witchesofvaliant

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31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism & Demonolatry - Day 8

DAY EIGHT:

Do you have altar(s)? If you do, how do you use it? If you don’t have one, do you want one? Why/why not?

I just recently made one, actually! During mid-December, I made a very simple altar with a few LED candles around a silver jewelry box. I use it for any deity and primarily formalities and meditation with spirits/deities, as I really don't have much to use and as a closet witch, I can't really be obvious about these things either. I ALSO plan to finish a Minecraft world with various altars made for the various deities I work with/worship, and that one I'm VERY excited for! Generally, however, I've hardly felt a true need to use it regularly nor have I felt it to be a necessity for my practice, as I really don't like feeling like I need anything to practice witchcraft, or my spiritual beliefs.

Dividers by @cafekitsune

[witchesofvaliant]

Divination: Beginner Guide, Clairsenses, & Interpreting - Part 2

Clairsenses

Before we get into specifics, let's clarify the big question in this section: What is a clairsense?

Clairsenses are basically spiritual aids that allow one to gain knowledge through any method of understanding that we would regularly gain knowledge through. And we can gain knowledge through our 5 senses, knowledge given, through emotion, and through sensation.

1: Clairvoyance

This clairsense involves sight, as it means "clear seeing" and can be described as seeing something in the spiritual sense, whether that be a form, color, a scene like a memory, and so on. This can also happen either externally, like seeing it in front of you or outside of you, or it can happen internally, as if seeing it in your mind. Through clairvoyance, you can see people's auras, events that have happened or will happen, or various kinds of spiritual entities.

2: Claircognizance

This clairsense involves knowledge/thinking, and means "clear knowing" as it relates to knowing things that you wouldn't have tangible evidence to know. This often culminates in understanding things you wouldn't otherwise know. It can be confused with clairsentience or even clairempathy, but this is purely the knowledge and thought aspect of clairsensing, and many often end up with a combination of clairsenses going off, either one after another, or at the same time. Claircognizance can have you knowing how a person would react with little knowledge of who they are, and then perhaps seeing that through clairvoyance, or sensing the emotion through clairempathy all around the same moment of each other.

3: Clairaudience

This clairsense is connected to one's hearing, and means "clear hearing", and is best described as hearing sounds or speech in the spiritual sense. This sense is in use when you're hearing speech directly from spirits (including deities), or sounds that you might not normally hear. Like clairvoyance, it can also occur externally or internally, feeling as if it came from in your mind, like hearing a voice in your mind, or from outside of you as if you'd heard someone speak in front of you (it can vary of course, but this is the general example).

4: Clairempathy

This clairsense means "clear emotion". It has to do with gaining understanding through sensing emotion. This is often confused with clairsentience and both can be felt together as well. However, most tend to describe clairempathy as sensing emotion, while clairsentience, as we'll talk about next, is feeling sensations.

5: Clairsentience

This clairsense is connected to sensing feeling, physical feeling, and means "clear feeling". Clairsentience relates to physical sensation, and many also define this as feeling emotion, the empathic part of interacting with someone else, basically. To give a better example and comparison of both clairsentience and clairempathy, would be that while you as a person, may feel your face get hot when you're angry, the understanding that there is rage would be tied to the clairempathy, and the face being hot and even the feeling of what rage feels like would be attached to clairsentience.

6: Clairtangency

This clairsense is connected to one's touch, and is described as "clear touch". Thus, clairtangency relates to sensing through touch, meaning you would gain understanding about an event, an object, a person, etc. when touching that object or person. This practice is also called psychometry. To give a proper example of this, say you touched a necklace, then ended up knowing an event that happened surrounding the necklace, or information on the person that might've previously owned it. From experience, I can also say that you can have other clairsenses come into play in combination with this, as you may have a vision of an event, or feeling the event physically, or sensing the emotion attached to the object/person.

7: Clairsalience

This clairsense is tied to sensing through smell, and means "clear smelling". Clairsalience is fairly straightforward, alike to clairaudience, it basically relates to knowing through smelling, so you may end up smelling some random smell, like perfume or flowers, that can lead you to gaining understanding about something previously unknown. In my experience, it has come up in various ways, I have gotten smells leading me to understand someone's aura, I've gotten odd smells for various spirits, I've had a beautiful smell of flowers in relation to the spiritual as well. At times, it has been in combination with other clairsenses as well.

