A Zine About Lady Aphrodite And Transsexualism As An Offering For Her :)!

Tips for Making Sigils

* Learn the arrangement of the Seven Planets (also called the Chaldean):   Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon.

* If you have a Android powered smart phone, download the Planetary Times app to help you become more familiar with the planetary times as well as what each planet represents.

* Try to create the sigil during the matching planetary hour to increase its magical properties and power.

* Decide which planet best matches your sigil intention.  Some examples for planetary associations and intentions are:

Saturn: Constrain or prevent someone from doing harm

Jupiter: Draw wealth and prosperity

Mars: Evoke strength and courage to face an intimidating situation

Sun: Improve health

Venus: Attract a lover, friendship, love

Mercury: Instill mental clarity and balance

Moon: Increase psychic ability

* Use a pen with the matching corresponding planetary colored ink:

Saturn: Black

Jupiter: Purple or Blue

Mars: Red

Sun: Gold

Venus: Green

Mercury: Grey (Pencil Color)

Moon: Silver

* Burn appropriate planetary incense while creating your sigil:

Saturn: Roots such as Costus or Mandrake (WARNING: Mandrake can be toxic)

Jupiter: Fruits and Spices such as Nutmeg, Cloves, Orange Peels

Mars: Woods such as Cypress, Balsam, Sulfur, Dragon’s Blood

Sun: Resinous Gums such as Mastic, Storax, Copal, or Amber

Venus: Flowers such as Roses or Saffron

Mercury: Rinds and Sweet Seeds such as Cinnamon or Cassia

Moon: Leaves such as Myrtle or Laurel

* Condense the intention/desire of your sigil into 1 or 2 words. *If creating a sigil to affect a particular person, write the person’s first and last name.

* Use the following conversion chart to match letters to numbers: 1:A, 2:B, 3:C, 4:D, 5:E, 6:F, 7:G, 8:H, 9:I, 10:J, 20:K, 30:L, 40:M, 50:N, 60:O, 70:P, 80:Q, 90:R 100:S, 200:T, 300:U, 400:V, 500:W, 600:X, 700:Y, 800:Z, 900:&

An example would be HEALTH>>> H=8, E=5, A=1, L=30, T= 200, H=8

* If you are using a number that is too high to fit into a designated square, divide the number by 10 or 100 until it can fit.

* Use the following planetary number squares to help create your sigil.

Sun:     4   9   2             3   5   7             8   1   6 Jupiter:      4   14   15   1                   9    7    6   12                   5   11   10   8                  16   2    3   13

Mars:      11   24   7   20   3                4   12   25   8  16                17   5   13  21   9                10   18  1  14  22                23   6   19   2  15 Sun:    6   32   3   34   35   1            7   11   27   28   8   30            19  14   16  15  23  24            18   20  22  21  17  13            25   29  10   9   26  12            36    5   33   4    2   31

Venus:       22   47   16   41   10   35   4                     5   23   48   17   42  11  29                  30    6     24   49   18  36  12                  13   31    7     25   43  19  37                  38   14   32    1     26   44  20

Mercury:    8   58   59   5   4   62   63   1                  49  15  14   52  53  11  10   56                  41  23  22   44  48  19  18   45                  32  34  38   29  25  35   39  38                  40  26  27   37  36  30   31  33                  17  47  46   20  21  43   42  24                   9   55  54   12  13  51  50  16                   64   2   3   61  60    6    7   57

Moon:      37  78  29  70  21  62  13  54   5                  6   38  79  30  71  22  63  14  46                 47  7   39  80  31  72  23  55  15                 16  48   8   40  81  32  64 24  56                 57  17  49   9   41  73  33  65  25                 26  58  18  50   1  42  74  34   66                 67  27  59   10  51  2  43  75  35                 36  68  19   60  11  52  3  44  76                 77  28  69   20  61 12  53  4   45 

* When making a sigil, you can use a light table or piece of white cardboard to help you see and trace the design.

