#Ritual practices

[nexusofsorcery]

Learn the Mysteries of Black Candle Magic: A Comprehensive Guide

What is Black Candle Magic? Black candle magic is an intriguing and powerful form of spellwork that harnesses the energy and symbolism of black candles. While white candle magic is often associated with purity and positivity, black candle magic delves into the realm of shadow work, protection, and transformation. Black candles are believed to represent mystery, hidden knowledge, and the depths…

[metropolitant]

SANXINGDUI: A GLIMPSE INTO THE ENIGMATIC BRONZE AGE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA

[shamanflavio]

Portal to your own Universe...The Mastana

On the path of consciousness evolution, what could be roughly called the initiatory path of becoming a shaman, a separation happens. The universe is understood under the same dynamics, but now the inner power of the apprentice is fully acknowledged, and his/her capacity is elevated to the status of being able to create his/her own portal into a personal universe. The symbolic tool used for this…

[kizzer55555]

DP x DC: The Most Dangerous Card Game

Ok so Danny has essentially claimed earth as his. And he is fully aware that there are constant threats to the planet. Now he can’t stop a threat that originates on earth (that’s something he’ll leave to the Justice league) but he can do something about outside threats. Doing some research on ancient spells, rituals, and artifacts, he cast a world wide barrier on the planet to protect it from hostile threats so they cannot enter. This will prevent another Pariah Dark incident. However, barriers like this come at a price. You see, there are two ways to make a barrier. Either make one powered up by your own energy and power (which would be constantly draining) or set up a barrier with rules. The way magic works is that nothing can be absolutely indestructible. It must have a weakness. The most powerful barriers weren’t the ones reinforced with layer after layer of protective charms and buffed up with power. Those could eventually be destroyed either by being overpowered, wearing them down, or by cutting off the original power source. No, the most powerful barriers were the ones with a deliberate weakness. A barrier indestructible except for one spot. A cage that can only be opened from the outside. Or that can only be passed with a key or by solving a riddle. So Danny chooses this type of barrier and does the necessary ritual and pours in enough power to make it. And he adds his condition for anyone to enter. 

Now the Justice league? Find out about the barrier when Trigon attempts to attack, they were preparing after he threatened what he would do once he got to earth. How he would destroy them. The Justice league tried to take the fight to him first but were utterly destroyed, so they retreated home to tend to their injuries, and fortify earth for one. Last. Stand. Only when Trigon makes his big entrance…he’s stopped.

The Justice league watch in awe as this thin see-through barrier with beautiful green swirls and speckled white lights like stars apears blocking Trigon and his army’s advance. The barrier looks so thin and fragile yet no matter how hard the warlord hits, none of his attacks can get through and neither can he damage said barrier. That’s when Constantine and Zatanna recognizes what this barrier is. Something only a powerful entity could create. For a moment, the league is filled with hope that Trigon can’t get through yet Constantine also explains that it’s not impenetrable. And clearly Trigon knows this too for he calls out a challenge. 

And that’s when, in a flash of light, a tiny glowing teenager appears. He looked absolutly minuscule compared to Trigon and yet practically glowed with power (this isn’t a King Danny AU though).

And that is when the conditions for passing the barrier are revealed. And the Justice realize that the only thing stopping Trigon and his army from decimating earth. The only way he can get through….is by beating this glowing teenager in a card game. 

Not just any card game though. The most convoluted game Sam, Danny, and Tucker invented themselves. It’s like the infinite realms version of magic the gathering, combined with Pokémon, and chess. And Danny is the master. So sit down Trigon and let’s play.

(The most intense card game of the Justice league’s life).

After Danny wins, this happens a few more times with outer word beings and possibly even demons attempting to invade earth, yet none have been able to beat the mysterious teenager in a card game. Constantine might even take a crack at it and try to figure out how to play. He’s really bad though. Every time this happens, the Justice league worry that this might be the time the teenager looses. Yet every time, he wins (even if only barely). 

Meanwhile, Danny, Sam, and Tucker have gotten addicted to the game and play it almost daily. Some teachers might seem them playing the game are are like ‘awww how cute’ not realizing this game is literally saving the world. Jazz is just happy they aren’t spending as much time on their screens playing Doomed.

