clairpilferage

[clairpilferage]

The conflation of "deity work" with religion is one I don't personally follow. I practice under a different view on the world, different than maybe one that would merge the two, and even though Abrahamic and Greek deities and entities have been invited to exert influence, establish presence, and take root (often literally) in my space and in my life, I don't necessarily ascribe to any one specific religion. My viewpoint is one that thrives on variance, on currents that flow like breath through the lungs and all that comes with that. I have burrowed deeply into the nest of the worn paths that those before me have walked and come to know that every part of my upbringing, every crumb of truth my family and guides have given me plays a near constant role. The metaphysical influences in my life are piled up in the earth around me, and I see their mixed collage in every whisper of a breeze that touches my home and skin. I stand at the center of all I currently know, and in my mind it is akin to a crossroad within and beyond my self, sedentary and breathing, evolving and remaining. It is harder to put into words than to experience. Experiencing is simple. Verbalizing is . . . at times beyond me.

#deity work #cosmology

[clairpilferage]

An Exercise to Help with Falling & Being Blank

Or, alternatively, what I’ve been using to help teach certain in real life “students” how to open their third eye and see with a sight that is beyond themselves.

To Start: Prepare the Body

Begin by sitting up as straight as you can and flex every muscle in your back and shoulders, focus on your breath (use it as a tool)

Breathe In: acknowledge how tense/tight a state you are in

Breathe Out: loosen a little bit, bit by bit, slowly, wash away the rigor and push it out with your breath

Repeat until your posture is physically relaxed again before moving on to the next step

Second Phase: Leave the Body’s Sensations Behind

This phase has two parts to assist and guide you in gathering, focusing, and directing your consciousness beyond yourself. Please be aware that the second of the two parts has stronger wording and imagery called upon because of how strong my second student’s block was, but that if a softer image or sensation works for you, then you are more than welcome to alter or change it to suit your needs.

1st - gather your awareness/consciousness to the center of your forehead, center yourself there (move consciousness with breath)

Breathe In: acknowledge the tenseness of your inner self, how wound you are about and within your own bones

Breathe Out: let consciousness loosen, bit by bit, slowly, with each breath, and gather/center into your forehead

2nd - push yourself through the center of your forehead, almost like driving a pike or lance through, and push out

Breathe In: gather strength to drive breath out

Breathe Out: with each breath drop lower and away from yourself

Tip: push your awareness out towards your hands - which should, for this stage, be placed low and flat, palms down, below your chest - and let yourself flow out. (Another exercise is to flow out of your fingertips if you’re using crystal or tarot or another medium.)

If you have a crystal ball or tarot card/reading, consider placing your hands around it and try to flow out into the spirit within.

As always, record your thoughts, how you feel, what you see, etc.

#meditation

[clairpilferage]

Mentors & Gift Giving

This is a topic, or perhaps better put as the beginning of one, that I have sat on for quite some time now.

A lot of the time on Tumblr when someone mentions mentors, they are referring to a practitioner they think of as knowledgeable and have placed in a educator or teaching role within their own practice. This post isn't really going to have anything to do with that. For one, my family taught me most of what I know, and for another, I have only sought out one mentor in this regard who was not related to me. But we have seen how y'all react to closed practices being discussed already, so this will not be getting into that either.

Spirits, saints, and deities make for some of the best mentors, in my opinion. Not only are they (mostly) accessible, but I've found that the gifts they give, or take, carry the greatest impact.

Personally, I do not do devotional acts or relationships with the entities I have fostered close/frequent dealings with, excepting my ancestors. This means that all of my deities have taken on, and more often than not started from or adjacent to, a mentorship or guiding role in my practice. Approaching from the mindset of a student instead of a devotee can be challenging, and oftentimes rather confusing, for religious or actively devoted practitioners. Not many are even aware that they can ask for both without risking one or the other.

I say ask for a reason, I might add. It is more of a request than a demand, more of an outstretched hand than a binding pact (if you so choose). There are spirits who welcome the arrangement, just as there are those who would refuse or outright take "offense."

On Tumblr in particular, I have noticed that spirits are seldom considered when discussing the search for a mentor. Although it is common enough to hear of beginner or branching/exploring witches and occultists searching for mentors. I have seen little in the way of directing such searches from the cyber to the spiritual. Though, to be fair, there are plenty of posts advocating for sitting with the intelligence of planets and plants, there is little that goes beyond that.

And while I do not think myself up to the task of detailing the entire journey - seldom does it even remain the same from one person to the next - I did want to offer this one thought, from my own perspective, to the void that is the Tumblrsphere.

