My roots penetrate deep into the Earth, I grow strong and I gain knowledge from the nature that surrounds me. I am calm, I am collected, and I am strong.
My body grows up, it is hardened on the outside to protect me. It branches off into my many limbs. I stand tall, swaying in the breeze.
My emotions, my thoughts, my experiences are my leaves, my blossoms, and my fruit. They grow big, strong, and stable in the light of the gods, and the rain of the goddesses. When one fails, a new one takes it’s place. I am a tree, of love and of worship.
@arcanemysteries I don’t mean to seem like I’m attacking or picking on you, but are you aware that this image is very anti-Semitic? The whole “stereotypical witch aesthetic” is originally an anti-Semitic tradition. A good article about it can be found here. Please help spread awareness that this is not okay! Thanks! :)
@the-darkest-spark@tinycog You are not attacking me at all. I want to thank you for making me aware of this. I was unaware of the “stereotypical witch aesthetic” as an anti-semetic tradition. Thank you for providing this information. I would like to make it known that I had no intention of creating nor sharing an anti-semetic image and created the image as a quote for a saying that I say all the time which is “I’m that witch” I sincerely apologize to anyone and everyone that I may or may have not offended. I hope that this reblog brings awareness to others like myself who may be offending other people without even realizing it. Thank you again for your time. Love, Light and Progress. - ArcaneMysteries
You’re welcome, again, and thank you for your support! ❤️ Blessed be~
I was raised Christian, forced into it by my parents. For the past three years, I’ve been forced to carry out a process some of you may or may not be familiar with called Confirmation. It is essentially an extra bible study once a week which will eventually lead to you claiming to be a Christian you’re whole life.
I am reaching my third year of this, and one day, as I came home from the usual weekly Confirmation study, I broke down into tears. At this point, my mother knew I was Wiccan but insisted I continue Confirmation to make my father happy and to make an educated choice. However, she was worried about me, and made plans for me to see the Pastor of the church or lunch.
I was terrified. I did not want to go. She told him I was Wiccan, and I was sure he was going to berate me and try and convince me it was only a phaze.
He gave me a hug, and sat me down, and told me everything would be okay. He knew a surprising amount about Wicca, and acknowledged openly I practice witchcraft. He was extremely supportive, offering to lend me candles from the church. I told him my father was going to force me to continue Confirmation and get confirmed, and he was so unbelievably supportive. He offered to call my dad, he offered to help me find a way to spiritually disconnect myself from the Confirmation if I did have to be Confirmed, and he gave me ways to make Confirmation less miserable in general.
Stop generalizing Christians as bad.
Stop assuming all Christians are like the ones on the news.
Please respect Christians.
PLEASE do NOT reblog this telling me about the crappy experience you had with your priest. This post is made to show the good side of Christianity because Christians get so much hate okay
This is a hex that can be used for that exceedingly intrusive colleague, “friend,” or even family member who cannot seem to comprehend boundaries. As the name suggest, this hex prevents the victim from overstepping their bounds by rendering your presence (or rather, their perceptions) hidden. Of you they may not speak, your words they may not overhear, and your actions and private matters they may not see. This a multifaceted ritual, but can be completed in the matter of a night.
Begin by collecting the following herbs and curios:
DriedGarlic (powder or clove)
Chiles (Red, hot – again, powdered or crushed will do)
(7)Coffee Beans, smashed
Black Salt (Kala Namak, not lava salt)
A few twigs from a Bird’s Nest
Spiderwebs
TheashesofMatthew 7:1 – 5 (or all of 6 and 7, whichever) –
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and [a]by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how [b]can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
(Optional)Water Hemlock, crushed
(Optional)Barberry Leaves, crushed
(Optional)Sulfur Powder
You will also need:
(1)Black Candle (the narrower the better – I’d recommend either a chime or a federal, something narrow and straight – i.e. not a taper)
AScrap of Fabric (any color will do – I use white, usually)
ANeedleandBlack Thread
Either a personal affector their name written on paper or fabric
To begin, collect your herbs in a vessel or – my personal favorite – an unused coffee filter.
