Destroyer Of Moons

Does your conspiracy theory sound something like this?

There is an ancient Babylonian mystery religion that secretly survives to this day.

This religion is responsible for all manner of false and corrupt teachings.

They are behind the Catholic Church and numerous other false religions.

Human sacrifice and cannibalism are included among its practices.

The Virgin Mary and Jesus are based on Ishtar and Tammuz, Isis and Osiris, Devaki and Krishna, or some other divine mother/son duo.

The word "Easter" comes from "Ishtar."

The pope's mitre is based on the mitre of Dagon.

This conspiracy theory was created by Alexander Hislop, a 19th century Presbyterian minister who decided to take Revelation extremely literally (always a bad idea) when it described a woman clothed in scarlet with the words "MYSTERY BABYLON" on her forehead. He proceeded to cook up a conspiracy theory about the alleged origins of not only the Catholic Church, but also of just about every religion that isn't Christianity or Judaism.

He claimed that after Noah's Flood, the legendary hunter Nimrod and the semi-legendary queen Semiramis were the married rulers of Babylon, and they created a mystery religion in which they were venerated as divine beings, and of course this religion demanded human sacrifice. He claimed that the pair of them had a son together (Tammuz), that Nimrod was killed while Semiramis was pregnant, and that when Tammuz was born Semiramis declared him to be Nimrod reborn. And the arguments he uses to "prove" this are... shall we say, less than sound.

Imagine if someone told you that Hatsune Miku and Michelle Obama are the same person because Miku obviously comes from Michelle and the -ama in Obama is clearly related to the -une in Hatsune, then claimed Michelle Obama was the creator of every video game ever made because Hatsune Miku created Minecraft. Then they claimed Michelle Obama also owned Microsoft because Microsoft = Mikusoft. And then, to top it all off, they also claimed she was a famous singer who performed under the name of "Luce" because the Catholic Church's mascot is obviously based on Hatsune Miku.

That's what this entire book is like.

If two things looked kinda similar, or if two words sounded kinda the same, or if he could make any connection whatsoever, Hislop would claim they were actually connected regardless what any form of common sense might suggest. For example:

He claimed that because certain Near Eastern kings wore horned crowns, then the horned headdresses of certain Native Americans must have been related.

He claimed the Tahitian god 'Oro was based on the Egyptian god Horus, because their names sound similar.

He claimed that Athena was based on Semiramis because her name was supposedly based on the Hebrew adon (meaning "lord"), which could also be pronounced athon, because Astarte was referred to as "Beltis" (Greek form of Belit) which means lady.

He claimed that Odin was based on Nimrod because his name sounds like adon, and Baal means lord.

He claimed that Osiris being depicted in leopard skins is evidence that Osiris is based on Nimrod, because Nimrod hunted leopards.

He claimed that Eros is based on Tammuz because his mother is Aphrodite who was based on Astarte who was based on Semiramis.

He claimed that Nimrod was torn apart because some other figures he decided were based on Nimrod (including Orpheus!) were said to have been torn apart.

The Babylonian mystery religion is of course a complete fabrication, created in his imagination by presupposing that the Catholic Church is literally a Babylonian mystery religion, and by assuming that whatever the Catholics of his own time practiced and believed was also what the ancient Babylonians practiced and believed. (Plus all the human sacrifice stuff!) Basically, it's a whole lot of circular reasoning.

Ingredients:

🍪 2-3 lindor white chocolate truffles

🍪 Powdered ginger, cinnamon powder, nutmeg, allspice, all as needed

🍪 PINCH of cream if tartar

🍪 Molasses or Maple syrup to taste

🍪 Milk or milk alternative

Directions:

☕️ In a small pot, heat 1-2 mugs of milk. In a side bowl, slowly melt the white chocolate truffles by adding a splash of warmed milk and stirring in between. Once a mixture is formed, add in all Powdered spices.

☕️ Pour the white chocolate mixture back into the pot, mixing until combined. Add in whole spices and molasses, adjusting to taste.

Last night, on the hour and day of Jupiter I summoned/formed two magpie spirits to fetch wealth and opportunities for me - just as their living counterparts may do with coins and shiny trinkets.

I really focused in on my energy work and visualisation skills - imagining myself literally moulding them from beak to tail out of energy.

They have names (which I will not share), as well as a small nest of offerings (reminiscent of a money bowl) to return to, where their physical 'vessels' reside. Here, I can place specific goals/desires for them to find me if needed.

They are a fire and air based energy to help ensure quicker results and also because a number of ingredients used were active/warm and I wanted the spell components to meld smoothly. This will mean they might need recharging a bit more often, but I'm happy to take that trade-off for what they'll provide.

I have their candles lit now - last night was their creation, and now I am giving them some extra energy as they set off into the world - and I am excited to see how they fare/how this pans out as it's a little bit different from my usual workings.

Of course, I drew them.