* Begin the sigil by denoting you first letter by making a small circle on the top sheet of paper over the first letter’s corresponding number. * Use straight lines to connect each successive letter/number until you’ve spelled out the entire word.

* You can draw either angles or curves when you change directions during the process. 

* Signify repeating letters or numbers with a half circle.

* End each sigil with a small, anchoring square or transverse line on the last letter/number.

* You can add 2 sequential letters’ numbers together to obtain a third number.   Example:  In H E A L T H. A= 1 + L= 30 equals 31.  The same concept can        be applied to reduced numbers as well.  T= 200= 20 plus H= 8 equals 28.

* One your sigil is created, you can play around with this shape and position to heighten its power and symbolism.

* When you finally get a sigil looking the way you intended, you can close the sigil with 2 concentric circles to turn it into a magical seal.

Source: The Goodly Spellbook: Olde Spells for Modern Problems by Dixie Deerman and Steven Rasmussen

My Biggest Problem

Miso isn’t my biggest problem anymore. I know you’re gonna be like, 

“Bullh*ck, misophonia is the worst thing that ever happened to me, it’s ruined everything, ect.!!” 

But, my young, young dudes, I have some news. Adulthood is surprising as h*ck and has a lot of bumps and turns and I never anticipated in my whole of angsteenager existence that there would be life after miso.

For example, if anyone’s watched the video (x) I posted a hot while ago, they’d see that I’ve come out as ftm transgender and I’ve left home. I got engaged in December to @living-with-miso, my longtime Tumblr crush and we’re getting married next month.

 My type 3 Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) exploded into wondering each day if I can walk or use my hands. 

My computer broke. I need to buy socks. The milk in the fridge is expired.

And I know that mostly sounds like, 

“Gee, thanks Stephan, so you’re saying everything gets worse?” 

but man, I actually would say I’ve never been happier. 

You see, when you move out, you move away from the people who trigger you the most in the world: your family. You may have new people who trigger you, like a roommate, but eventually, you’re gonna be in a situation where you can more or less have total control over your environment. Make sure you choose a life partner that accepts every inch of you, and don’t settle for anything less.

When you grow up, you’ll be able to manage your life in a way you can control, to an extent. You literally don’t even have to attend classes in person anymore, almost anything is available online! Yeah, you’ll have days where you just want to rip your ears off and replace your hands with chainsaws because you need to attend job training, attend a family BBQ, or hurriedly make an Irish exit to said BBQ, but that’s not going to be the majority of your life anymore.

And that’s where I’m at. I’m out from the influence of more “adult” adults at the age of 22 and am finally the captain of my own life. 

Which is terrifying, but empowering. I decide if I can attend gatherings, I decide if I want to leave, I decide if I want to stay inside and live on the internet, I decide if I can live with my partner, and I decide if I want to eat cookies for breakfast unless Ashley is home and and tells me no cookies for breakfast (#marriage). 

And if anyone (other than my future wife) has a problem with the way I live my life or make decisions, guess what? I can decide to take my Scissors of H*ck You and cut them right the h*ck out of my beautiful rainbow life.

I may not have the power to decide whether or not I have misophonia, whether my hands work on any given day, or whether or not I have sensory meltdowns, but I can decide how I handle these things.

So I guess my point today is that miso life gets better once you’ve grown up. If you can make it that far, you’ll be happier. And god, I wish my teenage self had known how happy I would one day be. Thank god I decided to stick around.

So stick around, guys. Your life may look like shooty macaroni art, but it’s just practice at this point. One day, you’ll be Bob Ross and decide when and where your next happy little tree goes.

Stay Brave Out There, Stephan [soon-to-be] Vomacka

Understanding Shadow Work: Pt. III

How Does One Prepare for Shadow Work?

