UNCVLTURED: Volume One

logo by @lunefrog COVER BY @DAYMOTH Boop: My Dearest Love...........................................................................................page 4 Tin: All Saints’ Day..................................................................................................page 6 Rose C.: The Light in the Dark..............................................................................page 7 Ruby: Ritual Offering for Persephone’s Descent.................................................page 8 Mahigan: Hekate’s Breaching of the Gates...........................................................page 12 Boop: An Exercise in Balance...............................................................................page 22 Moth: How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Do Necromancy............................page 23 Mayweather: A Prayer to Ilargi Amandre for the Dead....................................page 29 Rose C.: To Consume the Forbidden Fruit............................... .........................page 34 Jbird: Things Seen in the Dirt: Soil-Scrying in Appalachia..............................page 36 Wren: For the Love of Libation............................................................................page 38 Briar: Taming Fire..................................................................................................page 44 Jbird: 2 Formulas and a Spell................................................................................page 50 Daymoth: Guided Meditation: Unmaking................................................... .....page 53 Lunefrog: Baba Koyot............................................................................................page 54

Hello!

Welcome to Cultsquad’s offering for the darker chthonic months.

Within you’ll find poetry, essays, rituals, spells, stories, and experiments from our own far-ranging practices, centering around this strange and wonderful season so rich in introspection, lore, and potency.

This is a glance into our own books. In these pages, you’ll see everything from necromancy to oathbreaking, from Persephone and Hermanubis to Ilargi Amandre and All Saints’.

Learn to scry in soil, hear the secret of the forge. Prepare libations for the gods. Pray Eve’s secret, earthy glory. Visit the crossroads. Unmake yourself. Break down the gates of heaven.

Welcome to UnCvltured, Issue One.

Photo by Boop

BOOP / @WITCHCRAFTINGBOOP.

MY DEAREST LOVE, As you know, winter is approaching. And with it comes truths and experiences that cannot be conveyed to those who do not understand the worth of leaving the lands of others to thaw on their own. In the wintry months, on the darkest day, practitioners are often drawn to form new oaths, to light a fire on the Solstice and leap into the heart of a brighter future, a more vibrant path. There is a special connection that forms when you take on oaths, a gravity of consciousness that follows in the wake of your actions. It lives around and within a person just as the festering stench that exudes from those who break them.

My experiences with contracts are of course going to differ from others. I have been assigned mentoring and guiding spirits, familiars that have been pacted to me almost since the time I was born. But I have never dedicated or devoted myself to another. Some view devotion as a simple, almost two-dimensional thing, something that they can start just as quickly as they can end it. It is never that simple.

Contracts, like marriage and pacts, come with their own benefits and consequences. To bind yourself to a deity often means laying yourself bare to the agenda and influence of an entity far beyond the ability of human comprehension. Like an initiation, beginning down the path of a devotee almost always leaves your life and spirit reeling. Spirits want to take the easiest and most straightforward path to the end goal. And whether you were fully aware of their aims or not, you can, and most likely will, find yourself being dragged along for the ride.

In the darker half of the year, it is not unusual for me to reminisce on such topics as devotion, considering all I’ve done and want to do during this time. Regardless of my craft, though, I am a hopeless person, in romance and desires alike. Even without contracts, without binding myself to the spirits I work with, I have been exposed to the love and care and guidance that comes with aligning your life with their influence.

There is a certain appeal in being taken under the wing of a being so much more knowledgeable, capable, and mighty than yourself, a being that operates in ways you can’t understand but are drawn to admire. There are gifts you can be given, knowledge and abilities that seem to just fall into your lap (or at least from the outside that is certainly how it can appear).

But there are also dangers, tests that will be thrown at you and trials that they will expect you to pass. A devotee’s life is not all sunshine and rainbows. Where there is light, there is darkness; one cannot exist without the other. And although the practitioner can choose to devote themselves to an entity, that devotion is not something that they alone are capable of severing. Thus there is a delicate balance, an unspoken dance that occurs when you dedicate and bind yourself to another – whether deity or human – an inevitable play on power and boundaries.

There is much to gain in learning the language and maintenance of oaths. But there are losses that come with it, promises that will rearrange the priorities of your life and space. A promise to the gods is a promise writ in blood. It dwells in the core of the self and permeates throughout all. Often, though, despite it taking up such a central and important role in a person, it is not something that should be talked about too openly or freely. To move in silence, to become a vault unto yourself, is something I struggle with even in my more mundane actions. With the beings I work with, there is a greater potential for fallout should I fail, and a greatly pronounced pressure to maintain and build upon those bridges built of secrets and bargains. No matter how far 4

you yourself have come, it is best to keep one truth in mind: there are secrets that can only be given to those who have passed such-and-such amount of obstacles or cleared as many checkpoints as necessitated. There is little in this line of work that is given for free, and the price to be paid is seldom yours to collect, no matter the treasure trove of wisdom you’ve garnered.

It is a noble pursuit, I think, to want to share, to give of yourself and your resources. But there are limits when you have promises to keep. An oath is writ in blood. Laced and heavy, there are promises I keep that sing in the recesses of my DNA, woven into me as deeply as the chromosomes that originally put me together. To break an oath, to tear apart those bindings, leaves irreparable scars. A more discerning person can scent an Oathbreaker from a mile away. In my experience, they smell of rot and burnt flesh – a promise broken, left to fester and burn away at their innards.

To dwell in the consideration of the gods, to feast at the table of the spirits and walk away full of promise and power, shining with a fire stoked in the depths of creation, is a gift, a token bestowed and easily taken.

An Oathbreaker is one who has strayed from the proverbial feast and has gorged themselves on spoiled goods.

They walk in the shadow of their misdeeds and reek of all they took for granted. There are holes carved into them, places where what they were given used to reside. If you concentrate, you can feel it radiating off of them: the hunger that those cavities leave in a person. An Oathbreaker is such that will likely never be satisfied.

Whether intentional or not, they have marked themselves forever. What being would welcome the touch of one so tainted, so gutted and abandoned, without morals or honor? You will likely find Oathbreakers as wanderers, mask-wearers, disguised, or shaded; they linger in the shadows projected upon the walls by the light of those they’ll never be welcomed by again.

It is a sad existence. And one, my dearest, that I wish you may never experience. Though I’m sure you, like myself, cherish your values and bonds too heartily to fail as easy a task as keeping your word. A word of caution though, if I may: it is easier to keep what’s not to be shared, when you allow others to speak for themselves. Let those who would try to pry things out of you, go directly to the source rather than mine of your dear self. But of course, I remain certain a hundred moons will pass before you open to me, let alone a befouled warlock.

Unconditionally Yours, Boop

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TIN / @POWDERANDCLAY.

ALL SAINTS’ DAY There is a quiet sort of beauty to All Hallows’ kindly day.

It sings with burnt serenity and burnished brass antiquities, a gentle sort of longing for a light and burning state. The saints are Heaven’s harmonies, bright with mirth and revelry; the Church is full and quiet and the dead are singing low.

It is Mass in fading sunlight and the creak of falling kneelers; the crisp and brickish autumn that incenses like lit myrrh. The father sings his dulia: a humble, gentle gloria; The Church Triumphant hums from where they’re seated in the pews.

When home, it is an altar to the Holy Mother Mary; it is oil, bread and lilies on good china, crisp and clean. The icons’ eyes watch evenly; kneeling, praying litany, their hands clasped closed before them as they view the feast below.

The night welcomes our amity, the churchyard greets with dignity; the headstones rise against the twilight, eerie but benign.

The vigil goes into the night, emboldened by the candle light; Midnight breaks the reverie, and so All Souls’ begins.

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Photo by POEMSANDMYTHS

ROSE C.

THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS Winter is the time when all the world is fallow and must be at rest. The long nights bear the weight of cold and silence, patiently waiting until life is renewed and begins to stir once more. Outside of the Moon, Venus - the Morning Star - is the brightest object in the darkened sky, visible only for a little while before sunrise. It is during this time especially that I find peace in reflecting on the Lightbringer, Lucifer.

Lucifer is one who is Too Much. He is too prideful, reveling in the battle cries of rebellion. He is one who burns too brightly, radiating even as the dawn breaks. He is one who cuts too deeply, who molds the hearts of His devotees in His hands. He is too fearsome, He who fathered the first murderer and suffers no fools. It is He that loved too fiercely, such that He preferred to fall rather than bow before one lesser than His Father. He is one who is never content to be kept in darkness, forever striving for new understanding. He serves as a reminder that even in times of upheaval and uncertainty there is something to be learned.

In the time between the autumnal and vernal equinox it is tempting to succumb to despair and nihilism; faith can be difficult to find in the depths of bleak frigidity. In recent years especially it is easy to believe that the spring is a distant memory and it may never resurface. Remember this: even Lucifer, in all of His splendor and bitterness, was able to rise after falling from grace. Though such adaptability is not traditionally associated with angels, much less the seraphim, it seeks to further illustrate how we can surprise ourselves with our own strength. Transition is seldom easy to make: it is often difficult and sometimes it is painful. Ultimately the cycle must continue: the leaves wither and fall so that the tree may conserve energy and slumber. The ice and snow insulates buried seeds so that they may germinate upon the thaw.

In the winter we must allow ourselves reflection so as to better our own development, to shed light upon our own hearts.

Only then can you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and look around. Keep the memory of the sun close to your heart and allow yourself to bloom.

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RUBY / @WINEBRIGHTRUBY.

RITUAL OFFERING TO CELEBRATE PERSEPHONE’S DESCENT Date: ​In New Orleans, I celebrated this rite yearly on the weekend of VoodooFest, the last weekend of October. You should choose the date most significant to you that correlates to the end of summer and the coming of the cold season.

