Category: Occult Art

Spring Awakening

I continue to work on my personal oracle over this last week, painting portraits of Leviathan, Eurynomous, and Astaroth.

I’m particularly pleased with the work I did on Astaroth’s painting, as I’ve struggled to capture her on paper for some time. I also began canvases for Unsere, Verrine, and Amducius. I still have at least eight more cards to go, but I do not think I’ll be able to finish that many by April 1. Even so, I’ll keep at it so that I will have the oracle deck for use for at least part of the next Domagick challenge.

However, I must now set my painting on the back burner and concentrate on a couple of different tasks over the next week instead.

First, I must prepare for the Spring Equinox and the First Rite to Lucifer. In this ritual, I will celebrate him as Lord of the air, enlightenment, and new beginnings. At other times in my life, I have participated in shamanic journey circles dedicated at this time of year to Waking the Bear: a harbinger of spring where I live who begins to emerge from the dream of hibernation around the Equinox. I do not typically associate Lucifer with this animal, fierce and powerful as it is, but I will undoubtedly still journey deep within the Bear’s cave this week to see what both may have to say to me. Now is when the world reawakens and all can be reborn anew.

Right after the Equinox, I’m taking part in a Spring Novelama from March 22 to 25th. The goal is for each participant to produce twenty-five thousand words from the comfort of their own writing cave. I may not hit that target, but I’m dedicated to completing at least one story I have on the go. I’ve set up my entire schedule to focus on those four days.

Wish me luck, and Happy Equinox!

Painting an Oracle – AND A GIVEAWAY

At the beginning of this year, I made a promise to myself that I would only participate in magickal challenges if they genuinely aligned with what I wanted to be doing in my practice. I’ve been lucky so far and have found some fantastic ones each month, either through Domagick.com or divination.challenges on Instagram. (Props to folks who run both.) In March and April, I may have a chance to mingle the gifts of these two resources when the Domagick challenge shifts its focus to “applied divination.”

I’ve been painting my own oracle in preparation. It took three attempts and as many styles to get the first card for Belial. Finally, I settled on creating a random wash, turning and tilting the paper to let the paint pool and dribble as it liked. Once it was dry, I meditated on the background to find his face there, then painted the other layers needed to bring that face into the foreground. I completed two more cards using this technique, one each for Lucifer and one for Flereous. Sometimes we sat together in silence, while other times I used atmospheric music or a drumming disk to accompany my work.

I don’t know how many cards there will be in total, but I was originally hoping to finish sixteen of them before the first of April. At my current rate, I can see that was an optimistic estimate on my part. Along with everything else on my plate, I might get that many done by the end of next month—fingers crossed! That means I’ll more than likely have to use another form of divination for the Domagick challenge in April, but I haven’t decided which kind yet. I’m currently focusing on Lenormand, participating in the March Madness challenge hosted by Patricia Weston on Instagram, but I may wish to switch off by the first.

Lenormand is one of my favorite forms of divination. Sadly, it isn’t as well-known as Tarot yet, so my clients don’t ask for it nearly as often. I’d love to make it just as popular! I find it to be a straight-forward, nonsense way of getting to the heart of a question quickly, without any sidestepping around the issue. To help it shine, I’ll be holding a giveaway on FaceBook later this week (March 10 – 16) of one free Lenormand reading. Make sure to follow me there and look for this graphic!

lenormand reading tarot free contest giveaway divination oracle

More giveaways to celebrate my first love, divination, and the upcoming spring Equinox will follow later in the month. Stay tuned to this space for more details.

Have a good one!

Joy Through Play – Feb Domagick Week 4

The latest Domagick challenge is nearly complete. Its theme was meditation, and while it was recommended that we give classical forms a try, I chose to meditate each day with my paintbrush in hand on the Daemonic Divine. I’d hoped that the artistic meditations would deepen my connection to the Daemonic Divine as well as prepare me creatively for any other work I had to do later in the day. Now, a month later, I would have to say that this is a successful technique—with some caveats.