Before we get into the different methods in which we can practice shadow work, it is essential to determine how we can (or should, rather) prepare to do so. Be aware that shadow work is not an easy or comfortable process. On the contrary, it tends to be discouragingly difficult and extremely uncomfortable at best and downright horrifying and sometimes even further damaging at worst. 

The Importance of Perspective

With that being said, it is of utmost importance to first evaluate and transform how you perceive the negative aspects of existence– primarily in regards to your own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual states of being. If you believe the negative aspects of existence (and the Self) are only meant to cause harm, to hinder and debilitate you, or are “evil” in any sense, you are going to run into some serious resistance issues– possibly even strengthening and perpetuating your Shadow. Simultaneously, the holding of this view is a tell-tale sign that you are most definitely in need of shadow work. Do not feel compelled to rush into it, however. 

If you do find that you seem to maintain an unhealthy perspective of the negative, start by contemplating duality. Try meditating on the concept of day and night. The sun (our physical source of light) is always ‘there’– burning, casting light in all directions; it is our world, our point of perspective, that rotates and creates a mirage which suggests that it is not. It is always something that stands in the way of the light which casts a shadow and creates the illusion of darkness. Essentially, darkness is an aspect of light. 

Also keep in mind that without darkness, light would not possess the same quality. Without death, [physical] life would have no real meaning. The negative, in part, serves to allow for the positive to be perceived. 

This shifting of perception may take some time and may prove exceedingly difficult for some. But if you cannot understand, accept and embrace the truth and purpose of duality, you will find it even more difficult to face your Shadow. This is when shadow work can be seen as counterproductive and even dangerous. 

The Importance of Knowing Your Limits

Additionally, it is important to know your boundaries, to be in tune with yourself. I feel you should be fairly familiar with grounding exercises, meditation and energy work in general before pursuing shadow work. You should be able to discern when you need to rest or when your state of being is too weak to handle any additional stress. If you are suffering from severe depression, PTSD or other adverse mental conditions, you should proceed with extreme care and discretion. Though, again, if you are experiencing such conditions it is a tell-tale sign that you would certainly benefit from shadow work. Such conditions are very much created and perpetuated by those experiences we have trouble facing– whether it simply be uncontrollable, undesirable emotions or severely traumatic events. By virtue, shadow work is practiced because we are sick and broken; so it is silly to assume we need to be in some sort of perfectly stable, elevated state before pursuing such an endeavor. 

That does not mean, however, that you should rush into it in effort to ‘fix’ yourself. You should be able to become fairly acquainted with and accepting of whatever condition you may find yourself in– again, this has a lot to do with perspective. Also, don’t feel it necessary to do all on your own. Though a large part of shadow work must be done alone, always feel free to reach out for support from others, especially those who have already consciously engaged in shadow work. Don’t feel hesitant or ashamed to share your experiences with others either. Sharing is an integral part of the healing process for most people; not only can it help you, it can help others as well. 

The Importance of Patience

As I previously emphasized, don’t rush. Try not to have any expectations or set forth with the desire to 'conquer’ this entity, the Shadow; this will not serve you. The purpose of shadow work is to befriend and reintegrate the Shadow, not to challenge it– doing so will only strengthen its influences. This requires a great degree of patience. Understand the importance of working slowly and earnestly, heeding to your limitations as necessary. This also means not jumping into shadow work before preparing yourself. It can be tempting to rush into it headstrong and determined to mend your wounds so that other aspects of your life might improve. Again, you are defeating the purpose by having this attitude; in essence, you are still resisting your Shadow because your aim is to use it to incite positive effects rather than to simply understand and accept the negative. Also be aware that shadow work is an ongoing practice; once you begin, you will realize there is no real end to true shadow work. 

For Understanding Shadow Work: Part II, visit: http://unmaskingthedivine.tumblr.com/post/112889344340/understanding-shadow-work-pt-ii

❣ Skincare Magick ❣

(Gif from this video)

Every so often, use some moon water to wash your face.

Avoid using essential oils directly on your face, they can clog your pores.

