Grimoire - Animals And Nature

Anti Porn Masterpost (feel free to reblog and add)

HEAVY TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of rape, violence, abuse, sadism, masochism, torture and more. Reader discretion is advised.

Porn Culture and The Industry

There are over 68 million daily searches for pornography in the United States. Thats 25% of all daily searches (IFR, 2006).

The sex industry is largest and most profitable industry in the world. “It includes street prostitution, brothels, ‘massage parlors’, strip clubs, human trafficking for sexual purposes, phone sex, child and adult pornography, mail order brides and sex tourism – just to mention a few of the most common examples.” (Andersson et al, 2013)

Pornhub receives over 1.68 million visits per hour. (Pornhub, 2013)

Globally, teen is the most searched term. A Google Trends analysis indicates that searches for “Teen Porn” have more than tripled between 2005-2013, and teen porn was the fastest-growing genre over this period. Total searches for teen-related porn reached an estimated 500,000 daily in March 2013, far larger than other genres, representing approximately one-third of total daily searches for pornographic web sites. (Dines, 2013)

Internet porn in the UK receives more traffic than social networks, shopping, news and media, email, finance, gaming and travel. (Arthur, 2013)

Several recent studies have found that teenagers around the world report using porn to gain information about real life sex (Lauzus et al, 2007) (Wade et al, 2005) (Flood, 2009) ( Giordano & Ross, 2012)

Across the board it has been found women watch less porn than men.

17% of women admit to struggling with pornography addiction (Internet Filter Review, 2006)

Condoms are only utilized in 10.9% of top rated scenes (Bridges and Wosnitzer, 2007)

Every 39 minutes a new porn film is created in the United States.

20% of American men admit they access pornography at work.

13% of women admit to accessing pornography at work (Internet Filter Review, 2006)

70% of all Internet porn traffic occurs during workdays (9am – 5pm) (Sex Tracker, 2012)

The porn industry makes more money than Hollywood. (US Statistics)

The porn industry makes more money than The National Football League, The National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball combined and more than NBC, CBS, and ABC combined. (IFR, 2006).

The porn industry has larger revenues than the top technology companies (Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple and Netflix) combined (IFR, 2006).

13,000 adult videos are produced annually, amassing over $13 billion dollars in profit. By comparison, Hollywood released 507 movies and made only 8.8 billion (Bridges and Wosnitzer, 2007).

Free websites comprise between 70-80% of the adult material online, typically used as “bait” for pay websites, guiding viewers to premium pay services.

90% of free porn websites and nearly 100% of pay porn websites buy their material rather than create it themselves.

Porn, Youth and Child Abuse

Children as young as 11 years old are regularly accessing hardcore gonzo pornography (IFR, 2006). Following first exposure, the largest consumer group of internet pornography is boys between the ages of 12-17.Approximately 20% of all internet pornography is child sexual abuse. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2013).

A recent study found that seven out of ten youth have been unwillingly exposed to pornography in the United States (Carroll et al, 2008).

The fastest growing demand in commercial websites for child abuse is for images depicting the worst type of abuse, including penetrative sexual activity involving children and adults and sadism or penetration by an animal (Internet Watch Foundation. Annual Report, 2008).

In a study of arrested child pornography possessors, 40 percent had both sexually victimized children and were in possession of child pornography.

Child pornography has become a $3 billion annual industry (Top Ten Reviews, 2005).

69% of all victims in child abuse images are between the ages of 0 and 10 years old. (IWF, 2008)

A New Zealand Internal Affairs study suggests that there is an association between viewing child pornography and committing child sexual abuse (New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs. Internet Traders of Child Pornography: Profiling Research. By Caroline Sullivan. October 2005. January 10, 2006).

Approximately 55% of street girls engage in formal prostitution (Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. Accessed October 31, 2007).

Child prostitutes serve between two and thirty clients per week, leading to a shocking estimated base of anywhere between 100 to 1500 clients per year, per child. Younger children, many below the age of 10, have been increasingly drawn into serving tourists (Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. Accessed October 31, 2007).

Youth who look at violent x-rated material are six times more likely to report forcing someone to do something sexual online or in-person versus youth not exposed to x-rated material.

Internet pornography was blamed for a 20 percent increase in sexual attacks by children over three years.

Nearly 80 percent of unwanted exposure to pornography is taking place in the home (79 percent occurs in the home; 9 percent occurs at school; 7 percent other/unknown; 5 percent at a friend’s home).

