Defective Witches

Renaissance ideal cities inspired by Vitruvius - 1. Filarete, 2. Fra Giocondo, 3. Girolamo Maggi, 4. Giorgio Vasari, 5. Antonio Lupicini, 6. Daniele Barbaro, 7.  Pietro Cattaneo, 8.-9. Giorgio Martini.

In Renaissance Italy, artists and designers joined in the broader humanistic assertion that society could and should be shaped by human ideals. Hemmed in by the tangled, narrow medieval streets around them, they became fascinated with ideal cities, imagining serene and unpopulated spaces, out of time and out of any real place. The tools of perspective and the development of abstract rules of proportion and symmetry made space itself an object of study.  

I am about to teach you some fun, dumb ways to train your eyes to see auras and etheric energy.

This isn’t clairvoyance in the sense of truly psychic vision or using a magic mirror or crystal, this works with the near physical etheric energy and vital force of the aura. You may be surprised at how easy it is to see.  

Ready?

Ever done this trick with your fingers? Bring your fingers closer together until this optical illusion occurs. Keep your eyes focused on the middle illusionary finger. You will notice your eyes have to keep a certain focus in order to keep it there. Remember that type of focus. It is the key.

Everyone is familiar with this illusion. Two faces or a cup. Notice how once you lock on to one way of seeing it takes a little effort to see the other version. Practice by going between one and the other. Pay attention to the way you have to focus your eyes to do this.

This one kicks it up a notch. Train your eyes to switch between seeing just the black images and then to seeing a white triangle covering them. Notice that initial difficulty in the change. Again, this is key.

The heavy lifting. First select the black segments and slowly jump down one by one, only focusing on the black, then come back up. Once you have reached the outer black segment start with the outer white segment and go towards the center then back up again. Notice to keep the whole segment in your visual field you have to keep a certain type of focus. Learn that focus.

By doing these regularly you will train your eyes in the proper way to focus on auras or energy. Again, I know it sounds hokey! But it really does help develop the skill. They key is in switching the focus into the proper way of looking. Once you have developed that trainable skill it is just a matter of popping into that focus in order to SEE. Once you see, well, the rest is studying what you see and exploration of the world.

Start in dim or near darkness, activate the focus and look at your hands and body. Look in a mirror. Look at any plants or animals in the room. You will see it if you can keep the right focus. Experiment in focusing, but stay relaxed and don’t strain the eyes. The above pictures are for developing the skills so it is easy. If you find it difficult keep practicing.

Once you are able to verify people, places and things have an actual energy and people emit and receive this energy many little secrets of magic will become as clear as day to you. 

Of course, I mentioned magic eye pictures to help develop aura vision. This one is easy, just find the buffalo. if you can see it, use that exact focus to look at auras.

Every witch or herb grower (of approtiate age) should give a go at making their own gin! A delicious spirit (liquor) infused with Juniper Berries and a personal blend of botanicals. A perfect activity for the three days of the Full Moon phase. Especially since gin is a Moon spirit.

Two must have ingredients are

Neutral spirits (like vodka, or grain alcohol diluted to 40%abv)

Juniper Berries

Crafting your botanical blend:

Here’s where the fun part comes in. There are hundreds of different herbs, flowers, barks, seeds and roots that can be used to add flavor and magic to your gin. While the possibilities are endless the notes you are trying to hit are: Citrus, Green/Earthy, Floral, Spicy, (sometimes Fruity). Consider botanicals with these terpenes: camphor, pinene, b-caryophyllene, limonene, linalool

Most popular Gin Botanicals are: Corriander, Angelica, Orris Root, Cardamom, Licorice, Cinnamon, Citrus Peel (various).

Adding witchery, and what herbs, to your gin depends on your intent.

Making a libation: Add the bontanicals favored by your Deity.

An ode to the Moon: Juniper heavy, Anise, Orris Root, Thistle, Hibiscus, Borage

For a night cap: Lavender, Chamomile, Passionflower, Yarrow, Catnip, Rosemary

“Gin Kit” Blend: Cardamom, Rosemary, Lavender, Rose Hip, Allspice, Fennel Seed, Lemon Peel, Coriander, Black Pepper, Bay

Hub’s Blend: Juniper heavy, Orange Zest, Anise Seed, Black Pepper, Holy Basil

Personally when I drink alcohol I do it to feel good, so my botanical blend incudles “feel good” herbs. My personal blend below:

Garden Gin: Holy Basil, Chamomile, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Fennel, Coriander

And in the honor of our good freinds of Caledonia Spirits we add just a touch of Raw Honey to our gin.

