technomancy-and-other-endeavors

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

Hi everyone! Those of you who've known me for some time may remember that around this time last year, I was submitting a chapter to a book project. The great news is that the book, Riding the Bones, is now out and published by The Three Little Sisters press!

If you're interested in paganism and its perspective on death and dying, this is bound to be a great read. The chapter I contributed to this book links together the figurative death of ritual hook suspension and the Heathen religious worldview.

Let me know if you get round to reading it, and be sure to let me know your thoughts! ~Tal

PS: If you're into tarot and oracle cards, a matching set for this book is out soon (if not already)!

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

I believe that humanity's immense love for Apollo is proof of Apollo's unwavering love for humanity

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

A redraw one of my favourite artworks I did from last year ✨

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

Why water is not a "lazy" offering

Water was a requested topic and there was plenty of ways to tackle the topic. I’ve chosen this angle of approach because I know I’ve seen some people struggle with the idea. So let’s talk about it and give some context: if you’ve grown up with the luxury of always having had access to clean water, it’s something you take for granted. I urge you to think of the last time the water was shut off in your house for any reason and how it impacted your comfort.  

Water in Ancient Greek life The Ancient Greeks did not have running water directly in their homes. In Athens, the first hydraulic project is dated between 546 and 527 BC. The city was supplied in water: they had functional lavatories, functional aqueducs and water pumps but those were public commodities, not private ones. In fact, Plutarch tells us that Solon, an Athenian statesman between the 7th and 6th century BC, encouraged individuals to build their own wells if they lived in an area that was not sufficiently supplied and had the right to ask their neighbor for about 40 liters of water a day and make provisions in case of need (Plutarch, Solon, 23).  Water safety was a legitimate concern, as it depended on the clemency of weather and could be jeopardized in emergency situations like wars.

The philosophy of water by Thales of Miletus (626/3-548/5 BC) Without going into the details of Thales’ thought, he theorized the idea that water was the fundation of matter and thus, is the first principle. It is through Aristotle that we know of this hypothesis. While a lot of the theory is scientifically wrong, I think the theory serves its role in showing us how much water mattered as a substance essential to life.

On a religious level Spring water is potable. It is its greatest difference with sea water, which while abundant, is not drinkable. Poseidon, as the master of seas and Zeus as the bringer of rains play an essential part in the natural cycle of water. Lack of water has catastrophic consequences on living things, and the Ancients knew that they relied on Zeus’ rains for their crops to grow, for their springs to be filled, for their cattle to feed and drink.

So when the Ancient brought water to the altar as an offering, they brought something precious. They sacrificed a substance that they relied on for their own survival. They knew that water supplies were not infinite and that the rains bestowed by Zeus allowed for their well to stay full.

Considering water as a “lazy” offering is just the epitome of privilege. The privilege of not having to worry about your access to water, the privilege of not having to wonder if the water coming from your tap is clean or not. All while forgetting that access to potable water is still a problem today for many. If what you see when you think of offering water is the easiness of turning on your tap and tossing a glass on your altar, then you’ve forgotten what your offering means.

Sources: Terje Tvedt, Terje Oestigaard, A History of Water: Water and Urbanization, 2014

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

The doctrines of the spirit: Akh

A key term for understanding the Egyptian doctrines of the spirit is 3ḫ, Akh. Its hieroglyph represents a divine ibis and etymologically it points to “useful”, bright, good, illuminated. The classic translation is “effective spirit”. The Akh has the meaning of nobility, illumination, and spirituality; the intellect as a living entity, that is, it corresponds to the highest part of the correlate of consciousness and, consequently, to the most divine. As the Ba moves, it unfolds in the orbit of the Duat and the kingdom of Osiris, the Akh appears as the vehicle that the human develops to ascend to skies and solar theology. And just as the Ba has some connection to the Shadow, Sheut, or Khaibit, the Akh also has a connection to another anthropological element: the Sah, which acts like the spiritual body.

