littledarknesscalls

[littledarknesscalls]

Review: “Voidworking” by Dave Smith

[Image description: photography of the book with purple and white light spots of light that form a circular shape in a middle. That shape is black on the inside with faint purple shade. The cover has faintly noticeable symbols associated with the Void from inside the book. The title at the top reads “Voidworking” with “Practical sorcery from primordial nothingness” underneath it. At the bottom of a cover there is a centered name of the author “Dave Smith”. End of image description.]

Note: 4.5/5

About the book

     “Voidworking: practical sorcery from primordial nothingness” is the second book written by Dave Smith, who is also known for being the author of “Quantum Sorcery”. It was released by Megalithica Books in May 2020 as a softcover paperback. It's a rather short book (only 123 pages) and divided into three main parts: “Introduction”, “Laying the Foundation” and “Voidworking”.

My first impressions

     When I saw the book for the first time, I was torn between two types of thoughts. One was this very happy kid that got excited for the word “void” and was about to get the book right away. The other was a cautious adult that got a bit sceptical with how unfamiliar the author’s name was to them and how few reviews it had. Even though it’s a 2020 book, it had only two reviews on Amazon. What convinced me to purchase it was its description on the back cover that promised it to be looking through various concepts of the Void, from ancient to modern ones (including pop culture), and also mentioned example techniques that can be used with it. While the back cover descriptions are not always accurate, they can betray a bit about the book's content and the author themself. In this case, I got this gut feeling Dave Smith knows his stuff and is not leading me on. Let’s say the book surpassed my expectations.

What I like about the book?

While short, it’s still packed with information, both on theory and practical exercises relying on the Void;

I seriously appreciate that the chapter on risks of voidworking is placed in the beginning part of the book. There are also plenty of useful tips and remarks for one’s own practice;

It uses  language that doesn’t insult me as a reader. A lot of spiritual/occult/witchcraft type of books I’ve read seemed to have this “I know better than you all” mindset, which seems to treat the reader as someone inferior who isn’t supposed to question the authority and truthfulness of the supreme author. In this case, the author uses more of a “Hey, this is what I know and it might be useful to you” - style;

Bibliography includes plenty of sources from different paths and also from non-occult literature.

What I didn’t like so much about the book?

As a pop culture practitioner I feel that chapters based on the pop culture, especially video games and music, were a bit too short and general. I can understand why there are mostly only mentions and only a few examples (if one is willing to search for a while there's a massive amount of Void references in popular culture). Lumping generalisations of the Void in video games in one paragraph felt rather dissatisfying in comparison to two pages used to describe the Void in the Lovecraftian mythos alone. I think these parts of the book would benefit from more examples to show the variety of the experiences.

     In conclusion, I consider this short book a good introduction for someone unfamiliar with the Void as a concept. While it might not be comfortable for some readers due to relying on sources like Buckland or Crowley, I find it varied enough to give a good start for figuring out one’s own way to incorporate the Void into one’s practice. It definitely was worth my time and taught me something new. I will be looking forward to new books or articles by this author.

11-01-2021; 20:50 CET

#Void magic #occult book review #witchy book review #witchblr

[littledarknesscalls]

Note: posted with Subsourian’s permission.

I have a good information for all the SC lore fans who enjoy short stories. Subsourian, who I consider the MVP of StarCraft lore community, put together a short stories compendium so nothing removed from Blizzard page got truly lost. If you want better explanation as if to why this project exists, his reddit post does it better.

For the short stories PDF masterpost -> Click here;

For the short stories dropbox database -> Click here;

If anyone hasn’t heard of such goodness as SC Lore discord server and wants to join -> Click here!

#starcraft #SC #short stories

[littledarknesscalls]

Post-birthday reflections and plans for the new year

    2020 is ending in a few hours for me so I’ve decided to write a little reflection post just like last year. This year was supposed to be “The Year” when I get my anxiety to remain silent and write more pop culture practices related stuff. But both you and I know roaring ‘20 turned into whiny ‘20 and wasn’t a good year for any of us. For me it was year of constantly overcoming myself, be it through family, mental health or thesis work related issues. 

