Nyx

The Azure Flame

by Oracle Hekataios

Blue Star Fire

The Azure Flame is an important component of StrixCraft as I teach it. In my forthcoming book, “StrixCraft: Modern Greek Magic for the Modern Witch,” I introduce the Azure Flame to the reader, and it is a vital link between the individual and their Magic. In a previous post I briefly mention the Azure Flame and the link to daimons. Here I will expound on it just a bit more.

Nyx
In StrixCraft, Nyx is First Mother. She is power incarnate. Nyx is the First Oracle. There is a poem we can use to honor Hir*; it was inspired while meditating on Hir one evening. She is dark and beautiful; sequined and crowned with a over a billion blue stars. She is the Source and Dweller of the Original Fire, the seed of the Cosmos. It all begins and ends with Hir.

That being said, the Flame she possesses (and is) is wild, erratic, dangerous, and overpowering. It is the composition of a million billion suns, and from Hir the Cosmic Flames, in its purest form, is the germination of darkness.

The Cosmic Hearth
Hestia, the Goddess of the Hearth Fire, took the wild flames of Nature and domesticated the spirits with her presence and power. She is the overseer of the very fire she is also said to dwell in. Hestia’s name means “hearth,” which is the central flame in an oikos (household); it is a kind of fire pit lined by stone or brick where the central activity of the home is done. In many dwellings it is the mantle fireplace.

However, as below, so above:

According to the Pythagorean Mysteries, Hestia was the Goddess of the Central Fire. It is Fire that is the center of the Cosmos, not Earth. Here Hestia reigns, surrounded by 10 celestial bodies – the dark Earth, Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and the Five Classical Planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn), along with the sphere of the fixed stars.

Prometheus
In the mythos I teach, humanity was without the power of Fire for a very long time. Fire was a phenomenon belonging to the Gods only. Nyx foresaw the tool of Fire and how beings would use it, both for creation and destruction.

Passing this oracle to the Titans and then the Gods, Zeus felt it was too early to entrust humanity with this power. We were too selfish, greedy, paranoid, and violent. Zeus felt that the Fire would be granted to us when we were ready, if ever.

Prometheus, however, the Titan of Forethought (for that is his name), was convinced otherwise. He, too, saw humanity’s potential with Fire. But rather than keep it hidden, Prometheus – a trickster who sought to outwit Zeus in this game – decided to steal the Fire, feeling that humanity also deserved this power.

Prometheus sought out the Graiai, the first Strix, to discover how he might steal the sacred flame. So it was that under cloak Prometheus journeyed to the Fields of Fennel, took a fennel’s stalk, and then journeyed to the Cosmic Heavens. Here he took blue flame from Hestia’s hearth, and brought it down to Earth. A woman Strix took the flames; she harnessed the star flames, and she was taught by Prometheus how to harness the cooler fires in the Mysteries.

The Azure Flame was born.

The Good Serpent
In StrixCraft, the Azure Flame can manifest as a serpent. As a result, serpents are sacred in our tradition. This was the first presence of the Agathos Daimon (“Good Spirit”), the dominant life force of humanity and their link to the Starry Body. The Azure Flame is alive in its own right, but it is also tethered by the Starry Body to humanity.

The Agathos Daimon – in Strix Craft – is a quickening energy which keeps alive Awareness, Conscience, Behavior, and Forethought. It is also the key to Magic. In fact, in the old Mysteries, how to make fire was our first Magic as a people.

The Azure Flame
It is seated above the crown of the head, incorporating the “crown chakra” and “third eye.” The Azure Flame is the highest energy center, and locks with the Divine. By worshiping the Azure Flame, meditating on it, and working with it in our growth, we awaken new sensations, thoughts, Magics, and experiences. We may use it to create filters, raise energy, open psychic awareness, gain a better hold on our psychic skills, do trance work, perform healings, and seal our Initiations from life to life. The Azure Flame is a powerful tool, and it has much to offer witches who desire to connect with our Strix current.

