tommyhfell

[tommyhfell]

Trying to make sense of the available as PDF of Goetic Common Sense by none other than Frater Acher. I've been personally down and out due to a stomach bug (thank you so much, all-you-can-eat buffet)

The first thing he touches on is the fact that like every magical and occult researcher and practitioner, we are solitary, it is isolating, as it is a lonely path to walk. It is also sometimes by choice, because like the times of old, others don't understand us, our Craft or our World. Because even today, like Peter Grey says in one of his poignant essays, Rewilding Witchcraft we are toothless as we are judged. People still think of the Craft as a teenage phase or "crazytalk".

Acher attributes this as the Goes having basically something I would boil down as, "The Audacity", which also is further defined as operating at the fringes of society.

He says, if we want to be Goes, we should have a good look at the world around us and do away with old structures of thinking, as well as what some would consider well-established and ancient "modes" of ritual practice (the magician in a Circle, the tools, etc).

I believe he is right, because I see patterns that turn into emergent problems within every flavour and denomination of Witchcraft; there is an obsession with collecting tools and altar-ware, even thought to be honest, I think people have placed so much of an emphasis on these that we have forgotten that in the end, they are just foci. We are the Magic, in the end. I find his writings refreshing, having come from such practices where it was repeatedly hammered into my head that I "needed" tools to practice (insert some ritual or rite here).

There is a piece of writing from the author of the Blyssful Witch that sticks with me and reminds me (via the Wayback Machine):

You want to be more powerful? You want to rock the World with your Magic? Here's an idea: get the hell away from computer, from the TV, from the cell phone, from PEOPLE. Shut your mouth, shut your wallet and sit in silence in the dark. Fast, pray, meditate. Talk to plants, talk to the Gods, talk to the Spirits. Stop buying into the hype that you need newer and better "things" to be a Worker. You don't You need dedication, discipline and that burning lust in your heart that will turn you insane. When you start babbling incoherently to yourself, when you start seeing "Things" that others can't, when you start feeling Presences that others don't, you passed the sellout. All you need is your Gods, Spirits and your Heart. Leave your wallet at home.

[tommyhfell]

Looking back won't hurt, will it? I credit the post idea to this one here.

I started my journey sometime in 2008, after leaving the religion and beliefs my Mum followed or, rather, was born into, which I took for myself as childhood indoctrination. I first started with an eclectic blend of half-arsed Chaos magick and slightly later, Wicca, until I ran into problems with the whole "love and light" aspect of it, as well as the whole shying away from the more darker aspects of Life in general, along with my own problems with the Wiccan Rede, and decades later, the whole drama with the Dr. Margaret Murray fakelore incident. Also, not to mention some of Raymond Buckland's writings within the well known Blue Books is really problematic, and that some practices within Wicca isn't for ritual reasons, it was also because of some personal "preferences" by Gerald Gardner at the time.

My boyfriend during the above time was a long-time follower and adherent of Munay-Ki, who introduced me to things like Chakras, which decades later seem problematic of him and his beliefs, because Munay-Ki incorporates that stuff despite being Shamanism, which to me personally and logically, is... Weird. Not the first time that I've felt that certain New Age beliefs are problematic because of their connections to appropriation, not to mention the continual upheaval of certain plant species, caused by the overuse and overharvesting of stuff like Palo Santo and White Sage, along with the over-mining of certain popular crystals for the sake of having a focus for one's practices. Later, in 2014, I was called to the Left Hand Path, thanks to pages and resources like Dear Wicked, The Blyssful Witch (these two can be seen through the Wayback Machine) and later, via places like The Nephilim Rising. I thank whatever it was for calling me and pulling me towards a certain direction, because I started doing things proper and actually learning. It taught me about researching mythology and folklore, why Hermeticism is important, how to "work" when running out of spoons and pitfalls to try my best to avoid.

In the present day, I'm led towards Hades and the path of the Goêteia, despite the "difficulty" of living in the Perth CBD hindering my access to nature as in the wilderness and also being aware of burnout which has happened in the past. I also really like working with plants. I also have to keep it semi-discreet, because although my partner doesn't denigrate it, I still have this need for secrecy. I also don't have space for an altar like I used to.

[tommyhfell]

It's a very good and detailed Masterlist, but some links are inaccessible due to being broken. Please amend?

Beginner masterlist

Thing to know:

Theories on how magick works Theurgy and Thaumaturgy 

Magic Vs. Magick 

Types Of Witches

List Of Magick Tools 

Magickal Tools   

List Of Different Theistic Doctrines

List Of Acronyms For Magickal Concepts 

Derogatory terms that I have ran into in the magickal community

The Crazy Stage 

Things to remember 

Belief 

Understanding substituting, and reworking in spells, and rituals. 

Reasons that a magick spell, or ritual would fail 

Spiritual Verification? UPG To Lore!

How to undo a spell

Things you can use instead of candles in witchcraft, and other forms of magick.

Simple methods in order to help you opening your third eye 

Energetic Blockages 

Energetic Burnout

Energetic Overflow 

Basic:

How to get started on your magickal journey!

Chi Energy 

Visualization 

Exercise ideas for strengthening your visualization skills 

Centering

Centering 2

Grounding

Grounding 2

Power Hand

Power Hand, and Receptive hand   

Affirmations

Magickal Names 

Magickal Names 2

Altered States Of Consciousness

Book of Shadows (BOS) 

Pentagram, Pentacle, And Goat Of Mendes 

Invoking, And Banishing The Pentagram 

Casting And Undoing A Circle 

Bubble Of White Light Protection

Warding In Witchcraft

Ways to cleanse a room

Shielding

Raising the cone of power

Liminality    

Taglocks, And Magickal Links 

Tarot Reading For Beginners 

Connecting To The Elements

Spiritual Senses: The Clairs

Make:

Making A Magickal Wand, Or Staff 

How exactly do you use a sigil?

