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koemiexists · 2 months

Note

Hey! Can I get dom!Lucifer x fem! Reader pretty pls? Like I love him being a sub, but I don't think there's enough smut of him being a dom 🙏🏽

Accidentally Taking Souls

summary: you accidentally sold your soul to lucifer, and he accidentally accepted it. it only happens every one in twelve million five hundred fifty seven thousand souls! which also means, you're the first. tags: PANIC ATTACK, comfort, biting, porn with plot basically, not very good friends, dom!lucifer, drunken confessions, but not DRUNKEN sex, choking (consensual), fingering, breeding kink, surprise at the end word count: 4k a/n: this was already sorta on my to-do list, a lucifer x reader shot, then alastor x reader x lucifer shot, but it also fit your ask so !! apologies for delays :) i'm getting to them (a bit slowly...)

Truthfully, you weren’t religious. Your mother had always been, however. She would drag you to church, and make you pray almost all the time. Once you moved out for college, you never looked back.

When she died, she left nothing to you, but a single slip of paper. ‘Don’t sin.’

You truly didn’t care at that point, you didn’t believe in everything she had spewed, and continued to warn you about, even in death.

She had always warned you about your friends, telling you that they were demons who had risen from Hell to make you sin. It was truly baffling for her to spout her nonsense, especially in front of your friends themselves.

And yet, those very same friends were on your living room floor, staring at you with various smiles of pure delight.

“You want me to do what?”

“It’s not a want, (Name)... It’s a dare.”

You groaned; you were tired of this. “Why are you daring me to sell my soul? To the devil?”

One of your friends just smirked. “He’s not real, right? You shouldn’t have a problem.”

Blinking, you just took a deep breath, and shrugged your shoulders. “You’re right.” You said simply, and sat down.

One of the girls had unfurled from her position on the floor, digging into her bag. “Here.” She started, beginning to take out various things. “I can help you!”

You furrowed your eyebrows, thoroughly confused. “I don’t just say ‘have my soul devil’?”

“Damn (Name), I didn’t expect you to be that dumb.” She joked, bringing a needle to your hand. “No, it doesn’t go like that. If the deal is accepted, you’ll be in Hell.... maybe. That’s what the occult book told me.” She shrugged, pricking your finger, and dropping blood messily. “I just have to draw some runes...”

After the entire ordeal was over, especially the disastrous game of truth and dare, you retired for the night, concluding that you didn’t want to be up any longer and overthink what just happened.

Your friends had cheerily bid you goodbye, and you had waved them away, telling the group you’ll talk to them in a few days.

The last thing you could remember was the pleasant feeling of your sheets, and the cool squishmallow in your arms.

You awoke slowly, you felt as if you were drifting away... and then you felt someone poke at you.

Dismissing it, you turned away, until it registered in your head. Someone poked you.

You lived alone.

Jolting up in your bed, you looked around. There was a man towering you, grinning sheepishly. You let out a yell, keeping your plushie close to you as you kicked off the sheets covering you, falling off the bed.

Except that didn’t make sense, because your bed was just a mattress on the floor! It was close to the ground, and yet you dropped a good few inches from the ground.

Fear was coursing through your veins, and you felt an overwhelming sense of dread, followed by a serene calmness- but your adrenaline was still pumping, and your inner voice was screaming at you to get up, run run run run run RUN!

You jolted, trying to maneuver yourself to get up and start running away except when you glanced down you started to scream because of your skin tone-- it was a weird hue, definitely not natural, definitely not yours.

“Hey! Calm down- girl- fuck- bitch, calm down!” You let out a hiccup as your eyes flickered from your hands to the man. He seemed to be fiddling with something, before dropping it and orienting you.

“Sorry,” He huffed, and you managed to get a good look at him. His skin was milky white, and he had platinum blonde hair that was swooped locks. You looked away again, and he gently put you back on the bed. “Don’t fall off again.”

You sniffled, nodding. “Shit.... I don’t even know how this happened. Usually this is when people sell their souls... but I never...” He paused his pacing and muttering, turning to you.

Your hair was obstructing your face as you stared down at your lap, but when he approached you, you instantly stared at him. “Did you sell your soul... to me?”

“You aren’t the Devil.” You said instantly, before clapping a hand over your mouth. “I-”

The man just laughed. “No, you can call me Lucifer. Lucifer Morningstar.” He smirked, his grin wide and toothy as he looked at you with lidded vermillion eyes. “The ruler of Hell.”

You stared, mouth ajar.

And then laughed, boisterous and teetering to purely unsettling.

Lucifer stared at you as you laughed, and laughed... and wait-! No, you were still laughing.

“What’s so funny?” He huffed, a hand on his hip as you still was chuckling, tears in your eyes.

“Okay, I’m having a crazy lucid dream!” You snorted, and searched for a clock, staring at it intensely.

Lucifer cocked his head. “What are you doing?”

“Weird.” You muttered, staring at the clock even more. Why weren't the hands going haywire? Why was it normal?

You turned your eyes to your hands, studying it. It was... fine. Nothing was abnormal besides the fact your skin was a different color. You felt yourself panicking again, and you closed your eyes, willing for something different to happen.

Your panic began to increase dramatically as you heaved, tearing up as you looked at the clock again. You tried to take in breaths, but it was hard to even register that your lungs were burning.

Hands were gripping your wrists. You felt sick. Your head was pounding, and you knew you had to be yelling, because your throat ached and was scratchy. You could barely see, but you kept thrashing.

After a while, you felt all your energy zapped from you, you just slumped, sniffling and trying to catch your breath. Blearily, you watched as a muddled version of Lucifer appeared in front of you, looking you over.

“Ok?” He whispered, and you blinked slowly, tilting your head at him slowly. “Is- Did you settle? Uhm. Are you a bit okay now?”

You shrugged, and he wiped your tears, gently gathering you in his arms. His limber figure made his way to what appeared to be a bathroom, and your eyes widened at the sight of a huge bathtub. On the sides were a bunch of rubber ducks.

Lucifer gave you a mischievous look as he placed you down after stripping you down to your underwear, running the water warm.

“I made them.” He said, placing only certain ones in the water. “Some of these definitely cannot go in.” He moved a light blue one off to the side. “It produces voltage,” Lucifer explained, getting some bubble bath soap, and pouring it over the running water. In an instant, bubbles began to form around you.

You gave him a look. Because, really? Voltage duck?

He pouts a little. “I just... I made them.... Why not? It’s entertaining!”

You don’t know how creating ducks can be entertaining.

Lucifer gave a huge dramatic sigh, pushing his hair back, and bemoaned your inability to see how delightful his ducks were.

“You’re weird,” You uttered, your voice extremely scratchy. Lucifer winced, and quickly whirled his hand, a water bottle appearing.

“Here,” He said, motioning the water. “It’s cold.” It was cold. “Icy too.” Okay... “Maybe even...” You looked at him, as the water in your mouth began to get colder. “Pure ice.” Your mouth was beginning to get cold, really quickly. “Haha- sorry, bad prank?” Would it even be classified as a prank? More of an inconvenience, especially with how parched you were.

You stared at him silently, drinking more of the cold water that he provided. “So... I’m dead?” You whispered, glancing down at the bubbly surface.

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t expect to go to Hell so soon.” You muttered, looking around inconspicuously. It was very grand, fit for a king indeed.

Lucifer furrowed his brows, confused at your statement. “You knew you were going to Hell?”

You smiled gently. “Never listened to my mom. Super religious. Wasn’t my style.”

He hummed in response, and helped you finish cleaning up. You felt tired afterwards, and just wanted to sleep now that everything was done. Lucifer led you to a guest bedroom, sprucing up the surroundings a little. He gently tucked you in, and you gave a small noise of appreciation.

“I’ll show you around, later.”

You yawned, nodding.

“My daughter...” He had a daughter? “She has a hotel.”

“Mmm.”

Lucifer smiled at your sleepy sounds. “Supposed to redeem sinners.”

You turned over, groaning. “Go away... I don’t care...” You slurred, sleep clouding your head like a fog. “Ngh... wait.” You blinked rapidly, turning back to Lucifer. “What?”

He smirked. “Redemption of sinners?” He repeated, giving you a teasing look.

“Is it possible?!”

Lucifer inhaled. “I... don’t know. Maybe? I just like to support my daughter’s dreams.” He pauses. “Even if it’s a bit far-fetched, she believes in it.” Another huge pregnant pause. “If it does work, you won’t become a human, you’ll just be an angel.”

You turned away again. “Ugh.”

He snorted, and fixed your blankets. “Goodnight,” He crooned, placing a small rubber duck on your dresser. “You have to wake up really early tomorrow!”

He cackled when you just groaned.

After a few days of living like this, Lucifer deemed you ready to meet his daughter. When you inquired why before you couldn’t he just muttered about some sinner that would rip you to shreds. You didn’t really understand, but he seemed to hate that one sinner with a passion, so your questioning didn’t continue past that.

He led you to a huge building that had the words Hazbin Hotel in big letters at the top. You glanced at the infrastructure, cringing at some of the design choices. It was surely unique, although you knew it definitely needed some sprucing up.

“It’s pretty,” Was all that came out of your mouth. Lucifer gave you a half-hearted noise of acknowledgement, ringing the bell. You heard light footsteps, and as soon as the door began to open, Lucifer burst past it.

“CHARLIE!”

“Hi dad...”

You shifted from foot to foot, waiting for them to see you. “Oh!” There they go. “Sorry, sorry! Uh- how are you? What’s your name?” Charlie began to babble, leading you inside with gentle hands. “I’m Charlie!”

Lucifer was right by your side again, causing you to stumble. “(Name),” You offered weakly, gaining your balance again as Lucifer began to chuckle lowly next to you. “I...”

“She’s with me,” Lucifer said smoothly, smirking. “I have a favor to ask of you, Char-Char.”

Her attention was instantly on her father, head cocked to the side barely, questioning.

“She... accidentally sold her soul to me.” He started off slowly, and Charlie gave him a weird look.

“So? She shouldn’t be here unless you accept... Dad!” She yelled out at the end, and Lucifer winced. “How did you accidentally accept a soul??”