[lifemod17]

It's thinking about DYWTYLM live hours

🎥: JustJundering | youtube

Magnet House, Perth || 05/04/2023

[horygory]

Chucky (1988)

[serpentface]

Etadinii priest (cult of Inyamache) standing near the serpent stone, a megalithic structure predating any historical record. Contrary to first impressions and occasional jesting, this is almost definitely not a giant penis (though Some level of symbolic phallic intent is possible), and was probably shaped to cast a long shadow resembling the head and neck of a snake.

Its location is within the present-day province of Wardin adjacent to the city Jaesai, close to the border of Ephennos. A temple to Inyamache was built around it three centuries ago and greatly expanded within the past century, though the stone and the majority of the associated site remains intact.

It is most likely at least couple thousand years old, long predating the written record and having only hazy and conflicting accounts in different oral histories. Most of its original features have been worn away by erosion, but petrogylphs of a snake and rows of scimitar deer (locally extinct or possibly never extant in this area), gazelle, and aurochs remain visible (and may have been re-carved at various points in history), and there are traces of concentric rings at the 'head'. 21st century level analysis would also find traces of ochre within the lines of the petroglyphs, which were painted and repainted red for at least a couple centuries after its creation.

This is the largest single prehistoric megalithic structure located within present day Imperial Wardin (unless burial cairns constructed over slab tombs are counted) and its existence is very technically impressive, especially given the nearest possible quarry is about 50 miles away. The builders of the site were almost certainly a fairly small society of nomadic pastoralists, so the diversion of time and manpower to the quarrying and movement of this stone (and others on the site) would have been absolutely exceptional. Most similar structures from the era are significantly smaller (about human height) and found closer to quarry sources.

The stone is part of a larger site that was mostly or entirely constructed in the same period. It stands adjacent to a shallow, rounded manmade pit buffered from erosion with brick walls, encircled by smaller horizontal slabs. A single circular slab is placed in the center, which is currently referred to as the sun stone. A nearby arroyo also shows signs of modification from the same period (beyond typical redirections for irrigation), diverting any potential floodwaters away from the site to prevent inundation of the pit.

The primary purpose of this stone and the site itself is recording the winter solstice. During the solstice sunset, the snake's cast shadow approaches and perfectly engulfs the circular slab at the center, appearing to devour it. The notion that the sun is eaten by a snake (either on the winter solstice, during total eclipses, or both) appears to have been a common thread in religious belief in the region. This notion is no longer held in the Wardi sphere (the night of the solstice is the sun's yearly death and total eclipses are a concerning premature and unnatural death) but still has linguistic traces, particularly in the word for total solar eclipses being a compound form of the phrase 'swallowed sun'.

Ownership of the site has changed hands numerous times over its history, but it has been in near-continuous use by all its owners as a place to observe the winter solstice and perform related rites. Virtually all proto-Wardi monotheist animist worldviews cast the sun (or sun + sky) as God and/or the source from which all beings emanate, and most considered the winter solstice to be an exceptionally significant (and potentially dangerous) moment in the year, as the time of the sun's dying and subsequent rebirth.

Within the faith of the 7-faced god, veneration of God has shifted to focus more upon the earth (with the sun as an Extension of the earth, all parts of God's body) but the winter solstice still retains extreme religious significance- it's used in part to determine the date of the new year (which occurs on the first new Nyaram moon on or after the solstice), and is still recognized as the moment of the sun's death.

The state cult of Inyamache currently maintains this site as part of the temple grounds and uses it to measure the winter solstice in the same capacity it has for millennia, using the total engulfment of the sun stone as the signal to begin their most important rites of the year. It is understood that it's at least Possible that the sun could fail to rise the next morning if proper action is not taken to ensure its rebirth.

The serpent stone stands in contrast to the brightly plastered and painted temple (and the other prehistoric slabs on-site that have received this treatment) in remaining unaltered in the modern era. The state cult holds that the serpent stone and its associated site was created by the first men, and considers the location and the serpent stone itself to be sacred and regulated by taboo. The only people permitted to enter the site and touch the stone are Etadinii priests (who cleanse it with water once per solar month). Solar eclipses (and subsequent misfortunes attributed to them) are occasionally blamed on trespassers.

