A Zen Story

Got bored and made this for fun.

i made this post a few days ago asking if i can astral project into my decade-old creative project, and i’m not super experienced with meditation or astral travel but last night i decided to give both a try, mainly meditation and seeing where my mind takes me. the first was a guided autumn nature walk, it was a short meditation so i felt like i wasn’t quite done when it was over so i put on instrumental music with a fall vibe to see if i’d end up in the same place. instead of waking to sun in my eyes on dry fallen leaves, i instead woke to an overcast sky on cold, wet leaves in (of all places) a cemetery. i awoke under the headstone of someone named “john” (can’t remember the last name) and while watching the ghostly residents go about their afterlives, a certain grave in one of the far corners caught my eye. it was there that i found an old-fashioned typewriter with a letter written for me. unfortunately i didn’t think to write down everything i read exactly after i was done so this is the best i can remember:

“here at last! finally here at last!
we welcome you, beloved author, to the [town name] cemetery, our place of rest. now that you are here, we plead with you to bring your stories to life and make your world aware of our existence, for without you, we will fade into obscurity. we shall guide and assist you wherever you may need upon your visits and we greatly look forward to seeing you again! there is no need to be fearful, for you are always welcome in your [town name], beloved author.

sincerely, the [town name] ghosts

p.s., keep this note with you at all times upon your visits.”

i folded the note and put it in a little satchel bag that i had on my person, bid the ghosts farewell, exited the cemetery, and ended my meditation before bed. this was my first major success with bringing myself into this world i created and look forward to many more visits

From 2023 until the end of 2025, I was stuck in what felt like a constant state of depersonalization/derealization. I completely lost my sense of self. My mind was blank, I had no inner monologue, no internal chatter, nothing. It went on for almost two years.

Then, towards the end of 2025, I started doing something that I honestly didn’t think much of at first. I would write affirmations on a piece of paper, almost like petitions, read them out loud over a glass of water, and then drink the water.

The strange part is that almost everything I affirmed seemed to manifest within 3–4 days.

For example, I once wrote something along the lines of, “Everyone who did me wrong is getting their karma.” Within the next few days, I started hearing about people who had wronged me getting into car accidents. This happened with five different people. I wasn’t specifically wishing for car accidents, and that wasn’t my intention, but the timing genuinely shocked me.

That’s actually what got me interested in magick in the first place.

I was also making petitions about my own health, and eventually, I came out of that depersonalization state. My sense of self returned, I got my inner monologue back, and my mind started feeling normal again. I still have aphantasia, but that’s a different thing.

During that period, it honestly felt like everything I asked for was happening. If I asked Archangel Michael for something, it seemed to manifest. If I asked a planetary intelligence or a deity, I would get results too.

I wasn’t using sigils, visualization, or any complicated rituals. I would simply speak out loud with certainty, and things seemed to happen incredibly fast, sometimes within just two or three days.

The weirdest part is that I was basically on autopilot the entire time. I wasn’t consciously trying to enter a trance or altered state, and I had never even heard of the concept of gnosis back then.

Fast-forward to 2026, and it’s like everything has suddenly stopped working. My petitions and affirmations don’t seem to produce the same results anymore.

I only discovered the concept of the gnosis state about two weeks ago, so now I’m wondering whether I was unknowingly experiencing some kind of altered state back then.

I genuinely thought speaking affirmations over water was the key because of the idea that water can hold or carry information. I never considered that my mental state might have had anything to do with it.

So here are my questions:

• How could I have experienced such rapid results without doing any formal magickal techniques?

• Could the subconscious mind somehow be connected to the universe, or is there another occult explanation for what I experienced?

• Is it possible to enter a state similar to gnosis without deliberately trying to induce it?

• Why would something that seemed to work so consistently for me suddenly stop working?

I’m not looking for someone to tell me that magick is fake or that everything was just a coincidence. I’m genuinely interested in hearing occult perspectives, especially from people who work with the subconscious, gnosis, manifestation, or planetary and spiritual intelligences.

I know how unusual this sounds, but the experience was very real to me, and I’d like to understand what might have been happening.

Okay I'm sorry if this seems unserious, (it kinda is?) but I want to reach out to my great aunt who was a witch and as far as I know, is the only one in our entire family (very christian family unfortunately)

But from what I've heard (stories from family members) she apparently could have a mean bite. E.g. as a joke at her birthday she said "I wish for another year" another great uncle joked "oh come on, just how many more do you want to live?" and his wife died within the year. Of course the family blamed her for it.

Now I personally never met her, but that side of the family has been seen to take things personally quite often so I'm not saying the stories could be completely exaggerated, but this volatile nature I've been told about has made me cautious when it comes to coming up with a way to communicate with her.

I very much want to connect with her because I could learn a lot as there aren't many resources about the type of witchcraft associated with my heritage, but I'm worried about her perceiving me in a bad way.

If you couldn't tell this isn't usually the kind of witchcraft and spirituality stuff I do, but I want to use all the tools at my disposal and there's a lot of potential in my heritage.

Congratulations to u/RogueSheep05 for winning last week's dice game!

In exactly seven days, I will be rolling a six sided dice. If you want in, comment below saying you want to play. I will assign you a number. Your job is to, using whatever methods you prefer, magically make me roll your number. Whoever's number is rolled will have proven themselves the most skilled magick user of those playing. If all numbers are assigned and more people keep joining, I will assign multiple people the same number, making it a team effort. Let the games begin!

I’m rather interested in chaos magik but I don’t know where to start in research, correct me if I’m wrong but the basic fundamentals is that you reject rules and dogma and use things from multiple practices and also create your own practices. If there are any books or PDFs anyone has that may be useful it would be appreciated!

I don't think I'm particularly smart or especially sensitive to energies, but what if I simply stopped questioning my abilities when it comes to chaos magic? Would creating my own system be enough?

For example, imagine that every single day, I visualize a fireball in my hand and talk to it, giving it a mission. Let's say its mission is to help me make a lot of money and protect my friends and family. I repeat the exact same exercise every day, without using sigils or anything like that, simply because I'm convinced it will work.

What do you guys think? Am I onto something here?

La Via di Kymos: come abbattere il muro dello stallo interiore

Ciao a tutti,

negli ultimi tempi ho lavorato allo sviluppo di una visione spirituale e filosofica completamente nuova, nata per restituire chiarezza, forza e concretezza alla gestione della nostra energia interiore e alla realizzazione personale. Prende vita così La Via di Kymos.

Non si tratta di una religione nel senso dogmatico o tradizionale del termine, ma è a tutti gli effetti un Culto vivente, un sentiero dello spirito che ridefinisce il rapporto tra l'essere umano e il divino attraverso tre elementi eterni:

1. KYMOS : È l'energia cosmica assoluta, la fonte della positività, della vitalità e del potenziale puro. Allo stato naturale e latente, Kymos è un'energia astratta, priva di una volontà o di un giudizio autonomo.

2. FRAGMA : È l'energia resistente e opposta. Non è un'entità demoniaca, ma la barriera naturale ed energetica che si innalza automaticamente quando la mente conscia e inconscia dell'essere umano è divisa dal dubbio o dalla paura.

