apollolikescello reblogged

fucktonofanatomyreferencesreborn

A mouth-watering fuck-ton of hand angle references.

By Shadowcross on DA.

BLESS YOU, YOU WONDERFUL PERSON

apollolikescello reblogged

doubleipa

apollolikescello reblogged

posthumous-pagan

anyway, my classics professor says even the ancient greeks didn’t see the myths as scripture so.

every day I go to class and I’m validated.

apollolikescello reblogged

unstablecryptid

good riddance live

apollolikescello reblogged

allthesunlightwecansee

I’ve been adding to my altars the past couple of days, now that I’m home from holiday traveling. I’ve been feeling a bit disconnected from my practice because of said traveling and just general end of the semester bullshit, and my way of dealing with feeling distant usually involves gifts lol. I added a few things to my Aphrodite, Apollo/Artemis, Athena, and healing altars, in addition to giving food offerings, which has helped me to start feeling more grounded 💕

apollolikescello reblogged

matchhman

My Child.

I introduce you to..

Daijin.

apollolikescello reblogged

luckycheesefoodie321

OH SNAP THE FACT THAT SADAIJIN IS SO MUCH BIGGER AND STRONGER AND THAN DAIJIN

Sadaijin because his gate is in the heart of Tokyo where life is rich and bustling and while the gate is still in a place forgotten, the people still live to nurture the land on which it sits. And also highly likely that since his gate protects against the head of the worm, he will move with it and so remains it’s keeper this whole time.

Meanwhile Daijin’s post moves around often and has been broken before. And you find it in the middle of a forgotten town where no people go near. He doesn’t hesitate to discard his position as keystone to fill that loneliness. Which suggests the western keystone does it much more often than the eastern one. That’s why Daijin is weak and smalland emaciated and desperate for love from someone who has offered him kindness.

Which the whole film is about. Community kindness. Strangers helping those in need. First Suzume helping Souta close the door. Then feeding Daijin when he comes by. Both are moved by her kindness and try to repay her along the way. And this kindness continues to get paid forward as numerous people help her out along her journey. And she doesn’t hesitate to try and return the favour. She helps clean at Chika’s house when they let her stay over. She helps the Mama with her bar and babysits her kids.

Tl;dr: Sadaijin is big boy and stronk bc not lonely. Daijin is small boi and weak bc lonely. Suzume helped him not feel lonely anymore. But he still returned to his post because he loved her.

apollolikescello reblogged

ceo-of-sloppy-men

The worst thing about Astarion being 39 is that he was someone’s kid. He had parents. Parents who were probably waiting for him to come home that night, who were so excited for his 100th birthday, who raised. Parents who had to bury their baby with no way to say goodbye one last time. Parents who might still be alive given elven standards (750yrs). Parents he can’t remember, but who can remember him.

apollolikescello reblogged

kakademona

dick-winters-blog1

my masterlist of 'how to life’ tips

Cleaning & Tidying

Make your bed in the morning. It takes seconds, and it’s worth it.
Reset to zero each morning.
Use the UFYH 20/10 system for clearing your shit.
Get a reed diffuser and stick it on your windowsill.
Have a ‘drop-zone’ box where you dump anything and everything. At the beginning/end of the day, clear it out and put that shit away.
Roll your clothes, don’t fold them - or fold them vertically.
Automate your chores. Have a cleaning schedule and assign 15mins daily to do whatever cleaning tasks are set for that day. Set a timer and do it - once the timer is up, finish the task you’re on and leave it for the day.
Fold your clothes straight out of the tumble dryer (if you use one), whilst they’re still warm. This minimises creases and eliminates the need for ironing.
Clean your footwear regularly and you’ll feel like a champ.

Organisation & Productivity

Learn from Eisenhower’s Importance/Urgency matrix.
Try out the two-minute rule and the Pomodoro technique.
Use. A. Planner. (Or Google Calendar, if that’s more your thing.)
Try bullet journalling.
Keep a notebook/journal/commonplace book to dump your brain contents in on the regular.
Set morning alarms at two-minute intervals rather than five, and stick your alarm on the other side of the room. It’s brutal, but it works.
Set three main goals each day, with one of them being your #1 priority. Don’t overload your to-do list or you’ll hit overload paralysis and procrastinate.
If you’re in a slump, however, don’t be afraid to put things like “shower” on your to do list - that may be a big enough goal in itself, and that’s okay.
Have a physical inbox - a tray, a folder, whatever. If you get a piece of paper, stick it in there and sort through it at the end of the week.
Consider utilising the GTD System, or a variation of it.
Try timeboxing.
Have a morning routine, and guard that quiet time ferociously.
Save interesting-looking shit to instapaper. Have a set time where you read through the stuff you saved to instapaper and save the shit that you like from instapaper to evernote (or bookmark it properly).
During your working hours, put on your footwear, even if you’re sat on your bed. (Why?)
Have a folder for all your important documents and letters, organised by topic (e.g. medical, bank, university, work, identification). At the front of this folder, have a sheet of paper with all the key information written on it, such as your GP’s details, your passport details, driving licence details, bank account number, insurance number(s), and so on.
Try using StayFocusd and RescueTime (or similar apps/extensions). (I promise, you’ll find that you’re not as busy as you think you are.)
Schedule working time and down time alike, in the balance that works for you.