#spirits

[clairpilferage]

From my perspective- If you consistently treat something as sacred, it becomes as such. This can be seen in ritual tools, altar items, etc. But it is also applicable to the concept of creating sacred space. It is my opinion that ritual hygienic practices greatly impact the creation and maintenance of such spaces. I approach my altars cologned and cleaned, and I lay a circle or compass in much the same way, with a focus on endowing the space with the attributes I name or call it to be. Continuing along that line of thought, within my own practice the creation of sacred space is approached similarly to how I enter/exit my home (niche cultural reference, spiritual wash ref.), and enter into contact with spirits and the divine. There is a balancing and aligning of the mind and body to the task at hand before any work or words are even spoken. Through consistent creation of sacred spaces within the home, I have found that my occult-inclined guests tend to feel an influence whether sensory or otherwise, similar to how most do when attempting to read or interact with an item that I have made sacred to my practice.

#magic theory

[clairpilferage]

An operation to banish all evil or unsightly things from the home

Used once. Results strong and lasting, a space perfectly serene and clear of uncalled, outer influence. Saved for future use. (Decided to type up & share in the style of some of my fave grimoires)

더 보기

#spells

[clairpilferage]

Currently (finally) reading Holy Heretics, and this quote in particular, as well as quite a few statements before this point, have really highlighted for me the pursuit of Chumbley & Co. and led me towards finally organizing my thoughts on certain aspects of their final products that I've mostly kept to myself hitherto.

I've read quite a few books by the Cultus Sabbati group now, as well as plenty of others such as Paracelsus and Alm, and while I'm reading Acher's work, I find myself reflecting, even without intentionally doing so, on the chthonic Greek initiation rites I had put together. Perhaps due to the non-dualistic perspective on cosmology I have, after their first draft, I started unraveling those rites and leaving almost "placeholder slots" in them where I had previously affixed Greek-specific rivers, deities, and mythological references. Now, when I'm reading this book in particular, it becomes even more obvious 1) why I was so intent on unraveling my own views on those rites and my cosmology in general (and in turn, how useful that ended up being), and 2) how Chumbley's works, and a few of his peers, appeared to crumble in their pursuit of a homogenous, one-size-fits-all-or-does-it concept.

"But now, to the best of our ability, we use symbols appropriate to the things Divine, and from these again we elevate ourselves." This sentence in particular feels like a perfect summary of where/why the Cultus' books fell short for so many I've seen attempt "decoding" them.

In the pursuit of transcending and "encoding" their work, a lot of the symbols, names, and concepts they latched onto and blended lost their ability to be used effectively in their presented form. Often, my peers would relate back to me that DBoE rites, if worked through to the letter, took many more hours than anticipated and that time seemed to just fall away and be absorbed into the working, and then when they inevitably restructured and reworded them to their needs/desires, they had an increased impact, reliable results, and took a significantly less amount of time. Truthfully, Chumbley & Co.'s works are the outer emanations of an inner, closed group, so it can, and really imo should, be argued that those extra bits and bobs and the declared so-called "ciphered" way of writing is done intentionally and that these results may in fact be what they'd intended all along. There can be a multitude of reasonings attached, but my ending note is the same:

The symbols used, in any system, must be adequate to the practitioner's understanding and relation to the divine in order to be usable in the pursuit of transcendence and unity with that which is beyond.

Cultus works just so happen to be the first that come to mind for me, especially given how quickly I have seen folks discard them entirely. A mish-mosh, rushed undertaking of DBoE will likely leave you in a room surrounded by just thoughtforms and archetypes rather than with a powerful eminence of divinity. And while this was more than likely the intended affect, it is still worth reflecting on for those like me who seek out experience with multiple different paths and systems.

It is something I have seldom verbalized, but that I carry with me when developing or seeking the understanding and knowledge necessary to undertake new ways of thinking and organizing the world around me. And, quite honestly, I think it is better put in this way than in the multitude of articles and entries I have seen that cryptically and obliquely describe Chumbley's works as "ineffectual" or "overhyped."

It is a matter of perspective, at the end of the day. Perspective and perhaps willingness to embrace the essence, rather than the presented, Crooked Path around you.

#occult theory

[clairpilferage]

The Nameless God

The Christian god is referred to as simply God, usually with different attributes before or after to further categorize or differentiate him, and I have a theory on why that is that I'm not sure Tumblr's going to like, but that I have to get off my chest.

