Cat’s Rants: Confessions of an Occult Mastermind

Everything you ever wanted to know about Hoodoo, Rootwork, or the Occult! The internet’s longest running occult blog, established 2004

  • Hey everyone,

    Because I really can't take a lot more of the "bad education" in some other larger "beginner groups" (it was fun for like a week, now all of the miseducation is driving me bananas,) I made my own group. As a plus, I can put my new articles up here, because fuckit if I'm spending time in a group, I can do that, haha. 

    If you want to be in my facebook group, go here.

    ~Cat

  • Hey everyone,

    I'm really enjoying having joined some "newbie" groups. It's so fun and enlightening. πŸ™‚ So many people I speak to and work with learned from me, so they are already familiar with my methods and thought processes. It's spoiled me, kids. I'm spoiled. πŸ˜‰ And the thing is I FREAKING LOVE WORKING ON DIFFICULT CASES! That's like the best thing ever. I ENJOY it. It is what makes my life super happy. When the pandemic took from me the business I had where people with difficult problems were like "Cat, fix this for me," I was sad because not only did I watch a fair amount of people helplessly lose their battle to keep a relationship going, but it also meant…well, let's not talk about April 2020. I had no business because no one was working AND I was living with a crazy person. It was a hell. This means not only was a deprived of an inspirational source (BECAUSE YOUR HARD CASES INSPIRE ME TO WRITE), I also had no income and also was living with a crazy person, lol.

    But now, here's the thing…if you're new to spellcasting and you say "Well, I will hire this person to do this specific spell I picked off their 'menu', or I will do this spell and all will be grand," you could be misleading yourself. Look, love is a complicated MFer. It really is. So let's say you get in an argument with your beloved and you both stop talking. Doing a communication spell may not be enough to fix that. In fact, your beloved may just contact you to give you an earload of how much they are still mad at you, and it might make things worse. :/ Or let's say you want that person to forgive you. Well, I forgive virtually everyone in my past for everything, but at the same time it doesn't mean I want any of my exes back. I am not mad, I even would tell you I love these people, but I don't want a relationship with them. So getting your ex to just forgive you? That's not necessarily going to mean they will come back to you. And if you do a spell to make them come back, well, it might just immediately disintegrate again. The list is endless.

    "Fuck, Cat, do you ever have any good news? Stop making me MORE depressed and tell me what works!" you say.

    Very well. Let's assume you are dealing with a complicated situation. I had gone over this some time ago in a series on reconciliation. You want to approach this with a PLAN. It isn't "I found this dubious spell on an even more dubious site," sort of plan. I want you to really think about your situation. I want you to think if communication has been an issue. Is the sexual aspect starting to lag. Has this person cheated. Is there a rival. You think about it. 

    Now remember, you want to come at your issues at all levels. Maybe you are part of the problem. Hey, it's okay, we often are our own worst enemies – maybe you need some healing work or work to communicate better. If your out of your neophyte phase, you probably know better than to combine certain spells. If one is "hot" and the other "cold," you can negate your own work. So for argument's sake, if you went after this 100% using candle work, you might prevent that. 

    Assuming you are super cheap, you might literally just line up some blessed and dressed jar candles. So let's say you want communication, reconciliation, for this person to return, and for them to be overwhelmingly lusty, and because this is me (and I freaking love RoadOpener,) some roadopening to ensure the obstacles are broken down, that is going to be perfectly fine and it's something a beginner can do. Great stores to find these items are places like HoodooRoots and Serafin Station. I know who runs these storefronts, and they really do some AMAZING work on their produicts. This isn't just inert fake talc, perfumed fragrance oils of no magical value, or undressed candles that are as magical as a lightbulb is (which is to say not at all.) If you run that line of lights properly, you've just done a more "beginner" version of what I do for hire (I do not run a line of lights, lol, but I DO do a cocktail of workings.) This isn't even going to be difficult. You're going to make a name paper, place it beneath the candle, light the candle, focus on your intention while saying a chant, and then let it burn out. I think anyone can do that. 

    But you *need* to stop assuming that it's one little rinky dinky spell that's going to change a massively complicated problem. I'm not trying to engender hopelessness in you or in anyone else. I want you to be successful when you work. Magic should be accessible to everyone. It should be easy for all of us to learn. That there is a lot of fake bullshit out there, that people say things like chew on cloves and you will get a windfall of cash (no you won't,) and others believe that? This is true. I WANT you to know how to do this yourself. It's honestly a very tiring job to do this for others, to explain the process, to be an underpaid psychiatrist, etc., and especially when it's not outside of the ability of the layperson to learn this stuff.  Yes, I love my job, and it's inspiring, but what's really inspiring is seeing others learn to use magic and to help shape their own lives on their own terms. So, sure, I'd do the work, but I love when you LEARN HOW TO DO IT. πŸ™‚

    So, this week we will focus on love. I have a big spell article on money coming out too. Exciting stuff! πŸ™‚

    ~Cat

    If you need me, contact me here

  • Hey lovies,

    I recently joined a few newbie groups because that helps me learn where people are stumbling or mis-learning or just not understanding. Believe me, some of the bad teaching in some of those groups (and let me tell you it was a lot of groups, lol, so it's probably not yours in particular,) has been enlightening. For example, cursing – people are using half methods (you're HALF right, and the rest I don't know where you got that idea, heh). People are using slow methods. People are putting THEMSELVES in the curse (NO DO NOT DO THAT.) Or love – again very slow methods. People are not establishing contact with their target. People are not being told about lust for results. People are, once again, casting on themselves and making themselves worse…

    This is so educational for me. 90% of my business is return clients. I've had the same clients in many cases since the mid 00's. While I prefer that (it's easier to work with people I've worked with in the past,) it does mean I don't get to see how those new to magic are learning or what they need to know, and that doesn't help my writing. 

    BUT, I have a few very cranky mods who just felt like I wasn't there to help but rather to "sell readings" (and I currently do not have that kind of space to even take on several readings, much less  many new clients) and so to you mods, here is what a few days have taught me…and to my loyal readers, it's totally gonna be a review in many places.

    Q: What is the "fastest, and best" spell for x thing? 