Money

Have. A. God. Damn. Budget.
Use a money tracker like toshl, mint, or splitwise. Enter all expenses asap! (You will forget, otherwise.)
Have a ‘money date’ each week, where you sort through your finances from the past seven days and then add it to a spreadsheet. This will help you identify your spending patterns and whether your budget is actually working or not.
Pack your own frickin’ lunch like a grown-up and stop buying so many takeaway coffees. Keep snacks in your bag.
Go to your bank and take out £100 in £1 coins (or w/e your currency is). That shit will come in useful for all kinds of things and you’ll never be short on change for the bus or the laundry.

Food & Cooking

Know how to cook the basics: a starch, a protein, a vegetable, and a sauce.
Simple, one-pot meals (“a grain, a green, and a bean”) are a godsend.
Dried porcini mushrooms make a fantastic stock to cook with.
Batch cook and freeze. Make your own ‘microwave meals’.
Buy dried goods to save money - rice and beans are a pittance. (Remember to soak dried beans first, though!)
Consider Meatless Mondays; it’s healthier, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly.
Learn which fruits and vegetables are cheapest at your store, and build a standard weekly menu around those. (Also remember that frozen vegetables are cheap and healthy.)
Learn seasoning combinations. Different seasoning, even with the exact same ingredients, can make a dish seem completely new.
Don’t buy shit for a one-off recipe, especially if you won’t use it all. If you really want to try out a recipe, see if a friend would be interested in making it with you, then pool for the expenses.
Make your own goddamned pasta sauce. Jamie Oliver has a decent recipe here, but the beauty of tomato sauce is that you can totally wing it and adapt the fuck out of it.

Misc

Have a stock email-writing format.
Want to start running, but find it boring? Try Zombies, Run!.
Keep a goddamn first aid kit and learn how to use it.
Know your OTC pain relief.
Update your CV regularly.
Keep a selection of stamps and standard envelopes for unexpected posting needs. (It happens more regularly than you would think!)

Some final words of advice:

Organisation is not a goal in itself, it is a tool. Don’t get caught up in the illusion of productivity and get distracted from the actual task at hand.
Routines and habits will help you. Trust in them.
You have the potential to be an organised and productive person, just as much as anybody else. It just takes practice.

glorious-spoon

reblogging even though there are currently three loads of clean clothes piled on my bedroom floor and i had to wade through a sea of toys to get downstairs this morning.

laylainalaska

I am a 42-year-old work-from-home adult who considers herself a pretty organized person (having graduated on a steep uphill slope, growing up in extreme poverty with hoarder parents) and I do basically NONE of these things, except for the “fixing your bed” thing, which in my case consists of spending 10 seconds gently flipping the comforter over the slept-upon portion of the sheets because it feels tidier to me that way.

My advice as a Reformed Child of Hoarders who took 20 years to figure out how to do dishes is this:

Decide what is important to you, and what you can let slide in the pursuit of this. I like having things off the floor. I therefore leave laundry in the dryer until another load needs to go in (I mean, it’s out of the way there, SO WHAT!), and then sort it on the bed. Being on the bed, it prevents me from going to bed until it’s sorted and put away.
The most important factor in being organized over the long term is figuring out a place to put each category of things, and an organized way to put it in that place, from which you can take things you need and put things back without having to move anything else.
Notice when other people do things in a useful way that you like. Perhaps you can steal their techniques too!
For example, my tupperware cabinet was a fucking mess until I visited a friend’s house, got out a tupperware item to put something away, and was like “… oh” because they had them in the cabinet in two neat “small” and “large” piles, with the lids behind them. I did this with mine, ruthlessly throw away anything that doesn’t fit the schema, and I haven’t had to reorganize my tupperware in 10 years.
But also have a “junk” space where you can stick un-organizable things so you don’t have to organize them RIGHT NOW. aka the infamous “junk drawer” (quite legit). Or the top of a dresser where you put all your jeans that have been worn once, your house sweaters, your clothes removed from the dryer after being in there for 10 days that have to be moved off the bed so people can sleep on it NOT THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME OR ANYTHING. The only problem with this is when it overflows your junk drawer, but:
A good organizing principle in general is that everything has A Place (decided by you) and when it overflows that place, you start throwing bits of it away so you can put new bits in. For example, my yarn was also A Fucking Mess until I got a large rubbermaid container to put it in, and the new rule is that if I get new yarn, it has to either fit in here or I have to use and/or toss yarn until the new stuff fits. Basically just organize everything this way.
When you set up your organizing schema, leave room for new stuff, if you can. For example, if you create a drawer for important mail/bills with nice little tabbed folders, make sure to only fill it up partway. If you sort and cull your books, leave room for new books!
The perfect is the enemy of the good. This applies in particular to cooking. If you know how to make spaghetti sauce out of a can of diced tomatoes, a can of Prego, and a frozen hamburger patty, you will never be hungry and neither will anyone you’re feeding, unless they are a demanding connoisseur, in which case they can feed the household.
Similarly, learn what raw materials YOU need to keep on hand to make YOUR foods, and buy them in bulk. I always have a box of premade hamburger patties and frozen veg in the freezer, cans of tomatoes and beans and canned chicken and chili in the cabinets, and in the fridge: bread, a bagged salad mix, burrito wraps, and cheese. I also like to have potatoes and carrots around. With this, I can feed pretty much anyone who doesn’t have special food needs. (I totally have an insecurity issue about all of this because I grew up poor and these are poor-person foods. I tell that part of me to fuck off. I CAN cook in a more upper-class register if I want to. And sometimes I like to, especially if I have a guest who likes that kind of food, and in the summer when there are fresh garden/farmer’s-market greens available, I greatly enjoy cooking with those. But don’t mistake that for a referendum on your worth as a person.)
You do not have to soak dried beans. Just rinse them and throw away any non-bean items, and don’t add salt ‘til the end. They’ll cook in about 2.5 hours anyway.
Learn what makes YOU more likely to finish a task. I have a friend who loves kneading bread but wants the least number of steps to get the bread done. Me, I am SUPER LAZY about that bread, but I don’t mind coming back every 15 minutes (WITH A TIMER, also a very useful thing to know about yourself) to flip a wad of dough or whatever. It’s worth taking the time to figure out if you would rather make 12 minor adjustments to the recipe over 12 hours, or do 30 minutes of tedious prep and then never have to think about it again.

