Practical Tips For Hellenic Khthonic Ritual

💀 Offering Oil For The Dead 💀

Here’s a oil that I made in honor of Thanatos (also props to him for giving me this advice to fill my skull dropper!) This oil is to be used as a offering to Chthonic deities and spirits. You can anoint a candle when working as well as this oil is suppose to have a soothing feel to it for comforting!

What you’ll need: A Carrier oil (I would recommend olive oil but I’ll be using Vitamin E oil), Lavender (essential oil or the herb it self), Rose petals/buds, Myrrh (since this works well for Hades and Thanatos I’ve heard and can be either essential oil or the ashes from incense)

Optional things you can add: Poppy seeds, a bone, graveyard dirt, something dead, a quartz crystal, Selenite crystal, Willow bark or leaf (this aids with safe passing in the afterlife and is also good for protection against negativity and evil).

Directions: (usually when I’m making an oil or potion I light candles and burn incense, along with playing soothing/fitting music. Just a quick note!)

Cleanse the bottle first ( I did so with my juniper smudge wand). Add each item into your bottle, making SURE your adding your intent. (Lavender for peace, Rose for remembrance, Myrrh for troubled souls and can help with protection.) When adding a bone or something dead make sure to thank the spirit to the item. And your done!

NOTE: If you do not want to use oil you can use water for this! You can always modify this as well :)

Pagan pro-tips

Having been pagan and polytheistic for about 7 years, I can attest to these tips’ efficiency:

Pinterest is your best friend when it comes to devotional art

But don’t ever trust a single line of information on there.

Casually call out or whisper a deity’s name when something makes you think of them, so you can invite them to witness it!

If someone asks too many questions and you don’t feel like “coming-out” as pagan, tell them you’re ~more spiritual than religious~ and they’ll act like they get it.

Write your own prayers who tf cares

Playlists playlists playlists

I’m serious, even the simplest stuff people would label as “aesthetic” works well when you’re on a busy schedule but you want to stay casually connected to your faith.

Sure, paganism is deeply personal, but are there other people you could learn from? People you could help? Listening + sharing = community building!

Tips for when you’re considering Paganism

For my lovely friend @whoooooisthis!! I hope this helps love!

First things first, learn the basics. Cleansing, Warding, Banishing and Protection. 

Cleansing: You should cleanse when you’re having a bad day, are/were sick, after a breakup or loss, after arguments, during a major transition in life (graduation, birth, etc) and when you feel you need to. Cleansing cleans up the energy around you and keeps you safe. You can cleanse by lighting incense and passing the smoke around an object or room, bathing yourself or an object, burying an object, with salt (just don’t put it near dirt and plants!!), setting something in moonlight or sunlight (Make sure you keep track of which moon phase to cleanse on), with sound like bells or singing bowls, clapping, cleaning, burning sage or candles, using holy water or a protection spray, and touching each corner of a room and saying a prayer for each one. 

Warding: Wards are spiritual shields that keep you safe. There’s two types of wards - spacial (for spaces and rooms) and personal (for objects and the self). You will need to maintain wards by charging and clearing them. You can ward by using enchanted jewelry or objects, sigils (magical symbols with purposeful energy), energy shields, magic circles, spells, protective crystals, protection spell bottles, anointing the corners of a room and window and door sills with holy water or another warding substance. I personally like to drill holes in peach pits to wear as necklaces, they work quite well for warding. 

Banishing. There are tons of spells online that will teach you how to banish negative entities. If an entity is fucking with you, bad things keep happening or things just feel off, don’t be afraid to banish. Letting spirits know you’re not to be fucked with is incredibly important.

Protection. Light a black candle. Use salt and pepper for warding. Learn banishing and warding spells. Use protective sigils. Protection is incredibly important when concerning spirits, so educate yourself on this thoroughly. 

Now onto the fun stuff…

- Talk to things! Your house, your trees and plants, your spirit guides. You can do this out loud or in your head. And remember, even if they don’t respond, they’re probably still there. Just trust me on that

- It’s alright to forge your own unique path. I personally am Autistic and have terrible memory, so it’s important for me to forge my own craft. If something doesn’t work for you, don’t be afraid to change it. Substitutions can always be made.

- Meditate. Everyone says this, but it’s very true. Meditation not only calms the mind and body, but it opens you and your intuition/senses up to new forces

- Don’t ask for things without giving something in return. I lost my pillbox once and couldn’t find it anywhere. I walked out of my room, politely asked for it to be returned, and a few minutes later it was right there on my desk in plain sight. I left a little dish of honey out for whoever (or whatever) returned it. It’s always polite to approach with an offering and give one either before or after asking for something. You can do this with something as simple as picking a flower, always ask permission.

