Once We Start Loving Ourselves, People No Longer Seem Good To Us Unless They Are Actually Good For Us.

Not enough sage for the shit that's manifesting around here...

Aphroditos, the Trans Aphrodite worshipped widely in Amathus and Athens.

This particular pose, where a feminine deity lifts up their skirt or dress to reveal a phallus, is called the Anasyrma or Anasyromenos and was widely regarded as an apotropaic gesture, averting evil influences and bringing forth good fortune.

"There's also a statue of Venus on Cyprus, that's bearded, shaped and dressed like a woman, with scepter and male genitals, and they conceive her as both male and female. Aristophanes calls her Aphroditus, and Laevius says: Worshiping, then, the nurturing god Venus, whether she is male or female, just as the Moon is a nurturing goddess. In his Atthis Philochorus, too, states that she is the Moon and that men sacrifice to her in women's dress, women in men's, because she is held to be both male and female."

-Macrobius, Saturnalia (C. 431 BCE)

This combination of masculinity and femininity in the same Deity and their assocition with the moon, both of which were considered to have fertilizing powers, was regarded as having an influence over the entire animal and vegetable creation.

They were often identified with Ermaphroditos (Hermaphroditus), the intersex child of Aphrodite and Hermes

Sources:

Koloski-Ostrow, Ann Olga; Lyons, Claire L. (2000), Naked truths: women, sexuality, and gender in classical art and archaeology, Routledge; pp. 230-231.

^ Freese, John Henry (1911). "Aphrodite" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 166.

Macrobius; Kaster, Robert A. (2011), Saturnalia, Volume 2, Harvard University Press; p. 58

Full Moon devotional offerings for Hekate 🌕

On the Dikhomenia, after I give offerings to Selene outdoors under the moonlight, I also leave offerings for Hekate at Her shrine. These offerings usually consist of libations, incense, cakes or fruit, and beeswax candles anointed in fragrant oils to symbolize Her torches and the guiding light of the Moon. On the Full Moon I honor Hekate at Her most heavenly, as Hekate Ourania, as Hekate Soteira, the goddess honored by Zeus, the most high. I ask for blessings, guidance, and deliverance from strife, calling on Her shining light to guide me down the best path.

In this way, She is given honors every lunar month in Her different aspects, as protector of the home on the Noumenia, as the goddess of the restless dead and as pyschopomp on the Deipnon, and as a goddess of the heavens on the Dikhomenia. Thus, as a goddess of boundaries, liminality, transitions, and the in-between, She is honored at the end, the beginning, and in the middle of each lunar month.

Witches & Words: Deities

Language is more than a powerful tool; it is power itself. Every word has meaning and intent, and is spoken by willpower and action. Witches understand the power involved in communicating. This is a series about how to properly communicate with different entities.

Introductions:

Stay calm. Deities do not want to work with people who are not respectful of their Divity and power.

Be truthful and stick to your values. Do not lie about your name, experience, or values to a Deity. Unlike some entities where it is useful to never offer your true name, Deities demand a certain level of respect and honesty. You don’t want to anger Them.

Don’t make promises upon meeting. You can invoke, make offerings to, pray to, worship, and/or involve in a ritual a Deity without being devoted to that Deity. Devoting yourself to a Deity is a big decision that has a serious level of commitment, and you should never make a promise to a Deity that you can’t keep.

Ask what name you may call Them by! This is key because They may offer you a symbol or name to call Them by and invoke Them with.

Conversation:

Ask questions! Prepare a list of questions to ask. Nothing life-altering at first, just simple things. Ask Them how long they have been in your life, if They would appreciate an offering (and if so, what), or even if They could tell you a story.

Be respectful and receptive of answers. If a Deity doesn’t give you the answer you wanted, or even refuses to answer, respect that. Don’t try to push them to give you a different answer.

Be clear about your expectations. Be sure to clearly communicate what you need and want out of a possible relationship with the Deity.

Be respectful of the Deity’s time. If the Deity needs or wants to leave, let them.

Goodbye:

Thank the Deity for their time, knowledge, answers, etc.. Deities thrive with praise!