Perhaps most importantly:

You have a limited number of “to do” points per day. There are actual studies on this. Whatever you call it (willpower, ‘get up and go’, the ability to force yourself to do something), is limited. Use it judiciously. Most importantly, learn to feel when you are running out of it. Do things you need to recharge it, and do not be ashamed of them. (Staring at Tumblr, for example.) Figure out where you can cut corners and still create the end product you want.

apollolikescello reblogged

Spirit Work Foundations- Lulls

This post is a part of our Spirit Work Foundations series if you are interested in our other posts in this series please click here.

Our current world glorifies hustle culture where you need to fight for your next achievement. This can be damaging and cause burn out even in mundane cases. In this article we will discuss lulls which can be brought on just like burn out for our mundane aspects. A lull is magical burn out or your energy taking a much needed nap.

When you approach your practice with a mind to constant movement you will notice over time your energy will flag and need to reset, or recharge itself. Just as our physical bodies need rest to regenerate, so too do our astral bodies and our energy systems. When you have been maintaining an energy intensive practice for a period of time your energy will occasionally need to shut down to be able to right itself and even to just move into a new aspect of growth for you. This what we colloquially refer to as a lull period, or lulling.

Lulls are completely natural and happen occasionally to allow your mind, body, and soul to rest. A lull is a period of time where your magical, or astral senses, will shut down and go dark. During these periods you may have a hard time sensing Spirits. Your energy will go dormant and energy sensing and astral senses will become difficult or even impossible to reach. This can affect your magic; leading to a time where your intuition feels dead and your perception of the astral world is dark.

It’s important to recognize that while these periods of time can be scary and lead to doubt or fear it’s not something without benefit. Lulls are how your energy system works through a lot of difficult aspects of energy reset. Some examples are:

Growth: like when your energy shuts down to make room for a new avenue of spiritual advancement.
Trauma: as in a healing induced lull which allows your body to rest so that work can be done and your energy system can reset.
Attunement: when you have been attuned to a new energy and your system needs time to acclimate.
Paradigm shifts: when your energy or aspects are shifting to a new paradigm that you haven’t explored before.
Rest: like when you have been doing too much too fast and your system needs to replenish energy stores.
Mundane Focus: like when you need to focus on an important aspect of your mundane life and meta senses need to take a back seat while you focus.

Basically anytime there are major changes to your system either through healing or otherwise your energy system will need time to reset and recharge.

Lulls are not something to fear even if they can feel like you are losing touch with something very important to you. It’s important to remember that all lulls come to an end. You will get your sensing back and you will most likely notice improvement when you are able to sense again. They can last for a while. People have reported lulls lasting for years. But most of the time they need that time to focus on other aspects of their life and when they come back to the magical they are grateful for the time away.

During a lull you may feel the magical world doesn’t exist. This is natural because your ability to sense and reach it has been shut down. You may even have a hard time seeing and recognizing signs; again because your normal intuition and sense of the spiritual has been disrupted. Don’t panic if this happens, just give yourself time and rest and it will come back when your senses reset.

When you do end up coming out of a lull it’s important to go slowly. Don’t rush back in head first expecting things to be exactly the same as they were. Your energy will wake slowly and you need time to acclimate to what has changed. Your entire path can change during a longer lull if you go through a paradigm shift. You may come out the other side with a completely different understanding of everything you thought you knew previously. Give yourself time and grace to get back to where you were before and make sure to take more rest times if you do.

There are ways to avoid longer lulls and to shorten lulls if you do experience them but again lulls are natural so avoiding them forever can be damaging. If you notice your energy flagging and your senses are starting to waver it is usually a sign that a lull is coming if you don’t start to rest more. The only way to stave off a full lull that is rest induced is to just… take it easier on your practice. If you need more rest, take it. If you feel yourself growing tired it’s time to take a few days to a week off. Just like in the mundane world you need astral vacations occasionally to just be a person and let yourself rest.

If you want to avoid a full lull where your senses shut down completely you need to avoid things that use energy while you are taking your rest period. Some aspects that use energy and can lead to lulls are:

Spirit sensing: any kind of sensing or mediuming spirits will cause you to use energy.
Tarot, or divination.
Spell work or energy work. Even physical spells with no energy work and just intention. Spells with intent and physical components require magical energy to come to fruition just as a purely energy spell does.
Astral travel or astral sight.
Energy sensing. This is not the time to do back to back energy readings or find out who is haunting your attic.
Deity work: while this one can be finagled as the Deity can offer the energy needed to communicate with them it’s important to recognize this still takes energy as you are listening with your Clair senses to their messages.

Basically anything that usually requires a Clair sense or energy work is best to avoid or do in moderation while you are resting to avoid a potential lull. If you feel you need to rest you need to rest. Take a break and make some tea and let yourself have a moment to just be. This is a great time to work on more mundane aspects of your work like note organizing or planning for your future endeavors. But it’s time to rest and let your body reset so you can come back stronger and better in the future.