*Hir is used by some Strix as a way of communicating the gender neutrality of Nyx, being both male, female, and neither.

Eirene kai Hugieia!
(Peace and Health!)
Oracle

My book is now available for pre-order! 

The Triple Soul

by Oracle Hekataios

Starry Body

In StrixCraft, particularly Ophic Strix, we have the concept of the Triple Soul. The Triple Soul is a concept unique to our Craft and etheric anatomy.  These are different parts of what we call in English the soul, although more specific words exist in many systems. We will explore here the etheric anatomy as we view it.

The Beginning
In StrixCraft as I teach it, the First Cause for the Cosmos and all that exists (and will exist) comes from the Star Goddess Nyx. Nyx means “Night,” and she is the enigmatic force and flow of all. She is the universe made manifest: the consciousness of evolution and the existence of all beings. She is also called First Mother. She is crowned with a billion blue and white stars, and her glory is wondrous to behold. She is also the First Oracle.

From her, all of the Primordials, Gods, and Spirits came into being. As did other beings who dwell on other planets, and humanity. By erotic Magic was the Cosmos born, and so it is by eroticism that the Cosmos is maintained, and Magic exists everywhere. Due to the fact that Magic exists, when humanity was birthed on the evolutionary scale, that Magic not only formed the body, but it also formed the psyche (“soul”).

Psyche
The psyche is the seat of the existence for a person. This is the sum of the entirety of our being, the basic framework of evolution and consciousness. The symbol of the psyche is a butterfly, as this creature “dies and lives again” when transforming from a caterpillar to a butterfly. While alive, the psyche holds everything together: the human body and the three parts. It is also where Magic resides, the source of our abilities and skills. Some people have a natural talent of Will to shape their Reality; the fabric of Fate. It is by the Triple Soul that the psyche is able to act.

The Lunar Body 
The first part I would like to discuss is the Lunar Body. This is the “lowest” part of the psyche; that is, the closest to our physical bodies. What impacts the physical body will also impact the Lunar Body. The Lunar Body is the seat of the etheric double (the alter ego or ghost), desire, and the basic passions of the body. The Lunar Body is connected with the cycles of the Moon: as the Moon waxes, the Lunar Body is strengthened to externally impact and shape its Will. As the Moon wanes, the Lunar Body begins to introspect. At the dark of the moon, the Lunar Body is cloaked in darkness, being still. It is connected to the genitals. The Lunar Body is the one concerned with experiencing the out-of-body experience. To add, the Lunar Body is the one which also is linked to the ancestors; food and drink left for the ancestors feeds the Lunar Body. It is therefore linked to Memory. If the Lunar Body is not fed, it disappears.

The same goes for the Tides of Magic.

Tides of Magic
At the Tempis Eversionis (the time of the Winter Solstice through the Spring Equinox), the Lunar Body is incubated. While Magic can still be performed during this time, most of the energies in the Winter should be directed towards meditation, etheric travel, healing, and self-development. At this time, too, the dark spirits of the Fae are active. But it is because of the incubation period that the StrixCraft as I teach it does not perform dedications or initiations until after the Spring Equinox.

At the Tempus Sementis (the time from the Spring Equinox until the Summer Solstice), there is a sexual awakening in the psyche, and the Lunar Body begins to exercise Will and theurgical workings. Theurgy means “God Work,” or working Magic for self-development, spiritual contact with the Upper World Gods and spirits, and is the time of the light Fae. Initiations and dedications are performed during this time.

At the Tempus Messis (the time of the Summer Solstice to the Autumn Equinox), the Lunar Body as a whole begins to connect with thaumaturgy. Thaumaturgy means “Wonder Working,” and is concerned with Magics to perform summonings, evocations of spirits and deities, and healings.

