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Beginners in Need: Making Spells

Table of Contents

I.Introduction

II.Where do I start?

III.Putting Your Spell Together

IV.Overview

Introduction

Hello! Welcome to another part of my Beginners in Need series! In this installment I want to talk about making your own spells! Often I see post where people are asking how to make their own spells, or asking others for spells because they either don’t know how to make their own, or they’re unsure of how to find spells that are already written.

We’ve all been there at one point. But I’m here to help you move past that point! Because sometimes we may be unable to find a spell that fits our needs, so why not look into taking those matters in our own hands? So let’s get into it!

Where do I start?

Overall this does kinda depend on you. Where do you want to start? Is there a specific form of spell you’d like to do primarily? Some people have a specific form they prefer to work with. Think Kitchen Witches for example. They prefer to do their Witchen in the Kitchen! (Audience now laughs.) So think meals that are prepared with herbs not just to taste, but to imbue the food with properties for what they wish to bring on.

Personally I do feel spell jars are an easy way to start. But that may not be true for you! It’s important you do what resonates with you and your path. Your path will be so individual to you you may not find a single person who does exactly what you do! Isn’t that just amazing?

So, going off that, where do you start? When you’re just starting out you’ll find some common hurdles. A large one may be accessibility. Accessibility can be many things. Time, energy, money, space, how private you must keep your practice, and the list keeps going on!

So look around. What is accessible to you in this moment? Start with that. This can vary to so many things. Herbs can be cheap and easy to hide if you buy them under the guise of cooking. And jars are easy to find for a cheap price at most crafts stores! If you’ve seen pictures of my altar you know I have quite the collection of jars-most only cost me $1.99, while some I got as cheap as $0.99! Thrift stores can also be your best friend! I got my herb shelf at a thrift store for $5! So if money is an issue, thrift it out! Plus, no one suspects anything if you just love a good deal! I mean a whole shelf unit for $5? Who can beat that?!

Now what do you want the spell to do? For demonstration purposes I’m going to do a self protection spell, but these concepts apply to all spells, and you can expand on them in your own ways to make them more complex or intricate!

So when making a self protection spell, let’s start basic for right now! You want to protect yourself, so what do you have around you as the base? This could be herbs, crystals, sigils-anything! For this demonstration let’s focus on herbs, but this concept can be applied to other things as well!

So what herbs are good for protection? Salt, Black Salt, Rosemary, Garlic, Cinnamon, Basil, and Ginger are common ones you either already have, or can even make yourself in the case of black salt! If you want to get a bit more in-depth, you can add things like crystals, color correspondences with candle wax, or even incense! As for this demonstration spell, we’re focused on protection-so let’s see what that would look like!

Let’s stay basic. Clear Quartz is good for protection. Dragons Blood Incense would be a good touch. Yellow candles can be used for protection as well!

So how would we go about putting all these together for a spell? Once more, this depends on you! You can be chill or extra with it as you want. For me, I would do a spell jar (shocker), so how would I put it together?

Putting Your Spell Together

Note: For demonstration purposes, we’ll be doing a spell jar here. Feel free to alter this as you need to for what you’d prefer to do!

First things first, you want to cleanse your materials. Candle, Crystal, and Jar. This is just so any energy that may have been there beforehand (if that’s something you believe in) doesn’t affect what you’re currently using them for. There are different methods for this, so finding one you prefer and resonates with your path is best! If you chose to use incense, it could double as smoke cleansing!

Once you’ve done that, let’s move to assembly. Keep in mind this is what I do personally, you don’t have to follow my exact steps!

When I assemble a spell jar, I add a layer that’s meant to protect the spell no matter what it is. Often this is an herb or herb blend for protection. Once I add that I melt candle wax to “seal” in my protection layer and then add the other herbs in.

In this case, we’d be adding Salt, Black Salt, Rosemary, Garlic, Cinnamon, Basil, and Ginger. Once those are in, I seal them with wax as well.

After my herb layer, I often add in any crystals or charms I may be adding. Since this is for protection I may add charms that show things like shields, or that I feel represent protection. I would also add something as a form of taglock to myself since it’s for self-protection. Either a sigil, blood, or an artifact that represents me. Once I add those in, I close the jar.

After I close the jar, I use candle wax to seal it shut. This is so I can lock in my intentions, and the spell as a “finalized” handshake!

After that, you’re done!

Overview

Now you know all the steps in making your spell. This is a very loose guide on purpose. I want to give you the basics so you can run with it and make it your own! Because now that you know the basic thought process behind it, you know how to go about it yourself!

Having that freedom to be able to sit down and say “this is what I need to do” is very freeing in Witchcraft. You won't need me or anyone else to hand you a spell, you will just know what's available to you and how to utilize it! Especially because I could tell you how I make specific spells-but who's to guarantee you have the same materials as me? What's accessible to me may not be for others, so it's important to know how to use what you have to the best of you abilities!

There is no harm in finding a pre-made spell. However, when you can do it for yourself it can feel a lot better!

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A Guide to Signs

Authors Note: Signs are extremely personal to you. This guide will simply go over how to determine mundane or signs, and how you can go about figuring out signs if you are seeing them.

Table of Contents

I.Mundane vs Magic

II.Ask for Clarification

III.Divination

Mundane vs Magic

Let's start with how to determine if something is just a mundane occurrence or a sign! It can be hard to figure out, and when you first start your journey, it can be easy to see a lot of things as signs, that may not be. Life can be weird even without magic, but when you add magic in at first it feels like absolute endless possibilities!

So, how can you tell if something is mundane or a magical sign? First let’s look at plausible cause. Plausible cause is exactly how it sounds. Is it plausible? To break this idea down, let’s use birds as an example. Where I live crows are very common. You’ll see them just about everywhere already, but my place is in a clearing of the woods, so I do tend to see them more than I did living in the middle of the city.

But this is plausible. It makes sense that I see them more after moving here because I’m in the woods! I essentially live in a Great Value Jungle with snakes, large spiders, giant hornets… the list goes on. These are all normal and mundane because where I live it just makes sense. Of a deity wanted to signal to me they’re going to have to make it a bit more obvious, or clear, because I see these things all the time! I wont take notice of them outside when they do something odd.

Now, where I live for a sign it’s going to have to be unusual if these animals are used for it. But I’m more than likely to take note of something I don’t see often. Like if I saw a Black-crowned night heron… I’m gonna take notice! They’re endangered where I live, but not on the federal endangered list. If I saw one of those Im gonna take note because it’s not only an odd sight to see where I live-it’s an odd sight for my entire state.

While it doesn’t have to be a sign, if I’m seeing them regularly for a while I’m going to check and see if someone is reaching out. This is because it would be out of the ordinary, and not really plausible for a little family of them to take up residence here! The same can be said for other animals that aren’t common. A Blackpoll Warbler would also be something, considering they are only nested in two counties here-and I live in neither. If they decided to take up residence outside my home from counties over Im gonna be pretty impressed, surprised, and think it’s a sign because it’s just not plausible a nesting bird flew several counties over for change of scenery!

Some things can be common, but still a sign though! Let’s look at spiders. Most of us know a handful of deities or demons associated with spiders! They’re also extremely common to have in your home. Now if you have what seems like an infestation your first move should be to call on pest control and not the divine, but it is useful to take note of this if there is no real reason why you should have spiders. I live in the middle of the woods-of course bugs wonder in occasionally. This isn’t an effective sign for me.

Ask for Clarification

Now you don’t wanna ask us. Signs are so personal it would be impossible for us, plus the deduction if it’s a common bird for you and so on. So ask the divine. Ask them if they are sending you a sign and if they can make it more clear! If you’re anything like me seeing them around isn’t going to be enough and will just leave you with more questions.

In the entirety of my path, I’ve only had one entity send me signs I actually recognized as one, if there were more than that. The rest started as me worshipping them and it moving to working with later on. The only one I noticed was room in my house full of flies in the middle of winter. That one is hard to miss because… well, winter and bugs don’t mix. But I didn’t notice anything else because it either wasn’t there, or didn’t make sense as a sign!

