rottingbricks

[rottingbricks]

Claire Tabouret’s Hand-Painted Home

[rottingbricks]

"To Love The Same" 2024 - Toby Garcia

A sculpture I made inspired by the poem "Lovesick Boy Prays" by Keaton St. James. @boykeats

[rottingbricks]

3000+ Word Rant On Why Boris and Theo Are Endgame and Had a Romantic Connection ✯

Forever and always will believe Theo and Boris are soulmates and they got married and lived their life together. (Maybe that's too much. Let me just explain why they have a very deep relationship)

Where do I start? So for one Boris was Theo's first kiss and sexual partner. They had a deep connection, felt safe with one another, and were practically inseparable. It's explained that Boris basically lived with Theo and was hardly ever at his own house. They also looked out for each other, Theo cleaned Boris' wounds after being beaten by his father and Boris comforted Theo on the loss of his mother —Here's a quote from the book; "And I suppose if either of us had lived in an even halfway normal household, with curfews and chores and adult supervision, we wouldn't have become quite so inseparable, so fast, but almost from that day we were together all the time.” (Tartt, chapter 5, section 12)

WHY THEO LIKES BORIS (YOUNGER) Everything is great between Theo and Boris but when Boris meets a girl: Kotku, it all goes to shit. But the way Theo responds to it is very telling. First off, Theo reflects on good moments with Boris after Boris got so wrapped up with Kotku; “I told myself I didn't miss him, but I did. I got stoned alone, watched Adult Access and the Playboy channel, read Grapes of Wrath and The House of the Seven Gables which seemed as if they had to be tied for the most boring book ever written, and what felt like thousands of hours—time enough to learn Danish or play the guitar if I've been trying—fooled around in the street with a fucked-up skateboard Boris and I had found in one of the foreclosed houses down the block. I went to swim-team parties with Hadley—no drinking parties with parents present—and on the weekends, attended parents-away parties of kids I barely knew, Xanax bars and Jagermeister shots, riding home on the hissing CAT bus at two a.m. so fucked up I had to hold the seat in the front of me to keep from falling out in the aisle. After school, if I was bored, it was easy enough to go hang out with one of the big lackadaisical stoner crowds who floated around between Del Taco and the kiddie arcades on the Strip. But I was still lonely. It was Boris I missed, the whole impulsive mess of him: gloomy, reckless, hot-tempered, appallingly thoughtless. Boris pale and pasty, with his shoplifted apples and his Russian language novels, gnawed-down fingernails and shoelaces dragging in the dust. Boris—budding alcoholic, fluent cursor in four languages—who snatched food from my plate when he felt like it and nodded off drunk on the floor, face red like he'd been slapped. Even when he took things without asking, as he all too frequently did—little things are always disappearing, DVDs and school supplies for my locker, more than once I'd caught him going through my pockets for money—his own possessions meant so little to him that somehow it wasn't stealing; whenever he came into cash himself, he split it with me down the middle and anything that belonged to him, he gave me gladly if I asked for it. (and sometimes when I didn't, as when Mr. Pavlovsky’s gold lighter, which I admired in passing, turned up in the outside pocket of my backpack)” (Tartt, chapter 6, section 4)

Theo took note that Boris was very physically touchy and that it made him a little bit nervous; “The funny thing: I’d worried if anything, that Boris was the one who was a little too affectionate, if affectionate is the right word. The first time he’d turned in bed and draped an arm over my waist, I lay there half-asleep for a moment, not knowing what to do: staring at my old socks on the floor, empty beer bottles, my paper-backed copy of The Red Badge of Courage. At last—embarrassed—I faked a yawn and tried to roll away, but instead, he sighed and pulled me closer, with a sleepy, snuggling motion. Ssh, Potter, he whispered, into the back of my neck. Is only me.” (Tartt, chapter 6, section 4) Then, Theo has a little gay panic — because of Boris being so affectionate; “It was weird. Was it weird? It was; and it wasnt. I’d fallen back to sleep shortly after, lulled by his bitter, beery unwashed smell and his breath easy in my ear. I was aware I couldn't explain it without making it sound like more than it was.” (Tartt) Near the end, Theo tries to play it off that what was happening between the two wasnt romantic, If Theo wasnt thinking of Boris in a romantic way why would he even be written to question or worry that they could come off in such a way? The fact Theo is worrying about it so much can only lead me to believe that Theo does think of Boris in a romantic light and is trying to deny it. Theo continues to explain ways Boris was affectionate towards him, further deepening the connection between the two of them; “On nights I woke strangled with fear there he was, catching me when I startled up terrified from the bed, pulling me back down in the covers beside him, muttering in nonsense Polish, his voice throaty and strange with sleep. We’d drowse off in each other's arms, listening to music from my Ipod.”

