The Raven’s Crucible
Musings on magic, divination, and the occult.
-
Playing Card Cartomancy: An Overview
Last month I wrote about how different divination systems have different characters and vocabularies. One of the systems I referenced repeatedly was playing card cartomancy. It’s one of my favorite systems, so I’d like to start a new post series walking through the basics of that. First off, what is cartomancy? Cartomancy is a form…
-
Fire Cider: A Spicy Winter Remedy
It’s getting to be the time of year where viral illnesses run rampant. As the weather cools off, people spend more time inside. Coupled with travel and large group gatherings around the holidays, this creates the perfect circumstances for germs to spread. Everybody I talk to this week (particularly those with school-aged children) has a…
-
The Vocabulary of Fate
I’ve written in the past about language and magic. How there are strong parallels throughout history between language, magic, and divination. Apollo, Greek god of the sun, ruled over both poetry and prophecy. Odin, the all-father of the Norse pantheon, presided over poetry, sorcery, and ecstatic trance – and received the runes of the futhark…
-
St. Cyprian: Magic’s Unlikely Saint
I’m generally circumspect when it comes to naming specific spirits I work with in my own practice. The one exception is St. Cyprian of Antioch, who was one of my earliest patrons. St. Cyprian of Antioch1 is a fascinating figure for those interested in magic, particularly magic in the Solomonic tradition. He was dropped at…
-
Thinking Outside the Line: Spirits and Time
I wrote a post a couple weeks ago about how vastly spirits’ existence might differ from our own. That they likely have modes of being and consciousness that would be literally unimaginable to us, confined as we are within the limitations of our human experience. Not one to be deterred by the impossible, this week…
-
Materia: Marjoram – Origanum Majorana
Overview Closing out our coverage of the three cleansing herbs mentioned in the Grimorium Verum, this week we’re looking at the properties of marjoram. Marjoram is a close relative of oregano, and its medicinal actions are largely similar. In terms of character, marjoram is a little less bold: lighter, sweeter, and more citrusy than its…
-
On the Nature of Spirits
There was a question recently about the nature of spirits. Specifically, how much we should be attributing human-like personalities or characteristics onto spirits. Are relationships with spirits like human relationships? Or are spirits more like forces of nature that we can attune ourselves to? Different practitioners land at different places on this spectrum. Some view…
-
Meditation for Magic: Skills to Build
I’ve written previously about how meditation can be considered one of the fundamental pillars of esoteric practice. But meditation is a pretty broad category, covering a ton of different exercises. This week I wanted to walk through some of the most common forms of meditation encountered when getting started in occult training. I consider these…