8: Clairgustance

This clairsense means "clear tasting" and connects to tasting without there being anything physical in the mouth to lead to one having that taste sensation. Fairly straightforward as well, you'd end up gaining information/understanding as you have a certain taste in your mouth, very alike to the way clairsalience would work as well.

Sources:

The Eight Clair Senses: A Visual Guide To The Spiritual Psychic Senses by Ruben Ricart

Dividers by @cafekitsune

[witchesofvaliant]

Love the idea! Spreading the word 🙏

It is finally here! My very first collaborative zine! Anyone is more than welcome to submit whatever they want to it, as long as it focuses on underworld Hellenic deities.

For any questions or issues, please contact me on Tumblr via ask or private message.

SUBMISSION FORM - DEADLINE: 15 FEBRUARY 2025

I look forward to seeing what everyone submits and I hope everyone has fun ^^

[witchesofvaliant]

Please check out using playing cards too if you're comfortable with it!

It's part of a divination method called cartomancy, and you can even use the numerology tied to tarot for it as a beginner, but I'll eventually post my own card setups for playing cards and more information on my experience and practice with it, as this is my primary form of divination currently, especially as a closeted witch ❤

୭🧷✧˚. ᵎᵎ 🎀 As a broke devotee I don't possess many methods of divination for communicating with the deities. While I do have my oracle deck - I thought it important to have multiple means of divining! I realized that this may be the case for others sooo... Here are some other free and accessible tools I use~;

Labyrinthos App - My Favourite! (Has tarot, runes and lenormand for daily readings and has tons of educational content for you to learn divination.)

Coins - Nothing more simple then a coin flip, I flip a 2 dollar coin for yes or no readings!

Dice - This one is more personal and fun! you can put different answers for each side of the dice and just roll!

୧ ‧₊˚ 🍓 ⋅ ☆ I strongly suggest checking these if you're in a similar place!

[witchesofvaliant]

31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism & Demonolatry - Day 7

DAY SEVEN:

Are you openly a Hellenic Polytheist/Demonolater offline? How does being open/not being open effect your worship?

I'm actually not open about it to anyone around me offline. Any environment I'm often around, that primarily being my family is very heavily Christian and not open about these things at all. Because of that, I do have to find a lot of ways to practice as I wish without the worry of being caught or drawing attention to it. Ironically, it helped me to learn from the start how important it is to understand that you use what you have, you do what feels most right to you, and you don't have to practice how anyone else practices. Most of all, understand you just bring yourself to your deities, and to your practice, and that's all you need to start with, and that's all you ever do need, as long as you feel that's right.

Dividers by @cafekitsune

[witchesofvaliant]

31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism & Demonolatry - Day 1-6

Welcome to my 31 days, with a twist of Demonolatry added in too!

DAY ONE:

Who was the first deity you began worshipping? Do you still worship them now?

The first deity I began worshipping was Hades/Pluto, and I do indeed still worship with him now, and in fact now work with him, which definitely was a journey with a lot of shadow work involved and learning before I was allowed to work with him and that I was comfortable with working with him as well.

DAY TWO:

Which deity did you most recently start worshipping? Were you called to them or did you reach out first? Do you think there were specific reasons behind why you were drawn to them?

Barbatos is the most recent deity I've started worshipping & working with, and it was more that I was called to him, with him reaching out first. I'm still learning and understanding more about him, but I do see reasons behind why I'd be drawn towards him, both in his personality and in part of his domain, that revolves around the revealing of secrets or the unknown, and understanding mysteries and divination. Honestly, this is going to definitely include shadow work as it tends to with other deities Lol

DAY THREE:

How long ago did you start Hellenic Polytheism?

About two years ago, actually! I certainly would've started sooner, but it took a lot of deconstruction of my (toxic) Christian upbringing, so it just goes to show, one's journey in anything can take much longer than we like at times, but all of the best things happen in their own time and when the time is right for you.

