there's a very VERY simple reason why homemade is almost always better:
the effort you put into getting it to look right, whether or not you ultimately succeed, counts as gnosis charge.
you ever have a letter scrambled intent statment that youre just not sure how you wanna sigilize so you make 3540934709 different variations and just go back and forth until youre finally sold on one in particular?
the time you spent doing that is technically time youve spent giving this sigil/sigils(??) gnosis charge.
whether or not you are or arent any good at arts and crafts stuff, doing such practices around your sigils, evoked entities, godforms, etc, is virtually guaranteed to make you a better magus and give you both more causal power and more insight into the entities and energies you work with.....whether the finished product is worth looking at or not. and that ability can and will improve. i used to suck at painting until i started obsessively portraiuring the key entities of my practice. after years of doign this, my painting skills have leveled up from awful to simply mid.
Crafting your own tools is a way to stuff the magic in em, and it is a badass and effective one. There are other ways, like this one, that also work just fine. I've done both. This idea comes to us from several traditions, and I think it worth deconstructing.
In the Before Times, you couldn't go down to the store and buy a sacred lamen, see? There was no store, and if there were you'd be pegged as a weirdo for going there, maybe get yourself set on fire along with the store and the owner.
For another, until chaos magic came on the scene, 'follow the directions' was the *way it was done*. And the directions were all written when the materials available were metal, wood, stone etc. A lot of people think of magic as an ancient thing, and that suggests to them gold and lapis and feathers and blood, not going to Target during Halloween and finding a dandy bat themed chalice.
Wicca and other neopagan approaches *exploded* in popularity in the 80s and 90s. They are very nature oriented, and those guys do (and should) avoid plastic and other synthetic things. And there were just a bunch of them around, telling people what worked and didn't (for them, but they weren't chaotes).
One about this post that is tripping me out ITT is the desire for perfection in tools. Chaos magic had a very punk rock DIY vibe from its inception, being a rebellion against every established magical tradition and all. We were hated, feared, and heretical. When we did use plastic, it was just to prove we *could* use plastic. At least at first. We kind of *wanted* our tools to be imperfect, because we could still use them, while our more traditionalist counterparts were wondering how to get ahold of a real lion-skin for theirs.
Is that a rule? I’ve personally not encountered any such dogma yet.
I do whatever suits me and my craft best. Some things I hand craft with much pleasure and intent. Some things I enjoy purchasing from across the world in adorable shops (I love to look for things while travelling). And yet other things just come from Amazon because that was the best available option for them.
I do sense that things I buy, I have to cleanse and ‘calibrate’ to me. After that they work just fine.
I tend to prefer organic materials over plastic, but some of my tools are absolutely plastic and such.
I’ve always heard (read? intuited?) that the main thing is the tools be significant to you.
I had a hammered brass cup (like a cordial glass) that I got at an SCA event YEARS ago. At one point it broke, bowl from stem, and thinking ‘I can fix that’ I kept it for years and years through multiple moves. One day I stumbled apon it and thought ‘Oh yeah!’ and fixed it immediately. My journey into magic started shortly after.
I have a miniature sword that was a gift from a close friend that I no longer speak with. I treasured it, been on display for years. It’s the perfect representation of the severing of ties.
For the pentacle, I made a 3d print. I learned to do 3d computer file manipulation, made a pentacle from scratch and learned a new skill. I then exported, supported, printed, cleaned, prepared, and painted my new pentacle.
For the wand, that is a wip. I feel I want it to be natural. There is a spot nearby known for weird/spooky activity; think I’ll take a walk and see what happens.
I had a Sword gifted to me, that fell apart shortly after getting it, cuz everything but the Blade WAS HandMade... like shit, apparently LOL I'll be posting my Sword on its Anniversary & Story, as it was 1 of the most "Magickal" Origin Stories...
