Nornors dom vid näsen du får.

but think about: modern worshipers

-college kids offering food stolen out of their cafeteria

-eshrines made by kids whose parents wont allow altars

-teenagers with their hair tucked into a trucker hat because they are unable to veil properly for their gods

-offerings of boones farm and mikes hard lemonade

-skin covered in classical tattoos devoted to the gods

-stereos blaring musical offerings of carefully crafted playlists

-children learning to love gods they were taught as myths

-high school students acing their lit test on the Iliad because they already have itab half memorized

So I’m gonna.

I and my friend/roommate Tif met Nornoriel in late 2013. Via a series of unfortunate events he ended up befriending us; he then moved into our house in January 2014. He broke enough house rules by April that we decided not to renew his yearly lease, after which he moved out in December 2014. From Dec 2013 to about April 2014, he was constantly oversharing with Tif and I, and that is why I am in the position to warn you about him. I realize he’s left tumblr, but he’s still repeating the same manipulative patterns from 2014 eleven months after he moved out of my house, so I’m finally gonna speak on this so that I can warn the community about him and others like him. If you’re looking for my credentials as to why I should be listened to about astral and magical stuff, feel free to look at my work at @merkavahpartyvan and decide for yourself.

Back in June I got this ask in my inbox:

I was recently abused by someone very well respected in the Tumblr pagan community and I am struggling to even get back on my feet after it. Is there anyway I can make sure that person doesn’t harm anyone else? B they’re respected but no one believes me that they’re being abusive and controlling.

Of course, I wanted to help you out, anon. I’m only now, 11 months after Nornoriel finally left my house, talking about this stuff publicly. It has taken that long to settle with things, to be sure of them, and to move on. I don’t even necessarily suggest full public disclosure as a part of recovery, I just recognize that in my case it is impossible to move on unless I share what happened with the public. I am not going to be at peace with myself until I do. And anon, I’m not sure if you’ll find this whole post to be an adequate response. I don’t myself. I will keep focusing on these general issues in the pagan community and I will write more pagan abuse resources for people like you and I who need them, and further down the line I will be able to write a post about how to cope with this stuff and move on from it, and how to rebuild a sense of trust in other people after things like this happen. I will say, as I privately shared my story, friends believed what I said and did not attack me for it. I expected disbelief and anger, and got none of it. I hope you find that same support, and if not, my inbox is open and I’ll keep it private.

A summary:

Nornoriel is hiding crucial information from the public about the religion he is trying to get people to learn about or convert to, information that completely changes the context of the religion.

Nornoriel lied to us about a lot of things and lies to the public about them as well or obfuscates them.

Nornoriel’s claims about spirits and other entities often proved untrustworthy.

Nornoriel bullied and verbally abused us in our own home and destroyed property.

Nornoriel gaslit us to further his own spirit romance narrative.

Nornoriel took our own observations of our own astral and spiritual experiences and parroted details from them to claim he was having similar experiences. He still does so.

Nornoriel has written articles and used information and attributions specifically from us that could come from no other sources and claimed they were his own conclusions and attributions.

Nornoriel vagueposts about what happened in our house to villainize us and make himself out to be a martyr towards his readership.

Everything else is going beneath the cut because this is fucking huge. There is an offsite version here on Pastebin if for some reason the read more link ever stops working. Also, for a record, a huge amount of this is about Tif and I’s personal experiences because, well, it’s what we experienced. I wish I could be more detached and also I wish I had a simpler story for you, but in the end I decided to just say what happened and let the public decide if they wanted to deal with Nornoriel / Sebastian Lokason any longer. Since he still actively markets his services to new magic users and pagans and he is still repeating his patterns from when he lived in our house, I can’t really NOT disclose these things, especially when it comes to the big issue with his Vanatru religion. If you have questions, uh… well I’ll answer what I’m comfortable with, and I’ll try to let people know if I can’t answer certain things. Also, if I go quiet on tumblr after this, it’s because I’m taking a break from things for a few days. I don’t plan on going anywhere.

Having read Nornoriel’s blog & two books, this is, as others have said, not exactly a surprise to me. Disappointing and disturbing, but not entirely surprising, given I had noticed a couple of red flags in his writings.

Okay, I’m going to do this section by section.

What is a sigil?

A sigil is a magical symbol of intent. What does that mean exactly? It is a design made by a person with a specific goal or wish in mind; usually a sentence is written out, broken down, and then made into a symbol to bring about a certain event or affect.

How is it used?

There are more ways to use sigils than I could possibly count, or even list in one post. The possibilities are endless. You can write sigils on yourself to bring an instant, close contact effect. A sigil can be written on paper and kept on a person for the same outcome. You can use sigils in spellwork to boost their powers for almost anything - happiness, protection, sleep or dream magic, whatever you can imagine. Sigils can be put in or on objects to enchant them. You could use sigils in or on food (like condiments or spices) to bring magical affects to your food. Write on doors or mirrors to seal them. Draw people to you or keep them away. Glamour magic. Like, literally ANYTHING. Sigils are extremely diverse. Sigil magic encourages its users to experiment, so there are always people finding new ways to apply sigils into their every day lives.

