Gospel of Thomas has Yeshua refusing to heed Peter's request to send Mary away as "females are not worthy". In The Dialogue of the Savior, it is said that she "spoke this utterance as a woman who understood everything." In the Pistis Sophia, the Magdalene is constantly questioning and offering up her own visions to Yeshua who heaps tons of praise on her for her insight and says "You are more blessed than all women on earth, because you will be the fullness of fullness and the completion of completion." And again he becomes protective when Peter's sexism makes her afraid. And all of this culminates in her own Gospel, which very little remains but is so fascinating. In this text, it is the Magdalene who stands up and takes on Yeshua's role while the men weep in fear and loss of what to do. Peter voices that they all knew Yeshua loved her most among women and pleas for her to share her visions. Sadly most of what she shares with them is lost but what remains seems to be a vision of how the soul rose above the seven demons that struck her to its Higher Self. Peter and Andrew reject what she shares but Levi defends her.

What does all of this lead to for me in the end?

It leads me to see the Magdalene as any other goddess. As many have contracting legends and myths and origins, the same is true of Her. And to me she is a goddess, she is Zoe Sophia - the Divine Daughter - in a human form, an ascended master and high priestess. She is not the first or only instance of this, but she is the one I most connect with. Whatever the "true story" of who she was is irrelevant, at this point it's all these various beautiful legends that inspire the mind and spark the soul's ascension.

Many people focus on the Magdalene for her faith and devotion. Many focus on her "sacred marriage" to Jesus and see her as a figure of romantic and faithful love, as well as motherhood, as well as what intimate and potentially sexual spiritual experiences they may have had together.

For me, the Magdalene is a balance of dark and light. While many I see position her as just "Christ with a feminine face", or another form of Mother Mary as a loyal follower and caretaker, for me she has an energy and personality that is so unique to herself and separate from them. Though of course they are a huge part of her life and her story, I don't have either Yeshua or Mother Mary in my personal pantheon, and I don't believe it's necessary to in order to connect to the Magdalene. She was very much a powerful spiritual woman before she met either of them.

For me the Magdalene is passion, she is fire, she is strength and wisdom and courage. She is in no way passive, she is a constantly active eternal flame. She was not just a student receiving knowledge but also inspiring Yeshua and others around her, a seeker and dreamer, a spiritual shield maiden. I don't believe Jesus cast any demons out of her with a wave of his hand, I believe he taught her how to heal them herself. Because we all need help from time to time. I do believe she may have had traumatic experiences that impacted her mental health, this is something I very much connect with and feel her with me when I am at my lowest. She has met those demons and conquered them. And anyone who calls upon Her to protect them from demons, she will descend like a mother bear. The Magdalene is loyal but not submissive. Patient and caring but not meek and mild.

I do believe she loved Yeshua and was devoted to him, whether as a friend or lover it makes no difference, it was a powerful love. But while she called him Teacher out of respect, he revered her as a priestess just as much and they were fully equal. I do not believe as the Sophian Gnostics do that she subjugated herself before him. She was not his Holy Bride or Consort. Her relationship with Yeshua was her great love but not her only one. I believe she and Mother Mary loved each other as mother and daughter. I believe she had close and powerful friendships with female disciples such as Mary of Bethany and Salome. I also believe she had a daughter, Sarah, who may have been Yeshua's or not, but either way she would raise her as a single mother (with her community of friends). The Magdalene also loved God. In that, she is a goddess of divine love but in all its wonderful and various forms.

I felt compelled to write all this out for my own benefit as I've come to embracing the Magdalene back in path and my pantheon. Having tried my hardest to search around, most of those who claim to be Magdalene Priestesses all have their own beliefs about her and charge a fortune just to interact with someone looking for Her. In the end I felt called to save my time and money by trusting my own intuition and experience with her. I love having her back on my altar, only this time it's Cernunnos who sits opposite as the divine masculine. I respect Yeshua but he is not part of my faith and the Magdalene has told me that's okay.

Hail, Lady Magdalene. Blessed art thou.

[theanic-devotion]

I was cleaning my room and found this little hedge hog figurine I made out of model magic a while ago and thought

“Wow I bet Hestia would love this!”

[creature-wizard]

I don't know if I just haven't encountered it yet, but I haven't really seen anyone talking about or acknowledging something that's neither Unverified Personal Gnosis or Shared Personal Gnosis, but rather a third thing: Personal Group Gnosis.