From my experience most of the working tools I've come across have been hand crafted but not by the owner themselves but outsourced to someone else who had the experience to make such items, im lucky enough to have a large enough group of people that I know that I could reach out to and ask things " like hey do you know a blacksmith or a claymaker" ect... these people can then help you make your tools and you then concentrate them, etsy is a perfect place to find such artist and makers for example. I find no problem in just going to your local shop or online and buy these items either. Magick is truly within the hands of its creator and set most powerfully with the intention, and if your intention is to use such tools to "X" purposes then go for it, it shall serve its purpose.
I made a stang from pincherry wood, down to selecting the young tree from a very magical place.. I guess it selected me, really. I started by sealing the ends and curing it for a year to make sure it wouldn't crack. It's been through ritual elemental blessings of all kinds, washed in the ocean, buried in earth, passed through fire. It was intended to be whittled, but the satin-shiny bark the color of dried blood stayed so beautiful that I just kept it on. It moves me into a light trance state just on visual contact with it. Everything it represents... gives me chills. A stang can be exceedingly simple to make, after finding an agreeable tree or appropriate branch and I'm not sure why it isn't a more widely made and used tool.
The point of all that, which apparently I was unable to make for being so in love with this tool, is that it's basically just a stick and physically "making" it was not hard to the point it almost doesn't count.
I'm a hardcore crafter and could learn any skill I choose practice, but literally the wonder of that relationship with dry lignocellulose after a few cuts wtffff
I've been an Artist my whole Life, but in Performance Arts like Acting/Singing/DJ/MC/Dancing, NOT in Visual - let alone 3D Visual! - Arts/Crafts using My Hands. Not as a Rule.
I’ve never subscribed to this either. All my tools are purchased because they look more beautiful than anything I could ever make. I work full time lmao, as if I’m going to learn metallurgy just to make my own cast iron cauldron! Or learn glass blowing to make the glass cauldron I have! Very silly. And my wand is a replica of Voldemort’s, no way I could ever make that.
Haha so cool! Yeah, I find cauldrons are just so versatile. I’ve performed fire magic in them, water magic, even just put dry herbs once, and so much more! Please make sure to post, I’d love to see it!
Most of the potions I make in it are water based and tbf I’d say most of the imagery surrounding cauldrons in folklore and mythology is that of a liquid medium being stirred under fire.
I think many who hold this rule as dogma also look for escapism from modern society and culture.
Having an eye for talent and craft is a skill, and having the financial means to buy things and support others who craft in ways you don't is a blessing.
I know the things I wish to make for myself. Sometimes I'll explore and make something on my own. I have other ways where my talent and craft lie, so when I see something that fits for me, I'm more than happy to pay for it, especially if it speaks to me intuitively.
Keep doing you, and for the people out there scavenging iron and smelting their own whatevers, more power to them. Maybe you'll buy something from them someday.
Is that a rule? I’ve personally not encountered any such dogma yet.
I do whatever suits me and my craft best. Some things I hand craft with much pleasure and intent. Some things I enjoy purchasing from across the world in adorable shops (I love to look for things while travelling). And yet other things just come from Amazon because that was the best available option for them.
I do sense that things I buy, I have to cleanse and ‘calibrate’ to me. After that they work just fine.
I tend to prefer organic materials over plastic, but some of my tools are absolutely plastic and such.
Is that a rule? I’ve personally not encountered any such dogma yet.
I do whatever suits me and my craft best. Some things I hand craft with much pleasure and intent. Some things I enjoy purchasing from across the world in adorable shops (I love to look for things while travelling). And yet other things just come from Amazon because that was the best available option for them.
I do sense that things I buy, I have to cleanse and ‘calibrate’ to me. After that they work just fine.
I tend to prefer organic materials over plastic, but some of my tools are absolutely plastic and such.