Spirit work and magical practices take a lot of energy we are not naturally used to using. It takes time and practice to build your endurance to be able to go for long intense periods of work. Be gentle with yourself if you need time off and let yourself rest and find a way to work through the fear of being away for a bit. Lulls are natural and beneficial and will help immensely in the long run.

Withering Woods is an 18+ Spirit Conjuring, Divination, and Devotional/Enchanted Jewelry service. We focus on connection and the many ways that can manifest in our lives.

To meet our staff click here.

To join our discord click here.

To see our other informational posts click here.

apollolikescello reblogged

urbanspellcraft

Spirit Companionship FAQ Part 2

So this has been a long time coming. Questions are really in no particular order, but are common questions I get about spirit companionship! I will probably be referring back to this post a lot! Just as a heads up, when I say spirit in this post it is referring to both spirits and entities. I am also splitting this up into two sections because of length.

Please see more of your questions answered on Spirit Companionship FAQ Part 1.

How do I communicate with my companions?

This is a harder question to answer, because everyone communicates and gets messages from their companions differently. But starting off, just talk to them! Tell them about your day, explain to them what you are doing and why you are doing it. What seems boring and mundane to you might be weird and fascinating to them. But just start by talking to them. You may not get a response, but keep it up! Stay open to the signs, pay attention to the little, subtle changes, and your ability to communicate with them will grow. You can also hone your telepathic abilities with them to get clearer communication. Divination is a good tool to utilize after you have some practice but not at first. Rely on your own abilities first before moving to divination, as you can misinterpret signs through tarot, runes, etc.

Do I need to have psychic abilities?

This is a question I get fairly often. Everyone is born with the ability to have psychic abilities, but very few of us are born with strong psychic abilities. So you DO have psychic abilities, you just haven’t honed that muscle, or know how to use them yet! But a better answer to this question, is that you do not need to have your abilities honed or practiced to become a spirit companion. You can work on them over time, and they will naturally improve by being a spirit companion, to an extent.

Do I need to know how to astral project?

No! In fact astral projection can be very dangerous, so until you know how to protect yourself are well practiced in your craft, I would wait. Meditate with them instead.

Help! I cant see/hear anything! How do I know they are there?

Thats normal, you are ok! If you are just starting out, chances are, you aren’t going to be able to see, hear or feel anything right off the bat. But as long as you got your spirit from a reputable conjurer, and you are communicating with your spirit, chances are they are there. If you have worries that the spirit has left the vessel, talk to the conjurer! They will always check for you.

What is a vessel?

A vessel can be anything, but it is what used to create an energetic binding for the spirit to our physical plane, making it easier for them to communicate and manifest on our plane. Its almost like a telephone, in a way, or a bridge built just for them as a way to make it easier to communicate with us.

What is this about binding, are they trapped?

Not at all! When witches talk about binding it is often in a negative light, but in spirit companionship it is much different. A binding, like explained a bit above, is just an energetic connection to the vessel they are bound to, or to the companion/keeper. Sometime a contract is signed in this binding, not allowing the spirit to harm (among other things), but it just can make it a bit easier for them to communicate with us. Basically they have to use less energy to do so.

What are house rules? Why are they important?

This is exactly what it sounds like.. a set of defined rules that every spiritual family member must abide by. House rules are not something every spirit companion utilizes, but I do. I think they are important because it establishes some ground rules, and keeps my household free of big clashes or any super major issues. Of course things still come up, but if someone breaks a major rule, then thats a HUGE problem, and they get banished. It keeps things running smoothly and brings a bit more peace to the house, considering the variety of arts that I work with. You can see my house rules here.

What are offerings? Do I need to give them offerings?

Companions use offerings differently. Some give them all the time, others do not/cant afford to, but most people choose to give offerings to some extent. Offerings can be anything that is enjoyed by your spirit. It can be things like food, plants, leaves, bones, alcohol, crystals, water, coins, juice, milk, raw meat, nuts, flowers, leaves, candles, magical workings, time, watching TV together, conversation, energy offerings, sexual offerings/sexual energies or home-made crafts. Those are just a few examples, but what your spirit likes will depend on what type of offerings you will be giving them. Offerings don’t have to be hard or expensive. You can give them as a way to show thanks or respect to your spirit family, or as a treat for helping you complete a task, or just because. Spirits often use these offerings to take energy from them.

Is it dangerous?

It can be dangerous, yes. Any time you reach into the non physical planes it can be dangerous. But if you go about it right, use reputable conjurers, keep working on building relationships with your spirits, don’t act like an asshole, don’t blame your spirits that everything that goes wrong, and are generally approaching companionship in the right manner, and with the right attitude, you should be fine.

Is protection important?

Yes. Protection is important with everything you do magically (and in the mundane as well, to an extent). Even if you have protective spirits, you should still set up your own protections as well, even if it is just for backup.

Please see more of your questions answered on Spirit Companionship FAQ Part 1.

Thats it for now! This might be updated with new questions later! And by no means is this the be-all end-all of spirit companionship FAQs. A lot of this is based off my experiences and opinions, as well as other spirit companions and friends. So do your own research, and come to your own conclusions.

More useful posts: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

apollolikescello reblogged

urbanspellcraft

Spirit Companionship FAQ Part 1

Please see more of your questions answered on Spirit Companionship FAQ Part 2.

What is spirit companionship?

