More Tales of Magick – Magick of Spiders

Spirits, Books & Learning Magick

March 16, 2025Laurel SpiderLeave a comment

Just a bit on how I learned magick & my views on learning it

When I set my heart on learning magick,

I had no idea what I was getting into. I had turned away from a religion that meant the world to me because I was denied something I felt was immeasurably important, that I hadn’t done anything so wrong it should be reasonably withheld.

I was eleven or ten or six or…kneeling at the bedside praying, reading books on dogma I didn’t understand, writing poems convincing myself that lying wasn’t the same as breathing, begging a god who was always looking the other way for calm.

When I began learning magick,

it wasn’t through a lens of “magick,” or even “magic.” It was books that put manipulation at their center. Understanding, or trying to, the principles behind manipulative tactics in interpersonal interactions. I read a bit on hypnosis too, but it never grabbed me. It was learning to control the self, and how that extended to others that most moved me. Related I’m sure, was how deeply I valued being able to convincingly lie for a while.

I wanted to learn astral projection. I wanted to learn how to fly, and how to move energy in intense (fiction-focused) ways. I wanted to be a “witch” more than I wanted to hold onto a religion that had scorned me for existing, that had kept me bound in the throws of fear for so long.

It wasn’t through books or spirits. It was in stillness. It was the quiet between the loudness of breath, speech, and movement. It was counting the heartbeats that sped and slowed in fear and calm. It was the fear of shadows loitering overhead and the plunge into the dark.

The first four years of my practice, because by then I was actively and intentionally practicing magick, were sans spirits and sans occult guidebooks. I read a little on spirituality, and definitely on philosophy, quite a bit on myths as well. But that’s because I was (and am) interested in those things, not because I was seeking a certain path or didn’t know where to go.

Of course, it can’t really be said that I did know where I was going, and I’m not sure I can say for sure now that I know where this path winds through but I wasn’t lost. I was limited in materials then too, trying to make my way through manifesting and energy work, trying to understand what would become, and was even then and even before, the foundations of my craft. Which is not only the foundation of my craft, but also so much of who I am, these things are impossibly intertwined (as they should be).

If at eleven I decided to list my grievances of the bible, at fourteen I wondered about atheism, and at sixteen began reading on spirits. There was overlap, between the demon-summoning and begging, desperate, prayers and worship to the god I had revered for years prior. In this time, most of my focus was on energy work and meditation.

The first magick I actively participated in was important to me, it was empowering and in many ways intense. But it was nothing like calling a spirit into my space, like being a conduit for it, or hearing the energy roar and quiet into a calm overwhelming.

The first spirit I set out to call intentionally and did call into a ritual was Dantalion. And among the careful moments of that ritual I’d planned and cautiously executed, I was thrown into another world. One where spirits exist not in a void or vacuum, but as welcomed through us into our world just as we exist through them as part of theirs.

For years, I relied on Dantalion’s teachings primarily to guide me through this craft and practice. So much at the beginning, as had been the case before reaching out to him, was feeling adrift as though there was so much in the mundane and magic worlds both that I had no answers for. I was forbidden from reading certain (many) texts in these years as well. Something that has gotten mixed results when I’ve told others (mostly, though, disbelief, doubt, and scorn).

But why bother to practice in a way that is not ours, mine? How can someone else’s beliefs or removed judgements on my path be more important to me than mine?

Several years into my practice, then, I began discussing with others on similar walks about their paths, about our shared experiences, the types of magick we enjoyed–or even begrudgingly partook of–that resonated. And not even then did I begin to pick my way though occult books, not long revered authors’ words and not contemporary views or guides.

It has long been, for me, reliance on myself, on spirits I’ve welcomed in, and those people around me who have offered stories passed that has brought my magick to life. It was much more recently that I began to contemplate the works of others who have walked this and similar paths before me.

I believe people should not frequent tables to which they have brought nothing.

For that reason, I believe it is crucial for people to form their own views, opinions, and more often than not collect their own experiences before sitting down to learn of others. I, of course, as someone who loves literature, reading, and understanding others’ perspectives, advocate dearly for consuming knowledge and learning from others. However, how can we ever hope to be in conversation with a text–or its author–if we do not have anything with which to converse?

Blind consumption of others’ stories, and acceptance of them ought be reserved for people we trust blindly.

People like to ask how to get started with magick, which books people have read, which resources they have seen, which rituals are the most powerful, which spirits the quickest, what is “the best”? These questions are entirely contrary to what and how I have learned, which is to learn first through the self.