Artistic meditations depend on lighter work—quite literally. Unlike meditations it can be conducted by candlelight or even with your eyes closed, these kind of meditations require good lighting and your eyes open. Some people may feel they are not able to go as “deep” while doing art, either into their trance state or into their own psyche. To rectify that, I would suggest putting on a pair of headphones while you paint or draw, noise canceling if possible, and listening to either a drumming track or music you find atmospheric but nonintrusive. This will disconnect you from the outside world while helping anchor you more profoundly to the subject of your meditations. Even so, I was still experimenting with color and shapes using this technique—playing to a certain extent—and it was nearly impossible for me to finish an artistic meditation in a dark mood. Therefore, while this technique could be used for hexcraft and the like, I believe it is better geared towards “lighter” magick.

Secondly, the artistic meditations tended to satisfy my need to be creative well enough that I often felt done for the day once completing them. I would become so completely absorbed in my task that I sometimes lost track of time. That, coupled with a hectic month, meant I got less writing done that I wanted. Despite this, my mood was vastly brighter than usual during these dark winter months, and I felt marvelously accomplished despite the lower than desired page count. Regardless of whether my paintings were decent or not, I now look over this month’s sketchbook with a certain amount of pride for a job well done. Seen this way, they are possibly too involving to successfully prime me for other creative work later in the day, but shouldn’t be dismissed when it comes to emotional control and regulation.

These meditations have helped me see a different side of the Daemonic Divine too. They helped me realize I can relax more than I have been with the Daemonic, that I can have fun and just bask in their energies, rather than doing hard labor all of the time. Occasionally, resting and restoring your reserves is enough. I frequently tell that to my students but have a hard time listening to my own advice. It was good to absorb the lesson so easily and intrinsically that I didn’t fight against it every step of the way.

When I was pushing for a higher wordcount, my writing caused me repeatedly to meditate on Astaroth this week, as I have many times throughout February. As before, I struggled to capture the seduction and confidence of this powerful demoness. More than anything, I’ve wanted to get her eyes down on paper, as I find these the most arresting thing about her. I’m not sure I’ll ever get the Queen of Heaven right at this point, but I have greatly enjoyed the time I have spent with her. It’s been frustrating at times, but enlightening.

May your March be filled with light and joy!

Exploration and Experimentation – Feb Domagick Week 3

I’m entering the final stretch of February Domagick challenge. While I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the daily relaxation and rejuvenation that the artistic meditations have provided, I’ve also been keenly aware of how easily their routine could become a rut. I get bored after too long doing the same thing, so I’ve made sure to keep my work fresh this month by rotating both the spirits I’ve worked with and the techniques I’ve used artistically. The first is a matter of listening to my muse and going with my gut. The second is a balance of Instinct and trying to grow as an artist. My muse may urge me to include certain colors, but it is my growing knowledge of how watercolor works that has encouraged me to experiment with different methods this week.

This week’s keyword was exploration. By taking a risk and trying new things, I produced works that not only brought me joy during creation but continue to do so afterward. For the first time, I found pleasure in the finished product. I don’t believe it is a coincidence that these two pictures produced the most profound and connecting meditations of the week as well, even though their subject matters were very different.

Lucifer – I spent three days with Lucifer this week, with the second piece I created for him taking two separate days to manifest. It proved that the Daemonic Divine does not always come to me in humanoid form. In fact, the Daemonic can appear in anyway it likes…

Belial and the Land spirits – After spending time grounding with Belial, I realized that I had been neglecting the land spirits nearby. And by nearby, I mean as close as my bookshelf! I meditated with my personal bonsai tree, who told me in no uncertain terms that zie needs more love. What a feisty creature, but what else should I have expected from ginseng?

 

Eurynomous – Ah! I’m still glowing from this meditation. I find the presence of Eurynomous warm and soothing—not what some would expect from the Death Daemonic. Spending time with him is genuinely like checking in with a long-term friend. I walked away thinking, “Yes! I needed that!” This is my favorite piece so far.

eurynomous daemon demon demonolatry daemonolatry dukante skull death daemonic demonic

 

Now off to today’s meditation!

