Housing my Familiar

Tonight I made a spirit house for my familiar spirit.

I lit a red candle, invoked him into the space, and fixed it up in the manner he told me

I used mugwort, his seal, 9 pennies, a blackthorn spike, a lock of my hair, a few drops of my blood, a crow feather, and red thread. I painted his seal on the lid of the jar... And lit a very small red candle and called his full spirit into it. Then I dropped it into the jar, closing the lid until the flame went out therefore releasing the spirit into the jar. I also fed him his favorite offering and placed him on his shelf with a red candle. He seemed very pleased with it. I'm very glad to have my familiar. And can't wait to share more experiences with him 

Hekate's feast day

Well tonight was the feast day of Hekate and I decided to ask her some questions I've been having and just talk with her since tonight was her feast day. So I burned the incense,  honored her, LOTS of dogs barking and the wind howling during my invocation.

I asked her if she was a form of Lilith...witch queen and lover and consort of Samael-Lucifer

She told me.... 

"Yes. This is but one of my names, I have been called many things and have taken many forms.... This is a side of me you shall learn, and revere." 

If you have not had the same experience, or have had a completely opposite one.... It does not matter. As my path is not yours and my journey is not yours to take.  Nor is yours mine. 

I asked other questions...but those are personal to myself and my path alone. 

The ritual was amazing... Very potent, very powerful.

I truly felt her presence. A WONDERFUL evening! Hail Hekate! 

Can't wait to see what other lessons she brings in the future! 

meditations on my practice...pruning, changes, and updates.

I've decided that I should approach my craft with a kind of scientific method. (for example, if I have a hypothesis about a deity, I will experiment with it and record my results here. because mine is a spiritual art, it won't be a dry, calculatory, boring post. at least I would hope not.) It will be centered around building my OWN practice. which may compliment or completely be averse to another's practices.
our perceptions of the Gods are our own, and while I try to stay within historical context, I also have lessons and revelations the Gods give me personally. and are not meant to validate or invalidate your own experiences. and with that introduction, I begin.
Lately I've been discovering that the infernal union is becoming a very important part of my practice.

specifically the union of Samael-Lucifer, and Lilith-Hekate, to create Qayin-Azazel.

now what I've been meditating on, and determining to experiment with is that Qayin-Azazel is Samael-Lucifer made flesh. which I refer to as "a child of spirit made flesh."

i'm also determining whether or not Qayin-Azazel could also be venerated as a Bucca figure in my personal practice... with Dhu being identified with Qayin, or Cain, the death-bringing lord of the dead and spirits, and Gwidden being identified with Tubal Cain. The Grand Bucca (Gam) being identified with Azazel.

I've been meditating and thinking about Qayin having a very saturnian flair to him. sort of Odinic in the sense that one must work hard and make sacrifices for wisdom, and they both ride black steeds and rule over Death.
HOWEVER, I have had no experiences thus far claiming Cain is Odin.

 

update: apparently mine is NOT the Qayin Falxifer of Liber Falxifer. although The Witchfather DID tell me to read it and think about the lore. not necessarily the ritual... but the lore of it. After some meditations and looking at myself really, I've come to the conclusion that the Liber Falxifer Current is not the path for me... and Old Cain will indeed lead me elsewhere.

in addition to my Society of the Crooked Crossroads study and American Folkloric Witchcraft study, I've been looking into/reading up on Luciferian Witchcraft ala Michael W. Ford, and listening to podcasts on various Witchcraft subjects... I think that Ford's books will help me with my spiritual pruning. I plan on reading "Adversarial Light: Magick of The Nephilim" first.  

lots of change and thinking...but that is good because stagnation is never a good thing. and thinking is good for separating that which is personally useful from the useless.

i'm quite excited to learn where this is going.

Ritual mishaps aka my wand consecration story!

The wand consecration was beautiful, powerful...wonderful. 

I felt Qayin's presence and his power as it flowed into the wand... But the smoke kept billowing up from the coals and It was starting to overpower the room. I kind of panicked as this was something I wasn't used to... So In my panic I asked Cain what to do... And he made me remember the blacksmith's quench tank. So I got my tongs, brushed off the smoldering resins from the coal and dunked it into a cup of water. Imagining it being the quench tank of old tubal Cain. Worked pretty well and the smoke cleared pretty much. And I returned to finishing my ritual which after that went quite well. Rule #1. Don't put a lot of resins on the coal. (And I really didn't...but apparently my little is a lot. Lol) this is pretty much what my blog is for....the journey. Making mistakes, and growing from them. I'll be seating my familiar tomorrow instead... Besides I think it will go better anyway. 

Lady of the blood-stained roses

Praise to she who bears the envenomed sickle, 

Who dwells in the shadowy gardens of poison.

Whose might may bring blessing or bane

Life or death

She stands in the bloodstained gardens

Beneath the black light of the dark moon

Hail terrible one who bears the key

Let thy blade cleave flesh and spirit alike

Bloody one, Brimo

Serpent haired gorgon and succubus of night.

Queen of the Lamiae 

Mother of the Empousa

Night wandering empress of the crossroads

Torches in thy empyrean hands

trident and sickle in the terrestrial

And the dripping head and noose in the infernal.

Dark is she, but shining with wisdom.

Thou art brilliant, shining with black light immemorial 

Serpent-bearing, Night-wandering

Howling she-dog at the crossroads of life and death

Queen of the corpse yard 

Lead us to your blood-stained roses

Symbol of the conquest and your power. 

Take us to the black Eden, night side of paradise.

For when red is spilled upon the green,

the black is sure to Come. 