-  Make it an everyday thing. That doesn’t mean you have to do daily rituals or meditation sessions. Simply talking (again, in your head or out loud) to your spirit guides, practicing mindfulness and doing little spiritual things here and there are enough. This could be meditation, interpreting a potential sign you got today, saying good morning to the spirits you work with, leaving an offering (especially if you’re asking for something or something has already been done for you) and plain researching to expand your craft and knowledge. 

- Write it down. In witchcraft/paganism, almost everybody is journaling. It’s the best way to keep track of signs, experiences, feelings, omens, knowledge that may pertain to your craft, dreams, anything that might seem important. Many witches have a grimoire or book of shadows where they keep their witchy knowledge stored. These are often very personal, can be online or written by hand, and are entirely unique to you. You don’t need a 50 dollar designer spellbook. My grimoire is almost entirely online and printed out into a binder. You don’t have to be fancy. - Research!! Keep finding white feathers? Look up what that means! You want to give an offering? Look up what nature spirits and specific deities prefer! Make sure you’re knowledgeable about what you do.

- Incorporate what you know and what you’re used to. I grew up in a Polish family in an Eastern Orthodox church. Many of the practices I learned from my family and culture have carried on into my craft. Such as knocking on wood to prevent jinxes, wearing clothes backwards to see spirits and keep them from messing with you, and little cultural tricks like stepping out of a room and asking for lost items to be returned when you can’t find something. Keep it familiar.

That's really all I can think of for now, love. If you have any more questions, just let me know in a relog!!

Lily of the valley 💕🧚🌱✨

Archive moodboard for lovely @happyheidi ❀ུ۪

Thank you, Hades, for this lesson.

I know death is part of life, I know this will be painful, but this is still a lesson.

But I still know that you will take care of him, of those who pass away.

Thank you.

Thank you, Persephone, for this lesson.

You taught me (and still teach me) that this pain is temporary, that soon the flowers will bloom again.

🌻 Sigils 101 🌻

Your friendly neighborhood witch is BACK with another rendition of beginner witch tips! This blog is beginning to turn into a digital book of shadows lmao 😅 I am starting to become obsessed with this little witch tip series and even if the posts get little to no attention I am refreshing my knowledge in the process so it’s a win win :)) 

What Are Sigils?!

Sigils are often described as a tool to help you in your craft, they can protect your or your space, be used in a spell to amplify your intention, and are a form of manifesting! Sigils are a form of symbolism that’s functional, this is where a lot of practitioners would say the mundane meets the magickal. 

How To Make A Sigil

There are multiple ways to create a sigil, and you can even create your own! I am gonna outline a few different ways that you could go about it, but feel free to take some creative liberty here

Write down your intention

 These should be in present tense (”I am..” “I will..) 

After you have written down your intention, cross out all vowels and repeating letters

Create a symbol (here’s where you have some variation in what you can do) 

You can create a symbol out of the letters you have remaining

OR you can number the letters and use a grid to create your symbol 

Here is an example of both of the methods I just talked about: 

I apologize for my messy handwriting </3

I personally prefer the second method just because the sigil is usually easier to recreate. Note that you don’t ever wanna post your completed sigils online because someone could easily take it and use it against you! NOTE: Don’t use sigils created by other people! You don’t know the true intention behind them, and if you use a random sigil you found online, that could end up biting you in the ass!

Charging/Activating A Sigil

So you’ve created your sigil…now what?

You can use this on a spell candle, a deity candle, a spell jar, outline your door with the sigil, whatever you want! Personally I like to create sigils with the intent to protect my house and then I write them in cleaner on the floor/mirror/etc and by mopping it up, I am breaking the sigil, in turn letting all the intention out into the universe. 

You can charge and activate a sigil in a multitude of ways, here is a list of ways to do so

Sigil magick is very simple and EASY to do! 

A big point many practitioners will harp on is that you need to forget the meaning of your sigil for it to actually work. While I do believe this is true, it’s not as hard as it sounds. You just need to forget the ORIGINAL meaning/phrase you have associated with your sigil. Like I created a sigil for good grades and when I put it on my assignments, I know it’s for good grades, but I forgot my original sentence I wrote when creating it. 

CITATIONS/SOURCES/OTHER RESOURCES 

Remember it’s always important to cross reference your information, for this post I used multiple sources I knew have been vetted by much more experienced witches than I am- but still! You need to make sure what you’re reading is credible

Charging/Activating Sigils

Practical Magick- Sigils

Sigil Magick: How To Create Symbols That Manifest Your Destiny 

Simple Spells: A Guide to Creating Your Own Sigils

Bookishblogging’s Warding Post

King Hades, 

Lord of the dead, protector and saviour of the lost, the broken and those who are hurting,

Great King, Great Protector, 

Wrap you smokey love around me, help me through my struggles and hurts, hold me close. 