At the Tempus Consilii (the time of the Autumn Equinox to the Winter Solstice), we enter the Underworld and work with the ancestors heavily. They shouldn’t be ignored throughout the year, but this is the time when they are most active.

The Solar Body
The Solar Body is centered in the heart. The heart is perhaps the most important of the bodies. Here is the seat of emotions, our conscious minds, Will, character, judgement, and behavior. It connects the physical body to the psyche (wherein all of the triple parts dwell). The Solar Body is also concerned with astral travel and, when leaving the body, can shapeshift into an animal familiar. In an out-of-body experience, this is the part which leaves this plane and heads “towards the light” to join the beloved dead. Because of the Sun’s ability to make shadows, here dwells the Shadow Self as well. At death, the Solar Body carries the essence of the individual and may reincarnate.

The Starry Body
The Starry Body is located in the crown of the head and third eye. The Starry Body is our highest genius, or the repository of our Higher Self. Here is the “True Name,” or the identity we carry from life to life. It is connected with the Solar Body, keeping the eternal repositories of our memories, initiations, the Group Soul (those individuals who have been with us for a long time, from life to life, and we remain strongly connected with), and the source of Magic. Oracular possessions, connection to divinity, and Reason are also here. It carries the power of the subconscious and the Collective. The Starry Body is also the imprint of the astrological powers defined at birth. It is my personal belief, however, that the imprint can be changed on oneself through the Work.

Conclusion
These are the Tripartite Soul anatomy that exists in StrixCraft as I teach it. It is powerful and effective. Many may not agree with my placements, and that’s fine. The Bodies blend here and there, and may separate as well to return to their pure states. However, for the sake of imagination and classification for linear thinking most of us possess, I divide them neatly. But that isn’t always the case; think again of the tides of both the Moon and the Four Tides of Magic. There is always more to our anatomies, such as the Triple Flame which I will go into in another blog. We are complex beings. But for us, it all comes down to the Star Goddess Nyx, in whom we live, move, and have our being. She is the Goddess Eternal, and at the end of all things, we will return to her and give her our memories and experiences so she may know herself once more.

Eirene kai Hugieia!
(Peace and Health!)
Oracle

 

Death and Darkness

by Oracle Hekataios

Darkness

April 7th. I’ll never forget that date moving forward.

It was the day I found my dad dead in his apartment.

My father had a smartphone that he didn’t know how to work very well. Sometimes he would accidentally shut it off, or put it on airplane mode. I called over the weekend, as I was busy doing his laundry. My sister and I got in the car and drove to his place. I received a phone call from his nurse for home health aid that they weren’t able to reach him. They were there on Monday and no one could get in contact with him.

Arriving at his place, I knocked on the door and there was no answer. I figured he must be in the restroom. I went to the office to get a key and open the door. Maybe he was sick again? He had just come out of rehab (physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy). A few weeks earlier, he was in the hospital because he had a stoke which led to a seizure. They started him on a new blood thinner and seizure medication.

I opened the door.

That is when the smell hit me.

I was in shock. He was on the floor in his room passed out. But when I went into the room, it was too late: my father was dead and his body must have been there for a couple of days. I panicked. I cried. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I called 911, but again, it was too late. They were sending out police officers. I didn’t even have adequate time to grieve. I had to be stoic and in my right mind as best as I was able so I could speak with the officers. I called my brother and my mother to tell them the shocking news. I won’t bore you with the rest of the details. But, that’s when I confronted death and darkness.

Days later, I contemplated and spoke with my High Priest in the Alexandrian Tradition, along with my Minos (High Priest) in the Minoan Brotherhood. I spoke separately with them. I noticed, looking through our Witchcraft and Trad Wiccan liturgy, that there was nothing on how to deal with death and darkness. Sure, requiem ceremonies could be used. But my question was HOW to deal with death and darkness. So, I turned to the philosophies of both StrixCraft as well as liturgy from the Trad Witch and Trad Wiccan BoS’s. What was missing, I wanted to add to our grove and coven’s work. So, I turned to one of our sacred liturgies: the Charge of the Goddess.