To understand what compels you in the mundane world, what brings you closer to the magical. These are the things which should be exalted as a path into the magical is lit. Even in teachings that seek to standardize avenues of learning and texts consumed, anyone successful understands that people are not all the same and thus cannot all grow when treated as if the external is the only thing which matters, is a catalyst for growth, or otherwise should inform how learning is conducted.

Understanding of the self, however fleeting it may be, is a greater key to your magick and a likely path, than any number of spirits or books can provide. There are many ways to know yourself, at least to dip your feet into the pool of knowledge (of self and others), my suggestion to anyone who wants to learn magick would always be to start with the self.

What has brought you to this path, and when shed, what remains of yourself to follow deeper into it?

Shadows & Spiders

October 5, 2024October 5, 2024Laurel SpiderLeave a comment

always remember, the light cast onto us is neither the beginning nor the end

Tonight, while sitting here working I encountered a spider. It seems thinner than most of the others I’ve found inside. So I offered it water, but the spider continued on its way without drinking.

It was at first the spider’s shadow I saw along the wall. Having turned on a nightlight, the small spider seemed bigger than most spiders of its kind are and I went over to observe it. Finding the spider uninterested in me, and wondering if it was attracted to the light or heat, I left it to be.

A few hours later, still sitting at the computer I caught sight of something dust-like just out of the corner of my right eye. Leaning back, since the particle was not moving or flowing down like they usually do, I caught glimpse of the spider’s body and legs. I moved over several inches and blew before ducking incase I’d blown to hard and the spider was slated to end up on my face next.

After regaining its stability, the spider walked back up its thin thread. Wanting to make sure it got all the way up and wouldn’t soon be in my hair or on my desk in a danger zone of moving objects, I turned on the flashlight from my phone and watched it ascend.

As the spider climbed, I watched as it grew closer and closer to its less and less distorted shadow on the ceiling. As its paws touched down (up?) I noticed it had again become one with its shadow. Moving together seamlessly and constantly in contact. I wondered what lesson this might teach about my own life, my own shadow(s), and the distance created between me and it.

But as I reconsidered this viewpoint, I realized that the spider and its shadow had indeed not merged. They were still separated by some layer. The spider remaining on this side of the world and the shadow forever attached to something beyond, something intangible but nevertheless able to be interfered with. The human, at a whim, can cause the disappearance of the spider’s shadow from being visible, can wave a hand between the spider and light source and obscure it, cover it within a different shadow.

After stepping its way across a small stretch of cieling, which for the spider seems quite a greater distance, again, the spider began its slow and meticulous descent downwards. Twice it paused for some length of time. The first likely halfway down, and the second time just a foot off the ground. Trust. The spider I see now had so much trust in this delicate strand of webbing. And the fear of being swept off it or the web detaching from its anchor point never once stopped it from accomplishing its goal.

Because I am warmer than the walls, the light of screen is attractive, or the desk and my seated body is higher than the floorboards…I do not know why first the spider came down and likely would have landed on my shoulder. I am thankful for its foresight in avoiding my hair though. I doubt it saw a likeness in the blown glass spider of my straw or in the finely painted white spider of my phone case.

Instead, I watched as it crawled along the floor, finally on the ground and off the cieling. And as it crawled back up a foot to tie something (a flurry of dust? a knot?) into its thin strand of safety, and then back down again. It takes spiders quite a bit to make webbing, so I’ve left it hanging down like a firepole from my cieling to the ground in the hopes that the spider will wander back over to it, and that I won’t walk into it opening my window or straightening out the stained glass moon with its pair of spiders next time.

It is not that we are the shadow, nor that the shadow is us, but that together we are the self and the dark reflection (casting) of that self.
Paraphrased (Dantalion & Sitri)

Deserving & Worth

September 29, 2024Laurel SpiderLeave a comment

Deserving & Worthiness in My Practice

I threw those words away a long time ago and I never want to look back. What a nightmare pair of words for magicians complicate things with.

If we, as a human society, refuse to believe everything is ‘fair,’ how are these words acceptable in magick? They’re not. One of the best things I did for my craft was remove deserving and worth from it and from my mind entirely. They have no place where I’m practicing and no home in my mind. Absolutely garbage concepts that eat away at magick and poke holes in everything.

So my view is, “I want what I want, so it’s mine.” And it’s been pretty good for me. That way, it doesn’t matter what I think and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, all the power is in the magick and not stopping up holes about whether I “should” or “shouldn’t” have something based on faulty grounds. Because if I’m concerned with deservingness, with worthiness, there could be holes everywhere.

If these two words are a culmination of what we have, what we’ve done, who we are, who we want to be, etc., then I don’t want to deal with them. I know who I have been and I know what I have done, and I don’t care to entertain thoughts on whether that makes me deserving or worthy or not of anything. It’s not relevant. It doesn’t get a place at the table.