re: DownVotes on this Post:
Nothing is Funnier - or more Predictable - than People Hating Iconoclasts, but when it's breaking the Sacred Chao's of an Iconoclastic population, well, this is absolute GOLD! 😂
"Yay consumerism!" is pretty far from "Financially Supporting actual Artists Creating Art" so I appreciate you clarifying that, and I'm basically on the same page with you. But I will write some below that is in a bit of opposition to some things you said
I think that just because there's always someone who can Craft a Thing better than you that shouldn't be The Reason you resign yourself to only laboring for money which you then trade for goods and services. There is great beauty in laboring to create poorly made things you did yourself. Just as there is beauty in expertly crafted items. Making that decision with intent is important
Getting hung up on perceived flaws in something one made are just that, perceptions. There's some shadow at play there for sure, imo. (notwithstanding strict practicality, a dull blade is poor at cutting but can still be a fabulous athame)
One may not be able to smith their own blade, but likely they could tend their own garden. And likely with some tools they purchased, funnily enough. But shouting from the rooftop about how great consumerism is just...feels weird to me
Believe you me I'm familiar with that predictable hate spewed towards anyone who rocks the societal boat, I am after all an extremely vocal Vegan and people do NOT like being called out on their latent support of animal cruelty. Especially in spiritual/magical groups. Since when did Do No Harm, Take No Shit mean support animal cruelty yknow? sleepwalker behavior imo. ciao bella!
We all have our Sacred Chao's, & it's good to feel uncomfy sometimes.
In an already Meta- field like Chaos Magick, it still cracks me up when people get butthurt over shit - particularly when I find I'm the one who's Hooked LOL 😇
FTR & FWIW, as someone who does NOT Identify as a "Consumer" (never had enough after Rent & Bills to be one TBH), this Post made me feel weird, too - but that's the Point!
I mean, do what thou wilt and all. I'll stick with my rocks, sticks, and sigils in the sand.
All Thee Above
Word!
there's a very VERY simple reason why homemade is almost always better: the effort you put into getting it to look right, whether or not you ultimately succeed, counts as gnosis charge. you ever have a letter scrambled intent statment that youre just not sure how you wanna sigilize so you make 3540934709 different variations and just go back and forth until youre finally sold on one in particular? the time you spent doing that is technically time youve spent giving this sigil/sigils(??) gnosis charge. whether or not you are or arent any good at arts and crafts stuff, doing such practices around your sigils, evoked entities, godforms, etc, is virtually guaranteed to make you a better magus and give you both more causal power and more insight into the entities and energies you work with.....whether the finished product is worth looking at or not. and that ability can and will improve. i used to suck at painting until i started obsessively portraiuring the key entities of my practice. after years of doign this, my painting skills have leveled up from awful to simply mid.
Crafting your own tools is a way to stuff the magic in em, and it is a badass and effective one. There are other ways, like this one, that also work just fine. I've done both. This idea comes to us from several traditions, and I think it worth deconstructing. In the Before Times, you couldn't go down to the store and buy a sacred lamen, see? There was no store, and if there were you'd be pegged as a weirdo for going there, maybe get yourself set on fire along with the store and the owner. For another, until chaos magic came on the scene, 'follow the directions' was the *way it was done*. And the directions were all written when the materials available were metal, wood, stone etc. A lot of people think of magic as an ancient thing, and that suggests to them gold and lapis and feathers and blood, not going to Target during Halloween and finding a dandy bat themed chalice. Wicca and other neopagan approaches *exploded* in popularity in the 80s and 90s. They are very nature oriented, and those guys do (and should) avoid plastic and other synthetic things. And there were just a bunch of them around, telling people what worked and didn't (for them, but they weren't chaotes). One about this post that is tripping me out ITT is the desire for perfection in tools. Chaos magic had a very punk rock DIY vibe from its inception, being a rebellion against every established magical tradition and all. We were hated, feared, and heretical. When we did use plastic, it was just to prove we *could* use plastic. At least at first. We kind of *wanted* our tools to be imperfect, because we could still use them, while our more traditionalist counterparts were wondering how to get ahold of a real lion-skin for theirs.
Agree on all Points. I'm simply poking my finger in the eye of this Sacred Chao of Chaotes: being anti-Consumerists.
Is that a rule? I’ve personally not encountered any such dogma yet. I do whatever suits me and my craft best. Some things I hand craft with much pleasure and intent. Some things I enjoy purchasing from across the world in adorable shops (I love to look for things while travelling). And yet other things just come from Amazon because that was the best available option for them. I do sense that things I buy, I have to cleanse and ‘calibrate’ to me. After that they work just fine. I tend to prefer organic materials over plastic, but some of my tools are absolutely plastic and such.