    A: If you're a beginner, you assume there is the "one best spell ever" for (name need.) This would be a lie. This is actually a very ANNOYING lie. It's like asking me out of all the cheeseburgers ever made, which is the best ever and every single person has to agree with my view, or at least a large majority. There are no categories like "best fast food," or "best five star restaurant" version, which is THE BEST OF ALL TIME. Now, your friend Bob is going to say he loves Red Robin cheeseburgers, and Bonnie will love Five Guys, and then George thinks McDonald's is the best, and Annie says Snooty O'Expensive makes the best ones if you can get to that little niche restaurant to begin with. And I bet you if I lined up all of them and had 100 people in my country taste them all, there would be a fair majority of Americans saying "None of the above is the best." Such is it because "the best" is really a misnomer. 

    And it's also short sighted. One spell which is effective for one case will fall flat on another. It's the "gorilla glue" is best for this project, and "Elmer's Glue" best for the other without the person using the glue understanding the difference between the two. They see "glue" and assume all glues are created equal. I didn't get a bachelor in fine arts to tell you that all glues are entirely not created for the same types of projects and what works in one case will work in another. Try replacing "glue" with love spell, and now you're using "rubber cement" for a "super glue" problem. 

    As for the "fastest," assuming your situation SHOULD have fast work and it will fix the situation permanently (as I've taught before, a fast-acting change does not mean a lasting result but rather a short lived one depending on the case,) then…I guess earth and water based techniques can act slower…um you can do things with a mercurial energy rather than jovial (jupiter) which would be for the same end but one hits faster and lasts shorter, whereas the other is slower acting but lasts much longer. It DEFINITELY isn't jar spells if you're looking for super fast acting, which apparently in three groups, jar spells are all the rage. ;) 

    And remember, just having a spell and directions doesn't mean you will properly cast the spell. I'm not even trying to be a dick. It's the SPELLCASTER and NOT the spell that makes it strong. It's YOUR STRENGTH AND FOCUS OF WILL. If you go through all the motions, it could be a remarkable spell, but it won't gel because you didn't put that "oomph" behind it. Some beginners have some impressive strength in that regard. Being a beginner doesn't mean you can't do it. I've seen some really amazing results from beginners. I've also seen people need months and years to really start getting those strong results. Spellcasting well is a bit like working out. You get better the more you practice, and you get a lot stronger when you stick with it. 

    Q: Should I cast a circle when spellcasting?

    A: This is entirely dependent on tradition. I've not cast a circle for many years for basic spells. If I'm doing a sweet jar, I'm not going to cast a circle. I work with my spirits, I don't bar them from entering. I'm not a Wiccan and I know in Wicca, that's a very common thing – to cast a circle every time, – so another person may suggest you do. I am not telling you it's right or wrong. I'm telling you that if you were to ask me, nine times out of ten, if not more, I'd say no. I would instead strongly instruct you regularly clean your ritual area and altars after each working to prevent energies from cross contaminating, and tell you that there is nothing like a cleansing bath to help with energetic build up.

    Q: Can I use (item) instead of (item)?

    A: As someone who practices rootwork, I do have my moments of having a dislike for people who try to sanitize spells. For example I've used cremains in a few situations as a replacement for graveyard dirt, but most of the time even that would be inappropriate. Dirt from a specific place cannot be replaced by dirt you got outside in your front yard. So, no, you can't use front yard dirt as a replacement for say police dirt, or church dirt, or graveyard dirt, unless your front yard houses a police station, church, or graveyard. There is NO HERBAL REPLACEMENT for dirt. Throw out that mullien as it's not graveyard dirt. ;)  

    OR trying to work without a personal item. Pictures are easy these days but that may or may not satisfy the lock to the target. You may NEED semen, or blood, or used clothing. 

    And lastly there is not necessarily a "you can use this herb instead of this herb in all spells" substitution rule. No one wants to hear that but just because x herb can be used for love and y herb can be used for love…well salt and sugar look similar and both can be used for cooking. Interchange both in your recipies. Instead of three cups of sugar use three cups of salt. See how those cookies taste. Gross? That's because they are both used for different reasons. You can't just blindly replace an herb that is used for say healing in a reconciliation spell and replace it with one that triggers lust/passion and expect the results to be good. 

    Q: How many times do I do a jar spell?

    A: You work the jar three times a week, every week, until you are satisfied with results, and continue to work it at least once a week if you wish them to remain strong (assuming a full change will not be sustained.) 

    Q: Is there such a thing as a "natural witch"?

    A: No, not really. There IS such a thing as someone who is naturally more gifted in spellcraft than another. This is like…some people learn math faster than others, or another person can craft prose with more ease than his or her counterparts. However, if you told me you're a natural brain surgeon, but do not have education or degrees in medicine, with a focus on neurology, you sure as fuck may not do brain surgery on me. So, just having a better knack for learning magic does not mean that with absolutely no education, no years and years of study (which quite frankly, learning magic is a HELL OF A LOT OF STUDY AND READING,) or because you read like two whole books on the topic that you are a witch. You SHOULD NOT teach others magic until you reach an advanced stage of study anymore than you'd recommend that "natural born brain surgeon," start teaching college courses on the brain to people when they read a book about brains once. ;) 

    I'm not saying some people don't have more of a gift than others for spellcraft, because of course people do, just like some people are naturally better at art, or at logic, or myriad other things. HOWEVER, there is a lot of study ahead of anyone wanting to learn spellcasting properly, and so telling others you're a natural at it might confuse other beginners. I've been studying and practicing for like thirty effing years now, and I mean hardcore PhD level difficulty stuff (not "how to do a simple candle or jar spell,) for quite a bit of that time, and I would not tell you that this knowledge just floated into my head because it was wired into my brain. Not at all. It's been a lot of work. And yet, I was born with a natural gift of being able to do this work and absorb how it works, so…me before I started studying trying to lead you on how to practice because I maybe read a book once would be terribly wrong of me, even if I was always drawn towards spellcasting, even as a small child. So, no, you cannot be a natural witch. You CAN have an easier time being good at spellcasting than others. However without a metric fuckton of study and practice, that's all you are…drawn to spellcasting and you have a better mind for it than others, but you know little about it. 

    So…in light of this all, let's do a Questions You've Asked Me Contest. I will have the Prizes and forms up by March 27. Winners are chosen by me. The questions must be NEW (so check out the Questions You've Asked me) and the winner will get something awesome (like a physical prize, – and in the past we've had some pretty awesome stuff like rare occult books and amazon gift certificates and such.) There will be a runner up and a second prize. The best questions – even those which don't place, – will be up in an article for everyone to enjoy so you can even have those bragging rights. I need to create the form and and get the prizes so check back for this article to be updated. 