Mundane & Magick

Some people are overly interested in what they have earned. It’s one of the first things that I discuss with people who show an interest in magick, but also something I talk frequently about with those who find themselves on a mundane-mostly or mundane-only path. People talk about having “earned” a vacation, a fancy object they want, and all manner of other things.

People feel pride in their earnings a lot of time, and I don’t think this is inherently bad or wrong. But I do believe that it comes with a cost to believe that everything must be earned. This is especially relevant in magick where we are not only manipulating the very real and material world, but also working on other planes with less tangible means to deserve, earn, and become worthy.

Once we believe we are enough, there’s no need to tack on additional conditions to our magick. The principles that apply in the mundane world, surrounding the necessity to have earned, to deserve, to be worth are often conditions imposed by others. And so when we turn to magick, it’s important to recognize that there are no longer others (at least in my practice) who are imposing requirements of that kind. As long as I don’t, then they don’t exist and are entirely irrelevant and unnecessary.

When you fall into the trap of believing that you must deserve or be worthy of something, you are dismissing your power and disintegrating it to soot and ash. Earn what you must, be worthy of yourself and feel deserving of your life and all you have. These things are no the issue; the issue is when people lay these down as a foundational stone to their magick requests. Ask, why do you need to be worthy and deserving? Is there a real reason?

It can be a somewhat difficult process to let go of these and readjust your framing of your magick, but it’s well worth it. The only role of deserving & worthiness at the table of magick is to criticize, delay, and obstruct. Is that something you wish to engage in when pleading, requesting, or demanding something of the universe (or a spirit, yourself, etc.)?

Shadow Work

There are a few places in this post where shadow work might be relevant. Many mundane-mostly or mundane-only folks struggle with the concepts outlined in this post, the shirking of the stress of being enough, deserving, worthy. For those of us who practice magick, it’s even more important to understand our relationship to these and move it in a direction that is healthy and empowering.

I’m not here to walk anyone through shadow work, but I do suggest to those interested that they read the post slowly and flag places that make them uncomfortable, upset, or curious. Later, to go through these with calm and seek out understanding of the self. Once you understand, you can work on healing and change.

you are enough, let your magick be founded on this understanding

Success and Regression: Results

July 15, 2024August 16, 2024Laurel SpiderLeave a comment

When you see results and then they seem to disappear or reverse…what’s really happening?

Whatever the case, seeing and experiencing (tangible) results has a special place in the practice of witchcraft, magick, and the like. So much so, that there are frequent questions on how to attain certain results, whether keeping results also requires magick, and how it is that results seemingly come in and leave at times. Below: Getting Results, Keeping Results & Disappearing Results.

Getting Results

One of the most exciting aspects of magick is getting the results you’re looking for. The primary reason results-based magick exists, is to attain certain results. Many magicians and practitioners work hard for their results, and take pride in them.

Sometimes, results come after years of experimentation, and other times they’re just around the corner of a new ritual, spell, or otherwise similar practice. And sometimes, a little bit of patience goes a long way and results pour in a month or two, or even a year or so later from a standalone ritual.

Regardless, experiencing results is a big milestone for any and all magick done. It marks a turning point in each ritual, spell, request, etc. to have results. Likewise, it’s often personally exciting to see the fruits of our labor clearly laid before us, especially when we consider the obstacles sometimes present in getting results or the speed at which they come.

Keeping Your Results

Next, keeping results is also very important in many cases. While a lot of magick is done on a one-off basis and doesn’t require constant attention, in certain cases, keeping results gained from magick is a little more tricky, time consuming, or otherwise requires continued attention.

For example, if you make use of a death curse and find your target no longer breathing, you may decide your results have been attained and move on. However, if you decide you aren’t finished with this project, you may engage in seeking out their “soul” to perform more magick on. This task may require continued attention even after you initial results are attained.

In another example, you may have been interested in “sweetening” someone’s emotions toward you and decided on a jar, doll, or material-less spell to attain results. Once that person’s attitude has initially been swayed, you may decide either that that is sufficient, or that something is still lacking. In the latter case, it’s likely more magick will be fed into the already existing framework for the spell, instead of beginning a new one. In this way, you are working toward keeping (& expanding) your results.

In a third example, an obsession ritual is used. You are eager for someone to chase after you, fawn over you, show care about you, and consistently engage with your lifestyle. An obsession ritual is performed. You see results quickly, more so than you had imagined. You can either, wait and see what happens or engage with more magick. But there’s a secret third option here as well, and that third option is to explore the mundane.

