General Etiquette For Working With The Dead

Please read before sending asks:

Updated 8 January 2022

I will post prayer requests, but please keep in mind that prayer compliments professional healthcare, it’s not a replacement for it. 

- For all medical emergencies, please call your local emergency number.

- If you are struggling with an eating disorder, depression, self harm, suicidal thoughts, or just need to talk to someone, please contact a local, licensed mental health provider, reach out to counselors at Counseling and Prevention Resources or visit  www.suicidestop.com for online chats, worldwide hotlines and emergency numbers, interactive media, useful information and helpful tips.

Before sending me an ask:

- Is your question related to ancient Mediterranean religion, mythology, history or art, or about modern Hellenic and Roman polytheism/paganism? 

- Have you already tried googling your question, or checked Wikipedia or  theoi.com for an answer?

- Have you already searched my blog or checked tags - especially #Hellenic Polytheism 101 or #Roman Polytheism 101?

- If your question is about a post, have you already checked to see if I’ve recently edited or updated a particular post?

- Have you checked my sidebar, Welcome Page, and Masterpost of Hellenic and Roman Polytheism Resources?

If so, go ahead and ask!

If your question is about religion, please include your practice (Hellenic, Roman, Graeco-Roman, Graeco-Roman-Egyptian, etc.) so I can better answer your ask! 

Signed asks will always be answered privately unless otherwise requested.

If you find a typo, broken link, or something else that needs correcting, please dm with a link to the post and explain the problem.

I view as cowardly and/or trolling all anon asks “warning” or “informing” or “calling out” a blogger, a group, or some “new” turn of events. I expect any such information to be sent by dm or signed ask, accompanied by verifiable evidence and no, a screen shot of an email is not verifiable evidence because it can so easily be faked, but not easily verified. 

If you’re a fan of this blog and enjoy my content and creations, send a message to let me know! 

If you want to do something extra-special to show how much you love this blog, please volunteer with or make a donation to an environmental/hunger/ refugee/or animal welfare non-profut - and let me know! 

May your path be blessed!

Beginner Tips for Interpreting Tarot (with Real Examples)