Divination

If you’re still unsure, or have any doubts, divination can come in handy. Pendulums, Tarot, Oracle, runes… if you can divine with it, use it and ask directly! It’s okay if the answer is no, you were clearly confused about it already and not a single one of us is all knowing! I’d already have graduated college with perfect scores and then some if I were!

All jokes aside though, if you’re confused, chances are we won’t know much else. It’s all so personal to you, and sometimes just not clear enough. And that’s okay! The most you can do is reach out.

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Worshipping and Working With

Table of Contents

I.Introduction

II.Worshiping

III.Working With

Introduction

I see a lot of people asking how they know when a deity is calling to them, but with this I see a large misunderstanding of worshipping, and working with a deity. This can also go for other types of entities, such as demons. This main misunderstanding is that they can’t worship a deity unless that deity has reached out to them to form that type of relationship.

Well go into the other differences in the sections titled for them, but first what is the key difference? This is that when you worship a deity, it’s just that. Worship. You may agree with the things they have domain over, or maybe it comes from their mythos! It could even be that you agree with their pantheon in whole, and believe that to be your faith. There’s many reasons one might worship an entity, and I could go on and on about each one, but it will always be personal to you.

Working with and entity is different-it’s a mutual exchange relationship. You can also worship entities you work with, but worshipping an entity doesn’t lead to promise they will eventually work with you on that kind of level.

Worshiping

As mentioned before, worshipping is just the act of worship to an entity. No matter you reason as to why, this type of relationship to an entity is focused around your acts of devotion to them. There’s no solid list of how’s or why’s! It can be anything from affirmations, journaling, prayer, offerings, dedication to their principles all the way to more intricate monthly rituals.

In general, as long as you are showing respect and staying within the bounds of certain things there’s no real wrong way! And you don’t necessarily need a entity to reach out to you and say “I want you to worship me” to do so. You can just offer your devotion to them, and do as you need to depending on your limitations and needs! If you just really think Hekate is neat and want to devote time, and space to her-you’re free to.

Working With

Working with entities is where you’ll find more nuance. Working with entities, depending on the mythos and the entity in question, is typically when you’ll find them reaching out to you. This is where the mutual exchange comes in. Usually when working with an entity there is a mutual gain for each party. Entities won’t work with you if there is not a mutual benefit.

Working with doesn’t necessarily have to be one specific way or the other. Sometimes it’s a life long endeavor that they help you with what’s in their domain, while you do something such as a monthly offering or ritual in exchange for this. Sometimes it may be smaller bits of help, say a entity with a domain over money-they may help you with finding a job if you are providing something to them such as an offering once their end is complete.

And you can still worship these entities as well as work with them. It does not have to be a business only relationship, as sometimes you may not need anything particular from them but may still wish to show devotion, thanks, or so on for the role they are actively playing.

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Difference in the Ds

Table of Contents

I.What are the Ds?

II.What does this mean?

What are the Ds?

In this I am referring to Demonolatry, Demonology, and Demonosophy. But what are they? What do these weird words mean? For the answer let’s take a step onto the English classroom and look at the suffixes of these words! The suffix (as defined below) is the last part of the word, that more so changes the meaning or function of the root word. So what suffixes are we looking at? The root word here is “demon” so we want to look at what’s added for the suffix!

suf·fix

noun

/ˈsəfiks/

a morpheme added at the end of a word to form a derivative,

e.g., -ation, -fy, -ing, -itis.

The suffixes we have here are:

Ology

The suffix ology means a field of study.

Demonology-Study of demons and magic rites/rituals involving them.

Olatry

The suffix olatry means worship. Often times it is defined as an excess of worship, or fanatical worship, but I only bring that up due to it being the definition and I’m taking on the roll of English Teacher here!

Demonolatry-worship of demons.

Osophy

The suffix osophy means a belief or doctrine.

Demonosophy-following doctrine and beliefs of demons.

What does this mean?

So it doesn’t “technically” mean anything. These are basic definitions and without us words technically are just symbols. Once we take away their meanings it’s not there. This is the same if we pervert the meanings. This all depends on you and your uses of material and such. I can’t define them for you, but I can explain why certain things can fall where.

In technical terms, the definitions are pretty clear cut. You can see where there are divides. This doesn’t mean they have to be separate, and yet they don’t have to be together.

Often times I see demonolatry and demonology almost put against one another because there are different beliefs. And this is all well and good, you don’t have to agree with certain things. However, Demonology is not limited to the methods of magic Solomon uses. It’s base definition is just the study of these methods and the demons. There’s no technical need to do it. While you may not call yourself a Demonologist due to those rituals, you don’t have to do them to study demons and study the magic if you want to.

People usually study demons for worship, but the intent is to worship so that’s why this action is more Demonolatry based. The act of learning can be seen as devotion and doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to study. If you’re doing it for the intent to worship, or the process to know more about a Demon before you worship it can fall in Demonolatry because it’s for the purpose of worship. Same with teachings and such. Usually if you worship a Demon, it’s because you agree with some aspect of this demon. If you follow the teachings and philosophy of a demon because you worship them or as a way to worship them, it’s the same concept and circles back to Demonolatry. Worship is worship, and how you do it will vary to you and the demon.

But what about Demonosophy? That one I see a bit of a dialogue on. Many people will describe this as working with the demons-and they’re not technically wrong! However, the definition of working with here is very different than if it were for a deity like, say Aphrodite. Often when you work with a deity, they help you in magic. When you work with a demon in Demonosophy, they’re kind of like a life coach or guide.

Demonosophy is more so a relationship with you and a demon where they are essentially your guide with their teachings. Imagine a life coach (now imagine the life coach with red skin, and comically large horns. Now giggle cause that’s a funny mental image.) There doesn’t have to be any magic involved here. In fact… that end you’re more likely to find in Demonology (the study of magic bit) and Demonolatry (if done with the intent to worship)!

It can be hard to keep them all straight, I mean try saying Demonology, Demonosophy, Demonolatry 5 times fast. They’re very similar and it’s a tongue twister. And on top of that if you speak a different language, it can make it even harder. That’s why I gave a full break down based of technical terms and definitions. That and the fact that everyone’s path will be different, and I don’t dictate that, so I can’t tell you what’s right or wrong for you.

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Demonology: Deeper Explanation, How To Incorporate, and Common Misconceptions

Table of Contents

I.Deeper Explanation

II.How To Incorporate

III.Common Misconceptions

Deeper Explanation

Once more, if you haven’t read my initial post on the differences that you can find HERE, I recommend checking it out before we dive deeper in.

So Demonology we already know is the study of demons. A Demonologist, someone who studies demons, magic, and rituals regarding them. Now we can break this down a bit further because demonology isn’t limited to specific study. Many different religions or belief systems have “demons” “daemons” “daimons” or so on. Some may not even refer to these spirits as a demon, but they fill the same “role” as demons would in many faiths.

Some demonologist stick to a specific hierarchy (typically a set a demonic beings in a specific ranking order. The Ars Goetia, and Dukante are major examples of demonic hierarchies) while others many bounce around different concepts, hierarchies, history, and so on. There’s a good bit to study, and so much to look into! Even if you don’t plan to work religiously with demons this can be a wonderful step to learn about them, and there’s something for everyone.

How To Incorporate

This depends on why you want to incorporate it! And the path you walk. You could look into the demonization of pre-Abrahamic religions, where some of the demons commonly known are being linked to gods of other religions to demonize them and make them “bad.”

You could just like to learn a bit of everything, and study to check it out! Maybe you don’t quite know how you feel on Demon work just yet and want to start light to ease in. To incorporate this in your path you just need a love for research and an interest in demons. With those, you’re pretty set. And since there’s no religious ties really all that limits you is your will power to read (cause there is a LOT of reading for you here!)

Common Misconceptions

I see a lot of misconceptions when it comes to Demonology-but they’re not demonology. Which yeah that’s how misconceptions work, we know that-but most people don’t realize there’s a large difference in types of demon work and kinda only see one-worship. Usually people don’t even know it’s name and just label “demon worship!” On anything that is remotely scary or different. Which happens, and that’s okay. Most misconceptions about demonology come from this group. There’s not many you’ll see within pagan spaces which is kind of nice. There is the common idea that since people don’t know the differences they usually don’t actually know which way they wish to go about-but that kinda falls into what I’ve said before. People don’t know the differences and see Demonolatry as everything. Sometimes even in the scene.