He groaned. “By accident, of course! Listen Charlie-”

“That poor girl-”

You looked back and forth tiredly, before clearing your throat. “What’s done is done,” You started, glaring at Lucifer lightly. “Besides, Luci has been helping me get accustomed to my new world. But we were hoping you knew how to redeem sinners so I can be redeemed.”

Charlie began to shift nervously. “Well- we don’t have a set method.”

You stared at her.

“We don’t have one sinner who’s been redeemed... yet.”

“Yet.” You parroted, giving her a blank look.

She bit her lip lightly. “Yes, yet. I’m sorry (Name), we are only just starting and I know being in Hell was a mistake.”

You felt numb, and can only barely register how Lucifer had lifted you up, pulling you away and whispering apologies against you. “Sorry,” He murmured, and you let out a soft sigh due to his hand on your scalp. “I’m so sorry, I thought she would have found a way already...”

“No need to apologize,” You huffed, blinking away unshed tears as he calmed you down. You still felt extremely upset, but it wasn’t truly anyone's fault.

Lucifer gave you an apologetic look still, before putting you down. You looked around, blinking. “Where are we?”

“Guest room,” Lucifer replied, fixing the sheets as you gained your bearings. The couch was ratty, with small tears on the cushions; the back of it was dingy, yet when you moved, it stayed steady despite the obvious damages.

You got up, and he motioned to the bed, smiling at you gently. “Want to sleep? It’s getting a bit late already.”

Confused, you gave him an inquiring look. He smiled sheepishly, motioning to the clock. “It’s the evening, I think your perception is a bit skewed...”

Right, your outburst. “Sorry,” You said, feeling guilty.

Lucifer just waved you off. “Do you want to sleep?” He asked, and you shook your head, looking at the door.

“Is there a place to get a drink?” You just wanted to get drunk, if you were being honest.

He hummed. “There’s a bartender, apparently.” He replied, taking your hand into his. “Steady,” He spoke lowly, as you stumbled a bit, letting him lead you down the hall.

You both made it to the bar, where you practically threw yourself at the stool, asking the bartender, apparently named Husk, to make you a strong drink.

He merely grunted in acknowledgment, turning away to start mixing it. Lucifer grinned toothily at you, before he turned around to go be with his daughter.

One drink turned into two, then into three, and before you knew it you were seven drinks in, and you were giggling with Angel, a patron at the hotel.

“You’re really,” You paused, hiccuping due to how fast you drank your last shot. “Really interesting, Angel.” Your words were slurred, and almost hard to decipher. Angel, however, understood you completely considering he was also tremendously drunk.

“Thank you, sweet thing.” He smirked, his gold tooth glittering in the light as he moved closer to you. He smelled like artificial fruits, and you wrinkled your nose in distaste, bile swirling right beneath your esophagus. “So, Short king is with ya?”

You nod, still fighting the urge to retch at the stench of his perfume. “Uhn, yeah, he is. I, uhm... made a deal with him, apparently,” You slurred, pausing almost every word you said. “Sorry, your perfume smells gross.”

Angel rolled his eyes, throwing two of his hands up. “Ugh! Val made me wear it for today’s shoot-”

“Why?” You nearly whined, scooting backwards as Angel began to spray a different perfume.

He sighed. “I work sex, babe.” When you cocked your head to the side, he began to rephrase his drunken words. “I’m a porn star.”

You flushed at that, and shrugged lightly. “Each to their own I guess...”

Humming, Angel brought another drink to his mouth, downing it in one go. “On the topic of sex,” He slurred, smirking as Lucifer slowly approached you two. “Who would you have sex with here? Based on appearance.” He hiccuped.

“Lucifer is super hot,” You giggled, biting your lip lightly as you stood up, swaying at your spot. “I wouldn’t mind having him fuck me, I need a good pound.” You dissolved into light giggles, finding the idea of fucking the ruler of Hell amusing, getting him worked up by a lowly sinner...

You yelped when a pair of arms wrapped around your waist, holding you tight. “Don’t squirm,” Lucifer said lightly, raising his hand to stroke your hair. “I’m taking you to bed. You’re drunk.”

“I’m not,”

A laugh came from in front of you, and you glared at Angel as he smiled even wider, smug. “Bye, (Name). Remember to not gag-!”

His voice was cut off as light swarmed your vision. You shut your eyes tight, feeling your stomach roll in pain as your surroundings became the guest room. “Hngh,” You whined, collapsing onto the bed. “Mm, Luci...”

Lucifer stroked your head as you chugged the water he gave, before he ushered you to bed to sleep the liquor off.

Your eyes were shut the instant he had dropped your head back on the pillow.

When you awoke, your head instantly began to pound, before tapering off to a light throbbing. You blinked, and turned to look to the side where the warmth was radiating. “Hi,” Lucifer smiled at you, his expression sleepy as his wings stretched from his back. “You’re awake.”

“And hungover,” You groaned, rubbing at your temples.

You screeched when your wrists were pinned above your head, and Lucifer was on top of you, straddling your hips. In this position, with you staring up at him, he truly did look angelic. His hair was messy, strewed in different directions. The glow from the light on a dresser behind him illuminated certain visible parts of him to you, and it just gave him such an ethereal glow.

You sucked a breath in as he shifted, his wings spreading out from his back, and you could almost imagine that golden halo on top of his head right now.

“Do you want this?” He uttered, voice deep with sleep and slightly gravelly. Arousal bloomed in your abdomen as you nodded quickly. “Words, ducky.”

“Yes.” You nearly whined, and he grinned, teeth all showing.

He practically pounced after that, ripping your bottoms off, and instantly his claws were at your underwear, shredding it with a flick of his wrist. Lucifer let out a growling noise as he leaned into you, thrusting a single finger into your awaiting cunt.

Slick was dripping down his hand after a few thrusts, messy and almost disgusting as wet slapping sounds quickly reverberated throughout the bedroom.

“Dripping, all for me?” He teased, beginning to lightly rub your clit with his thumb as he nipped at your neck and chest. “I just need to put my claim on you.”

You moaned, shaking at his ministrations. “Bite me,” You whispered softly before you broke on a high pitch whimper.

His teeth gleamed as he smirked at you, before surging forward to bite you right between your shoulder and neck, his sharp teeth digging deep into your skin before he pulled away.

You let out a sob at the pain, then a moan as he sped up with his fingers. “Sorry,” He said, guilt filling his voice slightly as he looked at you with lidded eyes. You weakly watch as he gently moves his other hand over the bleeding wound as the pain eased into slight numbing.

“I liked it,” You murmured, kissing him again, and biting his lip as you rolled your hips into his hand.

He let out an indistinguishable noise, before he thrusted his hand deep in you, watching as you came all over his hand, liquid shooting all over his arm.

“Good?” He asked, kissing you softly, before pulling away, licking at his fingers that were soaked in your release.

You nod, smiling as he beamed lightly at you. Moving slightly, you pulled your legs up, leaving your cunt more exposed for him. “Take me, Luci.” You had whined, cunt fluttering at the thought of his cock in you.

Lucifer flushed, his cheeks becoming a darker ruddy color, as he took off his pants. His thick cock slapped his thigh, and both of you giggled at the noise. “Sorry,” He laughed lightly, but you just shook your head smiling.

“It’s okay to be a bit silly, Luci.” You had said quietly, breath hitching as he entered you.

Lucifer sank deep into your cunt, inhaling sharply as you squeezed him. You had yet to indicate you wanted him to move, inhaling and exhaling lightly as you eased up around him.

You nodded, but he still hadn’t moved. His face was extremely red as he stayed still, his breath labored. You furrowed your eyebrows, moving slightly as your cunt squeezed then relaxed around him. “Luci, are you o-”

Before you could finish your sentence, he pulled almost fully out, his flushed tip just barely stretching your cunt. You looked up at him as he shoved his cock inside again, slamming into you. “Mm- Lucifer-” You tried to speak, but he just kissed you, your tongues entwining as small noises of pleasure emitted from you.

He pulled away, panting as his hair became more messed up from his movements. “Want me to stop?” He paused, to see what you needed.

You growled lightly, wrapping your legs around his waist and bucking your hips. He let out a small yelp, grasping your hips in a bruising manner. “Okay!” He kissed you, and slammed into you again. “Okay, you want me that badly huh? My pretty baby. All wet and slick for m-”

He paused as he was pulling out when you let out a whimper. “Daddy,” You had said quietly, nearly inaudibly.

“What?”

You flushed this time, looking off to the side as you worried your lip between your teeth. “Sorry, I...”

Lucifer gently wrapped his hand around your neck, and when you snapped your head to look at him, he smirked, gently squeezing, before his grip became lax again. When you nodded, indicating you were okay with it, he grinned.

“My girl, all wet for her daddy. Such a slut for me, aren’t you? When we fuck, ducky, you look at me. When I kiss you, you think about me. When I impregnate you, you look at me. Understood?”

You wailed in pleasure, cunt gripping his thick cock. “Yes daddy! I understand,” You blabbed, and you took a deep inhale right as Lucifer squeezed your neck.

“Do you even deserve to be fucked by me?” He asked, rubbing your clit lightly. As you began to teeter over the edge, he stopped all movements, looking at you. “I asked you a question.”

You heaved, gripping at his hand. “N-no,” You choked out, and he released his grip, kissing your neck. “Daddy,” You whimpered, watching as Lucifer pulled away to adjust your position. He had your lower half fully bent now, your knees nearly touching the bed as he grasped your waist, shoving his cock back inside you.

Screaming at the new found spot he hit, you began to earnestly moan, loud noises coming from your mouth as every thrust he made hit your sweet spot perfectly. “Ah- ah!” You bit your lip, causing it to bleed. Lucifer leaned in, sucking your lip into his mouth, before he caught your mouth in an open kiss, licking at your tongue.

“Good girl,” He purred, shoving his thick cock deeper and deeper inside you. “I’m going to make you into a mommy, do you want to be a mother? For me?” You felt your orgasm approach as you nodded, whimpering at the idea of your belly becoming swollen with a child.

He kissed you, and you bit his lip as you came, your legs shaking as you inhaled deeply, jerking at the aftershocks as Lucifer continued to thrust, pace off. Jackhammering into you for another moment, he stopped, his cock deep inside you as he groaned, cum coating your walls.