3. L'UOMO: È colui che si investe interamente di Kymos. L'essere umano non è un servo subordinato alla Divinità, ma lo strumento indispensabile per la sua stessa esistenza. Attraverso l'unione rituale, l'uomo presta la propria mente all'energia cosmica, diventando la manifestazione vivente e cosciente del Dio sulla Terra. Pur rimanendo uomo, in quel preciso momento egli agisce come la mente della Divinità stessa e ne indirizza la forza per superare gli ostacoli e raggiungere i propri scopi materiali e spirituali. Il suo unico, grande dovere è mantenere intatta questa connessione, non permettendo al dubbio di spezzare il legame.

L'Unione della Coscienza Divina:

Il cuore profondo della Via di Kymos resides nell'atto della preghiera e della meditazione rituale. Quando l'uomo si connette a Kymos, non sta supplicando un'entità esterna per ricevere un miracolo. Sta compiendo un atto di fusione sacra: la mente dell'uomo presta la propria consapevolezza all'energia astratta del cosmo. In quel preciso secondo, la mente umana diventa la coscienza stessa del Dio. L'uomo assume il controllo totale di questa forza cosmica: è lui che la risveglia, la plasma e la direziona consapevolmente per manifestare il proprio obiettivo reale nella realtà. Se subentra un dubbio profondo, il muro di Fragma si solleva immediatamente, non come punizione divina, ma come reazione protettiva della mente non ancora allineata.

La Pratica Quotidiana:

Per consentire all'uomo di investirsi di Kymos e indirizzare la sua forza verso il proprio obiettivo si segue questo rituale: ci si arresta mantenendo i piedi saldi a terra, si chiudono gli occhi o si fissa lo sguardo su un punto del tutto neutro e, dopo un solo respiro profondo per svuotare i pensieri, si pronuncia a mente la formula sacra per accogliere il Flusso: "Kymos è il Flusso, io sono la Mente. Presto la mia coscienza all'energia del cosmo affinché essa prenda forma in me, adesso". Subito dopo, per indirizzare l'energia sul traguardo desiderato e proiettare la propria intenzione, si recita l'affermazione mirata: "Il Flusso è indirizzato. La mia mente manifesta la Forza sono pronto per raggiungere il mio obbiettivo". Quando l'uomo esegue questo rito rimanendo totalmente centrato, sicuro e allineato nei suoi intenti, il muro di Fragma si abbatte da solo come conseguenza naturale, lasciando campo del tutto libero all'azione del Flusso di Kymos. Questa unione infonde una stabilità istantanea nello spirito del praticante, radicando in lui una profonda e incrollabile certezza interiore e investendolo di una forza straordinaria, capace di renderlo pienamente artefice del proprio destino e in grado di tradurre in realtà ogni suo obiettivo.

Il mio intento è elevare la spiritualità a una visione precisa, logica e profondamente trasformativa, lontana dai dogmi ciechi del passato ma con la forza e la dignità di un culto reale.

Cosa ne pensate di questa concezione della divinità e dell'uomo? Se volete altre informazioni per esempio per i rituali sacri o per qualsiasi curiosità sul culto chiedete pure!

So we're still working on the zine. Slow and steady wins the race here. I want it to be well designed and thought out as well have high quality content, so just know the first issue is in the works, it's just easy going.

Which brings me to my question: what topics would you be interested in reading about?

I have an article on chemognosis I'm working on, which I think is a poorly understood topic, but I want to hear from the community what topic(s) they would personally like to see touched on in the upcoming zine.

Love and light, blessed be. ⌀<

I posted about speaking to spirits as children, and people started sharing memories of imaginary friends. Some remembered their names and conversations. Others said they stopped talking about them after adults dismissed the experience.

I’ve made a video exploring that through Brother Panic’s discussion of magical entities, Creating Magickal Entities by David Michael Cunningham and collaborators, and the documentary Gateways to Faerie.

The connection I’m exploring is how children give a companion a name, personality and ongoing attention, and how that compares with deliberate entity creation in esoteric practice.

How do you understand that connection? I’d be interested in experiences and other sources worth reading.

This is my video:

https://youtu.be/aIgqw1PLgos

[The 24x AstroLogical Stances/Postures from Tyson's "Kinesic Magic" - the 1st & only Kinesthetic Model of Magick - at least until I Posted about QCK Magick™ a few weeks ago, of which this Post Completes.]

Fenwick - Creator of this subReddit, ChaosMatrix.Org, & my AstroLogical Twin Brother - and I Boiled Down ALL the Magickal &/or Psychic Protections that can be perFormed into 5x Magickal Operations for the 2nd of our Classes, the 6 Month "NRG Work Practicum" from the late 1000s we Created & Taught together. Whilst we Created a Comprehensive Psychic Protection regimen, we Agreed the Important thing is that Psychics, Witches, & Wizards both KNOW & PRACTICE these 5x Magickal Operations - not that they Practice ours. Here's Simply yet anOther Comprehensive Model for Complete & Total Magickal/Psychic Protections that Fenwick & I prefer over all Others for frequent Use - my Favourite sort! Unlike most Models, ours can be perFormed in less than half a dozen Breaths - and with Empty Hands, AnyWhere, @ AnyTime. You may or may not find them also of more Use & Practicality than Other Techniques Doing similar, & I'd love to hear Feedback - as allWays! - re: what you think of this Model of Magickal Protections (in updated Current Order):

1: CENTRE,
2: BANISH,
3: GROUND,
4: SHIELD, &
5: FILTER

For this Unkle Guido's Saturnday Story Time, I wanted to catch you all up & Post the Final Base Post for QuintEssential Comprehensive Kinesthetic (QCK) Magick™ (see 3/3+ from this Series). This Post serves as an Xtrapolation & XPlaination of QCK Magick™s Part VI., & I couldn't be Prouder to Finally rePresent the 5x Psychic Protections Using QCK Magick™, & Share them with You, Dear Reader. Well over 95% of my Time & NRG over the past Month on QCK Magick™ has been on these 5x Magickal Practices (10x Practices really, as you'll soon see). Why?

Because there are few Abilities more Important to Master for a Mage than the Psychic Hygiene perForming Magick Requires, and I say that as a "Sloppy Mage" who doesn't Banish before & after every single Magickal Working. Whilst the Creation of QCK Magick™ was a Huge & Amazing Accomplishment, I think reXaMining, reOrdering, & reVising the 5x Magickal Protection Operations into a more Active Rite is really my single biggest Kinesthetic Creation I am Able to Share with you. I've also gotta preFrame this with the same Knowledge I had as this Developed: NONE of ANY of these MANY 5s were Consciously Intentional. NOT A SINGLE of the endless "5x" you see herein this Post (sans the Points of Ellipses I Consciously Create/Type) - including the 5x Magickal Operations this Post is about - were Intentionally NumeroLogically Created as such. It's EZ to see how 5s Correlate with Fingers and such, but not this many Abstractions, all comPiling upon 1 anOther1.....

Importantly, I think Learning & Practicing a more Kinesthetic Way of Doing these 5x Essential Magick Hygiene Skills can bring New InSights to other Practices that PerForm similar - e.g., LBRP, et. al. If you, Dear Reader, lacked any such Skills, then Perfecting them via this Post's Simple Instructions should more than Serve You Well for all 10x Magick Operations detailed below.