    IF YOU WANT TO SEND QUESTIONS NOW (UP TO FIVE QUESTIONS PER PERSON, PLEASE CLEARLY SEPARATE QUESTIONS) PLEASE CONTACT ME USING THIS EMAIL. DO NOT TEXT THIS TO ME IF YOU ARE A CLIENT AS I NEED TO BE ABLE TO PUT THESE IN AN EASILY ORGANIZABLE FOLDER. 

    And I'm really thankful to be in some of these groups. I rarely get to speak to beginners first hand these days in such large groups. :) 

    ~Cat

     

  • Hey Occulties,

    So, let's start with the GOOD part of the story. So, yesterday, despite it not being a superb mooncycle for such things (which is why I called a spirit which I am very friendly with,) I had a very very awesome session with a very awesome spirit. As some of you may know, the last few months were not fun for me. I almost died, I got infested with bed bugs, Mr NinjaCat's stalker ex became ever more stalkery and evil… It was the worst of times. I did some massive cleansing work and while things improved, they just weren't where they could be. So, while talking to my favorite spirit, I'm like "Spirit, my life could be so much more. I feel like I could do so much more. I want to do something that absolutely blows away my readers and clients, and yet here I am stifled and feeling out of date and etc."

    The spirit was like "Yeah, I realize that the last two years have been sucky. I get that. But this is going to change and rapidly, and plus you're going to kick ass on some specific cases, and that will really catapult you into being able to update your site, and get the house and life you want with Mr NinjaCat, and you know, it's all going to be better super duper fast."

    But at this point, I'd heard this before and I wasn't going to hear it again – not without proof. So I said "Spirit, look, I'm almost out of faith because look at this absolute bullshit I've dealt with in 2020, and not to complain, but the first quarter of the year is over already and it's only mildly improved. How can I trust this will change." 

    "Very well," the spirit sighed, "I will tell you of the cases which to take which will be quickly solved. You could guarantee the outcome, and I will tell you of each as they come to you, but as for the first you will have the following come to you." The spirit then described a case which a few particulars stood out. 

    "Yeah, I'm not working for that person, so OK," I said, ever the petulant child apparently. 

    "OK, but I'm going to prove I'm telling the truth," said the spirit. "When you get to your home, you will have a payment you have waited on for three years." 

    "I will wait to see that," said I. 

    I gave thanks and gave the spirit her gifts and when I got home, lo and behold, someone paid me $125 that has been owed since 2018. I shit you not. Not only that but 4 cases from 2018 had contacted me for various reasons.

    Um, wow. SO I was sooooooo excited, I even shared about this experience with you. Like…this was exciting. The spirit was basically offering me a prediction and had said I was going to have some EPIC results and how I could identify those incoming cases. This was amazeballs.

    And after a little sleep, and the first case that spirit described with the particular details coming up? It's in my inbox. I excitedly do a ton of work for today, thinking "OMG, things are going to be awesome. I'm going to literally change people's lives and get my site updated, and get all this good stuff!!!" Like, not only can I make people happy, get for them what they've been anxiously hoping for, I'm going to have what I need to overhaul my site, and you know what?

    Well some of you are just not funny at all. Silly requests are not going to be anything I look at again. If you think you have a rough case for me to look at by all means contact me here (I hope you are the next case I'm told of because I do know who to look for next), but otherwise, I'm not making any more grand gestures for the public in articles. I'll just stick to teaching via my blog. πŸ˜› Like don't steal my sunshine, yo. Some of you are not funny at all. This is why I generally stick to working with clients I know, and quite frankly, I'm starting to think the people I was told about might just be clients I already know and work with. I'm also giving you a dirty look if you asked me to like…make you a mermaid. :P 

    ~Cat

  • Due to epic smart-assery, this post has been removed, and see the new post by clicking here. 

  • Hey Occulties,

    Today, I'd like to discuss "wrong ideas" people get in their heads about spellwork, the occult, etc., which this is not really going to be a finite list or near to it, but definitely some of the things I currently see all too often. So in no numbered order, here are some myths that people need to stop believing:

    Myth: I'm a "born witch!" By the virtue of being born and liking the moon and spooky things, I'm instantly magical!

    Reality: This would be like saying you're a born brain surgeon because you think brains look cool, and then walking into an operating theater, and operating on someone's brain without ever having a single class in medicine or even a degree. You'd probably kill your patient. Or maybe you're a born engineer – never studied it for a single day, but you were born an engineer, so you start building a skyscraper, and it's hugely unstable and kills many people. But that's OK, because you were born naturally gifted with expertise without study or practice, right? 

    That's what you sound like when you say you're naturally a witch. While I'd say some people will have more success and they might be gifted with an innate talent for magic, without years of practice and study, you are not a witch, or a sorcerer, or magician. Liking spooky stuff, the moon, or dressing goth does not have any relevance to your ability to cast spells whatsoever. On that note, stop posting "signs you're a natural witch," as anyone with even the slightest iota of a background in the occult is making fun of you behind your back if you do, and certainly would not take you seriously for some time after posting such a thing. It may surprise you, but I actually know a great deal of magicians who look more like a soccer mom than something from a B-horror movie.

    Myth: Love spells are "evil" and "unethical."

    Reality: I suppose it is not my place to dictate what you or anyone else finds repugnant or inappropriate. And since I'm writing this out for my class (and I hear it from the members of the peanut gallery every time I run a class on love spells,) I might as well say it here… For starters, MOST people who say that love spells are unethical also believe that people can create "love zombies" and/or can successfully do a working in which beautiful people (generally women) will instantly get into position for a sexual encounter, regardless of where they are, and having never met the practitioner by the practitioner just using some sort of mystical chant or something (and yes, if you're curious, people who think this type of working exists generally are Incels.)