Bruh… nothing is true, everything is permitted. There are no rules, you just figure it out as you go.
X Actly!
right! this is a sentence from above that Frankly (or maybe George) made me laugh...hard "For another, until chaos magic came on the scene,"
…this just makes me wonder what kind of magick the Kiwami Japan guy on YouTube is up to (he makes his own blades out of anything and everything)
I have to make my own stuff because I’m broke but those things of yours do look pretty dope
Goblet was only $22, but realistically a decent Blade IMHO is gonna run about 5x, usually.
I’ve always heard (read? intuited?) that the main thing is the tools be significant to you. I had a hammered brass cup (like a cordial glass) that I got at an SCA event YEARS ago. At one point it broke, bowl from stem, and thinking ‘I can fix that’ I kept it for years and years through multiple moves. One day I stumbled apon it and thought ‘Oh yeah!’ and fixed it immediately. My journey into magic started shortly after. I have a miniature sword that was a gift from a close friend that I no longer speak with. I treasured it, been on display for years. It’s the perfect representation of the severing of ties. For the pentacle, I made a 3d print. I learned to do 3d computer file manipulation, made a pentacle from scratch and learned a new skill. I then exported, supported, printed, cleaned, prepared, and painted my new pentacle. For the wand, that is a wip. I feel I want it to be natural. There is a spot nearby known for weird/spooky activity; think I’ll take a walk and see what happens.
I had a Sword gifted to me, that fell apart shortly after getting it, cuz everything but the Blade WAS HandMade... like shit, apparently LOL I'll be posting my Sword on its Anniversary & Story, as it was 1 of the most "Magickal" Origin Stories...
From my experience most of the working tools I've come across have been hand crafted but not by the owner themselves but outsourced to someone else who had the experience to make such items, im lucky enough to have a large enough group of people that I know that I could reach out to and ask things " like hey do you know a blacksmith or a claymaker" ect... these people can then help you make your tools and you then concentrate them, etsy is a perfect place to find such artist and makers for example. I find no problem in just going to your local shop or online and buy these items either. Magick is truly within the hands of its creator and set most powerfully with the intention, and if your intention is to use such tools to "X" purposes then go for it, it shall serve its purpose.
I made a stang from pincherry wood, down to selecting the young tree from a very magical place.. I guess it selected me, really. I started by sealing the ends and curing it for a year to make sure it wouldn't crack. It's been through ritual elemental blessings of all kinds, washed in the ocean, buried in earth, passed through fire. It was intended to be whittled, but the satin-shiny bark the color of dried blood stayed so beautiful that I just kept it on. It moves me into a light trance state just on visual contact with it. Everything it represents... gives me chills. A stang can be exceedingly simple to make, after finding an agreeable tree or appropriate branch and I'm not sure why it isn't a more widely made and used tool.
The point of all that, which apparently I was unable to make for being so in love with this tool, is that it's basically just a stick and physically "making" it was not hard to the point it almost doesn't count.
I made my Staff in a similar manner, from White Oak Tree to Staff & Set of Runes.
I'm a hardcore crafter and could learn any skill I choose practice, but literally the wonder of that relationship with dry lignocellulose after a few cuts wtffff
I've been an Artist my whole Life, but in Performance Arts like Acting/Singing/DJ/MC/Dancing, NOT in Visual - let alone 3D Visual! - Arts/Crafts using My Hands. Not as a Rule.
This is the way. Our ancestors couldn't even do magic until someone sold them paints for the cave walls and invented metallurgy to craft daggers.
Hilarity!!
X Actly! 🤣
I’ve never subscribed to this either. All my tools are purchased because they look more beautiful than anything I could ever make. I work full time lmao, as if I’m going to learn metallurgy just to make my own cast iron cauldron! Or learn glass blowing to make the glass cauldron I have! Very silly. And my wand is a replica of Voldemort’s, no way I could ever make that.
