Divining Gas Prices

We've been through the "Gold Star Lesbian" spam asks, as well as the amegaotaku/rekka007 ones, and it seems that the new copypasta spam ask everyone is receiving is one where people are asked what they think of Joyofsatan.org, claiming them to be "the largest Satanist organization in the world."

These asks are mostly sent to users who frequently talk about the occult and/or witchcraft, feminist bloggers, and Jewish users, with the message slightly altered for each person it's sent to. Here are the two most common variations of the ask:

"What do you think of Joyofsatan.org? They claim to follow the Pagan Goddess Lilith/Lalitha, they’re pro-choice and they’re the largest Satanist group in the world." <- This one also occasionally includes "they support women's rights" after "they're pro-choice." This also seems to be the most commonly sent ask.

"What do you think of Joyofsatan.org? They claim to follow the Sumerian God Enki-Satan and they’ve become the largest Satanist group in the world."

Although these asks are usually sent on anon, they're also sent by the burner account 88643468, presumably to bypass anyone who has anon asks turned off, so I suggest blocking that account, especially if you have anon asks turned off.

Now, the reason you should delete these asks, instead of engaging, is because the Joy of Satan Ministries in question is a Neo-Nazi group, as detailed on the Wikipedia page I just linked, and these asks appear to be a recruiting tactic, going by the types of users most commonly spammed with the asks, and how the asks are re-worded depending on who they're sent to; instead of a singular copypasta that gets sent to everyone, it's variations of the copypasta that are each targeted towards a different demographic.

The people sending these asks want you and your followers to go to the Joy of Satan website, so that it gains more traffic and, of course, to suck people into their white supremacist cult.

So please, please, don't engage, just delete the asks and block the 88643468 account, and if someone you follow answers one of these asks, urge them to delete their post and to block the 88643468 account for extra measure. Right now is also a good time to disable anonymous asks, or even take it a step further and only allow asks from people you follow, just in case 88643468 isn't the only burner account.

What's the point of all the crystals and herbs in the world if you don't know and understand WHY you're using them.

Tarot Cards or Oracle Cards

Large Crystals or Small Crystals

Tumbled Crystals or Raw Crystals

Incense Cones or Dhoop Sticks

Jar / 7-Day candle or Chime Candle

Which ones are you keeping?

• Large Crystals

• Raw Crystals

• Dhoop Sticks

Do NOT cast spells for positive effects that involve:

Burning a picture of yourself*

Burning a piece of paper that anywhere contains your name*

Burning a piece of hair or other taglock*

*Unless you really know what you’re doing

I don’t know how sigil culture got people to think that burning anything = sending it off for spirits, but NO. Across pretty much every magical practice, burning involving a person = destruction. Burning as a means of generically sending things off is mainly used for offerings.

On a similar vein, do not cast spells for positive effects that involve taking a human figure and ripping up, burning, submerging in soil or water, or doing anything else to that figure that would maim or kill a real human. (unless you really know what you’re doing)

I said no. This refusal created more negativity. Okay, I may have also said something like “I don’t know what Ophelia shit you’re up to here, but I’m not doing the spell.”  Which probably caused more negativity because the reference was probably went over some heads. But…

You do not create representations of yourself and destroy them. If anyone who thinks they should teach witchcraft or lead a group tries to get you to do that, you have every right to leave. Or to severely question what they think they’re up to. 

You can definitely make poppets of yourself for positivity but you should never EVER destroy or harm those poppets unless you have already removed all connections to you from them - or else you are essentially unintentionally setting up yourself for the possibility of allowing some very negative unexpect outcomes to rear their heads into your life.

Remember the aspects of cursing and what different steps in cursing means to avoid doing that to yourself.

Actions to avoid doing to yourself or a poppet of you (this includes anything with your name or photo or other taglock unless you are doing very specific spirit work contracts but that is a whole different thing):

1. Burning: burning brings not only destruction it is often done to poppets and items of people to represent anger, hateful energy, bringing complete chaos and ruining good things that they have. In cursing you burn poppets of others as one of the more severe types of curses and often to get very large outcomes.

2. Submerging in Water: as discussed above this represents drowning which isn’t literal in most cases but often represents anxieties, sinking emotions, flooding or drowning someone with negative emotions or misery, losing control of one’s life and paranoia. Drowning is usually connected to extreme punishment connected to another’s emotions and their own self-views.