You felt gross, but he merely gently rubbed at the small bulging in your lower abdomen, sighing. “Good?” He inquired, kissing your cheek.

“Good,” You confirmed, beaming tiredly.

A month had passed, and you were chatting idly with Charlie.

“So,” You started, smiling lightly. “I have news.”

She grabbed your hands, eyes bright. “What is it? Oh! Did you find someone to stay at the hotel? Did you find some staff? Is there some news happening in Pentagram City? Wait! Let me guess, did a new restaurant open up-”

You laughed, calming her down as you smiled cheekily. “No, not any of that.” Pausing as Lucifer went up to sit by you. “Me and Luci,” You started, glancing at him. “Are expecting.”

Charlie froze. “Huh? Expecting what? A package?”

Lucifer grinned widely, as his daughter slowly began to understand. “You’re going to be a big sister, Char-Char!”

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spenglersweetheart · 14 days

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*Screams*

THAT ONE SCENE WHERE PETER ASKS EGON HOW SCHOOL IS AND ABOUT GHE SCIENCE CHICKS AND HE MAKES THE SEX JOKE SND READERS JUST THERE STARING BCS THEY KNOW FOR A FACT EGON IS A STRAIGHT UP SIMP FOT ONLY GHEM

OH MY GOD YES ABSOLUTELY

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( note : i added the gif too teehee 🤭 )

You and Only You

Egon Spengler x Reader

WARNINGS : dirty jokes tee hee

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YOU WERE IN RAY'S OCCULT SHOP. YOU WEREN'T doing anything interesting. In fact, you had just found a book that you were interested in and started reading. You were pretty much in your own world, other than the fact that they were talking about Dana's wild baby carriage and what had been the cause of it. Egon told you, and they had to keep it a secret from Peter. You can do that very well.

You heard the bell ring. That was a signal that someone had walked into the occult store. You just so happen to glance up and see Peter walking in. You sent a quick "psst" Egon and Ray's way. Your way of telling them to stop talking about it.

You pretty much kept focus on your book after that, but your ears were still pretty much sensitive to the walking around you. You weren't eavesdropping (okay, maybe you were a little bit). But they were in hearing range. What else were you supposed to do?

Peter had started talking to Egon. You overheard their conversation.

"Hi Egon, how was school?" Peter said, "I'm sure those science chicks dig that big cranium of yours, huh?"

"I think they're more interested in my epididymis," Egon replies back.

Your face slightly heats up at the joke. He knew that Peter wouldn't understand, but you would. You look up from your book, your eyes only peeking out of it. You catch sight of Egon, who gives you a smug grin, and you could've sworn that he gave you a wink.

You felt yourself hide behind your book. But you knew better. You knew that joke was directed toward you in the first place. Egon didn't care about those science chicks. Neither did you. Well, sometimes you didn't care. You didn't know why it really worried you either. You knew that Egon was yours and only yours.

You hear footsteps come your way. You look up from the book to see Egon. He eventually sits next to you, and you finally put your book down.

"You smartass," You say with a chuckle, playfully nudging him, "That joke was for me wasn't it?"

"I knew you'd understand," Egon replied back.

"Do the girls actually dig your epididymis?" You ask.

Egon shrugged. "Dunno. I know you are, though."

"Egon Spengler, I should wash out your mouth with soap," You say to him, playfully hitting him with your book.

"C'mon, Y / N. You know there's no other person that I would rather have but you. Yours and only yours, you know," he tells you.

You give a smile. "You're too sweet to me, Egie."

#ghostbusters #egon spengler x reader #egon x reader #spence's small fics #egonspenglerishot

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ink-bunny-blue · 7 months

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Well I finally decided to start a blog to document my writing. I've always been bad at sharing my achievements with people, so I'm hoping this will boost my confidence as an artist.

About me

You can call me Poppy (she/her), 20s

I write gothic fiction, historical fantasy, and horror

Themes I enjoy: nature, the occult, platonic love, madness

At the moment, I have 2 WIPs that I will be posting about, and many other plot-bunnies that may pop up from time to time

My favourite book is The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Project Title: A Pocket Of Moons

A Victorian Gothic fairytale following the friendship between a painter and her muse, a werewolf. Their bond is put into jeopardy, however, when our werewolf is indoctrinated into a cult of others like him, led by a mysterious human, and he begins to lose his sanity. Think Wolfwalkers meets Midsommar but with the atmosphere of Frankenstein.

As of writing, I have one or two editing rounds until this is up for beta

Project Title: The Evening Rain's Applause

1930s noir horror. We follow the ghost of a disgraced orchestra violinist as he tries to discover the identity of the stranger who turned up his funeral. He is lead into a huge web of occult mysteries as he digs into a harrowing personal history he never knew he had.

This is still in the early stages, but I'm already deeply obsessed with it

Please don't hesitate to pop in and say hi! I'm here to make friends and have a good time. See you around!

#writblr #writers on tumblr #writing #writblr intro #writblr community #writing community #writers of tumblr #creative writing #wip intro #writeblr

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literary-illuminati · 1 month

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2024 Book Review #14 – And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This book I basically came across by chance. Or, well, not exactly chance, but I’d never even heard of it before until I checked what Tchaikovsky books my local library system had copies of and saw it. Which in a sense is a terrible way to come into this – it’s an incredibly dramatic swerve from any of Tchaikovsky’s other stuff that I’ve read – but coming in totally blind pretty much worked, I think. Genuinely very fun read.

The story follows Harry Bodie, a children’s TV presenter facing down middle age with a career that’s never really lived up to expectations. Somewhat desperately, he signs on to a tabloid-ish program about digging into the family tree, hoping to use the residual fame of his grandmother and her fairly famous and successful series of postwar children’s fantasy novels as a career boost. Instead he gets his face rubbed in the fact that his great-grandmother is only recorded as an indigent madwoman, and the famous author was born in a sanitarium. That the famous Underhill stories were, in fact, based in large part on delusions told as childhood fables and family histories.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the stories turn out to be less delusional than previously reported. Bodie is in quick succession accosted by a faun, approached by a suspicious PI, and kidnapped by a surprisingly moneyed fan-club-cum-occult-coven. Soon enough he’s getting his first taste of Underhill first hand – or, at least, what’s left of it after a century and change of economizing and entropy.

I’m on record as being fairly dismissive about the whole category of ‘stories about stories’, and I guess I need to eat my words a bit because I actually really enjoyed this. To an extent that’s probably just because it doesn’t get too meta – storyland is a work of deliberate artifice, the stories themselves don’t shape the world or do magic, it just generally never tries to get too cute or didactic about it – but still. This is a book where the hero at one point describes his situation as ‘Five Nights at Aslan’s’ so there’s no real principled distinction for me to cut here. One of the main characters is literally a folklorist.

Though, it’s less about stories than one specific story in particular. The unremarkable schlub plucked out of their mundane life and told that they’re special, that they’re the hero or the true heir and possess some inherent numinous essence that makes them the most important person in the world. This is a terribly appealing story, and one Harry feels the lure of very keenly – he’s self-aware enough to say quite clearly that he goes back to the frozen, decaying world full of half-dead monsters less out of morality or rationality than simply because it was a place where he mattered, for good or ill.

It’s probably not reading too deeply into the book’s themes to note that the story is a lure in a fairly literal sense, or that the true heir is destined to ‘save’ the world by being hollowed out and possessed by those who came before them.

Of course as much as this is in conversation with Narnia et al, it owes at least as much to whole genre of ‘what is nostalgic children’s property, but fucked up?’ creepypasta. Fairyland is choked with fungal growths and creepy, staticy not-snow. The scampering, troublemaking faun is miserable and worn out with bad knees. The Best Of All Dogs is a rotting, terrifying hellhound. There’s even a titanic evil scary clown. Aesthetically the book owes far more to r/nosleep than Lewis Carroll.

Harry himself is an absolute delight as a main character. By which I mean he just sucks so bad, but in very mundane and endearing ways. Who among us can not relate on some level to a failing middle-aged actor who always made a point of not trading on his family name but is secretly pretty resentful it hasn’t helped him more? He refuses the call to adventure then decides his life’s kind of shit and he’d rather get stabbed to death by goblins, so he comes crawling back and begs for a second chance. He’s left a glowing magic sword that will defeat all enemies, but it’s stuck in the body of one of his kidnappers so he just runs screaming and it spends the rest of the book in an evidence locker somewhere. I love him.

I really have no idea to what degree it was intentional, but it also does rather muse me that – okay, you know the standard bit of feminist media analysis where male characters are the actors, while female characters are generally walking set decoration and plot devices? It really deeply amuses me that Harry spends the better part of the story as a magical blood bank getting led around or terrified and awaiting rescue, whereas Seitchman (our counterfeit PI/folklorist) repeatedly forces herself into things through obsessive research skills and a complete disregard for her own safety (and at one point an enthusiastic if unpracticed willingness to sword people). Though to be clear this was mostly amusing to me because it was absolutely never highlighted or commented upon.

This is probably the first book I’ve read that’s recent enough to be set during lockdown without really being a COVID novel, if that makes sense? You could set this the year before or the year after without really losing much, and it lacks the ‘this was written in quarantine’ vibe of a lot of books I read last year. But it definitely adds a sense of specificity and timeliness to it that I rather enjoyed.

So yeah, do not open it expecting anything like Children of Time, but good book!

#book review #and put away childish things #adrian tchaikovsky #sff #urban fantasy #novella

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azuresins · 8 months

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Something important consider regarding Sebastian, and some of the things people have had to say about him pertaining to following Christian Mythology.

Some people are using the wrong evidence to support Sebastian following what they claim is "Christian Mythology." If one tries to base his origins off of his contract symbol alone, and link it to The Lesser Key of Solomon… a lot of people have some feelings on the matter. Namely, an entire group of people. I did my best to break down the contract and it's origin in a previous post, but I did not further expand on it. I deeply regret that I didn't. The lesser Key of Solomon is a grimoire that does not actually trace back to the Talmud. The Lesser Key of Solomon is loosely based off of The Testament of Solomon... which barrows from multiple cultures and can only be traced as early as the middle ages. In fact, is has absolutely no connection to true Jewish folkore or true Kabbalah. There are mountains of evidence to support this, I would encourage people to keep digging. This article expanded upon this much better than I could ever explain. :

That people have used this grimoire in the past as "evidence" that jewish people have "secret magic and powers" and as an excuse to be antisemitic. N-zi's used this, as propaganda.