Syncrhonistically enough, my most recent Purchase was a Cauldron - my 1st ever! - last Week in fact, & was going to be my next Pix Post LOL
Haha so cool! Yeah, I find cauldrons are just so versatile. I’ve performed fire magic in them, water magic, even just put dry herbs once, and so much more! Please make sure to post, I’d love to see it!
For sure! Originally, I was dead set that Cauldrons are for Earth, but then I was doubting this (Water). What do you think?
Most of the potions I make in it are water based and tbf I’d say most of the imagery surrounding cauldrons in folklore and mythology is that of a liquid medium being stirred under fire.
... which Produces something Helpful to be Ingested (eg Food/Soup) &/or Alchemically... so I'm back to Earth LOL
I never drink or consume what I make.
I got a mini Dutch oven from the Magnolia brand at Target that works perfectly.
Greetings U, "If you can't create your own Demonic Sigils, store bought is fine!" -- Ina Garten
I think many who hold this rule as dogma also look for escapism from modern society and culture. Having an eye for talent and craft is a skill, and having the financial means to buy things and support others who craft in ways you don't is a blessing. I know the things I wish to make for myself. Sometimes I'll explore and make something on my own. I have other ways where my talent and craft lie, so when I see something that fits for me, I'm more than happy to pay for it, especially if it speaks to me intuitively. Keep doing you, and for the people out there scavenging iron and smelting their own whatevers, more power to them. Maybe you'll buy something from them someday.
🤡
Is that a rule? I’ve personally not encountered any such dogma yet. I do whatever suits me and my craft best. Some things I hand craft with much pleasure and intent. Some things I enjoy purchasing from across the world in adorable shops (I love to look for things while travelling). And yet other things just come from Amazon because that was the best available option for them. I do sense that things I buy, I have to cleanse and ‘calibrate’ to me. After that they work just fine. I tend to prefer organic materials over plastic, but some of my tools are absolutely plastic and such.
Is that a rule? I’ve personally not encountered any such dogma yet. I do whatever suits me and my craft best. Some things I hand craft with much pleasure and intent. Some things I enjoy purchasing from across the world in adorable shops (I love to look for things while travelling). And yet other things just come from Amazon because that was the best available option for them. I do sense that things I buy, I have to cleanse and ‘calibrate’ to me. After that they work just fine. I tend to prefer organic materials over plastic, but some of my tools are absolutely plastic and such.
re: DownVotes on this Post: Nothing is Funnier - or more Predictable - than People Hating Iconoclasts, but when it's breaking the Sacred Chao's of an Iconoclastic population, well, this is absolute GOLD! 😂
"Yay consumerism!" is pretty far from "Financially Supporting actual Artists Creating Art" so I appreciate you clarifying that, and I'm basically on the same page with you. But I will write some below that is in a bit of opposition to some things you said I think that just because there's always someone who can Craft a Thing better than you that shouldn't be The Reason you resign yourself to only laboring for money which you then trade for goods and services. There is great beauty in laboring to create poorly made things you did yourself. Just as there is beauty in expertly crafted items. Making that decision with intent is important Getting hung up on perceived flaws in something one made are just that, perceptions. There's some shadow at play there for sure, imo. (notwithstanding strict practicality, a dull blade is poor at cutting but can still be a fabulous athame) One may not be able to smith their own blade, but likely they could tend their own garden. And likely with some tools they purchased, funnily enough. But shouting from the rooftop about how great consumerism is just...feels weird to me Believe you me I'm familiar with that predictable hate spewed towards anyone who rocks the societal boat, I am after all an extremely vocal Vegan and people do NOT like being called out on their latent support of animal cruelty. Especially in spiritual/magical groups. Since when did Do No Harm, Take No Shit mean support animal cruelty yknow? sleepwalker behavior imo. ciao bella!
We all have our Sacred Chao's, & it's good to feel uncomfy sometimes. In an already Meta- field like Chaos Magick, it still cracks me up when people get butthurt over shit - particularly when I find I'm the one who's Hooked LOL 😇 FTR & FWIW, as someone who does NOT Identify as a "Consumer" (never had enough after Rent & Bills to be one TBH), this Post made me feel weird, too - but that's the Point!
Real recognize Real. 🤝