Turn your black candle over, and carve the bottom into a point, collecting the wax shavings and adding them to the above herb mixture. You may also choose to flatten the top, as you’re basically creating a new “top” from the bottom. Rub this liberally with an oil of your choosing (if you wish; otherwise leave it naked).
After this has been completed, you will be making a doll in the shape of a head. For this, sew a head shape or oval into the fabric, completing it – I say this, because for this process, we will not be inverting the doll to stuff it. Pull the front and back apart, and in the front, cut a slit for a mouth and eye. *see bottom for details*
Through the eyes and mouth, stuff with either regularly stuffing, Spanish moss or fabric scraps. Do not forget to add in the personal affect or name (through the mouth would surely be easiest). Add in just a pinch of your herb mixture.
Again, prime your needle and thread and begin stitching the mouth closed. Finish. Then stitch closed the eyes (as a useful hint, begin on the outside of one eye, stitch across and instead of having to finish and re-knot, simply dive under the bridge and come out at the inside corner of the other eye – stitch across and close.)
This completes the doll.
If possible, light your candle in front of the doll and sprinkle your herb mixture on your victims property or where they will walk through it (near their car driver-side door is prime territory!) – as the candle burns. However, given that could be hazardous, you may let the candle burn first, then sprinkle your concoction (as long as a day after).
Theslits in the doll should look (roughly) like this:
Can someone please explain the difference between Traditional Witchcraft and Wicca??
As I understand it, and keeping in mind that I follow neither philosophy, Wicca is a more recent approach to the occult, whereas traditional witchcraft is older. I’m not sure, honestly. Could maybe some of my followers help us out here? Now you’ve got me curious.
I’m with you @maddiviner as far as not ascribing to either. Additionally, my understanding is about like yours. There’s also a branch of witchcraft I’ve been noticing that incorporates the Cain and Abel archetypes too. Which I understand even less of.
There are many definitions of traditional witchcraft. Mostly, they’re are based upon historical definitions of witchcraft, but none of them (at least to my knowledge) have unbroken lineages. The oldest one gets is probably 1880, according to a few sources, but we know that witchcraft was being practiced in some parts of Britain before this time period.
Many modern traditional witchcrafting practices are only as old as Wica, to be frank. Cochrane and Gardner and Cecil Williamson were all part of the modern witchcraft revival, and they were all working with very similar sources. From these (and also wonderful individuals such as Margaret Murray, Jules Michelet, Doreen Valiente, Roslyn Norton, Victor and Cora Anderson, and many others) we get the modern forms of the traditional witchcraft stream.
Traditional Wica and traditional witchcraft have much in common. From my sources, there is more in common than I previously thought, to be honest. But, I can only speculate, as I am not part of any Wica groups.
Michael Howards The Children of Cain is a great primer history on the modern traditional witchcraft revival. I highly recommend.
I was hoping you’d get ahold of this post :p. Thank you for your help. Can you tell me what the role of Cain is in it? My only familiarity with him is through biblical lit, so it’s weird to see it in this type of witchcraft.
Of course :) In certain streams of witchcraft, Cain is seen as the First Sorcerer. The Mystery of the Cain and Abel is that of the journey of the witch. To become Witch, one must become Other. An exile. A wanderer on the crooked path, where one finds no friend or brother, only One.
I am reading an essay by Daniel Schulke currently, actually, that explains how Cain appeared in witchcraft. Traditional witchcraft is often seen to be a mixture of pagan and Christian iconography. This is simply because witchcraft as we know it, and how it has been recorded, and how it was first described (looking at you, Inquisition!) was birthed DIRECTLY out of Christianity. The icons of the Devil, the Black Mass, blasphemy, all that stuff spring from that time period, and they still affect it today. It is a means to an end, however. We must peer through these grotesque and frightening images to the light on the other side.
Anyway, back to the point. Cain appears in the works of Leland. He is mentioned in Aradia as a rather key figure, and is often cited in gnostic texts as the son of Azazel and Eve. Therefore, he has the Serpent Blood, or the Witchblood, which was passed down in his line, as well as by the angels that fell from heaven, the Grigori, who taught man the secrets of the stars, and of witchcraft, and metallurgy, et cetera. In Scotland especially, these fallen angels who followed Azazel/Lucifer down are often linked to the Faery. @gardenofthequeen has an excellent little blurb about this regarding the Devil as Faery King.