Then, the final nail in the coffin, Theo recalls the nights when he and Boris would partake in closer intimacy; “And yet (this was the murky part, this was what bothered me) there had also been other, way more confusing and fucked-up nights, grappling around half-dressed, weak light sliding in from the bathroom and everything haloed and unstable without my glasses: hands on each other, rough and fast, kicked-over beers foaming on the carpet—fun and not that big of a deal when it was actually happening, more than worth it for the sharp gasp when my eyes rolled back and I forgot about everything;” (Tartt) Afterwards, Theo mentions Boris and him never spoke of those nights, and that if people found out they were having sex they would; “think the wrong thing if they knew,”. However, Theo thought about those strange nights a lot and they clouded his mind at times, but, for Boris, it didn't seem like that. Theo notes Boris seemed unbothered by those nights; “But all the same he [Boris] seemed so completely untroubled by it that I was fairly sure it was just a laugh, nothing to take too seriously or get worked up about,” (Tartt) Since Theo uses multiple ways to get the ‘it's not a big deal’ point across. Saying it was a laugh, not serious, nothing to get worked up over, and uses all that when he's just going off of how Boris thinks and reacts to those nights. It can make the reader think that Theo, in contrast, does think of those nights in a serious, worked-up way. To further prove my point Theo was urged to discuss those nights with Boris, so he didn't ‘have the wrong idea’; “More than once, I had wondered if I should step up my nerve and say something: draw some sort of line, make things clear, just to make absolutely sure he didn't have the wrong idea.” (Tartt) Theo gets defensive over the thought of those nights, more importantly, the thought that Boris viewed those nights as something more, something romantic. This is even further pushing my earlier statement that a person who sees these moments as not romantic wouldn't be written to be worrying that it is romantic or that the other person sees it as romantic. So the fact Theo is worrying so greatly that these nights could even possibly be interpreted as romantic (especially when Boris isn't doing the same) can only have me further believing that it's because Theos is trying to deny or block out the actual romantic feelings he is having. Theo is so obsessive on this romantic or not topic that it comes off like Theo has a fear of becoming an orientation that he believes he isn't and that bleeds into internalized homophobia. Theo ends off this recall moment by stating; “I hated how much I missed him.” (Tartt)

There's another moment when Theo is thinking about how Boris is constantly around Kotku and hardly ever with Theo anymore. Theo tries to reassure himself; “But who cared what crappy girl Boris liked? Weren’t we still friends? Brothers practically?” (Tartt) Theo says he and Boris have a brother-like companionship, this, out of context is weird to use to prove my point that they are romantic. But considering all the context provided above this can once again be Theo trying to find an excuse to prove to himself that he and Boris aren't romantic. It's also obvious they aren't brotherly because the two are litterally having sex. In addition to this, right after that quote Theo admits; “Then again: there was not exactly a word for Boris and me.” (Tartt)

Finally, when Theo leaves Vegas he is rambling, trying to convince Boris to come with him, when; “I was still babbling when Boris said: “Potter.” Before I could answer him he put both hands on my face and kissed me on the mouth.” Shortly after. Once Theo is in the taxi he thinks to himself and admits to himself; “I'd stop myself from blurting the thing on the edge of my tongue, the thing I’d never said, even though it was something we both knew well enough without me saying it out loud to him in the street—which was, of course, I love you.” (Tartt, chapter 6, section 19)

