Witchy BOS (upg) and random reference posts

Be aware that this blog may touch on sensitive topics regarding death so read on at your own discretion.

• 💀 • Death Energy • 💀 •

Death energy is just energy that comes from death and death symbolism, but as simple of an answer as that seems to be, don’t be fooled by the much deeper complexities that this topic harbors. When we really dig into it we discover some darker truths about our existence and the hereafter. Truths that many people are more comfortable ignoring because they force us to face the inevitable.

Death energy is about stillness, endings, and about the deconstructing and reconstructing processes. It’s about using what’s passed to fertilize what’s new and grow something that has purpose in the next step of your life. It’s about the acceptance of inevitability and what we can’t change to bring about what we can. All in all it’s a very unique energy that can open many new doors for any witch willing to try.

• What Does Death Energy Feel Like? •

Everyone feels energy differently in the basic of ways but even still, it should go without saying that death energy has a different pull to it entirely then life energy. Sometimes those who aren’t used to connecting with it can have a hard time. It’s been described as heavy, or even smothering by some. Others have said it feels cold or chilling in a way. The funny thing here is that these definitely describe what naturally comes with death. Our bodies get stiff and much heavier. We lose our heat and grow cold, and while this definitely sounds unpleasant and shocking to those who aren’t used to spending time with it we must also recognize that it’s a part of a continued cycle. As our bodies further decay the weight becomes less and the shock of the cold against the once warm skin becomes just another room temperature feeling. Another words, things come to feel more natural especially when you understand the process and spend time with it.

All new energy can feel overwhelming to anyone who hasn’t experienced it before. It can bring up a whole plethora of unease, nervousness, even anxiety if you’re not ready for it. Especially death energy. As stated above, it can force us to face certain things. Things that can be heavy and hard to accept. For this reason working death energy may not be for everyone and that’s okay. It deals with subject matter that makes some people uncomfortable and as such if you’re not ready to incorporate it you have every right not to.

• What Can Death Energy Be Used For? •

Death energy is the primary force in death witchcraft and death magick. And as a result each witch is gonna use it in their own unique way. There are so many interesting books and articles published that describe plethora of interesting ways to work with the energy of death. Many of which put their own unique understanding and spin on how it came to be, how it works, and how you can use it. But in my opinion you can use death energy for everything you can use life energy for and then some. It just pulls the magick from a different place and in a different way. Remember each one of us processes things in a different way, especially death energy. Do what makes you feel comfortable and never let anyone push you to cross any lines you’re not ready for. Comfort in magick is very important.

Lastly I want to take this time to emphasize what death energy is not used for. It is not and never will be an excuse to just take human life. Murdering someone is never okay. Nor is it an excuse to unnecessarily torture animals. Now I understand that using animals in general can be a debatable subject, especially when they are killed by the individual. However it should be understood that many believe this is okay during appropriate times and only when you utilize the animal and not waste it. So as an example hunting during deer season or catching a fish. The animal in question can be used for magick but will also ultimately be eaten and many witches see this as an appropriate practice. As long as everything operates within the confines of the law and everything is treated with respect and dignity.

• 💀 • Cemetery Work • 💀 •

For a lot of death witches, doing work in a cemetery or graveyard is a must, although there are those that don’t, a great deal more either do or will do when they get the chance. Lots goes into this type of work though and a thorough study on the subject should be done before pursuing this type of magick. However, some key points to remember are to always be respectful, obey the laws and rules of your land regarding the resting places, and listen to what the dead tell you.

It’s very important to recognize that there are always going to be practitioners that have their own unique rules on this subject, but the best way to know if the dead favor something or not is to ask them. What rules you inevitably believe should revolve around what the dead are comfortable with. That said, some of these rules are shared amongst practitioners. I have compiled a list below with some of them. Remember, this is very basic and what a practitioner adds or changes is up to them.

💀 Always bring an offering for the gatekeeper.

Typically these are the oldest spirits in the cemetery and are in charge of maintaining order. Most offerings include things like coins, drink, bread, or apples.

💀 State exactly what you’ll be doing and ask permission from the gatekeeper.

It’s important to let the spirits know what your intentions are. Will you be doing magick at the crossroads, magick at a grave, or foraging? The gatekeeper should let you know through energy what is acceptable. Remember each Cemetery is different and has different rules over all.

💀 Never take things directly from a grave.

Gifts on a grave belong to the spirit dwelling there. It’s okay to pick up things like trash, or moldy flowers in still water but, rocks, dried or fresh flowers, feathers, etc should be left alone.

💀 Be respectful of the graves and spirits.