Apply body wash or soap to your skin in clockwise circles to open your body up to positivity.

Enchant your moisturizers, acne creams, and cleansers for an added boost.

Draw sigils in your face cream.

Try adding herbs and herb-based products into your routine. Witch Hazel is very popular for treating skin related issues.

If you use pore-cleaning masks, use them to pull the negative energies from your skin.

Use your ring finger to massage products into your skin to ground yourself.

Brew Black tea and then refrigerate it until it’s cool. Then apply it as you would astringent.

Use coconut oil to easily remove makeup. Cleanse and wash after.

Rub a sliced orange on elbows and heels to soften rough and cracked skin. Rinse when finished.

Massaging your face is a wonderful way to ground yourself or begin meditation.

My witchy iOS apps.

Wow! I’ve never gotten more than MAYBE 15 notes in my many years on tumblr. Thanks, witch fam!

UPDATED*** Here are some app links for @valicorne​ and others who requested. They should all be free. Some of these are also in the Android Marketplace, and for those that aren’t, there are comparable ones.

And my mom has a baller sigil making app on Android I envy: Sigil Automatron. Anyone know of a comparable one for iOS? (I don’t want just a paint or photoshop-like app, but one specific To making sigils)

Not all the full names show in the screenshotted app view, which is why some of you struggled to find them. Sorry!):

1. Tarot Card Memorizer: Pretty self explantaory. This is a nice reference when you’re trying to learn card meanings.

2. Pendulum Charts Free - a plethora of charts. I like using that on my iPad, not super useful on a smaller screen, aka my iPhone. Can also use to reference for making your own charts on paper, or woodburning like I’m working on.

3. Golden Thread Tarot - Really nice free eversion of great physical deck. Nice for witches on the go, or witches on a budget.

4. Crystals And Gems - Handy reference guide for both physical and metaphysical attributes.

5. Mighty Timer - temperature, time, and amount of tea you need for the perfect cup. Great kitchen witch app, especially if you grow some of your own herbs for tea, like I do.

6. TimePassages - Free daily horoscopes, meanings, planetary bodies glossary and then some paid options for chart downloads.

7. Herbs Guide - Herbs for health and cooking. ***never take any information found on the Internet or via apps as medical advice. Seek professional medical help if you have an issues. This witch is very pro-science and modern medicine, despite making teas, tinctures, and herbal salves. Those are merely supplements to help relieve symptoms.

8. Dreamboard - my favorite digital dream journal

9. Runes - pocket advisor - Get one, two and three rune readings. Also helps you learn the meanings of elder futhark runes. 10. SkyView Free -This overlays constellations and other astronomical information when you open the app and point it at the night sky. Uses your camera and GPS to know what it’s looking at. Works inside, too. I impress the heck out of people when I whip this out at stargazing events.

11. Best Essential Oils and Aromatherapy Guide Pro - This app, containing six broad sections - guides, application, single oil, oil blends, aromatherapy and weight loss. Again, this is not to be used in place of proper nutrition and medical attention, and be very careful when using essential oils. All need to be diluted with carrier oils, and some are dangerous if you’re pregnant, etc.

12. Spellcaster - tarot cards, horoscope and pre-written spells. Not my favorite, but fun to flip through.

13. Celeste -LOOOVE. Celeste allows you to calculate a natal chart, which you can view on a zodiac wheel. You also get a description of all the planets in signs, not just the sun sign.

14. Star Chart - This is similar to skyview. I haven’t played with it too much so I can’t vouch for it quite yet. I think I prefer the skyview interface.

15. Free Candle - Different candle options, and you cna blow them out. Great for on the go candle magick/meditation, and for those who aren’t allowed to use candles in apartments/dorms/etc.

16. The Pocket Pagan - “This unique Pagan app includes a map of the USA and Canada filled with Pagan, occult and New Age stores, a handy correspondence guide for quick magickal look-ups, and a calendar that shows you the next full moon and Sabbat dates. Quick links can help you find the latest news, blogs and videos too. One little widget shows the real-time moon phase too.”

