Forget About Touching Grass, I Need To Touch THE SEA I NEED TO GO INTO THE WATER I NEED TO DIVE INTO

Treating Jupiter & Zeus kindly and respectfully despite what some old myths not brought into votive acts claim of the God(s) is actually a very important step towards dismantling misogyny within certain parts of the polytheistic community or communities that worship Jupiter & Zeus.

Not letting toxic people believe that the main God(s) of the Greco-Roman Pantheon(s) would ever support criminal treatment of others is a very important step towards barring the worshipping community from people as such. It is especially prominent with Pater Jupiter & Father Zeus as embodiments of Justice, but it’s sort of like that with all bigoted beliefs when they affect Gods:

Artemis & Diana and/or Athena & Minerva would never hate men, Gods are not hateful nor hate-driven. Hating an individual for their birth-given or chosen identity is against the rules of hospitality; your identity does not bring you Their ire. Thus, we do not wish for hateful individuals within the community.

Aphrodite & Venus would never hate trans, nonbinary, intersex individuals, and those who fall out of the gender binary in other ways than that - nor would They ever support bioessentialism. Thus, we do not wish for bioessentialists within the community.

Ares & Mars would never support oppression of the mistreated or violent aggression towards others, unless it’s a fight for self-protection. The Gods are not anyone’s way to deify and excuse oppression. Thus, we do not wish for militarists and warheads within the community.

Jupiter & Zeus would never support nor promote ideas of sexual assault in any form or any non-consensual limiting of one’s self-autonomy. The Gods are not a punishing power but rather They are loving hosts accepting of us as guests. Thus, we do not with for harassers, agressors, and/or assaulters within the community.

To agree with the harmful and slandering rhetoric is to give opressors power. Jupiter & Zeus deserve better.

𝓐pollo is most famous for such aspects of His as healing, art, and music. However, while valid, those are some of the latest inventions of the Apollonian cults. Some of the oldest found archeological evidence allows us to tie Apollo to very primal, nature-tied aspects of the world such as the heat of the Earth, prophetic fumes, and the Underworld.

Apollo Soranus is one of the least spoken of incarnations of the God and one of the most curious ones. As Soranus, Apollo was closely associated with the Underworld, given human sacrifices to, and worshipped alongside Dis Pater, the Lord of the Dead.

Continua a leggere

Just a quick reminder since I'm seeing a trend in my recent new followers -

If you are a radfem/gender critic/gender essentialist/TERF, don't support trans rights, think that "witch" is not a gender-neutral term, or believe that magic comes from the womb / only cis-women can be "real" witches, get the fuck off my blog.

Don't follow me, don't ask me questions, I don't care about your journey, I don't care about your reasoning, I'm not interesting in talking to you, I will block you on sight.

This is not a safe space for TERFs. There is nothing for you here.

WHAT IS SPIRIT WORK?

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spirit work is how it sounds, working with spirits. these spirits can be spirits of plants, people, animals, mythical beings/creatures, familiars, and otherworldly spirits. it is communing with these spirits, building a relationship with them (forming trust) and asking for their aid (be that in protection, spell work, etc). 

TYPES OF SPIRITS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

now i should preface this with the types and branching of spirits is vast and wide, and it is dependent on culture, tradition, and religion. i am going to be focusing on animism and the undead spirits, but i will briefly touch on other important/highlighted entities. 

:  ̗̀➛ plant/flora spirits; spirits that are of trees, plants, flowers, rocks, etc. things found in nature that aren’t mammals or animals. most common/popular examples being nymph spirits.

:  ̗̀➛ animal/fauna spirits; spirits of mammals, bugs, birds, and reptiles - spirits of the animal kingdom excluding humans. 

:  ̗̀➛ house/domestic spirits; house spirits have the potential and possibility to be human, but they can also be non-human. domestic spirits (in rome they’re called domestici lares) are guardians of a household and generally the protectors of the home and even the hearth (depending on mythos and region). a common/popular example being saints. 

:  ̗̀➛ tutelary spirits; tutelary/guardian spirits are exactly how they sound, they’re guardians. these spirits can be guardians of a specific place (like a temple or holy ground, see Shi lions), graveyards (this can be any spirit but the most famous is a gargoyle), or of a person (like guardian angels, but any spirit could be a guardian, such as gryphs)

:  ̗̀➛ human spirits/shades; a human soul can and is defined many ways and varies from person to person and tradition to tradition, but human spirits (aka shades, ghosts, etc) can and do reside in our realm alongside the spirit realm (via transport, normally by liminal spots or the aid of a psychopomp, but some can travel on their own). 