DAY FOUR:

Are there any deities you don’t currently worship but want to learn about?

Absolutely and I think it's always that way Lol Prometheus, Moros, Khaos, Phobetor & Phantasos, Nemesis, Eris, Belial, and Astaroth. (Probably more, but that's what I can think of for now)

DAY FIVE:

How much have you bonded with your deities?

I'd say plenty, but there's still much more to learn and go! The ones listed as me being devoted to are the ones I know best and feel closest to at this point (Hades, Lucifer, Ares, Kronos, and Stolas), but even then, like a close friendship, you continue to learn with time about the person you feel so close to. I am able to be very casual with these deities most of all, though I'm casual with plenty, but just as you open up more to another as you get closer in a relationship, it feels like I continue to see more of them, a side they didn't show when I first had met them or was just beginning to know them. With time, we continue to know each other, building a greater bond, and a better relationship with one another.

DAY SIX:

What’s one way you incorporate Hellenic Polytheism and/or Demonolatry into your routine (daily, weekly, monthly, etc?)

The single primary way is by meditating and cleansing at the beginning of the day alongside any deity I worship that simply feels most right or whoever decides to simply join me. I also pray before eating at times, offering my food to a deity or more than one deity I worship. But most of all, I just tend to give my time to a deity regularly, existing with them, and letting them channel through me at times.

Dividers by @cafekitsune

[witchesofvaliant]

I'm going to be doing this for the month of January instead, as I'd gotten really sick since the end of November and almost all of December Lol But hey, I DO plan to get this done! I'll be releasing the first catch-up post later today, so stay tuned ❤

31 Days of Hellenic Polytheism

Anyone can participate regardless of how long you’ve been a Hellenic polytheist! My hope is to use these questions to reflect on the year, and repeat next year to see what has changed, and hopefully to continue doing that every year!

Answer in as much or as little detail as you see fit. You are allowed to skip any questions that you are uncomfortable answering. These questions can also apply to heroes, not just deities. You can pick specific deities to answer each one, or answer the questions with all the deities you worship. This might apply to other Pantheons and I’m happy for it to be used as such. Feel free to tweak some of the questions to fit those pantheons if you’d like!

Please link this list on your posts with your answers so that it is easy for others to find if they want to participate too after seeing your answers.

THIS IS TO BE DONE DURING DECEMBER, I’M JUST POSTING THE LIST NOW SO PEOPLE CAN FIND IT!

Have fun!

DAY ONE: Who was the first deity you began worshipping? Do you still worship them now? If this has been answered before: how has your worship changed since last year?

DAY TWO: Which deity did you most recently start worshipping? Were you called to them or did you reach out first? Do you think there were specific reasons behind why you were drawn to them?

DAY THREE: How long ago did you start Hellenic Polytheism?

DAY FOUR: Are there any deities you don’t currently worship but want to learn about?

DAY FIVE: How much have you bonded with your deities?

DAY SIX: What’s one way you incorporate Hellenic Polytheism into your routine (daily, weekly, monthly, etc?)

DAY SEVEN: Are you openly a Hellenic Polytheist offline? How does being open/not being open effect your worship?

DAY EIGHT: Do you have altar(s)? If you do, how do you use it? If you don’t have one, do you want one? Why/why not?

DAY NINE: Is there a practice that’s common among other Hellenic Polytheists that you’re skeptical about?

DAY TEN: What’s something you’ve learned about Hellenic Polytheism that you wish you knew sooner?

DAY ELEVEN: What is the clearest sign you’ve received from a deity?

DAY TWELVE: Do you do food offerings or libations? What do you do with the food/drink after you’ve offered it?

DAY THIRTEEN: Do you write your own prayers?

DAY FOURTEEN: Do you have any hobbies that fit any of your deities’ domains?

DAY FIFTEEN: How has your worship changed you?

DAY SIXTEEN: If you could give one piece of advice to someone who’s just starting in Helpol, what would it be?

DAY SEVENTEEN: Send out some love! Are there any Helpol blogs here on tumblr that you follow and really like?

DAY EIGHTEEN: How can you best describe your relationship with each of your deities?

DAY NINETEEN: If you had to assign one song to each of the deities you worship, what songs would you choose?