Say a clear goodbye! This is very important! Communicate that you are ending the conversation, and suggest a time or way that you may contact each other again.

After:

Make a small offering to the Deity. Don’t offer anything big; burning a few herbs or even the light of a candle would work fine. Just offer something to show your appreciation for the Deity.

Cleanse! Cleanse your altar, tarot, crystals, or whatever you used to contact the Deity. You don’t want the energy of that visit to interfere with future rituals or spells.

Watch for signs. A Deity may send signs after communication that they are there, so be alert!

Honouring & Offering: Apollo edition

The Sun ☀️ Drawing a sunrise ☀️ Taking a picture of the sun ☀️ Bask in the sun while thinking of him ☀️ Wear yellows and warm tones ☀️ Golden makeup

Music 🎼 Learn an instrument or sing 🎼 Decorate with sheet music 🎼 Support indie/small musicians 🎼 Dance 🎼 Create your own musical chant in honour of him

Healing & Medicine 💊 Donate to health charities 💊 Eat healthily 💊 Learn first aid 💊 Exercise 💊 Expand your knowledge on health care

The Arts 📝 Write poetry 📝 Draw or paint 📝 Create clay models 📝 Visit a theatre 📝 Visit an opera or classical music performance

Oracles, Prophecy & Truth 🎴 Learn divination 🎴 Perform readings for yourself and others 🎴 Dedicate a tarot deck to him 🎴 Meditate with him in mind 🎴 Speak truthfully

Beauty 💄 Wear jewellery 💄 Dedicate an item of clothing to him 💄 Offer rings 💄 Self-care routine 💄 Makeup

Crystals 🪨 Citrine 🪨 Amber 🪨 Sapphire 🪨 Sunstone 🪨 Carnelian

Plants 🪻 Hyacinth 🪻 Laurel 🪻 Apple-trees 🪻 Bay leaves 🪻 Cinnamon

Misc. 💛 Learn his mythos 💛 Respect his twin sister Artemis, mother Leto, lovers, and children 💛 Visit his temples 💛 Include oranges or lemons in your drinks/food 💛 Work with the number 7 and celebrate Sundays

Rainbow Magic

To work with the rainbow in magic is not much different as either using colour magic, or the magic of other natural phenomena such as the Sun and Moon. Rainbow energy can be raised by the homemade rainbow methods above, and then channeled into the working. Nevertheless, here are some ideas on how to use rainbows in magic.

Charging: Charging your tools, amulets, jewellery, journals, plushies, decks, and whatever else you can think of with rainbow energy. This can be done by placing it in rainbow light, charging them when there is a rainbow, or on a charging plate. You can also first cleanse your tools or items in the rain, before charging them with rainbow energy.

Candles: Candle magic using seven candles in the individual colours, or using rainbow coloured candles. There are also drip candles, which are white on the outside and drip in rainbow colours as they burn. These are great for revealing magics, where the "true colours" are revealed as the candle burns down

Poppet magic: Poppets are often made from fabric, yarn, wheat, or clay, the last of which can be coloured. Making a poppet of rainbow fabric or draping a rainbow across the poppet can be used to bring rainbow energy into someone's life, or bring joy, wonder, and happiness.

Sachets or envelopes: Making sachets or envelopes in rainbow colours to make talismans, or put photos and petitions in them to charge with rainbow magic.

Rainbow water: Charging water while there is a rainbow, in the same way you would make moon water. Another way to make rainbow water is to place a bottle or glass of water on a charging plate, letting it soak up those good rainbow vibes. Another way is to divide your water up into seven, and use food colouring to colour it. Drink those colours!

Clothes: Bring some rainbow magic into your life by wearing rainbow clothing, jewellery, or accessories.

Meditation: Use meditation to connect with the magic of the rainbow. Sit in rainbow light, or drape a rainbow scarf or piece of fabric around you. Meditate while there is an actual rainbow outside. You can also try and find the end of the rainbow in meditation. You can meditate on the rainbow as a whole, or on the individual colours. For example meditate on one colour every day and see what this colour brings you. Or do a breathing meditation where with each inhale, you inhale a different colour of light.