WHY BORIS LIKES THEO (YOUNGER) All the content that is romantic between Theo and Boris is most of the time, if not always, initiated by Boris. Boris was the one who draped his arm around Theo, Boris was the one who pulled Theo closer when he rolled away, Boris was the one who cuddled Theo, Boris was the one who calmed Theo down from nightmares, Boris is the one who kissed Theo on the mouth while he had a girlfriend. Undoubtedly, all these things are romantic. Especially since these moments are told through Theo's perspective, who is interpreting these things as romantic, which rubs off on the reader.

When Theo is leaving Vegas and getting in the taxi, Boris hums the song "After Hours" by The Velvet Underground which is a band Theo and Boris listened to together. He hums a specific part of the song where the lyrics sing; "But if you close the door, I'd never have to see the day again" My interpretation of those lyrics in the scene’s context is: “But if you close the door” = If Theo doesnt leave Vegas. Correspondingly, those lyrics about closing a door means closing the door is giving privacy and leaving the character alone with someone they love. Another thing to mention, before those lyrics take place these lyrics are in the song; "Oh, someday, I know someone will look into my eyes and say, 'Hello, you're my very special one'" All of this feels very intentional. When songs and SPECIFIC lyrics are mentioned in novels it's always to convey something and those lyrics are just very romantic and are also about whether the character is going to choose to be alone or be with someone. Considering the lyrics are hummed by Boris right when Theo is leaving him is very telling. It's also to convey that Boris is debating whether to leave with Theo or not.

Everything I just mentioned was the Vegas era when they were teenagers, I will now discuss when they are adults.

WHY THEO AND BORIS JUST MAKE SENSE (OLDER) Now that Theo has lived and been with more people than Boris I will break down Theo's love interests and explain why they aren't good for Theo and why Boris ends up being the best outcome.

KITSEY: Kitsey is Theo's fiance whom Theo cheating on while Kitsey is also cheating on him. Theo is having affairs and hookups with pretty much random women. Kitsey is having an affair with Tom Cable, an old fake friend of Theo's who was the reason why Theo and his mother were leaving the house the day of the bombing. Once Theo witnesses the two kissing in secret he confronts Kitsey, this ends with Kitsey gaslighting Theo to stay in the relationship for the happiness of Mrs. Barbour rather than themselves. Kitsey also admits their ‘love’ has always been head not heart, that they get along well but neither is in love with the other.

PIPPA: Pippa was another victim in the bombing in lost her uncle, this led to her and Theo crossing paths as young teenagers. Finding comfort within shared traumatic experiences. As they grow older Theo begins to romanticize her. Although it's not love, it's more of an obsession if anything. Theo obsesses and overly plans their meetups making sure they are perfect, Theo shows mild jealousy and irritation to Evveret: Pippa's boyfriend, Theo keeps a shirt of Pippa’s without her knowledge, and as creepily as it is..Theo has a lock of Pippa's hair that he took from a trashcan after Pippa cut her bangs in the bathroom. Theo eventually confesses his love for Pippa in a downtown restaurant after seeing a film. He tries to reason that Welty, Pippa's uncle who she lost in the bombing—put Theo exactly where he needed to be at the right time with WHO he needed to be with (aka Pippa and Hobie). Pippa eases Theo into rejection, however, she admits she has a thing for him as well. She begins to explain reasons why the two of them cannot be together: With their shared trauma..if one of them ‘fell’ the other would go right with them as there is no emotional stability between the two, one cannot be there for the other if they can't even support themselves. They are close enough to star-crossed lovers: lovers who are destined to not be together being pulled from one another by outside forces.

If Theo can't have Pippa and doesnt want Kitsey it's reasonable to conclude that Boris is a valid romantic option for Theo. When the two reunite Theo feels alive again after living a boring tucked-away life. He's laughing and enjoying every second with Boris.