DAY TWENTY: Do you have a favourite aspect of Hellenic Polytheism?

DAY TWENTY-ONE: Are there any retellings/adaptations of greek mythology that you LIKE? Why/why not?

DAY TWENTY-TWO: Is there an aspect of Hellenic polytheism you haven’t yet gotten to try but hope to in the future? Do you have any other Helpol-related goals for next year?

DAY TWENTY-THREE: What’s a bit of UPG you have with your deities?

DAY TWENTY-FOUR: What’s an offering you’ve made that you’re really proud of?

DAY TWENTY-FIVE: What was the most surprising thing you’ve learnt about Hellenic Polytheism or your deities?

DAY TWENTY-SIX: Do you celebrate any festivals? Which ones or why not?

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: Share a fun fact about one or more of your deities which you think is underrated or not well-known

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT: What is your favourite myth?

DAY TWENTY-NINE: What is an aspect of your deities you really appreciate?

DAY THIRTY: Do you have a visual interpretation of your deities? Is this different from usual depictions you see of them?

DAY THIRTY-ONE: Share a positive experience you’ve had this month/year with one or more of your deities

[witchesofvaliant]

THIS

I truly hope more and more people understand how important this is, not just for the sake of learning, but for everyone's health. Do you know just how dizzying and ruinous it is to exist in a state of close minded messiness because you either couldn't bear to accept that you can do as you wish and everyone practices things differently and has a different opinion, or because you were raised/put in a state where you feel you have to believe that there should be no other way but the single way you were pushed into? Then there's the unhealthy mess that everyone else has to deal with, because you were close-minded, and the pain dealt on them because they are invalidated and made to feel less or their beliefs are made to feel wrong, and if you came from a toxic spiritual environment, then that's going to give those who still haven't recovered from that, a huge negative feeling and possibly a setback in their recovery process.

Am I ranting? Maybe. But it's SO important for this to be emphasized throughout any practice or belief in the world. So excuse me while I spell out why this kind of thing is so important to remember and accept. I hope those who aren't aware of this let it sink in, it's in everyone's best interest, for the self and others around you.

It also means that you are free to do what feels right in your own practice too! And please, don't let anyone else tell you what the right way to practice is. And don't close yourself off to any knowledge. Be respectful, but enjoy your practice and journey! 🙏

I think if there’s one thing that many of us in the vast community of polytheistic worship can agree upon, it’s that research never stops. Learning never ends. There is always more to know.

There is no one specific way to practice, but for the love of the Gods PLEASE be open to new information or you’re just doing yourself a disservice.

[witchesofvaliant]

✦ Minor Deity Monday - Morpheus ✦

Welcome to the first of a series!

The first episode of this series starts off with Morpheus, the Greek Shapeshifting God of Dreams and the leader of the Oneiroi, personifications having to do with dreams, or dream spirits (aka daemones).

Who is he?

The name of Morpheus (Μορφευς) means "form" or "shape" and he is known specifically for being the Oneiros who personifies the human form in dreams, taking the shape of various humans and being able to copy the exact voice and mannerisms of the being as well. He also is known to have delivered dreams to humans, and at times delivered messages or prophecy through these dreams.

Mythology

In mythology, Morpheus is considered leader of the Oneiroi, dream daemones, children of either Nyx (Night) and Erebos (Darkness) or of Hypnos (Sleep) and Pasithea (Relaxation), that are called brothers with each other, with the three Oneiroi mentioned in mythology being Morpheus (Form), Phobetor (Frightener), and Phantasos (Fantasy).

Morpheus, along with the rest of the Oneiroi are said to "sleep" in a cave in Erebos (with either Hypnos or Erebos) that is located in the Underworld. The Oneiroi seem to tend to be "sleeping" under the effects of poppy seeds which exist in the cave they reside in. The Poppy plant contains opiates, which is where morphine is derived from. In low doses, it causes drowsiness, sleepiness, and a mild high.

There isn't much mention of Morpheus specifically throughout mythology, with the most prominent of myths including him being in the story of Alcyone and a suspected theory of Morpheus being the unnamed Oneiroi who gave Agamemnon a dream in the Iliad.

