Ecstatic Agendas

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One morning, as I woke, I was led toward Henbane by an unseen guide.

I tell that story HERE, and by the end of it I’d got my hands on some ink – specifically this Verdant Inks Green Blood Henbane from Rosarium Blends.

That was in the Summer- the vial arrived and sat unopened into Autumn as other projects waxed and waned. Through October and November I’ve used it finally, in three workings, and I’ve been really pleased with its effects. I’ll tell you about them now:

a) Chanting For Hekate

Like a dog, I am led.

Like a house, I am haunted.

I wake up each day with Her name on my lips, and I speak to Her (or Her epithets) as I lay down to sleep. When I’m walking my dog in the mornings I sing quietly or silently to myself; recite and mutate the syllables in the shower or while cooking, gardening, riding the bus:

Io Heka Io Ho Io Hekate (…Brimo Phosphoros Azostos Kratais, Deichteira, Mormo Atalos Enodia, Lyko Drakaina Skylakitin Nyktipolos Ourania Ourania Ourania Chthonia Chthonia Chthonia Einalia Einalia Einalia Damnomenia Damasandra Damnodamia).

This Goddess is always at the door, or in the pattern of crows above our heads (not even the birds themselves perhaps but rather the space between wingbeats, the membranous meeting of white sky, black feather, staccato song). Her breath stirs upon the drying roots and cups of ash in one’s workshop, her gaze is the refraction of sunlight through the window at dawn and dusk. In this way all times and places can be sacred to Her, and our devotions and our sorceries are not limited by circle or blade, altar or phylactery.

The tools of the magician, though: circle or blade, altar or phylactery, oils and beads and smoke and ink, focus this energetic relationship: they bracket site from exteriority, then lead one out from the carnage and frivolity of the human circus, directing us toward more subtle shores of encounter.

In mid- October I consecrated the Henbane ink and mixed it with crushed herbs, incense, and water I’d collected in the mountains.

Singing. Always singing.

I drew and enlivened two black dogs for use in a ritual presentation to a class of Art History students. The aim of the ritual was to call forth signs or messages from Hekate, in dreams, to myself, the professor, and the students, “those among us who now voice their consent”.

I’m going to give that full encounter its own post, but suffice to say, the effects were felt beyond just my own subjective personal gnosis. The professor updated me recently:

“A quick note to say how much I and my class appreciated your visit! We’ve all been dreaming of black dogs! Thank you!”

In this way, the magic and the ink’s role as agent of transmission have had lasting effects beyond my expectations.

Which brings me to the next example:

b) Venus / Saturn: Rite of Enclosure

About a week later, I acted upon the encouragement of a classmate to connect with the Love Goddess, for joy and healing and self- forgiveness; fortitude and clarity and passion. For reasons I can’t yet fully explain I chose to combine this with an offering to Saturn and a plea to be enclosed and uplifted in Truth, harsh though it might be. For this ritual, the consequences of which are undoubtedly still playing out, I again constructed a composite sigil and prayer, drawn on consecrated paper with the same mix of river water and Rosarium’s Henbane ink. I purposely did not document this rite or photograph the drawing (which I burnt during the ritual), but here is my journal entry about the working, slightly edited for clarity:

Late October: Day of Venus, Hour of Saturn. Dressed beeswax candle in ground mint, then offered prayers and exaltations to the lineage of the Love Goddess, finally settling on repetitions of “Inanna-Aphrodite-Venus-Astarte”. 

Burnt herbs, blew and waved the smoke through the candle’s flame. Henbane ink blend, brush, paper. Drew sigil and goddess names, also my request on the back. 

Stepped outside with sigil, mint, lighter, and a cold coal from last season’s final fire. Knelt over the firepit, crushed the coal in my hand and then spit into it repeatedly, squeezing, kneading, speaking with grit and conviction to Saturn, offered wet rough crumbles into the pit. Rubbed my arms with the rest.

Turned to another patch of earth- dug a shallow pit with my fingers, burned the sigil in this, sprinkling more mint over it as I prayed and re-dedicated myself to Love. When the fire had gone out, mint and sigil burnt up, I folded the soil back over the hole. Washed my hands and arms free of the ash and slobber, more water down my head and neck.

This ritual was largely intuitive, unscripted beyond just the barest idea of my aims and how to verbalize them. Within a few days changed circumstances had come, and a process of renewal post-Harvest. This is vague, I know, but so were my intentions; I think the ritual and its outcomes are deserving of another longer write-up. The ink was a sumptuous component and an appropriate offering to the Love Goddess.

c) New Moon Dream Rite

11/13&14/2023

Early in the day I listened and followed along to this New Moon Meditation by The Wilde Medium That evening I prepared a quick offering to Hekate: honey water, frankincense stick, two sprigs of lavender, and a small spell card featuring a Black Dog drawing similar to the larger dog pieces from before. This one, the size of a card, contained several epithets, and a statement of offering on the back – just adulation, no requests for favor, except the hope that these offerings would please Her. Some elements were highlighted with the Henbane ink:

(It turned out looking a little like a pig but that’s OK. It’s a dog.)

I arranged my Hekate Cradle (a simple tool made from keys and string that I’ll feature in a future essay) on the ground in an area of my yard I call The Graveyard, because there are actual dogs buried there. I broke the incense into three parts, then lit a small beeswax candle and stuck that into the ground.  Intoning, I lit each piece of incense and pushed them too into the ground, through the holes in the keys. I continued praying aloud, lit the lavender sprigs in the candle’s flame, then in turn lit the spell card from the burning lavender. I placed these both into the triangle created by the cradle continued with petitions and epithets as they burned out. I stood in silence for a while watching the incense smoke and flickering candle. After some moments I blew out the candle but left the incense burning. Returned indoors, not looking back. I’d forgotten a small chocolate wafer inside – this was intended as another offering, so I threw this out into the darkness as well.

Before bed I arranged a dream talisman on the cabinet near my head, laid down and then reached back up, put my hand on it. I asked Hekate to visit me in dream once again, with a clear symbol or message I would understand.  I have the sense that I dreamed something long and involved during the night but don’t remember any of it except right before i woke up at 7am: a puppy standing in a field with a larger dog, both looking out over a cliff. Sunrise or sunset I think. Then suddenly I was the puppy, calling in a child’s frightened voice, “Mama?” 

The larger dog responded “I’ll be your mama now.”

Sounds a bit corny maybe? I felt so awkward about it that when I was telling some people recently, I couldn’t bring myself to say the word Mama. I changed it to “Mother”; but in the dream it was Mama. I don’t know if there’s a significance to that, except for my embarrassment? It was a very tender, vulnerable moment, and the feeling of safety and acceptance has stayed with me.

To conclude, Rosarium Blends‘ Green Blood Henbane ink has proven to be a fruitful ingredient in my work. I’ve used up the small vial and have another order waiting on the website, to be purchased as soon as I finish typing this. When the new bottle comes I plan to explore more specifically the nature of Henbane by using the ink to communicate with the spirit of the plant itself, and to ask it how I should proceed from here.

Until next time,

Jason Triefenbach, HFHR

Jason is an artist, writer, and non-denominational minister with a garden and a lifelong interest in lurking around the Occult/ Paranormal shelves in bookstores worldwide. As Sun Duel they record and sometimes perform music with a variety of friends and loved ones.  www.linktr.ee/JWT9000