Baneful Magic Masterpost

Daimones Part 2: Children of Nyx

In Greek mythology, there are various personified spirits called daimones. Eventually this word evolved into what we now know as “demon” (a word with negative connotations), but daimones weren’t necessarily “evil” spirits. Most of these daimones are the children of Nyx, Eris, or Zeus. In general, the daimon children of Zeus are personifications of morally good concepts, while the children of Nyx and Eris represent the malevolent forces which plague humans. Some daimones (like Hebe, the goddess of youth, or even Eris herself) were full fledged gods, while others were mere personifications with no mythology or cult.

According to Hesiod

Moros: the personification of doom (the force which drive humans toward inevitable death). Prometheus saved mankind from misery by taking away the foresight of our own doom (Moros) and replacing it with Elpis (hope).

Keres: female spirits of violent or cruel death. One of the Keres, Akhlys, was the goddess of deadly poisons and the death-mist which clouds the eyes of mortals before death.

Hypnos: god of sleep, husband of Pasithea (relaxation)

Thanatos: god of peaceful or non-violent death. As the twin brother of Hypnos, he represented the eternal slumber of death.

Oneroi: spirits of dreams, they were sometimes considered the children of Hypnos rather than Nyx. Their leader was said to be Morpheus, a man who appeared in the dreams of kings bringing messages from the gods.

Nemesis: goddess of righteous indignation and deserved retribution against those with too much good fortune. She represented the balance of good and bad fortune.

Hesperides: spirits of the evening sunset. They were sometimes called the daughters of Atlas.

Momos: mockery, blame, complaint, and harsh criticism. Zeus expelled him from heaven for criticizing the gods.

Oizys: female spirit of misery, woe, distress, and suffering

Apate: female spirit of deceit, guile, and fraud

Philotes: friendship and affection. She may have also been the spirit of sexual intercourse.

Geras: male spirit of old age

Eris: goddess of strife. She is the mother of a host of malevolent spirits of war.

Moirai: the fates were sometimes called daughters of Nyx, although more often they were the daughters of Zeus and Themis.

Likely Children of Nyx

Anaideia: ruthlessness and unforgiveness

Adikia: injustice and wrong-doing

Adephegia: gluttony

Aergia: idleness, laziness, and sloth

Alastor: counterpart of the Erinyes who punished the family of murderers

Aporia: powerlessness

Lyssa: mad rage, fury, rabies

Epiales: nightmares

Dolos: trickery, cunning deception, and craftiness

Koalemos: stupidity and foolishness

Kakia: vice and immorality

Epiphron: prudence, shrewdness, and careful consideration

Phyge: flight, escape, retreat, and exile

Phrice: horror, she is a more severe counterpart of Deimos and Phobos.

Phthisis: wasting away, perishing, and decay

Hubris: insolence, violence, reckless pride, arrogance, and outrage. Her son, Koros, represented insolence and disdain

Dyssebia: impiety, sometimes called the mother of Hubris.

Amekhania: helplessness and want, sister of Penia and Ptokheia

Ptokheia: beggary, sister of Amekhania and Penia

Penia: poverty and need, sister of Amekhania and Ptokheia

Eleos: mercy, pity, compassion

Sophia: wisdom

Elpis: hope. She was the last spirit that remained in Pandora’s box, representing humanity’s hold on hope in the face of all of these terrors. Her daughter, Pheme, was the personification of rumor, report, and gossip.

Sophrosyne: moderation, self-control, temperance, and restraint

Phthonos: jealousy and envy, especially in the context of love

Nosoi: male spirits of plague, sickness, and disease

Maniai: spirits of madness, insanity, and crazed frenzy

Arai: female spirits of curses (this is where I got my URL)

Poinai: spirits of vengeance and punishment

CRUELLA DE VIL, Cruella, (2021).

This is probably related to my personality, state of mind and core values, but I view Lord Ares' energy a bit different than what I see here.

To me, Lord Ares is calm. He is the motto "It is scary because it's unfamiliar, not because you're incapable." He reminds me that I can do it scared. That I can be scared, be anxious, that I can tremble from fear and still do something. That courage is born when you are scared, and still make a step forward.

He is not my shield - He lets me face my challenges face-on, but He's always got my back. Maybe that's a reflection of myself, my life story and shit I've been through: I am scared of having my back turned to someone, but with Him having my back, I am safe. I can do it, no matter how scared I am.

He is also the reminder that sometimes acting will only hurt me. That there are situations where all I can do is wait. He pats my back and says "I know it's hard, but you will make it," while I shed my tears of helplessness and longing.

He is calm, and firm. He teaches me when to say "I see you, I see your feelings, but I won't let you treat me like this." He teaches me that anger is good. Anger is often self-love. But being angry does not entitle me to act in ways I do not like. He is the hand on my shoulder, the silent "Stop, breathe, and then act."

He is gentle. He is calm. But He takes no shit from me. He understands how I feel. He understands that some things are better to leave alone for a while. He understands that sometimes the best thing I can do is not to fight. To wait things through.

He pushes me forward. He shows me I can do more. When I think I can't do any more reps of some exercise, He tells me "Just 10 more. I know you can." When I think I can't keep going, He is there to tell me I can.