PGG emerges from a small group of people having similar experiences to each other, which may or may not resemble anything that people outside of the group are experiencing.

This isn't inherently a bad thing. But among those who lack critical thinking skills, it can lead to some real trouble if they conclude that their similar experiences means that they're uncovering an actual objective truth, regardless of whether it's congruent with anything anyone outside of the group is experiencing.

One thing that many people fail to account for is the fact that they and their group generally share many of the same preconceptions and biases. For example, a group of younger Wiccans are very likely to believe in now-debunked ideas such as the great goddess hypothesis and the witch cult hypothesis. They'll believe in the existence of pagan gods, but they'll probably have a Christian-influenced understanding of divinity and morality, with little to no comprehension of the role that animism played in the development of pre-Christian traditions, nor with any real appreciation for how different values influenced the stories that people told about gods and other spirits.

They might even be exposed to similar media, which gives them all similar ideas about gods, spirits, and history. Even if they don't directly engage with the most popular media, it can still reach them through second or third hand exposure.

They're also likely reading the same spiritual, occult, and esoteric writers; or at least, reading people who have very similar ideas to one another.

And finally, since they're most likely friends and therefore trust each other, they are naturally biased toward accepting each other's experiences as valid, and working them into their own mental maps of the spiritual or metaphysical world.

In short, they're all primed to have very similar experiences to each other.

Without awareness that exposure to similar ideas can influence similar mystical experiences, it's very easy for a small group like this to generate a sort of shared map of reality that they feel justified in regarding as absolutely, objectively true.

It's at this point that people begin to feel confident telling you that if you just talked to your gods about what they're claiming, your gods would absolutely confirm them to be true. And if they don't, you were never really talking to those gods.

Having one's entire internal map of reality dictated by Personal Group Gnosis can be incredibly dangerous. It alienates you from the rest of the world by making you feel as if the only people you can trust are those who agree with your PGG. It can make you see outsiders as spiritually inferior, especially if they disagree with you outright. It can even encourage conspiracy thinking, because attributing what outsiders believe (or apparently believe) to the actions of a malicious conspiracy is a very common rationalization.

In other words, this is how you get a cult.

Now, a lot of people won't recognize it as a cult (and some will vehemently deny it's a cult) because it might not have a clear leader (though there's almost certainly a small number of people who have the most influence), and it probably doesn't have a financial goal. However, the destructive capacities of small groups of people living in their own reality cannot be denied. Members who don't go along with the group's accepted model of reality are often treated harshly, and are frequently targets for harassment. They may say that if you don't like it you can just leave, but let's be real, that's no simple matter if you believe that these are the only people with a real grip on reality, or if these people are basically your only friends, or even just your only friends who share your spiritual beliefs.

(If you're in this kind of situation? My advice is to start making more friends outside of this group. You don't have to cut yourself off from this group cold turkey; you can just start hanging out with other people more.)

Now, I'd like to emphasize that none of this is to say that PGG is inherently bad; I am only pointing out that it can be incredibly dangerous for people who lack knowledge, perspective, and critical thinking skills. Additionally, a group where there's a lot of this going on can be very dangerous for those who desperately just want to belong and get along, and push themselves to adopt their groups popular beliefs for fear of consequences.

Just like a single person's UPG doesn't dictate reality for everyone, neither does a single group's gnosis. PGG isn't inherently any better or more "correct" than UPG.

[ascendingaeons]

The Netjeru: A Love Beyond Time

“Love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun, more last than star…”

- E.E. Cummings

I’ve seen a lot of posts online from people new to Kemeticism worried about angering the Netjeru, particularly Set. I just read Akhret’s answer to a question about Set being violent and cruel that prompted me to write this. Consider this essay, if you will, heavy on the side of UPG. It is not my aim to invalidate anyone’s experiences, but to provide insight and clarity.

When I was two years old, I was playing in the living room while my mom watched TV. There was a documentary about Egyptian mummies on National Geographic that caught my attention. I still remember turning my head away from my toys to see the image of an ancient stone sarcophagus surrounded by vibrant paintings along the walls. In that moment something primal awakened within me, an understanding of many, many incarnations in Kemet. When I began practicing trancework I could revisit some of those lives, the result of which was a comfortable familiarity with the Netjeru.

In my opinion, if a deity comes into your awareness, it most likely wasn’t you that initiated. They have likely been “around” until you finally noticed. By the time you said your first prayer, created a devotional, or presented an offering the last thing the deity would feel would be surprised. Much like a parent, They are nothing if not patient. Secondly, in many cases when one comes into the service of the Netjeru in a present-day incarnation it is likely yet another in a very long line.