But for the most part Demonologist are labeled as Demon worshippers because it’s Demon related. I haven’t found a lot regarding Demonologist as a stand-alone but there was a good bit for Demonolatry. (Wink wink, hint hint)

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Modular Altars | What They Are, And How They Can Help You

Table of Contents

I.Introduction

II.What is a Modular Altar?

III. How can a Modular Altar help me?

Introduction

I wanted to talk a bit about making and using a modular altar space. There’s a couple reasons that I feel like more people should know about this option and how easy it can be to use and organize.

Many people feel if they don’t have this huge altar space that takes up a whole room, it’s “not good enough.” This is false. Sometimes you have things that get in the way of a huge aesthetic altar space. That’s okay!

I want to go over what modular altars are, how they can help you, and how they can make you happier with your altar space. If you’re already happy with your altar space, hopefully this is just a good informative read!

What is a Modular Altar?

What is a modular anything? Well, to break it down, when something is ‘modular’ it relies on its base design being several “modules.” Basically, it’s many pieces coming together to form one. In fact, if you keep your altar on a several shelves of a bookshelf, or even in several boxes under your bed you already have a modular altar! You have multiple pieces that work as one.

Why is this important to recognize? Well, some people are unhappy if they do not have one solid space for their altar. Maybe they only have one shelf they can dedicate to it, and have to store extras elsewhere and they feel some form of inadequacy or guilt over this. Well I’m here to help crush those feelings!

How can a Modular Altar help me?

A modular altar can help you with a few things. Space, organization, feelings of inadequacy, prying eyes, and hands. There’s a decent list already! Plus so much more I may not even think about.

Lets start with the space it can save you, via organizing. If you don’t have a large area to put your altar, you may have a smaller area dedicated. This can be a shelf, a box, closet, under the bed, hidden compartment, anything. So let’s say you have a small bookshelf. You only have one shelf available to put your altar, and with all the stuff you’re getting it’s become quite cramped.

Well here’s where the modules come in. You may opt for ornate boxes, maybe chest, or even just a plain shoe box or picture box. These are all your “modules.” Herbs go in one, charms in another, maybe you have a box for each deity you stack and remove as needed. These can easily cut down on the horizontal space you’re using and turn it vertical. Then, you’re using less space in width wise and are building up! As you build up, you are utilizing space you wouldn’t have before.

Prying eyes and hands are also something that can be daunting. Maybe you’re in the broom closet, maybe you have young children who are curious. Well, when you start using a modular altar, you can use locked boxes. Suddenly, you just have decorations, and there is a lock to stop young ones and nosey people from snooping. You can also find some cute decorative boxes with a latch for a decent price in many craft stores, and people will just assume you have an eye for decor.

Now let’s go over those feelings of inadequacy. I’ve mentioned it a few times already, how people feel like their altar has to be huge, one piece, or if they have to hide in under their bed it’s somehow lesser than other altars. This is untrue. You don’t have a bad altar. You have an altar. The time and care you put into it is just as good as anything you find on Pinterest.

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Masculine and Feminine | A Deeper Look into Gendered Binaries in Entities

Authors Note: I want to specify pretty early on that I fall towards the non-binary spectrum, falling into more gender apathy so the way I see gender as a whole is very “detached.” That is not a reflection on gender as a whole, as I don’t feel anything towards binary sides.

And while I will mention the mistranslation of masc and femme to have a decided gender association this isn’t really about actual gender, more so concepts regarding it in reference to divine entities and the divine femme and masc as concepts. This is a commentary post, which is my opinions and comments on the misuse of these terms in appropriation and misuse to attack and harm others.

I am not referring to the way I see a lot of us use these terms-which is typically based in self love. I’m referring to more mainstream media and toxic new-age ideals. This was also a post that was hard to keep organized due to the nature of it so… sorry about that.

Table of Contents

I.The Divine Binary

II.A Deeper Look

III.Why It Helps to Realize

The Divine Binary

The divine binary is something that has always confused me. Mainly because it feels to have an air of misogyny when applied to almost anything anymore. Often it seems like it boils down to “this is manly so this entity is a man.” Or “This is something WOMEN do, so a woman!” More so in that this is how people now treat it. When I was first on the scene Divine Feminine or Masculine simply meant “What makes you feel the most connected to (Feminine/Masculine)” and was very personal to each person and didn’t have any tie to gender or sex, more so just these balanced energies within us.

Men and women (as well as enbies-but for this post were mainly talking about entities in general so I will be primarily use masc and femme outside gender/sex) we’re seen to have both energies. Both were embraced and honored. Everyone has the divine energies, they just present in ways that make people feel more comfortable in themselves.

Now it seems a lot of times the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine do fall into more societal-based ideals for either sex. It’s a very binary scale of “men are leads, headstrong, and providers” and “women are soft, caring, patient caregivers.”

I do not believe it’s wrong to align yourself with one. I have no ties to either but gender apathy is just that. I am apathetic to the idea of masc or femme and just kinda do what I want in terms of dress or so. I do not comprehend things in terms of masc or femme. Others do and that’s okay, as long as it’s not based on transmisogyny, I think everyone has the freedom of where they feel most comfortable.

While I do want to be clear that I understand that men can be connected to the divine Feminine and vice versa, I want to provide commentary on how PEOPLE respond to those who do the “other perspective” mainly in the terms of entities.

Because I do feel that oftentimes we subconsciously assign things to either or based on what we’ve been taught is womanly or manly. I don’t see child care as a primarily “Womanly” trait or job. It’s child-rearing, they need to be cared for and realistically there should be at least two parents if not more people taking care of this child. Men, women, enbies, fluids, voids-child rearing should be done by those who are primarily watching said child. In some cultures that’s the whole family as it is. In others, it’s just the two people responsible for the child’s birth.

But I was raised and taught this. As the oldest grandchild and oldest child I was partly in charge of child rearing as well because I was much older than all my cousins and siblings. However, so I as the next born. Who was cis and AMAB because he was also the oldest for his family by a few years and capable of doing so. I was never taught that it was a “woman’s job” so never associated child care with women. This isn’t the same for all and I see this translate to entities when one seems to be gentle and caring that it’s immediately seen as motherly-but not fatherly. Typically I’ll see the use of fatherly when it’s more stern and strict-almost aloof and based in that air of discipline.

If we look at this article on Astrology.com it defines the two clearly; “The relationship between the two could sometimes be considered a battle between the head and the heart, with the Divine Masculine representing reason, logic, and analytical thinking, while the Divine Feminine is more attuned to intuition, subtlety, creativity, and emotional inner worlds.” Which, in my opinion, is a very fancy way to say “women are emotion lead and men are logic lead.”

While masculine and feminine themselves are not sex-based terms, more so descriptors, the way we as people use them oftentimes pulls them to be. This can affect the way we interact with others, ourselves, and our entities we interact with.

For example a lot of people lean towards a divine being in the form of masculine or feminine energies. In regards to divine entities specifically, I see this used a lot for things like “This deity is kind and polite and delicate so I see them as feminine energy!” And if it's a being that’s primarily pictured as male or so, some will even go as far as to say “they have to have a female epithet then!”

This typically isn’t a bother because I do believe any divine being will come to you in a way that will feel comfortable for you if they are coming to you. I also feel like as divine beings, our concepts of gender and sex matter very little to them so there’s not much to stop it. However I’ve always found it interesting that we have started separating them so much we just cannot picture a typically masc entity as just having femme qualities instead of needing to assign more too them in the regards of epithets.

But there are still levels of misogyny in some aspects of it. As well as appropriation in some cases. Lilith is a known demon, known primarily for her defiance of Adam and God, which cast her into the eternal damnation of being a demon in the first place. Lilith has become a large icon for feminists, and most Jewish practitioners just ask that if you wish to work with Lilith and say it’s Lilith to leave her in the context she exists in.