BORIS: After years of separation and keeping a secret from Theo news reports come out about how The Goldfinch painting was not ruined in the bombing and is being used as collateral. Boris is under the impression Theo has already unwrapped The Goldfinch years ago and found out what Boris did. With the rise of these news reports guilt rises in Boris that he took the painting from Theo and ended up losing the painting. Boris has a hint that Theo would not want to see Boris ever again and even wants to act violently against Boris for taking the painting from Theo, however, Boris is aware that he must try to fix what he’s done. So, he goes to New York and goes to Hobie's old shop, seeking Theo. When Theo isn't there to be found Boris is sure he’ll never see Theo again, but they happen to run into each other later in the night outside a bar. They then spend the night till 4am talking and catching up. Theo admits in college he took a conversational Russian class because it made him think of Boris. Boris admits Theo was the only boy he's ever been in bed with—but brushes it off as they were desperate teenagers in need of girls..but that doesnt make sense as Boris has a girlfriend, Kyoto- and he was talking to girls before her too. He wasnt partaking in sex with Theo out of desperation for pleasure by any means. -- Boris then says he thinks that Theo thought their relationship back then was ‘something else’, after saying this Theo gets upset and begins to leave the table. Within this mix, Boris apologizes for what he did to Theo all those years ago and he deeply regrets it, Theo is confused about what he is speaking about and Boris is shocked that after all these years he’s never unwrapped the painting. Leaving Boris to admit what he did with the painting with picture proof. Boris wants to apologize to Theo and attempt to find the painting— for Theo.

In the hunt to regain the painting, Boris interrupts Theo and Kitsey's engagement party to take Theo onto a flight to Amsterdam. After some bickering..Theo agrees and says goodbye to Kisey and packs his bags with a nice suit and lots of money. — Boris arranges a meetup with the holders of the painting, but the sellers seem suspicious as they are missing one of their men and one of the men gets away after Boris and his crew pull guns on the men. — Boris and Theo successfully retrieve the painting, Boris taking note of how Theo has his bird once again — But when returning to the parking garage to leave the two men who were absent earlier and one new man arrive with guns pointed, two of these men are killed by Theo and Boris but one man gets away with the painting — The next few days Theo is sent into a deep depression in his hotel room….however this ends differently varying from book to movie. In the book, Theo is urged to turn himself in to the police for murder … In the movie, Theo goes through with a suicide attempt by overdose but is forced to throw up the drugs later by Boris. Both versions end with Boris interrupting, calming Theo down, and telling the good news that he tracked the painting down in a house holding many more missing paintings and he sent in an anonymous tip to the police on these paintings and their location. Boris splits the reward money between his crew, Theo, and himself.

Boris makes a good partner to Theo as they get along, have a close history, make each other feel alive, know the do's and dont's / in's and out's of each other, show each other unconditional care, left a big positive impact on each others lives, and both share a deep love for art and beauty.

[rottingbricks]

Theo and Boris Rant ✬

Theo and Boris are a pair that I find so aggravating but I cherish all the same. They are horrible for each other. If not for Boris , Theo most likely wouldn't have found his way into drugs ESPECIALLY at a time like that. If not for Theo, Boris wouldn't have to constantly be making sure this kid doesn't harm himself and others ESPECIALLY when it's not his job to do that. But at the same time, they are PERFECT for each other??? Finding one another right when Theo needed a companion the most. Being there for each other, looking after the other, taking care of each other. And by taking care I mean light things like providing food, shelter, and even medicine at times when the other needed it - not even that it could be other things like emotional support and comfort at the darkest of times. Theo and Boris rampaging in the outskirts of Vegas with nothing but each other and wind, sand, and stars to keep them company. Theo and Boris accompany one another at very difficult and confusing times, such as: The loss and grieving of Theo's mom, the disgusting acts of Boris' father, the serious debt Theo's dad is in, and the confusing thoughts and feelings they confide in each other about. Theo and Boris are so beautifully awfully complex--and how could they not be when they are caught in complex lives themselves, constantly living in unfamiliar circumstances that they'd fallen into? With each other, they can explore and figure out these sickly confusing situations. OR they don't even have to explore and figure it out, at times.. just being in comforting silence with each other is enough.

