Maenel for @magmacannon !

I think it's time for a refresher about what a "trickster" is and what makes a character or deity one.

A trickster is a boundary-crosser; an entity who highlights the rules and conventions of society by calling them into question, usually with their actions, and usually by breaking said rules and conventions. This helps us assess why these rules are in place and if they even serve us.

Because of this, tricksters tend to be transgressive and subversive. Sometimes this can be very delightful and other times can be very uncomfortable, even repulsive.

"Trickster" is a function, not a personality type. Sure, many tricksters are cocky and possess a devil-may-care attitude, but so do other beings who aren't tricksters, and there are many tricksters out there that don't have these personality traits.

Tricksters don't exclusively deal with absolutes. Everything they do changes depending on the situation they're dealing with and the goal they're trying to achieve. And unfortunately, this is what many people seem to misunderstand.

For example, I often see people say, "Tricksters are never trustworthy," or, "Tricksters always have ulterior motivations," when the truth is that tricksters are situationally trustworthy, and tricksters situationally have ulterior motivations.

Tricksters are capable of being selfish or selfless, helpful or harmful, constructive or destructive, kind or cruel, etc. all depending on what it is they're trying to achieve. We may not always know what they'll choose because they're operating at a higher level of meta than we are.

This is the nature you're dealing with when dealing with a trickster. They're not "secretly a villain" or actually an "unconventional and misunderstood hero." They're a trickster, and that moral gray is what you're going to get when dealing with them.

Redraw of an old devotional piece

Beautiful work.

Deity Aesthetic: Lilith

Queen of Hell and Goddess of love, war, sex, death, beauty, power, fertility, and revenge.

‘Obatalá’ by Seye Isikalu

Beelzebub

Before being known under this name, this deity originated as Ba’al Zebub, the Canaanite god of weather, storms, war, and fertility. He was also known as “The Lord of Souls” in which he acted as a psychopomp to guide the dead to the afterlife.

From what I’ve gathered from this deity, he ended up joining the god Lucifer and became one of his generals. Personality-wise, Beelzebub is very kind and noble in my experiences with him and he has a wonderful sense of humour.

If you are friends with this god, he will send flies to come check on you or to get your attention (although he will send bees, moths, or other flying insects upon request). If you should decide to work with this deity, he likes to be spoken to rather often, and he tends to greatly enjoy company as well.

| Offerings |

alcohol, healthy foods, images of flies, feathers, insect wings, blades, poetry, artwork

Beelzebub

Before being known under this name, this deity originated as Ba’al Zebub, the Canaanite god of weather, storms, war, and fertility. He was also known as “The Lord of Souls” in which he acted as a psychopomp to guide the dead to the afterlife.

From what I’ve gathered from this deity, he ended up joining the god Lucifer and became one of his generals. Personality-wise, Beelzebub is very kind and noble in my experiences with him and he has a wonderful sense of humour.

If you are friends with this god, he will send flies to come check on you or to get your attention (although he will send bees, moths, or other flying insects upon request). If you should decide to work with this deity, he likes to be spoken to rather often, and he tends to greatly enjoy company as well.

| Offerings |

alcohol, healthy foods, images of flies, feathers, insect wings, blades, poetry, artwork

Research is a huge, incredibly important part of practicing witchcraft. I’m not knocking research (of course I’m not—I’m a Traditional Witch).

However, once you dive into the Craft and start interacting with Spirit, you don’t have to rely solely on unnecessarily wordy books and snobby occultists and dusty old texts posted in obscure corners of the internet. Outside sources are still helpful, and you should never stop researching, but you are now in a place to learn directly from your deities and spirits.

If someone online says to offer your deity something and your deity makes it known they don’t want it, then don’t offer it. If the spirits who guide you tell you to preform a spell differently than it’s traditionally cast, listen. If your ancestors tell you they want to be venerated in a completely different way than what you’ve read, honor them the way they ask.

Yes, people in the witchcraft community will complain and point to archaic sources and make a fuss about how you’re not taking witchcraft seriously. But you did your research, and then you took it a step further—you applied the research, and you worked with Spirit, and you learned from the OG itself, so fuck anyone who whines about that.

After all, at the end of the day, who knows more about what your deity wants as an offering: some random internet bitch, or the deity themself?

MYTHOLOGY AESTHETIC

Goddess of War: Ishtar/Inanna/Astarte, goddess of love, fertility, war, wisdom and sex.

Goddess of Heaven. Queen of Eternity. The ultimate female deity.

Goddess of war and sex, Daughter of Anu, divine personification of the planet Venus, mother of lions, lover of Gilgamesh, Queen of Heaven.

Honestly its weird how many people don’t realize that the gods are frightening, and if you expect some sort of direct contact, spiritual or otherwise, you should expect there to be some level of terror.

This is something I’ve been struggling to understand about people who have a sort of casual relationship with the Deities they choose to worship.

Gods are fucking terrifying. They’re HUGE in ways we cannot even comprehend. We are literal worms before Them. 

But then there’s this strange culture (especially online, especially on Tumblr) of acting like They’re just these quirky roommates and not these Primordial Beings That Defy Understanding; perhaps it’s best to describe it as ‘sublime horror meets devotion.’ 

If you’re not scared of your Gods, what are you doing?

Idk, having a healthy relationship?

Aphrodite and I are homies and no one gets to tell me otherwise

Get ya bitter asses outta here

“literal worms” my ass

Okay witch friends, since this argument has went one way and the other, let me just propose that perhaps the relationship we have with our deities is one of mutual respect. To some it may look too casual, to others it may appear too strict, but what’s important is that it’s a relationship developed through the practice of your craft and your method of worship. I think it would be best we don’t judge one another by our expression of respect or admiration of our deities and accept that we’re all different in this sense just as we are all different witches.

This lightworking hedegewitch is just getting really tired of discord and unfair judgment in this world. Let’s let one another be or at least try to understand one another. Coexist and release this bad karma, yo.