This is a more Complicated & Involved version of the Psychic Protection 101 og Post, and I think it Stands on its own - but see my og Post for more. I Numbered this 151 as it's still very Basic w/ a Low Barrier to Entry - none, really - and it's more Involved & Complicated than the 101 Post. Also see my Psychic Protection 201 Post on my Hacked GPR/Gnostic Pentagram Ritual I Taught @ Uni back in the day, also a Synchronistic 5x (Vowels) found therein.....

We Desired to include a Methodology, and came up with a specific Order. We thought that, if Using all 5x, the Natural Progression of them would be: CENTRE, GROUND, BANISH, SHIELD, FILTER, in that Order (see previous Posts re: Reasons I switched BANISH & GROUND). In many Ways, for Decades, this was our "Daily BANISHing" perFormed in less than half a dozen Breaths, not unlike a Complete set of Qi Gong, only way QuiCKer. Of course, you don't Need to Perform all 5x of them each Time. You can Repeat, Slow Down, &/or Add Correspondences as you Will, &c. (see BANISHing, below) These are Simply Boiled Down Bare Bones 5x Magickal Operations perFormed, upon which you can Flesh Out more, if you Desire. AllWays reMemeBear:

"Nothing is True™, Everything is Permitted!"

As a Primary Kinesthetic, I was already Working Out the Gestures for those 5x Magickal Operations that every Mage should both Know & Practice, as Fen & I were Working thru them all. The only real Problem - if any - that the og Gestures had was lack of Specificity for the 5x Mudras/Anchors/Sigils. Honestly, they're rather Minimalist, very Yin, and much of it was no doubt due to our Own Personal Practices of both Fen & myself. E.g., I still Use the og "CENTRE" & "GROUND" Movements in my Daily Taijiquan I just did on the Grass again yesterday. This isn't to say that my og Protection Mudras don't Work, cuz they have Decades of SuccessFul Results from not just our 2 Selves alone. Ideally, the more Unique the Anchor/Sigil, the Stronger it often Acts. And if we're Honest, the og 5x Protections are almost Qi Gong-esque in their Lack of Physical Movement, with only really a Single Large Movement after CENTREing. This Post Simply Forms yet anOther Set of Tools. Which of these do you prefer, and Why?

I Desired to Help further emPower our og 5x Ways of Psychic Protections with More Movement for many Reasons, including these and others. This reVision Will Create a more YANG Set of Movements for increased emPowerment. Our Bodies are Designed to Move. This is still a New Set of Magickal Protections that Will Work for anyone rite out the gate, with an Endless Ceiling for adding Additional Correspondences - or not - as you Desire. I've reDeSigned them so that even people with no XPerience in Magick, Psionics/Psychic Powers, NRG Work, &c. can Use this to Magickally & Psychically Keep themselves Healthy on the nonPhysical Levels. Call it my Taoist Bias, but I personally prefer Highly Efficacious Minimalist Actions. For Reasons I discuss in the Post on Donny T's "Kinesic Magic" from about a month ago, I'm Changing not only the Order (of the 2nd & 3rd), but most of the Gestures themselves, to wit:

1: CENTRE: CLOSE w/ CLAP, Head dn, PRAYER Hands To Chest, then up/dn
2: BANISH: THROW Hands/Arms To a "V" Pointing dn, per Tyson's "#4 BANISHing"
3: GROUND: PRAYER Hands Pointing dn To the GROUND, then up/dn again
4: SHIELD: Bring Hands & Head Level, Separate 2 Palms Out Right & Left
5: FILTER: Use Tyson's "#13 Ankh" to OPEN to & Tune In2 the Desired NRGs

Those are the brief deScriptions to Help, but far from Complete - and actually Missing Important Information at the cost of brevity. I've reVised & Intentionally Added more Movement to them. How to Connect them Kinesthetically with the Breath & have them Flow into the Next - e.g., for Daily Practice &/or multiple Repetitions?

As the Correspondences from the og Post have only Grown to cover even more, let's go into the Specifics of the Gestures themselves. I.e., they are still the only 5x Magickal Protection Operations you ever Need Know, as they Cover ALL of your Bases. To Help in Retention & Organization of Information, Note the Following Formatting/FormAdding:

I've put the 5x Elements in ALL CAPS, but neither Bold nor Italics as these are not the Focus of this Post, as the Focus of the last Post in Series (4/3+) was Xclusively re: both the 5x EleMental Mudras, but also the 5x Elemental Correspondences for each Finger.

All Words that are in Bold are Specific Words/Terms/Directions/Processes. Those that are simply Bold are usually referring to 1x of the 6x Directions on the 3x Axes and to distinguish from when it's Right that I may have Left out something (DoubtFull, given this is at least the 151st re-Edit, THX Reddit!). I've also "Bolded Tyson's Stances/Postures with #" (i.e., in Quotations), for your convenience.

I've also Bolded & ItaliSized the Xhales/Inhales for the Emphasis they Deservedly Earn.

When not referring to an acronym, Terms in BOLD & ALL CAPS are referring to 1 of 10 specific MAGICKAL OPERATIONs, detailed below. By Practicing the 5x Magickal Operations detailed herein this Post, you'll not only have already ReInForced the 5x Magickal Operations this Post is about, you'll have also ReInForced 5x more Essential Magickal Operations, Kinesthetically. I.e., OPEN/CLOSE, The CLAP, CLEANSE, & PRAYER Hands (not Consciously Intended, I just Noticed this is also 5x as I typed this up!!!!!). This gives you a Total of 10x Magickal Operations/Actions via Simply Practicing the 5x Breaths' Worth of Psychic CLEANSEing herein this Post. E.g., you can then Simply Use Any/All of those a5mentioned a la carte, as Desired to CLEANSE with a CLAP, OPEN/CLOSE a DoorWay for PathWorking, Give THX via PRAYER Hands, &c.

Note that solo terms in BOLD, ALL CAPS, & ITALICS refer to the 5x Magickal Protections this Post is about, themselves - i.e., CENTRE, BANISH, GROUND, SHIELD, FILTER. I think you'll find such Formatting to be incredibly HelpFull. DeScribing Physical Movements are even more than "a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words", and I've done my Best. I could've used AI to Create Pix of each, and I thought it best Naught to. Feel Free to Inquire below for Any/All Questions, Clarifications, &c., as always.

By Default, Inhale thru the Nose & Xhale thru the Nose or Mouth, Ideally at a similar Rate. Perform everything in this Post with Legs Together when Standing, to Help Focus on both Unity & Balance, as well. You should Maintain Ideal ("Correct") Posture throughout, "as if your Skull is being Suspended by a Meat Hook", Standing Straight Up with Poise - Changing this as Desired. Doing them from Horse Stance is Worth XPeriencing on its own ☯ Speaking of Balance & The Taiji™, I've Added the Following 5x Practices to the Beginning of my Daily Taijiquan Practice, For The Record. I.e., Daily I perForm these 5x QCK Magick™ Protections, then my Taijiquan Set, then End as I've always Ended, i.e., with my og CENTRE & GROUND (again) before Giving THX 3x (see Post for more). When I'm having a Lazy Day, I'll Simply Do these 5x Mudras - sometimes, 5x back-to-back for a couple dozen Breaths - for my Daily NRGetic CLEANSEing.....