[rottingbricks]

I was very wrong, that was a lie chat

Im gonna start posting fr (and it's all gonna be abt the goldfinch)

[rottingbricks]

i’m going to be sad forever about the fact that we never really got to see how insane the vegas chapters were in the movie.. like we saw that they drank a few beers, did lsd and a few other drugs or whatever but in the book they were drunk and on drugs nearly every single day up until theo left. and also?? they never show that theo was suicidal while he was a teenager as well (him sitting in the middle of the road and boris literally having to drag him away from the street) and his other attempts as an adult. also the fact that the movie made it seem like theo was only in vegas for a few months when it was really like 2 years??

[rottingbricks]

The Goldfinch review

debunking the goldfinch book hate and some of my opinions about the book.

Most hate surrounding the book is omg It's a dragger: yes it is! And for a reason. They are many pages that could have been left out but in my opinion needed to be there for example: when Boris ditched Theo for Kotku, Theo finds himself alone and bored without him so he doesn't have anything new and exiting to tell us so instead he describes the football match he sees on the TV (I think because I skipped that part lol). This just shows that not every part of Theos life has to be exiting all the time. It makes you feel bored just like Theo feels. When Theo falls in love you fall in love with a character too and so on. This is something that the book does perfectly.

Theo doesn't have a personality: once again yes this was done on purpose! Theo is described as very impresionable person. He doesn't really have his own personality like Boris or the others. He's a blank wall untill somebody comes along and writes on him.

The racism and soo on : ok this one is a little hard one to swallow even for me a die hard fan of this book. And possibly the only problem I have with the book but I like to believe that It's just who the characters are. Theres a part where a korean woman is interigating Theo and he couldn't remember her name. Like what you remember everyones names but not the koreans? Riight. Then the spoiled turkey from china town. Also Boris omg Boris I don't think he's racist. I know that by saying this I can get soo much hate but idc. Boris traveled the world, met many people of many skin tones, never mentiomed he ever had a problem also the n word is sayd a lot in slavic counries mainly because people don't know the history of the word or they just thing it's gangsta since all the rappers say it so casually. In no way am I trying to justify him saying it. I don't say it and never will. But he sayd it when he was hanging out with Kotku at that time and she listened to a lot of rap music. But if you want to say he is go ahead you have the right!

Boris hate club: let's be honest he's the only interesting character in the whole book. Also Theo is kinda unlikeable as an adult.

Never talking about serious problems in the book like substance abuse, alkoh*lism, mental illness..., It feels like these are used only for just an intertaning plot purposes like what? Theo and Boris are subtance abusers! and when Theo attemps to unalive himself in Amsterdam and It doesn't work out it's just swept under the rug and never talk about and never dealt with such a waste because the book is big enought to talk and deal with it. so over all rating is 3/5 stars.

[rottingbricks]

it was so smart that boris’s arabic name means the moon and theo’s mother told him that when ur feeling homesick just look at the moon cause moon is the same wherever u are (“home is wherever i am”) and theo was thinking about that when he was with boris, then he asked him what does the moon looks like anywhere? and boris said that ofc the same everywhere

i love them so much.

[rottingbricks]

they’re in love, theo was so in love im crying. the whole chapter was so OHMYGOD

[rottingbricks]

It’s time, I’m gonna prove to you all how BORIS is in love with Theo…

Now, let’s start with the fact that they clearly feel PHYSICAL attraction

I think that Boris’ excuse that they ‘needed girls’ is honestly the worse reason he could have given, based off of the fact that it’s clearly NOT true.

On page 273, Theo talks about the fact that Boris had ‘actual sex with a girl’ (and I love the fact that he had to be specific it was a girl but anyways-). Not ONLY that but later on Boris obviously starts dating Kotku, proving that he clearly wasn’t lacking in girls. This means that they didn’t fuck out of any sort of loneliness or desperation, because they wanted to.

ALTHOUGH, I know, I know. So what? Physical attraction doesn’t equal love. Just because I daydream about that one guy in my classes doesn’t mean we are on our way to getting married.