Ptahhotep tells us that his main objective on earth is to become an Imakh. Imakh state means “blessed, worshiped, honored”, that is, being Imakh consists in attaining the highest wisdom, mastery of energy and knowledge of Ma’at, and also being in contact with the gods and the invisible and knowing its mysteries, the state of “Imakh” is interrelated as the evolutionary power of the Akh, therefore, it is the maximum development of the spiritual part of the human being.

Although the Imakh state was in principle only reserved for kings and gods, this concept was modified, and some people were able to obtain it, mainly through initiation and work. It is the highest expression of the “realized” human being who can attain the future life among the stars in life, and it seems from the texts that the evolution of Akh is easier to take place in the Duat, in the hereafter:

“Formula to open the grotto:

Words spoken by (the deceased) “Oh great soul in prestige,

here I am

That I have come to see you. He crossed the other world,

he saw my father

Osiris dispersed the darkness of the night …

I have become sahu

I have become Akh

I have equipped myself (aper)

Oh, all of you gods and Akhs make a way for me … ”

From this quote and others such as the Pyramid Texts, we can deduce that the spiritual correlate that Akh means in post-mortem human consciousness survives death and directs the evolution and reflection of the deceased in transit through the Duat. The post-mortem evolution of Akh reaches its fullness when the transformations, the gates, and the judgment of Osiris and the Negative Confessions are overcome. Once the deceased has passed through the main gates of the Underworld and ascends to the solar boat, he becomes Imakh, that is, a blessed one who lives with the gods and can dialogue with them and even influence earth affairs as gods. Furthermore, the Akh is long-lasting and eternal and does not show the danger of extinction or paralysis.

The Akh is often thematized along with the Sahu, in a way that specifically the Sahu lends it a certain bodily form. The Sahu ideogram points in general terms to the reorganization of the members and the renewal of life. The texts where the Sahu appears reinforce the thesis that the Sahu implies a reorganization of the body, but this time not physical but spiritual, psychic, since the agreement with the Egyptian mentality can develop spiritually, affecting the mummified body in the tomb. The Sahu lends power and, through germination in the grave, it becomes an incorruptible body, a difference from the physical body or Khat from which it has emerged.

Bibliography

— O’Rourke, P. F, The Book of the Dead of Sobekmose, Thames & Hudson (2017).

— Lara Peinado, F., El Libro de los Muertos, Tecnos (2009).

— Allen, J. P.,The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature (2015)

— Ptahhotep, Battiscombe G., The Teachings of Ptahhotep, Blackwood Press (2012)

— Vandier, J., Le Papyrus Jumilhac, Paris, CNRS (1961)

— Borioni, G. C., “Der Ka aus religionswissenschaftlicher Sicht”, Veröffentlichungen der Institute für Afrikanistik und Ägyptologie der Universität Wien (2005)

— Friedman, F. M., On the Meaning of Akh (3ḫ) in Egyptian Mortuary Texts. Doctoral dissertation; Waltham: Brandeis University, Department of Classical and Oriental Studies (1981)

———. “Akh”. In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, edited by Donald Bruce Redford. Vol. 1 of 3 vols. Oxford, New York, and Cairo: Oxford University Press and The American University in Cairo Press (2001)

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

A particularly Egyptian idea is that Creation is becoming further defines against a matrix of chaos and knowing the path of definition becomes a source of power … Matter is created by the oldest gods who through reproductive acts create those gods who change what is already created and conditioned. The Egyptian magician took this formula a step further. He would become the next god in line to have a hand at modifying creation. As such he would have to first modify his own creation; he would have to become self-created.

This apparent paradox is at the heart of Egyptian religious hymns. The hymn may begin by describing the origin of the Cosmos speaking of the acts of some creator god such as Atum (whose name means simultaneously ‘He who is perfect’ and ‘He who does not exist’) and the successive generation of gods until the god to whom the hymn was written, say the craftsman Ptah, is mentioned. The object of adoration is then declared “He who is created of himself.”