I have performed this ritual in daylight and after sundown; either is acceptable.

Place:​The offering is best made at a crossroads or border space, such as the bank of a body of water, or in a cemetery. If you have an outdoor place of power, a place the spirits are particularly active and friendly, or a place the dead are known to prefer, any of those are acceptable.

Materials:​Gather and transport to your chosen location the following items: • • • • • • • •

a bowl large enough to dip at least your fingers in a cup large enough to hold at least 2 ounces of liquid matches (and a lighter if you wish)a candle (that will burn outdoors)clean water cocoa powder (or local grain) honey red wine any food offering(s)

Process: ​Once you arrive at your chosen location, fill the bowl with water. Strike a match, say “Be purified,” and drop it into the water. Wash your hands and face. Light the candle.

Prepare the ground for your offering by scattering cocoa powder or your choice of local grains.

Say: “At the end of summer, as winter’s powers rise, we honor Persephone’s descent as queen of the Underworld, her homecoming to Haides.”

Drizzle honey upon the ground and say, “We bring offerings and praise to Plouton and Praxidike, seeking their blessings throughout the seasons to come.”

Fill the glass with red wine and take a small sip to signal that it is pure and good to drink.

Read or recite the ​Hymn Upon Persephone’s Descent​(included below). After each stanza, pour out a splash of the wine.

Refill the glass if necessary. This is best performed with at least two speakers, to change speakers after each stanza, but if you are making this offering on your own, simply read the entire thing yourself.

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Hymn Upon Persephone’s Descen​t (I) Who stirs in the dark meadows below the earth, quickened by love for Demeter’s maiden daughter?

The Receiver of All, Plouton who holds the keys to the earth’s vaults, makes ready a bridal chamber.

(II) Persephone dances among the flowers with her graceful playmates, the nymphs and Seasons.

Light-hearted in the fragrant summer, she nourishes sweet fruits and green herbs.

(I) The peaceful fields of asphodel call to her— a lovesong of winter. The kindly god who judges impartially all acts of mortals has spread a feast of jewels in wait for her.

(II) Radiant Persephone, queen of all that lives and dies, descends into the darkness that once embraced her, separating her from her regal mother. She calls it home.

(I) Holiest of gods, master of death, look with favor on us; grant us riches and security.

(II) Ruby-crowned Persephone who shines in the dark, bless our lives with plenty, with health, with your favor.

Pour out the remainder of the wine onto the ground.

Add any food or solid offerings you wish to make, along with any specific petitions or prayers.

Offer the last handful of cocoa or grains and pour out the remainder of the water from the bowl.

Blow out the candle and end the rite in the usual way before leaving the offering space.

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Photo by Briar

Photo by Mahigan

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MAHIGAN / KITCHEN TOAD.

HEKATE’S BREACHING OF THE GATES May she forcefully open the gates of possibility and potential.

This is a rather forceful rite which was developed at a time when I was in need of a real breakthrough.

The spheres of Jupiter and Mercury were both heavily afflicted, and my practice, consisting mainly of planetary magic, was in dire need of an influx of positive influence. Although this ritual was written in the hopes of opening the gates of Jupiter and Mercury in tandem, it can easily be altered to fit any need. I’ve used the rite as a general blockbuster, and to unlock the gates of particular archetypes. In practice, it involves forcefully opening the gates and breaking the boundaries of any particular power, to then completely saturate the being and space of the practitioner. The rite can be further modified by directing the power and energy collected towards a particular item or goal, to charge or empower talismans and spellwork. A short script for this purpose is provided following the original ritual.

This ritual involves the use of a blade, a key, two red candles, a candle to represent each power convoked, and two bowls or chalices. You will also need to fashion a ‘gate’ out of paper or parchment for each archetypal gate you hope to open. This can be done by tracing a pentagon within which the word or image symbolic of the power is drawn. For the original rite, I marked my ‘gates’ with the planetary sigils and kameas, as well as the sigils of the Spirit and Intelligence of each planet. Additionally, you will need to gather offerings proper to the powers called upon, as well as decent red wine. Ideally, you will have an image, statue, or other significant representation of Hekate to watch over the rites. Make sure each of these items are consecrated, blessed, and purified according to your typical methods before beginning.

Upon a small table or your working altar, place to your right the blade and key. Before you, place the image of Hekate, placing the two red candles behind her. To her left, place your chalice or bowl of wine, and to her right, a bowl or chalice of clean water. Between you and Hekate, place the candle representing the power which you wish to call. This candle may be anointed with oils and herbs at this time, but this is by no means necessary. If you are planning on directly channeling the potencies of this particular power into an object or spell, make sure to account for the space necessary to have everything set up and undisturbed, with all spellwork or implements being placed between you and Hekate. In this case, the candle representing the power called will be placed between you and the talisman or spell. Your paper ‘gate’ should be placed between you and the representative candle. Place any offerings to the left, to be presented during the ritual itself.

Begin by entering trance in whichever way you prefer, cleansing the space, and casting a circle in whichever way you typically would. For the purposes of this rite I found it useful to call the four Behenian Stars, the four Winds, and the four Rivers, each relating to the cardinal powers, to lend their authority and power to the work in the name of Hekate. Once you’ve entered a state proper to the purpose of sorcery, open by calling unto Hekate to bless your work. I’ve included a short salutation, but please feel free to use whatever you are most comfortable with. Light the red candles and whisper the salutation:

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Hail unto you, Hekate!

Great Void from whence all came, Creatrix and Destroyer of the Cosmos, Sovereign Mistress of Light and Shadow, Ruler of the lives of Men, Dark Chthonic Goddess, who is the Earth and the Underworld, But also the Moon and the Heavens, Ruler of the deaths of Men, Lady of Light who is the Stars and the Planets, But also the Void and the Womb of the Universe, Be present for these rites, Bless these proceedings with your might, Favour me with the blessing of your care: IO HEKATE IO HO

Meditate on the presence and vastness of the Goddess and when ready, begin the conjuration:

Hekate! Sovereign soul of the cosmos, by your presence, power, and potency, I ask that you throw open the gates of Mercury! Those of Jupiter!

For they are closed to me, the realms of their spheres lying beyond;

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I conjure you by your names: Kleidochos, grant me the keys of Jupiter and those of Mercury, let them take this form; (Present your key by holding it with both hands above the workspace.)

Unbolt the locks of their gates, by sleight of hand or brute force; Unlock their potential, their power, and the possibility of their spheres!

Plunge your key within the locks of Mercury and Jupiter!

(Poke the key through the ‘gates’ we have fashioned.)

Propylaia, you, standing before the gates, I ask that you throw them open; Grasp the doors of fate and destiny, and exert all your might; (Rip the ‘gates’ down the middle.)

Let the potency of their spheres pour out and into this temple; Let it soak into the ground upon which we stand, seeping through the cracks of existence; Let it imbibe the fabric of my reality, the very blood within my veins; (Drink some of the offering wine.)

Phosphore, use your torches to guide and direct the potencies of these spheres; As I light these candles, let the potencies of Mercury and Jupiter be drawn forth; (Light both representative candles.)

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May they flock to this temple as sheep, as birds and oxen, riding upon the currents of the Winds and

Rivers; Let them surround me at all times, for I will be their shepherd!

Regardless of time and place, let them reside within the temple of my spirit forever more!

As you recite the conjuration, visualize each event as it is said aloud. It helps to spend some time meditating on the look and feel of the gates you are planning on opening before the ritual itself. You can visualize a literal lock and key, or let your mind take you somewhere more abstract. The goal is simple: a clear understanding of the matter at hand, and a clear intention to break down the doors of what you desire, through force if necessary.

The following addition can be omitted if you simply wish to try to open the gates and guide whatever potency to you, but I highly recommend employing it if you are in dire need.

Hekate Brimo! Horrible one, terrifying three-headed monster, I call upon you!

Stand by and observe, witness the gates of Jupiter and Mercury open, Lest they refuse and face your wrath; Break down their gates!

By force and spite, By mad dog’s bite, By serpent’s cunning, And by owl’s screech!

Let the potencies of Jupiter and Mercury be a feast to you, Let them become a banquet for your consumption; Let them be digested and transformed for our use; 15

(Pierce the ‘gates’ with your knife, and place them within the vessel of water.)

Slice your stomach open and let them spill out into this temple!

(Anoint the crown, eyes, lips, chest, navel, hands, and feet with the water. Pour a small amount onto the head.)

To therefore become a feast of opportunity and possibility; So that I may partake and dine as I please Throughout the ages, throughout the rest of eternity!

(Drink the water in its entirety. You may also opt to eat the ‘gate’, but please make sure you are using non-toxic ink and paper, or a more suitable alternative such as host.)

Never let me starve, lay upon my table the potencies of Jupiter, and those of Mercury!

Let them be digested, let them imbibe my very core; The blood of my veins, the fabric of my flesh.

Accept these offerings of food and wine!

Let them serve as payment for this deed, As a token of my appreciation and friendship!

As you pronounce these last words, replace the vessel of water with your food offerings.

Recite the following hymns, burning frankincense and mastic, or other sweet-smelling incense:

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Orphic Hymn to Jupiter:

O Jupiter much-honored, Jupiter supremely great, to thee our holy rites we consecrate, Our prayers and expiations, king divine, for all things round thy head exalted shine.

The earth is thine, and mountains swelling high, the sea profound, and all within the sky.

Saturnian king, descending from above, magnanimous, commanding, sceptred Jupiter; All-parent, principle and end of all, whose pow’r almighty, shakes this earthly ball; Ev’n Nature trembles at thy mighty nod, loud-sounding, arm’d with light’ning, thund’ring God. Source of abundance, purifying king, O various-form’d from whom all natures spring; Propitious hear my pray’r, give blameless health, with peace divine, and necessary wealth.

