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Hellenic Pagan magic tip #1

Put the gorgoneion (gorgon’s head) on your grimoires, books, desks, altars, shrines, doorways, etc. You may sculpt one or simply draw one to seek protection. The Gorgon’s gaze will keep away negative spirits and dangers that seek to harm you. 

Protection Pouch

As we all know, it's very important to use multiple methods of warding when practicing our craft. I decided to make this pouch as a permanent fixture for my altar to keep my space protected at all times.

For this spell you will need:

Salt (any salt will do; I used Black Salt)

Basil

Clear Quartz

Obsidian

Sunstone

Reptile shedding (I was lucky enough to receive a beautifully intact shedding from my partner's pet Corn Snake)

A pouch

As always, be sure to cleanse the area, the items to be used, and yourself! Before filling my pouch, I inscribed it with my own protection sigil. This is optional, but I find making sigils quite fun! Give it a go! And if you'd rather not, you can always use mine!

As you fill your pouch, chant the phrase:

"My energy is protected."

I need everyone to read how Socrates described the etymology of Hades’ name. This is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful descriptions of the God in antiquity

Hades devotion 102

Part 5- Upscaling your practice

(The entire Hades devotion masterpost)

If you reached here you probably initiated some kind of interaction with Hades by now. The relationship with our deities usually starts with a casual acquaintance at a business event. You stepped into a room full of strangers, walked around holding a glass of wine, and heard many snippets of conversations. When you found something that caught your attention- the Gods themselves, the topic of their discussion, the “business” opportunities they can offer you (by that I mean of course the business of spiritual development), or just plain good old-fashioned curiosity. Some of these relationships turned out to be a one-time interaction, maybe a tip or a lesson. But some of these relationships went on to be something more- a truly deep connection you carry with you wherever you go. 

All the terms I use in this part of used sometimes interchangeably by different people. This is my own personal interpretation of them, take them as it resonates with you or not at all.

How does a relationship with a deity is starting out?

Well, in the beginning, everything is more official. You might be having an easier time reciting a written prayer, offering by-the-book offerings, and using known forms of divination to communicate. You might start a routine of prayers and rituals, and build up your own records of experiences (“How I felt after offering dark chocolate to him?”), and your own associations (like a private joke you had that associated Hades with bears for some reason). The point is to build kharis, to feel this reciprocity. This should not feel completely one-sided for long periods of time (even though in my case I spent 8 years of one-sided devotion).

At this point you can feel like you are a follower,as opposed to a practitioner who honors him occasionally.

Those first steps are valuable. Follow your insights, gather them, study them, and analyze them. Research your own experience in this worship like a laborant.This will make it easier to learn more and deepen the relationship.

Worth-relationship

I once read somewhere that “worship” is a portmanteau of the words “worth” and “relationship”. I don’t know if that is true in any way, but I like the poetic sense of it and I agree. Our devotion should have some kind of worth to us. Worth can be an actual gain of spiritual lessons or progress you wished for, but it can also be just the comforting feeling you get while you pray. In a kind of deity-worshipper relationship I feel like it should be clear what you derive from it, and what are you in this connection for. Gods are not vending machines and not ingredients in a spell jar, but the effect they have on our daily life is so incredibly heavy and nothing less than transformational- before we go deeper into one of those relationships, we should understand what it stands for. If you figured it out, and you are willing to keep this thing going, you can call it devotion, or being a devotee. You are no longer a follower, you took the active decision to participate in a reciprocal partnership.

At this point, you might want to add more and more elements of your spiritual practice into your daily life. You’d want in immerse yourself in this experience and have the effects of it on every aspect of your life. This is a great time to select a few devotional acts to incorporate into your practice- start a new hobby dedicated to your Gods, and try to actively promote what they stand for. It can also be a great time to create connections with other devotees and work together on things related to your worship. Some people choose a professional path that aligns with their Gods, some choose a major based on that. Some people choose to sell their things and go live in a forest. No one can guarantee us we are doing the right thing for us, but no one but us can learn our lessons, and trusting our Gods to lead us to the best lessons for us out there, is a good way to go.

This could also mean that your narrative about your life story might alter and get some new adjustments based on the spiritual context. You are no longer living two separate narratives- the mundane one where you go to work and pay bills, and the spiritual one where you pray by your altar. Those two narratives are merged into one, enriching each other. Discernment is importamt here as in any stage of course.

End notes- Where do we go from here?

I couldn’t tell you even if I knew. When our devotion is such a big part of our lives, and the reciprocal relationship we have with our Gods is steady, there is no limit to where will go. The Gods are not some distant forces sitting on a cloud and sending us dreams, they are active participants in our lives, companions, teachers, bosses, and family members. And like human companionships, we can’t really know where things will get us. This is part of the mystery and the journey. Who we are as people will probably develop and evolve through time and adventures we will have, with our Gods and regardless of them. We can only hope that through these ties we will turn out to be better than we could've been without them.