Body: Makeup and face paint are another way to practice rainbow magic. There are some really cool rainbow makeup looks out there (like I wore to my wedding!), or you can use facepaint to draw sigils, symbols, or just a whole rainbow on you. If you want it to be more permanent, there are so many beautiful rainbow tattoo designs out there. Use this to bring in rainbow energy in general, or focus it on specific spots for some extra healing and oomph. Nailpolish is also a great way to carry a bit of rainbow with you.

Kitchen Witchery: Rainbow foods. Just, rainbow foods. I have a pinterest board. They are so cool and fun.

Crystals: Above I mentioned some crystals which look like captured rainbows. Use them in magic, or use seven different stones for the seven colours of the rainbow. My favourite set is garnet, carnelian, citrine, aventurine, turquoise, sodalite, and amethyst.

Fabric Arts: weaving with colours, braiding seven colours together, knot magic with different beads knotted in the yarn, crocheting with rainbow yarn, rainbow friendship bracelets, there are a lot of ideas here.

Time: Not something I personally use, but there are seven days in the week, and seven colours in the rainbow. These facts can be combined to make magic.

Visionboards: Making visionboards are a great way to tap into rainbow magic and bring it into your life, especially if you also incorporate the words of the associations you want to use.

Inner Child work: Ever notice how so many toys are multicoloured and fun. How crayons and pencils come in the colours of the rainbow with a few added ones. Practice inner child work by playing. Just play, let out you inner gremlin and create or play without fear or shame.

Altar: Create an altar for your rainbow magic, rainbow entity, or just a "wonder altar" in general. Add things that bring that same burst of joyous wonder that you feel when you see a rainbow. Some ideas for your rainbow altar are rainbow candles, statues of rainbows (tip: Christmas ornaments!), pictures or art, unicorns, golden coins, pride flags, prisms, rainbow lights, rainbow roses (real or fake), crystals, art supplies, and bubble wands.

Music: Why are there so many songs about rainbows? (I had to) But Kermit was right, there are many songs about rainbows so why not make a playlist for your rainbow magic?

Sigils: Draw sigils with a rainbow pencil (remember those?), layer the different colours over one another, or draw pieces of the sigil in different sparkly pens to make them rainbow.

Galaxy Jars: These are jars filled with cotton balls, water, glitter, and food colouring. By packing the cotton tight these jars look like a galaxy. You can use one jar per colour, or make a layered jar with all the colours of the rainbow. I like to hide little pouches with herbs, sigils, and crystal chips in my galaxy jars to make them spell jars.

Natural dyes: Using dyes or inks made out of herbs, flowers, vegetables, plants, minerals and fruits can draw the energy of those materials into your rainbow magic as well.

Queer Magic: The rainbow has been inextricably linked to the queer community. Therefore rainbow energy can also be used in queer magic. for example in community protection spells, pride flag spell bottles (using Gilbert Bakers colour meanings), charming pronoun pins, and queer tarot spreads.

[Part of a Rainbowmancy series, masterpost here]

My advice regarding romantic relationships with Hellenic deities

This is a bit of a complex topic, but I feel like it's worth my time to write something about. Intimate and sexual relationships with gods is nothing new. Mythologies are filled with stories of gods taking mortals for lovers and even spouses. Like any relationship between a god and a mortal, it's going to vary from god to god, and mortal to mortal. Being romantically involved with a divine being is going to be different for everyone, so I'm going to offer some insights and advice based on my personal experiences.

You don't have to say "yes". You don't have to date anyone you're not interested in, even if they're a god. A god can take "no" for an answer. A divine being will not force themselves on you or coerce you into any arrangement against your will. If it's not something you want or are up for, just politely decline. If it's something you're nervous about but still might be interested in, request some time to think about it, and give your answer at a later time.

You need to set boundaries. The first thing I did was writing down a list of conditions that I will abide by, and boundaries that are not to be crossed. A divine being will respect your boundaries and will have no problem agreeing to reasonable conditions. Once again, if you need time to sleep on this and ponder this through, simply communicate that you wish to do so. Gods are patient. They literally have forever. They will give you the time you need. They will wait.