But I can’t help but see the irony in seeing a feminine figure display headstrong, clear, concise wants and be punished for it because women should never do that, and label it as masculine energy while also praising her as a feminist icon. We see her as this type of icon cause she essentially said “I am equal or I am not yours.” While simultaneously saying that this behavior is just masculine energy. And then turning to say “well divine femmes don’t act that way so she is also a man and divine masc” instead of “She wanted to be treated as an equal, and acted in a way that demanded respect.” I do view this, as do my jewish family members, as a form of appropriation. Her roots are a large part of who she is as a Demon and to erase this for the ease of misogyny is… ironic.

And, for me, I also question the actual motives behind it. Because usually, the feminine energy traits are one man “shouldn’t have” and vice versa. For example, a man who is willing to come into a room and order people is a strong leader. But if a woman were to come into the room she’s demanding and nagging, and sometimes even referred to in more unsavory terms. If a man cries from pain he’s often told to stop; where a woman would be comforted because she’s “supposed to be emotional.” This isn’t limited to the witchcraft community, but it is heavily apparent when we see “this entity was kind and soft to me so they must be a woman!” It’s not always wrong but not all women are kind and soft, not all men are rough and stern, and not all entities are men or women.

A Deeper Look

Now let me clarify here, I do not believe the terms are inherently sexist. I do think the way we as people use them often falls into a subconscious level of misogyny that we never actually address. Making something sound good doesn’t make it less harmful, especially because of the way we’ll start to frame it in our brains if we don’t sit back and add more nuance. Because truly that’s all that’s missing here.

Now It’s a thing that when we see a femme presenting person who’s loud, aggressive, commanding, or so on people say she’s hurt and in her masculine era, and we’ll know she’s healed once she reaches her feminine era and stops doing all of that stuff… And if a masc presenting person is overtly feminine it’s the same. They are broken and must heal to become “right.”

Which is just weird. And this is where we need to add some commentary and nuance even if it’s for ourselves.

Personally, and I know a lot of people here also see it this way, I believe that there is no right Divine to follow. I technically fall under the divine masculine to a t. I have no gender but was born AFAB. I'm not broken and need to heal because I am logic based and look at facts and not feelings. I do that because I have AuDHD (Autism and ADHD diagnosis). I can’t read social cues so when people talk about this stuff I am limited by what they said. It doesn’t make sense to me to beat around asking for something and hoping someone else will catch that you’re asking. However that doesn’t really make me masculine. It just makes me who I am-logic based because I struggle outside direct statements and facts.

But some people have told me that has nothing to do with anything in my brain outside I haven’t been able to “heal into my feminine era, and embrace the feminine divine within me.”

Well that’s because women can be headstrong. But when you see a woman act this way we’re conditioned to see a nag and a cruel woman because women should take up less space than men so when they take up the same amount we REALLY notice it.

The difference in sexism comes from the connotation. If it’s good when a man does it should be good when a woman does it. A strong leader should provide the same image in our minds whether or not we’re given a man or woman.

Telling people the way a deity acts doesn’t match the sex/gender we see them as, or even tell people they need to heal to “act appropriately” is… weird.

And going deeper into deities, I see a lot of people attribute genders to entities because of specific traits they associate with a specific gender. With deities, I do feel that there are no “right” or “wrong” ways to view them unless it steps into appropriation. That’s when we see issues. It is important to stay respectful of closed cultures and practices.

And while I don’t think entities care much about our gender norms, I do think they more than likely have reasons for what they do, when they do it, or how they do it. This is of course ignoring lore. Most people would second guess someone calling Aphrodite masculine but in a lot of her lore she does have properties that would align as “divine masculine.” But that doesn’t fit her lore. She’s a woman, read the stories she is!

But a lot of the behavior, like being head-strong and confident, loud and proud, etc is attributed to the Divine Masculine. But no one would ever suggest Aphrodite was anything but a woman-these are all just attributed to who she is.

Why It Helps to Realize

It helps to realize the language we use in these situations because often when things are grabbed in more mainstream media they become twisted and pushed to mean specific things and used to attack others. Similar to how I’m not broken and need to heal because I’m unable to read between the lines when people speak-I’m just autistic. I’m not in my masculine era because of that either-I’m just a more masc person in general by most standards. Divine feminine and Divine masculine have both sadly been twisted, and have stopped being about what makes someone feel connected and comfortable and started becoming about societal gender norms. And that becomes an issue when not even all societies have the same setup that we most often see.

And for some that is how they feel connected, it’s how they feel secure. But we do need to make sure we don’t push that belief onto others. That is where lines become blurred. When it stops being about personal and internal connections and starts becoming a push and shove to get people to behave a certain way. Femme and Masc and not solely gender-based terms. They are descriptors. Just descriptors that became bastardized over time.

And as long as we are being thoughtful in the way we uses these terms-and respectful to not only the cultures but also the people around us-there’s really no issue with them. I’ve just seen their more twisted nature becoming more apparent throughout media forms and wanted to comment on that.

[voxxyboxxy]

Household Tips | Running a House and Home off Witchcraft

Table of Contents

I.Introduction

II.My Best Practices

III.Practices

Introduction

The most basic things in witchcraft can be applied in most functions of our lives-including the home life we live. Most people have a safe space in their home/apartment/room, a space that is supposed to be theirs and where they keep their most personal items. This space is sacred in a different manner than an altar, it is sacred to the self. It’s our privacy, our abode, where we are to be comfortable. While it is a sad fact not everyone has this-this blog will be focusing on this safe and sacred space. I am truly sorry I do not have much to give to those without one.

I will mostly be going over cleaning, and using witchcraft in your regular house upkeep/maintenance. Please remember if you take any tips from here, and decide to change them up you’re always looking at the possible outcomes. Cleaners should never be mixed, and you should absolutely check anything you use in tandem with cleaners. This is for your safety, health, and life. Please pay close attention to this.

My Best Practices

Some of the best practices I use in my home are relatively simple and almost mundane. Scented cleaners to use the scent for specific intentions, like lavender for calming. I typically do not mix anything with cleaners-I only use what it already is. And most cleaners you can find with different scents, some of which having good properties behind them.

Outside the cleaners themselves, I also use scents in general! Candles, plug-ins, sprays, just about anything that’s meant to smell good in your home also has the added benefits that it has properties behind it, that can be used for your benefit.

Using physical intention can be a huge help too. Wiping out old dust to bring in the new, sweeping in a specific pattern for sigils, all sorts of little things.

On a note different from cleaning, your decor can have a very specific vibe while still being beneficial to you and your craft. For example, my house is decorated in plants. To the point I have a succulent Bath and Body Works Wallflower plug. My room has vines and flowers hanging from the ceiling… it’s… a problem… But there’s also the color magic! Lots of red, pink, and whites! I fill my home with art magic that I did myself, or artwork my friends made to symbolize our connections.

And then of course the use of a modular altar in a different sense than what I talked about in my one post! Ever since I got my own flat I have been able to use my modular altar set up to spread my altar across the entirety of my space, not just one room or one area. Some are in the living room, some my bed room-some are a bit scattered even! But since this is ~my space~ I treat it as ~my space~ and things are where they work for me.

More Complicated Practices

So the best practices is my “easy” pieces of advice. Things just about anyone can follow given the right resources and access. But what about some more complicated pieces of magic in the home that may be a bit more advanced or even just kinda specific to myself?

I have a lot of protections set up for my home. As a paranoid schizophrenic-this is a must to me. I want to be sure anything I see or hear is a hallucination, so I do extensive protections to make sure I don’t have to question or doubt my own mind at any point. Just about every room; every entry and exit has something. If it was more tangible I’m certain you’d remark that you could tell I was a paranoid person. I also have severe OCD. Magic doesn’t help that much but I will unlock and lock the door 15 times. There’s not much else on that, which while I wish I could feel comfortable going into deep detail on-Id be handing you the ability to find ways through. And I do not wish to do that. Something I mentioned before was the color magic I use in my home. My whole house (minus my daughters room) is styled in primarily black and white, with the occasional pink and red accents. This is on purpose, as both black and white are heavily used in protection or related to my protection set up in some form.