Are there specific guidelines?

Yes and no.Yes, because people create or modify a method to make it work for them, and each method tends to have certain steps (like writing down your statement of intent and breaking it down, and making a symbol out of the remaining letters). No, because sigil magic is part of a branch called chaos magic, which literally has no rules. It’s all about trying new things and figuring out what works for you. You can use any method to create sigils, or you don’t have to use a method at all. I know, really contradictory, but totally true. I myself follow a loose method, which used to be much more rigid; it has pretty much slackened over time as I gained experience. It depends on what works for you and your preferences. 

How can I make one?

There are numerous methods here on Tumblr that talk about sigil crafting. I’ll throw you some links so you can see a general idea of how people go about making sigils. Then again, if none of these resonate with you, make your own! Another thing people do is just think of an intent and doodle, and a sigil comes out of it. I’d say keep away from that unless you are sure you can keep the intent focused and clear in your mind. Anyway, methods: 

[The Basics of Sigils] by thesigilwitch​

[An Essay on Sigil Crafting] by graycloak

[How Do You Make Sigils] by thesigilwitch

[How Caito Makes Sigils] and [A Little More Description] by paintheism​

[How Frieda Makes Sigils] by pebblegryphon​

[How I Use the Keyboard on My Phone to Create Sigils] by lunacascabelera​

[How I Make Sigils] by sigilathenaeum​

[How to Create a Sigil] by sstoness​

[Magic/Sigil Circles] by gardenofthequeen

[A Peek at the Process] by sigildaily​

[Personal Sigil Creation Method] by thesigilwitch

[Pokécraft: Unown Sigils] by thecoffeecoyote

[Sigil Crafting Method] by tinyrosemarysparrows​

[Sigil Making Process, by Richtor] by thesigilworkshop

[Sigil Making Process, by Rook] by thesigilworkshop

[Sigilmaking with Lee] by cannibalcoalition

[Sigil Masterpost] by carpeumbra (gif warning)

[Sigils] by hexenwildling

[Sigils] by vaya-mernda

[Sigils and Seals 101] by dracaisfyr

[What Are Sigils] by herbs-and-journals

Here are some articles about sigils and crafting them from external sources:

[A Beginner’s Guide to Sigil Craft]

[A Brief Overview of Sigil Magick]

[Chaos Magic: Basic Sigil Magic]

[Creating a Sigil]

[Making Outdoor Sigils]

[On the Preparation and Usage of Sigils]

[Practical Sigil Magic- Frater U. D.]

[Practical Sigil Magick]

[Sigil Basics]

[Sigil Daily: Creation & Activation]

[Sigilisation]

[Sigil Magic]

[Sigil Magic]

[Sigil Magic: Making a Magical Sigil]

[Sigils][Sigils in Theory and Practice]

[Sigils Reboot: How To Get Big Magic From Little Squiggles]

Can I make one while I’m sick?

You can, yes, but keep in mind whatever energies and feelings you are having at the time can possibly transfer into the sigil. Some people work best when fueled by certain emotions, but in my own personal experience, if I am feeling negative or down, some of that can find its way into my sigils. I personally prefer to not work with sigils when ill or upset, just because I don’t have proper shields or 100% control over how I feel, but that’s my personal preference.

Comparison gifpost.

First row shows shut down dogs, trained to heel using aversive methods. Tucked tails, hunched posture, low energy, low heads, think you can see some lip licking in that 2nd one.

Second row show a dog trained by Jenny Gould with positive reinforcement. Very energetic, pricked ears, wagging tail, head up and focused on the handler.

Third row is Clinton Anderson (who trains exclusively using aversive methods) working with his horse Mindy. You can see pinned ears, lip licking, clamped tail. There is irritable, anxious and passive body language depending on the point in the video.

Fourth row is Mint, trained by Shawna Karrasch with positive reinforcement. Note the presence of real positive body language. Pricked ears, head toss, relaxed tail.

Editorial Gif project for my maps class -

► I tried to “view” everything in high definition, moment by moment, as if it were a physical thing I could see.

► I lost the forest by focusing on the tree - instead of keeping my goals in mind, I would let it all fall down in order to visualize small details.

► I viewed visualization as a goal in itself, instead of a tool. 

► I believed all successful magic had to involve some level of visualization.

► I believed visualization was the best and “realest” way to experience magic and magical events.

Things I now believe which I like a lot more:

► Visualization is nothing but imagination + willpower. Aka, a mental goal + focus.

► Whatever you are visualizing is not physical, otherwise it would be seeing, not visualizing. The faculty of imagination is powerful, we don’t need to put blinders on it and treat it like a third pair of eyes. 

► Learn how your imagination likes to create and use that to organically visualize - even if that ‘visualization’ doesn’t involve imagining physical objects.

► Visualization is vastly improved, empowered, and fine-tuned through verbal commands (thought or spoken). Visualize the energy ball, and then think or say, “this energy is forming in to a ball.”

► Visualization is only a tool. It is not necessary or appropriate for all spells or magical actions. 

Words which I believe are synonymous with ‘visualize’:

Imagine

Believe

Think

Feel

Command

Desire