Since they've seen more reVisions than a LASIK Eye Center - and the Movements have more Layers than an Ogre's Onion - let's reVisit each in turn, to wit:

0: To prePare:

.....Feet together, Arms Out.
___________________________________________________

1: CENTRE: CLOSE w/ CLAP, Head dn, PRAYER Hands To Chest, then up/dn, i.e.:

This has become the most Complicated, incorporating no less than 5x Magickal Actions in 2 Breaths - i.e., Highly Efficient. CENTREing is nearly HALF the Movement & Breaths of this entire Set. This makes Sense, too, as CENTREing is the 1st of the 5x Actions, LitReally™ getting us Ready for the next 4x. I.e., if you want to CENTRE, CLOSE, CLAP, CLEANSE, &/or XPress PRAYER Hands - all of the Secondary 5x Magickal Operations listed above, sans OPEN - this "single" Gesture does all of them with just a few Movements, in a couple Breaths. Begin everything herein with an

+Xhale/X1

.....as you Begin by Seal CLAPping your Hands together in Front of you like a Seal, to Seal Out any/all else and Magickally CLOSE OFF. Drop your Head dn.

This CENTRES the Right/Left Axis. Piercing CLAPS to CLEANSE are Ideal, but not Necessary.

When "I" remember, "I" like to Start from having my Left Hand clasp my Right Hand behind me so they more completely cover the entirety of the Right/Left Axis, particularly as I usually come into CENTREing from a Stretch. This is not Necessary, but a personal Addition that I rarely remember to Use anyway, as I already have this New 151 System Down to a Muscle Memory Level, after Practicing it so many times over these last 5x Weeks, as it happens. It's almost like the Body inJoys the Movements or something.....

-Inhale/I1

.....as you bring your Hands - now Together - InToWard your Chest to Create a PRAYER Hands Mudra over your CENTRE for the Depth, To/Fro Axis. Naturally Rotate the Hands to Point up as they come InTo your Chest.

Note you are now Facing your PRAYER Hands in Front of your Chest (Tyson's "#14 Prayer"), quite close to a Thai Wai. Also Note how Dividing the PRAYER Hands Mudra Creates 2 Knife Hands, aka the Empty Handed Mudra for the Element of AIR (see og Post &/or 4/3+ of this Series). There's probably something Symbolic in that or something.....

+Xhale/X2

.....as you Xtend Hands up To Full XTension Above your Head (Note how this is basically Tyson's "#24 Macrocosm" Stance, above).

-Inhale/I2

.....as you bring your Hands back dn, once again in the PRAYER Hands Mudra.

This covers the 3rd Axis of up/dn to Completely CENTRE on All Levels, including the Physical. Your Hands & Arms should be roughly @ Right Angles to one another for a Total of 6x Right Angles, as you are Now Completely CENTREd (i.e., Hands & Arms are "All Right, All Right, All Right!!!"). Particularly NoteWorthy is how the PRAYER Mudra done this Way means you're Physically rePresenting all 3 Axes via your Hands & Arms. I.e.:

Upper Arms = To/Fro Axis (Depth)
ForeArms = Right/Left Axis
Hands = up/dn Axis

From here, prepare to Throw Away unDesireAbles.....
___________________________________________________

2: BANISH: THROW Hands/Arms To a "V" Pointing dn, per Tyson's "#4 BANISHing", i.e.:

BANISH anything unDesired aWay InTo the EARTH, dn Below:

+Xhale/X3

.....as you Rotate your Palms (still together) to Pointing ForWard, PUSH them together. Then Xplosively THROW you Hands Out & dn so that your Palms are Facing dn on the Right & Left in a "V" Pointing dn, close to Tyson's "#4 BANISHing".

You're LitReally™ Parting your Problems From In Front of you - like Moses & the Red Sea - to BANISH & GROUND them dn InTo Mother EARTH. This should LitReally™ SHAKE your entire BodyMind as you THROW your Hands Out & dn. Or maybe despite Losing 50+ pounds I still have a few more to Lose? Don't Answer that! Either Way, Jiggle that Body, Baby! This is actually the most VisceREAL BANISHing I've ever perFormed, beyond LMFAOing to Tears, and quite Happy I disCovered it as I was reDoing these 5x Protections - even morseso than my ole' MBR/Matrix BANISHing Rite that only Creates Cramping for me anymore (see Post for more).

Note how this Stance for BANISHing reSembles the Alchemical Sign for FIRE, just as the Elemental Hand Mudra for SPIRIT (Tyson's #3 Invoking) is the inVerse, Forming a WATER Sign - also quite Fitting. Note also this Mudra can be Used as a General BANISHing for Any/All Magickal Operations, if you Desire.

If you're not getting Desired Results immediately and you Desire to increase the InTense-ity, you can Point your Fingers dn to more closely resemble Tyson's "#4 BANISHing" or perhaps put your Palms To Horizontal/Level with the GROUND to more easily Dump unDesireAbles InTo EARTH. Some prefer to Project with their Fingers, some with their Palms. Adjust as you Feel. Personally, when I'm trying to Send Massive amounts of NRG, I find the Palms most Efficacious - but I also Use the Fingers often when in Gnosis & Flicking Out MASSIVE NRG in a Whip-like CRACK, e.g., that Hits with the Drop in a Song, from the DanceFloor. I never really know in advance & just kinda go with the NRG Flow, ya know? Trust your BodyMind! I think the more you Trust the only Body you'll ever Own, the EZer Kinesthetic Magick beComes in this Life. You could also "Shake it Off" via your Hands until they Feel CLEANSEd more thoroughly, &c.

Halfway done with the Practice - & nearly done with Reading this Text!

Everything's actually EZ, but Clearly deScribing every Rotation+ takes tons of Words, Clearly. The last 3x are Super Short & EZPZ. Next on the Mudra/Breathing Cycle, we have:
___________________________________________________

3: GROUND: PRAYER Hands Pointing dn To the GROUND, then up/dn again, i.e.:

-Inhale/I3

.....as you bring your Hands Together yet again in another PRAYER Mudra - up-side-dn - Pointing dn To EARTH. Finish Inhaling by bringing your Hands - Together and Pointing dn - up To your Chest as you Invoke the CLEANSEing, Protective, & Healing Nature of EARTH To your CENTRE.

+Xhale/X4

.....as you reXtend To Maximum Full XTension with Hands still Palms together, Pointing dn To GROUND/EARTH, Letting Go & GROUNDing your Selves, giving Away any last Vestiges of unDesirAbles dn To Mother EARTH.

This Completes the Full XTension on the up/dn Axis from CENTREing, above, along the Middle Pillar.
___________________________________________________

4: SHIELD: Bring Hands & Head Level, Separate 2 Palms Out Right & Left, i.e.:

-Inhale/I4

.....as you Lead with the Wrists, Bring your Hands & Head up Level, Separate the Hands/Arms as they come up, Out To the Sides.

Before Flipping the Palms to Face Out in the next Xhale/X5, the Hands/Wrists are in the "Ward Off" Position from Taijiquan (i.e., Palms In) until Palms SOLIDif-I your Newly Created SHIELD at the Edge of your Personal Space (i.e., what you can Reach) with the Final, 5th Xhale:

+Xhale/X5

.....as you Rotate the Hands so the Palms Feel & Appear to be actively PUSHING OutWard against your SHIELD as you Xhale.