That means, consider what in the mundane world is likely to keep this person attached to you. You can go back to magick and seek out more powerful opportunities to keep the results, which may or may not deliver what you want, but you can also consider the way mundane life factors into your results. Are you pushing that person away when they try to get close? Are you crossing boundaries they have expressed? Are you systematically expressing cruelty to them? All these questions, and many others, are ones you should consider as you strive to keep results in this example.

In other projects and types of magick, the questions will change but the baseline idea that mundane needs should be considered and met before turning to magick remains. If you’re continuously causing your own problems, they’re going to be harder to clean up and fix.

Disappearing & Reversed Results

Now that we’ve discussed the role of the mundane a little, let’s get into “disappearing” and “reversed” results. Some people are also fond of using the term “backfire.”

What these things have in common is that they are a manifestation of your request, magick, ritual, spell, etc. and nothing else.

All these words, like regression, reversed results and backfire, and others frequently used in their place have in common that people use them to deflect real issues and reallocate problems to something external. Placing the blame of consequences onto something removed from one’s own actions is something commonly engaged in by humans. So common, it’s much easier to find people who turn a blind eye to their own place in blame and act complicit in their own stories than someone who takes responsibility for how things turn out.

Magick and it’s practitioners are no exception to these generalizations. Perhaps, the higher up the food chain one climbs, the more likely one is to consider their own accountability, but too often enough this isn’t the case either.

When considering where magick went “wrong” or turned into a situation you no longer want, it’s important to remember: what these things have in common is that they are a manifestation of your request, magick, ritual, spell, etc. and nothing else. As the magician, witch, or whatever else you refer to yourself by, you are to be in complete and absolute control of your situation, especially regarding your magic and craft.

While experimentation has a wonderful role in magick, it’s usually not people openly experimenting that claim something has gone wrong and changed their magick’s course. Just as you have confidence in your work when it’s initially being performed and after initial completion, you must maintain that faith even when results seem incongruous with your hopes for results.

It is most likely that your magick is behaving exactly as it should. And as the magician, the caster, the witch, or practitioner, it is your role to evaluate with scrutiny and intensity what is going on if your results are behaving in ‘strange’ ways.

Here are some questions to consider on the way to finding yours.

Have you neglected the mundane aspect of your magick?
Have you overworked a ritual and performed the same ritual for something rather minor–at irregular intervals perhaps–many times in a short timeframe?
Have you been talking to a lot of people about super amazing new spell that you cast?
Have you taken a step back and let your ritual breathe or is it consuming your every waking moment, and even appearing in your dreams you think of it so much?
Did you really choose the right ingredients or did you substitute 80% of them for the sake of convenience?

There are, of course, other means to decide what’s going on with your magick: meditation, divination, energy work, spirits communication, etc. But not only do some of these create a dependency on something outside the self if used with frequency, they also let you give away a chance to discover something fascinating about how (your) magick works.

Performing a banishing or cleansing is similarly something that could be important in some cases, but perhaps isn’t the best of choices in all cases, especially when you’re presented with an opportunity to tweak your craft and get to know yourself, your rituals, and your results just that little bit better. In my experience, banishing and cleansing are best reserved for when they’re truly needed.

Sometimes, results behave in ways we don’t anticipate or want.

Magick is sometimes best understood by the naïve and sometimes best understood by those who practice it regularly, with passion and at times precision. Magick can be spoken of in the most complex of words, but ultimately the concept at it’s core is very simple. In my practice at least, which is really the only thing I talk about or from at Magick of Spiders.

Sometimes results behave in ways we don’t anticipate or want. Instead of looking outside the self, instead of looking to lay blame elsewhere, or delving into complicated questions about why your results seem to be changing from positive to negative, consider that they are manifesting exactly as you’ve ordered.

Magick is simple, allow yourself to also be simple with it (at least sometimes). What you have asked for is presented. Understand this and consider how to alter your requests of magick to keep them in line with what you’re really seeking.

Next, we’ll talk about alignment! And how when your magick, mind, and heart aren’t in alignment, there’s little magick will do for you.

Sitri: Health & Wealth

July 14, 2024August 13, 2024Laurel Spider1 Comment

Sitri is associated with much, and in my practice these associations include healing and abundance. I am hoping to share a little about this part of practice with this post, and hopefully foster some shared personal gnosis or inspire others to consider these spirits outside their most commonly described niches.

The energy from within becomes the energy from without.

When you breathe, each breath is magic.

It is the most basic of all cycles a human can learn.

