Month: June 2018
I don’t know if this gets said enough, I know I have never said it. To divide the divine into only god and goddess is ignoring history and a disservice to magick. Queer people have always been respected for their ability to be magicians. To cross gender fluidly, and if need be, ignore it entirely, is an outward sign of someone who is used to travelling between worlds. Bahomet is the ultimate cipher for magick for a reason.
Witchcraft is, and was, not… for everyone. Unless you have an attraction to the occult, a sense of wonder, a feeling that you can slip for a few minutes out of the world into the world of faery, it is of no use to you.
What is abundantly clear is that witch hunts did not begin with witches, and are thus not avoided by making ourselves harmless or integrating and ingratiating ourselves with the corrupt systems of governance.
Poll
How many of you would follow a blog that posts nothing but hysterical porn spam emails? Some of these things are damn funny.
“Some people find Jesus. I found Frankenstein. The reason I’m alive and articulate and semi-sane is monsters”
— Guillermo del Toro
(via guttersnarls)
Neo-Assyrian Obsidian Lamaštu Demon Magic Amulet, 8th-7th Century BC
See it in
360°The obverse with an incised image of the demon Lamashtu with head of a bird facing right, striding right, with an elongated body, her arms raised in a threatening posture, a seated dog to lower right in profile with comb above; a piglet in profile to lower left with spindle above; an uncertain ‘sideways-T’ symbol at top left corner and donkey’s ankle to top right; a line of cuneiform text, which translates to “Incantation.” The reverse has seven lines of cuneiform text that translates as: “Incantation, O Lamashtu, daughter of Anu, thou art great among the gods. Be conjured by the heavens and be conjured by the earth.“
In Mesopotamian mythology, Lamashtu was a female demon, monster, malevolent goddess or demigoddess who menaced women during childbirth and, if possible, kidnapped their children while they were breastfeeding. She would gnaw on their bones and suck their blood, as well as being charged with a number of other evil deeds. Lamashtu is depicted as a mythological hybrid, with a hairy body, a lioness’ head with donkey’s teeth and ears, long fingers and fingernails, and the feet of a bird with sharp talons. She is often shown standing or kneeling on a donkey, nursing a pig and a dog, and holding snakes. She thus bears some functions and resemblance to the Mesopotamian demon Lilith.
Lamashtu’s father was the Sky God Anu. Unlike many other usual demonic figures and depictions in Mesopotamian lore, Lamashtu was said to act in malevolence of her own accord, rather than at the gods’ instructions. Along with this her name was written together with the cuneiform determinative indicating deity. This means she was a goddess or a demigoddess in her own right. She bore seven names and was described as seven witches in incantations. Her evil deeds included: slaying children; causing harm to mothers and expectant mothers; eating men and drinking their blood; disturbing sleep; bringing nightmares; destroying crops; infesting rivers and lakes; and being a bringer of disease, sickness, and death.
Pazuzu, a god or demon, was invoked to protect birthing mothers and infants against Lamashtu’s malevolence, usually on amulets, such as this one, and statues. Although Pazuzu was said to be bringer of famine and drought, he was also invoked against evil for protection, and against plague, but he was primarily and popularly invoked against his fierce, malicious rival Lamashtu.
