. ݁ ˖ Phantom Garden ˖ ݁ .

But I realized something a long time ago: there really isn’t one “right” way to do this.

Yes, closed practices exist and should be respected. Yes, some traditions are culturally specific. Yes, there are methods, rituals, tools, and approaches that people may find more effective than others.

But outside of that?

Your practice does not have to look exactly like someone else’s to be real.

I know you might feel lost sometimes, especially if your path is mostly reconstructed, self-led, intuitive, or built from scattered pieces you had to gather yourself. But that does not make it less meaningful. In a way, that is part of the beauty of it.

You are forging your own relationship with your deities, spirits, ancestors, land, or whatever sacred presence calls to you. You are learning the language of your own devotion. You are building something honest.

And I know it can feel lonely. I know it can feel discouraging. I know it can feel like everyone else has some ancient handbook you never got handed.

But I promise, you are not alone.

There is someone out there whose beliefs may not be exactly the same as yours, but close enough that your soul will recognize the warmth. Your people exist. Your path exists. Your practice is valid.

You do not need anyone else to approve of the sacred relationship you are building.

What you need is the courage to take the next step.

So go ahead.

Like this young person didn't even know about goddamn Gutenberg which is a SHAME. I linked to it and they went "aw yiss time to do a theft" and I was like "I mean yo ho ho and all that, sure, but. you know gutenberg is entirely legal, right?"

Project Gutenberg is a gigantic collection of books that are in the public domain.  You can read the books through the site or you can download them in various formats so you can get the format you prefer for your eReader of choice.

It is free. 

It is legal.

I was reviewing the list of the top 100 books downloaded yesterday and I saw a fair few that I had to read for college classes - so if you’re a college student and your professor assigns you to read Plato or any number of older works, check here before you buy a copy.

If you look at the first reblog from me I also recommended a few other resources, most of which were from www.archive.org, home of the Wayback Machine! They run openlibrary.org, where you can check out ebooks of some public domain titles! They even have the Bone series by Jeff Smith!

And archive.org itself has all kinds of public domain media including music and movies! For Dracula fans, here's a radio show adaptation of the book, starring Orson Welles! And here's a 1920 movie adaptation of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," starring John Barrymore, the grandfather of Drew Barrymore!

lots of writers and publishers are prepared to waive future profits for entirely petty reasons

because of this the entire works of Philip K Dick [petty writer who found himself with lots of hangers on during his life] and HP Lovecraft [his publisher - who was his wife and hated him] became public domain on their death

Sherlock Holmes entered public domain this year, it's always worth checking because you can save a fortune

book is old because it’s in

the public domain

LibriVox has free public domain audiobooks.

Public domain works in the US are:

Anything published (in the US) from 1927 or earlier (this number goes up every year for quite a while), and

Anything published between 1928 and 1963 that wasn't renewed, and

Anything published before 1989 without a proper copyright notice.

(Don't go looking for things in that third category unless you've studied a LOT about copyright law. Mostly that covers things like "weird little newsletters" and "self-published booklets" and sometimes fanzines. But most publications have a copyright notice in them.)

There's also some oddball exemptions here and there; copyright law is a tentacled mess. But those are the basic guidelines. (Except for audio. Audio has its own set of rules. It's weird.) (I mentioned tentacles, did I not? Double the amount of them you were thinking of.)

There are a lot of works from the 50s and early 60s that were not renewed, especially short stories published in magazines.

This concept is shared in both Ancient Greek and Roman cultures and religion. It was orthopaxic/Cultus Deorum of Mos Mairum “Way of The Ancestors” both shared common values, traditions, and religious beliefs. Supersitio is one of these concepts.

Supersitio is the opposite, the counter of the “correct way” of approaching the gods. Superstitious beliefs of having fear of the gods such as thinking their vengeful, cruel, petty, angry and jealous followed to excessively pray and offer them was considered especially to the Greeks as Hubris or prideful thinking one can sway the gods with bribes for their appeasement. To one approach the gods correctly one must not think the gods are going to harm them in anyway to have a trust and bond between the god and worshipper.

What is Supersitio?

It comes the Latin word meaning “standing over” and to translate the Ancient Greek word deisidaimonia or “fear of the gods or spirits.” That this fear is impious before the gods.

Here’s a few examples how this would’ve looked like.

1. Irrational fear of the Gods, believing the gods are easily angered, petty, jealous, and cruel then trying to win their favor with what’s more than necessary is considered to be hubris and thinking the gods can be win over by bribes.

2. Excessive Dependence on the Deities - essentially you place your autonomy and power in the hands of the gods not fulfilling or acting on your commitments and obligations leaving it to the divine or you can’t make any decisions, actions, or any other decree without involving the gods and relying solely on them. There is a balance between the person’s own ability and self control and the faith of the gods.

3. Sorcery or goetia (opposite of therugy) both cultures the practice of necromancy, curses, and spells that involve forcing someone was regarded as superstitious. As well as fortune telling but divination and fortune telling were two separate things to them. Plato mentions that one would practice necromancy would exploit the dead for their own personal means risking the danger of themselves and the communities this also follows to the last one.

4. Believing you can command the Gods and spirits, according to Plato no one has the power or authority to bind a god or spirit by usage of spells and rituals.

But here’s the thing about sorcery….

It’s a tricky thing because the people who condemn it usually are rich and powerful men, Plato was a Ancient Greek philosopher meaning he was very wealthy and educated. The Roman elite was frighten of fortune tellers and sorcerers because they can sway the plebeians (peasants, lower class) in fear and rebellion. The most common people performing sorcery was women and it was a common thing to do among the common folk to go to sorcerers and fortune tellers or practice themselves. But also defixiones or curse tablets, evil eye amulets, and poppets are superstitions as well. It was common thing to bury curse tablets beneath the temples of Demeter and Kore (Persephone)

My personal opinions and beliefs

Except for sorcery cause how it was common among the common folk to practice it was very widespread and I do it myself. The previous mentions is something I adhere to and agree with. If you want to pray and approach the gods you can’t think they will do you any harm in anyway possible or not able to make decisions or do any actions unless divine presence is involved and rely on it solely is unhealthy cause it removes independence and autonomy of the person. Now if someone is trying to command the gods through the act of sorcery that’s a whole different story but as someone who practices witchcraft with deities like Hekate I don’t believe I’m commanding or binding them to the spell and I know others who don’t believe it as well.

You can usually find books on witchcraft, yes, but there’s also field guides on local foraging and wildlife, cookbooks, books that teach you how to craft and DIY, books about environmental protection and stewardship, books on how to use herbs medicinally, books about other religions, cultures, and spiritual practices. My favorite local library even has a seed swapping program and fantastic resources to research your own family history!

Dionysus Anthios