Through each breath magic is released.
Channeled (Sitri)

6 of Pentacles from Shadowscapes Tarot

Before checking out the rest of this post, you may be interested in checking out Sitri: Prince of Lust & Sitri: Of the Darkness and the Deep (previewed below).

When my work with Prince Sitri began, I was shockingly terrified of being swallowed up by the dark and drown alive in his presence. It took me years to begin understanding how truly deep his power runs and how expansive it really is. A while ago, I began a more in-depth learning path with him, wherein I asked to be taught about his nature of overwhelming power.

If ever there was a spirit that revels in his power, that hungers and hunts for the thrill of exercising it, it’s Sitri. In the dark, many things roam. In the dark, many demons lay, and many more are ready pounce.

Sitri, from what I have seen, is most often discussed in terms of lust, but this is a trivialization of his true talents. Considering lust and other types of magick, there are certainly more instances of “other” that I have worked with Sitri on. In fact, I held ritual with Sitri for a little over 3 years, on a somewhat frequent basis, before I first approached him regarding the topic of lust, or even obsession which he’s helped me understand better since.

Amusingly enough, none of these other topics were either health or wealth. But in this post, I’ll talk about my experiences with those!

Sitri: Spirit of Healing

March 24, 2023.

Candles lit, billowing smoke from the incense drifting around temple. My phone held in my hand, recording. A deep breath and closed eyes as I invited Sitri, repeating his enn and speaking all manner of praise in turn. And the, the invitation to Sitri, who is often so deeply unsettling during possessions, to posses me.

Again, the enn is repeated with startling clarity and consistency. And as he speaks through me, the crackling sound of bones is loud against his voice. He says,

Your human skin crackles with movement. Are you always this way?

I respond that I am, and then with his enn. There’s a deep sigh and the topic of crackling bones and popping joints isn’t addressed further. But it takes almost no time at all to evaluate what has just happened, and only a few days to understand the truth of it: the problem I’ve had with my shoulder, that I remember beginning at age 8, is resolved.

Over a year later, sometimes my right shoulder will “click,” either audibly or in feeling, but there has never once been pain to accompany it. Previously, there were weeks I spent with my right hand resting against my left shoulder to keep from moving it unnecessarily and days at a time lifting even a glass of water in my right hand would make my shoulder scream in pain. But now, the only ghost of a reminder is the click I hear when I stretch and bring my arms back in.

I’ve referred to this is a miracle before, and I don’t think it’s short of one. In that possession, he questioned whether it was a problem, questioned the frequency of the issue, made an assessment I assume, and removed the problem entirely–all within the span of rotating my arm, at the elbow, three times. Three loud cracks later, Prince Sitri, demon of the deepest depths, haunter of the tortured, had healed what I had assumed to be a permanent, painful, and delicate feature of my body.

Sitri: Spirit of Wealth

A little over a year ago, I began experimenting with wealth rituals. The first of these went well, especially for a type of ritual I hadn’t done before. There are times I like to plan my rituals before performing them, and others when I sit down, meditate, and do as I feel is right. The second of these rituals was a little more planned because I had a template to use from the first.

It was the the third of these rituals where Sitri appeared. He subtly, which isn’t truly subtle but was subtle for him, came into temple and offered his counsel. Surprised, I accepted. The first suggestion he made was to let him participate in my wealth workings, that he would bring in more money than I’d considered. His second suggestion, was to raise the amount of the money I was looking for.

When Sitri gave me his number, I was caught between excitement and hesitation. Until then, I’d been hitting my numbers. But this, this was twice my monthly pay I would be aspiring to collect in the month. Still, knowing Sitri and trusting him without pause, the number was written down.

He smiled and spoke into my ear.

As the days went by, I found myself counting money and realizing with astonishment that the likelihood of reaching my goal was growing. For as much trust as I had and have in Sitri, to watch results like that unfold still captivates me.

Since that ritual, Sitri has been involved in all my wealth rituals. While I’m happy I had the experience of trying out these rituals alone, I’m also incredibly happy at the opportunity Sitri presented me when he offered his help.

How can you make use of this information?

First, if you’re so inclined, consider working in any capacity with Prince Sitri. He is knowledgeable in all fields I’ve asked him of, and powerful beyond imagination.

Second, if you’re interested in either health or wealth workings and have worked with spirits before, consider asking Sitri to join your health, wealth, and/or abundance rituals.

And finally, remember that while some of these spirits seem remarkably friendly or intimidating in text, you should get to know them and make your own judgements. I have had all manner of experiences with Sitri and would encourage everyone to draw their own conclusions from their own personal experiences as well.

Sitri, who heals and delivers wealth beyond measure, thank you for all you have come into my life to teach and give.