Alcyone and Morpheus

After the death of Alcyone's husband, Hera feeling terrible for the situation, had Iris go to Erebos, where Hypnos and the Oneiroi reside, and told Hypnos that Alcyone needed to be told of her husband's death. Hypnos then enlists Morpheus, who fit the situation best as he then goes to Alcyone in the night, and takes the form of her dead husband, copying his voice and mannerisms perfectly, and telling her that she had lost her husband.

Agamemnon's Dream

In the Iliad, Zeus wished to give victory to Achilles during the Trojan War, so to do this, he planned to fool Agamemnon first. For this to work, Zeus enlists the help of Dream (who is suspected to be Morpheus), who turns into Nestor, an advisor to Agamemnon, and speaks to him in his sleep making him believe Zeus is on his side. By doing this, Agamemnon follows through on this fake advice and makes a tactical error, losing in battle instead.

Personal Gnosis

In my personal experience, Morpheus, alike to how he is thought to be in myth, he seems to appear as a young man or entirely cloaked in shadow, either way having dark/blackened angel-like wings, and standing far above even a tall human height. He does also live in Erebos, within the Underworld, with the other Oneiroi.

I also personally feel him to be nonbinary, but primarily male-presenting, so "he" or "they" works!

His attitude can tend to be stoic but with a dark sense of humor, at times being fairly serious when he truly needs you to know something and more mischievous when you fail to pay attention to him, especially if you're in a dream with him. He's a wonderful guide and teacher especially in terms of dream work and has actually helped me quite a bit with understanding lucid dreaming much better. Additionally, as I've seen some talk in a few spaces of liminal deities, I'd consider Morpheus one, especially as a deity known for changing shape and existing primarily in the world of dreams.

He's connected to the element of Air, and the colors silver, black, dark blue, grey, and gold.

The three primary epithets I know him as are: - Winged Guide of Dreams - Focuses on his dream and guiding aspects - The Dark Messenger - Focuses on his prophetic aspects - The Shifting Shadow - Focuses on his more liminal and transformative aspects

Further Resources on Morpheus:

https://www.theoi.com/Daimon/OneirosMorpheus.html

https://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/morpheus.html

https://www.thecollector.com/morpheus-greek-god/

https://olympioi.com/demigods/morpheus

https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/morpheus-the-god-of-dreams/

Divider by @enchanthings

[witchesofvaliant]

Divination: Beginner Guide, Clairsenses, & Interpreting - Part 1

Introduction

This will be a four part series to start. I'm finding that it's going to be so long, I need to divide it into parts, and then possibly create a masterlist in the future specifically for divination posts. Anywayyy...

Honestly, divination of all sorts comes up all the time in my practice, as well as others. It's not necessarily only a witchcraft thing, as it was "practiced in every culture in the world throughout history"(1). With that preface, divination is also not just tarot or dice, there are many various tools and methods to performing divination. With that said, I include the clairsenses in the area of divination, as they can be an aid in their own right, with your own self being the medium through the aid of clairsenses.

What is Divination?

Divination can be defined as "the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers"(2). To provide my own definition, Divination is the act of seeking out experience & knowledge of what was previously unknown through the spiritual. Additionally, it's an incredibly broad subject, that includes things like astrology, mediumship, and dream work.

So, let's dive into what that all means in the coming posts!

Sources:

LibGuides at Monmouth University - Occult Science - Divination

Merriam-Webster Dictionary - Divination

Dividers by @sweetmelodygraphics and @cafekitsune

[witchesofvaliant]

Deity Wisdom Nuggets - Pt. 2

"When you let the tides of the moon's shadow wash over you, your cleansing begins, relief is on the way" - Lucifer

The idea is when your shadow self shows through, the part of yourself you hate or want to push away, and the pain and emotion washes over you (Thus "the moon's shadow"), let yourself feel and accept it. It's a part of you, and only then can you be cleansed in this acceptance and you will feel relief

Thank you to King Lucifer 🖤

Dividers by @cafekitsune

[witchesofvaliant]

Working With Deities

Since I'll be posting a lot more on the deities I work with, and other deities in general, I think it would be good to share the deities I work with for a quick moment.