Note this resembles the End Point of Tyson's "#15 Opening", perForming quite the Opposite Intent as Tyson.
___________________________________________________

5: FILTER: Use Tyson's "#13 Ankh" to OPEN to & Tune In2 the Desired NRGs, i.e.:

-Inhale/I5

.....as you make the Final Rotation of the Wrist so that the Palms are Facing ForWard & OPEN, per Donny T's "#13 Ankh" Stance as you Focus upon the NRGs you Desire to Tune InTo.

Note this can serve as a Kinesthetic OPENing for Any/All Magickal Operations - if not Divinations - also. I think I'd Use this OPENing over Tyson's "#3 Invoking" that I also Use for SPIRIT, for Any/All Invocations, given it has to do with OPENing & TUNING InTo a Specific Deity/SPIRIT, via Vibes, Sigils, Sacred Names, &c.

Note importantly that this FILTER Posture/Operation returns us to where we Began before CENTREing, in #0, above. I.e., with our Arms OPEN Wide (before The CLAP), Creating & Forming a wHolistic Circle/Cycle that we can Repeat, as Desired - just like the Circle that Forms the "0".
___________________________________________________

That's it.

Here, then, are QCK Magick™s 5x Magickal/Psychic Protections everyone Practices, in a similar 5x Breaths. Yet anOther Way to perForm all 5x Magickal Operations for your Magickal Toolbox. I didn't know it was only 5x Breaths until after I wrote this all and Counted them up, and of course it Fits Perfectly.

I've been XPerimenting with this New, more YANG version of the Magick Protections 151, for the past few Weeks, nonStop, Carving this Information inFormation as Deeply as I can in the brief Time since disCovery of this Set of Movements. I.e., I've been Doing the Set of 5x above half a dozen or more times a day since Sept. Lots of great Epiphanies I've already Shared - and like most InEffAble things, the Real Benefits cannot be put into Words.

You may have Noted that you Never Cross yourself in these Movements - unlike Donny T's "Kinesic Magic" - but instead Right/Left Work 2gether in SymMetric Harmony. This wasn't Consciously Intentional, and having just Noted it, I thought I'd point it out for you, too.

1 of the countless Benefits of this System is that it's EZ to Repeat if you Desire. I've actually Felt like Doing it a 2nd Time REALLY amps up the NRG, beyond simply "Doubling". What do you Feel Doing it a 2nd Time in a row - I.e., X1 thru I5, back to X1 with The CLAP thru I5, &c.?

As mentioned above, I want to again Note that I Intentionally deSigned each Movement & X/Inhale to be Used a la carte'. Here's a very small Sample of ample Xamples:

1: Using the CLAP at the Start for a QuiCK Magick™ CLEANSing, &/or

2: Simply Throwing Hands Out & dn with an Xhale when wanting to BANISH, &/or

3: Using the Beginning To/Fro Axis to Focus on Moving ForWard, &c.

4: Using the GROUNDing Gestures to Help Stabilize, EARTH, & GROUND, &/or

5: Using the all 5x Daily for a Complete Set of Practices for Magickal Hygiene, &/or

6: Using PRAYER Hands going up/dn to Honour a God/dess being Worked with, &/or

What else do those Movements given herein this Post reMind you of, or make you Feel? #SelfDisCoveryFTW

Briefly since I brought it up, here's the Difference betwixt INVOCATION cf. the actual SPIRIT Mudra for QCK Magick™:

Whereas the SPIRIT Mudra is more Generic like the Element or a Colour (Purple for me), FILTERing is far more Specific. The Element of SPIRIT is like "The Radio", whereas FILTERing is like Tuning into Specific Stations. Absolutely Relevant Metaphor for 2026, thankyouverymuch.

For INVOCATIONS, I'd likely Do all 5x above, then transition from FILTER's Antennae-like Stance to the Stance for Elemental SPIRIT once I'd Tuned InTo the Desired Frequencies, as I Form a Funnel InTo my Head. I hope that Clears up what could be confusing for some.

Note for Protective Practices, Xhales Lead and are allWays Out/Away cf. the In/ToWard movement on Inhales, unsurprisingly.

To Help, I Desired to give you a reSummary of ONLY the Breaths & Movements from above. But rather than Simply READ these, DO them! Even if you're Sitting - No Xcuse! Here they are, then, EZPZ Lemon Squeezy:

+Xhale/X1

.....as you Begin by Seal CLAPping your Hands together in Front of you like a Seal, to Seal Out any/all else and Magickally CLOSE OFF. Drop your Head dn.

-Inhale/I1

.....as you bring your Hands - now Together - InToWard your Chest to Create a PRAYER Hands Mudra over your CENTRE for the Depth, To/Fro Axis. Naturally Rotate the Hands to Point up as they come InTo your Chest.

+Xhale/X2

.....as you Xtend Hands up To Full XTension Above your Head (Note how this is basically Tyson's "#24 Macrocosm" Stance, above).

-Inhale/I2

.....as you bring your Hands back dn, once again in the PRAYER Hands Mudra.

+Xhale/X3

.....as you Rotate your Palms (still together) to Pointing ForWard, PUSH them together. Then Xplosively THROW you Hands Out & dn so that your Palms are Facing dn on the Right & Left in a "V" Pointing dn, close to Tyson's "#4 BANISHing".

-Inhale/I3

.....as you bring your Hands Together yet again in another PRAYER Mudra - up-side-dn - Pointing dn To EARTH. Finish Inhaling by bringing your Hands - Together and Pointing dn - up To your Chest as you Invoke the CLEANSEing, Protective, & Healing Nature of EARTH To your CENTRE.

+Xhale/X4

.....as you reXtend To Maximum Full XTension with Hands still Palms together, Pointing dn To GROUND/EARTH, Letting Go & GROUNDing your Selves, giving Away any last Vestiges of unDesirAbles dn To Mother EARTH.

-Inhale/I4

.....as you Lead with the Wrists, Bring your Hands & Head up Level, Separate the Hands/Arms as they come up, Out To the Sides.

+Xhale/X5

.....as you Rotate the Hands so the Palms Feel & Appear to be actively PUSHING OutWard against your SHIELD as you Xhale.

-Inhale/I5

.....as you make the Final Rotation of the Wrist so that the Palms are Facing ForWard & OPEN, per Donny T's "#13 Ankh" Stance as you Focus upon the NRGs you Desire to Tune InTo.