💀 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 :)

Hades devotion series masterpost

Hades 101- part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5

Hades 102- part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5

"Prayers in Greek religion, as scholars have noted, generally have a tripartite form, consisting in a preliminary invocation, some sort of argument or narrative that explains why the divinity should grant the prayer, and the actual wish itself. The invocation serves to get the god's attention and request the god's presence, often invoking the god by a variety of epithets and titles that identify the god. Such addresses are not so much to make sure that the prayer reaches the right entity as to begin the process of establishing the identities of the prticipants in the prayer relation...The process of identifying participants in the relationships continues in the argument section, which often sets out a narrative of the god's past deeds or of the previous relationship, the history of the interactions and exchanges of favors between god and mortal. The actual wish of the prayer may come at the very beginning, but often comes at the end of the prayer, following all the descriptions of the status of the god and the mortal and their relationship that provide the reasons why the god should grant the mortal's request."

Drawing Down the Moon, Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, p. 155

Msgs & Guidance from Anubis

I don't talk much about what or who I work with, but I must say. I love Imeut dearly. <3 So lets see what messages he has for you all! I apologize for the shortness of this message, Imeut tends to be pretty brief. PILE 1

Channeled Song: Paranoid - Kanye West

Imeut wants to remind you that you are in fact overcoming your shortcomings. I know thing are moving at a pace slower than you like, but have you taken a moment to actually appreciate the things you DO have? I feel like you are so wrapped up in what you don't have and stuck in this mindset of constant need and lack. I know you are feeling high strung and so stressed out. He wants you to remember that you do in fact have a foundation to stand upon, your abundance is right under your feet. All you need to do is have faith in yourself. Have trust in resources, manifestations, and most importantly release the need to constantly judge yourself. You are so mean to yourself for no reason, it's not even fair. Give yourself a chance, you deserve to feel confident and strong. You ARE confident and strong, you may not physically self harm but I see you absolutely emotionally self harm. Like I was saying, you do in fact have a very strong foundation, though something I think that should be said is that you spend too much time seeking divine intervention or guidance from the divine. You are missing out on legitimate opportunities in the physical due to your preoccupation with the ephemeral. It's time to tap out and ground for a bit. It's time to go outside and appreciate the sun, smile, laugh, have a good meal and take some time at least a few times a week to disconnect and be present. PILE 2

Channeled song: Pretty - Coco & Clair Clair This might be really niche, but the sample from Odd Toddlers (tyler the creator), and One Beer (MF DOOM) is also a channeled song. (Huit octobre) You guys could be moving on from someone from the past, perhaps someone you emotionally depended on or saw as a pillar in your life. I feel like this group is so powerful because you're taking the pain and grief this person caused you and turning it into stability. You are at times though kind of lacking in gratefulness for what you have. Like, okay things aren't perfect yet but take some time to actually appreciate how far you've come instead of condemning everything because you feel like it's not good enough for you yet. I know you don't do it because you think you're better than everyone else. I think for a lot of you that you feel like you're not good enough. So therefore you need to work as hard as you possibly can and anything you achieve isn't good enough for you. Drop the expectations, learn to be fair to yourself, your inner child, and your loved ones. I feel like a lot of old ways of self defensiveness and functioning are being ripped and torn down. I also do feel like you're being asked to surrender and release your childhood trauma. I don't want to detail, but that one big thing you went through that was really fucked up? Yeah, it's time. It's possible this tower moment will remove any financial blockages you are currently experiencing. Despite feeling confused and misguided, you guys are being blessed with luck. For those of you dealing with a younger person trying to meddle in your life or cause issues, they will go through a healing transformation. You are being protected, however, go your own length to protect yourself and the emotional sanctity of your relationships. Spend more time developing your romantic relationship as well. There is more blessings to come, but you must do the dirty work to receive them. Someone here could get 1,000 dollars for doing some type of very intense shadow work. Best of luck pile 2. PILE 3

Channeled song: Curse of the witches - Strawberry Alarmclock This is so funny, I usually get very opposite messages from Imeut. This group could be really avoidant of conflict, like you will do anything you can to get out of conflict. Sometimes you could also go to unintentionally manipulative or toxic lengths in order to avoid conflict. You could have some extremely deep rooted trauma dealing with conflict. Perhaps a verbally or physically violent household, I'm thinking it was a mother figure. For some it was an older sister. I feel like you're being told to stop being scared and have confidence. You are not going to be the one who suffers in response to ur self defense/standing up. In fact, this person that's been meddling and gossiping about you recently will get their shit rightfully wrecked. Have more faith in your words & your mind. Some of you could have 12H placements. Honestly you're being told to say what the fuck you need to say, move on, get some alone time, and uproot that connection. That shit is very much past life, there is so much going on for your pile spiritually. I wish you the best of luck .

Hades Devotional Poem #2

Ἁιδης Suffering floods and bursts in moments I weep into the soil beneath my  grasping fingers I question purpose, I beg for reason And in my choking state as I dig and dig Trying to find an answer You grasp my shoulder You stay my hand And with a gentle sigh “You are with me” When all have turned their back I know  you will always remain Humble and Prosperous Quiet and Knowing

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