The Charge of the Goddess

In the Charge, there are several lines that seem to work with how death deals:

I am the Gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart. Upon earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, I give peace, and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before. Nor do I demand sacrifice, for behold I am the Mother of All Living, and my love is poured out upon the earth.

I turned to the Goddess, specifically, the Goddesses Hekate and Persephone. Both are Underworld deities with a host of daimons (spirits) that follow them. In the Charge of the Goddess, she speaks about what is beyond death; namely, peace, freedom, and reunion. it comforted me to some extent. But again, the grief was too much. I was having nightmares and flashbacks to what I found. Just HOW do I grieve. HOW do I deal with the PTSD?

Nyx: First Mother

I then turned my awareness to my own teachings in the Ophic Strix Trad. There are steps in how to deal with that kind of suffering. Let me explain. In my mythology, there was First Mother, whom we call Nyx (“Night”), also known as the Star Goddess (a title also used in the liturgy of the Charge). Nyx felt empty within. Lonely. She searched the entire Cosmos for one like her. Finally, she came upon the curved black mirror of Space. When she saw herself in all of her glory, she fell in love and lust with what she had seen: herself. She fell in love with what she was seeing, and immediately began to masturbate. At the explosion of orgasm, the two first beings came out in sexual embrace:

Eros and Thanatos. The Sacred Twins.

Now two males, then two females, then one or the other: eroticism birthed the Cosmos. It is an essential component of who we are as people, as animals. It is the pull of the song of Eros – playing with his flute (no pun intended) – which draws things together. It is the blade of Thanatos that causes separation.

Having discovered herself in all of her glory, the image before her now was shattered. Pieces of Nyx began to move, like nebulas, in which Nyx changed herself to become the very creative force that she birthed. She was searching for herself again. The theme of evolution is her love story. She would know herself in all of her being. Again. In an effort to do that, she began to birth and create all of what she knew. So, in essence, the evolution of bacteria, beings on other worlds, us, Nature, plants, galaxies, etc are all of Nyx attempting to know herself again. Once she does, the Cosmos will fold in upon itself, and it was begin again.

Polishing the Sacred Mirror

Inspired by this myth, I realized that the heart is our mirror. Not the physical heart, but the spiritual heart. The seat of emotions, the anchor to our energy bodies, and the center of our entire being. The heart is the key to one of the most powerful shadow working experiences that we can do: polishing it and bringing back the pieces which were shattered.

Trauma causes our heart to be shattered. Our pieces break off and may go into the ether. The only way to heal the shattered heart is to confront out darkness and spend time in healing techniques to bring back the pieces which are lost. In a sense, this is similar to “shamanic” soul retrievals. The ancient Greeks had something similar in a technique known as incubation, who’s purpose is to seek out the healing Gods Asklepios and Apollon to give the patient inspiration in dream work so that they may discover the key to their healing. The “shamans” were known as physician-seers, or an iatromanis.

Their main goal was to help patients come to know themselves via dream work and the silence of incubation. Unlike some shamanic techniques which encourage drumming and loud chanting, incubation was done in silence. It would begin with a purification bath and then lead to a sleeping chamber. Herbs would help with the cleansing bath, along with sacred drinks to help purge the body.

In an effort to help bring pieces together, this procedure was focused intently on healing the whole being: body, mind, spirit, environmental, and character-wise. Likewise, I interpret it that the key to holistic healing was to heal the shattered heart. That being said, shattered pieces often did not return or can be retrieved. Reasons vary. So, the heart would need to formulate new pieces which would match with the shattered pieces, and a new heart would be born. This is what is meant to polish the sacred mirror: return to love and First Mother, whose inspiration to know herself in all of her being was utilized on the microcosm. 