Orphic Hymn to Mercury:

Mercury, draw near, and to my pray’r incline, angel of Jupiter, and Maia’s son divine; Studious of contests, ruler of mankind, with heart almighty, and a prudent mind.

Celestial messenger, of various skill, whose powerful arts could watchful Argus kill: With winged feet, ‘tis thine thro’ air to course, O friend of man, and prophet of discourse: Great life-supporter, to rejoice is thine, in arts gymnastic, and in fraud divine: With pow’r endu’d all language to explain, of care the loosener, and the source of gain.

Whose hand contains of blameless peace the rod, Corucian, blessed, profitable God; Of various speech, whose aid in works we find, and in necessities to mortals kind: Dire weapon of the tongue, which men revere, be present, Mercury, and thy suppliant hear; Assist my works, conclude my life with peace, give graceful speech, and my memory’s increase.

Please note that these hymns may be substituted with any chant or invocation appropriate for the powers you are calling for. You may also decide to employ repetition by use of a mantra, or by simply repeating the name of the power you are drawing until its presence fills the room. At this point, the rite is complete, and all that remains is to thank the powers for their presence, Hekate for her part in this work, and the helping spirits which have made themselves present. This approach will draw the powers convoked to you, allowing them to permeate your life from then on, but this is a very general purpose. This is a great way to bring more of something into your life, such as love, money, confidence, or anything of the sort, or it can be used as it was in this ritual to forego, for a time at least, the limitations placed onto particular powers, allowing the practitioner to tap directly into the raw power of the sphere. If you’d like to offer a petition, charge, or task to the powers convoked, it can be done by reciting the following: 17

Hekate! You in all your forms, aid me in my request!

Great Goddess, Cosmic Soul, Sovereign Spirit of all realms!

Grant me this, my prayer and petition:

(State petition and conditions, or present a contract or petition. This is when you can ask for the powers to seat themselves within a vessel or talisman, or to fuel spellwork and other such things.)

With strength and expiation!

By your names I call you again!

Kleidochos, unlock opportunities and possibilities; Let no lock, blocked or crossed condition, or obstacle stand between my desires and I! Propylaia, throw open the gates that are closed to me; Open the doors to opportunity and power!

Phosphore, let your twin torches guide me towards my ends, safely and promptly; Serve as a beacon to those influences and spirits beneficial to my goals!

Brimo, go forth and destroy all that would stand in my way; Whether blockage, obstacle, spirit, ill-intention, enemy, or foe!

Swallow them and let them be digested and putrefied, Transmuted and changed within your stomach; Let them become benefactors, use their force to my advantage!

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Reverse the flow of their fate, slice it apart and reassemble it to serve my purpose!

This done, a large amount of energy and power will be poured into whatever it is you have presented to the powers at hand. Although this ritual may prove very useful for general sorcerous use, such as love and money magic, it can also be used as a means for personal growth and empowerment by breaking down the gates of powers and concepts such as self-confidence, joy, positivity, self-reliance, responsibility, self-control, etc... It can also be used to process darker aspects of our lives, such as trauma, pain, and grievance. That said, this practice, as all magic, is not a replacement for professional help. Please be responsible in your use of magic when working on the mind and body.

This incredibly versatile ritual is a great asset in the tool belt of any Hekatean witch, and I sincerely hope it will come to good use in your hands.

Sincerely, Mahigan You can find me at www.kitchentoad.com!

PHOTO BY POEMSANDMYTHS FOLLOWING PHOTO BY BRIAR

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BOOP / @WITCHCRAFTINGBOOP.

AN EXERCISE IN BALANCE A healthy person - and I mean “healthy” in relation to their Light:Dark / Ego:Root balance - is such that their internal being shines forth rather brightly, pointedly even. Bringing about such a balanced and maintained state though is one many have long sought to translate into clear cut steps and stages, a recipe capable of being followed from one person to the next making it appear as more of a formula than a process. In truth, the best way to portray it is as it is - a process. There is no one and done method, which is a fact that is bound to grate on the nerves of those who feel pursued or chased by the Darkness around them.

The root of a person is best built/maintained when the empty cavity between where their ego and their core reside is brought into balance and allowed to move with the natural out/in-flow of the cosmos around them. This cavity stretches from above the navel to below the sternum. From the neck up is where a person’s ego resides, and at the other end, at the base of their spine, by the coccyx, is where the foundation of their root lies.

To establish a healthy root, one must start with where they naturally give their concentration/consideration to: their ego. > Deep breathing - Enter a state of calm and silent introspection. Be aware of and control your breaths, be present in your own skin, and breathe out towards your forehead. ~ This exercise is best done sitting upright, posture mostly relaxed, with your head and one palm turned towards the sky. > Ego Pathway - For this stage, you’ll want to envision and/or strive to draw your place of focus - your Ego, residing in your head - down to your stomach. ~ Envision (if it helps) the ego as a black or dark gray version of your brain. With each breath out, try to release the restrictions on the ego and let it bleed down your spine, seeping and spreading as though it means to coat or cover all of you up. It should spread along your lungs and ribs. > Root Pathway - For this stage, you’ll want to envision or draw the flame of your self - your Root - in vibrant shades, i.e. golds and yellows, and allow it to rise like a tidal wave towards your descending Ego. ~ With each breath in, let the swells of the root grow and grow, white-edged crests falling and overlapping as it will. > Ego - Root Pathway- Instead of letting one dominate or corrode away the other, this stage is about blending and mixing the two into one harmonious solution. ~ It is helpful to view the two as swirling together, at first as their two separate colors, and then fuzing together to form a radiant flame, a kindling that starts at their combined center and spreads towards either end of your spine.

This final form, a ladder of flame traversing up and down the spine, is that of a healthy and balanced person’s Root.

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Photo by ivy

MOTH / @EMPYREALMOTH

HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND DO NECROMANCY: or, Spirit Contact for Spiritual Bricks

I. II. III. IV. V.

Introduction A Prayer An Offering An Experience Final Thoughts

A votive offering to a God who investigates knowledge and truth, a God of searches and those who seek, a God-herald who amplifies voices and carries messages between worlds, and a God of divine tricks whose caduceus wakes the dead.

Praise be on Hermanubis.

I.

Introduction

There is no reason I should have been drawn to Hermanubis.

Jackal-headed, caduceus-bearing, heart-weighing, soul-guiding Hermanubis. APHEROU, Way-Opener. A syncretic spirit who was worshipped during the Greek domination of Egypt, Hermanubis incorporates Hermes’ and Anubis’ natures from the point of their shared psychopompic identity into something greater than the twain.

My first introduction to Him was via Gordon White’s Chaos Protocols, a book by an occultist I find—to be blunt— insufferable.

I’m an astrological magician for the most part, venerating Jupiter and working pentacles and invoking Mars over my workouts. If anything, I should be looking to Mercury vanilla for this sort of thing.

And yet.

I love materia, but on the boat I currently live on, it’s actually fairly hard to make much myself: I have limited space for supplies. So I shop a lot. One of my faves, working within a heavily astrological paradigm, is Kaitlin Coppock’s astromagical emporium of delights, Sphere+Sundry. And wouldn’t you know, they’ve done one whole series for Hermanubis—and just released another. The release was announced late in September 2020.

I said to myself: “I don’t need that. I’ll just do something with my ancestors on Halloween without an intercession. I’ll sit out.”

Whatever I dreamed three days before release changed that. Do I know what that was? Absolutely not. It’s a vision sadly lost to me. But I woke up on October first knowing, in my gut: I needed to work this, with this god, with this aid.

Divination cast the outcome of ancestry work on its own as the 3 & 7 of Cups: empty pleasantries, directionless, friendship without depth, self-deception.

Meanwhile, with Hermanubis’ intercession, it would become the Chariot, aided by the King of Cups: true authority,

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power, and direction, bolstered by Hermanubis’ genius—the King of Cups parsing out gifts in the proper time, as Mercurial courier, and uplifting and holding accountable the dead of my line with his healing genius. (As a white girl with a lot of racist Southern “Robert E. Lee [last name]s” behind her, this was important.)

Sounds good, to a power-hungry, results-obsessed little minx like me! So I bought the materia, and I returned— reluctantly—to White’s book for approximately five minutes, and I meditated with the information and Kaitlin’s write-up of the series and astrology itself.

And I got signs, my favorite of which I’m comfortable sharing: after I prayed for guidance, and left an offering of springwater and Hermanubis’ oil on the altar overnight, the oil sank to the bottom of the cup and formed the Little Dipper.

“The constellation that [Polaris] appears in is known to English speakers today as Ursa Minor, or the Little Dipper, but the Ancient Greeks called it Kynosoura, a term that comes from a phrase meaning “dog’s tail.”

Kynosoura passed into Latin and Middle French, becoming cynosure. When English speakers adopted the term in the mid-16th century, they used it as a name for the constellation and the star (which is also known as the North Star) and also to identify a guide of any kind.” (Merriam-Webster) It’s a pun. It’s a dog/cynoceph pun. In ancient Greek. Very Mercurial—and more confirmation to me than the message itself that this was a relationship I wanted to cultivate. (And now that I write this it occurs to me, a pun by sinking: a descent to the Underworld…) I haven’t heard a single thing, an oft-touted gift within the community, and yet, how loud the voice!

Ultimately, that’s why I’m writing this article for UNCVLTVRED: for other brick-skulled practitioners like me, those who haven’t yet found their ways of relating to or hearing the spirits they seek.

