hadit93

[hadit93]

Why do you personally work with the deities that you do? In particular Hekate. Lately, I've been interested in seeking her out because I'm a mess that needs to get it together and not let my past hinder me anymore than it already have. So I thought the goddess would be ideal for helping with that.

Hekate began coming to me in dreams when I first started practicing witchcraft as a teenager. What was strange was back then I considered Hekate to be the Mother, Maiden, and Crone which she is most certainly is not and that is a modern invention attached to her. When she appeared to me she was a beautiful young woman with a fierceness in her nature that is hard to put into words.

I worked with her for a few years and she helped me a lot personally. There were a lot of things I needed to sort out externally and internally and she helped with both. But she is not the sort of Goddess who holds your hand and will give you praise all the way. She expects work and puts up with no nonsense. If she seeks you out and you answer I feel you are signing a contract of sorts that you have to upkeep.

I stopped working with her once I found Thelema for a few years. But she began calling again. She was in my dreams nearly every night, she would be in references that were completely random. It was like the universe was weaving together threads so that I could not ignore it. So I began working with her again and I have been working with her since. Albeit I do other things too, but she is always very much so present in my life and currently frustrated I feel!

As a rule I don't really work with deities as such, as in devotional and in-depthly. Hekate is an exception because she came to me and not the other way around. As for other deities if I am interested I'll work with them a little and see if there is a spark between us, a connection- if we can be of use to each other. Some come to me in dreams like Hekate, and sometimes I work with a deity and get nothing or get a bad response. In which case I make an offering and leave them be.

One thing I will say about Hekate is that she won't do the work for you, she will help, she will guide, but she will expect you to walk the path and face your demons by yourself. But she will give you the tools to carry your own torches.

[hadit93]

The Spiritual Soul of Thelema

This can also be read here in an easier format.

Attempting to write what Thelemites ‘believe’ is a difficult task. There is not really a set doctrine laid out, no true creed to follow outside of magical orders, and individuals are left to, and encouraged, to explore spiritual phenomena on their own terms. Furthermore, we have different modern proponents of Thelema espousing differences in beliefs for their own personal and group agendas and according to their own biases.

A recent trend within Thelema is to reduce all spiritual phenomena to pseudoscientific psychological jargon and portray Thelema as inherently atheist and materialistic. While it’s important to respect people’s beliefs, Thelema was originally a spirit-model-based system. Psychology emerged later, often as a means of relating to Jung and Freud, both of whom espoused spiritual ideas within what they considered to be a scientific framework to make it more palatable to the masses.

Thelemites, desperate to appease a modern audience and fearful of ridicule for performing magick, often claim that Crowley himself didn’t believe in spirits. They cite his introduction to the Goetia, where he asserts that spirits are merely ‘portions of the human brain’. Crowley was a complex man and dabbled with many different philosophical models throughout his life. Any decent magician will tell you that they change their minds according to new experiences they encounter. What I thought and believed ten years ago is very different to what I think and believe now. This statement from Crowley was written prior to the reception of ‘The Book of the Law’ when he was arguably still very new to magick.

The pivotal moment in Crowley’s life was the reception of ‘The Book of the Law’. People can believe what they like about that experience, but it is evident from Crowley’s behaviour, letters, and personal diaries that he thought it to be of great importance. Crowley absolutely believed he had received a document from something greater than himself. He later ascribed the messenger known as Aiwass to be his Holy Guardian Angel (HGA). The HGA is a strange concept and one that is difficult to define within Thelema. A younger, more atheist Crowley would state that the HGA is the Higher Self. An older Crowley would boldly proclaim that the HGA is an objective exterior being and to call it the higher self is a ‘damnable heresy’.

Conflict in the nature of sprits and spiritual experiences in Thelema may have been inspired by Crowley’s own conflicting statements within his work. In public, Crowley would often make bold statements in favour of atheism and materialism; he wanted to attract wealthy doctors, solicitors, and men of science to his movements. He ultimately failed, but his intention was to present Thelema as a respectable system of occultism and not another back-room seance gathering relying on someone knocking on the table for dramatic effect. Crowley would publicly state different beliefs at different times, but for some reason would always emphasise the importance of ‘The Book of the Law’. He believed in subtle energies such as kundalini, he believed in objective spiritual beings, he believed in the Gods, secret chiefs, in spiritual contacts, and he tested these spirits and spiritual experiences to ensure they could provide him information he and his assistants would not otherwise possess.