Spirit companionship, or spirit keeping as it is also known as, is the practice of having spirits around as friends, companions, life partners, guides, teachers, students or whatever reason the spirit has decided to become a companion. But whatever the case is, the spirit has decided to become a companion, willingly. But for us, the humans, it is a way of life, as often these spirits are part of our family forever and require our time and commitment just as any other friend or family member does. You build relationships with them, go through ups and downs, and experience life together. Its a huge commitment. But worth it, as long as you have the time to dedicate to the spirits.

Do all spirits want to be spirit companions?

No. In fact, most spirits want nothing to do with humans, and even if they do want to work with us, its often not on a companionship level.

Is spirit companionship like having a spirit guide?

Being a spirit companion is different than having a spirit guide, but a spirit companion or entity can act as a guide. Sometimes our spirit guides turn into companions, but I have found they tend to stick in the background a little more.

Who can be a spirit companion

Anyone, really. Anyone can be a spirit companion, no matter your race, what religion you identify with, what sex you identify yourself with, or what part of the world you live in. It is not a closed practice.

How do I get a spirit companion?

The easiest, and often safest way to obtain a spirit companion is through a reputable conjurer. They will be able to connect you with a spirit that is an energy match to yourself, as well as one that wants to work with you as well, sharing common interests with you. You can check out my list of conjurer’s here as well as my list of my personally recommended conjurers.

Why do I need to use a conjurer? Why cant I just summon spirits myself?

Unless you have experience working with spirits, I would strongly advise against it. Think of conjurers as a safety net. By the time the spirit arrives to you, they have already gained the trust of the conjurer, and potentially others -depending on who you go through. They have also agreed to a contract in the binding where they agree to certain things (for example to not hurt the companion) with the conjurer, before that conjurer will bind their energy to the object. If you are attempting to do this yourself, you don’t have that, and could potentially summon up something quite dangerous without knowing. If you aren’t familiar with working with spirits, it can be even worse, because you have no way to judge their character and/or what type of spirit they are, and this could lead to you being taken advantage of. Until you have a few years of experience under your belt, I advise against trying to conjure yourself. Even then, keep in mind conjuring is a HUGE responsibility, and can be potentially dangerous.

How do I know its a calling?

Everyone feelings callings differently, but its basically a pull to work with a spirit, and the spirit with you. The important thing to distinguish here is that it is actually a calling. If you cant get that spirit off your mind, or you keep going back to the stop to make sure the spirit is “ok” or still there, or that spirit is waiting for you in the shop, then it is probably a calling. Thats just a few examples. With most conjurers, you can often contact them and have them ask the spirit as well too, to confirm the calling.

What is bonding? Why is it important, and how do I bond with my spirit(s)?

I am actually going to refer to another post on this question because it explains it much better then I can in this short FAQ! Click Here.

How do I greet a companion? Do I need to do a big ritual?

No! Some conjurers will provide a short incantation or way to welcome the spirit into your home, and if the conjurer provides this then you should do it. But if they don’t, you don’t need to do anything crazy except introduce yourself and welcome them into your home and life. Probably show them what they can and cant use, what areas of the house they are welcome in, read them house rules if you have them, and go from there! Do what feels right.

Please see more of your questions answered on Spirit Companionship FAQ Part 2.

More useful posts: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

apollolikescello reblogged

serapphire

A Beginner’s Guide To Spirit Companionship

So, you are either interested in companionship or you have already taken the plunge and adopted an entity or spirit into your family… You may be wondering ‘now what?’, and this guide is here to give you the basics on what the next steps should be.

Be Aware Of Your Psychic Abilities

Very rarely are people born with abilities that are strong and do not need practice to keep sharp. A majority of people start with little to no psychic awareness, and everyone needs to practice to keep what abilities they do have in top shape. The psychic mind is like a muscle. If you do not exercise that muscle often, you will find that it will grow weaker over time.

What abilities are you interested in honing? Do you want to see physical manifestations and communicate through visual cues? Clairvoyance is what you will need to work on. Want to be able to hear your companion’s voice or audible manifestations? Clairaudience. Clairsentience is feeling your companion, whether it be through touches, changes in temperature, or pressure. Dream-Walking is another option, where you can use Lucid Dreaming to communicate with your companions through all the senses. Astral Travel is another popular one.

Choose which method speaks to you, and learn how you are able to adapt those abilities. We will create a guide on strengthening psychic abilities in a later post.

When choosing, you should also be aware of how your companion can manifest. Several shops list the potential manifestations of their companions, which can be a huge aid for those who do not know what to expect, or are adverse to certain types of manifestation. If you practice your clairvoyance abilities but your companion is better at feeling-typed manifestations, you may soon realize that communication is difficult between you two. Compromise is important within spiritual relationships.

Keep Calm & Do Not Worry

As a beginner who is not used to their psychic abilities, it may be difficult to not worry about whether what you are experiencing is real or not, but the thing about Spirit Companionship is that trust and hope is important. Don’t let anxiety concerning a spirit being fake, or the manifestations being ‘in your head’ get to you, as that will be far more damaging than if they were fake. If you received your companion from a reputable seller who has handled hundreds of customers and entities and as a history to back them up, ease yourself into trusting your conjurer and the work they have done for you. Once you are able to trust your conjurer, you will find it easier to trust yourself and what you experience.

Leave It Open To Interpretation

Always keep communication open. Messages may come in parts and not all at once, depending on your companion. They may say “I like ice cream”, but later on add that they don’t like ice cream with sprinkles. Always keep an open mind concerning the information you receive, until your companion says something to support or deny a certain fact. Don’t worry about your companion not liking something, unless they have told you in the past something of that effect! Keep an open mind, and don’t let anxiety about ‘offending them’ or making them upset, stop you from giving them offering, bringing them with you on errands, or other activities unless there is experience to support them not liking something.