Darkness and the Shadow

Healing is never simple. In fact, in and of itself can be traumatic. Healing challenges us to confront the darkness within, what some call the Shadow. The Shadow, that alter-ego which encompasses the negativity and trauma that has shattered our hearts, is a very real presence we all carry. Some people feel that as long as we suppress those behaviors and feelings, we are doing a great job. Others try not to embrace the Shadow, instead encouraging a positive outlook. Finally, the Shadow is viewed as the enemy; something “demonic” and an entity that will pull us down, and so exorcisms to banish the Shadow (which you can’t do) are done. Like an active volcano that has enough pressure within it before a powerful explosion, these teachings do not help. Instead, they try and keep the Shadow buried, something that will only lead to a very difficult and strenuous path that results in psychotic breaks.

Nyx is darkness. In witchcraft, darkness and shadow are holy. There is nothing unorthodox about working with our dark alter-ego in order to find fulfillment. In fact. death itself is holy. It is Nature. It is evolution. It is the love story of Nyx attempting to find herself. Dark matter encompasses 85% of the Cosmos, and dark energy is a repulsive, causing things to scatter away from each other. These are natural. It is natural to work with your alter-ego. It is natural to be afraid, to be grieving and feel alone. It is natural to be in the dark for some time. Like wounded animals which seek to hide and incubate for some time until they are healed, we as humans must be able to also know when it is time to step away from the chaos and noise to focus on ourselves in order to be whole again. You can ask for help. You can ask for boundaries and patience. All that you do is sacred. Remember that.

My own Shadow

So, after everything, just how do I feel? Simple. I am angry. I feel it is unfair that I lost my dad and yet others still have theirs. Yes, I realize I make no sense. Logic is gone. I am pure emotion. But, I am also in a sacred place. Death is an inevitable part of life. He is dead. My father preferred the term “phased.” He has phased to another existence. The Goddess teaches us to know how to light our torches in the darkest of times. Hekate is a Torch Bearer, someone who walks with us in the shade, holding aloft her torches which light the way. I follow her willingly. These are tough times, and it will take time and patience (two words I hate). However, it is all part of the process: polishing the sacred mirror of our hearts, embracing our Shadow, and moving forward to help us adapt so that Nyx as us can rediscover her own truth. I remind you now with a saying for the Goddess Hekate: En Erebos Phos! (In Darkness, Light!).

Eirene kai Hugieia!
(Peace and Health!)
Oracle

 

 

 

Ophic Strix Creation Mythos: Nyx

by Oracle Hekataios
"Woman Between the Stars" by Corila Chirila
“Woman Between the Stars” by Corila Chirila

She awoke, alone and unsure, in the vast void which cloaked Hir flesh. The Night Mother yawned within the gaping void and began singing a mournful song of loneliness and abandonment. And it is why to this day the people feel pain when in the dark and alone within.

She traveled until at last She could no further and came to the very edge of the Cosmos. Watching the mirror of pristine wonder, She suddenly saw Hirself in all of Her glory! Straightaway She was taken with craving and began to masturbate in pleasure at the fullness of what She was seeing. This was the First Gnosis and First Desire. At the burst of Hir orgasm emerged the billions of stars and rocks which swirled about the body of the Mother. Hir momentary brush with Death (the First Death) in orgasm gave birth to Eros and Thanatos: the sacred twins of the First Mother, the genesis of linked souls: male, female and neither.

At once the potential of life had burst forth from joy and pleasure, sex unhinged. And it is why to this day the people experience transcendent ecstasy when reaching orgasm: the twins meet again. In lust She craved to know Hirself once more, and immediately metamorphosed and surrendered Hir nature to the impulses of yearning love. It is why to this day when people feel the stirrings of painful love and longing, often their nature is surrendered to obtain that which they desperately desire.

Thus the suns, gravity, light, speed, sounds, music, sacred harmony and planets with life were made. Life forms evolved; the dance of Eros and Thanatos for survival within the peoples brought joy, suffering, hope, healing and pain. Grief, anger, and other spirits were made.