3. Burying: burying a poppet represents caging, confining, repressing and smothering them. It can also be used to ‘bury a person away’ or toss them out of your life. Doing this to something strongly connected to you outside of a properly made witch’s jar or well researched ritual is not only environmentally bad if its not made out of safe materials but can repress yourself from achieving goals, reaching milestones or succeeding in things you do such as trying to improve upon something.

4. Cutting/Slicing: never cut or slice a poppet meant to represent yourself! This represents pain, bringing old wounds to the surface and suffering. I’ve seen way too many younger communities try to say cutting up something with your face or name on it is letting go - it can be but not in this context. Cutting things like strings, ribbons, tangled up knots, etc is much safer and proper without risk of the above.

5. Tying, Knotting, Hanging: using thread, ribbon or anything else to bind up a poppet or photo even if its in a pretty bow is the same actions done as in binding spells - which are meant to restrict and immobilize others. Make sure you do not hang your poppet especially not by the neck or limbs for this can also represent suffocation (usually not literally but emotionally or socially) and removing someone’s ability to protect themselves and making the vulnerable.

Remember intent only goes so far! You can put as much intent as you want into things but that doesn’t always ensure that they will happen - do your research! Research what correspondences are to everything you use, make sure any actions you are using are not going to counteract with the spell or worse possibly ruin the whole spell and make sure you are well researched in self poppet and taglock work! 

Though nobody needs it (well, depending), astrological timing is often thrown to the wayside. Poor celestial bodies, their movements so defamed as being aggrandized and unnecessary. Which is a shame; planetary magic is some of the easiest and most powerful work I know.

In this post, astrological timing includes:

Day of week

Solstices and equinoxes (including daily twilights, midnight, and noon)

Planetary hour of day

Holy days

Moon phases

Movement of constellations

But we gotta set up this concept first: Astrological timing can be conceptualized as gates opening, so that waters of power pour upon your location. These "waters" carry their own virtues, and they are so omnipresent that they automatically influence any working of magic.

Not only this, but when the gates open, the waters become like roads upon which spirits can travel. A great deal of magic, especially in Traditional Witchcraft, surrounds the idea that we must either travel to the spirits, or "open roads" so that they may travel to us. Celestial timing is an efficient way to achieve this.

When the celestial bodies move and those gates swing shut, it can become more difficult to access those powers and the spirits who correspond to those powers.

This generally means that no matter when you are, there will be an abundance and flow of certain powers and spirits, and an absence of others.

You don't have to wait for anything, all timings can support all things.

This is kind of why I hate correspondence lists... "waning moon is for banishing!" Well, if you have a problem, you can't necessarily wait 14 days for the moon phase to cycle through. Nor should you!

Let's say our moon is waxing: gentle increase, new beginnings, growth. For the banishing problem, you can:

Increase the distance between you and the person

Create a new beginning for them somewhere else (so they leave)

Grow people's awareness that this person is problematic so you have support

A fun spellcrafting game is practicing applying a single correspondence to any situation (as a Discord game: everyone choose your own intent. One person chooses a correspondence. Everyone brainstorms to figure out how the correspondence can support every intent).

This post is about celestial timings, so let's take a look at the Big Seven celestial bodies, for the intent of... *spins wheel* get a big boost to finish writing your novel before the deadline.

Moon (Monday; illusions, appearances): That you see yourself as a capable and confident professional writer (or, that a path is revealed to circumvent writer's block).

Mars (Tuesday; defense, aggression): That you gain the energy and passion to battle your way through to the end.

Mercury (Wednesday; communication, commerce): That you gain quicksilver, mercurial speed in finishing the project.

Jupiter (Thursday; success, empowerment): That you succeed in hitting all your daily deadlines.

Venus (Friday; love, relationships): That you fall in love with the part of the project you're currently working on, so you'll be eager to spend all day with it.

Saturn (Saturday; boundaries, limits): That all distractions and obstacles in your way are limited from interfering with your project.

Sun (Sunday; vitality, joy): That the dreary clouds over your project be expelled, and that you are filled with the joy of shining yourself into your project and bringing it to life.

We can play this game with moon phases (like the example above), or any stones, herbs, or animals.

If you are familiar with celestial timing, you know that not only is each day assigned to one of the seven celestial bodies, but every hour of the day is assigned to one as well.