:  ̗̀➛ vampiric spirits; vampiric spirits are spirits who drain energy in order to survive or gain strength. back in the day they were known to cause sickness, health issues, and low immune systems, etc. most common/well known spirits are vampires/vampyres, succubi/incubi, some umbra/shadow people, and as i like to call them - dream wyrms. 

:  ̗̀➛ infernus spirits; infernus spirits are those relating to the underworld, this can at times overlap into the demonic, but not all of the demonic are infernus. infernus spirits are mostly those who aid as psychopomps, but they can be the servants and attendants of infernal or chthonic deities. 

:  ̗̀➛ mythical creature spirits; mythical creatures or legendary beasts are those who are not of this plane and reside in the spiritual world. some can be worked with while some cannot (such as faer folk, a note about faer folk is that it’s best to just leave them alone, or yokai). 

:  ̗̀➛ familiar spirits; familiars are spirits/entities who are shapeshifters and sometimes called demons who create a pact with a practitioner/witch/mage/etc. in order to aid them in magical practice and even protection. 

BASICS OF SPIRIT WORK

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it’s important to know and note the basics of spirit work in order to start spirit work. so here are the foundations of what is needed to know for proper and safe spirit work. 

section i. cleansing

let’s firstly begin with what cleansing is and why witches do it. cleansing is a way of forcing negative energy out of an area or person. cleansing is an act that is sort of like a reset button. think of it like showering! you shower because during the day you collected dust, dirt, sweat, etc. and you want to be clean so you take a shower! cleansing is similar, you collect negative energy from weeks of active or inactive craftmenship and even spirits or other entities can latch onto you and your home which then drains your energy. cleansing is needed to keep your space clean and easy to manage energies. it’s important to cleanse yourself, your space and even items. cleansing is important for all magic arguably, but especially spirit work. there are plenty of methods to cleanse, the most popular is smoke (do note it’s important to not smudge smudging is a closed practice to natives and indigenous in north america). but there are other methods such as sound, air/wind, energy work, and water. 

section ii. banishing

banishing is also an important skill to have in your back pocket. banishing is is a more forceful means of cleansing. it’s to forcefully remove an entity and less “nice”. banishing can be done in rituals, spells, using fire (writing the name or being down and burning the paper), air (writing the name or being down and tossing it in the wind), earth (writing the name or being down and burying it), water (writing the name down and tossing it in the sea or river, drowning the paper, etc), etc! loads of ways to banish and more i didn’t mention! 

section iii. grounding

grounding is an extremely important part of spirit work. grounding keeps you in a stable mindset and energy wise keeps you balanced. ways of grounding can be dancing, shaking your hands and feet, stomping/jumping, meditating, taking a walk, listening to music, etc. 

section iv. circle casting/closing

circle casting is important, especially for beginners, it creates a wall and safe zone for yourself and the spirit. one of the easiest ways (physical circles) is to pour a circle of salt around you, candles or crystals at four points (in the position of a pentacle), etc. as far as mental/energy ones, some use their finger or a wand and do a complete circle around them, or, a circle and a pentacle (pentagram). while casting circles some people call upon and evoke deities, angels, the watchers/watch towers, spirit guides, elements, etc. for protection and ensuring safety. some believe you must cast a circle starting north and finish at west, some don’t. no matter where you start the circle you must start and end the circle at the same point, going the opposite direction than what you started with when casting, will close the circle. so if i casted my circle clockwise, i would close it counterclockwise and end at the same point i started with. 

section v. further protection

casting a circle isn’t the only method of protection that should be precautioned, there are also the means of protection such as layering warding (which is a lesson in itself). some examples of warding are; energetic wards, spell jars, spell bags, charms, crystals, sigils, and house guardians to name a few. you can also veil during spirit work, but it’s not necessary. 

section vi. boundaries

setting boundaries with spirits is super important, especially if they’re staying long term (but even if it’s short term have boundaries!) so say you don’t like it when spirits knock, establish the boundary politely of “i don’t like it when you knock at night or during the day, so please don’t do that.” remember, be polite, but be firm too. and if you want a spirit gone tell them sternly! 

section vii. what are vessels?

vessels are what ground spirits and help to stabilize them in our plane, a vessel can be anything too, such as jewelry, dolls, a pen, bones, literally anything. an anchor is similar to a vessel, but an anchor doesn’t “house” the spirit, more so provides it a free range and source of stability. conduits channel the spirits energy, it can be symbols, sigils or other iconography to channel and then utilize a spirits energy. these are all important tools and things to know when it comes to spirit work.