    The reality is that even if you're quite good at love workings, that if the relationship is not compatible, it will eventually fall apart. I liken it to breaking a lamp. The first time you break it and glue it back together, you can't even tell you broke it. The 5th time you break it and glue it back together, it's hugely unstable and looks awful. The seventh time you break it, you can't even get it to hold together. I mean, I understand, sometimes you'd be great together, except this one thing that seems trivial to you. He doesn't like your job, or she doesn't think she can move to Pittsburgh and long distance isn't working. So you change your job, and you try to entice her to move to Pittsburgh with offers of everything she ever wanted and more, and it still keeps hitting a wall. And if it DOES keep hitting a wall, there does come a time to give up. If you love that person or ever did, you will want to. If you just want to "win" you will keep going until nothing you can do magically can convince them to ever come back. So if love zombies existed (people that are your slave because you put a spell on them,) drawing them to you would be all you ever had to do. There would be no return to me spellwork needed. But, nope, that's not how it works. You're working on a human being, and that human being never stops being capable of having their own motives, or making their own decisions. I'm not saying that you can't really do some impressive work on them and see very clear and visible proof of your own ability to influence them with your spellwork – definitely you can, – I'm saying that at the heart of it all, they are still themselves (so you won't change their core personality,) and are still capable of taking actions and making decisions that you may not like. Clearly, they could not be your "puppet" or "zombie" then. You can't "force" them to be with you and stay with you, you are using spells to create a situation where you can nurture love or restore your relationship, you are influencing them to be desiring you or staying with you or returning with you – but if you do nothing in the mundane to keep the relationship working, or if you are not compatible, they will eventually leave. 

    The idea that it is conniving and evil can also sprout from the idea that influencing another with the use of magic is inherently wrong (though surprisingly no one cares about influencing someone to hire you for a job, it's just in regards to love.) Well, I'm fine with people feeling this way, it's when they get up on a soapbox and criticize others…because the reality is that all of us are sneaky and use many non-magical things to persuade a desired mate to want to get naked with us and love us, and these people who criticize the use of magic are doing those sneaky things too. I mean, when I met Mr NInjaCat, he himself would admit that my gigantic knockers played a part in me catching his eye and coming to speak with me. I was wearing a low cut shirt, too, and I was not and am not unaware that wearing a low cut top can attract the eyes of men. Is this a magical power? While I'd love to tell you that I have magical titties (because that would be hilarious,) the reality is that I was using my figure to influence men to speak to me. In fact, the way men and women dress is them influencing others around them to perceive them in a certain manner, so if you feel badly about influencing people, I suppose, you pretty much should only show yourself from the chin up and through video probably at this point, so we have no idea of what you're wearing. And when I'd been dating Mr NinjaCat for about a week, he hid a rose in the kitchen the night before that I would find when I got up for work. This is also a form of influence. He's leaving me pointless gifts so that I know he is thinking about me and wants me to smile, which is going to make me start feeling love feelings (instead of just lust, because Mr NC was FINE AF and I would be lying to say my attraction to him did not start almost entirely based on lust.) So I guess we can say you cannot buy any gifts for your prospective partner, either, since that's influencing someone and influencing someone in regards to love is evil. If you think that wearing clothes to highlight your figure or giving your maybe-girlfriend a rose is not evil, then congratulations, you probably won't find love spells evil either. You are INFLUENCING someone, not BRAINWASHING them when you use love work. AND, with all due respect to my own readers, several of you are newbies to spellwork, and whereas I might be able to get an ex acting wild with passionate lust, if your magical "muscles" are not yet all that strong…the same working might get you some flirting and not the follow through. I think people often overstate the power of a spell, because they just assume the person working it has been spellcasting a long time. I have seen some incredibly impressive outcomes with people new to spellwork, but at the same time, this isn't just saying words and making hand motions, and I've seen even more newbies get some result but not the strong one they'd hoped for. 

    So are love spells evil? No, though I do concede that people sometimes overuse them when something is over (and frankly, most magicians have done so at least once,) and that they can be used with less-than-kind motives (like trying to draw someone back just so you can tell them to fuck off again.) If you personally find them distasteful, that's fine, but if you pontificate on how bad people are for using them, you may be more hypocritical than you realize in your own speeches. 

    As for the "Make all hot bitches bend over and give up that azz because I say a certain chant," people, all I can say is please get some mental help, and it's not gonna happen, bro, and part of the reason women won't have sex with you is that you're a dreadful misogynistic jerk who is way too desperate. Everyone despises incels except other incels, and those are all dudes, so unless you like dudes in a sexy way, maybe you should try finding a new group to hang with, too. 

    Myth: If I purchase this magical tool, I'm a magician/its inherent magical powers will work with absolutely no effort on my part!

    Reality: The one I see most often is people who use condition oils (come to me, follow me boy, etc,) as a perfume, and yet never with intent (which would be laying a trick on yourself in some cases,) and it's no different than spraying yourself with Axe body spray and expecting it to make you irresistible to women. It won't. Condition oils are actually, for the most part, not perfumes. Some like Cleo May are meant to be used as so, but not most. If I want to curse the fuck out of people I don't put Black Arts oil on. If I want you to tell me the truth and have the truth blow up in your face, I don't put my Liar Liar Pants on Fire oil on myself (you can specifically request this recipe at Anubeion Creations, by the way, just go to custom oils, and ask for Cat's Liar Liar Pants on Fire.) If anything, I go out of my way to let neither black arts or liar liar touch my flesh. So why is it if you're trying to get someone to love you, you're wearing the condition oil? Should you not be putting that on something to represent the TARGET? Because yes, you should be putting it on something representing the target. You're already smitten, clearly, or else you would not be trying to attract that person. 

    I realize that some of you are also huge Harry Potter fans, but you should know that a magic wand is for focusing the power that is coming from the magician holding it. It's directing the energy OF THE MAGICIAN, see, so you waving a wand about and saying stupid Latin phrases will not do anything other than make you look like you're doing Harry Potter cosplay, because pretty much that is all you are doing. 

    It doesn't matter how many cool magician's tools you buy or own. If you don't know how to use them, it's no different than me owning a all the things I need to fix a car, but knowing nothing (including what a car looks like) about cars. It's pointless to have all these tools if you have no magical ability. In fact, it's 2000% more important to have the right knowledge and to have amazing skill than it is to have any magical tools at all. 

    If you get yourself a $4000 beautiful bejeweled magical seal, all you're going to have is a beautiful piece of art if you don't know how to use it, – so stop, stop, stop, stop, stop getting fussy and assuming something doesn't work when often the case is you don't know how to work it and won't take the time to study and practice and know how.

    Myth: Doing magic draws bad-luck and ill-fortune to you.