It is clear that the so-called prophet of Thelema really believed it had spiritual origins. It is clear that he believed in spirits, in subtle energy, in astral travel, in rituals, even surprisingly in some types of folk magic. At one time or another, and certainly later in life, he began to state these beliefs more openly. So what happened? When did Thelema start to become a front for neo-jungian psychology? When did rituals become a form of dramatic psychotherapy? I believe it stems from Israel Regardie, one of the main editors of Crowley’s works, a key figure in the magical revival of the 70s, and the main source of modern Golden Dawn magical orders.

Regardie not only inspired followers of the Golden Dawn, but due to his connection to Crowley, his involvement with the OTO, and his involvement with the Seckler lineage of AA, he has influenced most of the roots of what has become modern Thelema. I believe Regardie did a great service to Thelema as well as to the Golden Dawn, and I still respect his opinions and his work greatly. But when his readers begin to reduce magic to a form of psychotherapy, paying no attention to key concepts such as energy work, which is quite key in Golden Dawn magic, you have a movement of people drawing geometric shapes in the four quarters but no magic present in the circle.

It is clear that the bulk of Crowley’s magick was not used for psychological growth; if it was, he would have been a much more balanced individual! Crowley utilised magick to obtain wealth, to influence the physical world, and most importantly to contact spiritual beings and communicate with them under a variety of different guises, including Aiwass, Angels, and the so-called ‘Secret Chiefs’. It was also aimed at mystical experiences, but to ignore the spirit contacts, the operative magick, and the references to subtle energy in his writing and his diaries is to ignore a massive chunk of his legacy. It is clear that despite what he may have written earlier in life in public works, the man was not an atheist and believed in the spiritual world as a part of his own reality.

We are all familiar with Crowley’s famous definition of magick, “Magick is the Science and Art of causing change to occur in conformity with the Will”. We can see why this again can be reduced to psychological practices. People proclaim it is my Will to live and so breathing is magick and other nonsensical statements ad nauseam. I prefer the definition of magick Crowley gave in a footnote in one of the introductory letters collected within ‘Magick without tears’. “Magick is the study and use of those forms of energy which are (a) subtler than the ordinary physical-mechanical types, (b) accessible only to those who are (in one sense or another) ‘Initiates’.” You see here that Crowley believes in a form of energy that exists beyond the physical that only initiates can utilise. Initiates does not necessarily mean someone who is initiated into a group; an individual can initiate themselves depending upon their own spiritual experiences. It could otherwise be read ‘accessible only to those who have the aptitude’.

Also in this text when talking about the objective nature of the HGA, Crowley states: “But do remember this, above all else; they are objective, not subjective, or I should not waste good magick on them.” I think this is important not only in terms of the HGA but also in terms of spirits in general. It is important to verify the objective nature of these beings, to ensure that you are not wasting time with your own phantasms. Nobody wants to be wasting good magick on their own psychological projections. If people are getting into magick for psychological benefits, simply seek therapy— it will be cheaper, faster, and more effective.

It is time for Thelema to stop solely embracing the psychological model out of fear of ridicule and pandering to what is deemed acceptable in modern society. It is time to reawaken the spiritual spark within our magick. It is time to imbue those geometric shapes with energy and feel the shifts within our own bodies. It is time to reach out and receive our own transmissions from the beyond. There are many Thelemites doing this, there are many like myself who find the reductionism of modern occultism laughable. It is sadly still an issue that if you mention a spiritual experience to a group of Thelemites online, you are likely to be ridiculed, called crazy, or be told you are experiencing psychosis. It is as though people got into Thelema to look edgy as opposed to actually exploring the spiritual mysteries at its core.

To summarise: Thelema can accommodate many different philosophies, including atheism. But at its heart, as a mystery religion, it is inherently spiritual and is rooted in a pivotal spiritual experience of its founder. To ridicule people who believe in spirits is to also ridicule Thelema itself. There is a reason Thelema has suffered from stagnation, and I firmly believe it is because many Thelemites don’t know how to do the magick they are doing properly and are performing empty gestures and drawing shapes in the sky that fade away with their attention span.

[hadit93]

I love how trans women can no longer use women only spaces but the conversation doesn’t extend to trans men. Seems a bit suspicious to me. It’s almost like men are making laws about women but pretending it’s not about supressing a portion of women because trans women do not equate to women in their own definitions.