- Seven Faces of Darkness; Practical Typhonian Magic, Don Webb

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

Ultimate Protection Magic Masterpost, Part 2

PROTECTION FOR OTHERS

Family/Loved Ones Protection Jar

Quick Protection Spell

Full Moon Protection Spell

“I Send You Safety” Spell

Knitting Spell (For Protection)

Ayano’s Theory of Happiness Spell

Ritual To Protect Loved Ones

“This Person Is Under My Protection” Sigil

“This Person Is Safe & Happy” Sigil

“My Significant Other Is Happy & Safe From Harm” Sigil

“My Child Is Safe From All Harm” Sigil

PROTECTION FOR PETS

Pet Protection Spell Jar

Pet Protection Spell Bottle

Pet Protection Spell

Pet Protection Spell

Protective Chant For Dogs

Protective Chant For Cats

Cat Protection Bag

Cat Blessing/Protection Spell

Animal Blessing Spells

Animal Protection Spell

Animal Candle Protection Spell

“Watch Over Me” Pet Protection Guardian

“Always Come Back To Me” Spell

“My Dogs Will Be Safe and Happy” Sigil

Pet Protection Powder

MISCELLANEOUS PROTECTION SPELLS

Protection Against Nightmares

Protection During Sleep

Nightmare Warding Stuffed Animal Spell

Ghost Nebula Protection In Sleep Spell

Protection While Travelling

Jar Spell for Safe Travels

Protection For Travellers Spell

Roadtrip Protection Charm

Empath/Emotional Protection

Calcified Heart Spell

Empath Protection Jar

Other

New Job Protection Pouch

Corvid Safety Spell

Emoji Spell for Protection Against Extreme Weather

Cleansing & Protection from Mind-Altering Spells

POWDERS, SALTS, OILS & WATERS

Dragon’s Bite Powder

Sweeping Powder for Protection & Energy

Dark As Night Protection Powder

Anti-Curse Powder

Archer’s Protection Powder

Protection Powder Recipes

Fire Salts

Black Salt

Empath Protection Oil

Demonwitch’s Hellcat Oil

Flying Devil Oil

Moon-Infused Protection Water

Storm Witch’s Ward Water

War Water

INFORMATION

Circles, Shields & Wards

Casting a Circle for Beginners

Methods of Casting Circles

Personal Shielding

Basic Protection

Keeping Yourself Protected

The Basics of Wards & Warding

A Crash Course In Warding

Top Ward Mistakes I

Top Ward Mistakes II

Threshold Magic 101

Charms

Charms, Amulets & Talismans

The Rowan Cross

Grass Charm

Hag Stones

Moon Snails

Protection Wreaths

Protection Chimes

Elemental Protection Charms

Folklore Charms for Home Protection

Tech Magic

Turning Your Wifi Into Wards

How to Anti-Taglock Pictures of Yourself

Simple Email Protection Spell

Technomagic Ward

Cyber/Tech Protection Ideas

Servitors

A Basic Guide to Servitors

An Introduction to Servitors

How to Create a Protective Servitor

Meditations

Spell and Meditation for Calming, Serenity and Peace Within Self

“Warrior of Light” Guided Meditation (YouTube)

Correspondences

Protection Correspondences

Protection Correspondences

Quick Protection Magic Reference Guide

[part 1]

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

Hello. I am a Turkish Norse Pagan. I will be taking a couple minutes of the time of people who give a damn about LGBT rights, Feminism and Trans murders in Turkey and how I want to utilise witchcraft to do all that I can in the short time that I have.

But first, I want to remember and you, reader, to learn.

I'll be using tweets from twitter. Here's the link if you want to go read it from there.

https://twitter.com/sudeeru/status/1285850975421505538?s=19

TRIGGGER WARNING // FEMICIDE

PINAR GÜLTEKIN

Pınar Gültekin, a 27 year old university student, was missing for 5 days before her dead body was found in a forest in Muğla, Turkey.

Her killer, Cemal Metin Avcı, is a married man who wanted to be "friends" with her and introduced himself as a single man. When Pınar learned that he was lying, he got refused and apparently that sent this bastard into a fit of rage.