Kids experience unwanted exposure to sexual material via: - A link came up as a result of an innocent word search (40 %) - Clicking on a link in another site (17 %) - A pop-up (14 %) - Other (13 %) - Misspelled web address (12 %) - Don’t know (4 %) - Pictures involving animals or other strange things (10 %)

American children begin consuming hardcore pronography at an average age of 11

Four out of five 16 year-olds regularly access pornography online

In 2008, more than 560 college student responded to an online survey: - 93% of boys and 62% of girls were exposed to pornography before 18 - 14% of boys and 9% of girls were exposed to pornography before 13 - 69% of boys and 23% of girls have spent at least 30 consecutive minutes viewing Internet pornography on at least one occasion - 63% of boys have done so more than once, and 35% of boys have done so on more than 10 occasions. - 83% of boys and 57% of girls have seen group sex online - 69% of boys and 55% of girls have seen same-sex intercourse online - 39% of boys and 23% of girls have seen sexual bondage online - 32% of boys and 18% of girls have seen bestiality online - 18% of boys and 10% of girls have seen rape or sexual violence online - 15% of boys and 9% of girls have seen child pornography

When a child or adolescent is directly exposed to pornography the following effects have been documented: - Lasting negative or traumatic emotional responses. - The belief that superior sexual satisfaction is attainable without having affection for one’s partner, thereby reinforcing the commoditization of sex and the objectification of humans. - The belief that being married or having a family are unattractive prospects. - Increased risk for developing sexual compulsions and addictive behavior. - Increased risk of exposure to incorrect information about human sexuality long before a minor is able to contextualize this information in ways an adult brain could. - Overestimating the prevalence of less common practices (e.g., group sex, bestiality, or sadomasochistic activity)

Porn and its Psychological Effects

In 1982 and 1984, Dr. Dolf Zillmann and Dr. Jennings Bryant conducted an experiment with 80 male and 80 female college-age participants.101 These were divided into three subgroups, and each group was shown 4 hours and 48 minutes of media over a six-week period: (1) the “Massive Exposure Group” was shown 36 non-violent pornographic film clips; (2) the “Intermediate Exposure Group” was exposed to 18 pornographic film clips and 18 regular films; and (3) the “No Exposure” control group was shown 36 non-pornographic film clips. - A direct correlation was noticed between the amount of pornography one viewed and one’s overall sexual satisfaction. Participants from the Massive Exposure Group reported less satisfaction with their intimate partner, such as their partner’s physical appearance, affection, and sexual performance. Researchers concluded, “consumers eventually compare appearance and performance of pornographic models with that of their intimate partners, and this comparison rarely favors their intimate partners.” - Those exposed to more pornography attached more value to casual sex (i.e. sex without emotional involvement). - When asked if minors should be protecting from seeing pornography, 84% of the No Exposure Group, 54% of the Intermediate Exposure Group, and 37% of the Massive Exposure Group said yes. - Porn seemed to condition participants to trivialize rape. Participants were asked to read about a legal case where a man raped a female hitchhiker and then recommend a length for the rapist’s prison sentence. Males in the No Exposure Group said 94 months; the Massive Exposure Group said 50 months (nearly half that of the No Exposure Group). - Participants were asked to rate their overall support for women’s rights. Both men and women who were in the Massive Exposure Group showed significant drops in support compared to the No Exposure Group. There was 71% male support in the No Exposure Group compared to 25% in the Massive Exposure Group and 82% female support in the No Exposure Group compared to 52% in the Massive Exposure Group. - When asked how common or popular certain sexual activities were in the general population — activities like anal sex, group sex, sadomasochism, and bestiality — the percentages given by the Massive Exposure Group were two to three times higher than the No Exposure Group. - The Massive Exposure Group was far more likely to believe women fit the stereotype of the women they see in pornographic films — that is, “socially non-discriminating, as hysterically euphoric in response to just about any sexual or pseudosexual stimulation,and as eager to accommodate seemingly any and every sexual request.” - Additionally, two weeks after they stopped seeing videos, all participants were given an assortment of pornographic and non-pornographic films to watch in private. Those who were exposed to more pornography were significantly more likely to want to watch hardcore porn.

In a 2002 study, 71 male undergraduate students were divided into 3 groups. Each group watched 10-11-minute video segments: a sexually-explicit and degrading film, a sexually-explicit educational film, and a non-sexual film. Later the men were placed side-by-side with a woman in a seemingly unrelated social experiment. - Viewers of the sexually-explicit film displayed more dominance and anxiety, ignored contributions of their partner more often, touched their partner for longer periods of time, and averted their partner’s gaze more compared to viewers of the non-sexual film. - Viewers of the sexually-explicit and degrading film spent longer periods of time averting their partner’s touch and gazing at their partner’s face, interrupted their partner more, advanced to touch their partner more, and made more sexual references compared to viewers of the sexually-explicit film.