WELL, in the case of Boris, he clearly cares about Theo, at least to some capacity. We know that Boris is always there to comfort him when he has nightmares, which clearly doesn’t seem to bother him in the slightest. Theo even admits on page 313 that ‘Boris never seemed annoyed or even very startled when I woke him.’

Furthermore, Boris is always the one that initiates platonic contact, often draping his arm over Theo and pulling him closer.

And finally, you have to admit that they clearly get on well with each other. It says that they are ‘attuned to each other’ and could tip each other into hysterics.

Now these things on their own may not point to love, but all together I think that there is FAR too much evidence to ignore here.

Thank you for listening *bows*

[rottingbricks]

Theo and Boris listening to music in their messy bedroom. Theo and Boris wearing each others clothes. Theo and Boris having un-serious childish arguements. Theo and Boris sleeping in the same bed, in each others arms. Theo and Boris teaching each other little niche things. Theo and Boris playing at the abandoned park late at night. Theo and Boris falling asleep on the couch to a film. Theo and Boris shoplifting and snickering to each other as they do so. Theo and Boris walking in the heat of Nevada under Boris's umbrella. Theo and Boris skipping school to live their lives. Theo and Boris getting each other through the dreadful classes at school. Theo and Boris laughing till they feel sick. Theo and Boris learning each others favorite food so they could get it for the other. Theo and Boris going to McDonalds in the early hours of the morning to play in the playground. Theo and Boris filled with thrill by running from mall cops. Theo and Boris making each other dinner. Theo and Boris smelling like chlorine from swimming. Theo and Boris who are inseparable. Theo and Boris who are best friends. Theo and Boris who are something more.

[rottingbricks]

Im gonna start posting fr (and it's all gonna be abt the goldfinch)

[rottingbricks]

But what does the painting say about Fabritius himself? Nothing about religious or romantic or familial devotion; nothing about civic awe or career ambition or respect for wealth and power. There’s only a tiny heartbeat and solitude, bright sunny wall and a sense of no escape. Time that doesn’t move, time that couldn’t be called time. And trapped in the heart of light: the little prisoner, unflinching. I think of something I read about Sargent: how, in portraiture, Sargent always looked for the animal in the sitter (a tendency that, once I knew to look for it, I saw everywhere in his work: in the long foxy noses and pointed ears of Sargent’s heiresses, in his rabbit-toothed intellectuals and leonine captains of industry, his plump owl-faced children). And, in this staunch little portrait, it’s hard not to see the human in the finch. Dignified, vulnerable. One prisoner looking at another.

But who knows what Fabritius intended? There’s not enough of his work left to even make a guess. The bird looks out at us. It’s not idealized or humanized. It’s very much a bird. Watchful, resigned. There’s no moral or story. There’s no resolution. There’s only a double abyss: between painter and imprisoned bird; between the record he left of the bird and our experience of it, centuries later.

And yes—scholars might care about the innovative brushwork and use of light, the historical influence and the unique significance in Dutch art. But not me. As my mother said all those years ago, my mother who loved the painting only from seeing it in a book she borrowed from the Comanche County Library as a child: the significance doesn’t matter. The historical significance deadens it. Across those unbridgeable distances—between bird and painter, painting and viewer—I hear only too well what’s being said to me, a psst from an alleyway as Hobie put it, across four hundred years of time, and it’s really very personal and specific. It’s there in the light-rinsed atmosphere, the brush strokes he permits us to see, up close, for exactly what they are—hand worked flashes of pigment, the very passage of the bristles visible—and then, at a distance, the miracle, or the joke as Horst called it, although really it’s both, the slide of transubstantiation where paint is paint and yet also feather and bone. It’s the place where reality strikes the ideal, where a joke becomes serious and anything serious is a joke. The magic point where every idea and its opposite are equally true.