So every tool of mine has an entity attached, usually molded and awakened by me- similar to the creation of a thoughtform. And in order to benefit from their aid, I feed them. What hit me today, and inspired this post, was the method by which I feed each of them. The enchanted cup that drives away headaches, sour stomachs, anxiety, etc, has a tiny cat-spirit that drinks the cream I put in the tea; her reward for hunting down these ailments is to eat them like the vermin they are. The shrine to the entity of Knowledge I work with is laden with to-be-read books, which I read out of as part of its sacrifices- and its benefits include helping me to learn and more easily comprehend what I read.

The amulet that houses a glamour-weaving demonic eye is fed by compliments given while wearing it.

the royal stars were notably regarded as “guardians of the sky” in ancient persia, but the idea of stars as guardians originated in old babylonia. it was believed that the sky was divided into four districts with each district being guarded by one of the four royal stars. because of their reverence as “guardians of the sky or heavens” society looked to these stars for both directional guidance and prophecy. these stars are the brightest stars in their associated constellation, and correspond with each of the cardinal directions, seasons, solstices, and equinoxes. 

the four royal stars ✦

aldebaran (watcher of the east)

time of year: vernal (spring) equinox

time of day: sunrise

constellation: taurus

zodiac sign: taurus

element: earth

associations: eloquence, intelligence, integrity, courage, popularity, agitation, loss, violent death

regulus (watcher of the north)

time of year: summer solstice 

time of day: noon

constellation: leo

zodiac sign: leo

element: fire

associations: success, power, nobility, ambition, fame, great power, alertness, leadership, sudden downfall, accidents, violence

antares (watcher of the west)

time of year: autumnal equinox 

time of day: sunset

constellation: scorpius

zodiac sign: scorpio

element: water

associations: passion, creativity, adventure, fortune, risk-taking, obstinacy, stubbornness, violence, intensity 

fomalhaut (watcher of the south) 

time of year: winter solstice 

time of day: midnight

constellation: piscis austrinus

zodiac sign: aquarius

element: air

associations: charisma, magic, fame, the occult, spirituality, alchemy, servitude, materialism 

*some correspondences are based on personal associations

Don’t accept witchcraft books for history. Read history texts. 

Don’t accept witchcraft books for mental processes. Read psychology and biological texts. 

Don’t accept witchcraft books for mythology. Don’t accept witchcraft books for religion. Read original texts and papers written researchers credited in their fields. 

Stop reading right then and look up what they’ve claimed

Make a note of the fact - sticky notes, notes app, notebook, etc. - and research it at a later date

When researching, look for high-authority cross-reference sources. What I mean by that is, look for sources that have a legitimate, easy-to-prove claim to expertise. This’d be sources like (for example, not exhaustive) university presses, scientific research papers, museum publications, experts with degrees and years of experience in their fields, and, for cultural information, elder members of said culture and internally-run cultural heritage organizations.

Great places to find solid sources for cross-referencing:

The Smithsonian

Encyclopedia Britannica

JSTOR

Oxford Academic Journal

Sage Journals

Science Direct

Google Scholar

Your local library

(a.k.a why I want to study physics so I can actually find out about real magic )

Note: I am not an atheist or anti magic since I believe in spirits and energy as everyone else does even though I'm not going to roll over and believe everything an old book is telling me. This is me roasting the hell out of a magic philosopher.

Now then I've got a question for all of the magical community. I'll even give you a million dollars if you answer it correctly.

So we have the solar system and their elements. The Sun is fire and the moon is water. Mars is also a fire elemental planet. Mercury is Air and so is Venus and Jupiter. Saturn is a Earth element planet. However Agrippa's Philosophy of Natural magic book says that

Okay, so we are on the same page then? Here's my question.

So if Mars is spiritually a fire planet...

WHY ON THE UNHOLY FUCK does MARS have ICE ON IT?? Yeah I said it. ICE. YOU KNOW, the cold WATERY shit that floats in your drink and keeps it cold????

And the temperature of Mars isn't better either. This is what I found on the NASA website.

Doesn't sound very hot now does it? Mars having water is already a doozy but it having more than 5 million cubic kilometers of ICE despite it ''supposedly'' representing fire is a spiritual abomination. It's the magical equivalent of a toucan breastfeeding a baby monkey. I know how it was in ancient times. Some guy looked at the sky a thousand years ago and called it Mars because it was red then people began to pull spiritual meanings out of their asses because of its name and color. If anything, ''Mars'' was an offering to the God Mars and therefore he kind of latched on it and also years worth of fire magic rituals people have been doing because of its name are now attached to Mars. Even red stars aren't the hottest stars in space,blue ones are with a temperature of approximately 40,000°C. In conclusion, red isn't always hot.

Sure, people may have felt hot energy come from Mars during energy work but would you at least consider the fact that you might be feeling the energetic ghosts of past fire rituals attached to it and the artificially added astral winds have fire coming out thanks to our old magic. Or Cognitive bias could be a factor in this as well. You're expecting fire so you're ''feeling'' fire.