In 2005, a study of youth between the ages of 10 and 17 concluded that there is a significant relationship between frequent porn use and feelings of loneliness and major depression.

Gary R. Brooks, Ph.D., describes what he observes as a “pervasive disorder” linked to the consumption of soft- core pornography like Playboy. He mentions five main symptoms of this: Voyeurism: An obsession with looking at women rather than interacting with them. This can apply to far more than pornography, including any consumption of the “sexuality-on-tap” culture in which we live; media glorifies and objectifies women’s bodies, thus promoting unreal images of women, feeding male obsession with visual stimulation and trivializing other mature features of a healthy sexual relationship. Objectification: An attitude in which women are objects rated by size, shape and harmony of body parts. Sexual fantasy leads to emotional unavailability and dissatisfaction. Validation: The need to validate masculinity through beautiful women. Women who meet centerfold standards only retain their power as long as they maintain “perfect” bodies and the lure of unavailability; it is very common for a man’s fantasy sexual encounter to include a feeling of manly validation; it is also common for men to feel invalidated by their wives if they have trained their minds and bodies to respond only to the fantasy advances of their dream girl. Trophyism: The idea that beautiful women are collectibles who show the world who a man is. Pornography reinforces the women’s-bodies-as-trophies mentality. Fear of True Intimacy: Inability to relate to women in an honest and intimate way despite deep loneliness. Pornography exalts a man’s sexual needs over his need for sensuality and intimacy; some men develop a preoccupation with sexuality, which powerfully handicaps their capacity for emotionally intimate relationships.

“Prolonged exposure to pornography, it must be remembered, results in both a loss of respect for female sexual autonomy and the disinhibition of men in the expression of aggression against women.” - Dr. James B. Weaver.

Porn and Addiction

10% of adults admit to having an addiction to online pornography (IFR, 2006).

In a survey of 63 wives of self-identified sex addicts: - 70% met most criteria for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. - 75% discovered evidence of compulsive or addictive sexual behaviors themselves (as opposed to a planned disclosure on the part of a husband). - 71% demonstrated a severe level of functional impairment in major areas of their lives. - Length of marriage at disclosure and number of prior traumatic event exposures were the best predictors increased trauma symptoms.

“[M]odern science allows us to understand that the underlying nature of an addiction to pornography is chemically nearly identical to a heroin addiction.” - Dr. Jeffrey Satinovet

“Pornography triggers a myriad of endogenous, internal, natural drugs that mimic the ‘high’ from a street drug. Addiction to pornography is addiction to what I dub erototoxins—mind altering drugs produced by the viewer’s own brain.” - Dr. Judith Reisman

Porn, Violence and Rape

88.2% of top rated porn scenes contain aggressive acts principally spanking, gagging, and slapping, while 48.7% of scenes contained verbal aggression, primarily name-calling. - In 70% of occurrences, a man is perpetrator of the aggression; 94% of the time the act is directed towards a woman. - Only 9.9% of the top selling scenes analyzed contained behaviors such as kissing, laughing, caressing, or verbal compliments. - Open-hand slapping occurs in 41.1% of scenes. - Sex depicted in porn movies generally focuses on men’s sexual pleasure and orgasm, rather than equally that of women’s (Bridges and Wosnitzer, 2007)

Porn scenes have sexist and racist themes through out. Websites often contain menus where users can select genres of women’s ethnicities, body types, and ages. There are also choices such as “amateur,” “interracial”, and the ever popular “teen” category. Men and women who are anything other than white are represented in stereotypical and demeaning ways.

Studies show that after viewing pornography men are more likely to: - report decreased empathy for rape victims - have increasingly aggressive behavioral tendencies - report believing that a woman who dresses provocatively deserves to be raped - report anger at women who flirt but then refuse to have sex - report decreased sexual interest in their girlfriends or wives - report increased interest in coercing partners into unwanted sex acts (Bridges, 2006) (Yang, Gahyun, 2012).

In a meta-analysis of 46 studies published from 1962 to 1995, comprising a total sample of 12,323 people, researchers concluded pornographic material puts one at increased risk of: - developing sexually deviant tendencies (31% increase in risk) - committing sexual offenses (22% increase in risk) - accepting rape myths (31% increase in risk)

Among perpetrators of sex crimes, adolescent exposure to pornography is a significant predictor of elevated violence and victim humiliation.