[everytimewetouch-dot-mp3]

good morning, today i am thinking about dragon god shen yuan, tea, and rituals, so have a few scattered thoughts on the theme:

every cang qiong peak lord has at least one tea pet fashioned after the sect’s god. for the ones who consider themselves tea connoisseurs (shen qingqiu, qi qingqi, and the presently unnamed lords of the agricultural and engineering peaks), the dragon god tea pet only comes out for ceremonial/ritualistic use, though for those who rarely have gongfu cha, the dragon god is likely the only tea pet they have. when new disciples are admitted, the dragon god tea pet is part of the tea ceremony. pouring tea over it is treated as an offering to him.

cang qiong has a few sect-wide festivals annually. one is a multi-day festival honoring ascended peak lords, with one full day dedicated to the founding lords. there is a temple on the dragon god’s mountain, and during the peak lord festival, the current peak lords bring a small delegation (usually their head or most senior disciple, the eldest member of their peak, and two or three of the innermost inner disciples) to light incense and pray. this ceremony opens and closes with the zui xuan peak lord brewing a large pot of tea, and each member of the group offering the dragon god a cup (by pouring it over him). it’s treated as an invitation for luck and an expression of gratitude for protection from evil.

shen yuan didn’t drink much tea in his first life. he knew how to prepare and serve it properly, mostly for the sake of entertaining his mother’s friends and his father and brothers’ business associates, but he really didn’t drink much on his own

dragon god shen yuan always smells vaguely of the tea that cang qiong’s agricultural peak is famous for—tian gong jasmine tea. it’s near impossible to purchase and rare outsiders have had the occasion to try it. the leaders of the great sects have each tried it, and when lbh becomes ruler of the demon realm, the peace treaty between his empire and cang qiong is finalized over a pot shared between himself and yue qingyuan. it is also, coincidentally, both the tea offered most frequently to shen yuan and his favorite to drink.

because of all the tea offerings while he was hibernating in dragon mode, when the system finally allows shen yuan to wake up properly and attend to his sect, he’s developed a really strong taste for tea. he can distinguish stages of fermentation within two or three days just by taste, and for tea that was grown in the tian gong range he can describe things like the tea’s growing conditions, including weather, soil quality, and spiritual strength of the cultivators who tended to/processed the trees and leaves. shen yuan finds this extremely odd knowledge to just Have

the second-best pot of tea shen yuan has had in 700 years is the one that luo binghe prepares for him when he takes binghe as his personal disciple. the best pot of tea is the one luo binghe prepares for him on their wedding day.

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Life-Sized Mortuary Doll from Siberia, c.250 CE: a small pouch filled with cremated human remains was tucked into the body of this mannequin, which was then stuffed with grass, dressed in furs, and buried

The mannequin measures about 1.5 meters (nearly 5 feet) tall, and it was crafted out of leather, fur, woollen fabric, tendon thread, silk, and grass. This is one of several mortuary dolls that have been found at the burial complex known as Oglakhty cemetery, which is located in the Oglakhty mountains of southern Siberia.

The mannequin's face was created from a patch of red woollen fabric; a rolled-up piece of leather was tucked beneath that patch in order to create the shape of the nose, while leather flaps were used to form the ears. Several black lines were also drawn across the face using charcoal.

The mannequin was positioned with its head resting atop a leather cushion filled with grass and reindeer fur.

Oglakhty cemetery is associated with the Tashtyk culture of southern Siberia. This article describes their unique burial practices, which often included a mix of mummification and cremation rituals:

The communities belonging to this group left numerous burial sites with an expressive funeral rite famous for its tradition of funeral masks and ‘dummies’: leather-made models of human bodies up to 1.5m in length, stuffed with grass, and  containing charred human bones.

Of special interest is the fact that different rites were used to bury individuals in the same grave: the mummies and dummies both contained human bones. Remains of the mummies, i.e. dry bodies with trepanned skulls and faces covered with gypsum masks were lying side by side with the dummies.

And as this article notes:

These mannequins or so-called ‘dolls’ are the only surviving examples of burials of this type.

It's believed that the mannequins are dressed in clothing that was originally worn by the dead people they represent. Some of the mannequins also have plaits of human hair that were likely taken from the dead just prior to cremation; the hair was then used to form neatly-braided hairpieces that were typically placed upon the mannequins' heads.

Many of the graves at Oglakhty cemetery exhibit a peculiar mix of both inhumation and cremation. That blend of rituals is often attributed to the arrival of peoples/traditions from other regions, and the cultural diffusion that gradually occurred as a result:

Different ways of burying people in the same graves in the early Tashtyk cemeteries may reflect their different origins: descendants of local population and immigrants living and buried alongside each other.