Creating your own tarot spreads, and oracle cards spreads 

Learning to write your own spells, and/or rituals 

Curse:

Symptoms Of Being Cursed, and Diagnostics methods 

The 3 steps to get rid of a curse.

Meditation:

Meditation 

Focal Meditation 

Void Meditation 

Problems, And Solutions For People Who Can’t Meditate 

Universal Maps:

Planes Of Existence   

The subtle bodies of the soul 

The 10 Dimensions 

Guides:

Types of Personal Spirit Guides 

How To Find Your Spirit Guides, And Guardian Angels

Spirit Guides

The Higher Self 

Laws:

The Laws Of Magick 

The Seven Hermetic Principles of the Kybalion

The Law Of Attraction   

[tommyhfell]

Aw, why? I always lurk the blogs of this individual for inspiration, advice and their thoughts.

I am a voting US citizen, a physically disabled queer, husband to @felixdawriter , master of psychic bullshittery, and a practicing witch & occultist. I am a cat lover and a book reader. I sew, crochet, cross stitch, and repair iPhones for fun.

I will gleefully rip anyone apart that tries to put me in a box. I defy stereotypes because it’s fun.

Also (and I think this will be the most controversial thing I say):

I spectate The Game. So I cannot lose OR win The Game.

[tommyhfell]

This gives me inspiration for a post. Kudos.

Introduction

My name is Meg. I identify currently as a Hellenic NeoPagan. I follow a blend of Wicca and Hellenic Pagan practices. I am new to the practice and am trying to find my way with my spirituality.

More about my spirituality below.

My Journey

I first felt called to Paganism back in 2021. I was experiencing my independence for the first time, in a way. I had returned to college after the pandemic and had my own space, and a life severely lacking in the christian rituals of my childhood.

I had always considered myself an ominist. Who is anyone to say one religion is real while disregarding the beliefs and practices of others. We all see the divine through different lenses, and as divine light refracts, those deities too become real through belief and worship. (This is my own personal understanding of the world, no better than anyone else's)

Paganism called to me - its rituals and deep history. Its ability to be all encompassing, and yet deeply personal and singular.

I had only begun to start my research into the subject when I returned home after I graduated, and for my own feeling of safety, I stopped practicing.

And now I have returned to it, trying once again to dive into the practice - but I still live with my parents so I have to be discreet and careful.

My Deities:

The Triple Goddess -

The Maiden: Persephone 🥀

The Mother: Demeter 🌾

The Crone: Hecate 🔮

At first I wanted to closely follow Wicca as my guide to paganism. I chose to follow the divine feminine - I have always been called to it. As a storyteller I love exploring the intricacies of femininity, and as a woman I find myself pulled towards everything traditionally thought of as feminine. Softness, motherhood, and protection.

But as I started to implement it in my life, I felt more drawn to hellenic practice. I have always felt a bond with the greek gods (I was a PJO fan - but even more than that I always felt I could differentiate who the gods really were rather than what the characters were in the book. And even before that I was a greek mythology nerd.) So I have chosen to follow that instinct.

Hades: Lord of the Dead, King of the Underworld 💀

As he and Persephone are equals, I found it fitting that I should honor both masters of the underworld. Where there is life, there is death, and there is no celebrating life without death.

[tommyhfell]

When one peels the wallpaper back, one can see the origins and why they are important. I always wondered where the hell the Goetia (the demonolatry one) popularised muchly by S. Conolly and by later and older works of ceremonial magic came from, because a few demons in there seem to have very Greek names.

I stumbled upon a Greek mythology Youtube channel sometime last year when I first started working with Hades after meeting him and being lead by him into a cave in a dream, and one of the videos within this excellent and well-researched channel caught my attention; Do Pagans worship Demons? In the video, it looks at the Satanic Panic, and the fact that Christians tend to de-Hebrew and de-Greek a lot of stuff (hence the term, Pagan-lite) and the origins of Daimon/Daimones (which in the video is different, depending on the academic or mythological sources), which in turn, made me wonder about the trilogy about the Daimon written by Frater Acher.

Because of this video and the above about Christianity and their strange habit of trying so hard to de-Paganise their religion, I had an epiphany; what we call Demonlogy and Demonolatry has Latin origins, but scrape it all back and it's all Greek.

That's right. S. Conolly's stuff is based on a Christian attempt at (mis)translation and (mis)interpretation and a whole load of... Greek. No wonder I thought, "This Demonolatry stuff doesn't seem new, nor does exist in a vacuum." All this led me to my current path of Goêteia, which is really just Chthonic sorcery.

At the moment, I'm trying to untangle the Core Skills that was originally within a book and later, a PDF titled Goêtic Common Sense.

[tommyhfell]

I'm always so fascinated by churches like these when it clearly looks like a pentagram plainly on display which also could be the Five Wounds of Christ. I looked up the history of the church in relation to the architecture and architect out of curiousity as to why it seems that parts of this building has pagan symbols and iconography as part of its look.

Bishop Salvado was the one who laid the foundation stone for the building in the 8th February in 1863, but the architect and mason of the building was Joseph Ascione, of a village near Naples, Italy[1]. I know, semi-relevant, but I wonder about his spiritual or religious inclinations because of this too.

From I've looked at so far, the only explanation for this is that Gothic architecture still has ties with Christianity and its obviously pagan origins, including the pagan-lite-ing of several pagan things, such as the incense, the rituals, the pagan origins of several celebrations and observances and the concept of a Trinity, the many realms of Heaven and Hell and a regularly-sacrificed hero god/demigod.