Always Be Kind to Travelers / Wandering Near or Far

Spiritual grifters really out there claiming that food is a suitable house ward that will “last for months if done right,” then fucking losing their shit for views when the lemon they left next the radiator by the window goes moldy.

“Oh no, my house is under attack! but look, this perishable, prone to molding even under the best of circumstances food item protected me! Here’s how you can do it too.”

Do you want ants? Because that’s how you get ants.

Fucking out here spiritualising mold.

Gaps in your windows. Fungus gnats, check your house plants for overwatering. Drains that need to be snaked. Spoiled food lurking somewhere. A dead critter in the walls.

Burning incense and buying evil eye charms isn’t going to do shit if you’re not taking care of your immediate surroundings.

Not every denomination of Christianity believes the same things. Like not even close. The “basic” principle that Jesus is God and man? Nope. Lots of denominations have ~strong~ and differing opinions on that one. Things like hell or purgatory? Some believe and some don’t. How about predestination or salvation? There’s different thoughts about how those work. Different denominations even disagree about what books should be in the Bible and how literally we should take stories included in it. My practice that Baptists may consider “devil worship” is completely normal and fine in Pentecostal sects.

… then your actual problem is with having a religious person in your social circle, period.

there are queer religious people.

there are indigenous religious people.

there are religious people from all walks of life and many of them aren’t Pure Eclectic Pagans they belong to big bad evil organized religions. this doesn’t magically negate the axes of oppression they exist at the intersection of. shockingly, one can have religious beliefs that push them toward leftism and progressive ideals!

if a blog is affiliated with them in any way, it's nazi shit, even if the blog or their posts don't seem like it.

like these are on their official forums

the temple of zeus website is worded carefully to avoid explicit nazi bullshit, but it's there if you know how to read between the lines.

^'forced universalism' is juxtaposed against a 'realistic truth' of race

and 'open to all gentiles' HUGE red flag bc gentile just means 'not jewish'

their ethics page, written by the author of 'upholding the white race'

the most recent account i've seen affiliated with toz/jos is ladder-of-eros

I won't tell you to not go for it.

It isn't like the horror movies and it sure as hell isn't like those ghost shows, you know which ones I'm talking about.

If you're completely new to spirit work and you've never dealt with spirits of any sort before, I will give you this one small piece of advice: this might not be the best time of the year to start, when you have no prior experience. You might want to pick a month when it's less likely that you'll get overwhelmed and/or scared. We have a lot more going on around us the closer we get to Halloween. There's a chance you'll be flooded with activities that maybe you're not up for so soon, if you haven't opened this door yet.

But if you want to give it a go during Halloween month, I won't stop you. I'm serious about it being not like on TV though, because the movies and shows make a point of catering to people who like to scare themselves for fun, and people want to watch them for the shock value and the entertainment of being scared. They're not real.

Yes, you can use a pendulum, or a crystal ball, or a spirit board. They're tools, nothing more and nothing less. So called "portals" are a lot harder to "open" than a lot of folks with nothing better to do like to scare you about, and you aren't going to "summon" anything through a wooden board or a piece of rock. There's not a direct line to Hell that's so easily accessible, if you even believe in a Hell.

I will say this: respect is important, especially if you're dealing with ghosts, or earthbound souls, whichever they're known to you as. They were once people, and the dead should be respected. No shortage of cultures around the world will tell you how important it is to respect the dead. And for the love of the gods, don't just go around raising the dead for funsies. Let the dead rest if they are at rest. If they are in peace, then leave them alone, let them enjoy the afterlife, for gods' sakes. Seriously, why anybody want to be going around bothering people, dead or alive, has always been beyond me. Don't be disturbing random graves or making noises in graveyards.

A thing that you can do to start with that's relatively easy is ancestor veneration. Anyone can do that, no special skill or tool needed.

If you're interested in learning about the types of spirit work that I do, my ask box is open, feel free to shoot me an inquiry.

Someone tries to dictate your beliefs and/or practice based on their personal experiences (aka UPG, or unverified personal gnosis).

They claim the gods will punish you if you don't go along with them.

They appeal to conspiracy theories to justify their beliefs. (See also Is the spiritual person a conspiracy theorist? A list of red flags.)

They make big, dramatic predictions (like claiming aliens will arrive on a certain date, or that the ancient gods will return and overthrow the government soon).

They claim to have a big, important role in the grand cosmic drama (like claiming they're the Archangel Michael and they're going to fight Satan, which will lead to the fall of the government).

They are extremely opposed to skepticism, critical thinking, and/or academia. Not merely critical where it's actually appropriate, but treating it like it's all pure evil.

They encourage you to cut off people who don't believe or criticize what they teach.

They are absolutely certain they can use mystical means (like astrology or tarot) to determine whether someone is a good or bad person.

They are absolutely certain they can just sense whether someone is good or bad.

They are absolutely certain they can use mystical means to find out what another person is thinking or doing.

They claim you were connected to them in a past life.