Organization is also an odd one, but still one I have some magic involvement with. Not just things looking nice but the way things are set up in a room. I avoid clutter, as it feels like a giant blockage in the room Im in. While I am sort of a maximalist, I believe there is a difference in clutter and decor. Decor makes you feel good, clutter does not.

I mainly use this because I enjoy having a free flow of energy room to room. I actually stick more to wall decor and open floors and use the open floors as almost a form of energy work. The ability to move freely feels like it affects my workings-so I keep all rooms I do workings in as open as I can. If it’s harder to (say a living room with a coffee table) I stick to lightweight furniture that can be scooted over easily.

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Becoming a Priestess for Asmodeus | My Journey with Him

Table of Contents

I.Driving Factor

II.Processing

III.The Journey Itself

Driving Factor

My driving factor behind this post is to show the differences that can be held in Demon-based work, especially worship. I know my experience is not everyone’s, but it’s what I know. And I feel in a world where we don’t have many publicly out there resources, we kinda have to do it for ourselves. Now this will not be in great detail of the steps I took for this, and I do not wish to share them, but more so what my experience has been on this journey.

Things like hat I felt, how it went, the general timeline, small things I feel are no harm to share, and so on. This is in no way a full account of this experience. Please keep this in mind, and while questions are always welcome please understand I may not openly answer all of them, or in great detail.

Processing

This was very interesting to process. I didn’t know where to really begin with it either. I had been given a very big, and very important task. How would I go about it?

Of course I took the path with a lot to learn, but little resistance. I knew at that moment there’s a lot of stuff I’d have to step in blind, this was no different. It still had me thinking. “Am I good enough?” “Am I cut out for it?” It took a hot moment before I got used to the feeling of immense pressure on me. Then I realized it wasn’t pressure, it was just trust. I didn’t know trust could be so heavy until I felt the trust given to me for this task.

After the initial shock there was all of the learning I needed to do to properly play my new roll. Lord Asmodeus is one of the demons I had worshiped for a while, and my worship of him was always different than it was for others. I had always felt a strong connection with him, from day one. It took a while before I had realized I had subconsciously already accepted him as my Patron, and once I did I had officially declared him as such.

After debating the task, for much longer than I’d like to admit, I decided it was something I needed to step into. I was trusted to do so, a request was given, so I did. The only thing I really needed to process were the intense feelings of doubt in myself. Which washed away very quickly as I stepped in, and braced for the full impact of this role.

The Journey Itself

It started small, with me being actually a second hand person. My friend has started her journey with demons, and they had decided to “hang out” for a lack of better terms. First it started with Lord Beelzebub deciding the dead of winter was the perfect time to bring his flies, essentially scoping out my altar. Me asking him to please remove his flies from my abode was actually the start of my journey with demons, and communicating with them in anyway.

He had respected this, but had left me with one thing. Essentially an offer of working together. That had snowballed into other demons coming forward. Lord Asmodeus was one of them-and we did start off on the wrong foot as the general idea of Asmodeus being lust-and me being demisexual I didn’t think it was a good fit. Of course, this lead to a bit of offense for him-why would i reduce him to only one piece of himself? And I realized that Asmodeus did have a lot I could learn from. One being working on myself to feel better with myself. One of the biggest things being my internalized anger against the world, and the events of my life.

And we started working on them. Sound advice, and assurance came from him in abundance. My learning under him flourished. Like vines climbing an abandoned shed, I continued to grow with little interruptions.

I had continued like this for two years. And I felt something heavily missing from my life. I reached out for advice-I couldn’t figure it out, why was I suddenly feeling like I was separated from something I never had to begin with? At least-it felt that way. I had no idea what I needed. And that was when he prompted the thoughts. Further dedication. I couldn’t fathom how so, I had already declared him my Patron. Even jokingly said “how much more dedicated can I become without becoming a Priestess?”

And that’s when it clicked. I did not personally feel ready right away, I mean this was a thing much bigger than myself-how could I fill this role when it stood to have much more than I could ever give? It was a serious thing to me, and still is. It took a lot of assurance that this is what I was missing and what I needed to step into. There were many before me, and would be many after me. What harm could I do if I followed his lead? There wasn’t any. So I proceeded.

With this, as I learned and dove into my reading, I studied things outside just the general worship and history. And soon it was a set deal. I offered my dedication and worship as he had asked, and he filled the gap I was feeling. With this, I had also pledged myself as a form of god-spouse. It felt natural, if I wished to be a priestess I wanted to make sure I was offering true devotion. So, similar to a nun, I pledged this to so the devotion and dedication I was willing.

I know many still have confusion on hat a God-Spouses role is, but I always explain it as similar to being a nun. Spiritually, I am married to Asmodeus and offer that dedication to no one else. It is a marked that my devotion to him will run deeper than it does to others.

Many things here were not mentioned. A lot of the smaller details, how’s and why’s, are kept private. I feel the need to do so-and so I will. I understand this may be upsetting to some who are wanting to walk a similar path-but I have always expressed that much of my path is very private for me. All I ask is that you respect that, and that while questions are always welcome, my willingness to answer may vary.

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Practicing in Secret

Table of Contents

I.Introduction

II.Practicing in Secret

not so Subtly

III.Personal Findings

Introduction

Theres a lot of reasons why someone may practice in secret. Whether it be for personal safety, on the other hand nd of just personal preference, or anything in between. You may find yourself now in a place where you need to/prefer to practice your path in a more secretive manner, or a more private matter. This post is going to detail many things that you can do to keep that secretive practice, while still doing many things that “aren’t so secret” in a way.

To elaborate, there’s a lot of things we do in the day that no one would question. It would just “be.” I mean, how often do you see a random person wearing a ring and go “That’s so peculiar Im going to ask them why they chose to wear jewelry!” Or see someone getting ready to eat and question why they’re eating? The chances are not many, unless it’s a specifically odd circumstance. (I mean, I would also wonder why someone was eating a five course meal in a back alley Lady and the Tramp style.)

So what are ways to practice in secret that aren’t really all that secret? Why would someone need to? How did es one go about it?

Practicing in Secret not so Subtly

So I already mentioned a few things, very briefly. Let’s dive into some wider and more detailed possibilities. We’ll start with the example: Eating.

Food is fuel. Whether you’re at work, home, school, etc, not many will question your choice to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner. But how does food play a role into your practice like this, and how does eating on your lunch break count as “secret?” There’s many ways to include these meals, even if public, with your practice. First one being Kitchen Witchin. Spices, Herbs, blends of all kinds have properties that you can bank on. And no one will think it’s witchcraft, they will simply thing you know your way around a seasoning bottle.

Then if you’re more on the religious side, there’s always dedicating a meal to an entity, or even possibly making food as an offering-but intended for your consumption. This one is a little different than the normal, but essentially making foods you know the entity enjoys, and “sharing” the meal. Leaving the last bite or so is another common practice.

Jewelry is another common everyday item that can be heavily related to our paths. For example, I wear rings often, and dedicate certain pieces to specific entities I work with. This can be an option even if the jewelry isn’t related to that entity in any outwardly manner! For example, Lord Mammon is linked to garnet, any garnet piece could be related to him, even if there is no outward sigil or sign it’s for him. No one questions when I wear rings, as I always have. I always tell people I fidget a lot and rings help me do so.

Another option for secret practice is art magic. I mean, who questions the real meaning behind art often? Usually if someone asks why you painted Aphrodite “I really like Ancient Greek statues!” Or if you painted something as a spell, no one is going to question a pumpkin painted around Halloween. Plus who doesn’t love to practice their skill? So when your cranking out drawings people will usually just assume you love to doodle, not that you’re some nefarious witch with a penchant for sacrificing children.

Personal Findings

So, I’ve listed a few items here, but there are so many more and so many that may be unique to you. I do things magic with makeup I wear, jewelry I wear, good I cook. It can be completely unique to you. You may find that practicing in secret is much easier than you ever imagined when you learn to put it in your own hands! These are so few in the grand scheme of how many options there are. And hopefully, this helps you feel like you have more wiggle room in your practice than you may of had before.