In a study of 30 college fraternity members on a small liberal arts campus, the displayed images of women (in posters, screensavers, calendars, pin-ups, and advertisements) were analyzed for their frequency and degrading nature. There was a significant association between the average degradation ratings of the images and the student’s rape-supportive attitude scale (RSA)

In a study of 187 female university students, researchers concluded early exposure to pornography was related to subsequent “rape fantasies” and attitudes supportive of sexual violence against women. Researchers believe pornography consumed at a young age contributes to women being socialized to accept sexual aggression as a sexual/romantic event.

In 2004 data was collected from interviews with 271 women participating in a battered women’s program. Pornography use by their partner significantly increased the odds of women being sexually abused by their abusers. When their abuser used both alcohol and pornography, the odds of sexual abuse increase by a factor of 3.2.

Arrested prostitution clients are twice as likely to report having watched pornographic movies over the past year than a national sample.

Japanese males were divided into three groups and each exposed to different types of home video pornography: a positive rape film (where the female expressed pleasure), a negative rape film (where the female expressed pain), or a consenting sex film. Those who viewed the positive rape film were significantly more likely to state that women could enjoy rape and higher percentages of rape cases are invented by victims.

In a study of 804 Italian adolescents, ages 14 to 19 years old, viewing pornography was correlated to both active and passive sexual violence and unwanted sex.

“Women are represented as passive and as slavishly dependent upon men. The role of female characters is limited to the provision of sexual services to men. To the extent that women’s sexual pleasure is represented at all, it is subordinated to that of men and is never an end in itself as is the sexual pleasure of men. What pleases women is the use of their bodies to satisfy male desires. While the sexual objectification of women is common to all pornography, women are the recipients of even worse treatment in violent pornography, in which women characters are killed, tortured, gang-raped, mutilated, bound, and otherwise abused, as a means of providing sexual stimulation or pleasure to the male characters.” - Helen Longino

Research indicates that 25% to 30% of male college students in the United States and Canada admit that there is some likelihood they would rape a woman if they could get away with it. (Briere and Malamuth, 1983)

In a study of high school males, 50% of those interviewed believed it acceptable “for a guy to hold a girl down and force her to have sexual intercourse in instances such as when ‘she gets him sexually excited’ or ‘she says she’s going to have sex with him and then changes her mind’” (Goodchilds and Zellman, 1984)

“I went to a porno bookstore, put a quarter in a slot, and saw this porn movie. It was just a guy coming up from behind a girl and attacking her and raping her. That’s when I started having rape fantasies. When I saw that movie, it was like somebody lit a fuse from my childhood on up… I just went for it, went out and raped.” Rapist interviewed by Beneke, 1982

The following statements were made by women testifying at the Hearings on Pornography in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1993 (Russell, 1993a). - Ms. M testified that, “I agree to act out in private a lot of the scenarios that my husband read to me. These depicted bondage and different sexual acts that I found humiliating to do…He read the pornography like a textbook, like a journal. When he finally convinced me to be bound, he read in the magazine how to tie the knots and bind me in a way that I couldn’t escape. Most of the scenes where I had to dress up or go through different fantasies were the exact same scenes that he has read in the magazines.” - Ms. O described a case in which a man ‘brought pornographic magazines, books, and paraphernalia into the bedroom with him and told her that if she did not perform the sexual acts in the “dirty” books and magazines, he would beat her and kill her’ - Ms. S testified about the experience of a group of women prostitutes who, she said, ‘were forced constantly to enact specific scenes that men had witnessed in pornography…These men… would set up scenarios, usually with more than one woman, to copy scenes that they had seen portrayed in magazines and books. [For example, Ms. S quoted a woman in her group as saying:] “He held up a porn magazine with a picture of a beaten woman and said, ‘I want you to look like that. I want you to hurt.’ He then began beating me. When I did not cry fast enough, he lit a cigarette and held it right above my breast for a long time before he burned me.” - Ms. S. also described what three men did to a nude woman prostitute whom they had tied up while she was seated on a chair: “They burned her with cigarettes and attached nipple clips to her breasts. They had many S and M magazines with them and showed her many pictures of women appearing to consent, enjoy, and encourage this abuse. She was held for twelve hours while she was continuously raped and beaten.” - Another example cited by Ms. S: “They (several Johns) forced the women to act simultaneously with the movie. In the movie at this point, a group of men were urinating on a naked woman. All the men in the room were able to perform this task, so they all started urinating on the woman who was now naked.”