I wonder how many trans men they’ve passed in a public toilet and not even known? Weirdly they aren’t interested in what’s going on downstairs in that instance. But if you are a woman it matters what parts you’ve got.

Trans people are not a modern social trend. They’ve always existed, will always exist, and deserve to be respected.

Any queer person not supporting trans rights should seriously question themselves. Trans people are the easiest target in a small community. It won’t take long before they try to eradicate anything that is not heteronormative.

My question is how are we going to protect trans women from being attacked? Or does their safety not matter?

I’m starting to feel like I live in the US with that tangerine clown with the bad toupee.

[hadit93]

My Saturn return is in full swing. Two family deaths, more family illness, my own health issues, an identity crisis, an assessment of what the fuck am I doing? And a weird conflict of wanting to be independent but also wanting to form connections.

It's been only a few weeks, but I feel the effects have been looming for a while. I never put much stock into Saturn returns, I thought they were more of a fad than an actual event.

I hope this tension and these difficulties smooth out eventually. I want to grow at my own pace, not be dragged kicking and screaming by Saturn's scythe!

[hadit93]

How is it the spring equinox in two days? Time is passing far too fast. And it isn’t from having fun!

[hadit93]

Keywords for the Swords

These are the keywords I came up with whilst contemplating the suit of swords from the tarot. I tried to sum each card up with a single statement, for some it was impossible so I tried to limit it to a short phrase.

Swords

Ace- Eureka.

Two- Decisions.

Three- Heartache.

Four- Peace.

Five- Conflict.

Six- Trusting a higher power.

Seven- Deception.

Eight- Entrapment.

Nine- Fear.

Ten- Painful end.

King- Truth.

Queen- Judgement.

Knight- Action.

Page- Fresh ideas.

[hadit93]

Keywords for Major Arcana.

A few months ago I sat down with one of my new tarot decks and decided that I would try and condense each card into a single word or phrase. This is what I came up with for the Major Arcana.

The Fool- Neophyte.

The Magician- Adept.

The High Priestess- Mystic.

The Empress- Mother.

The Emperor- Ruler.

The Hierophant- Pope.

The Lovers- Union.

The Chariot- Motion.

Justice- Truth.

The Hermit- Silence.

Fortune- Change.

Strength- Control.

The Hanged Man- Martyr.

Death- Ouroboras.

Temperance- Balance.

The Devil- The Shadow.

The Tower- Destruction.

The Star- Ascension.

The Moon- Dreams.

The Sun- Logos.

Judgement- Awakening.

The World- Goal.

[hadit93]

Tarot Readings

I am offering tarot readings once again, I have a lot more time on my hands these days and would like to fill them with magical practices were possible.

I love reading tarot and have been reading tarot for well over a decade. I offer specific spreads as well as individual readings tailored to your own needs. I do sometimes read on audio call, however, I prefer to read and email you your results as this allows me to fit it into my schedule and yours as well as not needing to adhere to any timezone restrictions.

If you prefer an audio file, let me know and I can record myself doing it, it is up to you. I know some people have grown a little suspicious of online readers, and rightfully so! But I can ensure I will actually perform all readings with integrity.

Due to UK law I must ask that anyone interested is over the age of 18 and that they see this service as 'entertainment only' and should not be consulted instead of consulting a professional.

I will not be answering questions regarding medical issues, fertility, or legal issues. These are all questions for doctors, therapists, and legal professionals. Not your tarot reader! If something comes up in a reading relating to these, I will of course mention it, but I will not be giving you advice is basically what I am saying!

Prices. (In British Sterling)

3-card reading - £5

9-card reading - £15

Relationship reading - £15

Celtic Cross reading - £20

Custom reading - Variable.

I-ching reading - £5

Please message me here, or send me an email to magicalmusings93@outlook.com to arrange a reading. Please put “reading” as the subject in the email.

On this occasion I am not offering free readings, I have done this many times in the past. I am open to bartering and so if you wish to haggle over the price please do so. But please also do not be insulting and respect that I am offering very cheap readings in comparison to other readers and I also need to value my time accordingly.

[hadit93]

I had a few dreams involving Archangel Raphael and since then i had feeling interesting about angelic magic had found a few things about it but i have no idea from where to start.

Would you have some suggestion?