He beat her up, made her get into his car and drove off to a forest. He attacked her again and when he saw that she fainted, he choked her to death. After that, he put her body in a barrel and poured concrete on her before leaving the crime scene.

Not only did he try to blame Pınar when he was arrested, he lied about the whole story and said that "they had an affair and Pınar kept threatening him about telling his wife about this and asked for money."

ÖZGECAN ASLAN

TW// FEMICIDE

Özgecan Aslan was a 19 year old university student in Mersin, Turkey.

On the day of her murder, Özgecan went to a shopping center with her friend. After eating, the women took the minibus to return gone. Özgecan was last seen by her friend when she alighted at her stop, Leaving Özgecan alone in the bus.

The driver, Suphi Altındöken, suddenly took a different route while driving, Özgecan got suspicious and understood that she was in danger. The driver and Özgecan had an argument then he tried to rape her.

Özgecan resisted by using pepper spray. Following this, he stabbed her multiple times and beat her to death with an iron rod. He returned to Tarsus following the murder and asked for the help of his father and his friend.

Özgecan had scratched the perpetrator's face during the struggle, they feared that his DNA would be identified on the fingernails so they cut off her hands.

The trio is then alleged to have disposed of the burnt body into a creek near the village of Çamalan. The body was discovered by the police on February 13 and was transported to the Tarsus State Hospital.

The body and Özgecan's face were burnt to the point that it rendered identification impossible; clothes found with the body were used in identification.

Also, the driver changed his testimony after this event and said that he was under the influence of alcohol so he didn't intend to sexually assault or kill Özgecan. He said that it was Özgecan who started the fight and he only went up to her in order to have a talk with her.

He reportedly claimed (with the hopes of getting a reduced sentence) that Özgecan had given him 100 Turkish liras to make him take a shortcut. But this claim was denied by her parents, who stated that they had only given 20 Turkish Liras to their daughter to spend that day.

TW// TRANSPHOBIA, FEMICIDE

Hande Kader was a 22 year old trangender woman. She was an activist and a sex worker who lived in Istanbul.

She got into a customer's car in August 2016 and she was never seen again, until her dead body was found on the street one day in Istanbul. Her body was burnt.

Her death didn't get as much as attention just because she was a trans woman and this whole thing wasn't shown on some Turkish channels.

She was a victim of transphobia. She took part in protests, she fought for her right to live, she defended other trans women and fought for LGBTQ+ rights in Turkey.

TW// HOMOPHOBIA, MURDER

Ahmet Yıldız was a Physics Department student in Turkey. He filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor about a year before the incident on the grounds that he had received threats from his family.

On the night of 15 July 2008, Yıldız, who had gone to a cafe, faced the attacker following which he tried to get out of his car and escape. He was shot three times in the chest and eventually died from his injuries.

The trial for Ahmet Yıldız's murder began on 8 September 2009 and continued with the trial of Yahya Yıldız as a fugitive defendant. İbrahim Can, with whom Yıldız lived after he left his family, said about the incident: "I have seen the support of many organizations to fight for my lover. It is surprising that the murderers of my darling Ahmet Yıldız have not been caught. Together we went to the prosecutor's office and reported that his family had been making death threats. I think we're experiencing gay discrimination. That wouldn't be the case if my lover was a woman. But that's my choice, and it's nobody's business."

His father has not been arrested because the court does not show the will, determination and effort to arrest him.

Also, his murder by the hands of his father Yahya Yıldız  has been widely referred to as the first known case of gay honor killing in Turkey.

HUGE TW// BLOOD, FEMICIDE

Emine Bulut was a 38 year old woman living in Kırıkkale, Turkey.

She got divorced from her ex-husband Fedai Varan 6 years before this event happened.

On August 18 2019, her throat was slit open in broad daylight by Fedai Varan in a cafe, right in front of her 10 year old daughter. He said: "We had an argument over the custody of our daughter, and she said bad things so I wanted to cut her."