There’s this game called Powerpoint Karaoke. In the game, someone makes up a short series of powerpoint presentation slides. They will give the whole presentation a title, and then pick related or unrelated images to go on the slides. Another person has to give the presentation to the audience - basically improvising along the way the best they can to turn a random topic plus random images into a coherent presentation.  Reading tarot is a lot like doing Powerpoint Karaoke. The title of the presentation is the question you ask, and the cards are the slides. The better you are at stringing disparate images into a coherent narrative on the fly, the better you will be at making sense of tarot spreads.  For each of these tips, I will illustrate it with a real question that I am genuinely asking my tarot, the card I pull, and how I interpret it. 1. Ask clear questions. It is ten times harder to interpret an answer when the question was muddled in the first place. Your questions can be general, or specific, but it’s best to only ask one question at a time. I think about the wording of my question for a while before I actually answer it. I might think at first, “How is this new creative project thing going to go? Should I start it on the New Moon, or am I going to be an unproductive mess this week? Is it a bad month to start it? Why have I been so unproductive?” I’ll take that and cut it down - for instance, removing my own speculations about myself and how it will go and all of the different options. If that stuff is relevant, it will come up in the cards. I end up with a straight-forward question that is open to lots of different answers: “Is it a good move to start working on my new creative project at the New Moon?“ Example: Is it a good move to start working on my new creative project at the New Moon? Ace of Pentacles. Ooh. This seems like a good omen to me. It is not particularly hard to interpret because it feels very on the nose, because Aces are about beginnings. And it indicates that whatever I do could eventually become profitable, even though that’s not explicitly my intention.  2. Get rid of any preconceived notion of what the answer will be. Sometimes you turn over the exact card you are anticipating - like me the time I flippantly asked my tarot deck what my persistent headache might be from and thought, “I’m probably just dehydrated and it’s going to be Temperance or some shit like that.” But other times the card you get will not fit into the mold of what you are expecting. The answer you get is not always going to be the answer you want. Sometimes you are just looking for a “Should I keep going with this story or scrap it and start something new?” but that assumes that one of those options is the correct answer. Your cards may think that you should keep going with the story, but change it in some way. Or maybe you should scrap it and not start on something new right away. If you are expecting a purely yes-or-no type of answer, you may feel confused by the result you get. I often ask questions that could have a whole range of answers, instead of expecting a specific type of answer, so instead I might say, “What should I write about?” Example: What should I write about? The Chariot. This card is about overcoming obstacles, and maintaining control. It’s not really at all what I was starting to write about recently. This is definitely a card where the interpretation isn’t obvious to me. I’ve just been sitting here and had flash of realization that I think maybe I was asking the wrong question - ironic for an example about having preconceived notions. But this actually illustrates the “having preconceived notions” thing perfectly. I asked it what I should write about, and the flash of realization I just had about the message of the Chariot is, “You worry too much about what you should write about, when you will only succeed by actually putting in the effort of writing. Stop worrying about the content - write about anything as long as you are actually writing instead of pacing and contemplating.” So yeah - sometimes the answer you need is not the answer you want.  3. Read interpretations of the cards online. Yes, this is obvious. But it needs to be said because a lot of people have strong, contrary ideas about how tarot should be done. You don’t have to read only the pictures, or have a list of associations memorized, or expect the answer to come purely from your intuition. Lots of sites online offer long and detailed explanations for each tarot card upright and reversed. Often cards can have several meanings, and while reading on a few different interpretations a meaning may jump out at you as obvious.  Example: What’s going to happen this week?  The Moon. This card always seems hazy to me, so it’s a good one to look up. This site says, “On the New Moon, set your intentions and plant the seeds of opportunity so they can grow,” which feels relevant given that the New Moon is this week. This site says, “The towers on the opposing ends represent the forces of good and evil, and their similarity in appearance can allude to the difficulties that we face in distinguishing between them,” which frankly sounds like America to me right now. It also says, “the negative energies must be released and turned into something constructive.” I wouldn’t necessarily gather all of that just from relying on my own ideas about what this card means, but seeing it written here feels very apt for what Americans are going through - both last week and I guess maybe the upcoming week. 

4. Generate a bunch of different ideas for what the cards might mean. If the answer doesn’t seem obvious or immediate, write down three or four things you think it could be saying. Write down all of the associations that spring to mind, even if they seem stupid, and then whittle them down later. You may have some intuitive sense of which interpretation is correct, or one interpretation will grow on you the longer you sit with it. Sometimes the answer may have shades of all of the interpretations you came up with.  Example: What is the best way to spend my Sunday? Three of Pentacles. For me, this could go a few different ways. I asked my deck once what someone thought of me and got this card. So I associate this card with that person. It is that person’s birthday today, so it may be indicating that I should actually reach out to them. I have some good reasons for not doing that though. Or it may be a much less personal interpretation, telling me to do something collaborative. The more that I think about it, the more I think it may also relate to the first card. I’m drawing a connection here because the suit is the same. I’ve kept my ideas about my new creative project entirely to myself, but maybe before embarking on it I should get feedback from someone else on the aspects of it I’ve been struggling with. I think that’s the interpretation I’m going to go with.  5. Ask your cards silly, simple, or non-consequential questions. If you only ask serious questions where you really need an answer, you may feel way more pressure to interpret the cards correctly. As practice, it can help just to ask casual questions like “What should I eat for dinner?” and see what it says. In fact, I’ll do that right now just to show how I would interpret it. Example: What should I eat for dinner tomorrow? Six of Wands. The meaning of this card is ‘success’ and ‘praise’ and things like that, so it kind of reminds me of how I would always choose lobster on birthdays, or after my choir concerts, or middle school graduation and those types of events when I got to pick what to eat. It is definitely a celebration food for me. This is actually a card that is like ‘the answer I want but not the answer I need,” because I don’t know where I’m going to get lobster for dinner tomorrow. Maybe seafood in general will do, because I have salmon I could make. Overall - interpretations are very personal. In the examples I’ve included, someone else may not draw the same conclusion just from the card and the question because they don’t have all of that background knowledge about me to draw from. One of the best things to do when interpreting tarot readings for yourself is just to know yourself - and be able to look at yourself honestly.