Grounding and Energizing – February 2019 Domagick Week 2

February is now half over and with it this month’s Domagick challenge. While this week’s artistic meditations remained as enjoyable and relaxing as those previous, they weren’t as productive because they didn’t result in as much writing afterward. That isn’t the fault of the meditations themselves, however, but mine. I spent as much time as I could resting between jobs thanks to feeling run down due to a cold. Because of this, I tried to take a cue from Julia Cameron of The Artist’s Way who said it is possible to “rest on paper” and decided to work with aspects of the Daemonic Divine that I find the most restorative, energizing, and soothing. This allowed me to sit with them and draw on their reserves when it felt like the day’s chores would be too much for me alone. With them, I was able to augment my energy with theirs and get through the day successfully.

My artistic meditations this week include work with six different spirits, but my absolute favorite this week were:

Rosier – The connection I had with him during this piece was extremely strong. I could see him clearly in my mind’s eye, handing over such a crystal, and I nearly overflowed with positivity.

rosier love romance crystal quartz rose demon daemon demonolatry daemonolatry satan

Belial – For this meditation, I chose a straightforward grounding visualization. I’ll add it here, in case you would like to follow along.

Belial grounding meditation demon daemon demonolatry daemonolatry satan

Sit or stand quietly with your feet approximately your shoulders’ width apart and your feet flat on the floor. Close your eyes and turn your attention inward. Now take a few deep breaths to clear your mind. When you are ready, picture you are a tree with a tall, strong trunk reaching all the way up to the sky. Roots grow out of the base of your spine, down and out of the soles of your feet, and deep into the soil beneath you. The roots anchor you there, securing you firmly.

Take a few more deep breaths. Each time you exhale, visualize your roots sinking deeper and deeper into the earth, connecting you even more deeply to the dirt and rocks below. As you inhale, see your roots drinking in the nutrients deep below the ground. Rain falls and the sun shines down on the earth, nourishing and feeding it, feeding you. With each inhalation, your roots drink in this vital life energy, pulling it up into your body. The energy flows up your trunk, up your body, into your branches. Breath it in and feel it flowing through your entire body, filling every part of you with rich, abundant energy. You feel this energy run through your entire trunk, through your whole body, up into the sun, into the brightness, leaving you secure and energized.

Take a few more deep breaths, reveling in this feeling, enjoying it. Sit with the vitality and energy running through your body as long as you like. When you feel satisfied, thank the earth for its sustenance. Withdraw from it slowly by beginning to wiggle your fingers and toes, then finally bringing your attention back to the room you are sitting in. Open your eyes when you are ready. If you feel at all unsteady, have something to eat or drink. Many people find it helpful to record the results of the meditations in some way, and I recommend this.

May this week be rejuvenating for you!

 

Painting and Peace – February 2019 Domagick Week 1

I’m seven days into February Domagick challenge and enjoying this month’s work far more than I thought I would. I had expected my planned artistic meditations on the Daemonic Divine to supplement my daily morning pages, further loosening me up creatively and energetically before any other work I had scheduled that day. I had anticipated that the art would feel much the same way the pages did–occasionally enjoyable, but just as often like drudgery, a necessary chore meant to organize my mind for the day ahead. They help me purge and order my thoughts, hopefully getting whatever might hold me back from out of my brain.

In theory, anyway. If I have a problem I can solve, I find the morning pages extremely helpful. I’m a proactive person. I can only whine about a situation for so long, even to myself, before I have to take action to change it. Unfortunately, some issues will always remain beyond our control. No matter how long we complain or what solutions we try to put in place, we may not be able to effect change simply because it isn’t our problem to solve. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect us, of course. When I journal about such things in my morning pages, my lack of agency sometimes frustrates me enough that it puts a damper on my mood afterward, and I have to work to pull myself back up. It’s annoying, and often feels counterproductive for a method described by its author as a meditation.