    Considering one of the better known magical rituals in the western world is performed by Catholic priests and is meant to purify and bless the congregation (the Holy Mass,) I beg to differ. I can understand where this comes from…basically, one source is people who think that any magic takes away from reverence to God or trust in God, when I have seen no proof of this. If anything, it seems to strengthen faith. The other source would be people who performed rituals very wrong (either because they worked from a source which was itself quite wrong, or because they improvised when they have little to no practical knowledge of magic.) So, yeah, if you decide to call a spirit since that is the current "it's so cool" type of ritual (it comes from all of the possession and demon movies we have out in the past decade or more,) and you don't know what the fuck you're doing, you might regret that decision. A lot of the time, the spirit won't even show up. Why? Who the fuck are you, and why should they? If you have little to no ability, you are of no interest to most of the ones that are found in lists of spirits. You could be pretty interesting to something of a much lower order that feeds on your fears and is pretty awful (but if you like exorcism movies, you're in for a treat as you get something like that in your home!) Or you could be unintentionally rude (or just intentionally rude) to a very very powerful spirit and it decides that it will fuck your life up – and you can't exorcise those ones to my knowledge, you just have to appease them. 

    If the above sounds really shitty, then maybe don't call spirits on a whim, and maybe work up to doing that sort of thing, so if something does go wrong, you can actually banish the spirit, oh and make sure you banish it. Even if you say it didn't show up, sometimes it did, and so you know, be sure to  tell it to leave but nicely. πŸ™‚

    If you do something wrong with SPIRITS, then hell yeah, you can have some bad luck and ill fortune. If you do a spell on a surface you haven't cleaned, you can combine energies unintentionally and that can suck. If you do not ritually bathe, you will begin to take on some of the energies of the spells you cast – it's sort of like when I worked in a sandwich shop and came home smelling like lunch meat, despite never eating there. 

    But magic itself does not cause bad luck and ill fortune just for using it. It is the inept- and/or the lazy practitioner who draws those to themselves.

    Myth: If I use reconciliation magic on a person, the love affair will be awful and it will be as if it is cursed.

    Reality: Much like the above, this is either propaganda from people who dislike reconciliatory workings, OR this has happened because the petitioner did not work with the spell (or they are just incompatible.) I've seen countless reconciliation spells manifest and keep the happy couple together, often for many years (in more than one case they are still together to my knowledge after all these years.)

    If you find reconciliation magic distasteful, you don't have to use it. That does not make it evil. 

    Hopefully, this has cleared some stuff up. Til next time, lovies,

    ~Cat

     

  • Hey everyone,

    This is not just about me or my experiences, but if you're an asshole that thinks I should never complain about anything, you will want to sit this one out. *Puts on "I support small businesses" sticker, and gets on soap box*

    Everyone else, look at the people in your life, and realize that many, many, many of them are hugely financially struggling right now. In a few months there will be so many homeless people (because they can't pay rent or bills and can't land a job and got fired because coronavirus,) that it will be frightening. I want you to think about this because SO MANY of my friends are small business owners, and they are getting fucked left and right by people who confuse the fact that a small business owner is more understanding than a large company, that you can also wait to pay them, not pay them, get free shit from them all of the time, or heckle their price down, and that's just totally OK. It isn't OK. You do realize that the electric company will not be shuttered if it doesn't get three large payments by Friday, but the girl who does those eyelash extensions down the street is facing months of not being able to open her business, financial aid that doesn't cover a tenth of her costs, and then clients who do this:

    "OK, Maureen, if you take like 20% off, and like I can pay in 2 weeks, I will come in on Friday." 

    Please note, the person above will often ghost you and then show up 2 weeks later and ask for the same thing with a 2 week pay window.

    People, small businesses literally depend on their sales so, so, so much, that if they have 2 bad months, that might just be the end. At least in the USA, it's also nearly impossible to get financial help for much of much when you are self employed. And if you own the business? Everything and everyone who's working for you gets paid before you do. That hurts when sales are slow and spare and when people think it's OK to start haggling the price down. 

    So, if you're the struggling owner of a small business, someone offering to pay you next week is tiresome in a good economy, but you can probably handle it. Yeah, you learn quickly to make sure you don't give them something before they pay if there is a probability they will never pay, but they rarely if ever heckle you for a lower price, and you can handle their scheduling BS. If you lose a few payments, it's just an average year. Right now? It's the difference between if you have it you're still struggling, and if you get screwed you're homeless and that's it, your business is dead. It's really getting to that point. 

    And I keep seeing this price gouging. Like why are you asking Al's Fine Furniture for half off? Do you really think he's doing 500x the business he was before the pandemic? Did you really try to negotiate buy one get one free at your dentist in regard to fillings? I mean, if that's normal in your culture, it isn't in mine, and it's rude. It's also costing people their jobs.

    Keep in mind, when I have a good year, I buy a lot more nice things, and generally unique things from smaller sellers (I support small businesses!), but I also support bigger chains as well (supermarkets and utilities, etc.) because I need basic widespread goods and services, like you. When I become poor, I can't afford many smaller businesses, and I need to economize, but I miss the little things. I want a new tattoo right now, for example, and three guys run my favorite tattoo parlor. I don't have a few spare Benjamins ($100 bills) to make an appointment. When I get my hair colored, I need to pinch pennies to afford it, but I love my salon, and it's a small business so I gladly keep my appointments and pay them for their expertise. But  what I do not do is this "HEY, I know it's a pandemic, and like can't you just cut me a break and like just accept $75 for this $120 tattoo – I mean it's small, right?" That's shitty. Shitty. I would never do that. I own a small business and I can't afford a good tip, but I'm giving one anyway so that person's lights stay on and kids get fed. That's what good people do. They do not price gouge a struggling business owner, or demand free goods and services from them. 

    So why is it that so many of my friends who sell readings, sell spells, and also my therapist/psychiatrist/psychologist friends (weirdly enough) find themselves getting this "Hey, can I have this at half off? The pandemic made me poor." Well, us too, and we are paying to keep businesses open. Like this one I'll get "Why is this $325!?" Because it's seven days of work and 5 spells in a package deal that individually would cost you around $400 at the low end,  or more anywhere else when combined? How's that?" A therapist friend of mine was told that she was living like a king off of a $50 payment for an hour. She can't afford bread right now. She's super broke. And the client paid her ONE QUARTER of her usual rate (because the client has no insurance) and then told her she's a piece of shit. Another peer of mine? He's a well known psychic and usually gets $150/hr. Right now he only gets the same rate of business when charging SIXTY AN HOUR. This dude works for a few celebrities (who still pay old rates,) so he's known, but anyone who does readings will tell you that your well off clients are only a small percentage of your whole clientele. He was couch surfing a few months ago. He had to move because he broke up with his girlfriend (she kept the apartment,) and getting into a new place is too expensive on like $400 a week or so. (Newsflash – psychics and therapists often do not do paying work for every hour we work.)