Healing is...

I'm not sure who might need to hear this but healing looks different for everyone and it isn't always herbal baths, green tea, and journaling. For some people the process of healing is:

Uncontrollable crying

Meeting parts of yourself you've kept hidden.

Doing what feels like never ending shadow work only to find yourself back at the same trigger that initiated your shadow work in the first place.

Allowing yourself to feel anger towards others for giving you burdens you didn't deserve to carry while simultaneously feeling bad that you're angry with them.

Realizing it was never your fault, then having to forgive yourself for making choices that were heavily influenced by the weight of those burdens placed on you.

Working with your inner child to let them know they are safe while still trying to maintain your sanity to deal with day to day life in the present.

Having to figure out new coping mechanisms during a time when you wish you could just rely on the old ones because you already know the relief they give you. But at the same time understanding that the relief they provide is only temporary and will lead you into a never ending cycle of despair and self loathing.

With this being said, do not ever feel bad if your healing starts to feel more like regression than progression. That is all a part of the process, if you are still choosing to continue on the path to healing, despite any feelings of stagnation you may have. That is in fact, you still working on healing, not giving up on yourself or your ability to heal. You are amazing for recognizing your need to recover and I sincerely pray that you find peace and restoration as your reward for taking this path. 💗

- Erika, The Clumsy Witch

Offerings for Hades

Hades is the Greek god of the dead and wealth, and the King of the Underworld. He is associated with the cornucopia, cypress, narcissus, keys, serpents, mint, white poplar, dog, pomegranate, sheep, cattle, screech owls, horses and chariots.

Offerings

- Bread and Cakes

- Black Coffee or Tea

- Pomegranates

- Apples

- Cerberus or Dog Imagery

- Mint

- Peopermint-Flavoured Foods

- Rosemary

- Thyme

- Coins

- Black Crystals

- Fossils/Bones

- Keys

- Snake Skin

- Dog Fur

- Dark Chocolate

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

Energy Work: Energy Types and Sources

Independent Energy

Independent energy is a type of energy that never loses it’s charge or can recharge on its own with little to no help from outside sources.

Personal energy is the energy that your body makes by itself. It is most commonly recharged by sleeping and calorie consumption and can be easily used as a source in most aspects of witchcraft.

Organic energy is derived from life. This includes humans, plants, animals, and some entities. These can be used as sources. Personal energy falls under this category but is distinguished for crafting purposes.

Rooted energy is the most common source to recharge from and it has a substantial or near unlimited amount of energy. This includes planetary bodies, the elements, and the weather.

Artistic energy is a non-sentient type of energy created by an artist. Despite being able to affect the emotions of those who view or listen to it, the energy itself is trapped within the original product. This energy can be duplicated and used as a source for other creations and magical purposes. This includes things like music, paintings, movies, or stories.

Dependent Energy

Dependent energy is energy that depends on other sources of energy to prevent becoming stagnant with usage over time.

Natural energy is stored in objects not created by humans. It is limited as a source and has to be recharged to keep its individual characteristics. This includes things like crystals, stones, and dead matter.

Manufactured energy is stored in objects created by humans. This includes things like paper, clothing, and machines.

Spiritual energy is created from organic energy sources or nature itself. They heavily depend on other sources of energy in order to maintain themselves. This includes once-living spirits, thoughtforms, and nature spirits.

Programmed energy is a non-sentient energy that is created for a purpose. It can be crafted from any energy source and needs to be recharged in order to continue doing its duty. It can be a free-flowing energy or it can be stored in a vessel. This includes things like spells, curses, and enchantments.

Emotional energy is a non-sentient type of energy created by emotions, thoughts, and words. If fed into, it can turn into an energy parasite. If not fed into, it will neutralize. It can permeate into the world around it or stick to its creator.

Parasitic energy is a non-sentient type of energy and is generally an outcome of sustained emotional energy. It feeds on and encourages the original emotions it stems from and is stuck to a host.

Consumable energy is a non-sentient energy source that is stored in food products. This includes things like harvestable food and crafted food.