Here are the Breaths & Movements Simplified yet again, 2 ReInForce 4 u:

XI: CLAP!
I1: In
X2: up
I2: dn
X3: Out/dn!
I3: up
X4: dn
I4: up
X5: Out
I5: In

which could all be referred to as "Pairing Breath with Direction". The Basics of the 5x Magick Protections could also be Summed Up as:

1: CENTRE: In & dn
2: BANISH: THROW dn
3: GROUND: up/dn
4: SHIELD: Palms Out
5: FILTER: Palms In

Here again is the most thorough Summary, repeated from above, for your cornvenience:

1: CENTRE: CLOSE w/ CLAP, Head dn, PRAYER Hands To Chest, then up/dn
2: BANISH: THROW Hands/Arms To a "V" Pointing dn, per Tyson's "#4 BANISHing"
3: GROUND: PRAYER Hands Pointing dn To the GROUND, then up/dn again
4: SHIELD: Bring Hands & Head Level, Separate 2 Palms Out Right & Left
5: FILTER: Use Tyson's "#13 Ankh" to OPEN to & Tune In2 the Desired NRGs

I think you'll find Simply Referring to any/all of these last few Summaries will be more than enough to reMind you of the dozenish Movements & Breaths for this Simple & EZ Practice for All of your Magick & Psychic Protection Needs.

GLHF!

Questions? Comments? Critiques? What do you think? How does this InSpire you?

Tips please? I've manifested money before but I care not to do it anymore. I'm pretty happy with life I'm unsure what to exactly make a sigil for.

I'm very new to all this chaos magick thing and want to do it, and I fell that the best technique​ for me would be make a mantra with my desire and meditate till I get to gnosis or at least close to it while doing the mantra

Its a good idea? What are you experience with the mantrical method?

u/UnkleGuidoV is correct. There is really not a lot of material that is easily accessible on Animal Magick. Most of us, and I am assuming here, would have heard more stories about abusive relationships between the magician and their beast than the positive ones. So, I spent the entirety of last night researching.

Across unrelated religious traditions, deities are routinely bound to particular animals as mounts, emblems, bodily forms, messengers or guardians. It’s a phenomenon that spans the entirety of Indian religions to the Mediterranean, Europe, Inner and East Asia, the Americas, Africa and Oceania.

Because it is a vast subject, I will be tracking patterns on how human beings have entered into ritual companionship with animals, from early modern familiars and Indigenous guardian-spirit quests to Hindu vahana worship and twentieth-century magical practices, in an attempt to devise the logic of these symbolical connections, and how you and I can utilise these ethically.

I do not favour abusive theriomorphic companionships, so I will limit writing about them.

So, let us get into it!

A god without an animal is the exception rather than the rule. Ganesha is carried by a mouse, Shiva by a bull, Athena is accompanied by an owl, Odin by two ravens and two wolves, Anubis wears the head of a canid, and the Mesoamerican Quetzalcoatl is a feathered serpent.

Animals, have long been used as hypersigils, because each animal has always had deep condensed symbols associated with them in their respective cultures. Even the online culture around animals, have developed their own symbolical memetic meanings. I only have to say a few choice words and you would already know what I mean. For example: Doge, Boop the snoot, He’s just a baby etc,

In theology, however, an animal with a God, can show us what the god governs, what the god has mastered, or what the worshipper must endure in order to reach the God. Human societies have not only imagined divine animals; they have kept, fed, impersonated, mummified, dreamed with and, in some cases, claimed kinship with animals as part of ritual life.

The terminology of individual traditions that have developed around Theriomorphism, (Sanskrit vahana, Jain lanchana, Egyptian zoomorphic forms, Greek “sacred animals”) obscures a common set of relations. I categorize them as-

1. Mount or vehicle. The deity rides, is carried by, or is drawn by the animal: Ganesha and Mushika (the mouse), Shiva and Nandi (the bull), Durga and the lion, Freyr and the boar Gullinbursti, Thor and his goats.
2. Emblem or attribute. The animal marks the god without necessarily accompanying them: Athena’s owl, Kubera’s mongoose, Zeus’s eagle.
3. True Theriomorphic form. The god appears as, or partly as, the animal: Horus the falcon, Sekhmet the lioness, Hathor the cow, Hanuman the monkey, the avatars of Vishnu as fish, tortoise, boar and man-lion.
4. Companion or messenger. The animal accompanies or carries word: the foxes of Inari, the ravens of Odin, the hounds of Artemis, the stag of Cernunnos.
5. Guardian or antagonist. The beast guards a threshold or opposes the divine order: Cerberus at the gate of Hades, the dogs of Yama, Fenrir, Jormungandr, the Babylonian dragon-serpent Mushussu in service to Marduk.

The modes overlap, and an animal may move between them over time. A mount may begin as a form (a bull-god becomes a god with a bull), or a God may manifest in different forms with different animal mounts through the ages; process visible in several traditions.

Different scholars have had different theoretical approaches to Theriomorphism and everything associated with the territory. The structuralist position associated with Claude Lévi-Strauss holds that animals are chosen less because they are useful than because they are “good to think”: their observable differences supply a code for social and cosmological distinctions. The phenomenology of Irving Hallowell, developed among the Ojibwe, emphasises that many peoples treat animals as “other-than-human persons” with whom relations of reciprocity are possible. Philippe Descola’s comparative typology of ontologies distinguishes animism, totemism, naturalism and analogism, and places many deity-animal systems within the second and fourth.

Finally, historical scholars of religion emphasise diffusion and common inheritance, notably the hypothesis of shared Indo-European psychopomp dogs, an argument that remains contested.

But if we observe the patterns, what appears is a more understandable picture. Pairings arise from ecology (apex predators, carrion birds, venomous snakes), from cognition (liminal animals that cross boundaries of land, water and air attract symbolic weight), from historical transmission, and from deliberate theological elaboration.

The Indian material is the most systematic in the world, or at least has the most literature on it. A vahana (“that which carries”) is assigned to most major deities, and Puranic and iconographic texts treat the pairing as stable.

The principal pairings include the following. Ganesha rides the mouse Mushika, and the Mudgala Purana assigns different beasts (lion, mouse, peacock, serpent, horse) to his eight incarnations. Shiva is carried by the bull Nandi, wears serpents as ornaments, and as Pashupati, “lord of beasts”, sits on a tiger skin and holds an antelope. Durga rides a lion or tiger. Vishnu is borne by Garuda, the eagle-like king of birds and enemy of serpents, and rests on the cosmic serpent Shesha; he also enters animal bodies in his avatars. Lakshmi is associated with the owl and with the elephants of the Gaja-Lakshmi image. Brahma and Saraswati ride the hamsa (swan or goose), traditionally credited with separating milk from water. Kartikeya (Murugan) rides the peacock and bears the rooster on his banner. Indra rides the white Elephant Airavata. Agni rides a ram, Varuna the makara, Surya drives a chariot of seven horses, and Kalabhairava is accompanied by a dog (I will cover Kalbhairava separately in a post because his manifestation also includes boars in a strange way).

Yama, lord of the dead, occupies a distinct place. The Rigveda (10.14) gives him two four-eyed dogs who guard the path of the dead, while later tradition assigns him the buffalo. The sevenfold Matrikas reproduce the vehicles of their male counterparts: Brahmani the hamsa, Maheshvari the bull, Kaumari the peacock, Vaishnavi Garuda, Varahi the buffalo and Indrani the elephant.

Regional and folk cults extend the system: Ayyappa rides a tiger, Shitala a donkey, Khandoba (identified with Martanda Bhairava) a horse accompanied by a dog, and the snake goddess Manasa is associated with serpents (we will talk about the serpent symbology in detail later but Manasa’s snake, when seen in a dream, heralds a new child, a stark contrast to storks in contemporary western memetics). The planetary deities (Navagraha) are also assigned beasts, but the lists differ widely between manual, and so, I will not cover it.