I believe that the Kemetic deities, like those of many other pantheons, have been with us since our hominid ancestors began to walk upright about four to six million years ago. The straightening of the spine likely resulted in a change in awareness as the early hominids were forced to look forward not just in terms of space but time as well. Suddenly, there was a future to behold.

We must have appeared as infants to the Gods, taking our first steps onto the grand cosmic stage. What parent would not be overjoyed and proud to witness that first embarkation? They walked with us both on Earth and in the Halls of Amenti (mind you, I am aware the Ancient Egyptians did not believe in the transmigration of souls, hence the advisement of UPG!).

I completely understand why some would be afraid of angering pagan deities. A lot of us came from households and communities where paganism and witchcraft are synonymous with devil worship. Like Akhret, I must insist that the Netjeru love us unconditionally. Now, would we occasionally get into fights or cross boundaries? Would one of our offerings or devotionals be rejected? Would we cross a line that, theurgically-speaking, would be difficult to reconcile? To all of these I would answer “yes.”

What I must ask you to remember, however, is that in addition to having such boundless love for us, the Netjeru possess a perception of time that is very different from ours. They can wait however many incarnations are required for us to reach a level of catharsis or understanding that would allow us to bridge the gap between us and Them. The greatest offering one can give to the Netjeru is of one’s very human experience. Through us, the Netjeru can experience cuisine, the arts, emotional highs and lows, great triumphs and losses, profound inventions, star-crossed loves, or the birth of a child.

Their love is not conditional, however. Our very existence is precious to them, not as currency but much in the way that parent values their children, so much so that it’s not far-fetched in the slightest to consider a deity more of a mother or father than one’s actual parents. That being said, I agree with Akhret in that the Netjeru would never incite visions or dreams involving violence or cruel acts. It is entirely outside of Their character and if you are experiencing such then there may be an underlying problem elsewhere. Even more so, any form of relationship whether divine or not isn't a substitute for seeking help with one's mental health.

Those are my two cents on the matter. It is my sincere hope that it dispels some fear and worry about the Netjeru that you might have.

Dua Netjeru!

[ianitos]

shout out to the solely upg beings out there you guys are so cool. i love experiencing divinity and the unknown.

[jasper-pagan-witch]

What's "UPG"?

Unverified Personal Gnosis, basically a magic headcanon that you've developed from practice or study. It's a very common term when you start looking at posts about other people's practices that they've built from scratch, because after a certain point, your entire practice becomes UPG. I have a tag that you can poke through if you're interested.

This is opposed to Shared Personal Gnosis, which is a magic headcanon shared by multiple people, and Verified Personal Gnosis, where your magic headcanon winds up having a basis established in some "official" source.

Note: For some reason, a lot of people bitch about calling it a magic headcanon. I don't care.

Hope this helps, anon!

~Jasper

[cryptcreechur]

i think that the presence of Jötunn lineage in many of the Æsir is necessary to convey their relationships to the stories they tell

ive mentioned before that the Æsir, in my understanding, represent society and order, the direct opposition of the chaos of natute (the Jötnar)

but many of our most beloved Æsir deities are directly descended from Jötnar

Thor, for example, seen as the protector of humanity and a war god, was mothered by Jörđ, a Jötunn. its also no secret that Thor has a habit of going ape shit on his enemies, with a fierce, uncontrollable rage (how many times in the myths has he brutally killed Jötnar with ease in a blind rage? its badass but also a little scary)

another example is Ođinn (Odin), who is the chief of the gods, is also descended of Jötnar. while he is in the role of ultimate leadership and order, he's also heavily associated with the chaos of a battlefield, ecstacy, and the primordial, nature-driven force of magick.

but toby! what the fuck is your point here?

well, my point here is that nature and chaos is still a part of the Æsir, and us humans. no matter how "civilized" we get or are, at the end of the day, society is just a concept. anyone can be in a group, but the force of change, of anger, fear, of power and nature, thats a part of us all and it affects the way we interact with the world around us

we humans often have a tendency to fight against change or nature or things we feel we cannot control - but all of this is within us as well

when we are able to accept the deep, primordial forces that are woven into our beings, we can move forward with that power

or something, i dont know

feel free to leave your thoughts <3

[norcalbruja]

Updates with Loki, because of COURSE it's Loki.