     Besides surviving, I managed to get my B.E. degree in applied geology this July, an achievement I was doubting often. It troubled me so much I considered giving up. Only Highlord and my SO know how big this was for me and without help of either of them I’m not sure if I had enough courage to be able to ask my thesis supervisors for help.

    I also consider myself to be spirit spoused in this year. It might be surprising to some, but it wasn’t my idea - the offer came from one of entities I work with that I at some point finally considered. It sure feels weird to be such a spouse, especially when we talk about pop culture entity and how similar it initially looks to waifuism (which I find okay, as long as the character is an adult being that is able to consciously consent). Initial uncertainties aside, it seems to allow me to deepen my understanding of facets of this particular entity. I promise to write on this topic when I’ll get longer break from university and get to interview few pop culture practitioners who also are spirit/god spoused.

    I’ve definitely slowed down with my practice. What I mean by that is, comparing to previous year, I haven’t done much of complex spellwork. One could consider it a result of laziness, but having in mind how downright crazy this year was, I am not going to beat myself with punishment stick for not being in headspace for writing complex lore oriented spells, wards and curses. But by no means this was a dry year for my practice - I’ve managed to get more interesting and better quality books on magic in it’s different flavors. From my personal favourites I got so far I can surely name “Magic by Design” by Taylor Ellwood, “Psychic Witch” by Mat Auryn and “Grovedaughter witchery” by Bree Nicgarran, which I hope to include in my reviews and sources on more magic oriented discussions of the pop culture.

    But this year also was time for observing people and what I’ve noticed worried me. Current pandemic confirmed certain problematic mindset that is getting more and more popular - that a lot of people chose to become closed minded and follow paths of misinformation, conspiracy theories and anti-science dogmas. People like to exclude those who don’t share their unhealthy views and choose personal comfort over having consideration for someone else than themselves. Unfortunately this issue got quite strong in the spiritual community. Instead of basic human decency they show self-centered mentality cloaked into concepts like “personal freedom”, “raising vibrations” or “doing your own research”. One could say that history repeats itself and I don’t freaking like this.

    I do have plans for this blog in the upcoming year. Definitely I want to be more active when my time allows it, but preferably in weekly format (my quality of writing plummets when having bad day or when being sick and I can see when). I’ve decided to make some general list of topics you may expect from this blog in 2021:

* Tidbits of information on my Lore of Choice;

* Application of those tidbits in magical practice;

* Spellwork and recipes based on in-game abilities and objects;

* Pop culture recipes, both from the lore and other media I know;

* General pop culture practices posts and tips;

* Maybe one post on spirit/god spousing from pop culture practitioners perspective;

* Maybe more personal posts;

* Maybe one or two posts on book reviews.

See you in the New Year!

31-12-2020; 21:00 CET

#witchblr #pop culture witchcraft #mini rant #spirit spouse #whiny '20 #reflection time #Adostra got personal

[littledarknesscalls]

This feels important and maybe it’s something we should talk about more. I’ve seen some cis lesbians talking about it and I’ve seen more than a few young women proudly calling themselves “ex-libfems” (although nobody seriously identifies as a libfem) but no comprehensive accounts.

My own experience is that when radfems don’t know you are cis they will assume they are trans and start throwing abuse at you. When they know you are cis, that’s when the private messages asking for a “debate” and claiming to be interested in your viewpoint begin.

(Obviously it’d be cool if people add their own experiences)

(Image shows tweet by JN Wiedle that reads “there’s a lot of great discussion and focus on how white supremacists and MRAs prey on isolated/insecure boys/men on Reddit/4ch; I wish there was similar discussion & focus on how TERFs prey on isolated/insecure girls/women on tumblr”)

[littledarknesscalls]

Kitchen witchcraft - peach cobbler of good fortune

[Image description: A picture of baked peach cobbler on the oven shelf that is on a kitchen table.]