The book was clearly written by a non-jew (goy), who culturally-appropriated from Kabbalah and Talmudic texts. How do historians (more importantly, jewish historians) know that? There's a lot of grammatical errors in extremely-broken hebrew, for one. There's the countless books and articles written about this by Jewish people that often get trampled on, by people in occult spaces. Theistic Satanism is rife with people who are comfortable brushing shoulders with N-zis and parroting their ideology, for a reason. Occult spaces in general are very hostile, toward jewish people in general and they don't care if they're stealing from a closed practice. Quabbalists / Cabbalists were formed in general, so that non-jews could steal/practice Kabbalah and pretend it's Christian … The Lesser Key of Solomon, is a part of that. People call it "Christian" as an excuse, to be able to use it in religious practices. Solomon came before Christ, not after.

Jews who believe and practice in a non-secular way, don't believe demons are inherently always evil beings. There isn't a clear cut translation for "demon" in hebrew. That very belief in of itself, has gotten many jewish people hurt, killed, and persecuted for centuries.

A mystic jew who practices Kabbalah, would not have written a book/grimoire describing demons, like that. A jewish person wouldn't have even approved of the vast majority of those illustrations of the demons, either. Another reason this is known: it's staple of jewish folklore that demons aren't capable of completely shapeshifting into a human being, as they always will have what's described as 'chicken feet' / 'bird feet' / 'cock's feet', when they're in disguise, and they have to hide them using other much more ordinary means outside their own magic.

A lot of those illustrations in the lesser key, describe and depict them as having human feet, when they take the shape of a human... There's not even one mention of 'They take the shape of a man with chicken's feet/birds feet' or any warning, about what their feet will look like, anywhere, in the Lesser Key of Solomon. Wouldn't that be important?

In jewish folklore sometimes demons are known to chase ghosts and wayward souls that were once evil in life, trying to escape accountability for their misdeeds. Human ghosts who try to posses or hurt other humans. In other words it's generally accepted that human evil has the potential to be more meddlesome and monstrous, than a demon can be. That's not primarily a Christian belief. It is also a Jewish belief, that demons are inherently doing what they're supposed to do and have a place, in G-d's plan. Even 'Satan' (not the correct name in Jewish belief!!!) is ultimately a subordinate to G-d, working with him and not against him... not necessarily HIS adversary or the enemy, it's much more accurate to say demons and devils are an adversary to humans and human kind, alone. Didn't Sebastian say, "Where is the FOOL who spits on God?" ...That doesn't sound like a demon who sees God as an adversary. Contrary to popular belief, the Christian God and the Jewish G-d, even conceptually... are extremely different concepts, and entities (I mean for fucks sake one did the whole Jesus thing, and one DIDN'T... that's a huge difference. It is not by any stretch the only one).

People have been pointing these things out for centuries. That Christianity is NOT Judaism Plus™️... but it continuously falls on deaf ears. The reason why discussions like this almost never go anywhere productive, are because people out there... either don't care, or are Antisemetic anyway. It doesn't matter if they brush shoulders with extremely misguided and bad people, they want to believe what they want to believe. People will always be out there who will try to insist the Lesser Key is actually-reliable knowledge concerning the vast majority of these demons, and those who actually use it are "doing it in good taste!" and that "this source is Christian actually, and I am respectful!"

There's "demons" on that list, that come from completely unrelated cultures and practices, that aren't christian OR jewish. I've cited sources that confirm this already... but you need look no further, beyond the names and descriptions of the demons themselves. Therefore, insulting to say, "Their overlord is Satan" and they're beneath a rank in any kind of Christian-formulated hierarchy.

For the record... Of course, it is possible to explore this in fiction and to study these things. Of course it's possible, that jewish people have written about these spirits, and have tried to reclaim some elements of design of the sigils and content that was badly botched. It's their right to do so. Of course it's possible, to take these sources with a grain of salt and read it as someone curious, and studying how this all happened... how these texts came to be, and why it's so far removed from the closed practices that wrote about them. I'm not saying it can never be used or written about, ever, I am not trying cancel anybody (or Yana). Especially people who didn't know half of what I've just talked about. It took me an embarrassingly long time to understand any of this, and even accept half of the things, I've read. I'm just saying trying to say, as someone who has studied these matters independently for over fifteen years... That even if you're of the belief, Sebastian is connected to the symbols within the contract and that grimoire? ... It still doesn't mean, he's a part of Christian mythology. That source doesn't necessarily mean anything, in the context of who Sebastian is. The evidence to support he is Abrahamic in origin is much more arguable. The fact is, we don't know what Yana has in store for him, and we don't know that his contract necessarily means that The Lesser Key of Solomon, or The Testament of Solomon are accurate sources for what he is, or are actually helpful when it comes to identifying what sort of demon he is. He's certainly not following Christian mythology, and isn't displaying any of the signs that track with Christian mythology. He wears a crucifix, walks about a church, and walks on hollowed ground. Before anyone says with their whole chest they know exactly what sort of Demon or entity Sebastian is, in the context of the manga… I would implore people, to do more research, about these matters and to ask a lot of questions... and seek many different sources, regarding even what they THINK they know, and who they THINK they can trust.

It's easy to imagine in fiction, that if an entity went from a g-d to demon, or even from one type of demon to being seen as a different type... that they might embracing the symbols and names, they are now so commonly associated with. A lot of stories have been written like that. It's a very common theme in a lot of media, written by many different people across several different cultures! Jewish culture was not the only culture appropriated, in The Testament of Solomon.

I do find it extremely odd though, that people use the contract symbol and where it came from, as evidence that Sebastian is a "Christian demon" and "A fallen angel"... when Yana herself has already said she doesn't ever intend to confirm what his nature is, or where he came from. I also don't believe that humankind is supposed to be the pinnacle of all things innocent, and that the supernatural and divine are forces, are leading them to pain and poor choices... there are so many evil humans, in black butler and if anything, they use the supernatural as means to accomplish their goals and ambitions. Not the other way around. We have seen Sebastian act manipulatively, destructively, and even cruelly... but not any more so, than other characters in the story. Sebastian is not behaving the way a true evil being out of the bible, would.

Sebastian's contract isn't even "perfectly" inverted (as I already pointed out). "Solomon" / "Soluzen" isn't in Sebastian's contract, at all (the exception being S1 in the anime... thats it) ... and that tells me all I needed to know! * * * If you read all the way to the end of this you deserve rewards and treats. * * *

But finally on a personal and extremely petty note …why do people want things to be infinitely less interesting than they could be????? 😭 Why do Christians think they invented and have the monopoly on demons? Why does he need to fit into an extremely limited view of what a demon is that BADLY?

#kuroshitsuji #black butler #sebastian michaelis #some people might not be ready for this but I think it must be said

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as83rrzz · 3 months

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Very odd questions, but I need some information!

Do you know anything to do with;

Occultism in Nazi Germany

Witchcraft (if they even practiced those sorts of things) In Nazi Germany

Reinhard and Heinrich’s relation to the mentioned above

Reinhard and Heinrich’s relationship/how they behaved and acted.

I completely apologise if these questions are odd or too complicated! I have an understanding of some of the questions, but still confused.

Thanks a lot for reaching out, Anon. I really appreciate that you wanted me to help you with this information. I myself do not have a high understanding of these questions, but along with a lot of research, I was able to answer them to the best of my ability. I apologise if they are inaccurate or not explained fully.

Occultism in Nazi Germany

The theory of the association between Nazism and occultism has been a speculated topic since the early 1940s and gaining renewed popularity in the 1960s, ideas that the Nazis had a relationship with possible occult traditions and practices. A thought arose that the Nazi party recognized the use and practices of Hermetic Qabalah [a Western esoteric tradition revolving around mysticism and the occult], applying its knowledge into advancing their aims.

An example to back up this theory is the SS symbol, The 'Black Sun', constructed from esoteric and occult values and representing a preternatural source of energy and power.

The SS symbol, The 'Black Sun'

Historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke [15 Jan 1953 - 29 Aug 2012] studied this topic in his 1985 book, 'The Occult Roots of Nazism', where Goodrick-Clarke claimed that there were clear links between specific ideas of Ariosophy [An esoteric ideological belief translating to 'wisdom of the Aryans'] and the Nazi ideology.

Goodrick-Clarke quoted, The Ariosophist "ideas and symbols filtered through to several anti-semitic and Nationalist groups in late Wilhelmian Germany, from which the early Nazi Party emerged in Munich after the First World War."

'The Occult Roots of Nazism', by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke

Witchcraft in Nazi Germany

The topic of witchcraft in Nazism was the product of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's delusions, spending his spare time attempting to find the lost city of Atlantis, overseeing Nazi-themed interior decorating arrangements and commanding the act of digging up the coffins of famous people. Himmler's delusions only escalated when he was gifted a cookie embosser in the shape of a deer, arranging a publicly funded research project into the meaning of deer symbols.

'...Other members of the Nazi elite were well aware that the murderous Himmler, who opened the graves of famous people and searched for the Holy Grail, was a weirdo in a class by himself...'

Himmler's hyperfixation with witches was connected to his aspiration to create and open his own Nazi-style religion. Himmler aimed to perform in rituals that included solstices, torches, shadows, bonfires and drums. Himmler was influenced by German fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, convinced there was a deeper meaning behind the evil witch in 'Hansel and Gretel' than anyone else had perceived.

Himmler concluded that witches were, as a matter of fact, Germanic Aryan seeresses, also claiming that millions of witches were the victims of an anti-German genocide.

'...We see how the funeral pyres blazed, on which the battered and torn bodies of our mothers and girls, of our people, burned to ashes in the witch trials!' - Heinrich Himmler's 1935 speech to a Nazi farming organization.