He is the Whirling Wind. The Wandering Man in the Moon. The Horned Man (it was said that god cursed him with horns, and that was his mark) who was shot by Lamech the Hunter.
Thank you again! I think I recall seeing something about him in Paul Hudson’s ‘Mastering Witchcraft’. We should definitely talk more. :-) Feel free to inbox me any time.
Oh, probably. Paul was one of the first to talk about the concept of Witchblood, which is all over the place in traditional craft.
Going back to OP’s question and the next few down (please keep in mind that this is mostly personal belief and I don’t have many sources other than what I deem to be logical conclusions based on historical texts like the Bible; also, I do not follow Wiccan or traditional witchcraft doctrines), Wicca is very much a new path of witchcraft that surfaced in…the 60s, I think?? While traditional witchcraft and Wicca do have similarities, I think traditional witchcraft has a lot more of a basis in witchcrafts throughout the centuries. While witchcraft has a broken and marred history, I, personally, believe that the knowledge has always been accessible to those willing to re-learn the craft. We know from scriptures in the Bible (keep in mind that I say this fully aware and believing that the Bible has many mistranslations and corruptions from human hands) that witches back then had chosen to burn their grimoires (why the fuck would someone do that, though?? Like, my grimoire/BOS is my baby :c). It’s no secret that witchcraft has been around since forever pretty much, but considering the very marred and broken history of witches (especially during the time if the Inquisition), there has to have been ways that new generations of witches could relearn and reclaim that knowledge without the use if books from prior generations or other witches to teach them.
So, while “traditional witchcraft” is a comparatively new revival, I think that a lot of the knowledge of traditional witchcraft is very much founded in the historical lineage of witchcraft as a whole. Wicca, on the other hand, is a very, very new approach to witchcraft with a new approach to religion incorporated into it (that is not to say their deities are new, because I believe that the Goddess and the God have been around as long as all the other deities).
The ancient greyness shifted Suddenly and thinned Like mist upon the moors Before a wind. An old, old prophet lifted A shining face and said: “He will be coming soon. The Son of God is dead; He died this afternoon.”
A murmurous excitement stirred All souls. They wondered if they dreamed— Save one old man who seemed Not even to have heard.
And Moses standing, Hushed them all to ask If any had a welcome song prepared. If not, would David take the task? And if they cared Could not the three young children sing The Benedicite, the canticle of praise They made when God kept them from perishing In the fiery blaze?
A breath of spring surprised them, Stilling Moses’ words. No one could speak, remembering The first fresh flowers, The little singing birds. Still others thought of fields new ploughed Or apple trees All blossom-boughed. Or some, the way a dried bed fills With water Laughing down green hills. The fisherfolk dreamed of the foam On bright blue seas. The one old man who had not stirred Remembered home.
And there He was Splendid as the morning sun and fair As only God is fair. And they, confused with joy, Knelt to adore Seeing that he wore Five crimson stars He never had before. No canticle at all was sung. None toned a psalm, or raised a greeting song. A silent man alone Of all that throng Found tongue— Not any other. Close to His heart When the embrace was done, Old Joseph said, “How is Your Mother, How is Your Mother, Son?”
