occultistlatrans - Tumblr blog

[occultistlatrans]

Fashion of 1909

[occultistlatrans]

Me doing something overly feminine: Wow I’m really uncomfortable and dysphoric.

Me doing something overly masculine: Wow I’m really uncomfortable and dysphoric.

[occultistlatrans]

I am such a fragile flower I had one bad dream with no grounding in reality and I feel awful and could almost cry this is BULLSHIT

[occultistlatrans]

I'm having The Genders today and I can't get my binder on and every time I try I hurt my shoulders and everything is awful and I'm going to cry from frustration

[occultistlatrans]

How To Do Magic:

Bullshit your way through everything, but charmingly so that the universe doesn't notice

[occultistlatrans]

Occultist Latrans’ Guide To Bullshitting Your Way Through A Ritual

Okay so it's occurred to me that some people I know ( necromantictheurge yokaiyujin ) have trouble with ritual magic.  While rituals are not necessary to do magic they can help focus you, make it easier to work in a group, and give you a way to teach other people to do what you do.  They are a very important thing to have in your magical repertoire.

So here's Occultist Latrans' Guide To Bullshitting Your Way Through A Ritual

Part 1: Planning (the most important part tbh)

Step one: Figure out what you want to do.  What exactly are you trying to do with this ritual?  You should be able to sum this up in a single sentence.

Step two: Figure out who you're going to do it with.  Is this all your own energy or will you be calling on gods, spirits, or elements?  If another person is going to be doing this ritual with you need to get them in on the planning right now.

Step three: Design the meat.  This is the most involved so I'm going to break it up here.

Circles with polygons in them are great!  They really make things much more organized.  If you don't have instinctual associations with numbers you're going to have to look up numerology and find which number of points fits the best for your specific ritual.  Five is always a safe number to pick.

Colors!  Color code the duck out of that circle and any materials you are using.  Pick a color you feel is associated with the purpose of your ritual and run with it!  If you don't have strong feelings towards colors do some research in to their meanings.  Understand that this changes from culture to culture so if you're working with a spirit or deity you should make sure the colors also work with them.

Smells.  This isn't a big deal for me, but I know it helps a lot of people.  Find perfumes or incense with themes and feelings that match the purpose of your ritual.  It can help you get in the right mind state.  It can also attract the interest of the deity you're trying to work with if you're doing that.

Music.  This is something I never use, but the idea is pretty much the same as that behind the smells.  Just make sure you don't pick something shorter than you want the ritual to be, having it finish before you can be seriously distracting.

Gathering up shit.  This is BY FAR the most important part of making a ritual in my opinion.  You want to get one associated object for each point on your circle.  What I usually do is brain storm a list of things I associate with the goal of the ritual, then pick the best from that.

You also want to get something to represent the thing you are doing your ritual on.  If you're going to cast on your self then that's easy.  You already have you!  Otherwise get something with sympathetic resonance to who or what you are casting on.

Sigils.  I don't use these but for those that do, you can put the ones you make at the points of your circle.

Words.  Know what you want to say.  This should be something short and easy to remember because you sure as heck don't want to be reading off note cards during the ritual.  If you're working with yourself, it just has to be your intent.  If you're working with a god/spirit/whatever you're going to need to mention them and do some flattery.

Part 2: Setting Up

Step one: Clean that shit up.  My life's a mess and cleaning is hard but trust me you want things to be tidy when you're doing the ritual or you'll get distracted.  Some gods/spirits have a really big thing about cleaning so if you're working with one of them you better do some scrubbing!

Step two:  Draw your circle.  The best way to draw a circle on a large scale if you're not an artist is to tie your chalk to one end of a string and stick the other end where you want the center of the circle to be, then pull the chalk around that point with the string taut.  For the polygon you're going to want to use a ruler and a protractor (if you still have one left over from high school).

Since this is a guide to bullshitting, however, you can also just trust your gut and wing it.  Circles can be a little egg-shaped and shapes with a even number of points aren't that hard to draw.

Step three: Put your items on the points of the polygon.  You might also want to light candles on each one as well!  This is not necessary but fire is really pretty.

Step four: Prepare some way to set a time for the ritual.  This can be a small candle that will go out, unobtrusive music that will end, or any other way to signal that it's time to stop without being super jarring.  It can even be another person.  One of those phone alarms that starts soft and gets louder might work but a standard one is going to hurt.  I usually use a candle!

Part 3: Doing The Thing

Step one: Start your timer and plop your ass down in that circle.  Most people find it helps to dim the lights, but you don't need to.

Step two: Once you're in there, get to work.  Greet any spirits/deities/etc you're working with (if you are) then start to repeat your goal.  This should quickly stop feeling like words.  While you're doing this, you want to draw energy from the circle and items and put it in to the object you are casting on (or yourself!).

Stop when your timer tells you to.

Step three: Thank anyone who helped you and clean up your shit.  Remember that cleaning can also involve grounding.  Check your energy and that of the room to see if you need to.  Then you're done!  Congratulations, you made and carried out a ritual!

[occultistlatrans]

Seriously though I can't blame ANY of this on mister C, he just made it so I couldn't ignore it

[occultistlatrans]

Past me: Gosh it's really cool when people online call me "him"

Past me: *Wears a suit to grandfather's funeral*

Past me: I'm going to be the BEST MAN at this wedding this is nonnegotiable

Past me: *Feels weird and vulnerable in skirts/dresses*

Past me: I'm totally cis tho

Me: *Looks straight in to the camera like it's the Office*

[occultistlatrans]

The speed at which I can go from "I love myself and I can see a clear path to my bright future" to "I hate myself and will never succeed in anything" is astounding

[occultistlatrans]

I mean it's not like He's particularly subtle when he wants someone to worship him

[occultistlatrans]

hahAHA

About fucking time you came around to that

It's not like He hasn't been asking for offerings and giving you gifts for the past half a year

So I’m a devotee of Coyote now…

…

Fuck me.

[occultistlatrans]

You know what makes me really tired?

Existing

[occultistlatrans]

Oop, and deity issues.

[occultistlatrans]

I'm always really confused when people follow this blog because I don't reblog cool things and mostly just whine about my life like it's my diary.  But on the other hand:  Hi!  I'm Occultistlatrans and I have gender issues, people issues, and general existence issues!

[occultistlatrans]

I had some pretty weird dreams last night but I'm 85% sure they were just dreams and nobody's trying to talk to me.

[occultistlatrans]

*quiet gender murmuring*

[occultistlatrans]

coyoteas replied to your post: coyoteas replied to your post: coyotea...

oh ok!! sorry, i misunderstood ahah. i couldn’t give you a direct feeling either, i mean. im trans but i can’t exactly tell any one person what dysphoria feels like. mine is honestly a general feeling of wrong when i look at my body so? i dunno.. ):

No it's okay thanks for trying.

I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually and like maybe I'll buy a binder and a masculine outfit once I have a significant amount of money to throw around and see how that makes me feel.  Like, trying things out is always a helpful option.