All this is so the Great Night Mother would know Hirself. She desires nothing more. And when that time comes for our own world when She is satisfied, She will retake the body of the Earth Mother and all Her siblings, and they will return to the bosom of Nyx, where all souls become part of a Greater Cycle still to come, and the threads of Ananke never tear us apart.

Eirene kai Hugieia!

(Peace and Health!)

~Oracle~

A Poem For Nyx

by Oracle Hekataios
Nyx by Destiny Alford on Prezi
Nyx by Destiny Alford on Prezi

 

“In the shadowed den I wandered,
searching, seeking, ever I pondered.
Her beauty veiled in Starry Night,
Hallowed Shadows dance in the Light.
Bounteous Mother, Ebony Queen,
Flowing with Grace, Thy face Unseen.
Honorable Nyx, from Thy Throne Above,
Dost Thou lavish Wisdom, Faith and Love.
From the World Below, Fire gives birth,
Virtue flows, healing the earth.”

-First written by me 03 February 2011

Eirene Kai Hugieia!
(Peace and Health!)
~Oracle~

Oracle of Nyx

by Oracle Hekataios
The Star Goddess
The Star Goddess
In Darkness is where Wisdom and Knowledge can be found. In the things we choose to ignore and not give any attention to – those are the very things that we should face and find the answers we always search for. We cannot runaway from the inevitable. Hekate teaches us to face the Dark and, not to confront it, but to embrace it. To unite and become integrated with our shadows, our fears, and ourselves.

In ancient times, Nyx was not only the personification of Night. She has a wealth of importance in the Witchcraft Traditions that are influenced by the Samothrakian and Orphic Mysteries. She is the First Mother, the Hermaphroditic Demiurge that masturbates to bring about the origins of the macrocosm. She is also the First Oracle, pronouncing Her utterances from Her Cave that exists at the very edge of the Kosmos. She is heavily linked to Underworld Deities such as Hekate and Persephone. But what does this mean?  It means She is there to teach us to dance to the rhythms of the universe as it whirls, that She is there to teach us that things in the background are ever-present. We transcend from Hekate teaching us to embrace the Darkness, to Nyx teaching us to live without fear and understand that the Darkness itself is Divine. Every part of us is Divine, and everything that we face, no matter how difficult and fearful, is something we must endure. Here is the pronouncement of the Nyx Oracle:
“I am the First Mother, the Dreamer whose Dreams weave the fabric of the Kosmos.
Raise your eyes and look into the Stars; My Body, My Being, is always Watching.
Out of Love I bore you, and out of Love I watch and embrace all that you are.
Raise your eyes and look into the Stars; I embrace you, hold you, always Watching.
I hold all things in Harmony, for Themis is my Daughter.
Raise your eyes and look into the Stars; they are my Light reflecting back to you.
In the Darkness Hope shines, patiently, from life unto life.
Raise your eyes and look into the Stars; Harmony and Balance burn and decay – to which shall you hold onto?
I am the Constant Void, the Eternal Dance, the Whirling Mother.
I am the Night that Breathes, and you, My Children, are My faces that shine from My dreams.”
Eirene kai Hugieia!
(Peace and Health!)
~Oracle~

What is the Ophic Strix Tradition?