Reinhard and Heinrich’s relation to the mentioned above

Himmler

↳ Himmler's relationship to Witchcraft in Nazi Germany has been explained in the question above

↳ Himmler's relationship to Occultism in Nazi Germany is not specific, but Himmler remodelled the 'Black Sun' SS symbol and it is possible that he did this with the intention to represent esoteric and occult values

Heydrich

↳ Heydrich's relationship to Witchcraft in Nazi Germany, under Himmler's orders, Heydrich dug up the body of Margarathe Himbler [who was executed for accused witchcraft, April 4 1629 in Mergentheim]. Heydrich's theory was that 'Himbler' sounded like 'Himmler' and that his boss Himmler and Margarathe Himbler must have some spiritual relation, although there is no historical evidence proving this theory.

↳ Heydrich's relationship to Occultism in Nazi Germany is not specific and unfortunately there is not much written historical evidence [that I could find] that he had a significant relationship to Occultism.

Reinhard and Heinrich’s relationship/how they behaved and acted

Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich had a close professional relationship, that was good working with mutual respect. While they were colleagues, Heydrich's ambition and intelligence played a significant role in their dynamic. Their closeness never went past any boundaries, as their relationship was primarily within the context of Nazi leadership and policies.

THIS POST DOES NOT SUPPORT THE NAZI IDEOLOGY, IT IS PURELY EDUCATIONAL

#reichblr #ww2 germany #ww2 history #world war 2 #heinrich himmler #reinhard heydrich

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theinstagrahame · 2 months

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This is the post where I show off the stuff I've gotten in the last month-ish. And it's been another good one!

(I mean it's always a good one, I have excellent taste)

Coffee and Chaos: I'm tickled by the concept of a coffeeshop AU, and I know that this game isn't explicitly for that. But it's also not *not* for that. Comes in a like conference-style folder, with all the bits you need to play tucked into the sides, which is also a great presentation that I felt deserved a shout-out!

Far Horizons Guide to Cults: I'm friendly with some Far Horizons folks, but wanted this book because it's awesome. A book containing notes and pre-made cults that have goals and drives beyond just "Be A Cult". I am intrigued by the occult, and I hope this gives me more nuance.

Neurocity: Picked this up on vibes alone, but I'm hearing more and more rad things about the creator. It's dystopic, a little cyberpunk, and the book is dripping with style. Can't wait to dig deeper.

You're In Space and Everything's Fucked: Station and Struggler's Guides: The title alone sold me, but I like what Dinoberry Press puts out in general. This is a solo survival space horror game with a cool respawn mechanic. I also splurged on the fancy version because the covers are very cool.

Dead Belt: The pleather folio for this honestly is what sold me, but the game itself is really cool. Salvage ships by laying out cards, exploring, and managing your air and tool resources. Try not to die. I haven't really succeeded at that last part yet...

Exquisite Corpse in the Maggot's Keep: Technically, this isn't a TTRPG, but it's go so many TTRPG folks in it that it might as well be. It's a choosable path adventure written by a variety of people in (if I remember the pitch) exquisite corpse style.

Best Left Buried: Throne of Avarice and In Calamity's Wake: As we already know, I'm a SoulMuppet fan (as in, I've written for their other big series, Orbital Blues). The main book, Throne of Avarice, was written by a creator whose work I've been trying to get more of. I haven't read Best Left Buried as fully as a game, but I am really excited by the excuse to dig in.

Between Clouds: I like air islands and big monsters and found family. Partially, I grabbed this because a friend got really excited about it, and it seemed like it could be fun to run a campaign with them, but I'm also curious about the Year Zero Engine, and glad to see people using it.

Kitchen Knightmares: Grabbed this as an add-on for the You're In Space crowdfund, but I'm glad I got it because it's loosely inspired by This Discord Has Ghosts In It, and that game rules. I might be able to pitch this to my friend group, who enjoyed Discord Has Ghosts.

In a Mirror Brightly/Handbaskets: First off, plug for the RTFM podcast, because it's very good. This two-games-in-one book is created by the two hosts of that show, who are great designers and seem really lovely. But, two wildly different vibes in a single volume is a great idea.

You Meet in a Tavern, You Die in a Dungeon: I've been following the creator for this since some of my earliest days in the RPG scene, so I was happy to help make this a reality. Feels very tropey, and I mean that in the best way possible.

In Other Waters: Tidebreak: Honestly, I have barely scratched the surface of In Other Waters, the PC game this is based on. But this is a Mothership solo hack that returns to that world, and it had me curious based on that pitch alone.

Aaand because I'm a doofus who forgot to include it, here's one more book! PLUS A guest appearance from my new desk mat.

Teeth: Been into Forged in the Dark lately, and as much as I enjoy Monster of the Week, the pitch for this seemed like it was more my speed. You're monster hunters, trying to keep the occult under wraps, while keeping secrets of your own. Plus, horror comedy!

The mat is the cover art from Friends at the Table's current season, Palisade. It's an Armor Astir campaign following up on some of the characters from their Partizan series.

#ttrpg #ttrpg design #indie ttrpg #ttrpg dev #rpg monthly mail call

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aois-amaterasu-painting · 27 days

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Interpreting the symbolism of The GazettE - part 2 - The Guitars

When I 1st saw pic1 I thought - it's the Yin-Yang guitars! The way Aoi is holding his makes no sense otherwise. And when I got to read the interview translation from pic2, Kai pretty much confirmed it for me:

"Kai: Aoi is a very skillful musician, he absorbs everything around him, letting it go through himself and then gives it out, without pretence, with his own sound."

Indiscriminately absorbing all the feelings is the most textbook definition of Yin.

Yin is the feeling, the subjective, absorption, the darkness & the negative (and we will get to what negative means further in the article, spoiler - it's not "bad").

And Aoi says things like this: "Actually, I don’t think (*laughs*). Nah, the truth is I feel." (It's from Guitar Book interview where he is with Uruha and yet again holding his guitar upside down)

The way they are styled - Aoi always in black, flowy outfits that merge with shadows and Uruha always light and flashy. Even when whole band is dressed in black, Uruha is wearing something white or uses a white guitar.

All of Aoi's guitars are black. The snake skin textured one always makes me think of Ouroboros, one of the oldest and most popular symbols of transformation and occult (hidden) knowledge.

Uruha's real name is 広揚 Kouyou. The 2nd kanji is literally Yang and the name translates to something like "immense sunlight"

The rhythm and lead guitar correspond really well to Yin-Yang as well. Rhythm being the darkness that let's the stars (lead guitar) shine.

More from the Guitar Magazine (September 2015) interview translated by @mizmyerz :

"Kai: Uruha is a type of a musician who’s going by touch - he experiences an internal conflict, fixates on it and thus the new sound is born. Reita: I think they both work hard to improve oneself. It’s so interesting to observe how they become similar at one point and then go in reverse at another. Kai: To me, at the very beginning neither of them had his own unique sound, but they were able to find and express it thanks to one another. Ruki: Uruha is very meticulous, prone to theoretical thinking. Aoi is serious and more realistic. Reita: Uruha first thinks of an image and then develops a theory based on it. Aoi's reasoning is very realistic, he always, let me say it, hits the core."

...

But let's dig deeper and talk about DOGMA album.

From the Black B-Pass (2015) interview, once again translation by @mizmyerz (you can find both interviews on her blog and reblogged on mine):

"Uruha: First of all, even though we want to distance ourselves from visual kei, we don’t mind the visual scene itself. We’ve been pushed forward by visual kei, received the impulse, it was like a stencil, so it’s still very important to us, but the current visual scene seized to be attractive. Furthermore, several years ago we wanted to expand our presence within the genre, we aimed to grow and evolve, but at some point it started to limit us, to hold us back, that’s why now we’re moving in a different direction. Of course, it created a solid ground under our feet. Then again, you must bring in something unique to arouse interest. Because of that, when you can’t find a way out, you start looking inside yourself. In other words DOGMA became a turning point for us, since it feels like recently the band itself turned around and changed the course."

The bold part of the quote is best explained by Kenneth Grant in "Outer Gateways":

"There is another faculty of human consciousness, the intuitive or 'inseeing' faculty; one might almost describe it as the fourth dimensional faculty. It is a faculty that appears sometimes in the artist, the poet, the occultist, and in a certain kind of scientist, and it functions also, though rarely, in almost everybody. It is epitomized on the Tree of Life by the third sephira, Binah, the Sphere of Understanding. Not the understanding of empirical things, but that insight into the hidden side of things made possible by a sudden total identity of the mind with its substratum, pure consciousness, wherein all ideas are stored and which under stands, or stands under, the mechanism of mentation.

The faculty of understanding is incommunicable because it has its origin beyond the Abyss, where human laws of logic and ratiocination do not apply. Hence initiation is necessary before the faculty can be activated and utilised. But such initiation is always and can only be self-initiation; all other forms of initiation are false because necessarily inadequate. [..] The Supernals (Binah, Chokmah, Kether) cannot be contained below the Abyss where the laws of Subject/Objects relationship obtain. Initiation denotes a journey inwards and may only be undertaken by each traveller for and by himself. Initiation and intuition are virtually identical in the sense that the journey leads to absolute Subjectivity which is beyond all subject/objects relationships. [...] Those who achieve successfully this penetration of the veils of Binah are thereafter as it were branded with the most ancient and inscrutable hieroglyphics that remain forever undecipherable by those without the deepest Within of Being.

The Typhonian Way is the Negative Way, the descent from the Mother, i.e. the pre-solar source. Its way of attainment is by reflection, shadow, the negation."

DOGMA album starts with Nihil. Nihilism can mean the dissolution or negation of conventional beliefs, structures, or realities, often as a precursor to a deeper understanding or transformation of consciousness. It might involve the rejection of established moral or religious frameworks (heresy) in pursuit of a more profound spiritual truth.

The Dogma lyrics "I deny everything" always make me want to correct them to "I negate everything" and it's rather easy for me to do so because in my native language deny and negate is the same word. I looked up how it is in Japanese and it seems to also be the same - hitei suru.