“We must be mindful of the fact that death is no longer the same as it was before Christ endured it, before he accepted and penetrated it, just as life, being human, is no longer the same as it was before human nature, in Christ, was able to come in contact with - and it truly did - God’s own being. Before, death was just death, separation from the land of the living and, albeit at differing degrees of profundity, something like “hell”, the nocturnal side of living, impenetrable darkness. But now death is also life and when we pass over the glacial solitude of the threshold of death, we always meet once more with him who is life, whose desire is to become the companion of our ultimate solitude and who, in the mortal solitude of his anguish on the Mount of Olives and of his cry on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, became a partaker of our solitudes. If a child had to venture out alone through a wood on a dark night, he would be afraid even if he were to be shown a hundred times that there was nothing to fear. He is not afraid of anything specific, to which he could put a name, but in the dark he feels insecure, an orphan, he feels the sinister character of inner existence. Only a human voice could console him; only the hand of a person he loves could banish the anguish, like a bad dream. There is an anguish - the true kind nesting in the profundity of our solitudes - which cannot be overcome by reason but only by the presence of a person who loves us. This anguish, in fact, doesn’t have an object to which we could put a name. It is the terrible expression of our ultimate solitude. Who among us has not felt the awful sensation of this state of abandonment? Who would not hear the blessed, comforting miracle worked in these circumstances by an affectionate word? But wherever there is such solitude as to be inaccessible to the transforming word of love, then that is the place we call hell… .One thing is sure: there will come a night when no word of comfort will penetrate the dark abandon, there will be a door which we must pass though in absolute solitude: the door of death. All this world’s anguish is, in the final analysis, the anguish generated by this solitude. This is why in the Old Testament, the word indicating the kingdom of the dead was identical to the word for hell: shêol. Death, in fact, is absolute solitude. But this solitude which can no longer be illumined by love, which is so profound that love can no longer reach it, is hell.
“Descended into hell” - this confession of Holy Saturday means that Christ passed through the door of solitude, that he descended into the unreachable and insuperable depth of our condition of solitude. This means, however, that also in that extreme night which no word penetrates, when we will all be like children, banished, weeping, there will be a voice that calls to us, a hand that takes our hand and leads us on. Man’s insuperable solitude was overcome from the moment He entered it. Hell was beaten from the moment love entered the region of death and the no man’s land of solitude was inhabited by him. In his profundity, man does not live by bread. In the authenticity of his being he lives by the fact that he is loved and is himself given the faculty to love. From the moment there is the presence of love in death’s sphere, then life penetrates death: life is not taken from your faithful, O Lord, but transformed, the Church prays in its funeral liturgy.
In the final analysis, no one can measure the portent of the words: “descended into hell”. But if at some time it is ours to draw near to the hour of our ultimate solitude, we will be given to understand something of the great clarity of this dark mystery. In the hopeful certainty that when the hour of extreme solitude comes we will not be alone, we can already, now, presage something of what will happen. And in the throes of our protest against the darkness of the death of God we begin to be grateful for the light that comes to us from this same darkness. “
—Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, “Three Meditations on Holy Saturday: An Anguish of Absence”
“Lord Jesus Christ, in the darkness of death You made a light shine; in the abyss of the deepest solitude the powerful protection of Your love now lives for ever; in the throes of Your concealment we now can sing the hallelujah of the saved. Grant us the humble simplicity of faith, which does not let us stray when You call us in the hours of darkness, of abandonment, when all seems difficult; grant us, at this time when a mortal struggle is being waged around You, light enough that we will not lose You; light enough for us to give to all those who still have need of it. Make the mystery of Your Easter joy shine, like the aurora of the dawn, on these days of ours; grant that we may truly be men of Easter in the midst of history’s Holy Saturday. Grant that in the course of the days of light and dark of this age we may always with happy hearts find ourselves on the pathway to Your future glory. Amen.”
—Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, “Three Meditations On Holy Saturday”
Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
For@thelonelybrilliance and my other Catholic friends here’s a really interesting Polish song for Easter period.
This song is titled “Ludu, mój ludu” (”People, my people”) and it’s a lament of Christ who’s asking the Chosen Nation why did they put Him - their God - through suffering,
Each paragrath starts with:
“People, my people, what have I done to you [to deserve it]?
How have I saddened you?
How have I wronged you?”
And proceeds with depiction of good things God gave His Chosen Nation and what was done to Him during crucificion.
This is one of my favorite religious songs and one that is sung during Lent.
I hope it will get you all into a mood.
Edit:
Here’s lyrics:
Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam cię wyzwolił z mocy faraona, [I’ve freed you from Pharaoh’s power] A tyś przyrządził krzyż na Me ramiona. [And you’ve put/made cross on My arms.]
Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam cię wprowadził w kraj miodem płynący, [I’ve led you into the land of milk and honey] Tyś Mi zgotował śmierci znak hańbiący. [You gave Me the disgraceful sign of death.]
Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam ciebie szczepił, winnico wybrana, [I’ve interlocked you, chosen vineyard.] A tyś Mnie octem poił, swego Pana. [And you watered me, Your Lord, with vinegar.]
Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam dla cię spuszczał na Egipt karanie, [I’ve sent punishment on Egypt.] A tyś Mnie wydał na ubiczowanie. [And you’ve spent Me on whipping.]”
Now, I’ve stumbled upon verisons with verse like these:
“Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam ciebie karmił manny rozkoszami, [i’ve feed you with the pleasures of manna lichen,] Tyś Mi odpłacił policzkowaniami. [You’ve repaid me with slapping.]
Ludu, mój ludu! Cóżem ci uczynił? [People, my people, what have I done to you?] W czymem zasmucił, albo w czym zawinił? [How have I saddened you, how have I wronged you?] Jam ci dał berło Judzie powierzone, [I gave you the Judah’s septer,] A tyś Mi wtłoczył cierniową koronę. [And you crammed thorned crown on Me.]
Many of you may see crucifixion pieces that look like this. Beautiful as they may be, I believe they fail to truly convey reality.
Before Jesus was crucified, he was scourged. The flagrum that would have been used included pieces of bone and metal woven into a leather whip. It would have torn chunks of Jesus’ flesh from his body, and left deep and bloody gashes.
After this, Jesus was taken and the scarlet robe and crown of thorns were placed on him. He was subsequently spat on and struck on the head with a reed, which would have pressed the crown further into him. The pain at this point would already have been excruciating. Many people died by the scourge.
He was then forced to carry his own cross to the place where he would be crucified. Of course this was nearly impossible, and that is why Jesus fell multiple times and why Simon the Cyrene was conscripted to help carry it.
When Jesus finally made it to Golgotha, he would first have been laid down on the cross, his hands and feet nailed to it, and then the cross would be raised. This painting illustrates the scars and blood which would be on Jesus’ body by this point.
When Jesus was on the cross, each breath would have been excruciating. The nails would be ripping at his hands, gravity taking its toll. One thing you need to keep in mind is that crucifixion was considered one of the lowest forms of death. It was shameful and dishonorable, so much so that the idea of the Son of God being crucified was itself a mockery, an insult. Romans who heard that the Christian Messiah was crucified would likely have seen this as impossible, how could God’s Son be put through such a despicable thing?
In a more spiritual sense, tradition holds that while Jesus was on the cross, he witnessed and felt every single sin that would be committed in all of time, and that because he took all of them upon himself, he was entirely cut off from God the Father. The weight of not just the world’s sin, but the entirety of humanity in all times past, present, and future, would have accompanied Jesus alongside his physical pain. This cannot be understated. Jesus did not merely experience a horrific physical death, but also the pain and suffering of all sin and of the experience of being cut off from God. Being cut off from God is one of the aspects of being in hell, so on the cross he would have experienced a sort of literal hell.
Jesus died after three hours of suffering on the cross. “My God my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Now, I want you to imagine things from the perspective of Mary. We know God does not experience emotions as we do, but I think Mary gives us a glimpse, a sort of shadow, of what God would have “felt” seeing His exalted Son cut off from him and put to death.
Mary watched her only Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, be put through all this. Today we know how awful it is for mothers to lose their children, whether it be in a miscarriage or an accident in adult life. So, then, we know that Mary would have experienced something truly awful. I cannot fathom what it must have been like to see your son, the messiah, bloodied and crucified.
Today, let us remember what Christ did for us, and what he earned for us. He did not have to go through all this. We do not deserve salvation. But he won it for us. It is a gift freely given. So we must accept it and live our lives as he did. We must take up our own cross.
An Ultra Orthodox Jewish man seen visiting Wadi Og, in the Judean Desert, south of Jerusalem, on January 24, 2016. Many Israelis come to see the flooding of the river after heavy rains, as a major winter storm hits the country, with a chance of snow coming later in the week. Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90
An Armenian woman prays at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the Sunday morning mass in Jerusalem’s Old City, on January 10, 2016. Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90