It’s for those where I was, skeptic-censored, struggling to believe they could have experiences like more sensitive colleagues describe. It’s a promise that you don’t need years and years of “psychic development”. It’s for those too busy looking for a patron to dial one up themselves.

We say “fuck around and find out” a lot about magic. This is me, fucking around and finding out, and coming back to show you what one process and outcome can look like. It starts as simply as a prayer and an offering. What it becomes is more than the sum.

II. A Prayer For Hermanubis, since the Hermes-aspects were so potently and immediately clear, for now I use an adaptation of the Orphic Hymn to Hermes Chthonius. As a prayer, this works better for me than the Anubis-centric invocation given in Chaos Protocols; perhaps it is my personal connection to the god’s Mercurial aspects, perhaps it is the deeper resonance of the Orphic hymns’ style with me; perhaps it’s just my distaste for White’s butchery of the PGM material he cites. There are as many reasons for a prayer to create a clearer, deeper channel of connection for someone as there are individual petitioners.

Between the two gods, however, Hermanubis’ potential titles are many and potent, and offer a great deal of prayer-writing interest: “Master of Secrets”, “He Who Is Upon His Mountain” (referring to his guarding of tombs; a protective epithet), “Guardian of the Scales” (referring to the scales of the heart; a justice epithet), Dolios (Tricky), Hermeneutes (Translator/ Interpreter), Charidotes (Giver of Joy), Oneiropompos (Conductor of Dreams)…

For now, the adapted hymn is an excellent general call to open a ritual with, a prayer I sing thrice times three on a string of bones. A starting place, a hymn of praise, a recitation of a core identity.

Hermanubis I call, whom Fate decrees to dwell in the dire path which leads to deepest hell, O APHEROU, Way-Opener, who constant wand’rest with caduceus wand thro’ the sacred feats where hell’s dread empress, Persephone, retreats; To wretched souls the leader of the way when Fate decrees, to regions void of day:

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Thine is the keeping of secrets, starry Pharaoh of Amenti, thine, Chief of Cynopolis, is the opening of the eye swung wide, thine is the crossroad, the gate, the veil, For Persephone thro’ Tart’rus dark and wide gave thee forever flowing souls to guide; to the shore of the star-thick river, and its hidden well.

Come, blessed pow’r, this ritual attend; Receive my offerings and praise, grant this mystic work a happy end.

III.

An Offering

There’s one useful point I’ve taken from Chaos Protocols that hasn’t been supplanted by better information elsewhere: the notion of aquavit as a good offering for Hermanubis.

“The water of life”, for a psychopomp who negotiates the boundaries between the living and the dead. It’s symbolically appropriate! And when I looked it up, many of the herbs traditionally used are incredibly potent for a Greek-Egyptian psychopomp, priest, and embalmer.

Although spring water and light are a lovely standard offering for ordinary days, I wanted to create something special in payment for larger rituals. So I drafted a blend and created it, and waited until after offering to divine about its reception— because it was something homemade, and needed trying before judgment. This is one approach; divining about most offerings isn’t harmful, but there’s a lot to be said for simply doing and evaluating without running to the cards or geomancy sticks every time.

So: aquavit for Hermanubis. All herbs were added to a small sample-size bottle of vodka and left to infuse for the month of October, strained out a few days beforehand.

• Several pinches of cumin. Warming and endowed by folklore with the power to fix things in place, “cumin has a long history, referring almost 5000 years back to the ancient Egyptian civilization, where it was used both as a spice and a preservative in mummification.” Matthew 23:23 also mentions cumin, dill, and mint as tithes to the Pharisee priesthood. An appropriate gift for the priest of embalming.

• Fennel seeds. A Mercurial herb, feathery like the wings of the caduceus, considered beneficial to eyesight and memory; suitable for the psychic eyes and to the art of remembrance. Used to keep away/bar ghosts, conferring mastery of the dead. According to the Theogony, Prometheus’ stolen fire was carried in a fennel stalk. It also treats the bites of mad dogs—appropriate for the connection of Anubis to the dog star Sirius, and to the suffering “dog days” of illness and plague.

• Dill. Another tithe to the priest, this time a Mercurial herb thought to strengthen and calm the mind at once. An antibacterial spice, protecting from bone degradation (obligatory skeleton war joke here). A tithe for serenity, calm, and protection.

• Poppy seeds. Lunar in nature, the quintessential sedative, symbolic of remembrance and forgetting—both spheres of the dead. The reader will remember Lethe, and the remembrance poppies of war. Associated with the Underworld, rebirth, & regeneration in ancient Egypt.

This recipe is warming and calming, fragrant, a rich golden color, Mercurial while emphasizing the power to calm/herd the dead. It’s excellent for paying a tithe to Hermanubis for his services, and when divined upon after offering, received an emphatic “Yes!”. (This is in addition to him performing my requests excellently and fluidly after receiving it. Not every omen is obvious.)

IV.

An Experience

After two weeks of regular offerings to Hermanubis, prayers & messages on both sides, Halloween 2020 hit with that profound earthy blue-moon energy. Here’s a write-up, straight from my notes…

“Feast with my ancestral line. Hermanubis-facilitated.

Set out an altar with magnolia blossoms and bougainvillea (since I don’t know more about my ancestors than the Southern connection), wine and bread, a poison chocolate for me and aquavit for Hermanubis.

Opened with the Headless Rite to claim personal authority over the space. Each step interspersed with time to settle into

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the previous action.

Recited his hymn 7x, progressively anointing his statue from feet up + pouring his aquavit with each call. Asked him to bring in the well-intentioned, honorable dead of my line; to distribute my gifts wisely and generously; and keep out the uninvited and hostile.

It’s really handy to have a psychopomp around when you don’t...know...any of your ancestors. (Between genuine estrangement, cultural whitebreading, and a general asociality that runs in all of us...) But when I called on my foremothers’ line, I felt their presence in my whole body: love, sorrow, joy. I nearly cried with tears that weren’t mine. And my forefathers felt initially aloof, closed off, distant, but I could feel that melting as I called them, and as I spoke about finding ways to make amends for their racism…there was an opening, the same physical surrender I feel when confessing my own sins and failures.

When I called the chosen dead—other writers, other queer souls—and to the lonely souls who had no place to go, there was an initial moment of shyness, but then they were welcomed in, I felt, primarily by my foremothers. Hugs, passing plates and glasses. Making space. The labor of women, to accommodate guests. It was the same bodily-flesh feeling as a dinner party with the living: the same sense of bodies around me, the sense of quiet conversation, eyes, being watched, shifting over to make room—but with a sense of love and presence and warmth that very few living dinner parties I’ve held can match. What the mind cannot perceive, the body can.”

It was powerful. One of the most fulfilling, dramatic experiences I’ve had magically. I’d been hesitating for a while due to not knowing anyone, due to not being sure I’d know when they arrived as mentioned, but none of that held true once I sat down and made the call. Hermanubis and I hadn’t been working together long, but his aid was invaluable and fluent regardless. He brought us together; he clarified contact; he opened the way, because I asked with respect and praise.

V.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be the first to say I’m an amateur at magic, in general. Only a year or so of solid practice lies under my belt, with far, far too much tea-magic in my past—I’ve got little sense for ritual, didn’t know how it should look, what I should do, what I should give.

I expected silence. Going through the motions. That I would do something wrong and the whole thing would fall apart.

That I wouldn’t be enough, that I’d be lacking, that the spirits would not hear my call and I’d be eating empty bread alone.

(This is in spite, by the way, of having petitions granted and other littler spells work just fine. Imposter syndrome is a funny thing.)

But I did it anyway—and got so much more than I hoped. The sense of someone else’s feelings and actions and words in my own flesh is still baffling and strange, but it’s also very real. And now I’m yearning to fall deeper and learn more.

Further necromancy is called for.

And I’ll be traveling this dark and starry road with a most wonderful ally at my side. Praise be to Hermanubis!

Bibliography “Anubis.” Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anubis “Cumin, Fennel, and Fenugreek.” Soils, Plant Growth and Crop Production. E. V. Divakara Sastry and Muthuswamy Anandaraj “Cumin.” Alchemy Works. https://www.alchemy-works.com/cuminum_cyminum.html.

“Cynosure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cynosure.

“Dill.” Alchemy Works. https://www.alchemy-works.com/anethum_graveolens.html “Fennel.” Alchemy Works. https://www.alchemy-works.com/herb_fennel.html.

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“Hermanubis II.” Sphere+Sundry, Kaitlin Coppock. https://sphereandsundry.com/product-category/series/hermanu-

photo by moth

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MAYWEATHER / @MAYWEATHERSCUNNING.

A PRAYER TO ILARGI AMANDRE FOR THE DEAD

Ilargi Amandre is the spirit of the moon, venerated in the Pyrenees. She is related to a myth of Basque cosmology explaining that, while her sister rules the sky, humans may walk and work in the world. However, while the moon glows, sorginak rise in power and the dead return to revisit their descendants. During the winter festivals, which span from All Saints into the Christmas season, it is believed the Dead rise to power with the longer nights.

This prayer is meant to be spoken on a rosary ring, which will often feature 10 beads. The mysteries written here are in groups of three and four, and serve purposes of invoking, venerating, and dismissing. As Ilargi Amandre plays the role of psychopomp and diviner, this is a tool of necromancy and communing with one’s ancestors.

The Mystery of the Waxing Moon is for calling the Beloved Dead forward, The Mystery of the Full Moon honors the Dead and entreats Ilargi Amandre’s protection, The Mystery of the Waning Moon sends the Beloved Dead away, and should be said before sunrise.