How much or many botanicals you add is an experiment and personal preference. You can use fresh or dried, but dried herbs are more potent and so use less. And remeber gin is defined by its flavor of Junpier so keep that in mind when adding stronger flavors.

Method:

On the first night of the full moon, pour 750 ml of a neutral spirit over 2 Tbs of dried Juniper berries and let sit for a day. (adjust amounts in appropriate ratio for more or less)

During the peak of the full moon add botanical blend and again let sit for a day and out in the moonlight to charge. Let the full moon draw out all of the botanical oils to infuse the gin along with lunar energies.

On the Waining end of the full moon, after your botanicals have macerated for twenty four hours, strain the infused spirit into a clean bottle. Let this spirit charge once more under the full moon before consumption.

Then Enjoy!

**can be done over any 36-72 hour period but done with the moon for extra effect**

Reference: Decoding Gin Botanicals

(This is a slightly expanded repost of a post I dropped on Facebook. Recent turn of events has my attention focused on other things and a little less on writing, so I figured I’d give it as I have it. It’s phrased roughly the same. Plenty of similarities with the earlier rapport post, so you know I’ve been doing this for a while)

Here’s my how to get to the door and open it:

Most contemporary distractions are harmful towards the goal of doing magic. This routine creates both the necessary space and the habit of detaching regularly.

The bulk of the work in the western magical tradition is planetary and nigromantic (dead and demons), with the former servicing the latter. Demons will still require a full operation. The following will get you the rest.

Make a boveda (references: through Google, or Nicholaj Frisvold’s Exu). Or at least set a table with a white cloth, glass of water and a white candle. Choose a place for it where you can remain undisturbed a few times a week.

Wake up daily just before sunrise. Don’t talk, don’t text, head to where you do your magic.

30 minutes of timed inhaling/exhaling and sitting in complete stillness. If you spasm and/or cramp, you’re doing it right. Trance and deep dreams while awake will ensue a few months in. Your mileage may vary.

As the sun cracks in the horizon (time it), get up and perform the PGM XIII. 763-889. Follow it with a burning of suitable incense as you recite corresponding Orphic Hymn, which you should know from memory, and then a petition for favour from the day’s planet. The extent to which you take this can vary. See Sam Block’s post on it as well as the rapport post above for references on suitable incense.

Anytime after the sun sets is for nigromantic work. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are for contacting the dead, for their benefit and yours. In all nights, precede the work with another 30 minutes of breath/stillness as in the morning.

The dead: open with a prayer to the Four Kings for protection/assistance (see 4th paragraph here, change the petition to reflect the intention of speaking to the local dead). More on this in Jake Stratton-Kent’s Testament of Cyprian the Mage. Offer a glass of water or fruit in exchange for communication. Use an ouija board or pen/paper. Ask who’s around and what their name is.

Remaining nights: in the absence of pacts to look after, scry on a lapidary. No hard rules. I advise simply staring at an obsidian mirror for 30 minutes in addition to the 30 minutes of preparation. With pacts, bid them to return, scry them and make offerings. Definition of scrying successfully: images or being appearing on lapidary.

Days when operations are undertaken, do nothing but pray to superior deity(ies) for favouring it. Better not talk to anyone if possible. Fasts are worthwhile but less necessary in time.

Notes

There are no break days. As alliances begin to designate other tasks, start replacing the above with what is given. The work then becomes more about trafficking with spirits, at which point you’re a useful gateway between here and there and titles such as “magician” or “witch” become less ridiculous.

Planetary work in the tradition comes in many forms, from simple rituals preceding evocations for placating their angels/demons, to more elaborate talismans. There’s nothing wrong with those per se, but as with all things magic, the usefulness of increasing one’s sensitivity to their influences goes beyond merely acquiring their favour. This is the fundament behind the process.

As has been pointed out on Facebook, the use of a boveda is rooted in other practices, so I advise coupling its use with a little research. The essence is that the dead are an inextricable part of all magic that gets done anywhere, and in a similar mindset to the above suggestion, making oneself capable of empirically recognising their presence so to eventually enlist their aid is key for more than average magics.

Beginning on Page 123/124:

“...the name of a troublesome police officer can be gathered and taken to a Catholic church. There the aspiring revolutionary can inform a priest the name is that of the recently deceased and pay for a mass to be said for the newly dearly departed. An entire church will affirm the officer is a dead man...”

“... Valerian root, also known as Vandal root, causes horrible accidents and bad luck to follow those whom it’s been thrown at. It can be sprinkled on cop cars or mixed with the dirt of a specific officer’s footprints. The dirt can be thrown in a jar with vinegar, Red Pepper flakes, and whole Black Pepper and buried in a cemetery...”