Sources & More Info:

Antiquity: Pastoralists and Mobility in the Oglakhty Cemetery of Southern Siberia

Masters of the Steppe: Mummies and Mannequins from the Oglakhty Cemetery in Southern Siberia

Quarternary International: New Results of Radiocarbon Dating from the Oglakhty Cemetery

Research Square: First Ancient DNA Analysis of Mummies from the Post-Scythian Oglakhty Cemetery

Archeotravelers: The Face Hidden Behind the Mask

Great Sites of the Ancient World: Siberia's Oglakhty Mountains

[johnnycrass]

my body isnt fit enough and thats why im single....im not sensual enough thats why im single... my network is too small thats why im single... i dont know enough people thats why. im kind of awkward thats why. im dumb and uneducated and havent read enough, not intellectual enough thats why.... im not the most charming person ever THATS why.... -_- free me from this desire !!! free me !!!! detach me from this desire !!! buddhism HELP me.... buddhism rays of HELP come down upon me.... non-attachment angels ASSIST me now HELP now

[taraxippos]

Major pet peeve is people seeing an object being explained as having 'ritual purpose' and dunking on it on the level that they see the word 'ritual' and are thinking like 'complex solemn religious ceremony' when the anthropological term being used in these contexts just means sets of habitual behaviors performed on a cultural level. Like, a christmas tree bought at target by a secular culturally christian family for their kids to hang Bluey ornaments on has 'ritual purpose'.

The reason 'ritual purpose' is funny as a descriptor for a cup shaped like a frog or whatever is because it's so vague and just narrows its usage down to 'having culturally specific meaning/use in a habitual manner', not because Foolish Historians/Archeologists/Etc by and large see any object/art they don't immediately understand and imagine it must have been utilized by high priests in elaborate blood ceremonies to a frog god or something.

[shamanflavio]

Shamanism: A Journey Through the Mind, Body, and Spirit Connection

Shamanism, a spiritual practice that spans across various cultures and epochs, serves as a profound testament to the universality of human psychobiological experiences. Through the lens of Winkelman’s (2002) research, we can understand shamanism not merely as a cultural artifact but as a manifestation of innate brain processes, representational systems, and psychophysiological dynamics inherent…

[utilitycaster]

The thing about both Ioun and Selena is like. I get it. I really do. So much of our scientific knowledge - medical especially - comes from knowledge we gained in blood, and a lot of it was the blood of people who did not volunteer nor consent (nor were given opportunity to consent). What protections we have now are all recent, in many cases insufficient, and themselves subject to debate. Knowledge we lack and the safety and wellbeing of many people in the future often rest on the safety of a few people in the present; knowledge we have and the safety and wellbeing of many people in the present often comes from sources we should have never had access to.

You do want to have that information. You do not ever want to have to get it, and there's no good way to decide who should have access to it, but someone has to. There is absolutely no good answer at any stage of the process, and a goddess of knowledge and an archmage desperately trying to save her life's work both have to make a decision knowing none will be a good one.

[selenophiliiaaa]

got a new book from a local witchy store and i am So Excited to read it - its “Secrets of Greek Mysticism; a modern guide to daily practice with the Greek gods and goddesses” by George Lizos,,, im only a couple chapters in but it seems like itll be a really good read !!

[akhret]

Lighter of Ways

I venture forth into the unknown of the night, unsure and unaware of where I must go. I call to you, Wepset, the light in the darkness. I call to you, great of voice. I seek you to guide me, to light up the path as I try to find the path. Aid me as I seek you out, Great Wepset. Protect me as I go on, fighting off any evil that may steer me away from finding the sun, once more. Give me hope that the day will begin again, that the night will fall away. Fuel me with your flame, set it forth before my eyes that not all is lost in the night.

-Raet

[gatekeeper-of-witchcraft]

women should invent a framework for radical feminist traditional witchcraft. dianic doesn't scratch that itch. there have been murmurings for this for a long time.

working on it as we speak!!

I’ve had my own female-only interpretations of ritual tools and myths and such but I’m still piecing together my thoughts on a cosmology/mythos and ritual structure, + needing like-minded women to help test it for efficacy