17. Moon - current moon phase - Love this. Very simple interface for when you JUST want basic full, new, waxing, waning moon info.

18. Herbs in Magick - The application contains information about more than 200 herbs and their magickal use. No internet connection

Creamy Oat Milk Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups water (use less for thicker, creamier milk)

1 cup rolled oats

pinch of sea salt

Optional add-ins for flavor:

1 pitted date or 1 tbsp maple syrup for sweetness

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp cacao powder for chocolate milk

1/4 cup fresh berries for berry milk

Directions:

Blend oats, water, salt, and any additional add-ins in a high-speed blender for 30 seconds to 1 minute until well combined

Pour milk mixture over a large bowl or pitcher covered with a thin towel or clean t-shirt to separate the pulp

Transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate

Shake well and serve cold. Will keep for up to 5 days in refrigerator

Reblog this if Ben is a hoe

FIRST, gather your herbs.

Consider starting with something gentle that will be nice to learn with. Some of my first tinctures were skullcap and lemon balm. These herbs aid in stress and are usually effective if taken multiple times daily over time. I find that trustworthy plants like these are great doorways into herbalism. 

The best place to gather herbs from would be your own garden. If this is not possible be sure to find a trustworthy local herb shop or a bigger buyer like Mountain Rose who sells organic. It is best to tincture most herbs fresh, but dry works well too.

*** If the herbs are coming straight out of the garden you can gently wash the aerial parts, and definitely scrub the roots clean of any dirt residue.  

THEN, chop and macerate.

Chop up the herb or root as small as possible. Once you think it is small enough, go smaller. The more surface area that is exposed during the maceration process, the stronger the medicine can be! For roots, dried herbs, and larger projects I will use a Vitamix. If you often have a small amount that can be easily ground, you may want to consider getting a coffee grinder to reserve for all your herbal endeavors. 

Now you are ready to macerate, which basically means to let the plant sit in alcohol for a few weeks. This process pulls out all the healing constituents that make tinctures therapeutic! 

For your menstrum (or solvent) you will need to use some sort of alcohol. Some people like to use glycerites which are sweeter, or apple cider vinegar. Traditionally brandy or some form of alcohol like vodka was used. When I do the standard method, which is a bit more complicated, I use grain alcohol that is nearly 100%!

Fill a jar all the way to the top with your herbs. Cover it with your brandy or alcohol of choice. Let the herbs macerate for one full lunar cycle. Starting medicines on the full moon can be quite magical! Label your jar with the ingredients and date, and store in indirect light. Shake the maceration daily with good intentions.  

***Remember that you are powerful and the energy that you put forth and the intentions that you set will come through in the medicine.

FINALLY, strain and enjoy!

After a month (or longer) has passed, strain out your herbs with the muslin cloth. Squeeze out any remaining liquid that might be living in the herb. Compost the finished herb which is also known as mark. Pour the now tincture back into jar or into a dosage bottle with a custom label. You have now made your very first folk tincture!

Now you can make medicine from all the beautiful plants that grow around you. You will begin to discover that most of what you need is pretty close by. The St. John’s Wort on the highway, the kudzu on the pine trees, the wild oats dancing in the pasture, the dandelion in your lawn, all the plants are here waiting for you! 

With love and healing light,

Summer Ashley

Hi, my housemate just started a medication that has serotonin syndrome as a possible side effect. I remember a while back you talking about foods you had to avoid with medications like that. Could you please remind me of them? They're far back in your blog and I can't find the post.