Therefore we might be in the hour of Saturn on the day of Mars, during a waning moon. We can play the game again, on a more nuanced level: My intent might be one of overall decrease (waning moon), where an aggressive energy is captured (Mars) in order to bind and limit all potential failure (Saturn) so that my project is finished by the deadline.

If we combine that intent above with a physical correspondence that vibrates with those same energies (say, a black stone and a candle with the Seal of Mars carved into it), a spell of significant power begins to be born.

IMO, using timing to focus & direct spellwork makes the planning a heck of a lot easier

This has two uses:

When you know you need to solve a problem, but don't know how to get started, examining the timings can give you a really clear place to start.

When you want to have fun with magic, but have no idea what to cast upon, the timings can really assist in brainstorming.

Suppose I realllllly need to sell commissions this month, but I have no idea how to do it. Let's pretend that the following is true:

Today is Friday on a waning gibbous moon a couple of days after Spring Equinox.

There's a heck of a lot of balance hanging around from the Equinox (balance = no movement). So instead of casting my spell at midnight or noon (very proximal, balanced times), I'm going to wait for evening twilight (very liminal, changing time). It just so happens that the planetary hour at twilight is Jupiter.

My spell will be this: Raising a great deal of loving, adoring energy (Friday/Venus) in order to bless my commissions page with success (Jupiter), so that people will fall in love with my work and want it for themselves.

Although they are not counted as an active part of my spell intent, I know simply by virtue of the moon being waning and the twilight hour, my spell will be infused with the virtues of changing and decrease - in this case, decreasing disinterest in my commissions and changing how people feel about my work.

(Suppose sales were really good and I wanted to preserve that - I'd perhaps cast the spell at noon, which my planetary calculator tells me is the hour of Mars. Stable, solar noon balances and preserves what already exists, and Mars gives me a cutthroat business edge so I can maintain my position.)

Orienting spells around freeflowing celestial powers makes the spell more powerful

It just do.

It also highly decreases the risk that the powers you need to call just aren't readily available right now

Not all of us channel power - plenty of people only burn their own lamp oil, so to speak. But for those of us who do call on external powers, you ever notice how sometimes it's just really hard to connect with some types of energies? Or sometimes, spirits just don't pick up the phone?

This may be because the powers & spirits you seek are behind a shut gate, the celestial roads upon which they walk closed off from us. Does this mean the power or spirit is impossible to contact? No!

It just means you might have to work harder and expend more of your own energy and resources to create that road yourself. If some of your spells randomly fall flat and you don't know why, celestial timing may be an avenue of troubleshooting for you.

And it can help explain unintended consequences and side-effects of spells

If you believe an entity cannot be safely worked with consensually, then don’t work with them at all, it’s simple as that. Others do not exist to serve you. Also if you’re so concerned about safety, then maybe don’t piss off a powerful demon that can easily fuck you up in the first place, because this will piss them off.

You may have seen the old post from our own @kawaiisatanist around, but it’s been nearly a year and things needed a bit of a refresh!

We dusted out some cobwebs and did a little rearranging, and now it’s time for a fresh new form!

The Satanists Shelter is a discord server directed mainly at Satanists, Luciferians, and those working with demonic entities or even just interested in taking a look around!

It’s a popular school of thought that blowing a candle out “blows the magic away” or ruins the spell. Realistically, I do not have time to sit and let an entire pillar or jar candle burn. Not to mention, large candles are expensive, and I like to enjoy them for multiple sittings.

And so, when I need to put a candle to sleep, I whisper to it:

              “Thank you for the help, candle, sleep well.”

And then I either snuff it with a candle snuffer, cover it with the jar lid, or simply blow it out.

When I need to use the candle again, I will tap it a few times, and say:

“Good morning/afternoon/evening candle, I need your help again.”

Then I will light it and go about doing my work.

It works well for me. Maybe it will work well for you.

Scrying Mirror??!!

Hello everyone. Hope you’re all having a great day.

I’ve written a bit before about scrying. It’s one of my favorite activities.

Today, I’ll be explaining how to craft and prepare a dedicated glass mirror for scrying. I made one a while back, and I thought I’d share the techniques for it. Of course, you don’t have to make yours exactly like I did, but if you find my ideas helpful, go for it.

Required Equipment

An empty glass picture frame in a style you fancy.

Black acrylic paint (I recommend the Folk Art brand - it worked well!)

A hairdryer.

A soft sponge brush.

Access to an oven.