     I know many think pop culture practices are about working with fictional characters or writing spells based on a lore. But what if I told you it can be utilised with cooking fictional dishes with a magical twist?

     The first recipe I’d like to show you is the one for peach cobbler from StarCraft expanded universe. This dessert appeared in the first book of the Dark Templar Saga titled “Firstborn”, where it is known to be only good thing that meals ready to eat (MRE’s in short) have to offer. To those unfamiliar with the concept - Meal, Ready to Eat is a self-contained meal ration that is used in the  military and distributed to civilians during natural disasters. In the StarCraft franchise, this type of rations are not known to be of the best quality. Peach cobbler is not only considered good, but also is pretty hard to come by. I’ll use a quote from the book to show how special is this dessert:

“Only one in about six hundred MREs had this dessert. Jake knew it was rare and precious. If he’d uncovered this while on the Gray Tiger, he’d have had offers of cigarettes and other bribes raining down upon him. It was the one thing that actually tasted good in an MRE.”.

     The recipe itself is modified version of this (in Polish) or this recipe (in English). Only changes I’ve made is skipping tapioca, reducing amount of sugar used for the fruits and substituting buttermilk with sour cream for less sweet and more MRE appropriate version.

Ingredients:

- For the dough:

* 250 grams of all-purpose flour;

* two teaspoons baking powder;

* half teaspoon of baking soda;

* one teaspoon of sugar;

* one teaspoon of ground cinnamon;

* one teaspoon of ground nutmeg;

* half teaspoon of salt;

* half cup of cold unsalted butter;

* 180 millilitres of sour cream.

- For the filling:

* two cans of canned peaches (or six fresh if you can get them);

* half a cup of sugar;

* pinch of ground cinnamon;

* pinch of ground nutmeg;

* pinch of salt;

* one tablespoon of lemon juice (if you use fresh peaches).

Recipe:

1. Prepare the filling - dry peaches from the liquid and slice them. Mix them with sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt;

2. Prepare the cobbler dough - mix dry ingredients together. Then add butter to mix it with the dry mixture by hand. It should be of a coarse meal consistency. Then add the sour cream and mix again, this time with fork;

3. Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F. Pour the filling into the baking dish (I used round 22 cm/9.4 in diameter casserole dish) and drop the dough in small chunks to cover the filling;

4. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the dough turns golden brown. Bubbling on the sides of a dish is normal, but if you’re concerned - put some baking paper underneath the baking dish;

5. Enjoy warm - on it’s own or with something on the side.

Magical benefits:

* Luck - lore based; due to low chance of getting the dessert in the MRE (if you believe in luck as a concept);

* Good fortune/ abundance - properties of peach, nutmeg and lore based; due to favors made by those willing to obtain it;

* Protection - properties of cinnamon and salt.

Sources used:

- Christine Golden - “Firstborn” from the Dark Templar Saga; 2007; page 223;

- Peach cobbler recipe by Mała Cukierenka - accessed 13.12.2020;

- Peach cobbler recipe by Brown Eyed Baker - accessed 13.12.2020.

16-12-2020; 17:52 CET

#witchblr #kitchen witch #kitchen witchcraft #pop culture recipe #pop culture witchcraft #pop culture witch #pop culture practices #koprulan practices

[littledarknesscalls]

Craft Poison

Focusing on Performance. Having our practice abide by an aesthetic can be empowering, but it’s not our goal. A lot of folks find that beauty becomes a mental obstacle later on. Not every magical thing will look and feel ultra mystical, and chasing the feeling/aesthetic distracts us from why we’re really here. Antidote: Take a moment to step back from the emotions and focus instead on the results. Start small. What’s something little you want to achieve? Find a way to do it with magic and then just do it. 