Yin is the Negative and since Aoi is the Yin guitar I've put the 3 DOGMA songs with Aoi guitar solos (and of course It's the songs that are utterly and completely devoted to the goddess) - Goddess, Wasteland and Ominous in a playlist and listened attentively. The 3 of them really felt like a unit, seamless. A menacing feeling building towards something. The solo at the end of Ominous is the culmination point. It expresses so much pain. Listening to it felt like my heart is being torn open. It almost felt like a physical pain. I snapped out of it and my mind immediately went to the 4 Noble Truths of Buddhism. Specifically Dukkha (suffering) and Samudaya (roots of suffering).

Then I looked at Ominous lyrics:

Sleep…Count me down…Again So I’ll close my eyes As I turn to face you My prayer shattered into ruins Is reflected in your eyes as you spread your wings to fly I see you whirling with nightmares Through a sky thick with darkness Don’t forget That the heart can’t die Don’t forget Really, dreams don’t always mean what they seem True…Dread Sleep…Count me down…Again This cycle of constant change is ominous I fall into the recurring darkness It steals away my formless future and whenever I step forward The sky darkens until I can no longer see I’m killing myself with loneliness and even my screams Won’t bring any rescue Sleep…Count me down…Again"

For explanation of what the mentioned sleep means we are once again referring to K. Grant's "Outer Gateways":

"Ultimate subjectivity contains the seed of sangsar, as deep sleep contains the latency of thought (dream), which appears only when subjectivity objectivises; sleep then becomes dreaming. The final process is one of objectification, which causes the illusion of a waking state in which the thoughts or dream objects are experienced as 'real'. Total absence of objects (as in deep sleep) is thus the total presence of Subject, whose manifestation then appears phenomenally as Sangsar (the Universe). But this fact is lost sight of when Subject objectivises (i.e. dreams), or objectifies (awakens)."

And going back to Buddhism, to quote Thich Nhat Hanh in "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching" :

"Contemplation on interdependence is a deep looking into all dharmas in order to pierce through to their real nature, in order to see them as part of the great body of reality and in order to see that the great body of reality is indivisible. It cannot be cut into pieces with separate existences of their own.

The object of our mind can be a mountain, a rose, the full moon, or the person standing in front of us. We believe these things exist outside of us as separate entities, but these objects of our perceptions are us. This includes our feeling. When we hate someone, we also hate ourself. The object of our mindfulness is actually the whole cosmos. Mindfulness is mindfulness of the body, feelings, perceptions, any of the mental formations, and all of the seeds in our consciousness. The Four Establishments of Mindfulness contain everything in the cosmos. Everything in the cosmos is the object of our perception, and, as such, it does not exist only outside of us but within us."

(From the DOGMA book)

The more I dig at The GazettE symbolism, the more I find, it's a boundless trove of riches. It's pretty common for metal bands to use symbols - some dabble in esotericism only a little, others are doing it for the aesthetic or just because everyone does it. For me, as someone who always looks and interprets everything, seeing such an elaborate and detailed esoteric creation is a huge pleasure. The fact that the 5 band members are the ones responsible for every single detail makes it even more impressive.

They are out there on Tool's level when it comes to combining mysticism and music (if you don't know Tool I recommend you listen to Lateralus). By the way I saw a pic of Kai's drum tech wearing a Tool t-shirt, it made me wonder if the GazettE themselves are influenced by them. Somehow I think they are.

I found Kenneth Grant's works (the author I quoted twice earlier) through Tool's drummer's library on his website. And their vocalist uses a lot of Jungian alchemy terms in their lyrics. I wonder if the Japanese fans sort of see the GazettE like the westerners see Tool.

I did not write much about Uruha but let me leave you with these pictures of him being immense light.

Link to part 1 of the analysis

Part 3

#the gazette #uruha the gazette #aoi the gazette

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retrogradepermaculture · 8 months

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The Sun Aesthetics, Predictions, Observations ★ Dark Academia

Our sun sign is one of the first things we learn in our birth chart so it is easy to take the nature of the sun for granted 🌞 however, the sun in it's aspects can contribute so much to our personalities and tastes. NB this is just for fun, both some suspected predictions and observations I have seen.

The sun aspect jupiter - magnanimous personalities, larger than life, theatrical. That eccentric professor you have always wanted to know more about. The actress who can't seem to stay out of the spotlight. Sun jupiter places have large ceilings, gothic, rococco or otherwise impressive architecture, and lots of colors.

Aspect mars - dominant, military, martial, without the flamboyance of jupiter aspects. modern buildings, skyscrapers, old laboratories, roman ruins. people with this chart aspect may be hot headed and dominant

Sun uranus - change their identity a lot. multiple phases or concepts e.g. experimentkng with nee and alternative fashions. if you have any aspects here in your chart whether opposition or trine either way they can manifest in the sort of study packed with pspers, overflowing with ideas, and on need of a clear out.

Sun neptune - bohemians, poets, drifters, beatniks, but nay struggle with output. hiding awsy behind the walls of your college to write love poetry. skipping assignments because you're too busy working on your own creative projects.

sun pluto - one of the most intriguing sets of aspects. can represent your relationship to secret and hidden knowledge. In a harmonious aspect like a trine or conjunction can show someone who is comfortable with shadow work. a public position in investigating lost musteries and secret knowledge. an investugative journalist or privste eye, a srudent who digs deep into the srchives of your university or college and uncovers something buried from a century ago that didn't want to be found.

In a disharmonious aspect - can indicate discomfort with the unknown or occult. or can indicate biting off more thsn you can chew. maybe you don't like whst you discover. can be people who are more comfortable with the present than the past. may take a science or liberal arts major but will avoid any history or soft science life sociology or psychology.

sun venus - carefully protective of your dtudy area and seeks to express thenselves through both their work and their tools. great at monetising their creativity. may want expensive pens and stationary. old parchments, dried inks, and lesther bound books. grows up to have a study of their own at the university brimming with antiquarian manuscripts and beautifully illustrated maps of the world.

sun mercury - you are known for your deeds, not your aesthetic, and especially the company you keep. In a dark academia context nay get involved with the closest secret society. solar energy drives your communications, if harmonious, the full force of your personality is in your work and writings. may invent something amazing or game changing in their field. if disharmonious, may come to blows with coworkers. may be ego involved. alternatively can be an eccentric genius who takes some time to get to know but makes good company once you see past their single focus on their work.

NB Just for fun, take what resonates and leave the rest! Also check out my pluto observations post here.

#dark academia #dark academic aesthetic #astrology #dark academism #astroblr #astro observations #tarotblr #astrology blog #sun signs #sun aspects #all signs #cardinal signs #mutable signs #fixed signs #astrology aspects

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chaoticwitchgrimoire · 4 months

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Archetypes and Occultism

Jungian psychology is popular in contemporary occultism, often being referred to as “Shadow Work”. This post will explore Carl Jung’s definition of archetypes in his psychological work and how they can be used in magick. The straightforward definition is as follows:

Jung’s archetypes have been beneficial in the realm of psychoanalysis, including dream analysis. They’ve given way to the multitudes of personality assessments, and even have their influence on contemporary therapy.

Some archetypes that many people may be familiar with are: the Child (or even known as the Inner Child); the Trickster; the Maiden, Mother, and Crone; the Father; even locational archetypes like the Desert and the Forest. These are just a few examples that we see often explored in art, magick, and even everyday life. The actual number of archetypes is limitless—which is both exciting and daunting when beginning your journey into working with them. Exploring archetypes is also a great way to explore parts of the self, such as gender expression and sexuality.

Discovery

There are a few ways to discover your archetypes. The first being to just pick one. If you feel drawn to it, there’s probably a good reason. If upon your discovery you realize that you chose wrong, it will only point you in the right direction. Another way is to connect with a higher power such as your spirit guides, ancestors, or deities and ask them. Deities themselves are archetypical, and often the deities that we feel drawn to work with are archetypes within ourselves.

I recommend working on one archetype at a time. After you have your archetype, you need to dig deep into it. Understanding the meaning of an archetype takes time, but coming into individuation is an even longer process. Don’t be surprised if you need to sit with a single archetype for months on end before it makes sense to you and your life. Look at art, read books, watch films and TV, all pertaining to the archetype. Explore how it manifests in others. Pay attention to your dreams, and journal often. Study, learn, and research.

Working with Archetypes in Magick

Archetypes can be used in many ways. We can bring forth an archetype when we need it. If you have an exam coming up, summon the archetype of the Scholar to bring that energy into your studies. If you work in a specific field, you can bring forth an archetype with those qualities to get the job done. This can even apply to spellwork and ritual. By taking on certain aspects of an archetype, you can use that energy to manifest what you desire.

The Archetypes and Occultism grimoire pages are free to download on my website. They dive further into the basic things I describe in this post and I offer a detailed example of the archetype the Scholar and a ritual for it.

I also offer detailed grimoire pages for the archetype of The Mask which honors Dionysus. This is available on my etsy and includes information about the specific archetype, how to honor Dionysus with it, and also how to explore it and use it to discover other archetypes with a detailed meditative exercise. (If you're a theatre nerd like me, this is for you).

I also offer Archetype Readings as part of my Custom Personalized Readings on etsy for only $6 (poke around my website or my grimoire pinned on my blog and you'll find discount codes) where I use Kim Krans's The Wild Unknown Archetypes oracle deck to find your current top three archetypes and help guide you on beginning to explore them.

For beginner witches, practitioners, and magicians alike, archetypes can be a great way to overcome disbelief when doing spellwork or performing rituals. Tapping into the archetype of the Magician or the Sorcerer, the Witch, and even the Inner Child, can help you take on a role to perform your magick.

#witchblr #witches of tumblr #witch community #witchcraft #book of shadows #grimoire #journaling #archetypes #carl jung #beginner witch #baby witch #neo pagan #neopagan

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rabbiteclair · 6 months

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I'm super interested in the paranormal/cryptid post- where did you find the stuff about Japanese and US paranormal encounters? Finding a pattern in encounters like these is something I've always been curious about.

(repeating all the disclaimers from this post, which means that among other things, this isn't gonna give you many historical accounts, and it's very focused on the kind of people who wanna throw their accounts out onto the internet.)

The Japanese Side

The big one I might as well get out of the way up front: Kowabana. The site's got some stories, others exist in podcast form, but the books themselves are up to 12 volumes of translated stuff from 2chan's occult board, the vast majority of which is in the format of first-person accounts of supernatural encounters. If you know any Japanese internet horror stuff, this is where 3/4 of it came from--Hasshaku-sama, kunekune, Kisaragi Station, etc.