While I can talk about things I do and things I’ve seen others do, ultimately, you’ll be the best source on what does and doesn’t work for you!

[voxxyboxxy]

Taxes and…. Witchcraft? | Success with Money, Goals, and Revenue at Work

Authors Note: I am not your tax professional, and while I can give some solid advice these things very by state on the state level, and only a few things are stagnant at the federal level. Do not ask me for advice filing your taxes, because depending on where you live it can look heavily different. The outcome of your tax return fully varies on the numbers on your return, which lead to different tax situations and scenarios and unless I were to fully do your return I cannot give you any solid advice. This would also break several guidelines of this Amino, so I wanted to clear this up first here!

Table of Contents

I.Intro

II.Things to Focus On

III.Examples of Items You Can Use

Intro

Taxes are a weird thing to think about in witchcraft, but as a tax officer manager there’s several things, I am responsible for making sure our office meets by the end of season, like our Return Goal, Virtual Goal, Banking Products, Small Business Returns, Revenue, and conversion rates for new vs prior clients!

Because of this, I like to give an extra hand out to my tax professionals who work under me, and outside raising moral, making sure they have the tools for their job, and giving them positive reinforcement and rewards for their hard work and dedication, I like to make small things to help them grow.

Usually I focus on the in-office as I don’t believe witchcraft can solve everything, but I do believe when they’re putting in hard work already and need a boost… we’ll there’s nothing from with that! And when I can’t personally deliver that boost via bonuses, recognition, or general encouragement I do pull out the jars and get started!

Like I said, witchcraft can’t fix everything. I only do this when I know my office is putting in the work to get the results and just need something with more

razzle dazzle!

So one of the biggest things I focus on is in office first. I cannot stress this enough:

If you are an office manager your attitude and work will GREATLY affect your colleagues and it’s up to you to make sure you do your job as a manager first. No amount of magic can or will fix your lack of effort, if you do not give it.

Things to Focus On

So what I do is focus on our softer points. These are the ones that are there but not quite enough. Anything lower than almost-there I focus on in the workplace first. THEN I move to magic. For example, my tax professionals have more than DOUBLED where we are on virtual compared to prior year! However, our goal also doubled, which left us at only half of this new goal-half through the season! I can clearly see there’s effort and work being put in, and we’re on pace to succeed. So I always intend to use witchcraft as a way to influence what’s already there!

We’re also just shy of of Work-In-Progress conversions, and Banking Product sign-ups. I can see the hard work put in, but we partnered with a bank to bring out a new type of account and most people are loyal to their banks. And if I’m being honest even I wouldn’t personally switch to it-but that’s because I am loyal to my bank.

When it comes to being an office manager of anything you also have to make sure you’re putting in your work. I have to make sure I am doing my part for my office-if I’m not there’s nothing witchcraft will actively be able to do for me. You can’t get something from nothing, there needs to be a base-a foundation. My work in the day may look different than those in another type of office, so I won’t go into that detail-plus I promise you it’s just a lot of number crunching and boredom.

However, I can go into the detail with the Witchcraft aspect of all of this. You’re gonna want to start with your base (kitchen, spell jar, offering) and focus on items that fit your office as well as need. For me we’re looking at success, luck, and money. This will more than likely be the one you focus on too. But then we go down a notch-what do I want to do with the luck, money, and success? Well I want high morale, positivity and creativity! Because we don’t just want success we want it to.

Success is more than just hitting numbers and I am a firm believer that a good manager provides support and appreciation. I want my tax office associates to know without a single doubt that no matter what comes they do not need to fear set backs or failure. They don’t need to fear anything. They can just ask for help and I will provide the support they need. They’re the ones that make the office run-I only make sure they have what they need to do so.

Once you have all of this in mind, now it’s time to limit it down slightly more. I’ve already got what I want to improve, where we need the that improvement especially, and how I want to improve it. So now, all I need to go through is the way that will work best for my office!

All offices are different, and many have different rules that you need to follow for the office. Most for example, don’t allow any form of smoke. It’s also important to know allergies and sensitivities of those who will be in the office with what you choose. Sure, it may be in a jar in a ceiling but others health does not need compromised because I want to improve our goals via witchcraft.

Our building has spaces in the back and side that are harder to access and would be prime places to leave jars that won’t be distributed or found. Same with charmed coins or offerings!

So now I just need to see how I plan to execute the spell, I have my full layout of What, Where, Why, When-I just need that “How” and then I’m in motion! For my, easiest solution is spell jar, so I can make one up and place it somewhere in the office I know no one will actively mess with it or even find it so it can actively do it’s work undisturbed!

Examples of Items You Can Use

Crystals

Citrine

Pyrite

Jade

Clear Quartz

Herbs

Rosemary

Calendula

Patchouli

Colors

Green

Gold

Silver

Misc.

Thread

Jar

Candles

Metals

Coins

Charms

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Beginners in Need | Types of Witchcraft

This won’t be a complete list of different types of witchcraft. I see a lot of questions regarding what type of witch someone is, what they should label their practice, how to label their practice, etc. While I personally believe you don’t have to label your practice, I understand that this can be important to others. So I wanted to expand on some key things so you all have that stepping stone to move forward! There’s also different types of paganism, such as Hellenic, Norse, or Celtic! But this post won’t be talking about that side of things and focus on the Witchcraft Labels as I’ve noticed there’s much more confusion on that end.

Table of Contents

I.Introduction

II.Examples of Types of Witchcraft

III.Why Some People Use Titles and Others Do Not

Introduction

Hello! You’ve probably seen people label their witchcraft in different ways! You may even start to wonder… what type of witch are you then? First things first-you don’t have to have a label, unless you actually want it. Always remember that! Now, if you do what to label your witchcraft… how do you do so?

Theres some main branches that label broad concepts, then you can always get a little more in depth but there’s no inherent need to go to far into it unless you want to.

Examples of Types of Witchcraft

These are going to sound very broad, and very basic. But they are only meant to serve as examples and not a teaching point of what they are in full, nor a full list of the different types you may see.

Secular-Secular witches don’t use religion in their workings. They may have a religion, but it is separate from their workings.

Solitary-Solitary is just that! Someone who prefers to stay to themselves and not participate in anything like covens or group rituals/spells.

Green-Exactly as it sounds, Green Witches have a focus on using natural items in their craft. A few related practices may be things like herbs, and natural medicines.

Kitchen-The use of food and flavor in their workings! Kitchen Witchery is focused on what goes down with the pots, pans, and mixing bowls!

Death-You’ll see terms like Death Doula, or Psychopomp here, as well as general necromancy and the like. (No-not that kind of necromancy.)

Chaos-We all know that Chaos is… well chaotic! Imagine a little bit of everything and nothing at the same time. There’s no real rule set, but also so many things! All of the things!

Traditional/Folk-Traditional and Folk practices heavily depend on location! Think of an old woman in the woods of Appalachia, Vs a weathered man in the deserts of North America. They will have very different folk or traditional practices as it’s based of folk tales, wives tales, and tradition of the area. My grandmother liked to refer to herself as a “backwoods witch” when really, she was just an Appalachian Folk practitioner.

Why Some People Use Titles and Others Do Not

You’ll see a lot of discourse on if you need a title or not. Often times when someone asks where they’d fall in different subcategories, there’s at least one person to tell them that it does not matter. While to some it does not, I usually urge people not to tell others that something that may matter a lot to them does not matter.

I don’t have a good title for my path. It’s an amalgamation, and I always refer to it as such. Titles do not matter to me in this sense… but to someone else, especially someone finding their footing, it could mean the world to have an idea of where they can look for more information from people like themselves.

For someone like me, titles just don’t work. I don’t stick to one type of thing to only read one type of thing. But someone who is specifically in the Green Witch category may use that heavily, to find books that are made for them and their path or others like them! If you wanted to find more information on Death Doulas, that’s exactly what you’d look into, the SEO you’d use to find the information. And if you wanted to find books on Demonolatry, you’d look up Demonolatry. So imagine how being able to find people who do the same thing you do to give this information can be a godsend-especially for people who don’t have ready access.