The Mystery of The Waxing Moon

Ilargi Amandre, what news do you bring from Heaven? ***

Grandmother, pray for our Beloved Dead. We entreat them to your care, embalm their spirits with your love. Blessed Moon, unbury them from funeral mounds and cast open the church yard gates. In company with their ancestors, and their ancestors before them, guide them towards this flicker in the darkness. ***

May our loved ones be full of your light, Ilargi Amandre. May they feel you as the living feel the Sun. May you warm them, and tend them, oh loving and Holy Moon. May they dance on roads dressed in hyssop and lavender, winding towards home.

The Mystery of The Full Moon

She who lays on the tomb’s steps, mourner and mistress, so now do we honor your spirit. A queen cast in gossamer, the bright face of God. Keeper of the keys to the gates of Heaven. From your prayers, rivers of milk flow. From your prayers, our Beloved Dead find their way in God and Ama Mari’s good graces. ***

May our Dead be seated in their homes; may you guide them through the darkness with the bearing of your torch. Holy Moon, protect them as we are protected by the sun. Ensure they fall prey to no wickedness or harm. May they know your love intimately and wholly, as they were loved by us and as they are loved by God. ***

May we never steal or lie under your light. Bone to skin and marrow to mind, may we stay in the ordinances of Ama Mari on these holy nights. May as we tell truth, and speak plainly, you too appear before us and speak with plain truth. *** Holy and Blessed Moon, whose light consumes us with heavenly knowledge, we hail you. Eldest daughter of the Earth, keeper of our Beloved Dead, hail and hear the prayers of the living so that you may take them to our dead.

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The Mystery of the Waning Moon

As you once again return to your mother, so too do Doves know your rest. Stars dim under the gilding gold of your sisters first stirrings, and the candles begin to take their last breaths. Grandmother, we kiss your hands, your feet, your brow. We exalt you as you take your last steps in the graveyard. ***

We kiss our ancestor’s hands, their feet, their brows. A kiss of apple, a kiss of wine. Our cups are overflowing with their blessings as the baserri’s lights flicker out. Grandmother, lay all to rest once more. May you, with your entreating care, guide each soul back to the churchyard and each soul back to the mound. ***

Do you enter Heaven through a Cave?

Photo by Mayweather

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PhotoS by Mayweather

Photo by ROSE c.

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photo bY ROSE C.

photo by prism

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ROSE C.

TO CONSUME THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT December 24th, within the popular consciousness, is acknowledged almost exclusively as Christmas Eve. However, to devout Catholics and certain flavors of occultists, it is also the feast day of Adam and Eve. The impact their story has maintained over the millenia cannot be understated, for their fabled choices have laid the framework for countless theological, moral, and legal philosophies. December 24th isn’t merely a day to celebrate the impending birth of Jesus, it is also a night to devote to the first mother, the first sinner, the first heretic, Eve.

She is among the most reviled and underappreciated figures in both Christian and occult circles. For Christians, she is counted in esteem alongside Judas Iscariot, for it is she that brought woe to humanity in her disobedience, and she is the reason for the existence of Original Sin. Many occultists see her as being too submissive, too aligned with God, and choose instead to venerate Lilith, whom they view to be more subversive.

Take a moment to imagine, if you would, the cross that Eve was to bear. She was cast from her home as a result of the pursuit of knowledge, exiled and cursed to endure pain, injury, illness, and death as punishment for her crime. She would go on to bear children, the first two of which were taken from her by murder and exile.

There is no greater pain for a mother than to lose a child. She was the first to gain, and the first to lose. She is the chiefest ancestor and arguably, the one that most thoroughly defines what it is to be, and to experience, the full spectrum of humanity. This is why I honor her.

We begin with the preparations: candles, an icon of Eve, an offering of fruit and wine, holy incense (frankincense, myrrh, copal, or a combination thereof), and Seeing Oil with which to anoint a second fruit for yourself. Light your candles and your incense, placing the offerings before the icon of Eve. Recite the following prayers: Litany to Eve She who was born of bone and given the breath of God, hear my prayer.

She who was the first wife, companion to Adam, hear my prayer.

She the serpent-beguiled, hear my prayer.

She who tasted the forbidden fruit upon her lips, hear my prayer.

She the most knowledgeable, who first learned of Good and Evil, hear my prayer.

She the kindly corruptor, who shared her sin out of love, hear my prayer.

She the first heretic, who freely and willingly disobeyed the Almighty, hear my prayer.

Mother, consort of Lucifer, who bore the first Son and murderer, hear my prayer.

Mother who gave her blood and tears to birth humanity, hear my prayer.

Mother who lost her children, the first to know the pain of death and grief, hear my prayer.

Mother most Holy and Reviled, chiefest ancestor, hear my prayer.

Praise be to you, Eve, from the heights of Heaven to the depths of Hell.

Praise be to the everlasting stain of your sins, for in it we know Free Will.

Grant that I may walk in your footsteps, Amen.

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Ave Eve Hail Eve, Full of grace, The Lord forgave thee Cursed were you among women But blessed are your heart and the fruits of Eden.

Holy Eve, Mother of Man, Pray for our souls Now and beyond death, Amen.

When these have been said, anoint your fruit in Seeing Oil and say: Holy Mother, at the serpent’s behest you gladly and willingly ate of the Forbidden Fruit. You bore the consequences of gnosis, and so too will I. Share with me your visions and again commit your generous sin.

Amen.

Mindfully consume the fruit, and sit in repose. Allow yourself to experience the visions as you will. When you feel the time is right, close the ritual in your usual way.

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JBIRD / @JBIRDTHEMANWICH.

THINGS SEEN IN THE DIRT: SOIL-SCRYING IN APPALACHIA Well. We don’t really call it scrying, usually. Usually it’s called “looking” or “reading”, “seeing” or “witching”. But a little-known fact about practitioners out of Appalachia is - It’s a dirt poor area. You won’t find a lot of classical magicians with schewstones of polished gold or semi-precious stones in the region. Nor will you likely find, unless they’re very young,too many Appalachian-trained witches that put a lot of stock in items and materials, beyond absolute basics and things they can find easily. Which brings me to the point of this article The practice of reading dirt. Some practitioners keep a jar of dirt set aside for the purpose. Others feel it’s better to sleep on the question, wake up early, and let instinct lead you to good soil. Either way, the end process is fairly simple: Dig up a clump of dirt. Put it in a bowl or a tray, and break it up enough that it’s loose enough to plant in. Dirt scrying is unique in that it doesn’t require the careful preparation of other scrying methods - The dirt can be touched by the sun, doesn’t have to be consecrated, and generally scrying through it is done on a sunny porch or in a quiet room. This method is also great for necromantic divination, as grave dirt is fair game and can be especially helpful, depending on the dead person in question.

So how do you do it? It’s a lot like tea-leaf reading, honestly, and it’s said, like many “magical” things in Appalachia, that “either you have it or you don’t.”

The long and short of it is: Get a bowl of dirt, take off your shoes, and sit comfortably. Stare into the dirt like a crazy person. Relax your vision and eventually, your vision will cloud and gray-over, so that all you really see is the bowl of dirt in front of you. At this point, you can have a sitter ask you questions, or have one in mind. Sometimes, in this state, the answers are extremely straightforward and arise to the forefront of consciousness effortlessly. Other times, it really is more like tea-leaf reading.

There are numerous methods of establishing the importance of symbols perceived, and that’s a bit out of the scope of this article, as it’ll vary depending on the practitioner. But for establishing landmarks of timing, scry in the dirt until you find a symbol that seems to represent the situation. Once a symbol is found that serves as a significator, symbols on the right or left can indicate happenings or influences on the situation. Symbols closer to the significator are having more impact in the present, while symbols farther off are generally foundations or things occuring in tandem. The closer the symbols, the more tightly intertwined.

If you prefer an even more tea-leaf-like dirt scrying experience, use a mug with a handle, or get a bowl, and place a mark on its rim. The mark, or alternatively the handle, can be seen to represent the “now”. Things on the left of the mark are the past, and their distance from it indicates just how past. Same with the future, on the right of the mark.

Things on the right or left to the extreme opposite of the mark can indicate things too far off in the past or future to worry much about, but can give pretty solid indications, through symbolism, of the situation’s evolution and why it turned out as it did. Particularly, the way I read, symbols of animals are of prime importance - Animals think and react, so their appearance as symbols can indicate moments where choices can be made, as well as the default choice that is likely to be made (i.e. a mouse suggests an opportunity will be missed from shyness, without intervention; or that the querent may need to prioritize, as where mice generally eat whatever is available, humans have preferences). Symbols of plants can indicate “medicines” for the situation, i.e. things that can be done to remediate. Finally,humanoid shapes can indicate people in your life or even spirits.

Dirt reading is an obscure art, and it’s very hard to teach - your best bet is to practice, and allow experience and intuition to do the teaching. When mastered, however, it is a supremely useful skill to have in one’s arsenal - you can tell a lot about a man by digging up his footprint, after all.

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photo by haunt

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WREN / @BLACKTHORNWREN.

FOR THE LOVE OF LIBATION We’re coming up on that time of year when the snow blankets my little corner of the world in stark contrasts of black and white, when the bone mother walks silently through these deadened woods and the devil holds the guiding flame in the unforgiving dark.

What better way to pay homage to these liminal beings of winter’s darkness and death than to honor them with something to warm the spirits?

A handcrafted drink is special, it’s heartfelt. An offering made by hand shows time, effort, and thought invested in the spirits that are being venerated. Handmade libations are different, they are specialty offerings that can be set aside for certain occasions or as payment for a larger working.

So that is the why, but it can be overwhelming when you start looking at the how of crafting your own beverages. Do you start with mead, beer, wine? To answer that, I present this simple offering - what follows is a small primer on the basics of creating your own alcoholic infusions.