I am grateful to worship Lord Ares.

appalachia is devastated. towns i loved, towns i visited all the time, are gone. not damaged, GONE. they are leveled to the ground. there is nothing left but rubble and ruin. people are dead. appalachia is poor to begin with and relies on tourism for a lot of its income, and multiple of those tourist locations are just...gone.

my town is okay, but it's flooded and wrecked. trees are blocking all but one way out of our neighborhood. power lines are hanging limp in the roads. we've been without power for over 24 hours and will continue to be without power for likely another 24+. disabled people and poor people are GOING to die from this. gods save appalachia.

When I say "connect with nature" I don't just mean the aesthetic forests with deer and beautiful flowers.

I mean the weeds growing through concrete, the fungus that grows on the rotten shed, the nettles that always seem to return and the scary, spindly cellar spider in the corner of the bathroom.

Nature is not always pretty or magical - the pigeons and seagulls you swat at are nature too, the wasps and flies that hover by your meals are animals too, store-bought strawberries and the leaves that fall from your neighbour's tree are not all that different from the Giant Sequoias and it's seeds.

If you want to connect and understand nature, I mean *really* connect to it, in it's entirety, you have to seek out and learn about the ugly, scary and mundane things as well. You don't have to like it, just don't forget that it's there.

The whole "Disney villain hates something because of trauma" meme that started with Cruella makes me kinda angry because it's one of the earliest examples of people either not understanding what actually happened, or worse, people not bothering to actually see the movie in question and just basing their thoughts on reviews they've seen.

Estella/Cruella never shows any kind of real hatred towards the Dalmatians themselves. She steals them as revenge, but they're shown to be taken care of and never actually harmed. Most she does is make a bad joke about maybe turning them into a coat, but that never actually happens.

And she never blames the dogs for her mother's death. First, she blames herself, in a similar way to how Simba blamed himself for his father's death - assuming that her mother just got caught in the crossfire, since the dogs had been chasing her daughter and she got caught in the middle. And when she learns her mother was targetted, she turns her anger towards the person who sent the dogs after her mother, not the dogs themselves.

garden variety conservative transphobia is going to get worse but radical feminism is also going to get worse. if youre a cis women terfs are going to try to recruit you and make you believe that the reason your rights are at stake is because of trans people. they're going to tell you that all men are your violent oppressors and they're going to include trans women in that category. they're gonna tell you about women who are gender traitors and joined the enemy and they're going to point to trans men. don't believe them. trans people are not your enemy, we have no power over you, and we desperately need your support and your solidarity.

be aware of radfem pipelines and dog whistles too. be skeptical of anyone that talks about the divine feminine or correlates birthing, menstruating, or female reproductive organs with womanhood. be especially skeptical of people who use those biological things as reasons to why women are more spiritual, or more in tune with nature, or just that they're better than men (read: anyone they decide is a man)

radical feminism is an expected reactionary outcome from cis women who are being oppressed by conservatives, especially when all they practice is ciscentric, liberal, white feminism. they feel the need to be radicalized but don't have the experience and information to pinpoint the true source of their suffering. trans people are not your enemy, AMAB people are not your enemy, anyone who identifies as a man is not your enemy. we're all being crushed under the same stone

Needed this today

Just because you cannot see the strings the Fates weave doesn't mean you should stress. The future may be terrifying, but the Gods work to forge us into the people we're meant to be.

You will be okay when the time passes.

My Personal “Pillars of Hellenic Polytheism”

You may have seen or heard of the “7 Pillars of Hellenism”. The creator of these pillars, Timothy Jay Alexander, is known to be extremely homophobic and bigoted, and therefore these pillars aren’t seen in a positive light by many Hellenic Polytheists, including myself.

That being said, personally, I like to have sort of guidelines to follow, and Alexander isn’t the only one to have created “moral pillars”. So I took inspiration from multiple sources, including @/hyakinthou-naos in one of their recent posts, to make my own pillars. These are things that are important to me, personally, and they may differ from yours if you have some. I chose to have 5 pillars as it is a number associated with Lady Aphrodite, and the pillars will be listed in alphabetical order.

Hekousios- Ε´κουσίος

ἑκούσιος translates to “free will” or “voluntary”. To me, this means to do things at your own pace, and to always have worship be a personal choice, not something put on someone.

Kharis - Χάρις

Kharis can be translated to “grace, kindness, goodwill, elegance, favour, joy, charity, beauty”, “reciprocity”, “grace, favor, goodwill”, or a reciprocal relationship with the Gods. To me, this means to not ask for things without offering something in return, to not take advantage of gifts from the Gods.

Periergia - Περιέργεια

Periergia translates to curiosity and is often associated with devotion to researching something. For me, this means to always be curious, open to new ideas, and never stop learning new things. It also means to never claim that I know everything, and be willing to research things I don’t know much about.

Symmakhia - Σύμμαχία

Symmakhia translates to “allyship”. It also happens to be an epithet of Lady Aphrodite! It is usually used in the context of military and war, but here, I am using this word in the context of allyship and support towards marginalized groups. Allyship is active, and so to me, this pillar means to show active support to those that are a part of marginalized or minority communities.

Xenia - Ξενία

Xenia is the concept of guest-friendship or hospitality. For me, this means kindness and hospitality towards those from all walks of life and lived experiences, as long as it is safe to do so.