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Old 26-04-22, 16:32   #1
HarleyCroft
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Question The Occultic Arts

Looked up Occult, Magick, Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery as keywords but didn't find a thread about this in GC. I put it into arts and entertainment because it feels like a nice little nook. There is a general thread on Occultism somewhere but it's a little out of reach.. I'm planning on bumping it. There is a thread on Wicca/Witchcraft but it's a bit tucked away too.

Ever since I was little I always felt like there was something unseen around us and within us. Before I knew what stage magic or HP was, before I was paying attention in church and hearing stories about deities.. there is something so close underneath the surface that connects different branches of discovery that can be studied and ultimately influenced. Then I grew up and stopped trying to embrace it.

The history is so fascinating but so muddied and mysterious at the same time. How science and magick met to form alchemy (until humanity became to master it and it became chemistry -I love chemistry but it was never my forte), how psychology is a factor in curses and protection.. how religion and drugs have a secret handshake under the table.. It has no rules or borders and can be individualized and wielded.

I don't speak about it out loud much and usually get the old "I don't believe but that's cool if others do" when it comes up in conversation. It becomes much more real if you're receptive to it, but then again, maybe spellcasting isn't real and only exists in the believer's head as psychosis manifesting.

If anyone has any opinions on the matter I am incredibly interested There's only so much studying that can be done from books and I'm eager to learn from as many different and fresh ways as possible.

*~*~*

This is my Jar of Eyes, they all represent something different and I sometimes see emotion in them


And this is the result of a Card Suit ritual in blood and paint. It's not aethetically perfect and I tried (and failed) to use marijuana ash for the black but I'll find something else to burn and use for the Symmetry/Reflection ritual on the other arm.


I met a cat yesterday He walked right up and it's been ages since I've pet one. The interaction was more intuitive than normal and he seemed to enjoy it but as soon as I got the camera out (he is really handsome) he took off


Look at my scary new friend It's super sharp and really wakes up whatever part of the body it touches. Press hard enough and it leaves a uniform trail of dots

Last edited by HarleyCroft; 13-07-22 at 01:18. Reason: It's all hidden here
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Old 24-07-22, 23:15   #2
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I've never really minded talking to myself And it's been a productive- if somewhat rocky- three months for me. I might kick this thread every once in awhile no matter how deserted it remains.

Gotta upload this song to get it out of my head. It's childish and creative and takes major liberties with Voodoo practice.. but who is the authority on magick really? It's like art



~☆~☆~

I saw Antrum the other day and oh my is it good. Highly recommended it, it is now tied for my favourite horror movie


However, the sigil that shows up (apparently over 170 times) is not Satanic (or even Baphomet as the cover implies) in origin, but for the demon Astaroth. Demonology is so much older than Christianity so those borrowed themes have always seemed more real to me.

So in order to make sure all the demonic shenanigans wouldn't invite anything in I started some research. A couple demon dictionaries took me to the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and the Dictionnaire Infernal and Book of Oberon and Abramelin's book too and it turns out the dude shows up in pretty much all classic books ever lol


I will always maintain the opinion that adding Indexes will not depreciate the magical value of dusty texts Maybe part of the fun is flipping through and making your own


I've been seeing huge black spiders recently.. like 5 times the mass of the usual house spiders found in these parts. I know they're real because my familiar also hunts them and hallucinating spiders in particular are a symptom of hepatic failure, which I'm in the clear for based on my recent tests

The weird thing is they just pop out of random places in the wall/floor cracks and just watch me. I think I'll put a layer or two of waterproof tape that will hopefully make it harder for the lil bastards to creep easily, and I'm also going to take the opportunity to encase my entire apartment in a thin line of salt Nothing will be able to get in.. but then again, nothing will be able to leave


A couple days ago I met a huge beast.. like a 100lb Doberman mix. The first thing he did was jump at me and give me a perfect mark on my arm with two simultaneous paw swipes; I wonder what the 4 means. Then he was so excited he peed on the floor while I was petting him We're good friends now though

It's fading fast already (didn't take a pic while it was surprisingly blood red) but alas, I am more fond of the numbers 3 and 5 than 4


There are a lot of discarded cicada exoskeletons around this time of year.. not a lot of nutritional value in them but I wonder if they will help my voice be stronger. Cicadas are insanely loud up in the trees



August hail today. They were as beautiful as gemstones and had a white nucleus. It was really fun collecting them (put the best ones in the freezer) although now I'm soaking wet