If you are still unsure, contact your conjurer for confirmation until you are comfortable with your communicative skills with your companion. Most conjurers will be happy to give you information on what the being likes/dislikes!

Tarot, Maybe Not

As a beginner, I highly recommend staying away from divination techniques that will give you an answer even if the spirit/entity does not choose what to answer with. These methods would include Tarot, Oracle, and Music Divination. Because you are going to be pulling a card no matter if your spirit has chosen one or not, it can very easily lead to a situation where a card is pulled that does not answer your question. Stick to psychic senses before you move onto Tarot/Oracle.

House Rules House Rules are what keep things clear during your relationship. They aid your companion in knowing what is expected of them, and what will not be tolerated. Most companions are not intimately familiar with human customs, so never assume that they know not to do something in your household or to you/your loved ones. House Rules keep everyone safe and comfortable, and prevent miscommunication. You can read more about house rules here and here.

Concerning Offerings Conjurers tend to leave what the being likes within the profile, or you can contact them after a transaction to receive that information. Or, you can experiment! Until you know what your companion dislikes, offer what you can, and what you think they will enjoy. There is no harm in asking if they would like something, and if they don’t want it, you’ll know for the future! Food, drink, physical items, and energy are all viable offerings. How often you give offerings is completely up to you and your companion. They are gifts, and not required to be given.

Bonding With Your Companion

You can bond through an assortment of methods. Bonding is simply getting to know each other, and being comfortable together. Share information about yourself either out loud, in your mind, or through writing. What is your personality like? Your family? What do you like and dislike? What do you think is the most important quality in a relationship? What are your spiritual beliefs? You can also carry the vessel around with you during your daily activities to give your companion an idea of your daily life and surroundings. You can read a book with them, watch television, offer to have meals with them, do energy exercises, or simply dance and sing to express yourself with them! As they become comfortable with you, they just might join in.

apollolikescello reblogged

spiritcompanionship

thedragonslibrary

Bonding 101

I have counted roughly 20 messages in my inbox (which I am still slowly working through!) about bonding. So, it only makes sense that I should make a big post on bonding! It’s really not that difficult, but I think it would be best if we cleared up everything about it.

Long post under the cut.

GIF by brave-little-star

Afficher davantage

apollolikescello reblogged

spiritcompanionship

What to do when you fell out with your practice

Because I sure as hell needed this post when I did.

1. Realize that it‘s okay. Accept that it happened. Forgive yourself for it.

Maybe life got in the way and you just didn‘t have the time or energy or possibility. Maybe something happened on your path that got you scared, frightened, panicked, or even disgusted so that you had to take a step back and retreat. Maybe your focus simply shifted. Maybe you got bored. Maybe everything just got overwhelming and you weren‘t able to juggle magick and the mundane at the same time. Maybe mental illness got in the way. No matter what the reason for your fall out was, accept that it happened, forgive yourself for it. Because it‘s okay, life happens in phases, and no matter the reason, how big or how small, it‘s part of your journey and totally fine. These things happen to the best of us, so don‘t blame yourself for it. It really is okay. Pinky promise.

2. Reconnect with your god(s) and/or non-physical friends, if needed.

If you‘re a spirit companion/have spirit friends like me or are devoted to a god or certain deity/ies, your time with them/devotion to them probably fell under the brick as well. If it did, reconnect. I promise chances are they‘ll understand. As I said, life happens, and they know that too. They probably saw what you were going through. Explain what happened to them, apologize, and move on, if they allow it. Just spend more time with them again, greet them good morning and wish them good night again, invite them to join you throughout your day again. I promise, any good relationship will hold, just show that you really are sorry and put in effort to show that you care again. I’m sure they missed you as well so it’s time to make up for the time you lost!

3. Don’t overwhelm and overestimate yourself.

Chances are the longer your fall-out was, the more your “psychic muscles” lost in strength. Your intuition may be a bit more out-of-tune, you may have more trouble hearing/seeing/feeling/sensing spirits and energies. Maybe you have more trouble programing things or adding energy to objects than before. That’s okay! It’s totally fine and normal, just don’t be surprised if it happens and know that with practice you’ll be back to old strength in no time! Until then, start small and work with what you have.

4. Start small, don’t rush it, one step at a time.

Start drawing a daily or weekly card again. Start carrying crystals with you again. Start laying them out under the moon to charge again. Do small rituals like maybe doing some bath magic before you rush head-first into a huge complicated thing again! Again, you don’t want to overwhelm yourself. Also, you want to build a routine again to not risk falling out again. Some ideas on what to do when building your practice up again:

lay crystals, items, water, anything out under the moon/sun to charge
talk to plants
draw a daily/weekly card
pick a crystal to carry with you throughout the day in the morning
say mantras in the morning
infuse your tea/coffee with intent
send out your energetic sensers when comfortable and at home. slowly but surely
meditate. 5 minutes in the evening, 5 minutes in the morning. at least.
go for a daily walk at a certain time
look through your grimoire/bos if you have one. write in it again
doodle little sigils in your free time
and many, many more

5. If needed, make a schedule.

As I said, you may want to build a routine. If those work for you, make a daily or weekly plan. Look up transits and check when you have time, then create your own magical schedule. If need be, set some reminders on your phone. Just try to be disciplined about it for a while so that you get back into your practice smoothly!

