Basic Sigilization

The idea behind sigils (and a lot of other chaos magic techniques) revolves around encoding, or translating, your desire, so that it can be implanted in your subconscious where your conscious brain cannot get in the way of its manifestation with idle wishes and fears. So essentially when you sigilize a spell, you are putting it in a symbolic representation of the desire (spell) that won't trip your conscious when you see it, just your subconscious.

One of the simplest and most repeated ways of sigilizing is to write your desire on paper. Use strong present tense phrases. Not I Will, but I Have, I Do, etc. Ouranian Barbaric (another chaos magic language) entirely eschews the verb 'to be'; I do as well, but that's personal preference. Once your desire is written, erase all letters that appear more than once. With the remaining letters, you can either combine them to make a barbaric word, to chant in meditation or ritual, or you can combine the symbols in to something that suits you. That symbol, the sum of the representation of your desire, is a sigil.

Another common technique is to use a circular alphabet wheel and draw lines between each letter, spelling out your desire. These can be overlaid on planetary squares for more oomph. So can any other sigil, of course, since this is chaos magic and there are no rules.

After all the years I've been practicing, I've started skipping steps and going straight to drawing my desire as a symbol. You can start with this, but a caveat is that the sigil is SUPPOSED to be only an allusion to the true desire, not a direct representation of it.

Now, you have a goofy set of lines and circles. What next? The methods for casting sigils vary. Chaotes love to tell you to masturbate to throw your sigils; visualize the symbol at the moment of orgasm and throw it in to the abyss. You can spin in circles until you collapse, or dance to a frenzy, or meditate until you forget yourself, or reach emotional fervor (fear and anger are good for this). The idea is to reach a state of altered knowledge, called gnosis by lots of chaotes. Once in a gnostic state, you release the sigil and ground again. After that, the part most people don't follow if they aren't strictly chaotes-- FORGET what it means. Remember that part about getting your waking mind out of the way? This is a big part of it. However, some sigils and symbols can't be forgotten like that, and I won't tell you that you have to do it. I will say, however, that every sigil I've forgotten the meaning of has worked. I do keep notes on my intentions, I just separate them from the final symbolic product.

Anywho, that's a very basic taste of sigils as we do them in chaos magic.