I live in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is so known for Witchcraft and the like that one of our state officials is open about their spirituality and they still have their office. I don’t struggle to find resources, and face much less backlash for being open that others. Most people will see my Lilith necklace and Rune tattoos and it’s a knowing smile before it’s questions on if I worship the Devil and sacrifice small animals for fun. Not everyone has that! Even in the same state, more rural areas may face much different circumstances to myself, because I live next to one of our major cities.

When you live in an area that’s much less accepting, being able to use these titles can help a lot to find resources, because they may not have anything else. In an hours drive I have 6 metaphysical shops. Someone else may need to go out of state for their closest one.

For me, a title does not help me, nor does it even describe me. For someone else, a title may be the world in finding resources, and a way for them to find likeminded people. So, while some like me do not use titles as it can almost hinder us-to some it boosts them in a way we could not imagine.

[voxxyboxxy]

Imposter Syndrome and Witchcraft

Table of Contents

I.What is Imposter Syndrome?

II.Imposter Syndrome in Religious Beliefs

III.How Can You Battle It?

What is Impost Syndrome?

Imposter Syndrome can best be defined as when someone cannot acknowledge their accomplishments or goals, that they fear they will be figured out as a fraud, and constantly doubting their abilities as a functional person. While it can be found in all people, it’s known to disproportionately affect people who have a lot of high achievements.

Examples are things like good grades in schooling, promotions or raises at work, constantly needing reassurance that they are indeed doing good, but still not believing those who give such praise.

So how do we see imposter syndrome in the realm of religion?

Imposter Syndrome in Religious Beliefs

Often Imposter Syndrome can affect our perception of our religion, though it can come in different forms. This varies by religious belief, oftentimes because of how different each belief can be.

There's no solid definition of how it presents in religion, but similar to how it presents in other aspects of our life (such as education) there can be a large feeling of doubt in what we know. A feeling that you need to read more, that you haven’t learned enough. No matter how long you’ve been practicing you may not feel “ready” enough for the “bigger things.” Maybe even complete doubt in your abilities and capabilities despite others letting you know, or even proof you’ve given yourself that you do indeed know.

How Can You Battle It?

If you’re like me, you’re inner voice is a lot meaner to yourself than it is to others. For example:

There's a new witch, they’re unsure of what to do despite reading a lot of books. The books all had varying information on the same topic and they’ve come to ask for help. You see many people are happy to clear the air on what was misinformation and help them sort it out.

Here you probably feel sympathetic because you relate. You know how that can be! You’re happy to lend a hand as well and feel it’s fully reasonable this new witch needed help because they’re new and are trying! Now our next example:

You’re a new witch and are unsure of what to do despite reading a lot of books. The books all had varying information on the same topic and you don’t know which pieces are right, and which are wrong. You think you may need help. You see many people are happy to clear the air on what was misinformation and help them sort it out.

Putting yourself in that situation, I can almost guarantee you’re unhappy. You are upset you needed help. Why don’t you get it already? It’s so simple! Look how everyone else knew! Now they know you’re a fraud. Now they know you don’t know what you’re talking about! This is an example of my inner monologue.

If you relate to that here's the best thing I can tell you to help with your Imposter Syndrome.

Change your inner voice to reflect how you feel about others. Don’t treat yourself badly just because it’s you. Act as if you’re watching another through their own eyes. Talk to yourself just as you do others. If it’s okay for them I PROMISE it’s okay for you.

I'm not an expert in mental health, however, I am an expert on how I feel and what affects me in what ways. While the suggested method may not work for you, there’s a wonderful article on Forbes that should give you multiple ways to help manage your imposter syndrome in a way that works for you, and help you develop a healthier relationship with your religion/magic beliefs.

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Demonosophy: Deeper Explanation, How to Incorporate, and Common Misconceptions

Table of Contents

I.Deeper Explanation

II.How To Incorporate

III.Common Misconceptions

Deeper Explanation

Hello! If you remember, not to long ago I made a post that had a very general breakdown of the differences in the three main terms used to describe different types of Demon work. You can find that post HERE. I do suggest reading it if you haven’t already for this post, because here I’m diving deeper into Demonosophy, but since I have already laid the foundation in that post, we’ll be building off of it! So, for a deeper explanation of Demonosophy, let’s start with the word.

Demon-osophy. Demon Philosophy. What’s philosophy? By actual definition- it is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.

Okay what are you saying? A lot of people relate philosophy to ideas on how the world works. Which isn’t wrong but it’s grossly oversimplified. It’s not just an idea oof how the world or people work-it is usually the theoretical basis of a particular branch of knowledge or experience. Which means philosophy doesn’t stop at “I believe a lying dog with continue to lie” it actually doesn’t stop until we get to the actual root cause of the behavior.

For example, philosophers we know commonly from Ancient Greece and Rome. We hear the name and go “oh wow super old but super smart!” But it was more than just “knowing” how the world functioned at the time. There were criteria and a lot of public backlash if you were just wrong. One philosopher faced such when he stated man is but a featherless bipedal animal. Some took the feathers off a chicken and brought it to him: “Behold-a man.”

Because… that’s apparently all it took to be a man. You had two legs, no feathers. Well a defeathered chicken also fits that and *drum roll* he was laughed at for it because it’s not philosophical-it’s an observation that could be made by anyone. That’s where philosophy is different that just observations there’s actual study behind it. It is very common vernacular to say “my philosophy is _!” And it just be a general observation, but we use a lot of words in ways they weren’t originally intended or their actual definition becomes lost to us in years changing in how we speak. That’s why we’ll see some words with an archaic definition with one now that is completely different.

But the only reason I bring this definition up is that’s where we get the actual meaning behind Demonosophy. It’s not just observations on life based on the demonic presence. It is the actual teachings and indoctrination (archaic definition) of demons, not just “I’m a demonolater and I see life this way”

So breaking this down further just ever so slightly; we’re looking at the actual teachings of demons. Which we all know Asmodeus wasn’t in front of a classroom chalkboard explaining math formulae-but many demons are attributed with a form of math, science, reading or so and this is why. That is typically their philosophical standings. Beelzebub for example is heavily connected to science, on top of that not just science but where science and magic met. Think of alchemy, where they couldn’t actually rationalize why this was happening so it was labeled magic, that’s another history lesson in its own, but this is something Beelzebub would have philosophy on. Science and magic are meeting. These ideas typically have names that you’ve probably even heard regularly but had no idea was linked to philosophy! Think of things like Nihilism, Stoicism, Rationalism and so on. These are all the names of philosophies. Many people don’t even realize that it’s that simple.

And Demonosophy is just that. It really is that simple, but it requires archaic definitions to break down, as well as accepting something like the way we use a word isn’t the only right way. This is usually paired with adjusting our thoughts regarding the word because we’re making space for it in a different sense as well. (Which, congratulations this is considered an archaic form of philosophy! You’re breaking down your own thought process regarding it and digging deeper to find the basis!)

How To Incorporate

I can’t answer this for you directly but I can explain some different ways to to hopefully help you there on your own! So first off, you don’t have to use it in large crazy ways. It can literally just be studying philosophies regarding demons.*1

If you want to incorporate it for different reasons, it’ll look different based off the reason. If you wanted to worship Lucifer by learning more philosophy you’re not going to learn philosophies held by Mammon, or taught by Mammon. And you don’t have to make an altar to Mammon to learn more about his philosophy.

All you need to do is build a love for philosophies, and a demon that would interest you to see their philosophy.

Other than that I don’t have anything real or solid on incorporation because it depends fully on why you want to. It ranges from literally just reading about it to adopting it to your lifestyle or thought processes.

Common Misconceptions

So as we get into misconceptions I have footnoted one topic that really circles me into the biggest misconception I see for all Demon based work which is essentially that Demonolatry is not only the umbrella for them all, but also the only end goal. Not all demonic work ends in demonolatry, nor is it the explanation of all demon work.