    Stop gouging people in small business for free and lesser costing services. We are struggling to make ends meet, too. I know you feel like you don't have enough (many of you,) but if you want good work/service, pay the listed price. Stop being shitty. Imagine you go into work tomorrow and your boss tells you that  you now make a third of your usual paycheck but still need to work as much, and if you dare complain, then you're fired because some desperate person will do your job. That's the equivalent of you gouging people for cheaper services. The new person would do a far inferior job than you would, but who cares, they will work for like $3 an hour, so you're fucked unless you take it. Well, you know what, no. We need to push back at people who think we are worth less than our value.

    And while I can't say other businesses do this, I legitimately have helped many clients in bad financial situations who really want something, people I know who are the BEST FUCKING PEOPLE EVER, who have been horribly affected by this pandemic in financial (and sometimes in physical health or through loss of friends and family,) ways get something affordable for their need. These are people I've worked with for years, and they are good people. Loyal customers who patronize your business and generally pay without any problem are the cornerstone of a small business, and you do show them you value them by giving them something free or lesser cost from time to time…and unsurprisingly, they never ask it of you. Ever. Because they realize you need to get paid, too. 

    Then there are people with steady work at the same (or a higher rate) of hours at their job and same wages for it, and they are more often the ones thinking they can price gouge. Or I wouldn't know them and never worked with them, and they think why not ask for freebies or a lesser cost. What? Who raised you people? What in the actual fuck.

    In most cases if you want to try to squeeze as much free stuff out of me as possible, you want to undercut my prices, or etc…. Just don't take up my time. I'm working 16 hours a day for 1/4th or so of what my average weekly net pay was. My husband cannot work and earn a check. I have to pay his expensive bills also. The difference between you paying next week or this week might mean I get to live off Ramens this week and the wifi gets shut off. If my husband could work (and stopped incurring large bills) that would be a blessing, but I supported him when he didn't work with no problem at a few different points in the past (but not 2020 – this is just way, way, way too badly paying to not struggle). SO…NO, you can't have $325 of work for $200. No I will not sell you a reading for $35. No. No. No.

    I think people forget how delicate of a position small business owners are in even in the best of times. So this is my reminder.

    I hope it sinks in. If it doesn't, soon everything – and I mean everything – is going to be a poorly made, mass produced walmart piece of shit and you won't be able to find anything else, because you were not willing to pay for anything of a finer quality. 

    I understand we all want a deal. I try to run a few sales with that in mind when I can. It's good for people who do need that price cut, who I don't know and wouldn't give it to (outside of a sale) but again…those people don't price gouge. They wait. They are respectful. If you are financially struggling, keep in mind, so are those small businesses. Of every dollar I earn, 80% is basically going back into the business to keep it running. I enjoy the wifi outside of my job, but my job needs it to run, for example. Rent means I have a place to do spells, but also to sleep. 

    Don't haggle small business owners for freebies and cheap stuff. If you haggle me for it from here on out, I will fire you. πŸ˜› Wait for a sale. πŸ˜› Thank you for understanding.

    Your cranky-ass rootworkin' friend,

    ~Cat

    PS- If you get mad and think this is about you, it actually came from 2 friends calling today and complaining how people keep price gouging and abusing them, and me sympathizing, and not about any of my clients in particular…but if you did think it was about you, you probably need to take a hard look at your own behavior, to be fair. 

  • Hey there, Occulties,

    So, as I continue on with this reconciliation series, the big "when do I get results if I do this, or is this faster, or is this here what I want because it's fastest," problem with reconciliation is the part I'd next like to address. While you would not be wrong to assume there might be more speed with one method over another, but so much of the "time frame" depends on many, many other factors that choosing a type of reconciliation based on how quickly you will be back with your ex tells me that you're not actually basing your choice on valid reasoning…it's a bit like you choosing a car because it's red, versus it's performance, mileage, safety, or even price. πŸ˜› Furthermore remember that A FAST CHANGE IS OFTEN NOT A LASTING CHANGE. So this idea that if you can just get the target to come back ASAP, then all will be well again in the world is not often a reality. I like to call this "Ferrari vs Volvo decisions," meaning the Ferrari represents the impulsive decision (or a quickly made one,) and the Volvo represents the carefully made decision which the 'buyer' has put a great deal of time and consideration into. People who make a "Ferrari" decision (an impulsive decision), are often just as quick to revert or change their mind as they were to impulsively choose the "Ferrari." People who make a "Volvo" decision are generally certain and sure of their decision, and do not just flip-flop on the matter soon after. When it comes to love, you'd much rather not be the "Ferrari" as someone can just as quickly decide it is a bad idea. Yeah, I know, you need to be the boxy, safe automobile. πŸ˜‰ BUT, a decision someone makes with consideration is one they don't just as quickly reverse. 

    Oftentimes, when discuss reconciliation spells, I compare them to a medical treatment. Accordingly, we can also think of a relationship, in this context, as a living being. While, in a perfect world, a healthy relationship would need no treatment, – or might have a few problems but nothing which won't repair itself – when the relationship has reached a point where reconciliation spellwork is necessary for that relationship to survive, we do need to keep in mind, – what condition is it in, exactly? If you were to compare it to an illness, is this a sudden condition like waking up with a high fever, or is it a long standing problem which has progressed to become worse and worse, because the problem was either not addressed or was poorly/wrongly addressed? What type of "injury" does the relationship have – while we can assume it isn't likely to be fixed overnight, if the split was sudden, would you compare it more to a broken bone or to a serious viral illness? :/ And BE HONEST. Right now, some very hopeful person is going to tell me something so broken and terrible is really "not so bad." The reality is…there's a good chance that the relationship you're working on is severely mortally injured, and it's going to take some time and good spellwork for it to ever recover. πŸ˜› This is an important thing to consider, especially when working for others, as the more damage the relationship has accrued, the more time it often requires to repair itself. While the petititioner is eager for an overnight remedy, a situation which is very damaged will rarely be fixable so quickly. 