Since Raphael is the one who came to you, perhaps you should reach out to him first. There are multiple methods of magic you can utilise to work with Angels. Many grimoires, Trithemius' method being one of the most popular these days, the greater key of Solomon, pretty much most of the earlier grimoires to be honest.

But on a first approach I like to keep it simple. Prayer and offerings. Raphael is a tricky angel, he is sometimes mercury, sometimes the sun. It depends on the system, in practice it makes little difference. I prefer to work with him in his Mercurial aspect as it ties in with healing in my own mind. The sun does too, but I have always found medicine to be a mercurial thing.

So you can pray to him on a Sunday or a Wednesday or any day really. It is just that Sunday and Wednesday represent the sun and mercury respectively. Some grimoires have Wednesday down as a ' do whatever' kind of day too.

Print off or acquire an icon, set up a little altar, and pray to him. Get to know his mythos a little if you can- from reputable sources, and fashion a little prayer for him. Make offerings of incense (use your own correspondences, although frankincense is a good standard all round incense.) and you can offer some bread, some water, and perhaps a small tea light too. Ask that he guides you, give him permission to communicate. If you get nothing much from the session, watch your dreams afterwards.

[hadit93]

I hate it when I have a calling and dreams towards Christian figures. I have literally zero Christian background. I was christened and that’s about the extent of mine and my families connection to the church. I’m also a Thelemite which is a little incompatible to say the least.

I just don’t know how to approach this these beings. All these prayers about being unworthy and seeking grace just do not vibe with me. I don’t want to be forgiven. I am much more touched by the devil than blessed by the Lord.

Just a spiritual crisis on a Wednesday evening!

And I have given the whole prayer and Jesus thing a good go. For a longish time. It did nothing for me. There was no inspiration. I find some aspects beautiful, but some of it is soul smothering.

[hadit93]

Tarot Readings

I am offering tarot readings once again, I have a lot more time on my hands these days and would like to fill them with magical practices were possible.

I love reading tarot and have been reading tarot for well over a decade. I offer specific spreads as well as individual readings tailored to your own needs. I do sometimes read on audio call, however, I prefer to read and email you your results as this allows me to fit it into my schedule and yours as well as not needing to adhere to any timezone restrictions.

If you prefer an audio file, let me know and I can record myself doing it, it is up to you. I know some people have grown a little suspicious of online readers, and rightfully so! But I can ensure I will actually perform all readings with integrity.

Due to UK law I must ask that anyone interested is over the age of 18 and that they see this service as 'entertainment only' and should not be consulted instead of consulting a professional.

I will not be answering questions regarding medical issues, fertility, or legal issues. These are all questions for doctors, therapists, and legal professionals. Not your tarot reader! If something comes up in a reading relating to these, I will of course mention it, but I will not be giving you advice is basically what I am saying!

Prices. (In British Sterling)

3-card reading - £5

9-card reading - £15

Relationship reading - £15

Celtic Cross reading - £20

Custom reading - Variable.

I-ching reading - £5

Please message me here, or send me an email to magicalmusings93@outlook.com to arrange a reading.

On this occasion I am not offering free readings, I have done this many times in the past. I am open to bartering and so if you wish to haggle over the price please do so. But please also do not be insulting and respect that I am offering very cheap readings in comparison to other readers and I also need to value my time accordingly.

[hadit93]

What's your take on the US presidential election? What caused Trump's rise again? Misogyny, sexism, racism, the precarious economy, a combination of all of the above, or was Kamala just a horrible candidate? It's surreal that she obtained the lowest score of all Trump's adversaries so far. What do you think will happen next? Would you do a reading on Trump's next term?

I answered this question on my blog because it was easier to format over there.

[hadit93]

I did this reading back in July for the US elections and I made it clear that I thought it was unlikely Kamala would win. I wanted to be wrong, but on this occasion it seems I was not. As I am reposting this there are still some results to come through, but trump appears to be winning with a landslide.

What is interesting is a lot of other readers predicted she would win. I feel like this was a case of them wanting it so badly they clouded the interpretation or the shuffling subconsciously.

From everyone on the outside looking in Kamala was the obvious choice for a leader. Perhaps the citizens of the US know something we don't. I just hope women, trans people, and people of all minorities still have their voices heard and receive the treatment they need and deserve both medically and socially.

Tarot Reading for Kamala Harris' Election Campaign.

Thought I would do a reading for Kamala Harris' election campaign after the upheaval overseas. I was hoping for better cards....