by Oracle Hekataios
Temple of Hekate Ritual
Temple of Hekate Ritual

People have often wondered what exactly my temple teaches. Our temple, the Temple of Hekate: Ordo Sacra Strix (Sacred Order of the Owl), is the only existing temple thus far of the Ophic Strix Tradition. In Traditional Initiatory Wicca, the word “Tradition” when pertaining to a specific lineage or group, is only used if that branch survives at least 3 generations. For example, if High Priestess Willowroot founds a coven and it is called “Coven of the Sacred Flame,” and her coven begins to combine aspects of Celtic Reconstructionism with their mother Tradition of Gardnerian Witchcraft, then this is something new. From there, if a daughter coven hives off, and then another hives off from theirs, it can be said by those members that “Coven of the Sacred Flame” is a candidate for a new lineage or even Tradition in its own right. The oral customs and values passed on have a different meaning than the core of Gardnerian Witchcraft. This doesn’t make it greater or worse, it simply is. That is how Traditions work: they evolve and aren’t stiff and stagnant, contrary to popular belief. A NeoWiccan group composed of Intrapersonal Students who weave together a coherent system that works and branches 3 more covens successfully can also use the word “Tradition” in this way.

Our temple uses the term in a slightly different way, since we have only one existing sanctuary. I will add that our temple is not in any way affiliated with Traditional Wicca or Hellenismos. We are an independent entity in our own right. Our students have studied Greek lore and history in-depth, along with Hellenic Reconstructionism. We have also researched the various Mystery Traditions and oracular practices of the ancient Hellenes: Pythagorean, Apollonian, Dionysian, Orphic, Eleusinian, Samothrakian, the neckromanteions, Delphic Oracle, etc. Included in our explorations are ancient Greek folklore, folk magic, goetia, sibyls, ancestral veneration, healers, philosopher prophets, Thessalian strixoi, and the powerful female figures of Myth. But, our emphasis lies not in Classical Athens but in the customs and observances of Southern Italy, Sicily, the Near East and Anatolia (modern day Turkey). While academic in nature, much of our praxis is a careful harmonious dance between these and our own personal experiences. We carefully record and converse on these as a group to discuss whether these encounters are relevant or not (as classical Occultists once taught: approach it like science). By doing so, we have successfully arrived at a pragmatic spiritual juncture where we honor our flesh and spirit ancestors, and we tap into an Occult current known as the Ogdoadic Tradition. The Ogdoadic Tradition is the other half of the Western Mysteries, with roots in the Mediterranean, the Near East, Arabic mysticism, the Italian Renaissance, and from thence to Greece as well as north to England via Spain. The rituals and stories reflect these influences. Our temple found this a perfect complementary fit for the folkish magical practices (thaumaturgy), the lore of the Evil Eye (Gk. “Kako Mati”) and bewitchment (Gk. “Vaskania”).

We are a living Tradition, a child of the Ogdoadic and Hellenic occult currents. We adhere to the philosophies of the pre-Socratics, along with the Underworld, Dionysian and Orphic Mysteries. We practice ancestral veneration and nekromancy traced from the Nekromanteion in Baia, Italy. We dance beneath the full moon pasted in white with our tribal symbols, calling inward the frenzied possessions of Dionysus and the various spirits conjured. We keep the Greater and Minor Festivals to pray, give honor, and worship our Gods and spirits, who keep our system alive. We participate in the 3 Hearth Feasts of the Deipnon, Noumenia and Agathos Daimon. We are the children of Hekate, the cattle of the Raving One, and the progeny of our temple’s pantheon of Gods and spirits. Spirit alliances and contracts are seriously taken, as are initiations. Our ways are both written and oral, and we have an extensive Mythos that pertains to us and us alone.

Thusly in our own right we are a Tradition. Nyx is the Mother of All, the androgyne Star Goddess. Her firstborn are the sacred twins of Eros and Thanatos, Desire and Death. They were born in sexual embrace, becoming the First Order of the Cosmos, which is the very flesh of Nyx. Evolution is the great love story of Nyx as She attempts to reach Attainment within Hirself by continuously evolving, changing, bringing chaos and order within Hirself. We exist, and one day we will collectively return to the flesh of Nyx, our atoms and dispersed, our energies taking root elsewhere. Our hope lies in the life we fully live here and now. We are the people of the Serpent and the Owl. We are Strixoi, and we praise the Gods!

Eirene kai Hugieia!
(Peace and Health!)
~Oracle~