Non-violent heterosexual porn often becomes ‘too boring’ and leads (commonly) men to seek out more ‘interesting’ and ‘exciting’ types of pornography: often including abuse and rape. (Zillman and Bryant) (Briere and Malamuth)

Porn and Relationships

[At] a gathering of the nation’s divorce lawyers, attendees revealed that 58% of their divorces were a result of a spouse looking at excessive amounts of pornography online.

According to the Journal of Adolescent Health, prolonged exposure to pornography leads to: - An exaggerated perception of sexual activity in society - Diminished trust between intimate couples - The abandonment of the hope of sexual monogamy - Belief that promiscuity is the natural state - Belief that abstinence and sexual inactivity are unhealthy - Cynicism about love or the need for affection between sexual partners - Belief that marriage is sexually confining - Lack of attraction to family and child-raising

According to sociologist Jill Manning, the research indicates pornography consumption is associated with the following six trends, among others: 1. Increased marital distress, and risk of separation and divorce 2. Decreased marital intimacy and sexual satisfaction 3. Infidelity 4. Increased appetite for more graphic types of pornography and sexual activity associated with abusive, illegal or unsafe practices 5. Devaluation of monogamy, marriage and child rearing 6. An increasing number of people struggling with compulsive and addictive sexual behavior

In a survey of women (and some men) who experienced serious adverse consequences from their partner’s cybersex involvement: - In 68% of the couples, one or both lost interest in relational sex: 52% of showed a decreased interest, as did 34% of partners. - Partners commonly reported feeling hurt, betrayed, rejected, abandoned, lonely, isolated, humiliated, jealous, and angry. - Partners often compared themselves unfavorably to online images. - Partners overwhelmingly felt that cyber affairs were as emotionally painful as offline affairs.

Porn and Sexual Dysfunction

“I have also seen in my clinical experience that pornography damages the sexual performance of the viewers. Pornography viewers tend to have problems with premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction. Having spent so much time in unnatural sexual experiences with paper, celluloid and cyberspace, they seem to find it difficult to have sex with a real human being. Pornography is raising their expectation and demand for types and amounts of sexual experiences; at the same time it is reducing their ability to experience sex.” – Dr. MaryAnne Layden

Porn and Sex Trafficking / Sexual Slavery

There are [an estimated] 12.3 million people in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude at any given time; other estimates range from 4 million to 27 million (Trafficking in Persons Report. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, 2006).

Each year sexual traffickers lure, coerce, trick, drug, kidnap, and sell millions of vulnerable women and children into the multi-billion dollar sex trade. In their daily lives victims of sexual trafficking endure unspeakable acts of physical brutality, violence and degradation including rape by so-called customers and pimps; undergo forced abortions; acquire drug and alcohol dependencies; live in fear of their lives and in fear for the lives of their family and friends; suffer acute psychological reactions as a result of their extreme physical and emotional trauma; and contract sexually transmitted diseases which all too often bring life-long illness or hasten death. If they survive, the physical, psychological and spiritual impacts of these experiences on victims are devastating and enduring (Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking, Accessed October 31, 2007).

UNICEF reports that across the world, there are over one million children entering the sex trade every year and that approximately 30 million children have lost their childhood through sexual exploitation over the past 30 years (Commercial sexual exploitation position statement. UNICEF UK. 2004, January 28)

From fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2005, the Civil Rights Division and United States Attorney’s Offices filed 91 trafficking cases, a 405% increase over the number of trafficking cases filed from fiscal years 1996 through 2000. (U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. 2006, February).

$19 Billion generated annually on the street from human trafficking (Christine Dolan, The Global Coalition to End Human Trafficking NOW).

Porn, Prostitution and Health Risks

Foremost among the health risks of prostitution is premature death… by far the most common causes of death were homicide, suicide, drug and alcohol related problems, HIV infection and accidents - in that order. (Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2004, July 24).

The Average Life Expectancy of a Porn Star is 36.2 years

Chlamydia and Gonorrhea among performers is 10x greater than that of LA County 20-24 year olds.

66% - 99% porn stars have Herpes, a non-curable diseases

Porn performers experience higher rates of infection (20%) than general public (2.4%)

Only 17% of performers use condoms in heterosexual adult films.

In 2004, only two of 200 adult film companies required the use of condoms.