An interesting sub plot from the Mahabharata is that Yudishtir (by no means an ethical man), is allowed entry to heaven (and not his siblings or wife), because he shows loyalty towards a dog that had travelled with him the whole way to heaven. When the dog is not allowed, he refuses his own entry to heaven.

Jainism supplies the clearest case of the animal as identifier. Each of the twenty-four Tirthankaras carries a lanchana, an emblem that distinguishes otherwise nearly identical images. Many of these are animals: Rishabha the bull, Ajita the elephant, Sambhava the horse, Abhinandana the monkey, Vimala the boar, Parshva the serpent and Mahavira the lion

Buddhist literature associates the white elephant with the conception of the Buddha, the lion with his royal Shakya lineage, and the deer with his first sermon. In the iconography of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Manjushri rides a lion, Samantabhadra a white elephant, and the five Dhyani Buddhas are enthroned on lion, elephant, horse, peacock and garuda. Tibetan protectors include Palden Lhamo, who rides a mule, and Jambhala, who holds a mongoose spewing jewels in a direct echo of Kubera.

Egyptian religion is the principal example of sustained true-theriomorphism. Gods appear with animal heads or in animal form: Horus as falcon, Thoth as ibis or baboon, Anubis as a canid, Sobek as crocodile, Hathor as cow, Bastet as cat, Sekhmet as lioness, Khepri as scarab, Taweret as hippopotamus. Egyptian theology allowed a god to manifest in an animal without being exhausted by it, and the sacred bulls of Memphis (Apis) and other individual animals were treated as living vessels of divinity. At the Late Period cult centres, millions of cats, ibises and other animals were mummified as votive offerings. In the western world (aside from Greece), Theriomorphism comes with the price of memory loss during the period when the morph is active. A curious deviation from the eastern teachings that somehow still show up in Greece and Egypt.

In Mesopotamia the dominant relation is the companion or mount. Inanna/Ishtar is associated with the lion, and the Burney Relief, which shows a goddess flanked by lions and owls, is often linked to her, though the identification is debated. Marduk is accompanied by the Mushussu, a composite snake-dragon seen on the Ishtar Gate. Storm gods (Adad, Hadad, Baal) are associated with the bull, and the Hittite storm god stands upon the bulls Serri and Hurri. Cybele travels in a chariot drawn by lions, while Atargatis of Syria had sacred fish, a taboo recorded at Hierapolis.

Greek religion favours the attribute animal rather than the theriomorphic god. Zeus has the eagle, Hera the peacock and cow, Athena the owl, Apollo the swan and wolf (as Lykeios), Artemis the deer, bear and hounds, Poseidon the horse and bull, Aphrodite the dove, Dionysus the panther, Hermes the tortoise whose shell becomes the lyre, and Hades the hound Cerberus. Two cases show the relation passing into ritual. At Brauron, girls in the service of Artemis took part in a rite in which they “played the bear”. At the sanctuaries of Asclepius, notably Epidaurus, pilgrims slept among non-venomous sacred snakes awaiting a healing dream. Hecate’s association with dogs and crossroads belongs to the same field of liminal, chthonic animals.

Roman religion largely inherited this repertoire, adding its own: Mars with the wolf and woodpecker, bound to the foundation legend of the she-wolf, and the sacred geese of Juno on the Capitol, said to have warned the city of the Gallic attack. The most elaborate Roman animal icon belongs to Mithraism: the tauroctony, in which Mithras slays a bull while a dog, a snake, a scorpion and a raven attend.

The Norse sources are exceptionally rich in animal companions. Odin is attended by the ravens Huginn and Muninn, the wolves Geri and Freki, and the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Thor’s chariot is drawn by two goats that can be eaten and revived. Freyja’s chariot is drawn by cats, and she is linked to the boar Hildisvini, while her brother Freyr rides the golden-bristled boar Gullinbursti. Fenrir and Jormungandr are the great antagonists of the divine order, the wolf and the serpent.

Celtic evidence is mostly archaeological and Romano-Celtic. Cernunnos, the antlered figure of the Gundestrup cauldron, is accompanied by stags; Epona is the goddess of horses; the Irish Morrigan appears as a crow or raven on the battlefield; Artio is represented with a bear; and Cassius Dio reports that Boudica released a hare in her invocation of Andraste.

The Christian and esoteric inheritance continues the pattern. The four living creatures of Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4 became the Tetramorph of the Evangelists (lion, ox, eagle, man); the dove represents the Holy Spirit and the lamb Christ; the serpent of Genesis 3 is both tempter and bearer of knowledge. In the nineteenth century Eliphas Lévi’s goat-headed Baphomet fixed the goat as an occult emblem, and grimoires such as the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum describe many spirits as appearing in animal form.

The Avesta records Verethragna, the god of victory, taking ten forms, among them the bull, horse, camel, boar, ram, a bird, and a youth, and the rain-star Tishtrya appears as a white horse. The Simurgh of the Shahnameh is a giant healing bird.

Inner Asian traditions locate animals at the start of descent: the Turkic ruling lines traced themselves to a wolf, and the Secret History of the Mongols begins with a blue wolf and a white deer. A circumpolar complex of bear ceremonialism, from the Ainu to the Nivkh, treats the bear as an ancestor and honoured guest.

Chinese cosmology assigns guardian animals to the four directions, the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise. Individual figures have their beasts: Laozi departs west on a green ox, the wealth god Zhao Gongming rides a black tiger, and the Queen Mother of the West is served by a three-legged bird and, in Han art, a hare pounding the elixir of immortality. In Japan, Inari is served by foxes, Benzaiten is linked with a white snake, Takemikazuchi of Kasuga arrives on a white deer, and the three-legged crow Yatagarasu guides the first emperor in the Kojiki. In Korea the foundation myth of Dangun is told through a bear who becomes a woman, and the mountain god is shown with a tiger. Southeast Asian courts adopted the Indian Garuda as a royal emblem, and the naga Mucalinda sheltered the Buddha from rain.

In Mesoamerica, Quetzalcoatl is the feathered serpent, Tezcatlipoca is associated with the jaguar and with the animal double (nahual), Xolotl is the dog who guides the dead, and Huitzilopochtli is linked to the hummingbird, into which the souls of warriors were said to pass. Andean cosmology associates the upper, middle and lower worlds with condor, puma and serpent. In North America, Raven, Thunderbird, Coyote and Spider Grandmother are central figures of particular nations, and they are better understood as persons within specific narrative traditions than as deities with attribute animals. Inuit tradition places the sea animals under the care of Sedna.

In West Africa the Yoruba associate Ogun with the dog and Shango with the ram, Vodun honours the serpent Dan, and the Akan trickster Anansi is a spider. In Polynesia, Hawaiian families maintain relations with ancestral guardian animals, the ‘aumakua (shark, owl, turtle), and the shape-shifting pig-god Kamapua‘a is a divine figure. In Maori tradition fish are the descendants of Tangaroa and birds of Tane. In Aboriginal Australia the Rainbow Serpent is widespread, though always as a figure belonging to specific peoples and places, and totemic relations tie persons to ancestral species.