Optional Equipment

Mugwort or another Lunar herb associated with divination for you. A small amount of Lunar-related essential oils. I used ylang ylang. Jasmine would work too, if you happen to have it around.

Apple Cider Vinegar, or, failing that, any kind of vinegar Alcohol - vodka works well, or even simple rubbing alcohol.

A bit of your own hair, in fine clippings - just take some home in a bag next time you get a trim.

Any other Lunar-associated materials you might want to use.

Paper (I used nice linen paper but any paper will work)

Pens, paints, or other art supplies, depending on what you prefer.

A soft, clean cloth.

Why Lunar?

A lot of what I’m suggesting for this involves Lunar symbolism. I recommend sticking to that. Why? The Moon is the celestial sphere of the mind. She’s the connection between the conscious and unconscious aspects of the self.

The Moon represents all the myriad ways we have of understanding our experience. Psychism, magick, and practices like scrying are among those ways. Your mind is the real lens of the scrying mirror. The Moon is a symbol for your mind.

The Crafting Part

Choose a picture frame that suits you - the frame will become the mirror. Avoid frames that have the glass glued or affixed into them - you want a frame where the glass slides out. Avoid flimsy frames - you’ll want something durable.

Silver-colored frames work well because the color silver is Lunar. Still, you can use any style of frame you want!

Take the glass out of the frame. Slide it out, and throw away whatever silly stock photo the manufacturer stuck behind it.

Lay out a cover for your workspace. I would suggest newspaper, but who has that nowadays? I used a large piece of paper for mine - anything to protect the table or desk you’re working on will do. Things are about to get messy!

You need to cover one side (and ONLY one side) of the glass with the black acrylic paint. Get out that and a paintbrush. Foam brushes work well.

I experimented a LOT with this. In fact, my first few attempts to do this resulted in ruined frames and ruined glass, but soon, I got the hang of it.

I had the best luck squeezing the paint (small amounts) directly onto the glass. I spread it out with the brush to cover the entire surface.

Don’t expect the first coat to cover it well - there will be streaks and spots. This is where the hairdryer comes in. It is best if each coat dries before you do the next one, but you can speed that up using the hairdryer to heat it. I use this trick for my watercolors, and it worked for this, too.

You want it so that the non-painted side of the glass looks completely black. There should be no obvious spots or streaks. It’s helpful to hold it up and check, and get rid of the problem areas where the glass isn’t fully coated.

Apply as many coats as necessary to achieve that.

Now, let the glass dry, by itself, for seventy-two hours. Let it be. It may LOOK dry before then, but it is best to wait for at least seventy-two hours.

Take the glass to the oven.

DO NOT PREHEAT THE OVEN. I repeat, DO NOT PREHEAT THE OVEN!!

Place the glass, painted side up, on a baking sheet or cake pan, and slip it into the cool, UN-PREHEATED oven.

You see, the glass must heat up slowly, or it’ll shatter completely. After putting it in the oven, set the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, wait for it to preheat.

Once it reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit, start timing it, for thirty minutes. At the end of the thirty minutes, you can remove the glass from the oven with mitts. Sit the glass on top of the oven and allow it to cool.

Now, the layers of paint have cured. They’ll be more durable, and less likely to chip.

Your scrying mirror (at least, the physical part) is ready. If you want, you can return the glass to the frame (painted side inwards) and close it up. Then, you can use it to scry.

If you want, though, there are ways to personalize and enchant the mirror. I’ll be talking about that next!

Enchanting Aspects

So, enchanting a scrying mirror. There are as many ways to do this as there are witches. I’ll cover the method I used here, and maybe you’ll find it useful.

Put your finished scrying mirror away and get out your paper and art supplies. It’s time for sigils!

First, you’ll be putting your intent with regards to using the mirror into the form of a sigil. This can be something as simple as the intent to achieve clear second sight. I recommend the book Sigil Witchery by Laura Tempest Zakroff, for more about sigils.

I used the planetary squares method detailed here. I created a sigil using the Lunar square. My intent was achieving clear sight via the mirror. Below is a picture of the finished sigil.

I made the sigil on the planetary square of the Moon. Then, I copied it, sans the square, onto the linen paper using a Micron pen. Microns work great for very complex sigils. They stick fast to the paper and will not bleed or smear if they get wet. You can paint over them, and that’s exactly what I did.

I went over the sigil with indigo and violet watercolor, very wet and very thick, and flecks of silver paint. Of course, your sigil will likely be different.