Basic Materials: Sealable glass jars or containers - I highly recommend starting off with quart or pint sized canning jars with a wide mouth. You will want a larger opening at the mouth of the jar especially if you are using fruit in your infusions.

Cheesecloth - This will be used for straining out the maceration after your beverage has finished infusing. You can use a strainer, I do when making fruit sodas, but I recommend cheesecloth for now because it does a wonderful job of filtering out seeds and small bits of plant materia that may sift into your finished product.

Please keep in mind that you may need to strain your infusion more than once and keep a few wide sheets of cheesecloth on hand that can easily fit over the mouth of the jar with excess slack to spare.

Alcohol - For this article I will be discussing brandy and vodka infusions. You will want to select an alcohol with a high proof. There is absolutely no need to choose a very high quality, expensive alcohol for this. It’s going to come down to location and availability, but personally I use Amsterdam Vodka and Paul Masson Brandy.

Funnel - You will need a decent sized funnel, one that will rest comfortable around the mouth of the jar for transferring the liquids from one container to the next during your final stages.

Paring Knife - Really any kind of kitchen knife that you are familiar with will get the job done. You may need it to remove skins, stems, seeds, pits, or slice into fruit. I often switch between paring knife and steak knife, because I’m fancy like that.

Measuring Cups and Spoons - this will be talked about further, however it’s good to keep 1/4, 1/2, 1/8 cups on hand, and tablespoons in the same measurements.

Below is a step by step guide to walk you through crafting your infusion. However - first things first, when creating alcoholic infusions they are commonly referred to as elixirs and cordials. The difference between the two is that elixirs are made using dried plant materials whereas cordials are made by using fresh plant material.

I. Basic Information The basic method for crafting an infusion (elixir or cordial) takes anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks. This all depends 38

mainly on what materials are being used and how strong the beverage needs to be.

It is important to note here that dried herbs should be ground, fresh herbs should be chopped, and fresh fruit should be chopped into small pieces.

Begin by placing the herbs in your jar. For fresh materials, you will want to fill the jar 3/4 of the way full.

For dried material, only fill the jar 1/4 to 1/2 of the way full.

The reasoning behind this is because dried material tends to create much stronger flavors. The general practice is that 1/4 of the jar should be filled when using dried roots, barks and berries; 1/2 filled when using dried flowers and leaves. This is because roots, barks, and berries tend to have even stronger flavors than dried flowers and leaves.

II. Alcohols Brandy is best used for spicy and strong flavors - if you’re planning on using cinnamon, ginger, clove, darker berries, this will be the alcohol you want to use. Vodka is a catch all liquor that works for everything because it’s unscented, unflavored; it is neutral. If you choose to use tequila, you will want to use silver, blanco, or white tequila. Additionally, you may choose to create your infusion with pure grain alcohol.

Make sure that the alcohol covers the ingredients in the jar by at least two inches. You will want to check on this after the first day as fruits and herbs can soak up the alcohol and bring the jar level down, uncovering your plant material.

The rule of thumb for creating shelf stable elixirs and cordials is that 20% of the total volume must be alcohol.

The alcohol must be at least 40% alcohol by volume.

III. Maceration Maceration is the term used to describe the process of soaking the materials in the alcohol, thereby creating the infusion.

Once you have added your materials to the jar and covered the contents with alcohol, you will want to cap your jar and put a label on it with the name and date that it began.

Make sure to store the jar in a cool, dark place for 2 to 6 weeks. The amount of time that you store the maceration determines the level of complexity of the flavors. You will want to shake the jar consistently during the time that you are storing it - I typically do two or three times per day.

Also, make sure that you continue to check on your alcohol level - you do not want any of the materials in the jar to be uncovered by the alcohol. You may even need to top off the jar with more alcohol after the first few days.

IV. Decanting To decant is to pour your maceration from one container to another slowly and gradually while trying not to disturb the sediment. Keep in mind that you may need to do this a few times to remove all of the silt left over from the plant materials.

Once you have determined that your jar is ready to decant, you will select a new container, properly clean it, and place a funnel in the mouth of the new jar. Uncap your maceration and place the cheesecloth over the mouth of the jar.

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Photo by Moth 40

Holding or securing the cloth in place, begin to slowly pour the liquid into the new container. This is a slow process, do not rush it or you will end up with sediment, seeds, and even sticks in your new jar. It does not make for a fun drink.

If you are using dried plant material, very carefully squeeze out the excess liquid from the cheesecloth. If you are using fresh material, squeezing the bag is not recommended for the reasons listed above.

V. Sweetening Adding sweeteners to your infusion can be done in the initial process of macerating or afterwards, it depends on preference.

Sugars, honeys, syrups, molasses, artificial sweeteners, and jams are all acceptable options.

For 1 quart jars, use 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sweetener, adding a little at a time. For pint size, use 1/8 to 1/4 cup of sweetener.

VI. Aging Aging is basically storing your decant for a set period of time. While not necessary, if you find that your mixture is too strong, too harsh or sharply flavored, aging the infusion can settle down those flavors over time and make your beverage more palatable.

During this time, you can add fruits, spices, herbs or other flavors to the infusion. Cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans are a great inclusion during the aging process to add spice or warmth to the decant. However, as these are both very strong in nature, I recommend only leaving them in your jar for 1 week to start with. Taste test the alcohol after the first week and determine if you need them to infuse longer.

Following the method above, you can now craft your own infusions. As discussed previously, brandy is great to work with when creating spicy or dark flavored libations - these make for wonderful offerings during the darker half of the year.

Below are a few of my favorite combinations: Elderberry Elixir: Steep 4-6 Weeks Elderberries, fresh or dried - Remember the measurement rule with this as dried elderberry creates a very strong flavor. Raw Honey Brown Sugar A chunk of ginger root (I would recommend no larger than the size of a quarter, ginger can be very strong) Pear Apple Brandy: Steep 6 weeks Pears, slightly overripened Apples (I use Gala) Brown Sugar Ginger Root (see above) This can also be aged with a stick of cinnamon for added heat Chocolate Cherry:

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Cacao Nibs Cherry Bark **Add the cacao nibs and cherry bark in equal parts, but remember to keep the jar no more than 1/2 of the way filled as these materials will be considered dried material. Wildflower Honey, to taste Spicy Spruce: If you have local spruce trees, this recipe is meant to be made in spring when they are just growing new tips.

You’ll be able to spot new spruce tips as they will be a lighter green and soft/springy.

Fresh Spruce Tips, cut for added flavor (3/4 of the jar should be filled) Wildflower Honey **After you have decanted this maceration, add one cinnamon stick to the jar for 1 to 2 weeks.

For fruit infused vodka, I use a quart sized jar or larger because it’s much harder to spoil the mix than when working with roots and other strongly flavored herbs. However, the more you plan on making, the more you have to factor in the amount of fruit and alcohol you will need to steep the infusion.

When your container is ready, you will need to prepare the fruit you are planning to infuse. Besides rinsing or washing, this can mean cutting off stems and leaves, removing seeds or pits, or just slicing the fruit a bit to make sure you get the full effect of flavor.

Strawberries - Remove stems and leaves from the top and slice. I usually get about four or five slices per strawberry.

Blueberries - I take a small paring knife and cut an incision into the middle of the berry for more flavor.

Apples - Remove the stem and core the fruit. Apple flavoring is subtle, you will either want to cut up the apple pieces small so that you can add more or mash them. I typically cut them quite small and leave the skin on the fruit.

Blackberries/Raspberries - Not much preparation is needed for these fruits, they’re very easy to work with. I look them over carefully to make sure they’re in good condition before adding them into the container.

Cherries - I tend to buy pitted cherries simply because they come in a larger quantity. Use a paring knife to slice a circle around the outside and split the cherry in half, removing the pit. You can save the pits for magical workings, if that’s your thing. I know I do.

These are the basic fruits I work with for vodka infusions based on what is available to me locally but you are welcome to work with anything you have on hand, there’s a lot of room for experimentation here.

Fill the jar with the prepared fruits about 80% of the way and pour the vodka in over top. Seal the jar tightly and shake well. You will want to shake the jar at least two to three times daily for two weeks. Fruit infusions like this are typically finished after two weeks of shaking, at which time you would uncap the jar and strain out the liquor with cheesecloth as usual.

At this point, once the liquor has been switched over to a fresh jar or container, you can now decide to double infuse the mixture with a second fruit for another two weeks. This makes for great flavor combinations like strawberry and raspberry, and so on.

During this time you can choose to sweeten the maceration or wait until after the first decant to do so, or add any spices you prefer. Next you will complete the cycle as you did before and enjoy your cordial.

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After some time, infusions become something of an art in practice. It takes time to familiarize yourself with fruit and herbs and learn what will mix well together and what will have you running for the toilet. If you share offerings with your spirits or gods, you will definitely want something you can stomach.

I first began experimenting with alcoholic infusions in pint and quart sized mason/canning jars and I’m still using them to this day. I would strongly recommend starting out small for anyone just beginning this. This way, a large bottle of brandy or vodka can be split out and used for many experiments, saving on cost. You can run the jars all at once, instead of waiting for one to finish and then beginning a new infusion but be sure to label and date them!

In addition to libations/offerings, brandy is excellent for making medicinal tinctures. Elderberry infused into brandy makes for a great immune system support during the cold and flu seasons. California poppies can be infused to make a tincture taken before bedtime to assist with sleep. If valerian works for you, you can infuse that too - though keep in mind that it may not taste very pleasant without a lot of sweetener added in! Herbal infusions for vodka are also excellent, one of my favorites is a blend of dried mint and cacao nibs (or chocolate mint).