Today I found this Jack of Clubs card on the sidewalk, it has black widows on the back and it goes well with the Queen I found a few years ago. It's not unusual for someone to toss a pack of cards into the wind; I've found basic number cards around too but these were extra pretty

Last edited by HarleyCroft; 22-09-22 at 03:00. Reason: ~☆~☆~
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Old 11-10-22, 02:38   #3
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It's October! Time for the grotesque. So I wanted to mention how Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story touched on the fact he practiced witchcraft and its not usually brought up, only mentioned how he wanted to make zombies. It's weird how magick (at least to me) are distinct in the dichotomy of male/female energy. It's not good/evil and it doesn't follow gender roles or norms but they are different.

On a similar topic, I cannot praise the movie Antrum enough. I find something new upon every watch.
Even without context this scene has a strange vibe. I've always wanted to face what I don't understand and recognize why it has such a weird evil energy.

The music is the main theme (this musical motif shows up in so many ways over the course of movie, it's based on an old Polish lullaby apparently) but here it's way more complex and I'm a sucker for aggressive piano and broken music boxes. I just really like this minute twenty of sound


Incantations are all vibrations
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Old 12-10-22, 05:31   #4
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While my knowledge of the occult is largely through pop-culture osmosis (although I do have a copy of the Malleus Maleficarum, and the Lesser Key of Solomon), I think I'm firmly in the camp of "I want to believe". I like to think there's things out there we don't (or can't?) understand, and I've had my share of weird or spooky experiences I can't explain.

Antrum definitely looks like a movie I should check out though.
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Old 12-10-22, 10:52   #5
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.

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Old 12-10-22, 20:19   #6
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It's no more accurate or real than the scores of other religions and mysticism that we have invented as species to pretend we are not alone and not in control of a rudderless craft through the cosmos.

I dedicated a good portion of my life to being a crystal healer. I apprenticed, I studied, I practiced, and in the end, I walked away from it because it is no more real than tarot cards, spells, incantations, prayers, and ritual.
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Old 17-10-22, 06:48   #7
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Every Lana del Rey fan:

I'm joking btw, I find the occult quite interesting even though I personally don't believe in it
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Old 24-10-22, 08:43   #8
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I'm not particularly interested in contemporary Occultic spirituality, as I find it pretty shallow. It mostly seems to be an incoherent hodge-podge of philosophies I reject, like post-modernism. It's especially annoying to listen to modern professed pagans sneer at Christianity while they pretend to have solidarity with the ancients or something resembling historical grievance.

On the other hand, I do find it useful to research occult history, because I vastly prefer this understanding of magic to anything you might find in a modern fantasy novel. I eschew "magic systems" in my own writing because they tend to be very pseudo-scientific and not mystical.

I have also used Tarot cards and have a collection of a few decks. I love Tarot, though I don't seriously vouch for its effectiveness as a form of divination. I'm of the opinion that when you do a Tarot reading, you already know the answer, but the cards present it to you in a way that might not have considered otherwise. Tarot is a Rorschach test of kaleidoscopic Jungian symbolism, with you as the test taker and test giver. Much like dreams, and dreams speak in the most primal language we know of.

Quote:
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It's no more accurate or real than the scores of other religions and mysticism that we have invented as species to pretend we are not alone and not in control of a rudderless craft through the cosmos.
Are you saying that spirituality is about giving up responsibility, because I don't think that bears out in people's lives at all.
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Old 24-10-22, 18:44   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrannosaurus View Post

Are you saying that spirituality is about giving up responsibility, because I don't think that bears out in people's lives at all.
No. I'm saying that many people find comfort in the belief that existence has divine direction OR that we have innate magickal or mystical abilities that allow us take control, and prefer that to the reality that we are hurtling through the cosmos without any such controlling or divine hand. I'm saying we have developed many different religions and cosmologies to provide such comfort.

I don't think anyone gives up responsibility, exactly, despite the very vocal population (at least in the United States) that tells people to stop fighting and let God take the steering wheel.
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Old 01-11-22, 07:16   #10
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You know satanic ritual abuse is real right? Why would you associate with something that brings so much darkness? When you get tired of being hunted by the demons you welcome in with this idol worship, Jesus Christ is ready to take your hand. All the truth and mystery is in the Word of the Bible. All of this other stuff will lead you down a dark path, like the self harm you are showing off as fashion.
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