Whatever techniques you use for your sigil, make sure it strongly expresses intent. I do recommend sticking to the Lunar theme, but use colors, shapes and tools that evoke Lunar powers for YOU. They might be very different from what other people consider Lunar symbols. That’s okay!

Protective Measures

Time for a second sigil! Let’s talk about protection and your personal signature. Unlike the sigil you made before, this one is all about you.

Your goal here will be to develop a sigil that represents you and everything you wish to become.

This serves a dual purpose!

In one sense, it allows spirits to get a sense of who you are, sort of like an introduction. This increases the likelihood that they’ll be willing to interact with you via the mirror.

In another sense, it is a protective filter for the mirror itself. That might sounds bonkers, but let me explain.

A lot of thought goes into purging yourself of “negativity” in some occult communities. Rarely does anyone define what “negativity” means, though.

To me, negativity is a situational concept. It is a term that I use to mean “anything not aligned with the practitioner’s true self.” That means, yes, that what is negative for me may be positive for you, and vice versa.

A personal sigil can filter out influences that draw you away from yourself. It will help prevent unproductive experiences when scrying.

How you make this sigil is up to you, and the process will be very personal. I don’t recommend showing anyone else the sigil or talking too much about how you made it - keep it private. It’s one thing to admit to using a personal sigil, but you should keep silent about the specifics.

Regardless of how you make your personal sigil, I suggest you include a bit of hair or nail clippings with it. This helps tie the mirror to you in general, and makes it more synchronized with your own power.

Now, return to the mirror itself, with the sigil papers in hand. Open the back of the picture frame. Don’t remove the glass. Put your personal sigil flush with the back of the glass. If you’re using hair clippings, you can add those along with it in the same position - flush against the glass.

Then, take a sprig of mugwort or another Lunar herb. The sprig or leaves need to be dry and quite flat to fit in the mirror! Lay that behind your personal sigil paper. Then, add the sigil of intent to the mirror last.

Close up the mirror. I don’t recommend sealing it with glue or anything similar - just close it like you’d normally close a picture frame. You don’t want to be unable to open it if something changes and you’d like to add or remove something from inside.

Finishing Steps

The next part involves cleaning the mirror surface - in more than one way! You want to remove all the fingerprints and dust. You also want to purify the glass and align it with your purposes.

For this, you’ll make a mirror wash.

I struggled with this for a while, because every wash I made seemed to just make the mirror more smudged. I happened to find a recipe in a (non-magick) book called Essential Oils for a Clean and Healthy Home (by Kasey Schwartz). It’s a recipe for normal glass cleaner, but I modified it for my purposes. It’s easy to make too.

RECIPE FOR MIRROR WASH

½ cup distilled water

½ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons rubbing alcohol, vodka, or another alcohol

12 drops ylang ylang essential oil

You can, of course, use a different essential oil. Be safe and don’t use anything toxic that could get on your hands. Research and substitute if necessary. I STILL recommend sticking to Lunar correspondences.

Mix it up in a small fine mist spray bottle. Spray it on the mirror. If you don’t have a spray bottle, dab a bit on the cloth.

First, polish counterclockwise. Visualize the residues of the past leaving the mirror.

Then, when the time feels right, begin polishing clockwise. Focus on aligning the mirror with the Lunar power, your own power, and your intent.

After this, your mirror is complete. It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss how to use it. I’ll be writing a second article about that.

Solar Warning

A little warning - keep it out of the Sun after finishing. That means keep it tucked away when the Sun is shining into the room. Don’t take it out into sunlight, either. This is especially true if you’re using a lot of Lunar associations. The Sun and Moon don’t cancel each other out - nothing like that.

The issue is that they’re both Luminaries. The Sun and Moon are the brightest two objects we humans see in the sky. The Sun is the Greater Luminary - the Moon is the Lesser. The Moon reflects the light of the Sun so that we can actually comprehend it in our current state.

If the Solar force overtakes the Lunar power, our scrying experiences may become overwhelming. They also may not appear to us in a way that would allow us to make sense of them. That’s why scrying mirrors are kept out of the sunlight, typically.

Pros:

You can rearrange your pages whenever you want to and however you want to!!!

It’s cheap and easy!

Very easy to hide (if that’s something you want to do)

New notes can be added in the appropriate spots!

Cons:

Idk. I don’t really see any from where I’m standing.