Avoiding Struggle. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is your craft. Witchcraft is a lifelong study, that takes serious practice. All skills take time to develop. Nobody likes to struggle at something, but avoiding all struggle shrinks your potential and opens you up to be manipulated by sketchy “quick fixes.” Antidote: Treat learning magic like you would any skill. Heck, maybe even pick a new mundane skill to learn alongside your practice to keep things in perspective! Make peace with the idea of being a student. 

Not Asking “Why?” Roses are associated with love. Chamomile relaxes. Don’t eat food you give to the Dead. But why? What is the underlying aspect of the Universe at play in these? If we just accept stuff at face value and never look into why, we’ll only get surface level knowledge. Antidote: Find out why! Study science and folklore along with your magic. Look for patterns.

Cherrypicking Truth.  If we only accept what supports our current worldview and write off everything else as fake news, then we miss critical opportunities to learn and grow. Antidote: Research critically, read from other perspectives, and listening to a diverse set of voices! 

Self-Isolation. Humans are social creatures. Sometimes we get SO focused on the personal aspect of magic that we forget we have allies or people we can talk about all of this with. Antidote: Join online communities, seek out your local witchy gatherings, get in conversations with people about your craft! 

Overexposure. On the other side of that coin, sometimes we can share so much about magic and the craft and our personal practice, that it scratches the itch of wanting to practice without us actually ever doing anything! We end up just talking/researching in lieu of practice. Antidote: Talk about a spell AFTER you preform it instead of before, or pick a few things that you just do for you and nobody else. 

#Really important #Not only for witchcraft #but also in general

[littledarknesscalls]

30. Conclusion: What advice do you have to a newcomer to PC Paganism, or to someone who may be showing interest but may be skeptical?

     Pop Culture practices were my introduction to all things occult, so there are few things I wish I had heard sooner. While it isn't probably the best thing to start with, it taught me a lot about myself, others and what spirituality means to me.

 - If you're new to witchcraft/paganism - research everything, check the sources (you'll get better results with including non-occult literature, like scientific papers), question popular claims and cross-reference everything;

 - If you pick an unpopular source for your practice, be prepared for possibly feeling alone with it. Don't let that discourage you;

 - Don't be afraid to ask questions or make mistakes. We all were new once and mistakes can teach you more than a success;

 - It’s a good habit to write things down. It doesn’t matter if it is a paper grimoire or on-line text editor - notes like whether you were tired during casting a spell or what changes were done to a spell you use will help you tons in the long run;

 - Not everything has to be a sign from deities, spirits or the universe. Check mundane reasons first;

 - You have a right to refuse doing something that makes you uncomfortable, be it working with certain entity or casting a spell that doesn't feel right your morals considered;

 - Learn the mundane things, like first aid, fire safety, what herbs are dangerous when taken with certain medicine, which minerals contain dangerous elements, basic chemistry etc. It's not worth it to risk your health or even your life just for feeling witchy;

 - Be patient. Sometimes results may appear months later, especially if you're a beginner;

- It's okay if you want to slow down or even take a break sometimes, be it because you're out of spoons or simply have a busy life. Take care of yourself first and don't treat witchcraft as something you must do at all cost;

 - It's okay if you realise the practice is not for you. Better to be honest with yourself than fake it till you make it;

 - Don't seek confirmation of your practice in others. There is none - if you could validate all of it, it wouldn't be occult and mystical anymore. What you do is as real as it gets. But please, accept constructive criticism. It helps you to improve;

- While I believe some people come to understand their mistakes, others are unwilling to change. Therefore, block nazis, terfs and people trying to sell you a crappy "bossbabe lifestyle" (yes, this witch doesn't support MLM's). They are not worth your time.

11-12-2020; 18:05 CET

#30 days of pop culture paganism

[littledarknesscalls]

29. Conclusion: What are some misconceptions of PC Paganism that you learned about? Which one do you want to dispel for newcomers?