There is a video footage of her bleeding from her wounds, I was planning on showing it but now that I think about it, it will trigger a lot of people so I will not. But in the video she is screaming "I don't want to die!" while her daughter screams "Mommy please don't die!"

TW// CHILD ABUSE, RAPE, TRAUMA

-The Ensar Foundation Rape Scandal-

What's the Ensar Foundation? (trans: helpers/helping foundation): Ensar Foundation's a foundation established in 1979 that's operating in various fields. There are dozens of these establishment across Turkey.

The foundation, which aims to provide "religion and moral education" and "values ​​education", provides advanced Arabic language education, and training seminars are organized in the fields of basic Islamic "sciences" and social sciences.

In Karaman, it has been revealed that children who stayed at the houses that belonged to the -Ensar Foundation and Karaman Islamic Divinity Students High School Graduates Society- have been sexually assaulted and raped.

54-year-old Muharrem Büyüktürk, a teacher who was documented by a police report about raping many children around the ages of 9-10 has been arrested on 4th of March 2016.

Muharrem has injured, raped, sexually assaulted many children and forced them to watch sexual content. He has been arrested

It started when a student didn't want to go to school anymore, his sister took him to a psychiatrist. He told the psychiatrist that he made them watch animal porn. The psychiatrist called the police immediately.

These children were living in villages. They've said that Muharrem has beaten them up and threatened them. They were too scared to resist and couldn't tell anyone out of embarrassment. Also the police found child porn on his phone and computer.

It has been reported that a total of 45 children were raped. Also a little fact!!: this foundation has been supported very well by the €RD06@N family and their party, fun!!

I could keep adding to this list. I could keep sharing and reposting, signing petitions but recently I've come to the realisation that...that's not enough. In fact, that changes nothing.

The Turkish Government still does nothing about it.

The conservatives still do not care about it, claiming all these murders to be results of perversion, whoring around and "choosing" perversion.

I have seen these claims from conservatives as people died for being who they are.

As they were tortured in custody.

As LGBT people were shown as Targets as the Turkish Religious Organisation, Diyanet

As murderers got lightened sentences,

As rapists walked free,

As people who raped animals paid their fee and walked out.

Almost all in the name of Allah and to honor him. It matters not what you believe, it is a cold fact that Islam is being used to justify all these heinous actions.

What the Quran says doesn't change the fact that women are being raped, treated like belongings, children are being forcefully married to old men and that LGBT people suffer.

All in the name of Allah.

Does that sound just to you? It sure does not to me.

Now, let's come to what my goal with utilising Witchcraft.

I believe that the Higher-Ups wish for the continuation of all these injustices as they grow richer and gain further power. Social media will be basically banned very soon and the voice of the people will be cut entirely.

They wish to walk all over the public and cut the noise.

I refuse this wish.

Therefore I will utilise all the power I have in the Craft to stop this.

Witch Community, I kindly ask help from all of you, it may not be too late to do something to stop my country to turn into an Iran.

Any protection spell on the protesters, on the witches who wish to do good is enough.

Please, help.

Atatürk, the Founder of Turkey wanted this country to be ruled with Democracy. His legacy, his efforts will all be one with the mud if I don't succeed.

I do no know whether I will succeed, but I cannot win if I don't fight.

I swear to Odin, All-Father and all the Norse Gods that I will keep trying as long as I see hope.

I believe those who have basic empathy would share and reblog this.

Thank you.

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

When modeling in clay or wax a figurine-vessel for a spirit or an assistant, do it with their leg forward, since this symbolizes the entity is emerging from the Other World to receive orders, attention, offerings, and, definitively, experimenting the existence in this side.

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

people have been cursing trump for the entirety of his presidency, how come none of it has worked?

2 things : plenty of witches that go in for the trendy cursing waves are doing shit like popping a bubble with a knife and calling it a curse.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, metaphysical reasons: the orange bastard has plenty of conservative shitwads constantly praying for his protection. His "spiritual advisor" i.e. some insufferable evangelist white lady - begins every day of his addresses with prayers to protect him from witchcraft specifically.

