I'm Still Alive!

Wow. More than TWO years since the last time I posted. Since this blog's beginnings back in 2010, there has never been this long a period of inactivity from me. I won't make excuses or jokes this time since it seems I only repeat myself every year! That said, I will give an update of my life and path for the past two years for anyone (still?) reading.

In the last real post, two years ago, I listed the various reasons and happenings in my life between 2016 and 2017 that kept me busy. There have been plenty of major changes since then and most are directly related to the things I was taking about in that post.

Here's what's new with me. First, the bad things:

• I got a job at a warehouse towards the end of 2017 till the middle of 2018. While the company I worked for wasn't completely horrible, the conditions of the job itself were literally backbreaking. I was working overtime constantly, ended up in relentless pain that permanently injured by left thumb and worsened the state of both wrists, and the pay was, while the legal minimum, truly measly. All aspects of my life - mental health, social life, spirituality, art - took a huge hit. 

• Unable to endure the warehouse job, I managed to land a retail job in mid-2018. While seemingly better at first, especially in terms of time (less hours which meant marginally less money but way less physically crippling), it turned out to be even worse as the boss was an atrocious creature (I have trouble calling her a person) whose unpredictable, insulting, and demanding behavior left me in a constant state of extreme anxiety and exhaustion. For those unfamiliar, I suffer from chronic generalized anxiety and depression and I've fought for years to return to a more healthy state of mind and life. Those two day jobs, especially the retail one, took me many steps backwards in terms of mental health progress. 

• In the end, at the beginning of March 2019, I was fired after demanding to be paid the money my boss owed me. That, coupled with four months of stressful, and ultimately futile, efforts to get my money as well as solve a number of other major issues, nearly destroyed my religious and magical practice, reducing it to a mere shadow of a spirituality. I'm still dealing with the psychological (and financial!) aftermath of this past year and a half of bullshit, unfortunately.

•  The Hekatean group I was in that operated under the auspices of the Covenant of Hekate ended up disbanding due to inactivity and the departure of core members. I still maintain a good friendship with the couple that started it and we occasionally do rituals or magic together but we're no longer a formal group of any kind.

•  During 2018, I was also undergoing training for eventual initiation in the Aurum Solis. Unable to cope with yet another source of pressure and being truly drained of time and energy, I ended up stopping the training. While mulling that over, I realized I was seeking initiation for the wrong reasons and the personal revelations that realization ignited changed my thinking and approach on many things in my life, especially in spiritual matters.
   
• The Stardust Compass apparently went inactive some time during my disconnect from my practices. As such, I have completely let go of that particular system.

Now, onto the more positive stuff:

• My boyfriend and I moved together in mid-2018 and have been living together since then. It has been amazing but also very challenging, especially since it's the first time for both of us. Building and maintaining your own, truly independent household is both incredibly rewarding and stupidly difficult!

•  I continue to have a magical relationship with my best friend, although mundane life has caused it to wax and wane in activity.
  
• My relationship with the Witchfather has grown exponentially since the last time I posted here. The development of the Triskelion Path as a whole has also reached new levels and Hekate has elevated me to new strata of understanding I was not expecting. There will be much to do and share regarding the Triskelion in the near future.
  
• Finally, my art and writing have grown a lot, both in terms of quality as well as in terms of productivity. My goal is for 2020 to be a year of publications and full-fledged work in those matters.

So, that's the cliffnotes version of the past two years of my life! I will jinx this again and say I'm hoping to post more in the coming months. I've been inspired recently so I'm revitalizing my online presence in regards to religious/magical matters, such as making a Pagan/occult-focused Instagram account. I found that doing so helped keep me productive and accountable with my artistic goals so I'm hoping it will do the same for my religious and magical stuff. Here's to more content!

P.S. I've also changed my online name to Chelydoreus. It's my public "magical name" and, in an effort to shift my mindset to a more professional approach, I've decided to also make it my screen name.

Update: Path Changes And Other Stuff

Hello everyone!

It sure has been slow around here. I only posted once in 2015. Well, it was a pretty shitty year for me personally. However, it was also a preparatory period, in a way, for the evolution of my path. Here's how things have been changing.