What's up folks, I went to a witch festival yesterday and bought way too many candles, lmao.

Copied and pasted from Instagram/Facebook:

--

October 5: In the hot-as-hell weather, I unwisely bought wax candles and metal or stone jewelry. I promised myself I would only buy what could fit in my bag or what wouldn’t get wrecked from the heat, so I just tried to jam the heat-sensitive items in my bag, away from the sun.

Most of it fit! I got a shop bag for the candle care kit, but then the jar candle started sweating inside my regular bag. Eek. I was damn lucky that it was on top of the candle dish, which was also wrapped in paper. Maybe I have an excuse to get belt pouches now, lol.

I probably made another unwise decision by buying a statue of NORSE MYTHOLOGY LOKI and not Marvel Loki, but there were these two adorable girls who spotted him and went “It’s Loki, my boy! …Asterisk!” Which clearly referred to Marvel-Loki being genderfluid, and it tickled me.

If you don’t hear from me next week, or if you hear TOO much from me, you know a statue of Loki is crashing at my place. Send help and/or a statue of Thor, so he can reenact the Lokasenna.

My smartest decision today was NOT buying a Norse drinking horn, even though they were super nice. I can barely afford normal amounts of alcohol—I will have no opportunities to use a Viking horn, that you traditionally had to pass around for everyone to get a drink. In Covid times, I don’t think anyone should share drinks from the actual horn, but I’d definitely pour out drinks. If I’m ever rich enough to buy any kind of keg or pay for a bar crawl, I’m getting a drinking horn to celebrate SOMEONE’S birthday. 😆

--

And copy-pasted from early noon, when Things Started Happening:

So I’m eating spaghetti now and not hangry anymore. Here is why getting a pound of ground beef was way too exciting for me.

Last night: Came home from the Witchfest and started cooking spaghetti, only to find that the now-thawed ground beef was too old and gray for me to risk using it for the sauce.

Sighed, ate something else, tossed the meat in the trash, and put everything in the fridge. Made a note to get more ground beef before lunch.

This morning: Took the trash out and the bag leaked meat juice on the floor!!! Wiped it up fine and double bagged the trash, but I did not need that smell. 🤮

Went to the nearest store: Someone was warning customers that the credit card systems were down and it’s cash only for now. Checked my wallet and bag, no cash. Said bye to the employee, headed out. Ugh.

On the way to the next store: A fire truck starts blasting their alarm and no less than two Volkswagen Beetles look genuinely TRASHED, like they were used for Mad Max. One was beat up and covered in dust, and the other had no trunk door.

Next store: Parked asap, headed for the meat section, stashed my keys in a back pocket, and THEN found five dollars hiding out. With meat prices right now, I wouldn’t have been able to buy anything with it, but I feel like SOMEONE up there was laughing at me, hint-hint.

While I’m waiting in line to buy this damn beef, the shoplifting alarm goes off twice. It’s sorted out quickly, but at this point I am getting wigged out, and I just wanted the damn spaghetti sauce to get finished.

THANKS FOR THE UNWANTED ADVENTURE, LOKI LAUFEYJARSON.

I should have bought the Thor statue to keep this dude in line. 😩

--

At 5:30pm: Me and my sister were headed to the hardware store and there was a DAMN FALLEN BRANCH lying in the road a block away. It was a huge widowmaker across the whole lane, and everyone had to drive around it. Loki is now on probation while I make a proper containment bag.

I’m not returning the statue or anything, but we clearly need some house rules before I unroll him from the Mjollnir joint. 😩

-

-

-

-

--

Spirit-world/headspace wise, Loki was just cackling nonstop until I actually got fed up and rolled his statue up. He is confused that I was serious about Mjollnir and went, "Hey! Heyheyheyhey! Bro, I'm not trying to hurt YOU!" and the other spirits are like "Loki, that is not how things work. 😔 "

This seems to have literally "contained" the part of him responsible for "Things Happening WAY too close to me," because now he's just asking me to pleassssssssse let him outttttt.

I told him I'd let him out next Monday at the latest, and I might let him out earlier if he stays... NEUTRAL??? Like, I know he won't necessarily "behave" because he's a damn trickster, but he has to 1) avoid serious physical danger, and 2) try not to affect my family's finances.

And like, I assured him that I'd still FEED HIM until he was out. Because, you know... he seems genuinely distressed that I'm "locking him up," and he is specifically saying "Come onnnnnnn, Cyborg, let me out! I can't get you the good Marvel deals if I'm stuck in this dumbass shit!"