In one to help break bad habits, it says to write this bad habit in a a leaf, take it to a tree and bury close to the roots. Then put an offering for the tree in the same hole, cover it up and pour some water on the spot

But couldn't this action of burying and watering, be seen as "planting" the bad habit? And if you are planting it would grow...

Another one is for love/relationship, where with a burned stick you draw two hearts interwined in a piece of paper, visualizing a satisfying relationship and then put some rose petals in the paper, fold it and burn it in a candle or fire.

He describes that as it burns the power is released

But it makes me think that burning your wish in the paper would have an opposite effect, like destroying the wish

Idk. What do you thinks of those "mechanics" of spells? Am I overthinking?

Hi! I've never read those books and I'm not a Wiccan.

So I can only comment from my own perspective, which may be the incorrect perspective to accurately interpret what Cunningham is saying.

You are not over-thinking; you have stumbled onto a very important aspect of sorcery and one that is good to think about.

How is it that sometimes, a box is used to trap and bind energies, but at other times a box can be used to coalesce and radiate helpful energies?

How is it that a candle can both open portals and close portals? How can a candle both be banishing of spirits, and an offering to spirits?

How can burying something in the earth not only be destructive or even an aspect of curses, but also be a technique of prosperity and growth?

The reality is that burying something isn't magic and it doesn't do anything. Lighting a candle isn't magic and doesn't do anything.

"Doing magic" is not taking a leaf and writing things on it and burying it. A mundane person can do these things in a mundane way and no magic will occur.

Nothing is automatically happening; burying something neither automatically causes an act of banishing, nor an act of conjuring.

As the practitioner, it is you yourself who determines what happens. This is the vital and inexorable power of 'setting intent.'

The tree does not decide what happens to your habits leaf. The earth does not decide what happens to your habits leaf. YOU decide what happens to it.

No, it isn't strictly true that burying things is always an action of generative planting. A very popular form of cursing is to turn an apple into someone and then bury them to rot. But the Earth can also gently break things down through the cycle of decay. Or it can trap things, like a cave-in.

We see all of these things occurring in nature; of course you can plant seeds to grow strong. Of course if you bury a body it will rot. Of course leafs slowly decay and their particles return to nature.

All of these things are valid.

YOU decide which one happens. This decision is germinated with intent; it is gestated with technique. YOU are the creator god. The leaf is clay in your hands, and you can decide:

You are the body of the beloved that broke my heart, as this leaf decays their joy will decay.

You are the mustard seed that returns a hundredfold harvest, mightest among trees.

You are the leaf of the forest floor, breaking down and returning to nature, just as my bad habits break down and return to source.

It is not a leaf. It is not planting. It is a spell. You create the reality of what the leaf really is, and you dictate how it must try to interact with its environment.

It must be good with you, or it is not a good spell*.

So if you personally cannot get around the idea that burying something will always be an action of generative "planting," then you shouldn't do the spell like that!

It's not an issue of "wrong belief." You may be following valid intuition. You may be at a time in your practice where the Earth calls you to plant things to grow. You may be at a time in your practice where fire whispers sweet promises of destruction to you.

Explore what's around you and what you're feeling! Change the methods if you don't think they're right for you.

But it is also untrue to say that putting things into the earth is always an act of planting. It can be many things.

It's been on my mind a bit but I really think in Witchcraft, a lot of it is finding power. A LOT of it.

You know I talk about my system a lot, building relationships with ally spirits ("correspondences"), evoking and petitioning spirits, laying a compass, carefully storing and distributing energy between spells.

And this is all kind of like farming; you can learn how to cultivate the magical ecosystem around you to carefully seed, grow, harvest, and store power, and to make friends with the gods and spirits within and around this system who help you (or decline to hinder you, which is also very good).

This farming is good because it serves the same function as regular farming, i.e., it's hard work but it provides reliable and predictable resources available throughout the year.

But that's not finding power, that's farming it.

Several months ago I did one of the most powerful workings I had done in a while, which transformed my life. There was no evoking correspondences or compass laying or invocations or spirit offerings.

I found a free-flowing source of incredible power (an eclipse, and I found it by looking up), called it into myself, and asked that it do something specific.

No candles, incense, bells, talismans, or whatever: the actual technique I performed was extremely basic energy work.

The results were humbling, and continue to humble me, and I believe it is probably beyond what I would have been able to accomplish working only through 'farming'.

After all, I am a competent adult. I could build a fish farm. I could learn to keep it regulated and sustained to provide fish all year round.

But it doesn't matter how good of a farmer I am, I'll never be able to compete with the open ocean.

A lot of this stuff about Witchcraft techniques - if it seems like a lot, that's because it is a lot; it seems like hard work because farming is hard work, and it seems like you must plan ahead so much because farmers must plan seasons ahead.

But that's not all of Witchcraft, and homesteading your magic isn't just farming - it's wild foraging, too.

So if all this Traditional stuff seems a bit stuffy and laborious and lacking in spontaneity, perhaps it's good to ask if you're ever leaving the boundaries of your homestead and venturing out into the woods.