I just need to say, before we start: I primarily wanted to put this together, not to open up like discourse or anything, but to explain and put into words more why I call and refer to this God the way I do. So if you don't agree or have a differing view on it, I think that's neat (not being sarcastic here, I genuinely enjoy hearing about how and why others think the way they do), but I really just want to put my thoughts and ideas, even in this most basic form, in order in at least this small little post. Getting the words out of my head helps free up space, and that's all I really intend this to be!

So here we go! (Note: It is like 5am, and I haven't slept so if this makes no sense or is riddled with errors, please do be patient with me!)

Cavendish puts the basis, or really the jumping point, of my theory well when he explains the importance that a name carries in magic:

"The conviction that the name of a thing contains the essence of its being is one of the oldest and most fundamental of magical beliefs. Names are used to identify things. Instead of reciting a long and detailed description of the characteristics of an animal, it is more convenient to say, this is a 'frog'. . . . For the magical thinker the name sums up all the characteristics which make the animal what it is, and so the name is the animal's identity. If it did not have this name but some other - 'toad' perhaps - it would not be what it is, but something different. This is the root of the magical theory that the name of a thing is a miniature image if it, which can be used as a substitute for the thing itself."

- The Black Arts (1967) Richard Cavendish, p41

When you think of it, King Solomon's control over the 72 demons was heavily reliant on knowing not only the name of the demons, and those of some of their underlings, but also on speaking the "true names of God." We're not going to talk about the whole Hebrew inclusion or background to the workings done, because this post is primarily going to be about names and domination rather than specific systems such as that. But! In knowing the true names of God and speaking them during the conjurations, the magician gains domination over the demons and the right to call on angels for their assistance in their work. (Is it 100% guaranteed? Lol absolutely not. But it is something to be said that calling on His true names can be almost like a bargain chip or incentive. Hey, I know this, and I'm waving it like a VIP backstage pass; please let me in, guys! That's sort of the vibe/energy of it.)

Regardless, the demons called upon recognize the power in the names used and, in recognizing it, heed the call of the magician who pronounces and knows them too. Their fear is based on the efficacy and authenticity of those names.

Back to the Nameless God. What does this mean for him?

It is my opinion that denying his name to the masses was on purpose. If he is an all-knowing, all-seeing entity then he had to have known and been aware of what giving out his name would mean. That's not to say humans are capable of dominating deities on the whole or on average, but it is a wellknown practice to eat your gods, consume your idols, etc. And in some traditions and religions, it is your duty to put your gods on trial.

But I'm not saying he's a coward, but I'm not not saying it, ya know? The Fae know it and the demons know it all alike. Give up your name and you give up power. A loss of control? For the big man? Even in the bible, it wasn't something he was overly fond of.

But anyways, it makes sense, in my mind, to refer to him as the Nameless God - even if I do happen to have the Solomonic texts and the grimoires phonetically spelling out his holy names and such. It's kind of a . . . tip of the hat, really. An "I see you and I respect it" kind of thing.

I mean after all, you know me as Boop. I am well-aware of the value and importance in remaining anonymous and holding onto what's close to you. I also gave The Astrologer my natal chart but we're not talking about that right now.

#upg #occult theory

[clairpilferage]

My take on animism is directly impacted and shaped by the apparent interlinked organization of the world around me. It is my belief that even that which is not naturally occurring - like tarot cards for instance - can be seen as having an intrinsic awareness, intelligence, or spirit of its own. Whether this is a byproduct of un/conscious human engagement or because of the simple act of Being in a world born of Nothing/Everything, I can't say, but this lack of a concrete answer doesn't impede my ability to perceive such qualities in the man-made or man-shaped structures around me. Perhaps it is better phrased or understood through the similar lens of how a home can have a daimon with which offerings and workings can be later done. Or perhaps it is just something I do not currently have the words to properly convey. Regardless, it is how I think and know the world to be.

In the oddest of times, the least suspected moments, we find that the world is interconnected. Mushrooms communicate; trees are a living network; other dimensions and realities exist. Science chases the spiritual and Other in a ceaseless ring, ever striving to overshadow, to ensnare, to contain that which it cannot understand but may. It is this particular dance that those invested or interested in the metaphysical ought to make themselves aware of and strive to bear in mind. What is dubbed crazy or UPG today may as of yet come to light under the hand of a physicist, chemist, or psychologist. What is considered untrue to one's own mind, impossible to others, may as of yet become part of one's reality. We are all dancing, even if from our own perspective it looks only like walking.

#upg #cosmology

[clairpilferage]

The critique of magic oftentimes involves questions like:

Why don't practitioners just predict the winning lottery numbers?