My personal path, as most of you know, was called NeoHellenic Witchcraft and it was a mix of Hellenic Polytheism and Witchcraft. It's no longer just that. After much contemplation and seeking, I have decided (with a lot of help from the Gods and spirits) to allow my budding spirit-work and Neopagan practices to merge and grow into a new, unique practice: the Wildwood Druidry. I decided on calling it "Druidry" after all, since I've drawn a lot of inspiration from Ár nDraíocht Féin and, specifically, Ian Corrigan's spirit-arte material. The "Wildwood" part of the name comes from a particular spirit-realm tied to many of my pathworkings and which has been cropping up repeatedly and in many forms throughout the years I've been practicing, regardless of the changes in my path. The Wildwood Druidry complements the NeoHellenic Witchcraft and together they have given birth to the fullest (and most fullfilling so far) form my path has taken in the 11 years I've been involved in all this: The Path of the Triskelion or Triskelion for short. The Triskelion is not exactly an Eclectic system. Each part (Hellenic Polytheism, Witchcraft, Wildwood Druidry) is an entire, standalone praxis in its own right. However, all together, practiced by a particular person (in this case, me), culminate into a multi-aspected system and that is the Triskelion. That being said, all three practices have connections with one another and many things gained or learnt in one affect the others.


What does this mean, in practical terms? Honestly, I can't reveal specific details because I'm still figuring things out. The spirits see fit to grant me bits and pieces, although these often turn out to be the small push needed for me to actually work things out. So, maybe it's just spiritual short-sightedness on my part, heh. What I can say, however, is that I have been undergoing a lot of processes, some of which began since early Summer 2015 (as I found out not long before I wrote this post), others more recent and some visible on the figurative horizon but not yet realised.

Here's what I can share:

1. I've been going through the process of bonding with a potential familiar spirit, a stray cat killed by a car and whose bones I took and have been preparing for a good while (with the help of Sarah Anne Lawless' methods). I call this process "The Familiar's Bone Rites".
   
2. I identified a powerful Daimon that is proving instrumental to my Wildwood Druidry (and is also connected to the Hekatean Craft of NeoHellenic Witchcraft) - this great spirit is guiding me towards the acquisition of an actual "magical name" (He revealed it with a full title in Latin and Greek: Nomen Magicum, Verum et Mysterium, Ὄνομα Μαγικόν, Ἄληθινόν τε καί Μυστήριον), something I never wanted or needed before and even found a bit silly for personal ritual use given my solitary status. It seems the spirits have other plans. I am conflicted as to whether I should share the identity of the great Daimon or my magical name online (I legitimately cannot get my intuition to budge towards either yea or nay) so for the time being I'll err on the side of caution and non-disclosure and if things change, so be it. This is tentatively called "Nomen Magicum Work" although it has more to it than just the name-giving.
   
3. I've been doing massive organising, archiving, evaluating, researching, studying, and reinstating neglected bonds and practices. In actuality, this is the busiest part of this whole thing. Things get messy when you have amassed a decade's worth of material and I really need to make it nice and neat (not just out of perfectionism but because it's literally counter-productive and inhibits my more theory-oriented work).
   
4. I've been working on my partially-developed Hekatean Craft, since I have finally been shown how to concretely utilise the Elemental Pillars, and how to proceed beyond the Rite of Hekate's Triad Seal I performed so, so long ago. This means I am occasionally bombarded, so to speak, by gnosis regarding rituals, procedures and even some rare glimpses of what completing the necessary framework can bring forth. These are actually two different but connected endeavours and are thus called "The Peregrination of the Triple World" and "The Crossroads Cycles".
   
5. Finally, there is Witchcraft and folk magic work to be done; specifically, household workings and "pragmatic" or material magic dealing with day-to-day life, such as prosperity spells, client workings and magical self-care. This is the "Getting-My-Hands-Dirty Juju" (intentionally not as eloquent as the rest, hah).

In conclusion, I am on a very good track, spiritually, religiously and magically, despite bad habits of laziness, procrastination and forgetfullness getting in the way. And here's what this all has to do with the blog and its future:

• Expect more posts. I won't promise a regular schedule or theme (i.e. scholarly, practical, theological etc) but I do have lots of things to write about. Let's hope I can stay focused and true to all this.
  
• The blog will undergo some changes, although I don't know when exactly or the rate of their progress. What this means is that I'll update various pages, finish any works-in-progress, and maybe categorise posts by theme and content.
  
• I have many, many ideas for things to share on here and even expand my writing into areas like book reviews, recommendations and even more educational material. These are just ideas for now.