And of course, there are also the witching herbs to assist with trance, divination, etc. Again, many of these herbs do not taste great on their own - it’s a good idea to supplement it with fruits, honeys, syrups, sugars, or spices. If you incorporate any psychoactive plants into your infusion, I recommend starting off in extremely small dosages and keeping proper documentation of how it affected you as you experiment.

In closing, good luck and happy homebrewing!

photo by jasmine

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BRIAR / @THERAINSHALLMAKEADOOR.

TAMING FIRE “The Flame of the Forge is the Lair of the Snake, It remembers the Gods that some men forsake.

“Fire, Walk With Me.

[2]

[1] ”

”

It is said the oldest fairy-tale preserved is the one of the Smith and the Devil, dating back hundreds of years and showing just as many faces and retellings across different cultures. Despite local variance, the story always revolves somewhat around a Faustian pact of sorts, wherein a Smith strikes a bargain with the Devil to gain the power to wield any material, and ends up using his newly gained metalworking and smelting abilities to outwit him, thus reneging on the contract. But the multiple versions of the myth[3]retain a plasticity which, aside from conveniently fitting appropriate values, is in itself relevant to the deeper occult patterns expressed in the lore at stake here. The language of fairy-tales is a fiery thing, words mutating and mating, sending tendrils into the imagination of the beholder and sinking deep into our subconscious to impregnate it. To magical practitioners, the symbols do tend to become rather literal indeed.

In occult circles, the figure of the blacksmith occupies, quite rightfully so, a fascinating crossroads where myth, symbol and significance interact, intersect and intertwine. The mighty Forge where raw power is birthed in furnace, refined on the Anvil, and distilled in weapons and knives, this alliance of iron and fire, quenched by cold water, naturally echoes an almost alchemical transmutation of the practitioner going through blazing trials, and “charring soul from flesh and flesh from bone”, which seems to be the common ordeal in so-called spiritual initiations or “Deaths” - where one gives up everything they are for everything they could become. This iconography brings to mind a rich, vivid set of images bearing immense resonance: the red-hot iron “Mark of Cain” branded on the Witch’s brow; the concept of Higher Inspiration as “Fire-in-Water”; the “Lanthorn of the Dragon’s Flame[4]” (the “Devil’s candle in the dark[5]” burning betwixt the horns of the Witch Father and allegedly said to light the “Witch-Fire”); Mars in Scorpio – arguably a blacksmith’s placement - holding its claws like metal tongs and burrowing its sting deep into the ground (immunity of poison through creation and cultivation of poison); the Red Serpent-Power of the Land; or yet again the divine Star-Fire of Gods, Angels and Grigori. From Tubelo to Brighid of the Hammer, from Azazel to Archangel Michael and the demons slayed under his flaming sword, from the pyres of Hell to the blinding rays of the Sun, Solar and Martial beings alike abound and respond to the divine call of the Forge’s Fire within Western occultism, singling out the blacksmith as doing, to some extent, the Devil’s work still[6]. Exactly who the Devil is is a question for endless consideration, but what 44 that Work, that Forge, and that Anvil might be, however, is a Mystery that has to be determined by the Aspirant.

Such traditions as the Clan of Tubal-Cain or, largely, the Cultus Sabbati, may hold some of the answers… but so do quieter folk lineages. __ Fire in the Head, Fire in the Heart, Fire in the Hands “Taming Fire” is a pamphlet humbly contributing to this first issue of UnCVLTured in hope of shedding some light on an important topic paradoxically oftentimes overlooked in magical communities. It concerns itself with the subject matter of the manipulation of occult “Fire” as a performative metaphor for the Witch or Magician’s Power, broadly questioning its provenance, uses, cultivation and employment. The place I come from is one of a Witch myself, Cunning Woman and Fairy Doctor--the latter, it is to be expected, seemingly counterintuitive with regard to all the fairy lore emphasizing the hatred of the Gentry for transformed / processed metals in general, and iron in particular. As a mark of civilization, indeed, blacksmithing raises a particular cosmology in which the powers of the spheres of Mars, Blood and Iron, dominate the mind of Men to the understandable dislike of the People Under The Hill, still dwelling in wild, « untamed » places – Themselves, it should be acknowledged, skilled craftspeople, if in entirely different domains of expertise.

The shift in perception concerning the nature of Fire itself as an element being both sacred and profane, purifying and defiling, comes from a complicated set of representations encompassing both Pagan and Christian perspectives. Once holy because it procured light and warmth against the horrors of the night and the winter season, allowing nomad settlements to sedentarize in the first simulacrum of society, then invited inside the hearth to cook for the household, turning a house into a home, carefully smoored under the ashes and re-kindled at quarter days, Fire came to be vilified under Christian law in profit of Light itself (as a more abstract but elevating concept), now cognated to the infernal mouths of demons below Earth – yet still retaining some of its transformative properties.

Likewise, blacksmiths held a specifically liminal status in society, and the « folk-ore » surrounding the smithing profession teaches us valuable lessons regarding this vital figure who seems indeed to have been bestowed with magical powers, thus acquiring authority over matters of life and death, and igniting phantasms not unlike those associated with midwifery – both professions granted occult implications, both ever present where the taboo lies, both feared, revered, and condemned for their closeness with vulnerable states of existence. According to the aforementioned fairy-tale of old, the blacksmith’s ability to « tame fire » and refine the ore into workable tools was suspicious at the best of times, and only his vital role in society protected him from the violence of his peers. Thus the blacksmith often was a marginal figure. Such was his supposed daily connection with chthonic or « hellish » powers, beliefs, such as the water used to quench weapons being an admissible substitute for baptismal water in case of proper holy water shortage (the blacksmith effectively taking the place of the priest), persisted and endured quite later on in rural areas – sometimes up until the XXIst century. And such is the depth of the blacksmith’s influence underpinning the existing links between fire and magic, that mapping out 45

its entire territory exceeds, by far, the pretensions of this essay – not to mention the author herself has, as of yet, little to no practical understanding of the intricacies, subtleties, and demanding complexities of blacksmithing per se. What should now become quite apparent, however, are the obvious parallels to be drawn between the blacksmith and the magical practitioner.

Whether Witch or Magician, initiate or profane, Ceremonialist or folk magic weaver, we all tap into a specific burning source of Power located within ourselves - whether taking the form of a coiled Red Snake tied to the Land or a spark of Divine Fire - that we can awaken at will, tame, and put to magical use. Much like metal on the anvil, such power is to be worked and refined by improving our tech and knowledge, and by building up various skills, from prophecy and healing to outright sorcery. Some would explicitly designate the Soul as the seat of such Fire, although the Head, the Heart, the Hands, the Bones, the Blood and sometimes even the Genitals have all seemed acceptable alternatives depending on tradition, which certainly should now strike the practiced occultist as indisputably logical. Such Fire is of a warrior-like quality – a weapon in its own right. It is lit when want and necessity arise, ignited and employed both in service of the self and the extended community or tribe. Such is the place of the occultist wielding fiery powers that, akin to the blacksmith, we stand at a crossroads of influences, bestowed with gifts we snatched and cultivated in concealed darkness. With proper stimulation we kindle, raise, and direct our Fire, much like the blacksmith uses his own tools: hammer, horn, tong, wedge or chisel. According to lineage specifics carefully shrouded from outsiders, we instill change in the world through the sheer Steel or Iron Pin of our Will, driven into the soft, melting parts of the universe - prong and needles with which to weave a thread of the Wyrd. The question of the Witch-Body as the Forge, or the Magician-Mind as the Anvil, stays open and has yet, to the best of my knowledge, to be seriously discussed among contemporary occultists and communities. Gods’ interferences, spirits’ gifts, pacts, oaths, vows and bargains, all colour the nature of this personal power with specific inclinations – you become what you work with. Suffice to say, for the purpose of this research, that Magic has an almost physical quality, some kind of burning weight of its own, and that it is very much a tangible thing that can be felt, like a strange extra limb not unlike some wings or tail (including by non magical practitioners). Once lit, this Magical Fire grows to consume everything in the occultist’s life, with demanding authority, as it needs its own special care and nourishment - some regular feeding to be kept pure and sing power in our bones. Thus it is all about encompassing strength and moving energy, which are arguably abstract fiery metaphysical things coincidentally very much tied to the Work of both the Smith and the magical practitioner. We temper and shape : we share the fire.

In many ways, spiritual initiations, such as they are, are meant to shape the spirit in certain ways, much like an armour forged by the heat of the heavens and tempered by the dark, chaotic waters of creation. The crux of the matter is in the process of transformation itself. Initiation means a beginning. We might talk, of course, about how witches are marked, in some capacity - sometimes more literally than others. But changing for power to be more like the spirits you work with isn’t just a side-effect, it is also a price; and not just that, but a 46

core part of the operation. The most dramatic results always come from the transmutation of one nature to an-

other. The spirits themselves in truth seem to me less aerial in nature than fiery, which now comes as an oddly appropriate affirmation – the practice of burning offerings to disintegrate their essence in smoke proving also, to some extent, this subtle linkage. Interesting as the parallels between a witch’s or disciple’s initiation and the blacksmith’s work are (the specifics of which being, of course, debatable), the point of the price of such an initiation is not that it is a regrettable cost that must be dutifully paid because that is the way of things, in some dull and mundane fashion, but rather, that when it is right, the price is met with joy, even jubilation. Much like the blacksmith of the fairy-tale, the Witch strikes a bargain they can hardly go back from, but this is not to say they can’t devise cunningly about it. The plunge or quenching is taken when it is time for it to be taken, and the act of paying the cost is where transformation truly happens – for in terms of payment, timing is, always, an integral part of the magical laws. Quite plainly put, the undertaking of the Forge’s trials, of the Anvil’s work, and the practice of smiling up at the Hammer, give a power that dabblers simply cannot match – a Baptism by Fire. « See the flame flowing from hand to hand to hand throughout history. The Witch-Fire, the burning in the blood, from teacher to student, growing and adapting and changing and never lost. And it lays there, waiting, and we find it again and take a piece of the fire from the hands of our Mighty and Beloved Dead. Their hands to our hands and their mouths to our mouths, and so the fire passes on. ».