The 10 of Swords highlights the mess she has walked into. Biden stepping down has created division in the party and in the voters. It is not a good place to begin a campaign. Voters will of course have lost confidence in the party and it is going to be hard to win this back. The 9 of swords is not much better, there isn't an easy transition or journey ahead. Harris is going to face a lot of problems on all sides, I do not envy her position at all.

The outcome will be the five of pentacles, which is not a good sign. It is not a solid yes, or no. But it suggests a hard road and her victory is not secure at all. If I was to hazard a guess, I would say her victory is unlikely given these cards. I hope I am wrong, and I always highlight that in big political issues like this there is plenty of opportunity for fate to change- too many variables at play. However, at this given time, these are not a good omen.

[hadit93]

Hello, I hope you're feeling well.

Which kind of planetary energy would you recommend for calming one's thoughts and actions? I need something to help with clear speaking, which I thought Mercury, but I also need something for clear thoughts and actions, which is a goal I'm not sure Mercury could be employed to attain...

Thanks for the attention.

I am not sure how you practice your magic, but Mercury would be the best option in my opinion. You could ask to sharpen your mind and focus and allow the intellect to shine through during your speech.

If it is emotions clouding your speech you may want to petition Venus, or even the moon if it is negative emotion- the moon being associated with the unconscious mind and shadow self. But this kind of work could be draining and very heavy handed to use in a short period of time.

I would petition Mercury and see what happens, even though he is associated with active and sometimes overactive thought you can still petition him to keep this at bay. You can ask forces associated with healing to spread disease and those that protect to harm. They govern all aspects of their domain- positive and negative. (In general, there are exceptions of course.)

[hadit93]

Hey there! Me again (sorry), with a follow up question to your last answer (thank you so much btw, I managed to find a PDF of a couple of the books you mentioned).

I'm a little confused as to where I should start in terms of practices such as the Middle Pillar and the LB/IRP? I've noticed that the books all advise the beginner to start with one of them before moving onto the next but they're inconsistent as to which one it should be.

Do you have any advice on this please?

Signed,

Slightly more confused but less overwhelmed Brit

One thing you are going to notice is that every person will recommend a different set of exercises in a different order. Even within magical orders there isn't really a standardised curriculum- every branch varies according to the experience of the people at the top.

I recommend beginning with the lesser ritual of the pentagram, in its banishing form primarily. Twice a day, sunrise and sunset preferably, but first thing in the morning and last thing at night will suffice. Do this for about a month, or until you feel you have gotten it memorised and can perform it fluidly.

After this I would then move on to the Middle Pillar ritual- make sure you also circulate the energy or ground it or use it in some way afterwards. Not all sources will include that information, but depending how sensitive you are you may not want to walk around with energy vibrating through the central channel. It can be used to fortify the aura/body of light.

To circulate I tend to move the energy clockwise with the breath, so down the right hand side with an out breath to the malkuth centre, then with the inhalation back to the crown centre. I do this 3-5 times. I then cycle it down the front and up the back. Then I wrap it around the body clockwise like a mummy to the top and see it explode back down to malkuth with the exhalation, then back up again. Then finally I drive it through the body directly up the central channel, into kether, explode (fortifying the aura as it travels back down to malkuth). After this I focus on the Tiphareth centre for a few deep breaths and end the exercise. Tiphareth is the balanced sephiroth and sphere in the body- the idea is balance with these rituals.

After this move on to experimenting with the lesser ritual of the pentagram in its invoking form. I personally think invoking really opens up the practitioner to awakening their psychic senses. You may find banishing falls to the way side a little. Most people recommend invoking in the morning and banishing at night. I say experiment and see what happens in your own case- this brings me to the last point.

Keeping a magical journal is imperative. You need to be recording how well you are performing these rituals, what effects you notice. both within the ritual and within your every day life. Then you can track trends and see what is working for you.

I have also written some blog posts that might help you:

This one is my post on the qabalistic cross section of the pentagram ritual.

This one is the pentagram ritual in theory.

This one is the pentagram ritual in practice.

[hadit93]

This months oracle from Hekate for myself. All about embracing the darkness whilst striving for the light. It is all of importance and all of use to the journey of the Self.

[hadit93]

Happy Halloween/Samhain to everyone!

A small and personal ritual for myself today. An offering to my ancestors and a reflection on death as an alchemical process.

May the spirits be kind to you all this evening! 😈