Crooked Path Creations

I haven't posted here in a while; Blusky is a little discouraging! Thoughtful threads and posts seem to gain little traction, but I may be doing it wrong... I am an Old, and perhaps social media has finally outpaced me.

A good road trip is cathartic, healing. Searching for the end of the long white line is rewarding!

#witchsky #Witchcraft #pagansky #paganism #occultsky #occultism
#magic #sorcery #PGM #devotion #gods #Spirits #spells

A long thread to say; study the classics. Read the grimoires, the PGM, and make it all work for you. Read, experiment and get invested in your practice. Initiate yourself. We have centuries of experience to call from, learn from, even emulate, and many witches just leave it on the floor. 16/16

In my experience, over time the two will begin to overlap, and your daily practice will become more formally ritualized. Getting to that point takes time and isn't for everyone, so it shouldn't be seen as an aspiration, but another evolution of the process. Getting there is a ton of fun tho. 15/16

The second is your ritual practice, more formal and prescribed. Do this when you can, but keep it regular. Full/New Moons are common for witches, but I recommend at least weekly; this is a good time to maintain the spiritual hygiene of your space, which should be done more than every 28 days. 14/16

Divide your practice into parts; First is your daily, done everyday/most days. It may or not be formally ritualized. Whispering words to your coffee, or making an offering. Hold your face to the sun and smile. Whatever brings you joy and connection to your gods. A moment of mindfulness, even. 13/16

You may end up whispering barbarous words to your morning coffee, or singing praises to your gods in the shower, and these would be a natural evolution of your specific magical process, and would absolutely qualify for a "daily practice," being a ritual you maintain regularly. 12/16

Your white cloth wasn't "virgin-spun," but the co-opt in the county over made it by hand, factory-free. Writing on papyrus becomes paper, lamps become candles, potions become herbal blends -- all informed by original DNA, rather than the corrupted data post 1900. It becomes a part of you. 11/16

This is where you take a prescribed ritual, and make it fit into your life, rather than the other way around. Sorcerers 200 years ago should be able to recognize your process, but be amazed at how you've adapted it yourself. What was important/available 300 years ago May not be relevant now. 10/16

It's still effort, but at least you have a direction! Use your own DNA instead of frog DNA; local native plants as substitutes, your personal pantheon of spirits, your own construction of the circle. Magic has a specific look, everyone's is different, but still recognizable as such. 9/16

Now for the fun part; you're cooler than Crowley and crew! You have not only more raw material (PGM is $40 max) but the whole internet at your disposal. You can take the patterns they saw and continue them with better data! No more frog DNA! Feel weird as a gentile using Kabala? Then don't! 8/16

They did great with those pieces, but then they used the Jurassic Park method, and used the frog DNA from other systems (not theirs) to fill their creations out. This made a mess of things, slapping Kabala on everything and making buying crystals an important part of occultism. Whoops. 7/16

Occultists of the late 1800's knew this, but didn't have access to what we do now; the Betz PGM is younger than I am, and they would have had just a few pieces they had to translate themselves. They were like Jurassic Park scientists, they had the time and inclination, so they tried their best. 6/16

The Betz translation of the Greco-Egyptian papyri draws a line between the processes of the grimoires and folk magic of the literate priests of late antiquity. The processes are slightly changed with cultural evolution; gods/spirits named changed, and it became more formalized over centuries. 5/16

Those grimorists of the middles ages were more clever than you give them credit for, and have hidden the pagan procedures passed down to them in-between the lines of Xtian praise. Procedures passed down to them from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia and India long lost - but we have recovered them. 4/16

Modern pagans do not have this luxury, and must labor under the desire to both follow their heart and the rules, so conflict arises. "The Grimoires are ancestral, but their use has drifted - how do I use them now?" When the core of the grimoires appears at first glance to be xtian-based magic. 3/16

The grimoires are specific procedures for rituals, but were written by men whose sorcerous devotion was fulfilled by worshipping at the neighborhood church - a regular ritual framework for worship was unneeded. They didn't need to construct a daily practice, they operated under the public one. 2/16

Magic isn't just the big routines like the chants and yelling through incense smoke. It's the words, the feelings, and devotion of doing the actual act of sorcery - which can all be invoked without prescribed ritual. But how? Unless you follow a specific tradition, you're left to flounder. 1/16

Yup, a whole thread about LED #candles in witchcraft. I've had a teacher or two get bullish about it, and I wanted to publicly provide a counterpoint. They definitely have a place, so feel free to give them a try!

#pagansky #witchsky #magic #candle #witch #modernwitchcraft

Spirits, like humans, LOVE pagentry & drama, big elaborate rituals. I find this is more true for spirits that engage with us by choice, and is less true for nature spirits, but even then they notice. Big words, big drama, big sounds, big smells, all are attractive to spirits. Production matters! 7/

Is a circle of candles needed for #ritual work? ✨Absolutely not✨ but it's a badass way to do it, and LEDs let you be a *safe* badass which is the best kind. My circle of light is both spiritual and literal!

LEDs produce less light than a candle, so you can use more! You can be a whole *scene* 6/

YMMV, of course, but also? My #spirits have never complained. #Daimons seem to love the dim flickering shadows. TBH I'm not entirely sure they care about the difference, only the light.

I'd suggest getting the kind that look like a real candle, (wax-covered) and rechargeable ones with a remote. 5/

I do also use live candles - four for my corners, one each for Earth, Sky, & Sea. These are only lit during active ritual, & never left unattended. Candle magic also gets a real candle, again with safety at the forefront and never left alone. Anything that doesn't require diminishing is LED! 4/

"Just because they look cooler? That's shallow."

You underestimate the power of "Set & Setting." By donning my ritual gear, standing in front of a candle-lit shrine; I *feel* witchier which facilitates ritual consciousness. It's certainly better than feeling like I'm standing in the milk aisle! 3/

"But why not just turn your house lights on?" You ask.

That's an excellent suggestion for someone without LED candles! I have a ton, so I use those because they look cooler. I also use electric lights in lanterns for my Perpetual Fire! Much safer, even if I can't burn things from it in ritual. 2/?

A note on LED candles in #witchcraft - I live in an apartment with #cats. Live-flame candles are a risky part of witchcraft, adding chaos gremlins to the mix, with the potential of burning OTHER PEOPLE down, and I minimize the open flame as much as possible. LEDs are fine for offering light! 1/?

A quick photo of the previous configuration. The evil eye curtains were hiding a screen I was going to paint a mural on. The plan has shifted dramatically since that initial idea. The center figure statue is the ever-present Veronese design. Lovely, but very small for the 6-foot shrine.

I've spent two days resetting and upgrading the temple. Moving furniture, spackling and adding new holes, putting up art. I've changed almost every shelf and wall. Today, the third day, I am preparing the candles and finishing touches before reawakening the space tonight.

Blessings on a Mars-Day; May you approach all conflict with grace, while never tempering your dignity. May all who see you kneel to your sovereignty, that you may respond in kind. May the arrows of your words fly true, and strike where they are meant.

#witchsky #pagansky #Mars #Ares #blessings