Deities I have worked with:

Apollo

Aphrodite

Persephone

Hekate

Deities I work with currently:

Hades

Lucifer

Kronos

Stolas

Ares

Hermes

Morpheus

Barbatos

Dionysus

Gaia

Eros

It's not much, but it's a bit of an intro for what's to come ✨

Also, I'd like to mention, I tend to still worship and honor the deities I have worked with, both out of respect and love for the time we've spent closely, but also out of general respect for them. Of course, I also worship and honor deities within both pantheons that I don't end up working with, as you don't have to work with them to worship them!

Dividers by @cafekitsune

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Hi! I've been for a while on Poppy's server, I dont interact much with people, im just starting as a witch and im struggling with autism. I never had issues with them, I feel safe and listened there. As an autistic individual I disagree with you about how its an unsafe server or maybe not accepting for neurodivigent people. I also seen you saying things about Poppys server being homophobic or creating channels for them separately

Idk its just not true that they are treated differently

There are many incorrect statements about this server and its just... There is so much hurtful things.

Im not supporting Poppy, idk, shes nice but i dont really even know who she is. Im just there because im there. And know her by name. Im not a follower or whatever you call it.. well. Yeah. Its. Please stop doing that. Its just harmful

Hello anon and thank you for the message!

I'm glad you feel safe and listened to, and I hope you continue to find places that are safe and comfortable for you to be in! My great hope is that the server does become safe and pleasant for everyone, going forward, but from what I experienced, as I shared, it wasn't safe for me, nor for others, as this post from @wayfind-er shows other asks related to the server where people have shared their experiences as well. That said, I did not say they were not accepting of neurodivergent/LGBT+ people, I don't believe they're homophobic, either. And it is fact, they created separate channels at one point for neurodivergency and LGBT+ members. I stated some uncomfortable and off attitudes about these subjects, citing experiences, not a perspective declaring them all as hateful towards these groups and I don't believe they are so, I'm aware many if not all are part of one of those groups or both. Myself and some other members in the server at the time simply disagreed and were made highly uncomfortable with the way some behaved towards either group and that is stated in my writeup on that here. If you take a look at my blog my only interaction on this matter has been that post, or other asks that other people have posed on the situation, as I am not in favor of ignoring anyone who comes to me to share their experience, and I did invite anyone to reach out to me about their opinions and experiences. Finally, my intention isn't to cause harm, it's to state the harm I've seen that was done to me and others in the server, and to give a message of caution and hopefully a wave of change for the better for those who are involved with that server. I don't want to cause harm, I have never intended to do so, and I wish all, including you and the server the best and hopefully a more positive and kind future.

[witchesofvaliant]

This sums things up very well, thank you to Marie for putting the situation in such a well-written way!

I, as well, highly recommend that no one takes this lightly, many members are heavily active in Tumblr's Helpol community as well, so please be careful about who you're going to talk to, interact with, and whether those ideas are trying to tell you what to believe.

Look, if the vibes are off, you're better not venturing in to figure out why, just leave. Stay safe, and be careful, my DMs and contact routes are available on Discord and Tumblr! ❤

I also interacted with Poppy's server and there's definitely something wrong there, but I cannot pinpoint it. The vibes are off if that makes any sense.

Hello Anon and thank you for the message!

It does make a lot of sense, honestly. In the short time I was there, I saw a lot of disturbing/uncomfortable things, and considering you're mentioning this to me, I'm assuming you know something about what I wrote up already. So to add to that, and on the topic of the "off vibes", while I was there in that server, I gave readings to various people there, and both in readings or simply interacting with the active members, there was this recurring and persistent feeling of a spiritual drain going on in the people there. What does that mean? That most people there that were active or asking for readings were absolutely drained and had no protections nor strong enough understanding of cleansing, and were deeply burdened with no understanding on how to relieve themselves.

In my personal opinion, I don't think it's a safe place to be, and there's a lot of misinformation or lack of information that goes on there and is spoken with a strong level of confidence and authority, with unreliable sources given, or none at all. Any objection or difference in opinion or experience is also met with a strong rejecting opinion bordering on or already into the territory of argument and debate, simply because the higher-ups in the server refuse to agree or accept that there can be a difference of experience/opinion in a religious practice.