The animals associated with death and thresholds, above all the dog, the serpent and the carrion bird, recur across traditions with no demonstrable historical contact. The Indo-European case of Yama’s dogs, Cerberus and the Norse hound Garmr has been read as common inheritance, but the Mesoamerican Xolotl suggests that convergent salience is at least as plausible. Second, apex predators and birds of the upper air are repeatedly attached to sovereignty and storm, which fits a widespread cosmology of a vertical universe. Third, pairings change with political and religious history: Garuda becomes a royal emblem in Thailand and Indonesia; the Roman Mithraic bull inverts the more usual identification of bull with the god.

The association of gods with animals is distinct from the practice of human beings entering into companionship with animals in ritual. Several historical forms can be distinguished.

English and Scottish cunning-folk described helper spirits, often in animal form (cats, dogs, toads, mice) or as fairy persons. In witch trials these became the “imps” of demonological theory, fed from the witch’s body. Much of the detail in trial records derives from interrogators’ templates and coerced confession, as in the Essex trials of 1566 and the Hopkins trials of 1645 to 1647. Emma Wilby has argued that beneath the demonological overlay lay a genuine visionary tradition of animal-like helpers among cunning-folk, rooted in older fairy belief. The record is therefore of high interest for the history of belief but unsuitable as a source of ritual procedure.

In many Plains and Algonquian societies, a young person fasted alone to receive a guardian spirit, frequently in animal form, with songs and a medicine bundle. Clan emblems such as the Ojibwe doodem are kinship categories, not personal spirit companions, and the popular phrase “spirit animal” collapses these distinct institutions. The term is widely criticised by Indigenous writers as an appropriation.

Siberian shamans work with animal helpers (birds, reindeer, bears), embodied in costume and drum, in journeys to other realms. Mircea Eliade’s synthesis of these practices as a single “archaic technique of ecstasy” has been challenged for flattening local differences, and Ronald Hutton’s critical survey emphasises the variety of the evidence.

In the sagas a fylgja is a follower-spirit, often an animal, that mirrors a person’s nature or fate. Related notions include the hamr (shape) and the warriors who wore wolf or bear skins. The sources are literary and were written down centuries after conversion to Christianity, which limits their value as evidence for pre-Christian ritual.

Nahua thought linked each person to an animal co-essence connected to the birth day-sign (tonalli), and sorcerers (nahualli) were believed able to assume animal form. Classic Maya inscriptions name a “way” co-essence of similar character. Surviving evidence mixes Indigenous and colonial voices.

A Hawaiian family’s ancestral guardian animal (shark, owl, turtle or eel) stands in a relation of care and taboo: it is not to be harmed or eaten, and it is addressed in prayer and offerings. This is a living practice of Native Hawaiian families and not a technique available to outsiders.

In Hindu devotion the vahana is not only iconographic. The visualisation (dhyana) of a deity includes the vahana, and honouring the animal opens access to the deity: snakes are honoured on Nag Panchami, the cow in go-puja, dogs are fed for Bhairava, crows are offered food for the ancestors, and Nandi is worshipped at the twilight rite of pradosha. The animal is thus both a symbol and a point of devotional access.

Egyptian religion maintained sacred animals during their lives and mummified vast numbers of cats, ibises and other animals as votives. The practice illustrates how ritual can create demand for animal death at industrial scale, which later work has treated as a cautionary example.

At Epidaurus and Pergamon, incubation in the abaton among sacred snakes was a central healing practice of Asclepius’s cult. Serpent imagery recurs in modern dream work, but wild snakes should not be introduced into ritual.

Grimoires such as the Lemegeton describe spirits appearing in the forms of lions, wolves, horses and dromedaries, a visionary taxonomy that has been studied as a symbolic system. In the twentieth century Austin Osman Spare’s “atavistic resurgence” invoked ancestral animal forms in sigil work, chaos magic developed the construct of the artificial familiar or servitor, and neo-shamanic movements introduced the retrieval of “power animals”. These are modern developments with their own historical context.

 Before we proceed forward into the working, we must touch upon these important points.

Animal welfare. Historic practice included sacrifice and mass votive killing. No responsible modern adaptation depends on harming, restraining or distressing an animal, and the established alternative is symbolic: an image, a statue, a drawing or a sigil stands in for the living animal. Reciprocity can be translated into support for habitat and wildlife conservation. A household pet is a living being with its own needs and cannot be treated as a ritual instrument.

Law. Many jurisdictions restrict the possession and trade of feathers, bones, ivory, shells and other parts of protected species. International trade is regulated by CITES, and national laws (for example, United States protections for native migratory birds) can make the possession of ordinary-looking items an offence.

A further consideration is psychological. Practices that employ trance, intense visualisation or sleep disruption can produce distress in some people. Where they do, the practice should stop and support be sought.

This is not meant to be taken lightly. This is high magick and must be respected as such.

1. Define the function. State in one sentence the quality to be cultivated.
2. Select the pairing. Prefer a pairing in which the myth (archetypal layer), the animal’s natural history (aptitude) and the practitioner’s simulation chart (astrology, numerical and nominative descriptors, there’s multiple ways, even a psychometric test might be able to indicate you to it)agree.
3. Study the animal. Read natural history before myth, noting where the animal and the symbol diverge.
4. Make a representation. Use an image, statue, drawing or sigil. (Yet again I must ask you to not use live animals for ritualistic purposes that might hurt them in any way.)
5. Set boundaries. Fix time, place, purpose and a clear closing act of thanks and grounding; keep sessions short.
6. Make contact. Use quiet visualisation or pathworking. Where the source tradition does so, as in the Indian model, visualise the deity and its animal (dhyana) before any mantra or invocation. Keep a written record.
7. Practise reciprocity. Give to real animals through habitat protection, responsible feeding of wild birds or volunteering.
8. Embody. Choose one behavioural commitment suggested by the animal, examples,  nocturnal work for the owl, steadfast loyalty for the dog, the shedding of a habit for the serpent.
9. Review and release. Test visions against ordinary reality, keep a log, and end the working on schedule.

In conclusion, any kind of Theriomorphic Magick is a form of sympathetic magick.

Sympathetic magick functions entirely on two core tenets.

1. Like produces like

2. Once bound forever bound

That is why the ethics of your private Theriomorphic rituals must be strong.

If you have stayed till the end, here’s a few questions-

1.      Have you tried any Theriomorphic rituals?

2.      What would you add to the ethical guidelines for Animal Magick

3.      Did I miss any key symbol? Let me know in the comments.

Im a postman and I found this while delivering today, I can’t find any information on it

In Norwegian folklore, a vardøgr is when you hear or see someone arriving before they actually show up.

Here's an esoteric theory: What if a vardøgr is a short-lived, localized egregore created by your desire and anticipation for someone to arrive?

In chaos magick, thought-forms are often associated with focused thought, emotion, and intention.

Perhaps intensely anticipating someone's arrival unconsciously creates a temporary manifestation of their presence? Which disappears once they actually arrive.

Maybe the stronger your emotional connection and expectation, the more likely this phenomenon becomes?

I'm not claiming this is objectively what's happening, but I find the idea fascinating.

What do you think? Could a vardøgr be a spontaneous thought-form, or is there another concept that fits better?

I want to thank the guiding souls that whisper to us what to do when crisis caught us unaware of it