- Mushroom

Crystal Work 101

~~~~~FUCKING GIANT CRYSTAL POST~~~~~

Note: I am by NO MEANS an expert. I have only worked with crystals for a couple of years at this point, but there are several basic concepts I feel everyone should know.

***********IMPORTANT************ Crystals are NOT a form of medication. Never, EVER use them in place of actual medicine. They can be used to COMPLEMENT treatments you are already using, not to replace them. For example, if my back’s hurting, I would place a piece of carnelian on my back after I take some advil, to help it kick in faster/work better/whatever. If my arm is broken, I would go to a doctor and when I get home, place some selenite on it. You get what I mean? Seek proper medical care first, please. ****************************************

~Science Explanation/Disclaimer~

As far as the science of crystals goes, as a (future) scientist myself, I can't, in good faith, say that crystal healing has been proven to be real. I'm not going to bullshit anyone with any fake studies done by "doctors", and as much as I would love for there to be a bunch of papers that explain how crystal healing is real, there aren't. That's a fact.

I know that must be confusing, given how much I LOVE CRYSTALS OMG (hearteyesemoji), but also as a scientist, I am aware that there are things we don't know yet, and as a people we have SO MUCH MORE to learn, in ways that modern science can't teach us, and we're proving ourselves wrong EVERY DAY. For example, an effect called "quantum spookiness" in which two particles, nowhere near each other, can have an effect on each other1. This could destroy Einstein's theory of relativity completely, and also can explain a lot of metaphysical goings-on.

Quantum mechanics in general can explain a lot of what crystal healing is all about. I don't want to bore or scare anyone with crazy details about photons and subatomic particles, but I will include a link to a page2 that does a decent job of explaining it. Tl;dr version: what we, as human beings, observe, is only tiny part of what reality is. Think about all the different kinds of animals that experience the world in different ways, some with senses we don't even have, and yet each of their realities is "real" (to them of course). And that's just on this planet, that's just how things have evolved here. What I'm trying to get at here is that there are planes of existence that we don't know anything about, that are right under our noses, doing a whole bunch of wacky shit. (there are ways to tap into these planes of existence too, which I think other admins have more experience with).

So while you're holding your crystal bb and looking at it, and you feel something, there IS something going on there, you just can't see it. According to quantum mechanics, everything is energy, there is actually no such thing as a real solid. When you hold your crystal bb, your skin never actually makes contact with it. The subatomic particles that make up your skin are just interacting with the subatomic particles that make up the crystal bb. On a subatomic level, you and the crystal bb are one. 1. http://www.nature.com/…/quantum-spookiness-passes-toughest-… 2. http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/eternitytohere/quantum/

~Crystal basics~

Ok so now that all that serious stuff is out of the way, let's get to the fun part!

If you are 100% new and have no crystals and are looking to start out, I would recommend finding one for each of your chakras*, as well as a clear quartz. Clear quartz is known as The Master Crystal because you can program** it to do ANYTHING and can be used to cleanse or open ANY CHAKRA. In theory, you could really just own a clear quartz and be ok forever (BUT WHAT KIND OF FUN IS THAT?). Here's a list of some basic crystals with not-too-crazy energy and their associated chakras. You might notice that there are some repeats and that’s because most stones aren't really associated with just ONE chakra. Depending on color (and other factors), they can work with different chakras, like with moonstone, white or rainbow moonstone works well with the third eye or crown chakra, but peach moonstone resonates with the sacral chakra. Sea-green aquamarine does more work with the heart chakra than a sky blue one. You'll also notice with more experience that two stones that look the same can do very different things.

Root - hematite, black obsidian, smokey quartz, black tourmaline, ruby, garnet, bloodstone, carnelian, black onyx, apache tear, red jasper, snowflake obsidian Sacral - carnelian, peach moonstone, peach aventurine, orange calcite, citrine, amber Solar Plexus - pyrite, citrine, honey calcite, sunstone, tiger eye, yellow jasper Heart - emerald, green calcite, green aventurine, amazonite, jade, rose quartz, rhodonite Throat - aquamarine, sodalite, chrysocolla, blue calcite, turquoise, lapis lazuli Brow (third eye) - amethyst, lepidolite, moonstone, labradorite Crown - clear quartz, selenite, amethyst, howlite

Here are a few resources that explain the properties of each stone: http://www.healingcrystals.com/Crystal_Helpers--Physical_Is… http://www.healingcrystals.com/Metaphysical_Directory_Cryst… http://www.healing-crystals-for-you.com/

*If you don't know what chakras are, here's an awesome video that explains it perfectly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02FkMr21xOA **I'll explain programming below

~Taking care of your crystals~

Now that you have your new pet rocks, you have to take care of them! They aren't "alive" as you and I imagine life, but they are energetic beings that deserve a certain protocol and respect.

Because they're energetic beings and everything around them is also energy, everything gets mixed up sometimes, and that's when they need to be cleansed. You might notice you aren't getting anything out of it any more, or it's "dull" or "lifeless". Some stones absorb energy much more easily than others (hematite, malachite, sugilite for example) and therefore need to be cleansed regularly or after each use. Some don't absorb as much energy, and can go a while without a cleansing