So did my teacher once say to me. And so this proposal aimed to demonstrate and articulate, with more or less satisfactory defense, that every Witch or Magician is, arguably, a blacksmith in potential. This is a call for action. Now to go on, and fuel our own Fire.

With much thanks to the blackthorn, the ruby, and the sloth, for their sharp minds and passion-words.

[1](coll.) FRATER A.D.K., « The Charm of the Forge », in. Psalterium Caini(The Psalter of Cain), Xoanon, 2012, p.72. photo by jbird 47

[2](coll.) FRATER A.D.K., « The Charm of the Forge », in. Psalterium Caini(The Psalter of Cain), Xoanon, 2012, p.72.

[3]The most recent and accessible of which probably being the movie Errementari by Paul URKIJO ALIJO, Netflix, 2018.

[4]GARY Gemma, « The Light Betwixt », in. The Devil’s Dozen. Thirteen Craft Rites of the Old One, Troy Books, 2015, p.100.

[5]GARY Gemma, « The Light Betwixt », in. The Devil’s Dozen. Thirteen Craft Rites of the Old One, Troy Books,

Photo by Boop

JBIRD / @JBIRDTHEMANWICH.

2 FORMULAS AND A SPELL (WARNING - All of these are fairly dangerous. Metallic salts in particular can ruin clothes, hair, and respiratory systems if inhaled as particulate. Wear gloves and a respirator, and work in a well ventilated area. All of these are things taken from my own practice and were never intended to be particularly safe or widely accessible, and use ingredients that are easy enough to find on the side of the road, but may not be available at the supermarket.)

I.

Black Vinegar

The somewhat unusual ebonizing behavior of iron acetate is leveraged in this formula to produce an extremely potent cursing fluid with a near-indefinite shelf life. Martial and Saturnine, it is used to sow destruction and injury into the lives of those you desire to ruin.

To create the mixture, a two-step process is used to create two separate liquid phases which are combined to render a single ink-black fluid. At least one plant ally is required, in order to provide tannins on which the iron acetate acts, to render a weak ferrogallic ink within the mixture, giving it its black color. Generally, I use a mixture of poke root, locust thorns, oak galls or paper wasp nest, and mayapple root. Wild pinkroot can be added to engender delirium and paranoia, and the roots of wild violet can be scorched and added in cases where love is to be soured, the emetic properties of the plant matter acting to suggest repulsion between parties. While I generally use plants I can wild harvest, more traditionally used banefuls can also be substituted. The mixture is a bit laborious to create and, if timings are observed, requires care and at least a week of preparation. Generally, I recite orations and words of power over every component, at every possible juncture, and finish with a final charge to the resulting liquid to give it its purpose. I won’t provide examples here, as the conjurations over the materia should be fairly straight-forward for most practitioners, but if at a loss, any of the imprecatory psalms should do.

On a Tuesday, in the hour of Mars, find 39 ungalvanized steel or iron nails. Awaken them as you usually would, and place them, points down, in 2/3s cup of strong cleaning vinegar. Do not cover, as waste gases must escape as the vinegar reacts with the iron to create iron acetate. Let this sit for at least seven days, in a place where the very strong vinegar smell will not be a bother. Within 7 days, the nails should be visibly corroded and altered. The vinegar should have taken on a brown color. Wearing gloves, strain and reserve the fluid and skim off any foam. This can be dried and incorporated into martial powders. The vinegar solution, as is, can be used to blacken wood for tools of a baneful or chthonic nature, and will chemically dye most high-tannin woods a deep grayish-blue-black.

On a Saturday, in the hour of Mars or Saturn, take the fresh roots of poke and mayapple, awaken them in the usual way and bruise them. Take also thirteen large thorns of locust and with a knife scrape off their waxy skin. Set all these to boil in about 2/3s a cup of soft water, keeping sure that it is topped up frequently. Leave these to boil for the duration of the planetary hour. At this point, any extra items can be incorporated into the water - small bones, animal hair, snake sheds, ashes of psalms and the like. When the hour has passed, kill the flame and allow the mixture to cool. Combine this with the iron-infused vinegar. The mixture will become black immediately and can be bottled, allowed to rest 24 hours, and finally sealed. This mixture, left alone for several months, will settle and eventually clear. At this point it can be shaken to redisperse, or decanted off, where the resulting mass of sediment can be used in powders.

II.

Wardbreaker

This formula is similar to the above, but takes much longer to prepare. It requires about a half a yard of old barbed wire, which is attacked by salted vinegar.

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The mixture should be begun and worked on a Saturday or a Tuesday. Bundle the barbed wire and submerge it entirely in salted vinegar. Allow it to rest somewhere warm. When the barbed wire is all but consumed, up to several months later, strain out the remnants and add to the liquid the following, awakened as you usually would: ipomea vine, grapevine bark, large thorns, the hair and teeth of a black dog (or a coyote), and the head of a snake. Vine matter should be conjured to wind its way between the wards of the opponent; the dog teeth, to go in spirit as the black shuck; the snake to slither between weaknesses in defences; and the thorns to find their way to embed themselves in whatever exposed flesh is available. I make this about once every two years and generally keep it as a liquid, but it can also be dessicated and

powdered, if you prefer.

III.

Dust Veil Spell

This is both a spell in itself, intended to obscure a person, place, or thing, and a means of generating, as a byproduct, a very useful notice-me-not powder that comes in handy from time to time. You’ll need the dried foot of a toad, dust or dirt from a grave so old its marker is illegible (if I were you, I’d contact the spirit of the grave and make sure it’s down to help first), a black cotton blindfold, dirt from a rarely traveled crossroad, a bundle of mullein leaves, a small amount of milk, and a piece of white birch bark at least 3 inches square.

Suffumigate the chamber with mullein. Observe your usual pre-working conjurations and entreaties to your spirits. You’ll need to set before you a mortar and pestle, a cloth on which your ingredients are laid, a small dish for milk, and a paintbrush.

Take the birch bark and, with the milk and paintbrush, draw an effigy of the thing to be obscured. If only interested in producing the powder, draw instead a sigil, bindrune, or seal for invisibility. I generally draw an eye with an X over it.

Lay the inscribed bark in the mortar, inscription facing up, and chant: “By the ink that leaves a mark unseen, go unseen and be unseen.”

Lay the dried toad feet in the mortar.

“By the nimble foot of the walker between, go unseen and be unseen.”

Lay in the dust from the crossroad.

“By the road long lonesome left to grieve, go unseen and be unseen.”

Light a small piece of mullein leaf to smolder, and lay it in as well.

“From smoke obscuring, I raise a ring. Go unseen and be unseen.”

Lay in the dirt from the grave.

“By the shades forgotten beneath the green, go unseen and be unseen.”

Put on the blindfold and wear it as you powder the result.

While you pulverize it, chant: “From the dark, I cast a ring; To go unseen, and be unseen.”

When the ingredients are finely powdered, take off the blindfold. Light it with the candle, and place it in the mortar to burn to ashes.

As it burns: “From smoke itself I raise a ring; Go unseen, and be unseen.” [3x] Powder the ashes into the rest of the mixture, mix well, bottle, and leave the leftover milk as an offering to the grave. Then go eat something; for some reason, this little ditty is always extremely tiring.

To use on yourself or another, anoint the brow with a very small amount of the powder, and repeat “Go unseen, and be unseen.”

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PHOTO BY JBIRD 52

PRISM

UNMAKING MEDITATION

https://soundcloud.com/user-641183438/unmaking-meditation

Photo by Ivy

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AUSUP / @LUNEFROG.

BABA KOYOT She is your grandmother. She comes round just before the first frost. She raps on your door during the night with knobbly knuckled-fingers ending in claws. You let her in. She carries with her a bundle of switches made from willow branches, she wears a little scarf over her head. You have no idea where she goes when winter disappears—you assume she takes it with her.

She is a coyote. She has a coyote’s head, sleek and pointed, sharp teeth, bright yellow eyes. She goes out, the night of the frost, and she whips your cousins into a frenzy—Winter has become a lazy thing, she says. The switches make short work of it.

She comes back in the morning, breathing hard, covered in frost. She has a bright golden chicken in her arms.

She does this every year, and when she disappears after the frost breaks she leaves behind a little golden egg.

She says, “I’ll make dinner tonight.” She only cooks for you the once. The chicken tastes like sunlight and it warms you down to your bones.

The solstice passes, the cold begins to wane. Soon, the days are too long and the temperature too high. You find in her bed a small golden egg, and no sign of her anywhere. You do not know where she goes, just that winter seems to leave with her. The cold leaches from your skin, dewdrops replace frost, little flowers begin to bloom.

She is your grandmother. She leaves just before the last frost. She disappears without a trace, except for a little egg she leaves in her place. She carries with her a bundle of switches made from willow branches, she wears the new little scarf over her head. You have an inkling as to where spring comes from—you assume she leaves it here.

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photo by haunt

photo by TYETKNOT

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Thank you for reading UNCVLTURED Issue One. We appreciate the time you’ve given us and the consideration you’ve paid to this little Cultsquad presentation.

Please look forward to our spring edition!

Questions & comments can be directed to uncvltured.zine@gmail.com.

All articles & photography contained herein are the property of their creators.

Following Photo by HAUNT

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photo by haunt