    And also, sometimes that relationship has been broken so many times that we can say it will never be stable or as good as it once was. People who seek to fix a relationship over and over and over need to realize that something which has been repaired so many times has visible and progressive issues. This is important as not only will the situation often be a difficult fix, you're likely to need to fix it again shortly. Compare this to a ceramic vase or lamp which has been shattered and glued back together several times. After awhile, it will lack much stability because it's been broken too many times. 

    So, when we look at a relationship we wish to repair, or that which we have been asked to repair, the reality of it is that we may need time to bring it back together, AND, if it has broken up frequently, it may not even be that stable of a repair. I can assure you that most petitioners DO NOT WANT TO ACCEPT THIS, and the more resistant the petitioner is to this reality, the less likely the situation will be a permanent fix, unfortunately. The petitioner often will base their decisions on how quickly they can have the target back in their lives, which will be a short-lived reunion in many cases, and often a person of this temperament often also engages in some self-defeating behaviors (for example, arguing with a reconciliation target frequently,) which, should you be working for others, is something to keep in mind. It can be difficult to handle one person who can't resist antagonizing their target or who is prone to frequent meltdowns if you are working for several people at once. 

    Certain targets are also just prone to being very cautious, and this can mean a slower result, even if the damage isn't severe. If the target is SHY or is OVERLY CAUTIOUS, advise your petitioner that the wait may be a bit longer than it would be in an average case.

    Hopefully this has been helpful in my reconciliation series. I hope to add more, but wanted to get this up.

    ~C

     

  • Hey Occulties,

    Continuing on with our reconciliation discussion, today we will be discussing "coercive reconciliation," which tend to fall under (possibly surprising) categories…such as control-spell or curse. Now, that sounds bad enough, but there are even people who will use a "Love me or Die" spell, and yeah…not only is that not likely to work in modern times (because the person won't realize their horrible sickness is because they won't marry someone or return to someone, and they will die,) but it's also something where I would say that if you're willing to kill your beloved, that you might seek professional psychological help instead rather than kill them unless they love you back.

    However, the "coercive reconciliation" is often the "final attempt," to reconcile a relationship, and I would be lying if I said it was for the faint of heart….but it is generally a damn effective method, all the same. πŸ˜› If you use these methods, you are going to use methods for obsession, controlling, and cursing rather than using romantic and sexual love. If this violates some sort of moral or spiritual ethics for you to cast these kinds of spells, I strongly suggest you stop reading, because…well, it's also quite common that people use this type of spellwork…but why?

    As someone who both teaches how to cast spells and as someone who does so for others, I can assure you that at least 85% of people wait until the situation is so terrible and so unfixable that it would NEVER EVER EVER work itself out without the intervention of spells. In some cases, it's even a bit like a bone that was broken in 15 places and allowed to set on it's own without being straightened properly, so it would knit right and put into a cast, leaving it so unless it is "re-broken" in all those spots, and set properly, it won't ever ever ever have a chance of being useful again. I guess to be more direct, I'm saying, the relationship exploded, and the target has healed and changed and so much time has passed that at this point, without causing the target discomfort, they are very unlikely to respond noticably to any less-coercive working. And of course, you have the "difficult target" who is stubborn, or wishy washy, or etc. They too, tend not to respond to more pleasant influence, and may require a heavier hand.

    Whatever the case (be it a difficult target, a horrible break up, or even a petitioner that acted too crazy too many times, etc,) one thing you MUST keep in mind is that you should nearly always ALSO use traditional love and/or reconciliation work alongside this kind of working. Failure to do so tends to lead to a limited reunion at best, and a harried and miserable target who isn't interested in returning (but has a really crappy time of things) at worst. This means, you're going to be working at least TWO spells on this person – the one to coercively reconcile, and the one to make them feel loving and desirous of the petitioner. ALSO, petitioners using this kind of work will often want to "return to what we had when we first got together." This is impossible, and none of these spells erase history or bad actions…so while the couple may reunite, remind the petitioner (or yourself) that being forgiven for past mistakes does not make them forgotten. If your petitioner (or yourself) refuses to learn from your mistakes and keeps repeating them, expect the reconciliation to be short-lived. :P 

    Alright, well, WHY is this effective to bring someone back if it's so unkind? you might ask. Insecurity, desperation, guilt, fear, jealousy, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and inner turmoil really suck, don't they? So when you feel those kinds of feelings, do you think to yourself "how do I stop feeling like this?" or do you just sit there and enjoy feeling shitty? You try to change it and often as quickly as possible, correct? The target, much like you, dear reader, is also a human being and also, when made very uncomfortable (even just emotionally) is going to seek a way to stop feeling as they do. So many coercive reconciliation spells depend on making this target uncomfortable in one or more of those ways (and sometimes in ways unmentioned,) which has been a method to draw back an errant lover since at least Roman times (it's in the 2000 year old Greek Magical Papyrii, for goodness sakes,) that we might reasonably assume that it still being in use today means it's a pretty fucking effective method to get someone to come back to you. πŸ˜› If you're feeling exceptionally nasty, you might outright curse this person to lose friends and family and health and social status and job (anything, really,) until they return to the petitioner. Emotional turmoil without trying to impact health and family/friend relationships, health, home, or job does do the trick on it's own 95% or more of the time, however, and I recommend it far more than actually going about with the intention of destroying a target to the point that they could lose their home, business, or life. 

    Let's also just be really honest here – several petitioners are ANGRY and want "justice," which to them means that the target should suffer as they have suffered until said target returns. I can entirely understand that perspective. If you've ever dated someone who is never wrong, even when they are (ah, nothing like a good ol' personality disorder,) then you probably understand this desire as well. πŸ˜›

    If your situation hasn't improved by using less heavy-handed methods like traditional reconciliation, and/or return to me workings, this is the next step. It isn't kind, but it's very very effective, even in the worst of situations. :) 

    The next article in this series will tie everything together, and I hope to be a bit more expedient in getting that one up. πŸ˜‰

    ~Cat

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  • Hey there Occulties! :) 

    So, in continuing on in my series on reconciliation, today we move onto Return to Me type reconciliation, which is basically reconciliation with a drawing element to it, meaning it draws the party to be reconciled back into your life. This is likely the most-common type of reconciliation working, as many people wait until the relationship has entirely blown apart before they do work (which I do not recommend – you should try to fix it before it's totally broken!) 