SPIRIT ETIQUETTE

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In General

:  ̗̀➛be assertive, but be polite

:  ̗̀➛ do not forcefully bind a spirit to an anchor, vessel, or conduit alike

:  ̗̀➛ always use consent when it comes to using vessels, anchors, or conduits

:  ̗̀➛ ask and negotiate, come to a compromise, have firm boundaries too

:  ̗̀➛don’t forget to feed and provide energy for any vampiric or even familiar spirits

:  ̗̀➛ make a schedule if you really need to/set reminders on when communication is and isn’t ok

:  ̗̀➛ don’t sell, show, or give away spirits 

House Spirits 

:  ̗̀➛ be polite 

: ̗̀➛ treat them like you would treat a living breathing human 

: ̗̀➛ when entering a house, i normally like to whisper a quiet greeting or even in my mind saying “hello”, “good day”, “good afternoon”, “good morning” etc. 

: ̗̀➛ depending on your belief, greet the house guardian 

: ̗̀➛ light a candle to them, do divination, learn about them! 

Graveyard

 : ̗̀➛ don’t take what’s not yours, it’s impolite 

: ̗̀➛ have manners, people from all centuries probably reside there 

: ̗̀➛ greet & give offerings to the guardian at the front gate (this can be a tree, a specific spirit, animal spirits, etc.) 

: ̗̀➛ treat them like they’re people 

: ̗̀➛ dont step on the grass (this is respectful to the dead and their families) 

Landmarks (i.e. lakes, forest, plains, oceans, etc.) 

: ̗̀➛ introduce yourself & say a greeting 

: ̗̀➛ spend quality time & respect boundaries

 : ̗̀➛ offer things that will benefit them / the area (i.e. water, compost, etc) 

: ̗̀➛ don’t be shy to strike up conversation and divination

Dionysos Kolotes

Early in January, when I was in the deepest throes of my hyperfixation on researching everything about Dionysos, I found this post by @bacchant-of-dionysus with a nice, neat list of epithets of Dionysos, with their Greek spelling (much appreciated), meanings (even more appreciated), and small prayers you could say with the epithets (I was about to weep tears of joy). As I was reading through it, I saw the epithet of "Dionysos Kolotes", Kolotes meaning "spotted gecko", which gave me serious pause. It almost seemed comedical - where in Dionysos' mythology were geckoes of any kind even mentioned, especially spotted ones? And why the specification?

When I came back around to this epithet while working on my series of prayers, I decided to take to the internet to see if I could dig up any more information on why Kolotes was an epithet of Dionysos. After a few searches, I came across this page on Theoi.com about Asklabos, who had been turned into a spotted gecko. I'll copy it down below, it's not very long:

"Askalabos was the son of a peasant-woman named Mimse who the goddess Demeter visited upon first arriving in Attika during her long search for Persephone. The woman offered her a drink of barley-groats, and the goddess hurriedly quaffed it down to relieve her thirst. The boy rudely mocked her as a glutton and in her anger she cast the drink at him, transforming him into a spotted gecko."

This is interesting, because, while Dionysos was mentioned nowhere here, the story of Demeter looking for Persephone was in fact a part of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which He does have some connections to. But that still begs the question - why is it Dionysos who is given the epithet of Kolotes, rather than Demeter, who it would seemingly be more fitting to?

In my own opinion, this epithet is one that seems to connect to Dionysos' habit of being, in some ways, a God of hospitality. Frequently, when He appears in myths, He is seen judging people on their hospitality (usually lack of). For example, in the Bacchae, one of Pentheus' greatest evils was his lack of hospitality towards the maenads, and he was ripped apart. Lykurgous, too, attacked Dionysos and His maenads, and was punished with madness. And the Tyrrhenian pirates, who kidnapped Dionysos to sell him to slavery, found themselves turned into dolphins. In all of these examples, Dionysos is the one who carries out the punishment of those who have violated Xenia. The spotted gecko, meanwhile, was once a boy who mocked a Goddess as she quenched her thirst after frantically searched for Her missing daughter.

So in my opinion, Dionysos holds the epithet of Kolotes not because He is someone who would also mock Demeter on Her worst days, but because He reminds others not to do the same, as a God who seems to oversee Xenia. Just as we see dolphins not as an inspiration to go out and kidnap someone, but rather as a reminder to not take advantage of others, the spotted gecko is a reminder to always be courteous to other people, even when their actions seem strange or desperate to us. We do not know what they have undergone.

✨❤️ Attracting Love Spell ❤️✨

Creating a love spell can be a powerful way to manifest your desires and attract your ideal partner. 

Here are some steps to help you create your own love spell:

Ingredients:

🌹Rose petals 

🌹Cinnamon

🌹Rose quartz crystal

🌹Red candle

🌹 Incense (jasmine, rose, or sandalwood)

Steps:

❤️ Begin by cleansing your space and yourself. You can use smudging herbs or burn the incense for this.

