Hello everyone. I don't expect alot of answers about this. I am curious if anyone is willing to share the story of their most ambitious spell, ritual, casting, invocation etc.
Examples:
Was anyone arrogant enough to attempt summoning a deity instead of invoking and faced the consequences?
Has anyone worked with a death diety to ask them to resurrect a supposed dead deity like Pan?
Did you work walk into a fairy ring and actually enter another realm?
I know there are differences between "fluffy" magic and real nature limited magick. Just curious, no matter how unbelievable or absurd. From little to great, please share and inspire us all. Please be mature and respectful in the comments.
Re: Share your story By: Misanthropy Moderator / Adept
Post # 3 Sep 04, 2023
Mushroom or "Fairy" rings are most often associated with the fae but they actually have several different associations depending on the culture. In Australia they were believed to be the resting places of dragons. For the Dutch, they were locations where the Devil churned milk. TheEnglish, Celtic, French, and Scandinavians were the ones that we see mot often referringto them as "Fairy Rings." They were thought to be the entrances to other realms, the entryway to a fairy city, or the dancing circle of the Fae; with the mushrooms serving as seats or tables for the Fae.
My great, great grandfather was from Liverpool England and his wife (my great, great grandmother) was from Wales. A common story they carried over with them was that a girl once trespassed in one of the rings and the Fae put thorns in her bed so that she couldn't sleep at night. The girl had to beg forgiveness and leave them an offering of good will before they'd relent. The moral of the story: "Don't go into places that you don't belong."
As a child these type of stories both terrified and excited me so, being the rebellious child Iwas, I decided to jump into one of these rings when I finally came across one as a child. Nothing happened of course and I was riding high on the thought of having faced and conquered the fairies and their magical ring.
As an adult I actually did further digging into this and it turns out these rings are called Marasmius oreades. They're actually more common than you might think and they're caused by a specific pattern ofMycelium growth;this is theunderground organism that is responsible for the reproductive part of the mushroom that we see. Themycelium will start at a single point and then slowly expand and work its way out as the nutrients or organicmatter its feeding on in the soil is depleted.It grows and expands outward in the circular pattern as it looks for new food sources to consume.
The rings need specific factors to occur though: soil type/obtainable nutrients, soil conditions, soil composition, and soil obstructions. All of these come together to create (or not) the magical "Fairy Ring."
Tethered mycorrhizal fungi form in a similar way but are dependent on a symbiotic relationship with trees and other vascular plants. The mushrooms use the sugars and nutrients from the tree to strengthen its underground network and slowly form the ring or clusters of mushrooms.
I've adde a few articles below if anyone wants to read more about it.
Dear Misanthropy, thank you for your rich contributions. Really, there was a story, science, lesson from the story, related fairy circle history with other cultures and the links. Your work does not go unnoticed.
Respectfully, Drallex.
Other SoM members, you're welcome to continue to add. Thank you.
I wouldn't say I was arrogant just confused about deities. When I was in high school and friend and I started looking into witchcraft and Wicca. We tried to summon Athena and it was a bad time. The candles we were using went out and there was a cold breeze that came from no where, and just this general feeling of I don't know how else to describe it but her being annoyed or angry.We were young and dumb. I did more research and learned later what not to do, but the first time experience with a deity was enough to keep me from looking into working them for a while.
Hello .Melancholy. Nice contribution! That 100% would have sent shivers down my spine. A similar story from a past co-worker inspired me to make this post. All I remember is her account of the candles blowing out after a spell with no explanation. She seemed adamant that it was because of spirits.
Hmm... I've needed to ponder on this one a bit. Mainly because I kind-of only have a few stories in my repertoire that I would consider interesting. And I think I've mentioned most of them in one thread or another around these parts over the last few years. ...Basically, I'm a bit boring.
Though, after thinking about it there is at least one tale to tell, and it definitely falls into the 'hubris' category;
Early on in my journey I was poking about on the internet about energy and energy-working. This was shortly after my discovery of Otherkin and Draconics ... and the resulting realization that I fell into that category. So I was looking for ways to bring self-realization into the healing and energy-working I had been inspired to learn about and practice thanks to my great-aunt.
I came across a website about people who considered themselves to be Vampiric, the idea of the term relating to energy and not necessarily a dependence on blood, and the discovery that there was a robust (for the time) community online thanks to chat environments like Mirc. I also learned that these 'energy' vampires would often try to reach out and find people who would act as donors- People who were favorable to the idea of allowing themselves to be a source of support.
In retrospect, a perfect recipe for textbook co-dependance as ever there was.
My first thoughts leapt to that youthful 'I shall help the masses!' instinct, justifying it as an excuse to have a way to regularly practice and explore energy-working. So I downloaded the program, made my usual username, and leapt in with both feet. My silent lurking lasted all of a few seconds before someone said 'hi' and 'welcome' and 'who might you be, stranger?'
In the middle of a chat room of about fifty people who -all- identify as vampirics, I basically said "HI, I'm an energy-worker who just discovered this Psi-vamp thing, and I want to help."
Heh. I might as well have dived into a tub of salad dressing and yelled "The buffet is open!" ...But, surprisingly, it didn't end up that way. Looking back I should -definitely- have been wiser about introducing myself and my intention. Given the potential responses.
But as it turns out such communities are like any other; Filled with relatively normal people. So instead of being leapt upon the reaction was a mix of Curiosity (What kinds of stuff do you do?), Scepticism (You must me some role-player, a wannabe, or just full of yourself), and cautionary advice (You realise you just walked in and invited fifty people to treat you like a capris sun, right?).
The twist, though, is that in the end that community became a regular haunt of mine for over a decade, I did indeed regularly practice and explore energy-working, helped a few people in the process, and shared many, many good and insightful discussions. It wasn't free of mistakes or the occasional turning-toxic situation, but those too led to some valuable lessons on boundaries and their importance even amidst acts with the best of intentions.
Hello Spirit76. Thank you for your story! Oh yes, your story teaches the potential danger of hubris. You walked into a lions den practicaly. Lucky enough, those "lions" did point out the danger. It's nice to know that after all that, you ended up having a good experience on that site. I'll have to look into those past stories of yours. I hope these stories encourage us all to reflect and be inspired.
Welcome. Again, anyone is welcome to share their story here. Please share your most ambitious spell, ritual, experience with a Deity etc... Not here to prove or disprove. Simply, inspire.
Goodluck,
Drallex.
I was taught that invoking was more dangerous than "summoning" (evoking.) Evoking can get dicey done after the fashion of the Lesser Key: "commanding" demons, threatening them, etc. There are other, less adversarial, ways of making contact.
That said, no. I do not have any "kiss 'n tell" tales about entities called up.I think I have touched base with one or two, but it has all been low-key thus far.