    So, in the most simplified language, you want to use "return to me" when you (or the petitioner) is no longer living with and/or interacting with the target, and there is likely to be no further intentional interaction between the two unless a magical intervention takes place. The return to me contains an element in the formula which will draw the target back to the petitioner while also influencing said target to seek reconciliation and feel reconciliation. 

    That seems relatively simple, right? You've gotten on such bad terms with the target that you're not speaking to them, so you just use this ol' formula here, correct? In a perfect world, yes. πŸ˜‰ Of course, any spellcaster runs into a myriad of situations wherein either the petitioner can't be trusted to act according to what the spell needs, or the target has some sort of quirk making them not react as they should, or even phone numbers get changed or people move or etc. So, it isn't always going to be straightforward.

    First, is your petitioner reactive, anxious, or socially inexperienced, or just plain socially-challenged? If so, this might not work (though this can cause a lot of problems with spellcasting in general.) The petitioner must be capable of containing themselves and not blowing up at the target when the target reacts to the spellwork, not scaring the target, and etc. Not everyone can do this. I've worked for people where they quite literally destroyed every reconciliation working I did for them the moment the target came looking to reconcile because they would feel the need to bring up any sort of past offense and/or grill the person as to whether or not he or she had the audacity to even look at someone else while they were on a break. DO. NOT. EVER. ACT. THAT. WAY. Obsessive, angry, and morose petitioners are not exactly a juicy temptation for a nervous target trying to return…in fact people who act like that are scary, and they are scary with or without a spell. If you never ever want your ex back, that is the only reason to ever act like that. 

    So, in a situation with a problematic petitioner with emotional/behavioral issues causing harmful behaviors, you *may* have success with some more intensive type of reconciliation workings, but honestly, many of those people can even work against everything (seriously,) so be warned that success may not be possible if your petitioner can't get a hold of themselves. 

    On the upside, if someone is merely somewhat socially-awkward, this type of working is very useful as long as they have a few pointers which work in the vast majority of cases, and can stick with that advice. πŸ™‚ Basically, you want the target to come to you. That means do not keep poking the proverbial bear for a reaction, but rather, you want to give the target time to initiate contact. If a certain amount of time has passed (let's just say 30 days,) and your petitioner has not heard from the target, they might try to get a reaction by some sort of NON ROMANTIC and NON ACCUSATORY contact with the target. This might be sending them a funny picture or asking them for a mutual friend's number, or etc. It has to be quick and it has to be in no way acting as if the target or the petitioner share any great mutual affection. All this is for is to allow the target to know that it's not World War III and it's safe to talk to the petitioner (it is very common for the target to be very nervous about reaching out.) If there is no response that is a response. Is that a bad response? Yes. It usually means there is a lot of damage here and the target is not ready to speak to the petitioner. Either redo the working, OR move on to more intense reconciliation methods. Once the target has made contact (or is responsive,) the petitioner should be pleasant, and should avoid arguments or discussing the past, UNLESS the target brings it up, at which point they should RESPOND, though not necessarily bring up all the dirty laundry and sadness between them. This is important. You want the target to feel safe, comfortable, and as if the storm has passed so that they can try to reconcile the relationship, rather than discouraging the target by giving them the idea that the petitioner is still quite sour towards them. 

    What if you have a "problem target?" even though your petitioner is a wonderful person to work with (or is you, and you think you're fan-fucking-tastic, thank you very much)? Well, it happens, albeit, it tends to happen a lot less than you might think. The most common problem tends to be (as you may have surmised,) that because of human nature making us humans fear rejection very very much, the target is afraid that any attempt to reconcile will be horribly shot down by the petitioner. :/ Before you think this is only "shy" people who would qualify as this type of target, you'd be wrong. People who might come off as stoic or bull-headed are often the same. AND, let's not forget our old pals…the anxious, overly-defensive type. These targets sometimes don't just stay mute, they literally tear apart the petitioner (assuming they will be rejected,) only to realize the petitioner also wants them back (because they don't realize they were the target of a spellcasting,) and then, and only then, do they capitulate and become nice (though sometimes that happens too late, and your petitioner is a mess because the defensive asshat target told them off, ugh.) While that type is thankfully relatively rare, there is also the "can't discuss anything romantic for way too long," cautious type as well…so if the target keeps reaching out to the petitioner, but is being super platonic, I advise to have your petitioner remain patient and perhaps amplify the target's feelings with some love-drawing work as well, so that they can't resist becoming flirtatious. 

    But of course, there is a risk for the "friends with benefits" return, and the over-eager petitioner falling into the target's FWB trap. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS advise your petitioner (or yourself if you are the petitioner,) to be sure that the target has expressed a desire to fix the relationship, and is not just asking for what one might term a "quickie," here in the USA. πŸ˜‰ People have asked me how to know if the target will not just deviate into a FWB situation, and my best advice is to make sure by telling said amorous target that "I want you so much too, but I still have very strong feelings for you, and so I can't have sex with you unless I know you want something more than just sex with me, otherwise my feelings are going to get really hurt. If you just want to be friends, we can't have sex. If you want something more, then I'd feel a lot better risking getting hurt." 

    In the event contact details have changed OR there is a strong probability that the target has lost the petitioner's contact details… Look, unless both petitioner and target share close friends or live very nearby, this is a very very very very difficult hurdle. Believe it or not, without very easy methods to contact the petitioner, (and I mean the least amount of effort possible,) the probability of success goes way down very fast. Encourage your petitioner to unblock any social media contacts that are blocked to the target and to retain the same mobile number. Discourage alienating mutual friends as well. It isn't that I haven't seen spellwork make a target overcome such hurdles, it's that it's very very difficult. You are recommended to try coercive type reconciliation in such cases, but even then, you may fail.

    And if there are legal restraints against the petitioner? Good lord. :/ First, if you're working for someone else, I strongly recommend not accepting the case. The likelihood of success is very very low. If it's your break up and you really feel motivated to work on it yourself, then realize again, the likelihood of success is very very low, and even moreso if you really earned that restraining order. 😦 Let's be honest, here, a lot of people do get those deservedly. I recommend trying coercive type reconciliation in those cases, and DEFINITELY stick to the restraining order and DO NOT reach out to your ex. Good luck and Godspeed with that. 

    In the vast majority of cases, return to me type reconciliation will be your best choice. Hopefully the above has been educational. Tomorrow, I will move on to coercive-type reconciliation. :) 

    ~Cat