This isn’t to say demonolatry is bad, but it is to say that people don’t do these things with only the intent to worship. I’ve explained before I have varying beliefs regarding demons, some I worship, some I don’t. Some, I ONLY study. Others I only learn their philosophies. While they do have some overlap because clearly you’re gonna study a demon you worship, and if you worship them you more than likely agree with their teachings. But worship isn’t the only motivator to do these things. Which brings us to our first footnote, where I explain this in more certain terms.

*1

Now some people use it as a form of worship, for me I see that falling under demonolatry because it’s with the intent to worship, so it’s apart of worship.

To explain it in a more clear terms if I go to the store, buy an item, wrap the item and deliver the item to its recipient-the context changes on who the recipient is. If I give it to a friend I simply got them a gift. If I put it on an altar that was an offering and is worship. The steps do not change, the intention is all that did. If I do something as a way to worship a demon it’s demonolatry, the worship of demons. If I don’t it’s just not even if other people do it. I don’t worship baphomet but if I felt a statue of them was cool and put it in my house as decor it’s just that. Decor. But if I did it with the intent of having a figure of religious standpoint then it is. Obviously this is just my view and I know some people see it differently.

Other than that there’s just the misconception that philosophy as it’s typically referred to today is what we’re looking at. Once more, definitions change over time, and this is okay! But we do have to sit back and realize that while some definitions changed with time not all of them did, and words established before hand may not be affected. And sometimes the simplification of words can skew our ideas of long standing ideas, and while some words are very similar across the now and the then, we really do have to take care to remember the time period that things come from. We need to separate ourselves from our view point of “okay but THIS is the right way” and rephrase this as “It’s what is comfortable and familiar to me” because that’s all it boils down to. And a big part of philosophy in its roots is dismantling what we think we know to be fact and finding the actual facts with it!

A core part of philosophy is being willing to look deeper than the surface for an answer. There’s a joke,

“What’s a philosopher's favorite question? Why!”

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Demonolatry: Deeper Explanation, How to Incorporate, and Common Misconceptions

Table of Contents

I.Deeper Explanation

II.How To Incorporate

III.Common Misconceptions

Deeper Explanation

I am back once more, if you’ve seen my last two post you know I’ve been doing deeper explanations of the three primary forms of demonic based work. Demonology, Demonosophy, and now we are onto Demonolatry! So we already know that the suffix olatry means worship. Demon-olatry = Demon Worship.

Its very cut and dry-but it’s also not! You see and little bit of everything falls under Demonolatry. You study demons to worship them, you follow their philosophy and teachings to show respect, there’s a little bit of everything here so, how can you tell when it’s demonolatry and when it’s not? I wanted you to ask yourself just one question:

”Is it done with the intention of worship?”

If your answer is no it’s not demonolatry. If you remove the worship it’s no longer worship, but if something is done with full intentions to make it about worship, or with the intent to later worship-its already there.

Demonolatry is beautiful in the fact that it encompasses everything. But it is not everything. It’s kinda a weird scenario where everything is and isn’t worship until confirmed. I worship Asmodeus, so everything I do in that front is directly toed to worship. But if we walk over to Lord Beelzebub I more so follow his teachings and philosophy. While I may study and read for both of them the intention I do it in is different.

How To Incorporate

Same way you would any deity if I’m fully honest. Worship is worship, it’s very personal and it’s very flexible. What you may do, may not mean anything to me. I incorporate red in every outfit, but that may mean nothing to you as you light red altar candles.

Do your research, so respect-there’s no steady guide for how, when, where, or why. Do it as you can and in a way that makes sense for you and you got that under wraps. I can’t teach you something like this in anyway because there’s so many different demons that like so many different things. Seek out post regarding those entities and read away. Because remember “If done with the intent to worship it counts as worship.” That small act can mean a whole lot.

Common Misconceptions

The biggest one I see on both sides is that everything is done with the intention to worship. Or that worship should be the first and only goal. I don’t agree with that because it erases not only our other two umbrellas from this storm, it also takes away the meaning in which we do things.

If you only worship because there’s no other choice, it’s not really worship. You’re only doing it because you see no better option to go about what you actually want to. And it’s okay to not know at first but we should always be listening and honoring ourselves-you’ll find most of the demonic expect that from us as well.

-Quick note, below I will be talking about more broad and hateful misconceptions. I will try to do so in a light hearted tone to ease the impact these statements make. I will also be talking about the affects other people in the community can negatively effect us, despite not meaning to or knowing better.-

I know I don’t need to repeat the same rhetoric we’ve all heard before. Most if not all of paganism or witchcraft has been slapped into a abyss of echoing “Demon Worshippers!” For ages. So we all already know the misconceptions that we’re here to steal children and eat the wives of caring husbands or the sons of doting mothers.

While I can’t speak for everyone I do know that I’ve never wished to steal someone’s child (I’m one and done thank you). We hear it all the time and YES we being in the community at all “proves them right” which leads into a bigger, possibly more harmful misconception.

That we don’t exist at all. No! Never! Witches don’t worship Satan! Satanist don’t even worship Satan! (This is also technically wrong some branches of satanism do worship Satan, but that makes some branches that follow no true religion look like liars so we just stay quiet about that one.)

This usually leads to us being ostracized by all communities. Which sucks because it’s only happening because our existence makes the other group mad. So I’m an attempt to get the other group to accept you you must cut us out of the picture before you frame it for them.

And I hate to say it but all it does is further more misconceptions. Because now I’m “so bad the other heathens don’t want me either.” In all honesty it’s surprising to find spaces that allow demonolatry if they weren’t built with demonolatry mind. Or really any Demon based workings you begin with.

So, while it’s tempting to try and appease the “others” remember that no matter how much you try to cut us away from your cloth, we are on the same quilt regardless.

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Blood Magic

Authors Note: There will be discussion of blood, blood magic, collection process, safety measures, etc. There will be no imagery, or graphic details of these items.

Table of Contents

I.Introduction

II.Basics

III.Putting it All Together

Introduction

Hello! I’ve made blood magic posts in the past. This one is more so aimed to be a general guide than my post on safety (HERE). When it comes to blood magic, I feel like there are a lot of misconceptions, and misunderstandings that come from the general idea that the words “blood magic” bring forth. It sounds dark, scary, edgy-maybe even super cool and powerful when you’re just stepping in. Some real serious stuff, where if you make one mistake you DIE! (You won’t if you’re careful… while there are possible risks, read the safety post for that.)

Ultimately there is no real fear to have, as long as you do proper research and take proper precautions for you and others. What you may not know, is not all blood is drawn in some huge ritualistic way with nothing but intense meanings behind every little move. It’s usually much calmer, and ultimately not all that cinematic like most forms of witchcraft are portrayed to be.

Basics

When it comes to the basics of blood magic, the first thing to know is your intent here does matter a lot. A lot of people have fears of using blood magic in forms of spells that are meant to affect others because they’re worried it will essentially direct it at them instead. What really matters is the intent you use it in.

Blood is, at its base, an amplifier. Not solely a taglock. Its use is essentially to add an extra oomph to the working you are doing. Now if you change that intent, you have a different story. Say you want to aim a spell at you, and your intention is to use blood as a taglock, you have a very direct taglock and an amplifier to your working! Your intent will matter a lot with blood magic.

Outside of amplifying and directing a spell to yourself, blood can have other symbolic meanings depending on the source! For example, some people use other forms of “blood” like sap (tree blood), fake blood, menstrual blood, etc. for a different purpose.

For example, I’ve always associated menstrual blood with moon phases. Like New Beginnings, things coming to an end. Or if I draw from an area of my lips, it’s usually related to the power of one’s voice, sweetening my words, negotiation, so on. These meanings tend to be more dependent on the person, like I said these are my personal attributes. But the beauty of blood magic is… it’s very personal!

Putting it All Together

Okay so you have resources on safety, resources on what blood magic is and how it can be used, and some lose ideas on different ways you can personalize it. Now all you have to do is put all of that together. It's a wonderful path when you chose to walk it. And hopefully you’ve come to learn from this post that it’s not scary, nor cinematic. It just is, just as we are.