The other spirits are just constantly repeating to him about WHY he's rolled up in a Mjollnir joint. Even Sigyn came up while he was yelling, and she just sighed and went "Loki, what did you do now?"

Brighid is upset that I'm feeding him since 1) he's a god and (mostly) immortal, and 2) even if he needed food, it's not like he'd go hungry from LACK of followers like the Filipino spirits.

And I went, "Brighid, it's the PRINCIPLE of giving him basic necessities. I don't want to imprison him completely or banish him--I'd just prefer at least my BASELINE bad luck for when my mom gets home, and after I've had a couple of decent work-days."

[beautyofaphrodite]

So I have different associations for each of Lady Aphrodite’s epithets (that I know about) and I’d like to share some of those! I’m going to start with three, I may make a part two and if I do, I will link it here.

This post is pretty much all UPG!

Aphrodite Erototrophos

- Brown

- Creme

- Baby pink

- Mourning Doves

- Hugs

- A deep, soft voice

- Lullabies, classical music

- Ginger for some reason?

- Dolls

- “ugly” crying

Aphrodite Anadyomene

- Seashells

- sea shanties

- blues and greens

- the sound of waves

- the feeling of sand

- a voice like wind chimes

- Sunsets

- Fish

- Calm

- rain

Aphrodite Areia

- courage

- dark red

- gold

- rock and heavy metal

- weapons

- scratchy voice

- dolphins for some reason??

- night time

- clarity

- fire

[vargamormusings]

[musings-on-wisteria]

Exploring The Elements (Via Comparison)

This post is about how I came up with my version of the Four Elements. My variations are not exactly unique, but there are some key departures from traditional depictions that I think make my system stand out. If it’s not obvious, this is entirely my UPG.

Context: While the elements are the backbone of my witchcraft practice and are absolutely part of my spells, I view each element as more than just a tool or an energy, but as a category. For me, each element has its own lessons, its own mysteries, its own aspects and its own path for a practitioner to walk down. That being said, I think they're absolutely categories you can play with. I took the elements and made them more sacred than sorcerous; you may want to make them more secular than spiritual. That's totally your call!

For starters, I mentioned in this post that I prefer to work with the elements as they appear in my life. When I began my practice, I meditated on each element and followed the threads that it reminded me of.

To take Wind as an example, I thought of letters, weather vanes and feathers. From that I could extrapolate correspondences of communication, ideas, omens, change, exchange, favors, levity and freedom.

That's a LOT from three objects.

From there, I applied the correspondences to my life- where did I see omens, experience exchange and communication, feel free? Pretty quickly, Wind's domain became the internet, as well as academic study, games, and travel.

Once I had done this- and mind you, I didn't sit down and write out every element one by one, it was a more organic process- I wanted to find the intricacies of the system. Some of the elements seemed to overlap- Earth and Water, for instance. I wanted to know what separated them, made each its own path.

That's where comparative groupings showed up. Dividing my four elements into two sets of two as many ways as I could was a pretty useful way to figure out what they were and what they weren't. These categories are fairly arbitrary, but they help me understand the connections between the elements and solidify their meanings. You can see how this is done with the traditional four Elements, with "passive" and "active," "feminine" and "masculine," and all of that. There are three axis that I measure them through; Hearth vs. Flux, Aspirational vs. Foundational, and Energetic vs. Organic.

The Hearth elements (Fire and Earth) are physical. Their domain is the solid and mundane. They’re called “Hearth” because their properties are more familiar to us, being steady and predictable. The Flux elements, by comparison (Water and Wind) are shifting and metaphysical. They have influence over things that only exist in our minds- our thoughts, ideas, magic. They also fluctuate, hence the name. 

The Aspirational elements (Wind and Earth) have goals that are either endless- they can never be truly achieved- or which I gravitate towards in good times. When I’m doing well, I focus on these things, which encourage growth, progress and self-expression. They concern the external world, beyond an individual person. The Foundational elements (Water and Fire) meanwhile, are more about maintenance and healing. In bad times, I come to these elements for renewal and comfort. They focus on the internal, the self, the- well, foundational. These are paths that set habits and routines.

The Energetic elements (Wind and Fire) are more energy than spirit. They tend to be simpler, more linear, more man-made and more morally neutral. They’re more sorcery than spirituality, if that makes sense. Organic elements (Earth and Water), by contrast, are more spirit than energy. They’re complex. They like cycles and feelings and spiritual development. They like dealing with people rather than products. (I have a whole UPG around energy and spirit- long story short, I see spirit as condensed energy and energy as unfocused spirit- but that's another story.)