🌿the myth of minthe

Major Arcana Tarot Meanings

The Fool  – 0

Upright: Innocence, freedom, originality, adventure, travel, foolishness, carelessness, idealism, youth, spontaneity, lack of commitment, new beginnings Reversed: Recklessness, carelessness, negligence, stupidity, distraction, apathy, irrationality, lack of fun, hope or faith

The Magician  –  I

Upright: Power, influence, willpower, resourcefulness, skill, ability, logic, intellect, concentration and psychic powers Reversed: Manipulation, greed, unused ability, untrustworthiness, trickery, conniving, cunning, lack of mental clarity

The High Priestess  – II

Upright: Desirability, unattainability, mystery, sensuality, spirituality, thirst for knowledge, mystery, subconscious, higher power, creativity, fertility Reversed: Repression of intuition, blocked psychic powers, unwanted attention, uncontrolled outbursts and sexual tension, lack of self-belief, fertility issues

The Empress  –  III

Upright: Pregnancy, fertility, motherhood, sensuality, nurturing, creativity, beauty, femininity, nature, harmony, art Reversed: Insecurity, infertility, lack of confidence, lack of growth, overbearing tendencies, disharmony, negligence

The Emperor  –  IV

Upright: Older man, stability, dependability, fatherhood, father-figure, structure, protectiveness, authority, logical, practical Reversed: Abuse of power, excessively controlling, rigidity, stubbornness, lack of discipline, lack of control, absentee father, paternity issues

The Hierophant  –  V

Upright: Traditional institutions, traditional values, conventional, conformity, marriage, commitment, religion, beliefs, knowledge sharing Reversed: Challenging tradition, unconventional lifestyles, unconventional relationships, reversed roles, non-conformity

The Lovers  –  VI

Upright: Love, soulmates, kindred spirits, perfect unions, partnerships, relationships, major choices, romance, desire, sexual connections, shared values Reversed: Disharmony, trust issues, imbalance, conflict, disconnection, lack of accountability, disunion, detachment

The Chariot  –  VII

Upright: Victory, overcoming obstacles, success, ambition, determination, willpower, control, self-discipline, hard work and focus Reversed: Forcefulness, lack of direction, lack of self-control, powerlessness, aggression, coercion, being blocked by obstacles

Strength  –  VIII

Upright: Inner strength, courage, bravery, confidence, compassion, taming, control, overcoming self-doubt Reversed: Vulnerability, self-doubt, weakness, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, feeling inadequate

The  Hermit  –  IX

Upright: Spiritual enlightenment, soul searching, self-reflection, introspection, contemplation, inner guidance, solitude Reversed: Loneliness, paranoia, isolation, reclusiveness, withdrawal, anti-social, restrictive, paralyzed by fear.

The Wheel of Fortune  –  X

Upright: Good luck, destiny, change, karma, soulmates, decisive moments, cycles of life, fate, fortune, upheaval, chance Reversed: Bad luck, upheaval, disorder, external forces, lack of control, disruption, unwelcome change, delays, set backs, karma

Justice  –  XI

Upright: Justice, karmic justice, consequences, legal disputes, law, truth, honesty, integrity, cause and effect, life lessons Reversed: Injustice, karmic retribution, dishonesty, corruption, lack of accountability, dishonesty, unfairness, karmic avoidance

The Hanged Man  –  XII

Upright: Feeling trapped, confined, self-limiting, uncertainty, lack of direction, needing release, letting go Reversed: Discontentment, apathy, disinterest, stagnation, impulsiveness, negative patterns, detachment

Death  –  XIII

Upright: Spiritual transformation, new beginnings, letting go, endings, change, transition, sudden or unexpected upheaval Reversed: Inability to move forward, fear of beginnings, repeating negative patterns, resisting change, dependency

Temperance  –  XIV

Upright: Balance, peace, patience, moderation, inner calm, perspective, tranquillity, harmonious relationships, soulmates Reversed: Imbalance, self-indulgence, excess, clashing, lack of perspective, discord, antagonism, recklessness, hastiness