The Goldfinch, 2013

[rottingbricks]

A guide to Protection

i’ve seen a lot of people (especially on tiktok) emphasizing the importance of protection in magick. i couldn’t agree more, so i thought of piling up a few of my favorite protection methods

Wards🪴🧿

you can use any object you’d like as a guardian to ward off negative energies. plant wards are my personal favorite because working with plant spirits plays a big role in my practice.

simply cleanse the plant buddy with your preferred method (avoid using white sage if you’re not indigenous)

write a petition paper addressing what your intent is (in this case, ask the plant to protect you)

burn the petition paper and add the ashes to the soil

you may add some crystals to boost up your intention

visualize a ray of protecting light coming out of the plant which circles around yourself/ your home

thank the plant 🌱

there are many options when it comes to warding; you can use a talisman, a crystal, a plushie, spell jars, etc

Sigils

i personally like this method because you can get as creative as possible. personalize your own sigil! this works really well, especially if you’re in the broom closet because they can be as lowkey as you want.

Protective handmade bracelet

remember the friendship bracelets people used to make in middle school? i usually chant the witches ladder and state my intent with every knot that i tie and end up with a pretty powerful protection spell.

Protection oil & protection candle

i’m probably going to make a separate post with my protection oil recipe.

as for the candle, grab a white or black candle and carve protection sigils on it, or even runes or bind runes, dress it with the protection oil and corresponding herbs and meditate with it before lighting it. usually whenever i light my protection candle i’ll chant “candle candle burn so bright grant me your protection tonight”

Visualization

yep. that’ll do the trick. if you’re on the go or in an emergency, you’re most likely not gonna have the time necessary to grab everything and do a spell. close your eyes, ground and center yourself, and visualize a protective white light within you. or simply ask the universe/ deities/ spirit guides/ guardian angels/ god to surround you with protective light. make sure to thank them!

there are many ways to protect yourself from negative energies or spirits. these are just a few. i’d recommend reading the book “Protection & Reversal Magick” by Jason Miller

[rottingbricks]

my daily routine with Aphrodite

i wake up and say good morning to her, i kneel and kiss her altar space or if i have extra time i sit with her for a few minutes

i leave for school

throughout my day i find small things to devote to her, like admiring myself in the mirror, telling my friends i love them, adding images to my pinterest, etc.

when i get home i always say hello and if i’m eating a snack she might like i’ll offer it

after i shower, i often apply lotion and brush my hair in front of her altar space

when i get free time, i light her candle and just sit with her, usually i read, draw, or watch tv during this

before bed is when i do the majority of offerings. i usually give a food item (usually chocolate or another candy) and i’ll often give a small poem, drawing, letter, etc. every night i spritz her space with perfume, as an offering but also because the smell reminds me of her

i always say goodnight to Lady Aphrodite when i get settled in

[rottingbricks]

Golden Aphrodite

Lady of beauty and grace,

Please give me the power to appreciate my body

Grant me confidence in my masculinity

Help me to feel your love within myself, and to express it outwardly as well

Lady Aphrodite, please hear my prayer

I sing your praises and offer you this incense

[rottingbricks]

hail, Apollon: The Radiant God. He who shines so brightly and emits radiant light. He who warms us with His sun rays. on this Sunday, i honor You.

i look out at the sun; and how it shines onto the leaves, and the ground, and how bright it makes the sky. how beautifully warm it is. and i think of You.

today, i will read a book in the sun for You. i will soak up the light, and the vitamins, and heat. i will look at Your rays; i will feel Your heat — and tears will well in my eyes. tears of pure joy. the pure joy that You cause me to feel. loving You, praising You, and honoring You is such an intense gift that it overwhelms me physically and emotionally. being able to honor You bring me so much happiness.

thank you for Your warmth, my dearest Son of Leto. thank you for the warmth that You have gifted us. Your warmth is through the sun, the way that sweet music flows and fills my body. realizing that hours have gone by, and you’ve listened to a hundred songs. Your warmth is singing along to a song, then hearing yourself and thinking “wow. i’m not too bad!”.Your warmth is reading a line of poetry that makes you stop and ask yourself how someone could even think of that. Your warmth is something i promise not to take for granted. once again, my Lord,

thank you. i love You.