If you are interested in learning a little more about my Wealth rituals, as mentioned above, please check out Let’s Talk Money Magic.

If you are interested in Health or Wealth rituals for hire by Magick of Spiders, please check out: Magick of Spiders’ Cleansing and Banishing Rituals for Hire, Magick of Spiders’ Wealth Rituals for Hire, or Magick of Spiders’ Ritual for Hire where there are some additional topics, like protection and healing listed.

Let’s Talk Money Magic

July 5, 2024September 2, 2024Laurel Spider1 Comment

So, Saturday night is coming up tomorrow (and it’s the first weekend of the month), which makes it perfect for my money manifesting rituals. Generally, I’m a bit hesitant to talk on my own rituals, because I design all the rituals I preform myself but this is pretty simple and has been helpful to me in the past. Whether it’s trying to get a new job secured, an interest in a good bonus, looking for some overtime as an hourly worker, eagerness for some extra cash to appear, or anything else, wealth rituals matter.

In truth, I didn’t hold my first true “money magic” ritual until last year, which is part of why it’s something newer (not job hunting, but money as it is, alone) in my list of rituals for hire offered. I was kind of intimidated the first time I held this type of ritual; it was the first time for this new category and I was eager to reap the rewards of it. While I do believe that desperation has (or can, at least, have) a fascinating role in magic and witchcraft, I did not go into that ritual with a real, tangible, or desperate need. I was just looking for a bit of comfort and to try out something new and different in my practice.

At this point, I’ve been practicing ritualist magick for over a decade! So, I’m rather familiar now with sitting down and having before me something I’ve never done before. It was exciting, and a tiny bit nerve-wracking as well.

It was a Saturday and I’d been in conversation with another couple practitioners about days and times (planetary correspondences) with regard to money specifically. I figured, since I wasn’t planning on inviting any spirit(s), that I needed to find a way to set the ambiance. It had been some time since I’d actually moved myself into my ritual area, affectionally called “Temple” even if it isn’t quite at the dictionary-level definition of such a place, and held a true ritual–as opposed to a quiet meditation or just energy directing–for something I wanted without a spirit present.

Ingredients

Have a look at what I brought to the first of these rituals (those in italics have been featured in later rituals):

shallow focus photography of four leaf clover

2 green tea light candles
1 half-size, tall green candle
Incense: I believe a stick of green-colored jasmine
Crystals/stones
- Bigger: Kyanite, kunzite, pyrite, dragon’s blood jasper
- Towers: Moss agate, kunzite, another
- A selenite “wand,” a long cylinder shape with curved edges
- A little glass jar of hematite crystals
- A little stone, with one of those natural holes going through it
2 dragon heads
- Beautiful resin pieces I’ve custom ordered, filled with stones and the like
A resin “fairy door”
2 bay leaves
Money
- 1 larger bill, 1 medium bill
- Coins of varying values placed atop the dollar bills
Tarot cards (Smith-Waite, Centennial edition)
- 4 of Pentacles, Ace of Pentacles, 10 of Pentacles
A small (torn), blank thick piece of white paper and sharpies
A Spotify playlist!
My ID & debit card
Some items that belong to Sitri and typically reside on his altar
Different variations of dollar bills and coins
Cloves, more bay leaves, salt, water
A pendulum
Additional/different incense, rocks, crystals, and tarot cards

What you’ll find about the items I gathered and placed onto my altar, is that many are personal to me. I’m a firm believer in magic being something that comes from within. Something that circulates into the air around us and then grows with our breath into becoming what we desire (of it, of/for ourselves, etc.). I strive to make my rituals somewhere I feel comfortable, somewhere my mood suits the tone of the goal, and somewhere I feel myself. While rigid rules and regulations regarding magic and similarly called craft have a place, I prefer to go the way I feel called to before indulging in others’ carefully regulated rituals.

These ingredients will not be necessary to all successful money magick castings. Instead, you should explore the items in your own home and practice that resonate with you, your ideas of abundance, and your practice of the craft. Perhaps coins, bills, and bay leaves are important; or perhaps it’s a set of green candles and a statue of some kind that make it onto your altar. Magick is what we make of it, and pretty trinkets are never where your magick comes from–you are.

My suggestion, of the listed ingredients, would be physical currency, a candle or two, bay leaves, cloves, and something personal to you (something that represents you). However, this still isn’t something that need to be followed to the letter. The ritual described in this post is one of many, each slightly different to each other, each personalized by the inspiration of the moment. Whatever you have on hand, whatever you feel is needed, or best left out, that is what’s right for you. A clove, bay leaf, crystals…these things will not be what makes or breaks any ritual founded on personal energy and power, as this ritual is.