6. Reinvent your craft.

You probably changed since you last practiced, or maybe there was a reason IN your practice that caused the fall-out. If so, identify what it was. Reflect on yourself, your practice, your life. How can you make everything run together more smoothly? Maybe you want to focus more on the mundane than the spiritual, and if so that’s totally fine. Adapt your practice in a way that fits and feels good, it’s all yours so feel free to do whatever you want! Maybe you want to shift the focus IN your practice, or maybe you want to stop doing something, maybe start doing something else (instead).

(Optional) 7. Talk to others.

Sometimes it is so, so hard to not feel incredibly bad and like you fucked yourself or your life or your relationships up when this happens (and not just in relation to magic but other things as well). Please know that you’re not alone on this and if your own up-lifting thoughts and words are not enough, seek validation outside. I promise that’s not a selfish or vain thing to do, it’s natural and human and you deserve to be told that you’re doing just fine. Go to a trusted friend, family member, maybe blogger, anyone. If you want, you can always come to me. Talk to someone about how things are going now, talk to them about the things you just did to make yourself feel good about doing this.

💗 No matter what, it’s all good. I promise. These things just happen and there is no reason to blame yourself - please take good care of yourself and know that you come first - magic and everything else second. I hope this was useful to some, I know it helped me as I’m just getting out of a fall-out, too. I hope you all have a magical day~! 💗

apollolikescello reblogged

spiritcompanionship

scarletprophecies-blog

Spirit Work: Do You Qualify?

I keep seeing people approach spirit work like it’s no big deal. They’re drawn to it through companionship, demonology, angels, contact with the dead, faerie craft, tulpamancy, servitors, thoughtforms, deity worship, etc. There’s a lot that can fall beneath spirit work or be related to it in some form where people eventually end up looking at spirit work eventually.

What is spirit work?

Spirit work is the act of working with and communicating with spirits. Spirits can range in variety from fae, mermaids, demons, angels, dragons, etc. Then there’s subspecies of whatever species you may be able to come up with off the top of your head. They can be malicious or benign, humanoid or inhumane, lifelong presence in your life or a passing existence. They can be immortal, deities, sexual or nonsexual, weak and strong. Spirits are so diverse, it’s hard to label them all as a whole because of how many different species there are and societies with their own politics and way of life. They’re incorporeal and can be found around you or in the astral, some even within your dreams. They are as real as you and me. Generally, you want to be respectful and not treat them like Pokémon to be tamed. They are wild and free. This doesn’t mean you should let them walk all over you especially when they become a negative influence in your life.

Do you need to do spirit work?

Even if a lot of the craft comes back to spirit work in some shape or form, you DO NOT have to get into spirit work. When you get into spirit work, it’s like opening a door that’s near impossible to close once opened. You invite one spirit into your life, twenty more will come knocking on your door. It’s perfectly possible to cohabitate with a spirit and you not even know it was there. Especially if you’re not looking for them or actively working with spirits to learn to recognize its presence. Like any other skill, there are pros and cons to spirit work. It can be rewarding just as much as it can be dangerous. It’s very dependent on you and what you plan to do while exploring spirit work. Just because they are generally incorporeal doesn’t mean you’re invincible or immune to the consequences that come with working with spirits. You’re not a god and so long as you exercise caution, spirit work can be a great skill to have. If you choose not to get into spirit work, then awesome! Your path isn’t any less than anyone else’s just because you decide this line of work is not for you.

Discernment

Before you run off into the magical land of spirits, you need to be sure that what you see or experience is real. This is the single most important tool anyone can have and that is to be skeptical, to exercise critical thinking, and test it. While it’s nice to take people at their word, you should be questioning their information and confirm it with other sources and/or with personal experience. Research and understand what it is you want to get into and what it is you’re trying to interact with. Spirits can be tricky beings and lie or change their form to appear as other things. They will try to scam you for offerings or even mess with you because they’re bored and think it’s funny. Not every spirit is going to be like this yet it happens. And being able to discern between the lies and what you deem as real will be essential in your interactions with spirits.

Divination

You want some form of physical communication with spirits that’s beyond only using telepathy or what you think you heard. Two or three different forms of divination would be ideal to check your results against and even confirm. Personally, I like to check and double check for personal assurance. I use tarot/oracle as my main form of divination and check if what I’m interpreting is correct with my pendulum. I use this a lot to confirm that what I’ve experienced happened and to gauge a spirit’s wants or needs.

Protection

How adept are you with protection? This is personal protection, wards of a space, more wards to prevent lying, glamor, teleportation, etc. Finding just the right amount of protection because there is such a thing as too much. Protection is a huge part of what you want to have around you to avoid a lot of potentially large problems before they can become one. There are preventative measure for a reason. There’s loopholes you want to avoid in the making of your wards like ‘only beings with positive intentions can come through’ or using only light as protection. The problem with the first notion is that it’s too open. A spirit with the intention to ‘fix’ you can be considered positive because this being has the intention for the highest good for you by its standards may not be the highest good by your standards. That’s a very weak premise to build a ward. The problem with the latter is that it won’t stop a being of light from just walking right through your ward. Again, it’s weak. Wards can be tricky business. The best way to build them is to write them out on paper and then try to find a way around them to break your own wards.

Banishment

If you’re going to be interacting with spirits, you want a way to banish them if they break your rules or become volatile. Why would you interact with a spirit you can’t get rid of? It’d be pretty asinine to willingly come into contact with a spirit you can’t banish and then have that spirit refuse to leave. How can you get it to stop escalating and becoming a worse situation? You want different methods of banishment as well from energetic intent to physical means of banishment. You want tailored banishment methods for the spirits you plan to contact. If you don’t know how to banish a spirit, then you probably shouldn’t be looking to interact with them.