I could go on, but this isn't a rant, simply a reply and me trying to give you some examples to help you put into words the vibes you're getting. Feel free to respond or write back/contact me on this more! I'm very happy to talk more about it if you or anyone else is interested! ❤

[witchesofvaliant]

I also interacted with Poppy's server and there's definitely something wrong there, but I cannot pinpoint it. The vibes are off if that makes any sense.

Hello Anon and thank you for the message!

It does make a lot of sense, honestly. In the short time I was there, I saw a lot of disturbing/uncomfortable things, and considering you're mentioning this to me, I'm assuming you know something about what I wrote up already. So to add to that, and on the topic of the "off vibes", while I was there in that server, I gave readings to various people there, and both in readings or simply interacting with the active members, there was this recurring and persistent feeling of a spiritual drain going on in the people there. What does that mean? That most people there that were active or asking for readings were absolutely drained and had no protections nor strong enough understanding of cleansing, and were deeply burdened with no understanding on how to relieve themselves.

In my personal opinion, I don't think it's a safe place to be, and there's a lot of misinformation or lack of information that goes on there and is spoken with a strong level of confidence and authority, with unreliable sources given, or none at all. Any objection or difference in opinion or experience is also met with a strong rejecting opinion bordering on or already into the territory of argument and debate, simply because the higher-ups in the server refuse to agree or accept that there can be a difference of experience/opinion in a religious practice.

I could go on, but this isn't a rant, simply a reply and me trying to give you some examples to help you put into words the vibes you're getting. Feel free to respond or write back/contact me on this more! I'm very happy to talk more about it if you or anyone else is interested! ❤

[witchesofvaliant]

Happy Solstice!

I've been away, working on a few things lately that I plan to post about soon.. But for now... HAPPY SOLSTICE AND YULE TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE! 🥳

I wanted to share how I plan to celebrate this season so here it is below! (And feel free to share how you plan to celebrate too!):

Days of Dusk

A process to honor the ending of the year, a new cycle dying and being born anew. During this time, I honor the deities I work closest with as well that would like to be included and feel most connected with this time of death & renewal.

I honor Hades, the King of Death & Rebirth. I honor Kronos/Khronos/Saturn, the Lord of Time and Change. I honor Lucifer, the Lightbringer and King of Hell.

11 days, lasting from Dec. 21st to Jan. 1st, each day, during the night, candles will be lit, honoring the deities involved, and a meditation that focuses on letting the past burdens go, letting death (not literally) occur, and letting all things that have hurt go. Performing deep cleansing over the soul, processing and accepting the past.

Jan. 1st - Day of Twilight

The day in between, a celebration of both the end and the beginning!

This day, both Hades and Persephone are honored. Khronos, especially, is honored. And Lucifer, the Morningstar and King of Hell is honored.

During this day, a longer period of meditation and prayer is done, along with an act of devotional writing commemorating this cycle of change and death & rebirth.

Days of Dawn

A process to honor the beginning of the year, a new cycle beginning and renewed. As said above, the deities I am closest to and are closest to this time and to death & renewal, are honored during this time.

I honor Persephone, the Queen of Death/Rebirth and Spring. I honor Kronos/Khronos/Saturn, the Lord of Time and Change. I honor Lucifer, (especially) the Morningstar.

11 days, lasting from Jan. 1st to Jan. 12th, each day, during the morning/noon, candles are lit in honor of the deities involved, and meditation focused around welcoming the start and beginning of a cycle, inviting rebirth and renewal into my life, celebrating change and the new. Performing cleaning and energizing/charging, introducing change and renewal and energy, accepting the future that is to come.

[witchesofvaliant]

My Take on Worshipping & Working with Ares

(Disclaimer: "My take" means my personal opinion and deriving heavily from my own experience.)

I work with Ares primarily in Shadow Work, and worship/work with him heavily in my practice.