Why don't practitioners just cure their physical/mental ailments?

and similar, of course. Typically, the line of questioning comes down to "proving power" in a substantially public and physically apparent way.

From working with a variety of spirits - demons, angels, plants, planets, and deities namely- my answer has become rather simple and can be boiled down to just 3 words: understanding of needs.

Angels and demons exist on a similar wavelength, with their understanding of needs being primarily influenced by their own understanding and perception. Angels take the path that ends where they want it to; demons take the path of least resistance/effort. Plants and planets tend to take the expressed needs of a person very literally and influence the physical in a more obtuse way; oftentimes I find the impact less so in a concentrated area of my life than a broad application of shifting energies and happenstance. Deities are where I find the most concrete changes immediately apparent, but they are similarly influenced by the overarching theme or picture They have in mind. Of note: I have no background with the Good Neighbors, so I cannot speak on the Doctors who work under their tutelage.

Regardless, winning the lottery and curing whatever is impeding or impacting your way of life is often not seen as the "cure" or a viable option. Often I find that the spirits I call on are more inclined to alter the situation and circumstances surrounding the source rather than that which is presented as the problem. For example, an insurance hiccup or occupational hindrance may be addressed rather than the physical origin point of pain/discomfort. This trajectory alteration is not due to a shortcoming in magic or "power," but a differing of opinion when it comes down to the needs of the situation. Seldom do you actually need to win the lottery, and in fact it could be argued that winning the lottery would create more problems than ease them. What spirits are most likely to address is the circumstance surrounding certain issues or points of conflict in one's life.

To my mind, this is not a shortcoming of magic but rather a positive. It not only serves as a means of proving that Spirit has its own inclinations and ways of observing and categorizing the world, but also as a means of shifting one's own perspective, should they be so inclined. When approaching magic and Other, it then becomes less of an "what can I get out of this" or "what can you show/do for me," and transitions to what it ought to be - "what can I learn from this."

#magic theory #spirit work

[clairpilferage]

Originating quite obviously from Greek mythology, the concept of Tartarus and kraters takes up much of my cosmology. From a non-dualistic perspective, these concepts have taken on a primary role in my understanding of how the world as we know it has come to be.

To start, my understanding of the known universe is like looking at a complete body: outer, inner, middle. Tartarus being the outer emanation and boundary to the physical dimension on which we reside. Perhaps if it were possible to travel bodily to another planet in another solar system's surface, I might experience a different "outer" boundary than that which I've come to know. Some, I know, equate the Between with the Astral. I'm of the mind that where there is surface, there is Astral, and between, there is Boundary - a hedge, to some, a breathing membrane to others. Regardless, this is but one title I have chosen. The machinations are what actually matter.

Within the breathing multi-dimensional Tartarus, the kraters, like lungs, move in and out, their every breath aiding and furthering the currents that criss-cross this, the physical, plane. An origin from one point, one cosmic transformation of Nothing to Everything, becomes easily understood. Everything is connected and existent at the same time, created at the same time, inter-connected and Being at the same time. Different cultures and pantheons come to fruition seemingly from the same Nothing start and take root within the currents that kraters breathe in and out of fruition, that kraters breathe new and stagnant life in and out of. The altering of paths, of belief systems, and ways of Being is akin to the path of air within the human body, as it is to the currents.

An alignment between pantheons then becomes less something to dig into and allow oneself to become hyperfixated on, than the natural order of things - an occurence that would be odd not to observe in a world already established as interconnected and communicating with/in itself. Just as overlapping ties between the Elementals' construction does not permit for one to equate Earth to Fire, the ability to recognize likeness in Spirit without abandoning the key differences and markers of Spirit's own Other-ness is one worth sharpening. One may dilute the essence of Fire to name it as Earth, but that concept if drawn upon in ritual or work will likely be neither.

#upg #cosmology

[clairpilferage]

In the oddest of times, the least suspected moments, we find that the world is interconnected. Mushrooms communicate; trees are a living network; other dimensions and realities exist. Science chases the spiritual and Other in a ceaseless ring, ever striving to overshadow, to ensnare, to contain that which it cannot understand but may. It is this particular dance that those invested or interested in the metaphysical ought to make themselves aware of and strive to bear in mind. What is dubbed crazy or UPG today may as of yet come to light under the hand of a physicist, chemist, or psychologist. What is considered untrue to one's own mind, impossible to others, may as of yet become part of one's reality. We are all dancing, even if from our own perspective it looks only like walking.

#cosmology #metaphysical