Wow did this arrive out of order. Sorry it wasn’t answered earlier, @noxnoctisanima

If you’re taking any sort of medication that raises serotonin, avoid like the plague: grapefruit of any sort in any form; bergamot oranges or oil or bergamottin itself (which means no Earl Grey tea, nope, can’t do it, along with lemon peel, lime peel, and certain orange peels because of their bergamottin content), hibiscus (this one is such a fucker and makes zero sense), Rose Hips (same problem as the hibiscus, absolute wtf), and no St. John’s Wort or anything that works in similar fashion. Cut your alcohol intake down to almost nill or completely zero. Oh, and no yerba mate for you. It interferes with neurological meds for neurotransmitters (including ones for dopamine, like Welbutrin), and by “interferes” I mean “stops fucking working.”

These are also troublespots for SSRIs:

non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) – a common type of painkiller that includes ibuprofen, diclofenac or naproxen

antiplatelets – a type of medication used to prevent blood clots, such as low-dose aspirin and clopidogrel

theophylline – a medication used to treat asthma

clozapine and pimozide – medications used to treat schizophrenia and psychosis

lithium – a medication used to treat severe depression and bipolar disorder

triptans – a type of medication, such as naratriptan, sumatriptan and zolmitriptan, used to treat migraines  

other antidepressants – including tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)

Basically, as with any medication, watch your ass, but SSRIs in particular can be dangerous when given to people who also have chronic pain by doctors who don’t stop and fucking *think.* Pain boosts adrenaline, which in turn boosts dopamine, serotonin, and several others. If you’re in pain all the time, your serotonin is often already sky-high. Adding an SSRI on top of that can kill you with one dose.

So if your friend has chronic pain, and their doctor didn’t take this into consideration, they need to go revist this doctor and beat them with a folded metal chair. (Just don’t get caught, and it wasn’t my idea.)

Last thing: if your friend goes from feeling depressed to better with no other difficulties? Great! If your friend’s “better” becomes “completely apathetic” it’s time to adjust doses and/or medications, because apathy is not the result you’re wanting. Also, purple-blue fingernails and toenails = call your doctor right fucking now, and prepare to possibly suffer dropping an SSRI cold turkey.

(Why do I know all this shit? Because one of my previous doctors tried to kill me three fucking times and blew off her own incompetence when I pointed it out. Also every time the intake nurse would put “NO SSRIs” on my file, someone would conveniently go back afterwards and remove that notation…)

Okay, so one more thing: most fucking idiot/useless doctors go right to SSRIs first for patients who come in with depression, most often without actually doing the blood tests that YES, THEY DO EXIST, DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE to see what your primary neurotransmitters that affect mood are actually doing. You should be tested for all 7 of your primaries: acetylcholine (neurotransmitter used by neurons in the control of functions ranging from muscle contraction and heart rate to digestion and memory), norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, GABA, glutamate, and endorphins before you are prescribed *any* sort of anti-depressant, but the 4 most important ones are usually norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and GABA.

Anyway: Good luck, because getting proper treatment for this shit is a handbasket of fuckin’ Nope.

those little things on ur nose aren’t blackheads, don’t try and get rid of them they’re sebaceous filaments and they’re permanent and literally everyone has them

every girl has that little pouch of fat on her lower tummy, despite what magazines try n show u, you have important organs there that need to be protected don’t try and get rid of ur pouch

ur body is smarter than u think and it knows what to do when u eat more than normal. one bad day, or even week, of eating poorly isn’t gonna ruin anything at all I pinky promise

if u think u look good up until u try taking a selfie, it’s not ur fault - our faces are asymmetrical and when u see ur face flipped it will look unnatural to u, since u don’t see it that way when u look in the mirror. to everyone else it looks perfectly fine

no one’s stomach looks the same at 8pm as it does at 8am. no one has a chiseled six pack after a day of eating, not even the super fit people u see on tumblr, because ur stomach naturally expands after eating and expecting to have a flat tummy before bed is very unrealistic

no one notices if the bags under ur eyes are bad today. no one pays attention to the bump in ur nose or the zit on ur chin or the piece of hair that u missed when u were straightening. literally no one notices these things except you so stop worrying about it ur gonna be fine

sometimes u just gotta get over urself