The Devil  –  XV

Upright: Addiction, depression, mental health issues, secrecy, obsession, cheating, dependency, bondage, materialism, sexuality, powerlessness, hopelessness, abuse, violence, assault Reversed: Detachment, independence, overcoming addiction, freedom, revelation, reclaiming power, reasserting control

The Tower  –  XVI

Upright: Chaos, destruction, sudden upheaval, trauma, unexpected change, disaster, loss, tragedy, revelations, confusion, pain, divorce, abuse, violence, bankruptcy, natural disasters, inevitable endings Reversed: Resisting change, averting disaster, avoiding tragedy, delaying the inevitable, avoiding loss, lack of insight, codependence

The Star  –  XVII

Upright: Hope, inspiration, creativity, calm, contentment, renewal, serenity, spirituality, healing, positivity Reversed: Hopelessness, despair, focusing on the negative, lack of faith, lack of inspiration, lack of creativity, boredom, monotony

The Moon  –  XVIII

Upright: Intuition, illusion, dreams, vagueness, instability, deception, anxiety, fear, misconception, subconscious, insecurity, clouded Reversed: Releasing fear, unveiling secrets, subsiding anxiety, truth, regaining composure, self-deception, blocked intuition

The Sun  –  XIX

Upright: Positivity, freedom, fun, success, optimism, vitality, joy, confidence, self-expression, good luck, enthusiasm, happiness, truth, openness, pregnancy Reversed: Lack of enthusiasm, excessive enthusiasm, sadness, pessimism, unrealistic expectations, ego, conceitedness, oppression, infertility

Judgement  – XX

Upright: Judgement, self-evaluation, awakening, renewal, composure, decisiveness, homesickness, snap judgements, apportioning blame, forgiveness, judgemental Reversed: Indecisiveness, self-doubt, malicious gossip, lack of self-awareness, unwillingness to learn karmic lessons, unfair blame, false accusations

The World  –  XXI

Upright: Success, achievement, accomplishment, travel, completion, fulfillment, sense of belonging, wholeness Reversed: Lack of success, stagnation, lack of achievement, disappointment, burden, lack of completion

Archive moodboard for lovely @happyheidi ❀ུ۪

Okay so Hades contacted me, and i have no idea where to start. i've been cruising the Hades tags and there is virtually nothing useful. I've read most (if not all) of his stories, and the ones that include him. Any tips? it came from left field to be ones, always thought it would have been Poseidon.

Omg, hello and welcome to the club!!! :D Personally this makes me very happy, because I know how rewarding a relationship with Hades can be! I will add, also, that you may have a relationship with both Hades and Poseidon if you wish. :)

If you’re interested in strengthening this relationship with Hades, here are some devotional acts you can do:

Money and stones are greatly symbolic of Hades, especially dark, jagged stones (think obsidian, smoky quartz and onyx)

As with all chthonic deities, offerings are usually poured down instead of rising up. This means incense is a less common offering, as you want to offer things that are poured down into the earth, where Hades symbolically resides. I usually offer oils and teas (you may offer wine and juice as well), and pour the physical remains into the earth after ritual.

Also, I know it’s common with heavenly deities to take a sip of the drink before offering it. With chthonic deities, DON’T DO THAT. Offer the entire drink to Them. (I got such a death glare from Hades when I didn’t do this correctly pun intended).

Cleaning up cemeteries and tending to old graves are GREAT versions of philanthropic worship!

If you believe in the Hellenistic underworld, you may want to offer money to the spirits of the dead to let them pass on

You may make an altar to Hades easily. Black/grey candles, stones, money, any bones (or representations of bones) you have, and items passed down in your family (a form of ancestral worship) work well on the altar!

You may create an altar to spirits of the dead or your ancestors too if you wish!

Mint and pomegranate are sacred to Hades :)

Remember that the element of earth is sacred to Hades as well. Using dirt, herbs and any other earth elemental magic works in devotion to Him.

If you communicate to spirits, treat them kindly and help them move on

And finally, but most importantly, talk to Him. Talk to Him silently, out loud in front of an altar, or write to Him in a journal (which I do all the time). Hades will respond to you again when He believes the time is right.

If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’m so excited for you that I’m literally having trouble typing because my fingers are trembling. Have a blessed path, lovely!