Cleansing

Spirits can leave behind residue that can attract parasites. They can bring parasites. What you’re doing can attract more spirits or more parasites. It’s a good habit to get into to cleanse a space before and after interacting with spirits. It keeps you energetically clean as well as your space.

Energy Work

I’ve heard of people weak at sensing energies being able to do spirit work. It can be very hit and miss. Energy work is what you use to be able to sense a spirit and identify them. Personally, I recommend you have some basis in energy work before getting into spirit work. It’s an invaluable skill that’d provide an extra form of protection and open up new avenues of interacting with spirits. It’d help to learn what a spirit feels like, their energy signature, and alignments to better be able to single them out.

Astral Travel

This is a skill that’s more optional yet I always recommend having it in your skillset if you wish to get into spirit work. A lot of what you learn when getting into astral travel overlaps with spirit work since you’re opening yourself up to traveling into different realms that may have spirits. Much like spirit work, you’re opening a door that’s near impossible to close once opened. Astral travel provides you with a space you can work in, to be able to travel to a spirit’s homeland, observe their way of life, direct interaction, and being able to ‘see’ what the spirit may look like.

Dangers of Spirit Work

Like I’ve touched on throughout this post, there are dangers to spirit work. You’re opening yourself up to spirits and allowing yourself to interact with them. You don’t know this spirit and they likely don’t know you. They can and will mess with you if it strikes their fancy. Spirits can hurt you in creative ways, pose as a deity, pretend to be from your past life, abuse you and use you. Spirit’s personalities and motivations are as diverse as interacting with people around you. You can’t predict how a spirit will act nor how things will unfold between you by beginning interactions. All you can do is take the precautions to protect yourself, your space, and those that matter to you the best ways you can. Be cautious and don’t put yourself in unnecessary danger just because you decided to see what happens. If you go out looking for danger, you’ll find it.

🐯 Further Reading 🐯

I hope this post has been helpful. I’ve seen different answers to this question of what you should or shouldn’t know when stepping into spirit work. I was never satisfied with the answers I’ve seen and often disagree with them. I hope that this post puts it into perspective what you should know if you so choose to get into spirit work. Better to go into it informed than to lack a basic skill because you were overzealous and ran ahead before you were ready.

— Apolaki ❤

apollolikescello reblogged

bumblesimagines

Imagine:

Miguel O'Hara wanting to be around you

GIF by aenhanse

GIF by sakurawave

Request: Yes or No

I have a cold and its beating my ass but Midnight Beach should resume on mon or tues

~~~

He shouldn't be doing this. He should've stopped months ago. He was supposed to go in to this new dimension, catch the anomaly, and return to the headquarters. And he'd successfully caught the anomaly and sent them back. But he'd stayed behind in a world that wasn't his cause for a moment, just for a brief moment... He wanted to stop and take a breath. That small break brought him to a rooftop of an old apartment building.

It brought him to you.

The day had been cloudy and cool with a breeze drifting by occasionally. You'd been sitting on the rooftop of your apartment building with a small easel in hand and a paint-coated brush in the other. Your favorite hobby after a long, stressful work day. You hadn't noticed the figure perched up on the ledge meters away until you went to grab another color and spotted him. He looked like Spiderman, but didn't at the same time. The colors weren't right. His structure was too tall and muscular for the lanky man who spent his time saving the city. But something told you that is was alright, he meant no danger. So you returned to painting and he watched.

After that, it became a habit. Miguel knew it was wrong. He knew he shouldn't have been spending time with a civilian, much less one from another dimension. He just couldn't help it. You were so... calming. You hadn't looked at him with fear or that awestruck fan glint. You had regarded him as if he were a neighbor. And for a man used to being feared or glared at, it felt good to be seen again.

He often transported to your world, to your rooftop. You'd be there just about every day. You always acknowledged his presence with a nod but kept to yourself. No questions, no prodding, no begs for selfies or autographs. A nod and sometimes a smile. He never returned the gestures, only watched from a distance. Never too close but never too far.

It took him four months to grow comfortable enough to get closer. Each week, he'd perch on the ledge just the slightest bit closer, craning his neck to catch a sight of the easel and holding your gaze when you looked at him. Until he was close enough to watch your face as you painted.

Which led him to today, where once again, there he was. Sitting on that damned ledge and watching you paint. He'd seen the paintings come and ago. They were often of the city or the sky. Sometimes you'd just splatter paint on the canvas and make it up as you went. He liked watching the process. He liked watching you relax over time. The lines between your brows would soften, your shoulders would lower, you'd go between firmly holding the brush and letting it hang loosely between your fingers.

"I have something for you." His eyes snap up from the half-finished canvas. He stays silent and still, his body going rigid. He liked your voice- Ay, Dios, he liked your voice. His finger twitches and he thinks about leaving the rooftop and returning to Nueva York. Back to his office where he doesn't have to worry about seeing you, where he would forget about you. But he stays. You lean down and your fingers shuffle through the array of canvases you'd brought up with you today.

You hum quietly and pull a canvas out from the row, tilting it over so he can see. It's him. A painting of him. "I've never really drawn a superhero before," You speak and chuckle. "But I tried."

"It's..." His voice is uncharacteristically soft and he reaches out with careful hands, gently taking the sides of the canvas and staring at him. It's like staring into a mirror but this time, he doesn't loathe what he sees.

"Glad you like it, Spiderman."