(If you aren't solely focused on the 'first-person account' thing, Tara Devlin's parallel Toshiden and Bankai series cover most of the rest.)

Other people have translated this stuff over the years, with wildly varying levels of quality. Saya in Underworld and Okaruto are some of the ones I've found useful in the past.

If you can read Japanese, there are quite a few sites that collect and curate this stuff, and then other sites that aggregate those sites. As an added bonus, a given story might exist in multiple different forms between these sites, and then half of the sites don't exist anymore because this stuff goes back twenty years. I've spent a decent amount of time browsing these, but couldn't give you a good list of solid ones. There is in fact a pretty decent starting list on Tara Devlin's old Tumblr.

There are some Japanese Youtube channels that document a lot of this stuff too, but tbh the only times I've watched them is when I'm about nine google searches deep looking for something, so I don't have a good list.

The American Side

I started making a list here, but it honestly wasn't much of a list. A lot of the English ones that I've encountered have come from some combination of 'wandering on the internet,' 'being on /x/ back when it was new,' and 'the story was included in some other piece of media.' (Like, Oh No Ross And Carrie is probably the single place where I've heard the most accounts of UFO stuff, but I'd be a weird person if I cited that as a good source for them.) Unlike the Japanese side of things, I've never had much reason to approach them in a systematic manner.

Considering that my big source for this on the Japanese side is 2chan's occult board, you'd think that 4chan's /x/ would go here, right? But nah. I mean, there are first person accounts on there, but they're nowhere near as prevalent. There are several places trying to archive /x/ stuff though, so it's out there for anyone who wants to dig through it like a trash gopher.

But, if you want your 'hundreds, if not thousands, of first-person supernatural accounts in one place' counterpart to Kowabana, the best resource on the English-speaking side that I know of is Monsters Among Us. Yeah, it's audio, but that's life. It also has really thorough show notes, which serves as a pretty good starting point for finding other resources. I'm pretty sure there's a whole ecosystem of this stuff on Youtube.

(Really though, if anybody knows of any big text repositories of English, first-person accounts of this stuff, curated to weed out the complete trash, I'd be interested in that myself.)

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alethiosr · 5 months

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A New Approach to Daemons

I've been interested in the concept of daemons since I first read His Dark Materials as a kid. I honestly don't remember when I first read it, just that daemons were the only thing I remembered about the series years later. I discovered daemonism once and was very drawn to it but the more I looked into it the more I knew it wasn't for me. Yet at the time I had this image of a large, spotted grey feline stuck in my head for a long while afterwards. I didn't know what it was, which looking back is surprising considering how much I loved nature and still do now, but I knew it was important. Years later I started researching the Canadian Lynx and thought I must be a therian, but that didn't stick. That experience still gave me a lot of respect for therians and other alterhumans however, so I don't regret it. Earlier this year I was reintroduced to His Dark Materials after my mythology class decided to watch the HBO show after finishing assignments and I decided to get the books and reread them after so many years. Daemons once again jumped out at me and I started digging into the concept and trying to analyze it. I also started going back to learning about magick, but this time through a more traditional occult lens and eventually realized I did in fact have a daemon and how daemons likely work in our world according to traditional occult philosophy.

We all have daemons within ourselves, but usually they are fully united with us and go unnoticed. Through work, I believe you can gently separate yourself from your daemon until they present similarly to the daemons in His Dark Materials, though with the limitations of this worlds laws. At this time I have a deep awareness of my daemon, Fallon, but we're not separate enough for a communication or projection. I have some ideas regarding the exact mechanics of daemons, but any methods beyond my current step I'm not so sure of. If anyone does have any ideas, I'd love to hear them, but as this is my first post I'm doubtful I'll get any reach.

#daemons #his dark materials #daemonism #daemointus #hdm

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adarkrainbow · 6 months

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I am so glad I happen to have access to one particular book - it isn't mine but it happens to be part of my mother's collection. "Les perversions du merveilleux", The perversions of the marvelous, by Jean de Palacio.

It's not a book you find in your usual libraries, as it isn't printed anymore and now you get it usually in rare bookshops, or quality second-hand bookstores. Just on the Internet a second hand copy - not even of good quality - is worth at least 30 euros. It is a study, based on roughly five hundred literary fairytales published between 1862 and 1922, on how the "marvelous genre", the "genre merveilleux" - aka the fairytale - mutated and evolved in literature during the second half of the 19th century and the fin-de-siècle.

I often talk of the "great century of fairytales", the "golden age of fairy literature" in France, going from Perrault and madame d'Aulnoy's texts in the early 1690s to the publication of Le Cabinet des Fées in the late 1780s. But it doesn't mean fairytales as a literary genre stopped existing in France. It went on throughout the 19th century - but simply as a minor, overlooked, undignified genre, crushed by the dual tendency towards realism-naturalism (rejecting anything magic and fantasy-like as childish) and towards the fantastical (the "fantastique", opposing itself to the "merveilleux" - fantastique was the "right" way to do supernatural). If the late 17th and full 18th century was the "golden age" of literary fairytales, the 19th century and early 20th was more of a "dark age" - but there was a new boom and resurgence of the literary fairytale, a "Renaissance" by the fin-de-siècle, the two last decades of the 19th century and the pre-World-War 20th century. Of course Palacio here goes a bit further and expands his study all the way to the 1860s and 1920s, but it is still a focus on the "fin-de-siècle fairytale" and its "perversion" of the "marvels" of the genre.

Because what was the fin-de-siècle all about? Finding back a magic, an occultism and an onirism lost by the wave of realistic, social and scientific works ; reconstructing magic and marvels in a modern world while also brutally deconstructing it in front of the recent changes in humanity. Digging up the lost past and confronting it to the present - in comparison, rejection, or embrace. But it was also taking the innocent, the beautiful, the good, the fabulous and wonderful, and making it cynical, bored, depressed, cruel, sadistic - and what better choice of material than these childhood tales and "naive fables" of good fairies and happy princes? Twisting fairytales, but also exacerbating them - because the fin-de-siècle was also focused on the beautiful, the richness, the poetry, and it found a kindly echo and friendly cousin within the abundance, the preciosity and the extravagant luxury of these old fairytales. As such it is no wonder that almost all the artistic movements around the turn of the century - symbolism, decadence, all the way up to surrealism - took a great interest in traditional fairytales.

Anyway - this book talks about what the fin-de-siècle did to fairytales, and it is deeply fascinating. The first chapter is "For a fin-de-siècle merveilleux" and establishes both the "marvelous genre" of this era, and the process of "perverting" said marvelous in three specific ways: sequel-tales (continuing the story after the canonic ending), expanded tales (focusing and expanding on a specific detail of the original tale) and "counterfeit tale" (changing the setting, the gender, the iconic item, the social class, the time era of the original story).

There are two chapters dedicated to iconic character-types of the fairytale. One is the Fairy - "La mort des fées", "The death of fairies" - it explores the whole wave of depicting the fairies as a dying race or an extinct species, as the last remnants and survivors of a long-gone world ; but also the presentation of the fairy reinvented as the "femme fatale", the deadly woman, the lethal seductress ; and the symbolism of the fairy as a "woman of letter" - either a muse for the artist, or a storyteller making fairytales, when she isn't the center of a set of "dangerous wordplays" using language itself against reality. The other chapter is about the Ogre - "L'ogrerie décadente", "The decadent ogrery". It explores how the fin-de-siècle uses the ogre as an allegory or a metaphor rather than an actual character, when the ogre doesn't rather become a good and benevolent character, or helpless victim - it also talks of the focus the era had on Little Thumbling, Petit Poucet, and the transformations of the seven-league boots in light of an era of "speed and progress". But most interestingly, it also focuses highly on the "ogress", who was much more explored than the male ogre, thanks to the era's obsession with monstrous women - it talks of the sexual ogresses more like succubuses, of the greedy ogress-like women focused on eating money rather than flesh, and there is an entire section about the short story by Paul Arène "Les Ogresses".

As for the other chapters, they are all centered around onf of Perrault's fairytales. "La belle au lit dormant", "The beauty in a sleeping bed" - how the identity and nature of the fairies was changed to make them dubious and unclear entities ; how the metaphor of the sleep of a hundred years explored the passing of time or the return to the long-gone past ; as well as how there was a tradition of fin-de-siècle authors openly contestating, criticizing or rejecting Perrault's words and affirmations to tell the "real" story of the Sleeping Beauty.

"Miss Blue-Beard, or from the rehabiliation to the decadence" - the way the authors tried to redeem the character of Bluebeard, while also making alternate versions of the tale with a "rise of the feminine power" - from a greater focus and importance on sister Anne to an exploration of Bluebeard's previous wives and his intimate problems with women, passing by the angle of how power goes from Bluebeard to his surviving wife that takes everything from him.

"The metamorphosis of Cinderella": the great focus and fascination the authors had for the famous glass slipper of Cinderella ; coupled with how it became recurrent to depict the "after-marriage" life of Cinderella, turned into a "house-wife".

And finally "The absence of Griselidis" - dealing with the most often ignored and forgotten part of Perrault's three "verse tales".

#fin de siecle #fin de siecle fairytales #decadent fairytales #fairytale analysis #history of fairytales #literary fairytales #jean de palacio #french fairytales #perrault fairytales

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mamaangiwine · 1 year

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May I genuinely ask you about the history of western occultism? It's far from my comfort zone, and what I'm trying to discern is, from what I can see, grimoiric magic is heavily appropriative of Judaism, there seems to be no way around that. But I've heard the claim that it was originally born from genuine cultural diffusion, and that's why folks justify using it. Is there truth to that? I would love to dig into it if I can do so appropriately & respectfully. Any advice on where I should dig? Again I mean only respect in asking this, and thank you for considering my question.

Oh, anon. You do not know what you have unleashed.

This is gonna be a long one.

First off, 'Western Occultism' covers a large swath of practices and disciplines that range from the Medieval Era, to the Renaissance, as well as the Early Modern Period...so over a thousand years. It's vast umbrella includes astrology, alchemy, hermeticism, angel magic, and over a dozen notable grimiores as well as multiple other lesser ones- and it is not for the faint of heart.