Ritual

Let’s get into this! So, all things appropriate scattered around the altar and dressed as one dresses for such rituals, I took my place in Temple and set about lighting candles, turning off lights, and getting the music started. I try to begin rituals, especially those without any spirits present, with a decent mediation.

Once focused, there’s a moment to pause and consider if everything is as it should be. Is the music still right? Are the candles where I want them? Does everything look like it’s somewhere it belongs? Do I feel like I’m in the right place? Etc. Making adjustment as needed for a few moments, soon everything is as it should be and ritual continues on to the next stage.

And the next stage is…meditation! There’s something great to be said for meditation. The stillness, the power that fills in the void, the voiceless echoes of energy banging around, the way you feel the swell of magic rising and becoming so “tangible.” Not all meditations are this way, but in ritual I tend to try to lead them there. When I feel myself, when I feel like power is whatever Sitri’s not-description of it is, is filling me to the brim and running freely from my fingertips and not-claws, I let the energy move through me, move me.

When we listen to music, when we become possessed, when we breathe without restriction, the body moves. So I let my body move as it likes as I breathe and listen to the music and sit quietly in temple, staring into the candles’ growing flames and watching as both physical items and non-real shadows flicker and run across the altar. And when I feel comfortable in this distortion of reality, the shift from where we usually walk, and the feeling of infinite power that drenches the mock-quiet of temple, I make my move.

A calm, steady focus on each aspect of the ritual is next. Each tarot card, each stone, each coin and dollar bill. And with each, the accumulation of their energy into the altar, into myself, into the air around me and “held” within Temple. Everything has an energy, ascribed or inherent. This time is set aside to parse out the sounds/words to the music, to breathe feeling or life or direction into this moment of time where everything is amplified. A subtle shift in gaze from the 6 of Wands to the 10 of Pentacles, a slight movement to better look upon a stone tower, or a closing of the eyes and deep breath before looking, meaningfully, importantly, to and between the feeling of what is in this moment and the debit card laid out among bay leaves, candles, and cloves.

What is ritual if not coming to terms with ourselves?

How have my rituals changed?

I’ve changed my go-to ingredients a little, and I now have a go-to sigil and a couple of incantations and/or spells to choose from when I’m in ritual. I also have made the choice to call Sitri into my wealth rituals as he was eager to participate once and now is more than welcome and appreciated.

Money Manifestation & Wealth Attraction

is for everyone, regardless of your place on this journey through life, and through magic, know that you are not lacking, and know that worth is (oftentimes) irrelevant, focus on what you have and feel gratitude for what is coming your way. Trust. Always.

What About Offerings?

January 25, 2024January 27, 2024Laurel Spider1 Comment

There’s an idea of offerings & What we must give to get

Often, when people begin in the world of evocations, invocations, and spirits, they wonder about what they should be “offering.” They might ask questions to others about what is “best” even — meaning all too frequently what will help them the most. After having been asked about offerings, and wondering many times about them myself, here are my thoughts on the topic.

In this world of spirits, people will sometimes fall under the impression that to get or to receive, we must first give something to a spirit. This idea, in and of itself, is something each of us should contemplate on our own; something we should all reach our own conclusions about, as this is an important deliberation for each of us and becomes fundamental to how we view spirit-human relationships.

What I will say is that fruits and wine and incense and whatever others statues and material offerings we find placed upon our altars, these are not the things which drive our relationships with them. It is instead entirely us, ourselves, who enhance or dull our relationships with them.

Even a spirit which might have a personal vendetta against someone, if we take an example, might find themselves more willing to offer help if that person becomes dedicated, to any varying extent of the word. The reason for this is not because that person lights a candle every fourth day, or because that person says something reverential about the spirit to others; the reason is far simpler and something that should be internalized instead of read and held as fact or the an opinion of another.

Offerings made

…should be offerings of yourself.

What this means is not that you need to dedicate a finger or a spleen to a spirit, and it’s not either than you need to fill a cauldron to the brim with blood to place on the altar. It’s much more simple. Offerings are always meant to be of yourself. They are an amalgamation of your time, thought, energy, interest, etc. Whether candy, poems, or (yes) blood, offerings are meant to be displays of your dedication to a spirit.

Not your interest in what they can provide for you — offerings are not materials levied in a deal or trade, they are given as tokens of respect and interest. Thus, when we give offerings we should strive to be giving an offering of ourselves, regardless of whether it’s coins in a dish, blood over a sigil, a fruit from the store, or simply our energy.