You can expect reciprocity. A relationship with anyone, mortal or divine, is a two way street. It's going to be a give and take. You can expect certain things from them, and they can expect certain things from you. There's going to be a level of commitment and devotion, and some amount of work involved.

You don't need to rush. Like mentioned above, gods have eternities. Time is not an issue for them. Take your time, get to know them, figure them out, and build a relationship with a foundation. Don't jump into anything you're not ready for. The Hellenic gods are creative with romantic gestures. They will be happy to woo you, to court you, to press their suits to you.

You don't have to be exclusive. The Hellenic gods themselves are not known for monogamy. They're not going to mind your existing or future romantic bonds with other mortals or other gods.

Most importantly: you don't have to marry them. Taking a lover is not automatically a step toward marriage, at any point, by any means. No one has to marry their lover in the end, no matter how long the affair lasts. This was the first condition I put down: I will not marry you. I have no intention of binding myself to a god in a marriage contract. I'm not interested in being a godspouse. I already have a husband in the mortal realm, and that's enough for me. No divine being would require a marital pact for you to remain in their favor. A love affair can end amicably. An oath of marriage, on the other hand, will be much harder to walk away from, and the Hellenic gods aren't ones to take kindly to the breaking of oaths.

Do you know your soul kin?

Probably not, if you belong to a New Age, neopagan path that avoids violently the harsh truths of spirituality.

Your soul kin are a diverse group that includes your best friends and your worst enemies.

What they have in common is that before you were born, your higher self signed a contract with them to help you achieve your purpose in this incarnation.

Your best friends, which include your most loyal family and teachers, are meant to nurture and support you.

Your worst enemies, which include the most toxic friends and lovers, are meant to push you to step into your power.

Your soulmate is not among your soul kin because you are two halves of a single soul. You are not separate but one, meant to reunite after you have learned the hardest lessons in life.

If your subconscious is open to recognizing your soul kin, especially those with a villainous role, it is easy to identify them.

They are those who encouraged you to abandon your weaknesses, either by cheering you on or booing you. They are the people who made you stronger, whether through their love or the suffering they caused.

As always, the stars and your hands provide clues.

To illustrate, I am a Scorpio Sun and a Libra Moon. One of my soul kin is a Libra Sun and a Scorpio Moon. A mirror image.

Another seemed to have been born a day after I was. But upon adjusting for the time difference in our countries of birth, we found out that we were born at the exact same moment.

And when we put our hands together, wherever there is damage in one, there is strength in the other.

One of my soul kin has a short life line. Where his fades, mine thickens, compensating for what he lacks.

Another has tridents in her left palm in the exact places I have them in my right.

If you know where to look, you too will find that your soul kin’s maps of destiny echo your own.

My soul kin and I like to meet in our dreams. In that realm between the conscious mind and the higher self. In the backstage of this incarnation, where we can shed our roles and speak off the record.

Welcome to The Mountain’s Sanctuary

The Mountain’s Sanctuary is a 16+ magico-religious server focused on centring Goddesses & FLINTA* (frau/woman, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, transgender, agender) divinities. We are beginner/seeker friendly with a hefty library, regular events, & a fibre crafts club.

We have

↝ A wide range of channels for the various polytheisms, as well as channels specifically for thealogy & local cultus. ↝ A completely free to access library & resource section that’s added too by our members regularly. ↝ Weekly questions, a goddess of the moon-th event, & a section for posting profiles on entities. ↝ A zero tolerance policy for transphobes, transmisogynists, racists, fascists, and their friends.

We are

↝ FLINTA centered. ↝ Open to all non-appropriative paths & practices. ↝ Jewish & BIPOC inclusive, we endeavour to make our server a welcoming and comfortable place for marginalised members. ↝ LGBTQ inclusive & run. ↝ Disability & MMIND inclusive & run. ↝ Godspouse & alterhuman inclusive. ↝ Plural inclusive with PK available.

discord link