So basically a bunch of witches, plenty of whom dont know their ass from a hole in the ground, vs just as many if not more Good Christian Conservative DickHoles are both praying for opposite goals. Even if those prayers hadn't afforded him some protection specifically (which apparently they have) it would still likely result in a logjam.

We did manage to rain out that one 4th of July Address a year or so ago. That's something. And also I think that's indicative of the kind of strategy I think would be more effective: rather than cursing him directly, aim to fuck up as much as possible *around* him by manipulating things they aren't clever enough to pray about.

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

Middle Egyptian for Beginners

1. INTRODUCTION

Hello! This is the first from a series of introductory, very beginner-friendly posts I’ll write weekly explaining the basics of Middle Egyptian grammar and writing for those interested in learning it. In this one, I’ll explain the context, chronology, classification, and history of the Afroasiatic languages in general and Egyptian in particular. Hope you enjoy this first step into our little journey to learning the language of the Pharaohs!

Ancient Egyptian is an Afroasiatic language. These extend from Atlantic Africa and the Canary Islands (Guanche language) to the Persian Gulf, and from the Mediterranean Sea and the Island of Malta to South Sahara, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.

The 6 Afroasiatic families are: the Libyan-Berber (North-West Africa and Central Sahara; Siwa), the Cushitic (Central-East Africa), the Chadic (Central Sahel, Lake Chad), the Omotic (Ethiopia, Omo Valley), the Semitic (Near East, Ethiopia, Arab Africa) and the Egyptian (extinct since the 17th century)

Classification of ancient Semitic languages:

Eastern Semitic (Akkadian; Assyrian and Babylonian)

Northern Western Semitic (Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic)

Southern Western Semitic (Arabic)

Southern Semitic (South Arabic and Ethiopian languages)

The common proto-Afroasiatic or Afrasian dates back to around 15,000 years ago and the earliest written documentation of an Afro-Asian language dates back to around 5,300 years (Egyptian writings in Naqada II pottery).The most important change from Antiquity until today consists of the disappearance of the Egyptian language and the expansion of the Arabic.

Paleo-Afroasiatic Homeland: Somewhere between North Sudan, Ethiopia, the Kordofan, and the White Nile and the Blue Nile valleys.

History of the Egyptian language: Phases and chronology.

First phase Egyptian: As a productive language (spoken and written) from the earliest written testimonies (ca. 3300 BCE) until the end of the 18th dynasty (ca. 1350 BCE). As a language of tradition, from this date until the end of Pharaonic civilization (Roman Period, IV-V centuries AD)

Second phase Egyptian: As a productive language from the end of the 18th Dynasty until the extinction of Coptic as a spoken language (17th century AD) as a liturgical language of the Coptic Church, until the present day.

Differences between the Egyptian of the first phase and the Egyptian of the second phase:

A) It passes from synthetic language to analytical language.

B) Goes from VSO language (Verb+Subject+Object language) to SVO language (Subject+Verb+Object language)

Egyptian stages of the First Phase Egyptian:

Early Egyptian, (ca. 3300-2700 BCE) early testimonies. Naqada II writtings on pottery.The Umm-el-Qaab Ivory Labels

Old Egyptian, (ca. 2700-2200 BCE) Early royal and private texts. Pyramid Texts.

Middle or Classical Egyptian, (ca. 2200-1350 BCE) The Coffin Texts. Aulic texts: royal narrations, the first literary texts: wisdom literature and short narrative. The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor, the Story of Sinuhe.