     As a co-host of one pop culture paganism related place, I've heard a few misconceptions about what Pop Culture Paganism/Magic/Practices are. Here are most common ones I've encountered:

 - that PC practices make fun of witchcraft/paganism and mock gods - I think that the occult community has bigger issues to solve, like racism, classism, ageism, gatekeeping and terfs rejecting non-cisgender women practitioners to name a few - instead of fearing someone using pop culture media for spells or veneration ruining their life. I know practitioners who incorporate traditional paganism alongside with pop culture practices, and traditional gods don't seem to mind. For those who are worried for their own path I would like to point out that even sociologists research pop culture paganism as part of a phenomenon called hyper-real or fiction-based religion. Adam Possamai is the most known researcher in this field but there are others worth mentioning like Helen Berger, Douglas Ezzy and Markus Altena Davidsen.

 - that anything a PC practitioner works with is a "tulpa", demon or trickster / "PC deities are not real" argument - it may happen that entities are not what they claim to be or aren't fully separate from a person. But just the possibility of this does not mean every experience is fake. The same could happen with deities from different pantheons and nobody would discredit deities as a whole. It’s more of a matter of knowing your lore and its biases, protective measures and recognizing when and if something is not okay, rather than a purist approach of "old = true and better." Also, we are unable to perceive reality in an objective way. Our brains are not capable of processing information without bias and simplification. What's real to person A isn't real to person B. If there was only one true way of perception, there wouldn't be different schools of philosophy or many denominations within one religion.

 - that all PC pagans "make up" their gods - most of pop culture practitioners I know are using existing sources, be it video games, anime, comics, books etc. Some do incorporate deities from media they created on their own, but in my opinion they are still calling on existing archetypes, even if mixed in uncommon combinations.

 - that PC practitioners do it only to marry their "waifus" or "husbandos" - I consider this to be a pretty unfair claim. To start with, many people do espouse deities or spirits without being pop culture practitioners, or even engaged in the occult at all. In contrary to the "mainstream" thinking, spirit/god spousing isn't a new practice. Such type of devotional work can be found in many cultures, be they open, initiation-based or closed. It's something pretty complex and varies from person to person so it's impossible to make it into a short debunk.

 - that PC practitioners are a toxic part of their fandom community - most practitioners I know have a special interest in the pieces of media they incorporate into their practice. They also may create artwork, memes and/or fanfic stories for the community they are engaged in. Pop culture practitioners can still enjoy the lore without spiritual associations.

10-12-2020; 18:20 CET

#30 days of pop culture paganism

[littledarknesscalls]

[littledarknesscalls]

28. Community: How were your experiences as you started becoming involved with the PC Pagan community? (If you aren’t involved, why not?)

     Excluding Tumblr, I have experiences with three such communities, one of which I left and another one that I co-host. I don't consider myself a good moderator, I don't feel like I have skills for maintaining such community, but people seem to come there and say "hello" anyway. 

     Most of my experiences were pretty positive. Many pop culture practitioners were very kind and open about what they do. I enjoy reading about their experiences and successes big and small. 

     I remember only two negative experiences within this community. First one was when I was wrongly accused of being sexist only because I asked on a discord server to add “feminism” as trigger warning content for me, due to my past issues with people in the movement rejecting my experiences (I felt it is better to leave for my own emotional health's sake rather than stay and assume everyone hates me). Second one was someone pushing me to mentor them, which was very uncomfortable for me because this person wouldn't take a hint about me being a beginner as well. 

     I don't allow these cases to affect my interactions with other PC practitioners - bad apples exist everywhere. Even though I am too scared to interact with many practitioners on Tumblr, I tend to assume no ill will is present until the situation proves otherwise.

09-12-2020; 11:10 CET

#30 days of pop culture paganism

[littledarknesscalls]

27. Community: How were your experiences with the greater Pagan community as you began to open up about your pop culture practices?

     I don't interact that much with pagan community outside of pop culture one, since I am not part of it. But I am occasionally interacting with occult/witchcraft communities.

     Most witches are indifferent to what I do ( which is fine by me), but some didn't consider me a valid practitioner. In extreme cases I have experienced attempts to convert me to “the right path” and my questions were ignored after realising I incorporate pop culture practices. 