Tribute to infernal Hekate

In trembling reverence, Do I dedicate this tribute to you oh Dread Goddess

Serpent haired slayer of wicked men

Sickle-bearer, torch bearer

Horned one who delights in the spilling of fresh blood

Lady of the blackened moon

Knower of herbs and poisons

She of the wayside

Infernal one

Empyrean one

death-bringer

Soul of all nature.

You bear the still dripping heads of all who oppose you

Key-bearer, great of Sorcery

thread of the fates.

Thou canst be found in the screaming of men, the baying of hounds and winds

Soteira, savior of the world. Creator and destroyer.

Pale of face, in triplicate form arriving, torches blazing, sickle gleaming, head dripping

Glory to you dark mother. Praised by the hosts of heaven, and hailed by the denizens of Hell!

Terrible Titaness, she who haunts the corpse-yard. 

Who feasts upon the flesh of the dead.

Mother of Daemons. Queen of Gorgons. 

Traveller of midnight. 

Chthonic Empress of the Abyss 

White of face, clad in black, dripping red. 

Updates :)

Well, lately I've just been thinking about my practice and just life in general :) 

Hecate has becoming much stronger in my practice and I had a friend who did a reading for me, and it answered a lot of questions I'd been having. Tomorrow is the dark moon and I have so much planned.... I'm ensouling and naming my wand from an awesome friend and making my first Spirit Jar for my Familiar. If the spirits allow, expect pictures. :) Qayin has been very strong lately as well. Teaching various things. Making me think about his various aspects and certain lessons that I won't go into for now.... I'm also receiving 2 very awesome items from another really great friend, a crow wing smudge fan and a crow foot and skeleton key talisman. School also starts back tomorrow and I know that my classes will require lots of hard work. Qayin loves sacrifices of effort. So I will do my best this year. Well, I know this post has been all over the place, but I'm just catching up because I haven't blogged in a while. Hope everyone is doing well! And have a great dark moon and Deipnon! 

Sacrifice

Well, today is Lammas Eve and I did my first Red Meal and resealed the pact between the Harvester and that which is to be harvested... I had bought a bag of sweet but dark bread and put it in the bread basket for safekeeping. Also a bottle of non-alcoholic wine. I was so excited for today, because everything was going SO perfectly! However, that changed when the cat got into my bread and made it go stale. After which my father threw the whole thing away. All of this was without my knowing of course. So I get ready to do my red meal and I can't find the bread, so I call my father and he tells me the story of my cat and my bread.... Quite annoying. So I find some crackers instead. (Make due with what you have right?) the ritual was amazing. The candles were lit, the spirits called, the harvester quite present... The bread broken and shared, and the wine poured and drunk. It was magical, even with a cracker. I went to go pour the meal out upon the roots of the tree, but I had a feeling to stay and wait until dusk. When day and night were equal. When both the gods and the dead could partake. 

I spilled a few drops of blood from my left hand to the harvester. And anointed his and his bride's candles. I had some quiet meditation on the nature of sacrifice.. And true offering. All in all this was a wonderful Lammas. And I certainly cannot wait until Samhain. May you all bear good harvest upon this wild, crooked path. 

Thinking about Lammas and Harvest- Autumn Musings

     


       

 

          Well, Lammas, or The Red Day, is coming up on August 1st and I wanted to just use this post to talk about certain things I've been thinking about Lammas and so on. Lammas is a time for Harvest, for reaping what we've sown. The time when crops are felled by iron scythes. When the grain is cut, but always to return the next year. Harvest can mean different things...and it doesn't always have to be literally about crops. In my own meditations on this time of year I see that we ourselves are like the grain....
we start out as a seed, and then grow, and grow, and grow, until on our own "Red Day" the scythe comes down, felling us to the earth below...but then another seed is planted, and up we rise again.
Some of my favorite lore to read in this season is of the Sacrificed King, who is found in many different cultures. John Barleycorn is an excellent tale to read, or even hear his folk song played. I believe that though my practice has grown and grown and grown, some things must be harvested. and cast aside so more can grow in it's place.
Harvest and the Autumn season is intimately tied in with the forces of Death, and Death with the forces of change. Change is needed for the blossoming and ripening of the spirit.
many at this time will hold a Red Meal, or symbolic ritual sacrifice of dark bread, and red wine shared between the people, the powers of the land, and the Ancestral shades, mimicking the blood sacrifices of old days.
 Although I cannot drink or purchase wine due to my age, I will definitely try to hold a red meal with what I have available. Blood shall also be shed from my left hand to honor the pact between harvester and that which is to be harvested.
I use this time of year to meditate even more strongly on the idea of mortality, and living your life today as though you would die the next.
the sickle-bearer waits betwixt the rows of corn and grain. Know that you will all be harvested someday.....and to live your life in such a way that you will gladly accept the scythe at your time, for you lived a ripe, and fruitful life....

I hope you enjoyed this post :) and may you all bear good harvest...

introduction: Hello everyone!

     
      Hello everyone! my name is John Birkel and this is a sort of journal to chronicle my progress in the Arte as well as everyday life. This is to help me see where I am now, and the journey to my destination. I have been given advice by many wonderful friends and this is more or less my way of chronicling what I've learned so far. First of all I love to read, and so there are likely to be a lot of posts about books and my take on certain things in them. Secondly, in the next year or so I will be joining a local Coven and learning what they have to teach me. I love to learn about as many topics as I can. Witchcraft and Conjure being my two primary interests. I cannot wait to see where this is going to go, and hopefully I can keep it a regular thing. As of now I do not know how often I will be able to post...but I will try to do so as often as I can. My path and journey has been a wild and crooked one up to this point.... very confusing, very changing and twisting, but also very worthwhile. It is likely to get even more so wild and crooked....but such is the nature of the craft yes? It is a wild and crooked path I walk... and I can't wait to see where the crooked roads lead me...