I don't mean that in an elitist way either. I mean that some of this shit gets uncomfy real quick. Multiple grimoires are not shy about animal harm and endangerment. They do not flinch at the ethics of love or sex spells, and they certainly are not strangers to misogyny, racism or ableism. If interacting with any of that sounds distasteful to you, I would gently and lovingly suggest you steer clear.

And if you do choose to move forward? Well then I suggest, especially in the case of grimoires, that you are ready to study your ass off. Once again, I don't say this to be an elitist. I don't say this to show off my starry robe and my pointy wizard hat and my "learned" degree from wizard school. I say this because, otherwise, you will not have context for either the spiritual ideas that are trying to be conveyed in these books or the trap doors that are hidden in their pages.

Some grimoires were not meant for mass consumption or regard. Some books, The Picatrix being one, have recipes for philtres and salves that promise numerous benefits but are actually, literally, poison. Why? Because as a student of the occult you should know that pure bitter almond oil is poisonous, of course. Sometimes whole rituals will be detailed with one deviation that may, from the purview of the writer, cause the whole thing to come crashing down. Why? Because you should know that if Venus and Saturn, two planets whose natures are already at odds, are in contention it will sour the whole production. These writings do not give up their secrets easily. It demands a constant engagement supplemented with a hard won knowledge.

Now, in answer to your question: Did Westen Magic appropriate Judaism, or was it shared cultural proximity?

The answer is- yes. To both.

The history is longer than what I can write in a tumblr post but basically Medieval Christian Magic, Jewish Mysticism, and Islamic Mysticism were all in conversation with one another and were borrowing from eachother during this period of magical and spiritual advancement. Christian Magic did influence Jewish Mysticism, though not as much as Jewish Mysticism influenced Christian Magic; and neither as much as Islamic Mystcism influenced both. This blending of spiritual thinking was actually one of the things that made Spain the once great capital of magical thought and reasoning in the 12th century; due to its diverse Jewish, Muslim and Christian population.

This, along with the fact that there are many symbols, names, and spiritual ideas that Christianity brought into their religion post separation from the larger Jewish tradition, makes it difficult to identify whether certain aspects bled into Western Magic via direct cultural proximity and whether others were outright stolen...well, I mean the Hebrew was. The Hebrew was stolen.

However according to some academic theories, this theft may have even been the catalyst for some of the spiritual concepts later used in Kabbalah; Christian Ritual Magic influenced by Hebrew, in turn influencing Jewish Mysticism.

It must be said however that despite many Christians devotion to Hebrew, it was Jewish people who got stuck with the short end of the stick. Over time Jewish people would see themselves labeled as "demon worshippers" and "evil sorcerers" as their language became synonmus with magic.

This definitely presents a conundrum to modern practicioners. What then do we do with these grimoires? What to do with these traditions? If some of it is appropriative, do we throw it out? If some of it was influenced in moments of genuine human interaction and curiosity, do we label it 'permissible' despite the terrible anti-jewish sentiment on the rise in our modern era?

Both are valid questions, but no I personally don't condone their compelete disavowment; like many other traditons, Western Magic should be considered as a whole and with its complex history in mind. I think one should consider that these grimoires were far reaching and culturally influential, and in ways we cannot even begin to understand, or even untangle. A grimoire could be found in Ireland just as easily as in Spain, and not just in the libraries of white bearded men- which only makes sense. Some of what is in the grimoires came from the common people, and to the common people pieces of these books returned.

In terms of Western Magic, I think the magic community would have an easier time creating room for discussion, education and further collaboration. Such an approach would further these traditons in ways that we haven't seen for hundreds of years, and in ways not possible from the beginning. In fact, such groups already exist that contain both Jewish, Christian and Non-Christian practicioners.

With (all) of that being said-

There are ways to get around the parts you feel unsure about, or are approiative. For instance, in the case of most Hebrew, one could swap it out for Enochian since both are "heavenly" and "spiritual" languages. Such substitutions require knowledge of what you're working with and a willingness to experiment but they are possible. In fact, substitutions are necessary as it's not like you can just go buy the musk of a civet cat when you need it.

Personally, I feel the best books to start with are Agrripa's Occult Philosophy, Books 1-3 and 4. It is said that to read all four is akin to achieving a college level degree in Renaissance Magic. Any of the Grimoires in which Stephen Skinner is listed as an editor and collaborater are also great as they are usually more digestable.

As for history-

Dr. Justin Sledge's YouTube channel Esoterica is a great resource for all things Ancient and Medieval Magic Related.

Grimoires: A History of Magic Books by Owen Davis.

Ancient Jewish Magic: A History by Gideon Bohak.

And @woodland-goes, a practcioner of Western Magic and Grimoire Work also suggested I share this link. He has a podcast coming out very soon that will also be discussing what we've covered today and I wholly suggest you go and hit up his inbox if you have any more questions on the topic. He is far more knowledgeable than I.

Hope this helped anon.

#phew #this took some time and deep consideration #folk magic #spirituality #magic practitioners #western magic #western occultism #grimoire work #grimoires #agrippa #stephen skinner #occultism #ritual magic #magic history

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literary-illuminati · 3 months

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2024 Book Review #3 – Monstress Volume One: Awakening by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

Monstress is one of about three comics I’ve ever considered myself an unequivocal fan of. I, alas, lost track of things during a hiatus a while back, and got to the point where I barely remembered where I was or what was happening. So, as a palate cleanser between longer books, I’m making it a project for the first chunk of the year to reread this from the start until I’m caught up again.

This is a very high concept series – a matriarchal dieselpunk fantasy world vaguely inspired by 1920s/30s East Asia with a strong art deco aesthetic. The world is divided between the Arcanic Courts – kingdoms ruled by the animalistic ‘Ancients’ and populated by the Arcanic descendants of their half-human children – and the Federation – a human nation-state dominated by witch-nuns who derive their influence from being able to render down the corpses of said Arcanics into magically potent ‘lilium’. Also there are insubstantial projections/ghosts of titanic tentacle-ey monsters that wander across the landscape sometimes. And a genocidal war ended in a stalemate a decade ago after a city was destroyed by something that no one on either side understands. Oh an in addition to the anthromorphic animal Ancients there’s also just normal cats, except they’re sapient and capable of speech and also necromancy. The book really throws you into things and a decent chunk of the first volume is just introducing and establishing the rules of the world.

The actual plot follows Maika Halfwold, an Arcanic who can pass for human except for the giant occult tattoo on her chest. The story follows her abandoning her girlfriend and voluntarily getting herself enslaved and brought to the mansion/mad science laboratory of a powerful witch-nun so she can break out, fight her way through it, and interrogate her at gunpoint for information about the giant gaps in her memory of when as a child her mother worked with the witch on an archaeological dig. Things escalate from there due to a shard of an enchanted mask and an eldritch abomination that had been slumbering with Maika’s body who is awoken by it. The balance of the volume is spent with her, an incredibly untrustworthy cat, and a vulpine arcanic child who she more or less accidentally rescued from slavery as they try to escape the manhunt after them.

So there’s a lot here, and I really do love almost all of it. Most obviously, the art is just gorgeous – I mean, I’m an easy sell on dieselpunk/fantasy 20s stuff, but genre trappings aside the detail and use of colour is just incredible, and even the less detailed panels do an amazing job capturing expressions and emotion. Basically every aspect of character and environmental design is just very deliberate as well – aesthetics reflect character, and scenes are full of little background details that help sell and fill in the world. But fundamentally just very pretty, an aesthetic pleasure to behold.

Of course, one of the things a whole page of artistic flourishing is devoted to is a flashback of Maika – a starving enslaved orphan during the war – eating the stomach of another child who’d died before her to keep herself going. This is a book that just about exults in brutality and brokenness – ‘there is more hunger in the world than love’ is basically the tagline of the entire volume. This is a world on the verge of a genocidal total war, rife with slavery and human sacrifice, and it pulls absolutely no punches about depicting that (so, so many dead children). With, like, one-three exceptions everyone is flawed and compromised and betrays something they care about when their backs are against the wall. You really and truly can’t trust anyone.

You can see this clearly with Maika herself. She’s just, genuinely an incredibly unpleasant person to be around. Responds to feeling unsure or anxious by lashing out, all but incapable of showing affection in any legible way, too wrapped up in her own mountains of bullshit to even notice what anyone around her has going on until it’s shoved right in her face, paranoid and suspicious and more comfortable with violence than uncertainty, has 100% gotten people killed multiple times due to lack of ability to get over her own (mountains, abyssal, soul-crushing) trauma – really the list just goes on. In her defence basically everyone is actually out to get her (sadly the paranoia and suspicion do not in any way actually make her more difficult to deceive or betray). Anyway, I obviously love her, and the supporting cast is very nearly as good.

Just, generally this is not a series where suffering is ennobling – fear and shame and trauma and a desperate need to cling onto what power or privilege you can drive people as much or more as sympathy for or solidarity with others going through the same things they have. The fact that the Federation is run by a bunch of genocidal religious fanatics doesn’t mean the Ancients ruling the Arcanic Courts are good, or even necessarily that they care about the lives of their subjects beyond their own power and pleasure. It could easily tip over the edge into monochrome nihilism, but it actually manages to toe the line very well.

Though like, despite everything I just said, it does do the oddly common modern genre fic thing where there’s brutal unsparing depictions of colonial plunder and oppression but also everyone’s an intersectional feminist. Not as much as some, but the race-war is between humans and arcanics with no one seeming to care on whit about intraspecies ethnicity or race, and the setting is matriarchal in the modern implicit glass ceiling way a modern American corporation is patriarchal, not the way a midcentury warlord state or fascist empire is patriarchal (not that this means there aren’t graphic threats of rape or depictions of what’s clearly sex slavery just that being the one holding the lash isn’t really gendered).

So yeah, overall happy to report that the first volume of this still absolutely and entirely holds up – and considered as a work on its own the first volume really coheres far better than I’d realized when I was first reading this in one mad rush. Very much looking forward to continuing on to volume 2.

#book review #monstress #comic #sff #lesbian space atrocities #Marjorie Liu #Sana Takeda

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