“...Red Pepper flakes, Black Pepper, Black Mustard seed, Valerian root, Spanish moss, and rusty nails can be thrown into ajar with water from a horrible, nasty place. Add Psalm 109 written in red ink to the jar and pray with extreme venom all the terrible things you wish to afflict your victim with. Seal the jar, throw it at the targets door with all your might, and return to safer ground...”

“... before any operation, or before joining in a protest or place where agitation could occur, prepare a tea of Bay leaves, Black Cohosh, and Star Anise before noon. Take the tea as the sun is rising and asperge the members of the cell taking part in the action, calling upon the spirits of the herbs to grant them success, protection, luck, as well as increased psychic perception. Throw the remaining water eastward...”

“...Take an empty glass bottle and pour in Red Pepper Flakes, Cayenne, and crushed styrofoam. Fill the bottle half way with (radacted because tumblr, it’s in the book), capping it. Take an Ace of Spades card and write the number “792” thirteen times on the front of it. Tear the card into little pieces and add it to the bottle. Tie, tape, or use metal wire to wrap a rag around the neck of the bottle, alternatively affixing the rag to the main body of the bottle, leaving the neck free to be used as a handle for greater throwing distance. Light the rag, throw the bottle far from you (and very far away from children, pets, and anyone else you do not wish harmed by its incendiary magic) and laugh, calling upon Dionysus the Liberator...”

“...in a blue flannel bag take Oregano, Fennel seed, Black Mustard seed, and three chips of Cascara Sagrada bark, praying over each group of herbs that their spirits awaken and keep you safe from all meddlesome individuals and authorities. Add a piece of paper with your name written on it and smeared with your blood, sealing the bag up afterward. A candle carved with the words ‘LAW KEEP AWAY” and dressed in an oil of the same name can be burned as you do this, and the bag can be kept near it as it burns to help charge it as you pray. Make a blend of the same herbs that went into the bag and burn them over charcoal, giving the spirit of the bag a name. When named, soak the bag in whiskey. Now it is alive. After all is said and done, feed the bag whiskey once a week and never let anybody other than yourself see it or touch it. If they do, they will kill the spirit and you will need to create an entirely new bag...”

All this is from Doctor Bones in “Curse Your Boss, Hex the State, Take Back the World”, linked above.

Good luck🤘

Awesome Tapes from Africa

which is, well, what it says on the tin. Some stuff is free to download, some stuff is available to purchase, some stuff is both.

Just on the first page, we have:

Arthur — Vuvuzela  Dance Remixes Vol. 3 — S’Bamu [South Africa]

Nahawa Doumbia — La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 1  [Mali]

Asnakech Worku — Asnakech (featuring Hailu Mergia) [Ethiopia]

Khalifa Gueye — Ruba [Senegal]

The site started as just a guy digitizing music from cassette tapes that you couldn’t find anywhere outside street markets in various African cities, and now it’s an actual record label that works with African musicians… and also a guy digitizing tapes.

bruh

But yeah, it’s a WYSIWYG with a really straight-forward GUI, if I remember correctly.

It even comes with some free backgrounds and characters and stuff, and this is what it looks like:

Did I mention it’s super duper free? It hasn’t been updated since 2010, but it has basically all you’d need to make a simple visual novel.

They are literally books you can play. You can even insert your own character’s name and pronouns and that would make writing reader inserts so much easier And as a writer who can not art, writing and making dating sims and games is more convenient.

The coding is also super simple and easy to learn and all it requires other than the program files is a text editor. And just like that you can start typing up like you would your own fanfics or stories. Plus it’s very versatile so you can make your game/book as simple or as complicated as you want, and even implement stats and inventory systems.

Awesome Tapes from Africa

which is, well, what it says on the tin. Some stuff is free to download, some stuff is available to purchase, some stuff is both.

Just on the first page, we have:

Arthur — Vuvuzela  Dance Remixes Vol. 3 — S’Bamu [South Africa]

Nahawa Doumbia — La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 1  [Mali]

Asnakech Worku — Asnakech (featuring Hailu Mergia) [Ethiopia]

Khalifa Gueye — Ruba [Senegal]

The site started as just a guy digitizing music from cassette tapes that you couldn’t find anywhere outside street markets in various African cities, and now it’s an actual record label that works with African musicians… and also a guy digitizing tapes.

feed the hungry

provide a free mammogram 

give food and care to a shelter animal

provide a homeless veteran with a meal

fund alzheimer’s research 

fund diabetes research 

provide books for children

protect wildlife habitat