If we aren’t making offerings of ourselves, not necessarily laden with pain or suffering, but that come truly from us as opposed to being inane objects we’ve carelessly collected to leave as offerings, then truly what is the point? While pretty trinkets and expensive incenses can be nice on their own, is that the relationship you’re seeking to have with spirits? One where you go out and find or order nice things without thought? Or, are you more interested in cultivating something a bit deeper, something “meaningful” (by my understanding of the word, though yours may be different)?

Offerings are not just about what you dig out to put on the altar; they are about what you are willing to give (to do) and what of yourself becomes given in the process. It isn’t a question of intention, money spent, time expended, but rather of meaning.

Offerings & Worth

What an offering is worth is something that seems to matter to people newer to magic and/or evocations. It’s also something I find is a fun discussion to have with more experienced practitioners. The reason for these things, I think, is because there are many layers to offerings and they are something personal to each of us. From ancient to present times, people have made offerings to their gods (and others). And still, there is so much question about them. About what is “right” or “wrong,” what can be given or not, what an offering is worth…(and why).

There will be, of course, those who disagree with my view. However, I think it’s important to at least consider as many perspectives as we can with regard to these things and arrive, always, at our own conclusions. So, what is the worth of an offering?

The worth of an offering is not only decided by how valuable it is/would be to us, and not only decided by how valuable we believe it should be to a spirit. And it is not always determined in the same way either. While wine and blood may be the “best” offering in one situation, perhaps a meditation with a certain spirit in mind is the “best” offering in another instance. Whether we offer sweets, sex, or blood is also not always relevant to worth; and neither is a pound of flesh (metaphor) inherently more valuable than a single drop of blood.

But the truth is, in my view, that offerings are a lot more about our efforts than anything else. This isn’t constricted to any one way of putting effort into something. What they are worth though, that depends on your relationship with the spirit you’re making offerings to, what you’ve gone through to attain the offering, what it means to you, what you intend it to mean once offered, and more.

As an Exchange

Some people ask whether they can exchange, or trade, a stick of cinnamon and half a glass of alcohol for something like an obsession or a some obscene amount of money or some similar feat. Others wonder if lighting a candle for 6 days, burning it half an hour a night will be sufficient to bring them what they want. And still others wonder if, when working with spirits, offerings must be made at all. The truth to these queries is that offerings are something personal, something that can be as intimate or public as you would like, but they should always connect you to the spirit.

In terms of exchanges: It doesn’t matter whether you drag in moon water and toss several dozen kinds of herbs into it and then wash your altar with it before laying down a basket of fruits and desserts. It doesn’t matter if you dedicate half an hour before or after your ritual to reading pretty poems to a spirit. It doesn’t matter if you don’t offer anything substantial enough that you consider it an offering. While all of these might have a place in your practice–or none of them–what matters isn’t the thing itself, but rather what is held within it.

Offerings are as important as we make them. If we collect something to set aside as an offering because we know a certain spirit likes a certain type of offering, then we should make sure that it’s brought to the altar with that respect, not just because we read somewhere that Dantalion likes [almonds] and so “here they are.”

Offerings should be made from you

…to the spirit.

If the spirit wants something, you are incredibly unlikely to be the spirit’s only method of attaining it. Instead, it is that you are the one giving something, offering something that makes the impact. You are the variable here. Make that meaningful when you give offerings.

Do not treat them as an exchange. When a god, demon, angel, or other spirit wants to help you, a sliced fruit, a bowl of fancy chocolates, a burning stick of incense, a perfectly colored candle…none of these things alone are going to matter. Make offerings of yourself, of your heart so to speak simply because you want to. While they may show a spirit dedication, they are not a guarantee of anything; thus, do not treat them as if they ought to be.

atmospheric candles and incense on a braided mat

The Weight of Equality

Let me ask you, does your plate of pennies and bowl of overripened apples have an equal worth to that raise you just asked for?

If you contemplated an answer to that question, you’re not understanding the point of this post, which is that offerings are not about deals and trades, they’re simply an offering we make, they are not meant to be lorded over spirits as “carrots” and not meant as negotiating tactics. Offerings often accompany ceremonies, routines, prayers, worship, remembrances, and many other “rituals.” They are not meant to put you on equal footing with a spirit, such a thing doesn’t come from pretty trinkets or wandering smoke.

There is a time and a place for careful negotiations to be made, but making offerings is simply a giving of yourself, in whatever form that takes to a spirit to whom you are respectful, grateful, or merely wish to include in your practice. I say offerings are of the self because we should not make them randomly and they are not made through other people; we are the medium through which they are given and in being this medium, we participate in the offering itself.

Make meaningful that you are the intermediary between offering and spirit. For this is all that matters.