P.S. I am also doing some research and somewhat unsure exploration of self-publishing since I've been told some of the things I can (and do) share on here would also work well in book format. If that bears fruit, you will certainly hear about it.

Thanks for reading and blessings to all of you! Here's to a productive, wonderful and better future!

What I Do

Since I covered the "Who I Am" part I thought I'd also post the "What I Do" shortly after so as to maintain a connected feeling (that and I am in a metaphorical writer's heat hahaha).

In the end of the previous post, I said that in this one I'll discuss my path and practice as these are right now. In order to do so, I have to list the fields my path and practice focus and touch upon. I'll include a small definition/brief description but further explanations will be given in the upcoming post(s) on definitions and explanatory notes. Also, note that some of those listed are still in the theoritical state (meaning I still research/study and have not practically tried/used them). This leads to me providing with less info/practical experiences. I hope you won't mind that too much, since I am still a newbiew of sorts (especially since this form of my path is quite recent, though a major, here-to-stay, change).

The fields I explore are:

Hellenic Hearthcraft - This field deals with worshipping and working with household related deities (e.g. Hestia, Zeus Ktisios, Zeus Erkeios and others), Magic dealing with the thriving, prosperity and general well-being of the home and hearth (in Greek the word 'οίκος' [oikos] is used which didn't only mean "house" as it does today, but referred to the building, the hearth [εστία - hestia named after the Goddess or vice-versa] and the surrounding area [usually the owned 'territory']) etc.

Greek (folk) Magic - This field include but is not limited to Magic worked by the Greeks both ancient and modern. Ancient Greek Magic includes but is not limited to: the use of effigies (called "Κολοσσοί" - Kolossoi), curse tablets/binding spells (Latin 'defixio' - Greek 'katadesmoi' - both meaning 'bindings'), charms, love-related spells, protection (mostly against witchcraft) etc. Greek folk Magic refers to the later antiquity (aka medieval) and modern practices of the Greeks. It includes but is not limited to: herbal lore, spells (for love, protection, health, wealth etc) as well as curses, customary/lay/folklore methods and formulae (meaning, specific seemingly superstitious actions with symbolic and magical meanings - example: putting some lavender under one's pillow to make wishes come true) etc.

Working with Daemones - This field refers to the interaction, communication and co-operation or even manipulation of those spirits known to the ancient Greeks as "daemones" (a daemon was any spirit greater than a human/non-human up to minor, mostly rustic, cthonic and agricultural deities - example: a nymph, a river God and the cthonians: Hekate, Persephone, an aspect of Zeus, an aspect of Demeter and others, could be called daemons - a Titan or an Olympian would never be called a daemon unless referring to a cthonian aspect they possess [as is the case with Demeter and Zeus]).

Minor Ceremonial Influence - My practice has somewhat "simplified" and is not as ceremonial as it used to be. However, I don't and won't completely drop the ceremonial aspects as I deem them helpful and necessary in certain cases. This field deals with rituals both magical and religious.

Spellcraft - I list this individually, because when I cast spells, I often do so without adhering to the liturgy of, let's say, Greek or ceremonial Magic. This fields has to do with the various magical formulae (excuse the latin plural but I like it better) used by me: spells, charms, curses (only one haha though planning on a second ugh) etc.

Finally, I'd like to mention a field I aspire to research and study, which is also kind of tricky and shady: Greek shamanistic practices. I am aware of two: necromancy and iatromancy. The first oughts to be known to you, my readers, but for those ignorant of what it really is: it's the communication and use of spirits of the deceased mainly for divinatory reasons (but not only). The second, iatromancy, is less known: it's a meditative, healing practice which makes use mostly of incubation. You might have seen it mentioned in ancient Greek myths related to Asclepius. It's the "healing sleep" the patients had in his temple during which they saw visions of Asclepius and later were healed (or at least their recovery was aided). Those inducing the state of incubation to the patients were the iatromancers, those priests/seers versed in guided meditation for healing purposes. Iatromancy, as the name suggests, also includes divination (through various means, though once again, mostly through incubation) concerning medical problems.

I hope this was interesting and somewhat informative. The next post(s) will be on definitions as well as explanatory notes and expanding on the practices mentioned and briefly discussed here. Then will follow posts dedicated to each practice (and possibly subcategories of each field) individually.