❤️ Set your intention: Before you begin any spell, it’s important to know exactly what you want to manifest. Take some time to think about the kind of relationship you want to have and what qualities you’d like your ideal partner to possess.

❤️ Light the red candle and the incense.

❤️ Hold the rose quartz crystal in your hand and focus on your intention for love and passion.

❤️ Sprinkle the rose petals and cinnamon around the candle, forming a circle.

❤️ Visualize the energy of love and passion flowing into the circle and charging the ingredients.

❤️ Let the candle burn down completely, and let the incense continue to burn for as long as you like.

❤️ Thank the universe, your tools, and any deities or spirits you called upon for their assistance.

❤️ Close your circle or protective space.

Remember, love spells should always be created with pure intentions and respect for free will. It’s important to never try to manipulate or control someone else’s feelings. Focus on manifesting love and happiness for yourself, and trust that the universe will guide you to the right partner.

With these steps, you can create a powerful and effective love spell that aligns with your personal intentions and desires. Best of luck in your magical endeavors!

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____

With love, from a Sappy Witch 🔮💕

Blessed be. 🕊✨

I've noticed something in the discussion around Gerard Way and trans identity that I am officially fed the fuck up with. While talking about Gerard's outfits from the second leg of the tour, people love to use use the line "clothes ≠ gender" as a gotcha for those of us who are keen to the fact that they aren't cis. This pisses me off for three main reason plus a fourth mini reason that's more of a history blurb than anything else.

Before we start anything, Gerard has been out as not cis for the better part of 8(!) years now. To not acknowledge that is doing them a disservice. Some of you have purposely chosen to ignore that fact. Right out the gate that's fucked up. Ok now we can proceed.

First off, you're right. Clothes do not, in fact, equal gender. I know this, and it sounds like you'd like me to believe that you know this. So forgive me for being a little confused when you go on anon after they're photographed wearing what you dub to be "masculine clothing" (i.e. anything that's not a skirt/dress with heels) and tell me I'm an idiot for implying that they aren't a cisgender man.

Secondly, the concept that clothes don't equal gender in only true to us very recently. If you think that Gerard Way, a 45 year old ex-Catholic Gen-X'er who grew up in an wildly conservative suburb of north New Jersey doesn't have a different relationship between clothing and gender than you, a 14-to-20-something year old who hasn't closed tiktok in three days and averages 0.3 minutes of critical thinking per week, then you're extremely delusional and self-centered. People are socialized in entirely different ways. As humans, our experiences are not in any way universal. What doesn't mean anything to you means everything to someone else. Maybe you don't equate femininity with skirts and dresses, but I guarantee you a 45 year old who has openly struggled with gender identity their entire life does in some capacity. This is not a bad thing.

Thirdly is that in your attempt to sound as woke and morally upright as possible, you're unintentionally (or intentionally, seeing as a considerable number of you are terfs,) discrediting and invalidating the way someone experiences gender euphoria because you personally don't get it. Gerard Way has only ever said "I don't use labels" in response to people implying that they're cishet. If your first reaction to seeing someone who could even potentially identify under the transfem umbrella experiencing visible gender euphoria in a dress is to say "oh well clothes don't equal gender, so I'm going to assume that he's a man in a dress until he explicitly outs himself", then congratulations! You're transphobic. Because that's the thing. When you use the rhetoric of clothes ≠ gender in that context, it becomes crystal clear you don't actually care about trans people. You just want to sound like the smartest person in the room. And you're willing to throw GNC trans people under the bus in order to achieve that goal.

I think people have forgotten big time that "don't assume my gender" originally meant "don't assume I'm cis", because now the way people interpret the rhetoric (don't assume my gender, clothes ≠ gender, I don't use labels, etc.,) and use it to prove a point only use it as if to say "it's inherently wrong and creepy to identify and acknowledge when people aren't cis. Cis is the default and the only safe assumption. Anything else is offensive and crossing a major boundary" and you can tell it's because they view transness as an insult to someone's character. We have to, collectively, stop viewing transness as an allegation you either have to beat or bear with. Alongside that, we have to stop assuming cisness.

NYT article abt goncharov has comments like 'what is the purpose of this film's existence these kids are just lying' motherfucker how do you think our ancestors survived. how do you think folklore formed. culture. music. art. PURPOSE????? do you think everything must be commodified? sold? weighed to be valued? has the rot in your soul spread so far you cannot find value in anything not spoken in numbers??? it's FUN. THAT'S WHY. THE PURPOSE IS THE ACT, THE MESSAGE IS THE MEDIUM, THE SYMBOL IS THE STORY. it brings people joy for its mere existence and that IS the point. existence is its purpose alone