Egyptian of Tradition, (ca. 1350 BCE - 400 AD) Book of the Dead, royal funeral books of the New Kingdom, liturgical, mythological texts and royal decrees of the Ptolemaic Period (Rosetta Stone)

Stages of the Second Phase Egyptian:

Neo-Egyptian, (ca. 1350 - 650 BCE) Aulic texts: The Qadesh Poem/The Poem of Pentaur and the Records of the War against the Sea Peoples. Literary texts, wisdom literature (Instructions) and narrative (The Two Brothers)

Demotic, (ca. 650 B.C. - 452 AD) Aulic texts (Ptolemaic decrees: Rosetta Stone) Demotic literature (Narrative, instructions and prophetic texts)

Coptic, (ca. II-XVII AD) Gnostic and Christian literature. The Nag-Hammadi manuscripts, the writings of Shenute of Sohag. Coptic dialects (Sahidic, Fayyumnic and Bohairic)

And that’s all for today! I’ll post along this week a second part introducting the general characteristics of Egyptian language and writing before posting every tuesday the basics of Middle Egyptian grammar itself.

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

Picking, or sometimes just touching a plant, could often lead to unfortunate consequences.

In Valence, the young girl who handles wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis) will fight with her mother-in-law; in Vienna, she must never touch a white violet (Viola odorata) before getting married; in Belgium, collecting poppies brings storms (Papaver Rhoeas).

(…) Other prohibitions are based on the belief that dangerous animals are lurking near the plant or that the plant itself is some kind of poison.

In Vienna, the peasants consider the watercress (Cardamine pratensis) as the favorite flower of snakes, to collect it means to be stung during the year.

In Provence, if after a curse prayer, a very dry marsh bean (Vicia faba) is thrown into the oil of a lamp that burns near an altar, as soon as it begins to swell, the one who is cursed falls ill and the day she separates, he dies without any remedy being able to save him.

In Liège, to make an inconstant lover suffer, we put an onion pierced with thirteen pins in the fireplace while we light a candle also pierced with thirteen pins.

In Vienna, a niello flower (Agrostemma githago) offered to a young girl by an old woman causes her to die or go mad if the stem is cut or broken in the middle.

In Brittany formerly, Digitalis flowers were hung on each of the stingers of a thorn cross, to be then worn by the person to whom one wanted to harm ; the latter would die shortly after having kissed or touched the cross.

(in P. Sebillot, le Folfklore de France, la flore.)

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

Allegedly??? Rude!!

There are lighting bugs outside, allegedly.

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

So I have a question about weather magic that I’ve never really seen explained by modern folks. The concept of “whistling up a wind” how does that work? Is it simply intention+action? Is it a certain tone or resonance? Are you meant to “enflame” the breath with power? I can’t really whistle so it’s nothing I think I’d be able to do but I’ve always been very curious.

I tend not to think of why it works, and just accept that it does :)  However, if I were to come up with a theory, I would say something like this: The whistling is meant to mimic the wind. Essentially, we are attracting the wind by acting like the wind. In magic, like attracts like. And, yes, one is likely thinking: come wind, come wind, come wind.  In addition, when I think of “wind”, I also think of “spirits”, and often they are one and the same! So, when I think of the phrase “whistle thrice for a wind”, I am calling up a wind, but also calling up the spirits of the airs. 

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

Want a sistrum but can’t afford a fancy one?

Google “jingle stick”, “tambourine shaker”, or “tambourine stick”! Here’s some images of ones going for less than $10 US. (without shipping)

And even more variety if you can spend $15 or $20! Price shouldn’t be anyone’s limiting factor in getting one. Here’s a stock image of the one I have (I got it while abroad, and it seems to only be sold in the EU)

These are meant to be children’s toys, yes, but they’re instruments like any other. They work wonderfully for rituals and for any other singing and dancing.

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

Witch community: oh hey u guys are back early

Me: moon and fae are hexed

Witches: what?

Me: *loading an egg, sage, and more herbs & supplies in my bag then running back into the forest* moon and fae are hexed. They’re planning on the sun next.

Witches: what—

Me: HURRY UP AND GRAB YOUR SHIT. WE DONT HAVE TIME TO STOP IT

[technomancy-and-other-endeavors]

Ancient Egyptian Amulets

Amulet of Uraeus, Taweret, Bes, Usekh collar, Nefer glyph, Hathor’s head and Nekhbet vulture. Made out of electrum, silver and gold. 

New Kingdom, ca. 1550-1070 BC. Now in the Louvre.