My artistic meditations feel utterly different. There’s little sense of getting the garbage out before I start creating for the day with these. Instead, I get lost in the moment, and in the Daemonic itself, never worrying about the long-term consequences of what color I’m laying down or the lines that I am making. It is as if I am filling myself up rather than purging. My mood feels better—brighter and calmer—after this work. It may not produce as much written material, but in terms of shifting mental states it is quicker, longer lasting, and more effective. That’s something to remember and keep in mind for future use.

I split my artistic meditations this week between three daemons. First, I spent time with Unsere, who I venerated February 1-3 for what many would traditionally consider Imbolc. To me, she represents motherhood and familial happiness, so growth, bounty, and nature figured symbolically in the marker sketches I did for her.

From there, I moved on to three days with Lucifer, who I associate with knowledge and illumination. My love of abstract art began to peek through when I tried to convey what I saw in my meditations with him through the use of shape and color. Somehow the shift in style resulted in a change in mood as well, and this was when I began to honestly look forward to the art sessions each day.

Lastly, I spent a day with Astaroth. This was the lone piece I used the computer to create. I could not get the colors I wanted otherwise, hot and searing to the eye. I saw it my mind before I created it, and it came of the closest to what I wanted of all the pieces this week. Strangely, I enjoyed creating at least. There’s something to be said for the energy of making drawings by hand, I suppose.

Astaroth Ashtaroth daemon demon demonolatry daemonolatry dukante sigil satan satanism goetia

I’m already looking forward to the next week’s meditations. Are you participating in this month’s Domagick challenge? How is it treating you?

Here’s to next week being even better!

June 2018 #Domagick Summary

Happy July! All in all, I had a successful and productive June. Once again, the Domagick challenge reminded me to be specific when crafting my magick. Sigils with vague statements of will behind them weren’t nearly as effective for me as ones where I literally spelled out exactly how I wanted my will to manifest. This makes sense, of course, but isn’t as easy to do as it sounds. Sigils created by spelling out statements of will on a magickal square can be hard to focus on, if not down right ugly. I prefer a certain simplicity in the symbols I use and producing this can sometimes seem near impossible if the statement behind them is too complicated. When that happens, I often switch the freeform method of creating my sigils. Switching back and forth was definitely necessary this month to produce the enchantments I wanted day to day.

For those that weren’t following me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr while this site was down, here is a summary of all my Domagick posts for June:

Continue reading June 2018 #Domagick Summary

A Schedule for Me: April Domagick Days 12 – 23

This Domagick challenge is a success! We were supposed to concentrate on self-alchemy, so I chose to invoke Belphegore and work with his energies daily to strengthen myself personally and professionally. In thanks, I said that I would write him a story. I finished that story last Friday. I handed it over to a trusted friend and editor the same day to see what she could make of it. I usually let stories sit for a while before I edit them and then hand them off to someone else for critique and polishing, but this is a different sort of project. I want her fingerprints clearly visible beside mine in the clay of this finished piece. I’m not entirely sure yet what it will become. Regardless of how much work is still required on the story, I need to keep writing fiction the way I have been the last three weeks. It will keep my mental muscles in shape. That way I’ll be ready to go whenever a story idea strikes. I already have a few plot bunnies that need attention, but I can always turn to writing prompts if necessary. The point is to keep my mind limber so switching back and forth between fiction and nonfiction isn’t so much of a problem anymore. There are additional ways I could be strengthening myself as a writer, but if I don’t maintain this base level of “exercise,” none of that will matter. I can only add those other things to my schedule once I get this fiction habit down.