I sing your praise and hold you with me 

I worship you, and give you my heart. 

Hear my praise 💗

I’m not sure whether I should laugh or cry.

Is OP aware that oh so many books exist on this subject?

And that almost universally the ones authored by people with doctorates in classicism and mythology disagree with OP?

Including the… epic hymn that first told this story? You know what’s in that original source material… right?

Abducted, yes. Demeter mourned? Definitely. Rape, no.

So here’s some info on Ancient Greek wedding traditions which (oh my stars and garters!!) included abducting the bride. With the father’s permission, which Hades got before he took her away.

Here’s a whole book on the subject of Ancient Greek wedding custom and its conflation with funeral rites. (Which sounds a bit like Hades and Persephone to anyone who’s ever dabbled in things like explication and context)

Here’s a link to another book that talks about Persephone’s rise to power as a result of her willingly eating the pomegranate seeds.

Oh shit!!

Here’s a whole bunch of myths and hymns that talk about her Queen of the Underworld badassery!!

Holy pug tacos Batman!!

Here’s another book about the myth focusing on the seasonal religious and liminal rites. WHICH TAKE PLACE IN THE DRY SUMMER (not the fucking winter), which you know if you read a book.Way to go, OP!

All these fucking books!  What could anyone possibly do with them all?!?!?!?! Do you eat books to absorb their powers instead of read them?

A better guess would be that you got into a moral panic over the name of a certain Renaissance statue and maybe after reading three pages of Edith Hamilton or the first paragraph of a Wikipedia article. And then used that to castigate and demean not only the people who actually take their limited time to create gorgeous art but also to denigrate modern day worshippers of Persephone and Hades?

Maybe next time, you stringy piece of over-boiled okra, you might want to take your own advice and pick up a book, instead of reducing the feared and respected Queen of the Underworld who held power equal to or in many interpretations GREATER than her husband into a meaningless pastiche of female disenfranchisement that you seemingly plucked from your own ass.

General Advice for Beginner Witches

A brief masterpost of some of my advice posts for beginner witches and the episodes of my podcast dealing with the same. (There is UPG here, particularly where marked, as I base a good deal of my advice on my own experience and observations of other witches.)

Hex Positive Podcast Episodes

Hex Positive, Ep. 04 - Advice for Beginner Witches (July 2020)

Hex Positive, Eps. 6-7 - Come In For A Spell 1 & 2 (Sept 2020)

Hex Positive, Ep. 12 - Witching From The Broom Closet (Jan 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 24 - Warding A Witchy Home (Dec 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 27 - When Inspo Takes A Holiday (March 2022)

General Tips & Advice

I Feel Like I Might Be A Witch...But I Don't Know

I Have Mental Health Issues - Can I Still Be A Witch?

Can I Still Be A Witch And Use Magic If I Take Medication?

How Do I Teach Myself To Believe In Magic?

How Does Magic Work? (upg ahoy)

Will I Be Possessed Or Haunted If I Try Witchcraft?

What Are Some Things I Can Do To Get Started?

How Can I Start My Practice If I Don't Have Tools Or Books?

How Do I Organize My Study Materials?

How Do I Contact A Deity?

How Do I Worship My Deity If I Can't Have An Altar?

Tips On Working With Deities And Spirits (here be upg)

My Intuitive Spark Feels Low - How Do I Get It Back?

I'm In A Slump - How Do I Get Out Of It?

I've Reached A Stopping Point - What Do I Do Next?

My Candle Is Flickering - Does It Mean Something Bad?

How Do I Make A Magic Circle For Spellcasting?

What Happens If I Get Interrupted While Casting A Spell?

Do I Need To Maintain Positive Vibes For My Spells To Work?

What Should I Do If I REALLY Want To Hex Someone?

How Do I Know / What Do I Do If I've Been Hexed?

How Do I Become More Skilled And More Powerful?

How Do I Know When I'm Ready For The Next Step In My Practice?

Additional Tips For Developing Your Practice

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft Exercise - Dig Through The Ditches

Witchcraft Exercise - The Book of Lessons

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews

Tips on How to Visualize and Construct Basic Wards

Practicing Your Warding Technique

Cleansing Before Warding / Warding A Shared Space

Refreshing / Patching Existing Wards

Non-Appropriative Herbs for Smoke-Cleansing

Smokeless Cleansing / Other Methods

Recommended Reading & Book Suggestions