     If I was more insecure, I’d probably get discouraged by those extreme cases. But I’m still here, doing my thing. If someone doesn’t like it - tough, not my problem.

08-12-2020; 17:53 CET

#30 days of pop culture paganism

[littledarknesscalls]

26. Broom Cupboard: Does your significant other know about you being involved in PC Paganism? How does it affect your love/romantic life?

     I often talk with my SO about my practice. I trust him enough to discuss certain concepts or allow him to occasionally proofread my texts. He also is my source of encouragement and constructive criticism. But why not listening to what he thinks about it?

     "To give a good answer to what I think of your craft needs a good answer of what I think of craft and people and you. I don't control what you think or what you do; why would your craft be different to knitting? It's something you do and floats your boat, I'm okay."

07-12-2020; 15:35 CET

#30 days of pop culture paganism

[littledarknesscalls]

25. Broom Cupboard: Does your family and/or friends know about you being involved in PC Paganism? How does it affect those interactions?

     My family is aware that I'm not catholic or even christian, but we hardly ever talk about it. There is no need - my mom has difficulty to to see a difference between someone being non-catholic and someone being satanist, my dad doesn’t care and my brother is too young to understand such issues. The only person that is most okay with my practice is my grandma  - while she doesn't understand what Pop Culture Practices are, she cares more about me being a good person rather than what my faith is.

06-12-2020; 19:11 CET

#30 days of pop culture paganism

[littledarknesscalls]

24. Experiences: What is your experience with other Pagan paths and practices? Do you incorporate any practices or beliefs from these other paths into your PC Paganism?

I don't have any experiences of traditionally pagan paths nor practices, since I don't incorporate them. The closest thing would be researching offerings to traditional deities of different pantheons to see if my aspects like them or not.

05-12-2020; 19:22 CET

#30 days of pop culture paganism

[littledarknesscalls]

23. Experiences: Do you follow any other Pagan path alongside this one? If so, how has your experience been balancing the two? If not, have you ever considered any other type of Paganism alongside your PC Paganism, (if not, why not)?

     I don't follow any other Pagan path. I had considered one traditional pantheon once, but I am unable to bond or connect with family ancestors. And since many people consider it vital to many traditional pagan paths, I have decided to focus on what I already practice instead.

04-12-2020; 17:00 CET

#30 days of pop culture paganism

[littledarknesscalls]

22. Experiences: How has PC Paganism helped you in your times of need?

     There are many examples how it has helped me in my life, but most of them I'd prefer to keep to myself for privacy reasons. Generally speaking it certainly had some part in achieving more control over my life, including anxiety issues, lack of confidence, anger, and anti-catholic bias. 

     Most of Protoss oriented OST in the games helped me to calm down when alone and having an anxiety attack (I keep old recording of the Protoss Theme 1 on my phone just for these incidences). 

     I still have lots of issues with confidence. Reading or playing through stories of characters who didn't give up when they had doubts makes me hopeful for believing in myself a bit more. 

     In lore there are also stories where anger is shown to be the motivator for both good (Raynor and his anti-Mengsk revolution in Wings of Liberty) and bad (Amon and very personal crusade against all life due to hating being ascended into a Xel'naga) deeds and this helps me to evaluate the source of my anger more easily.

     While I still have some issues with how priests of Polish Roman Catholic church act and how it affects my emotional well-being, researching lore on Terran culture has helped me in keeping it tame enough as not to invalidate christian witches anymore (I really did have big issues with this in the past).

03-12-2020; 18:10 CET

#30 days of pop culture paganism

[littledarknesscalls]

So we have two knights (sword and zweihander), a pirate, cleric and let’s assume barbarian with a twist. Now we only need someone with a bow and stealth and this makes basically witchy fellowship against antisemitism.

I'm sorry you're getting gross people in your inbox today and I will sword fight all of them for u

Why sword fight them FOR me when you could sword fight WITH me ⚔ it’ll be easier to take them if more people join in