1: The Misconceptions

I see a lot of "I work with Ares, so I work out all the time for him", and while exercise is wonderful for the body, and I myself love to get in a good walk, I have never devoted that to Ares. I am not saying you shouldn't, but the reason I mention it at all is the fact that many people equate working with Ares or those who do as muscle-headed gym bros who are always having to exercise or have to prove their masculinity. As a computer nerd who doesn't have exercise in their daily life and has chronic disabilities/illness that make that harder, I just don't do that. If I can, I take a good long walk for an hour or two about twice or once a week (if I can), that's mostly as far as it goes. In terms of proving my masculinity? Why? Let's dispense with the antiquated gender roles that say we have to assign the tough masculine aura to the cis guys. I am a trans male who has no issue looking feminine and being both a Queen and a King, that's just how it is. Ares can tell me himself if he has an issue with it, but he never has. And after getting to know him for some time, personally, he's not the type to give a fuck about your gender presentation. That also means, you don't have to be a guy to work with him, as I have also seen before.

Now, if we're trying to be true to the ancient Greek times, he was the primary deity worshipped in Sparta, and once the Romans adopted (which is putting it nicely) the Greek deities into their belief system, Mars was used as the primary deity equivalent to Zeus (Jupiter as he was called), with the common epithet to represent him being Mars Ultor, basically a title of greatness and power for him. He was used to inspire and push young men in those times toward a great strength and motivation in terms of military service as that was a greater focus in their culture than it was in the Greek culture (Not that the Greeks couldn't fight of course, they had their war deities, and Ares was one of them, but there IS a massive shift in the Greek and Roman mindsets when involving war, too much to get into). Now, here's where I stop, as I'm not an expert on Greco-Roman history and the two cultures, but it should demonstrate the point well at least on where these ideas so many people are spreading come from and why many think they're valid for everyone.

2: Worship

I tend to worship him by simple prayer. I take the knife I have and meditate with it, praying to him or simply talking. Sometimes, I don't even take the knife Lol. He's honestly a very simple person to deal with in my experience. You don't need to do fancy shit for him as devotional acts, he values respect and honor above all, so if you are giving that and offering this to him, he's a very pleased guy. I can't and don't use candles or fire in my practice, but my fire element/offering is going into a game and killing some bad guys. Is it semi-stereotypical in terms of the aggression? Kind of. Is it more focused on lessening my own stress and self-control so I'm taking my stress and anger out in a game than on people? Yes, and usually this isn't done FOR Ares, this is done more in terms of working on myself as agreed upon with Ares. Which goes into our next subject.

3: Work

Working with Ares is a huge part of my relationship with him (don't get me wrong, I love to just exist with him and listen to Fallout Boy too) but it's here where I have much more to say as I have always focused on Shadow Work in my life, and that only increased when I started my practice and my move away from the toxic Christianity I was raised with. Ares was not the first to work with me on this, and I had to work on some stuff myself just to be open to the idea of working with other deities. But in terms of Ares, he has been someone that I feel a strong connection to because of the heart, not my masculinity, not fighting others and exercising, but more because of the internal struggles and survival for my life I have had throughout my entire life. Be it with illness, my heart and trauma, or defending others, mainly my little brother, but all these thins took an internal struggle, not am external one. I find I work with him purely in terms of internal survival (either against physical or mental illness) and Shadow Work, which means understanding my heart, my will, and how to overcome the pain that has broken those things in my past. THIS part of him, is the part I rarely see anyone say anything about. Or everyone pairs him with Aphrodite and says this is their thing. I don't understand why it can't be him alone, I have hardly ever worked or dealt with Aphrodite, and while I give her respect and have given her my prayer, she is rarely there as my path just doesn't flow that way.

And also.. Why does no one talk about the fact that Ares can connect to illness too? In my opinion, he connects to illness through the issue of having to fight through it or even fight to keep someone alive.

I love embracing him as someone that doesn't require you to be a cis man with a six pack, or fight a literal war or fight other people just to work with him, and I really want to stress that you don't have to be these things, or change who you are as a person or fit into any requirement to work with him, and you don't have to do this with any deity either. You bring yourself first, that's all you truly need to bring to them, yourself and an open mind and ears to listen.

(Damn, this was long, hope people actually read this rant lmao)

If you got to the end, congratulations! And thank you for reading, I deeply appreciate that and you! 💖