(citrine, selenite, black tourmaline, amethyst). There are a lot of people who say certain stones are self-cleansing but I thoroughly believe that anything will build up excess/negative energy over time due to laws of entropy.

There are soooooo many ways to cleanse your crystals. A few methods are: • Running water (IMPORTANT NOTE: there are crystals that do NOT tolerate water and will be destroyed. This includes fluorite, calcite, selenite, chalcopyrite, celestite, malachite, lapis lazuli) • Sunlight • Moonlight • Placing on selenite or a quartz/amethyst/citrine cluster • Sage smoke • Incense smoke • Using your breath • Putting them out in the rain • Placing them in salt

(I didn't put any time limits here because it's really a go-as-you-feel type thing)

This next part is optional to me. I don't really program my crystals, I like to let them do their thing. Programming is when you fill a stone with your intention, sort of just asking it to do something specific. An easy way to program your stone is to visualize light going into it, the light representing your intention. Make sure you have your intent clear in your head. Visualization can get a little taking used to, so if that isn't working for you, you can just ask the crystal to help you. Key word here being "ASK". You need to view your crystals as partners, not your slaves. You can do this mentally or out loud.

Also, I don't believe in "charging" them. Once you get rid of the negative ickiness, they're good to go

~How to work with your crystals~

There are many ways to work with your crystals. You can keep them in your pocket (or in your bra but keep them in a pouch so they don’t all fall out), wear them in jewelry, meditate with them, sleep with them, use them in spells/altars. Just keeping them in your room can help! Clusters are great for keeping in rooms because the different points beam energy in all directions. Black tourmaline and selenite are a known power-combo for house protection.

Tape a crystal to your third eye while you sleep for some crazy dreams.

You can make a grid, which is where you place crystals in a way that feels powerful to you on a surface to bring a certain kind of energy(ies).

Don’t expect anything crazy to happen, crystals’ effects are (usually) subtle. The best way to get to know your crystals is to just hold them and try to see how they make you feel, or carry them and see if it has any effect on your day.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

- M

“How do I start to become a witch?”

You don’t. You already are one. There is no right way to be a witch. We call it witchcraft for a reason: it is a craft, and a craft is a pursuit, an art with practical purpose as well as personal meaning, that you practice yourself. You come up with your own methodologies and your own right way to practice. You decide what resonates for you, what works for you, is effective for you and what is not. The entire point of magic is that it’s arguably anything you do with the active intentionality that it is going to have a magical purpose for you. There are certainly WRONG ways to be a witch. Being appropriative or mistreating your tools. Disrespecting others and their practices. But not every witch or magical person thinks of their craft in the same way, uses the same tools, subscribes to the same schools of thought, shares a belief system, or follows a certain methodology. I would even venture to say that you would be hard-pressed to find two witches who practice exactly alike. Everything is magic. Magic is often just a combination of the pursuit of knowledge, a respect for the relationship between yourself and everything that exists outside of yourself, and intention. Choosing to be present with your rituals, your energy, and whatever tools you’d like to imbue with that respect. That is all you need to be doing to consider yourself a witch. You don’t need to know how to read tarot or runes. You don’t need to pray to certain gods, or any gods at all. You don’t need to cast spells. You don’t need to buy up an entire crystal shop. You don’t need to know what every herb looks like and does. You don’t need to set up your altar or use fancy tools. You don’t need to dress like a witch. You don’t need to practice with other witches or be born with certain abilities. All you need is intention and respect for your own power as an entity, and respect for everything outside of yourself and its power. Witchcraft can be writing poetry. It can be sewing or painting something. It can be prayer, it can be wanting something really, really bad. It can be putting on your makeup. It can be doodling. It can be wishing on a star. You are already doing it. You are already magic. ——————————————————- That being said, here is a small list of types of work and craft that may be involved in your practices. This is by no means exhaustive or conclusive. Eventually, I hope to build it out with links to tutorials, introductory posts, and masterposts. For now, it’s just to spur some ideas of how you can practice witchcraft. They are all probably best suited to different types of work and you will find that your practices likely will develop in accordance with your needs in life. Many of these have subcategories or overlapping taxonomies. I’ve noted major ones where appropriate, but don’t claim that these are the extent of their usages or manifestations. Chaos magick (sigils, servitors, way more) Transformative spellwork (glamours, et al) Protective/defensive spellwork (wards, hexes, curses) Manifesting spellwork, intention setting, moon magic (charms, basic spells, attraction, new moon & full moon rituals) Astrology (this encompasses like 18 diff practices/studies) Tarot (another enormous one) & more generally cartomancy – playing cards, lenormand, oracle readings Energy work (aura reading, reiki, healing, empathy, this is another nebulous one) Crystal work Herbal work (either in the use of spells or in kitchen magic, alternative medicine, et al) Rune casting/work Scrying & other forms of divination Ability development (clairvoyance/clairaudience/clairsentience/influence et al) Dream work, meditation, inner self work & astral projection Spirit work Working with deities/God/energy and other entities

I probably forgot tons – this is just what came up off the tip of my tongue.

-L