So, reading through that, you can probably already glean a lot of my elemental associations. That's how it's supposed to work- through these three comparative lenses, you can triangulate my correspondences in a really satisfying way.

For instance, you now know that Water is a Flux element- changing, metaphysical, mind-focused- a Foundational element- self-focused, healing and internal- and Organic- specializing in spirituality, cycles and feelings. The sentence writes itself- Water is about a person’s relationship to themselves and their internal feelings, the cycles of healing and development, and spiritual wisdom.

Additionally, that tells you how I might use Water in a spell! Personally, I almost never use only one element- it's much more potent to blend them. In my practice, Water will be present in both a cleansing and an emotional healing spell- but in the former, I'd combine it with Wind (the Flux Elements like movement and shifting things around), while in the latter I would add more Fire (because the Foundational Elements are eternal sources of renewal and self-love).

This has been a long post, so if you made it all the way through, thanks! I may make more posts outlining my specific, in-depth profiles for each of the elements, for my own record as much as anything else. Keep in mind these will be entirely based on my UPG and highly personal to my craft.

PLEASE, please please please add your own UPG around the elements to this post- or tag me in your own- I would really love to see what other people make of these four!

[dea-abundantia]

thinking about how being a devotee of abundantia's means being in constant servitude of my community -- or, at the very least, in search of a community to contribute to.

i just moved to a new state. i came with very little idea of what community would mean for me here, but i'm finding it. my roommate's family has shown me that classic southern hospitality and made me feel at home with them. my new community -- my family -- is them. it's the teachers i seek advice from. it's my peers in the ballet studio. it's the friendly old lady at the furniture shop that gave me a 50% discount on the stuff i needed. it's the people running the metaphysical store on the other side of town. it's the librarians and the administrators and the stage hands and the preachers and anyone who has ever looked out for kids like me.

being abundantia's devotee, the question now turns into: what can i do for my community? how do i give back to it? how do i utilize myself to achieve common goals and prosperity for all? if my community is a tapestry, which threads do i weave myself between? if it's a puzzle, which empty space does my piece fit into?

abundantia is not one to promote a highly individualistic mindset. she is there for me, and she will always offer support when i need it; but i must also exemplify that behavior in relation to the people around me. cooperation, respect, mutual aid, and tight-knit relationships are key to a prospering community -- a household, a neighborhood, a town, or whatever else it may be. abundantia does not stand for the exploitative capitalism we usamericans live under. she has helped me to understand that getting to know my neighbors is a way to work around it.

abundantia is anti-capitalist. abundantia is community-oriented. abundantia is pro nobis -- for all. for everyone.

[coriander-candlesticks]

I realized recently (read: today as I'm writing this) that while I associate certain specific fiber arts with Athena (knitting, weaving, dying, and spinning), I associate crochet specifically with Apollo, though Athena's there too, of course. I think it's because it's more free-flowing: I can freehand something with crochet more easily than I can with knitting, both because I've known it longer and because there are fewer Things To Learn, unlike knitting which has a million different techniques that may seem interchangeable but actually aren't and that all affect the end product in a pretty big way (looking at you decreases & bind-offs). Because I can free-hand crochet more easily, and I grew with it the same way I did with drawing, they have similar vibes. Knitting and weaving, on the other hand, have steeper learning curves imo and are way more structured- and I associate more solid (dare I say rigid) structure with Athena. Embroidery and cross-stitch are kinda in their own floating category, maybe because I do them less and therefore have weaker associations with them over-all. I associate hand-sewing largely with Hestia, though again, Athena is always also there, because I associate it with mending, altering clothing, and making home items (ex the quilted pillowcase I've been mentally turning around in my head for the last few weeks).

Interestingly, I find printmaking specifically to be associated with both Athena and Apollo. It leans into the latter's domain, of course, the same way crochet does Athena's, but the structure you need in order to layer & print properly without hurting yourself, ruining equipment, or fucking up you edition seems reminiscent of Athena. Dyeing, especially making & using natural dyes, feels very much like an Athena thing despite it 1) feeling similar to painting or using inks and 2) being a trial & error process that's honestly pretty free-flowing if you approach it a certain way (especially if you do solar dyeing, which doesn't necessarily need some of the more meticulous processes you need to boil-dye something).