As I mentioned last time, it is far more difficult for me to determine whether I am gaining emotional strength by invoking Belphegore each day. I admit, the issue that was bothering me when I first started this round of the Domagick challenge rarely crosses my mind anymore. However, I’m not sure if I should thank Belphegore for that, or if it was simply a matter of time. There is a lesson in this, of course, and one that has been presented to me many times before: all things are transient, especially emotions. This includes the painful ones, although it may not feel so at the time. Perhaps the strength I have gained was not the type I originally thought, one where I would be able to bear more, or feel less. Instead, it is one of hindsight or endurance.

In my personal life, I have definitely felt Belphegore pushing me to take better care of my health. I had a number of appointments I needed to make, all of which I had been putting off simply because my schedule was too busy. There never seem to be enough time with all that I needed to get done. Strangely enough, as soon as I started making these appointments and committing to looking after myself, my schedule began to thin. It’s not perfect yet, and just like I have to commit to writing fiction on a regular basis, I must commit to only taking on one appointment per week. Otherwise, I will overwhelm myself.

If nothing else, maybe the strength I gained during this Domagick challenge is realizing how much I require I schedule to thrive—plus figuring out how much my current schedule had been out of whack. My new one is quite different, favoring my real priorities and what I want to do over the priorities of other people. I know that there will be some backlash because of this, but I’ve also been reminded that such things don’t last forever.

Today, I invoked Belphegore, meditated in his presence, and made my daily offerings to him. The stones that I hold sacred for him grow darker each day, and I look forward to taking them outside on the last day of Belphegore’s rites.

eyes belphegore sigil art fiction domagick
The sigil of Belphegore, altered for the day I had an optometrist appointment.

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Odin – A Sigil and Enn

Today I’ll share something a little different: an enn and sigil gained through an Ascension with the Daemonic. As I recently talked about in my article about an alternate Rite to Eurynomous, there can be many types of Daemonolaters, including Norse ones. I’ve spent over twenty years working with Odin now—or Odhinn, as I prefer. The All Father goes by many names walks in many guises. He was the first divine intelligence that came looking for me… and he is the one that have never truly went away.

It can be said that Odhinn embodies one side of the Death daemonic. To gain the wisdom of the runes, he hung as if dead for nine days on the great tree Yggdrasil, pierced by his own spear, forbidding any of the other gods to help him. Finally, on the ninth day, the runes spoke to him from the well of Urd that lay of the bottom of the tree, and Odhinn let out a cry of triumph. In completing thise ritual, the god saisthat he was “given to Odin, myself to myself,” a sacrifice that helped him gain the wisdom of the cosmos.

Because of this, Yggdrasil is sometimes known as the “Odin’s Gallow’s tree.” I believe the sigil here reflects a noose. I find it curious, too, how the sigil for the All Father reflects that of Satan, who is also the All.

Hail Odhinn!

demons daemons sigils odin odhinn daemonolatry demonolatry norse

PS: The similarity in some enns that have to do with the dead just makes my brain twitch! I love analyzing these things!

 

Thanatos – O Death

thanatos death deathdemonic demons greek mythology
“Thanatos” by William Briar created with modified stock art from Pixabay.

While I did spend time with my Lenormand deck today and even completed my Month of Spreads reading, I spent far more time contemplating my Death Daemonic card of the day: Thanatos. In Greek mythology, he is the personification if death, but rarely appears in any stories. When he does appear, he can occasionally be outwitted—a good thing, since Death was originally meant to be feared by both god and mortal alike in the Greek mindset. Over time, however, Thanatos became associated with gentle passing.

When depicted in art, it is typically with his twin brother Hypnos, better known as Sleep. Thanatos is sometimes shown as winged and bearing an inverted torch, symbolized life snuffed out. He carries a sword at his side. Other symbols include butterflies and poppies.

An Orphic hymn to death begins:

“Hear me, O Death, whose empire unconfin’d
extends to mortal tribes of ev’ry kind.
On thee, the portion of our time depends,
whose absence lengthens life, whose presence ends.”

Not the similarity to “O Death,” a traditional American folk song. Jen Titus made this track famous through its association with the show Supernatural, where it became the theme song for the character Death. It also featured in the video game “Until Dawn.”