Try not to walk near the headstone of a grave (you’re walking on their body. Try to stay near the feet and always say excuse me politely if you have to step on it), always ask for a spirits help never demand it, and always bring them an offering as a thank you.

💀 When foraging never take what a spirit tells you not to.

If you’re gathering dirt, sticks, or plants from a cemetery, even if it’s not on a grave, and you get a feeling like you shouldn’t touch it, then don’t. Spirits will always let you know what they want to keep. Obey that or it’s theft.

💀Always give thanks for hospitality before you leave.

Being polite and thanking your hosts is always a must in general and can bring good energies between you and the dead. Especially if you intend on going back to work at that Cemetery.

• 💀 • Necromancy • 💀 •

Another common staple amongst death workers and arguably one of the most misunderstood practices. Simply put, this practice is divination with the dead. It’s all about connecting to and asking the dead for answers from the beyond. Lots of that used to be done in the cemetery and as a result many wild and fantastic rumors about zombie creation were formed, but that’s far from the truth. There were indeed many radical understandings within the practices history however, but as science matured so did the knowledge on what this practice actually was.

While necromancy is still done in cemeteries even today, it’s not a must. Calling fourth a spirit can be done a number of ways and will definitely alter and change based on the witch. Some working maybe more cultural than others, and some may be more complex. The uniqueness of these practices can number well into the double digits and is always interesting to learn. Some of the most common spirit summoning techniques (aside from going directly to someone’s grave) are the spirit board, a mirror, and the pendulum. As for how these spirits are called, that too can differ from witch to witch. Most often though, it can involve candles or crystals as an energy source, a personal item or favored item like food, and/or the spirits name. It can be as simple as physically calling out to the abyss, beckoning the spirit forward or as elaborate a ritual as calling in the four directional guardians or a guide to lead them to you.

Regardless of how it’s done, it’s always a good rule of thumb to be respectful to them. Don’t demand from them, ask instead, and offer gratitude and an offering when you end the session.

• 💀 • Deity & Spirit Guides • 💀 •

Lots of death workers may worship deity just like any other practitioner. However the deity they are generally more drawn to are often either associated with the underworld, or a psychopomp, like Osiris, Hades, Anubis, or Hecate. However they may also be a deity tied in some way to the personification of death, much like Thanatos, or the grim reaper.

Even if the witch chooses not to utilize deity they can still conjure up spiritual guides of some sort. These guides can be something as common as ancestral spirits or even animal spirits. Most common animal guides often have some death association and symbolism to them. So animals like Black cats, bats, vultures, owls, crows and ravens are quite popular.

• 💀 • Bones & Body Parts • 💀 •

Its not uncommon to see bones on the altars of death witches. Many beliefs around these tools and what they represent circulate within the community. For some specific animal bones it’s believed you can use that animal spirit and energy. Other beliefs revolve not around the animal itself but rather the type of bone, as each one has its own unique symbolism attached to it, such as a jaw being connected to communication. The possibilities are near limitless and for most death practitioners they are a very necessary tool within the craft. Some practitioners even collect additional things like insect exoskeletons, animal skins, and preserved body parts like a rabbits foot.

DISCLAIMER! People should be made aware that it’s always encouraged for all materials to be ethnically sourced. Any form of unlawful collection or cruelty is frowned upon and not condoned within the community.

• 💀 • Conclusion • 💀 •

As started above, these are just some of the basics of death work within the pagan community and serves as a starting point to bounce off of. It’s very important to do your own research and come to your own conclusions regarding this craft and always remember to obey your local laws. Death work can be very fulfilling but not when it’s done under illegal circumstances.

For some additional reading look to this list below:

• What is Necromancy?

• Working with Bones & Skulls in Witchcraft

• Gods & Goddesses of Death & the Underworld

• Graveyard Magick: A Witches Guide

In his book “Description of Greece”, the people of Elis stood out to Pausanias because:

1. They worshipped Hades under his real name, Hades’ name was feared and it was far more common to use alternatives such as Pluto, Klymenos (The renowned) and Chthonic Zeus (Zeus of the underworld) to refer to him

2. They worshipped him as the king of the dead, this in contrast to most cults devoted to Hades who worshipped his agricultural aspects and grouped him with Demeter, Kore or both

3. His temple was located in the city, most temples for agriculture deities were located outside the agora- This further reinforces that they were worshipping his chthonic aspect and not his agricultural one

Left: The temple of Hades in Elis as depicted in Assassins’s Creed. Right: The modern ruins of Elis

I want to talk about the myth that the people of Elis used to explain their devotion to Hades. It goes like this: Heracles wanted to attacked Elis and was allied with Athena, Hades exits the underworld, allies himself with Poseidon and Hera, and leads an army to protect Elis. In battle, Heracles strikes him with an arrow and Hades has to go to Olympus to be healed by Apollo. Heracles wins the battle and while the Eleans were rebuilding their city they also constructed a temple for Hades.

It is remarkable how casual the Eleans are with Hades, they call him ‘their friend’ and use his name instead of the more formal options. They also named a mountain after Hades’ former lover, Minthe and had a river called Acheron after one of the rivers in the underworld.

I find this myth so appealing because it’s rare to see a god putting themselves on the frontlines to protect mortals. Hades has nothing to gain from defending Elis, but he does it anyway because they’re his followers. This myth represents Hades not only as a protector of the agora but as a friend of humanity- and the ending where he fails, gets injured and asks for help just makes him so much more like us

Sources: “Worshipping Hades: Myth and Cult in Elis and Triphylia” by Diana Burton, Stockholm University Library

https://www.theoi.com/Cult/HaidesCult.html

A tarot reading doesn't always need to be super serious. It can literally be about whatever you want. Have fun with it!

amulet banish bind bless channel charm conjure consecrate construct correspondence curse devotion egregore enchantment esbat esoteric evoke familiar ghost glamor hex instinct intuition invoke jinx meditation medium mindfulness occultist psychism poppet sabbat seal servitor sigil sorcery summon spell spirit talisman thoughtform tradition uncrossing venerate visualize ward work with worship

Some suggestions: A. Several of these words have relevant meanings as both verbs and nouns. Feel free to define either, or both B. If you choose to answer in a reblog, please consider putting your answers under a "keep reading" cut, as this could turn into an annoyingly long reblog chain otherwise -- I will likely not be reblogging responses that that are not under a cut, so as not to annoy my followers too much more than usual C. Discussion is always welcome, but as usual, please keep it civil! Differences of opinion are typically okay*!

*usual disclaimer about beliefs that are appropriative or otherwise harmful not really being okay

A collection of podcast episodes fact-checking, debunking, or just providing some clarity on modern myths, misinformation, and conspiracy theories that are frequent flyers in witchcraft and pagan spaces, both theories mistakenly touted by community members and some of the utter drivel spouted by non-witches that still affects us today. Check out these shows on your favorite podcast app!

(Updates to be made whenever I find new content. There will be some crossover with my Witches In History Podcast Recs post and some of the content will be heavy. Blanket trigger warning for violence, abuse, bigotry, sexism, antisemitism, and mistreatment of women, queer people, and children.)

[Last Updated: Sept 25, 2023]

This post is broken into three basic sections:

Historical Misinformation

Modern Myths and the People Who Create Them

Conspiracy Theories and Moral Panics

List of Cited Podcasts, in alphabetical order

American Hysteria

BS-Free Witchcraft

Dig: A History Podcast

Hex Positive

Historical Blindness

Occultae Veritatis

Our Curious Past

Ridiculous History

Stuff You Missed In History Class

The History of Witchcraft

Unobscured

You’re Wrong About…

Historical Misinformation

General History of Witchcraft

Historical Blindness - A Rediscovery of Witches, Pt 1 & 2 Oct 13, 2020 & Oct. 27, 2020 A discussion of the early modern witch craze and the myths, misconceptions, and theories about witches spread by academics. Topics of discussion include the works of Margaret Murray and Charles Leland, the founding of Wicca, the emergence of the midwife-witch myth, and folk healers as targets of witchcraft accusations. Sarah Handley-Cousins of “Dig: A History Podcast” supplies guest material for both episodes.

Hex Positive, Ep. 36 - Margaret Effing Murray with Trae Dorn July 1, 2023 Margaret Murray was a celebrated author, historian, folklorist, Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, first-wave feminist, and the first woman to be appointed to the position of lecturer in archaeology in the UK. So why so we get so annoyed whenever her name is mentioned in conversations about witchcraft? Well, it all has to do with a book Margaret wrote back in 1921...which just so happened to go on to have a profound influence on the roots of the modern witchcraft movement.

Nerd & Tie senpai and host of BS-Free Witchcraft Trae Dorn joins Bree NicGarran in the virtual studio to discuss the thoroughly-discredited witch-cult hypothesis, Murray's various writings and accomplishments, and why modern paganism might not have caught on so strongly without her.

BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep 03: The History of Wicca October 06, 2018 On this episode, Trae digs deep into the history of Wicca, and tries to give the most accurate history of the religion as they can. I mean, yeah, we know this is a general Witchcraft podcast, but Wicca is the most widely practiced form of Witchcraft in the US, UK, Canada and Australia… so how it got started is kind of important for the modern Witchcraft movement. (And trust me, there aren’t any pulled punches here.)

BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 28: The Burning Times May 30, 2020 On this installment of the podcast, we tackle probably one of the more controversial topics in the modern witchcraft movement: The Burning Times. What were the actual “Burning Times,” where do we get that phrase from, and what really happened? Also, how has this phrase been used in modern witchcraft? It’s a heavy one, folks.

Dig: A History Podcast - Doctor, Healer, Midwife, Witch: How the the Women’s Health Movement Created the Myth of the Midwife-Witch Sept 6, 2020 In 1973, two professors active in the women’s health movement wrote a pamphlet for women to read in the consciousness-raising reading groups. The pamphlet, inspired by Our Bodies, Ourselves, looked to history to explain how women had been marginalized in their own healthcare. Women used to be an important part of the medical profession as midwives, they argued — but the midwives were forced out of practice because they were so often considered witches and persecuted by the patriarchy in the form of the Catholic Church. The idea that midwives were regularly accused of witchcraft seemed so obvious that it quickly became taken as fact. There was only one problem: it wasn’t true. In this episode, we follow the convoluted origin story of the myth of the midwife-witch.

Dig: A History Podcast - Cheesecloth, Spiritualism, and State Secrets: Helen Duncan’s Famous Witchcraft Trial July 3, 2022 Helen Duncan was charged under the 1735 Witchcraft Act, but her case was no eighteenth-century sensation: she was arrested, charged, and ultimately imprisoned in 1944. Of course, in 1944, Britain was at war, fighting fascism by day on the continent and hiding in air raid shelters by night at home. The spectacle of a Spiritualist medium on trial for witchcraft seemed out of place. What possessed the Home Secretary to allow this trial to make headlines all across the UK in 1944? That’s what we’re here to find out.

The Conspirators, Ep. 63 - The Last Witch Trial Nov. 26, 2017 England’s official laws regarding the prosecution of witches dates back to the 1600s. Those very same laws would also remain on the books until well into the 20th century. In 1944, a psychic medium named Helen Duncan would gain notoriety by becoming the last woman to be tried under England’s witchcraft laws.

The History of Witchcraft Podcast, hosted by Samuel Hume Witches didn’t exist, and yet thousands of people were executed for the crime of witchcraft. Why? The belief in magic and witchcraft has existed in every recorded human culture; this podcast looks at how people explained the inexplicable, turned random acts of nature into conscious acts of mortal or supernatural beings, and how desperate communities took revenge against the suspected perpetrators.

Unobscured, Season One - The Salem Witch Trials Welcome to Salem, Massachusetts. It’s 1692. And all hell is about to break loose.

Unobscured is a deep-dive history podcast from the labs of How Stuff Works, featuring the writing and narrative talents of Aaron Mahnke, horror novelist and the mind behind Lore and Cabinet of Curiosities.

As with his other series, Mahnke approaches the events in Salem armed with a mountain of research. Interviews with prominent historians add depth and documentation to each episode. And it’s not just the trials you’ll learn about; it’s the stories of the people, places, attitudes, and conflicts that led to the deaths of more than twenty innocent people.

Each week, a new aspect of the story is explored, gradually weaving events and personalities together in chronological order to create a perspective of the trials that is both expansive and intimate. From Bridget Bishop to Cotton Mather, from Andover to Salem Town, Mahkne digs deep to uncover the truth behind the most notorious witch trials in American history.

Think you know the story of Salem? Think again.

It's that time of year again! The leaves are turning, the pumpkins are ripening, and with the increasing chill in the air comes a craving for chills of a different kind. If you're looking for some great audio horror this season, here are some podcasts you might enjoy. Check them out on your favorite podcast app!

(Please feel free to add your favorites in the notes!)

Fictional Frights

Chilling Tales For Dark Nights

Knifepoint Horror

Pseudopod

Scary Stories Told In The Dark

The No-Sleep Podcast

Real Life Is Terrifying

And That's Why We Drink

Be. Scared

Disturbed

Morbid

Scared To Death

Tales From The Break Room

History & Folklore

A Scary State

Freaky Folklore

Frightful

Lore

One Strange Thing

Southern Gothic

The Cryptid Keeper (back catalog)

Horror Movies

Alone In The Dark

Copulators Die First (back catalog)

Queerdo Babes Trom The Horror Pod-O-Rama

Ruined!

Classic Horror Tales

Horror Hill

Readings by The H.P Lovecraft Literary Podcast

The HorrorBabble Podcast

In the same way you don't have to repay someone for doing you a favor out of their heart's desire - and don't have to feel bad if you cannot return their kindness with an equal gift back. People - and Deities - that love you understand when giving back is hard or impossible for you.

Sometimes a thank you is enough. Gratitude is enough, in whatever shape and form you can give it.