Porn Performers and Abuse

“[Porn actresses] have high rates of substance abuse, typically alcohol and cocaine… [many] have to be drunk, high or dissociated in order to go to work.” – Dr. MaryAnne Layden

“ [Porn actresses] have high rates of… depression and borderline personality disorder.” – Dr. MaryAnne Layden

“The drugs we binged on were Ecstasy, Cocaine, Marijuana, Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and alcohol.” - Porn actress Erin Moore

“Guys are punching you in the face. You get ripped. Your insides can come out of you. It’s never ending. You’re viewed as an object — not as a human with a spirit. People do drugs because they can’t deal with the way they’re being treated.”  - Tanya Burleson, formerly known as Jersey Jaxin,

“( In pornography) our bodies are being stripped, exposed, and contorted for the purpose of ridicule to bolster that “masculine esteem” which gets its kick and sense of power from viewing females as anonymous, panting playthings, adult toys, dehumanized objects to be used, abused, broken and discarded.”  - Susan Brownmiller, 1975

“In one case, a man who said he had participated in over a hundred pornographic movies testified at the Commission hearings in Los Angeles as follows: “I, myself, have been on a couple of sets where the young ladies have been forced to do even anal sex scenes with a guy which [sic] is rather large and I have seen them crying in pain” (Diana Russel, ‘Pornography as a Cause of Rape’)

“Women and young girls were tortured and suffered permanent physical injuries to answer publisher demands for photographs depicting sadomasochistic abuse. When the torturer/photographer inquired of the publisher as to the types of depictions that would sell, the torturer/photographer was instructed to get similar existing publications and use the depictions therein for instruction. The torturer/photographer followed the publisher’s instructions, tortured women and girls accordingly, and then sold the photographs to the publisher. The photographs were included in magazines sold nationally in pornographic outlets”  (Diana Russel, ‘Pornography as a Cause of Rape’)

“This industry is full of people that hate - literally HATE women.” - Julie Meadows, former porn star

“I got the shit kicked out of me. I was told before the video - and they said this very proudly, mind you - that in this line most of the girls start crying because they’re hurting so bad … I couldn’t breathe. I was being hit and choked. I was really upset, and they didn’t stop. They kept filming. You can hear me say, ‘Turn the fucking camera off,’ and they kept going.” —Regan Starr, on the filming of “Rough Sex 2.”  Quoted in Martin Amis’ “A Rough Trade”

“Over the course of my porn career I have been belittled and treated like a piece of trash more than I could have ever imagined in a lifetime I would. I wasn’t a woman in any of these directors eyes, I was nothing to them. The male talent at times were nice, but sometimes, they were horrible. I’ve had men choke me, slap me, thrust me so hard until I couldn’t walk and this would happen even after I would tell them to stop. They have no respect for women.” - Erin Moore

“My first scene was one of the worst experiences of my life. It was very scary. It was a very rough scene. My agent didn’t let me know ahead of time… I did it and I was crying and they didn’t stop. It was really violent. He was hitting me.” - Sierra Sinn

“My pussy was so swollen, it was unbelievable. And the next day, I was obligated to work for Cherry Boxxx. And that f—ed me up even more. Working three scenes after having been so injured f—– me up. For a good six months, I wasn’t normal. My pussy wasn’t normal until a couple of months ago. It just sucks.“ - Eva Angelina

“I love the money, the glamor. I like being recognized. I like the attention. What I don’t like is not being able to shit right. You are constantly doing enemas and you’re fasting and you’re taking all these different pills, ex lax, and it screws up your internal system.” - Kami Andrews

“It was torture for seven years. I was miserable, I was lonely. I eventually turned to drugs and alcohol, and attempted suicide. I knew I wanted out, but I didn’t know how to get out.” - Jenna Presley

“ I experienced rough sex scenes and have been hit by male talent and told them to stop but they wouldn’t stop until I started to cry and ruined the scene. During one specific scene called “Bukkake” I was really high and the producers knew it and they told me to use a Douche to pretend I was urinating on another performer but I had an accident and instead I defecated on the performer. I was so humiliated and wanted to die. They told me it was okay and not to worry that they weren’t going to make a big deal about it and the next thing I know they blasted the scene all over the web. I felt totally degraded.“ - Michelle Avanti

“Well, I grew up in a small town in Ohio , and when I was 10 years old, I was raped by a high school boy that was about 16. And from there, my mother had an older boyfriend that molested me, so my entire childhood was really shaped by these really traumatic sexual experiences, which ultimately led me to the streets of Hollywood and to porn.” - Traci Lords

“After a year or so of that so-called “glamorous” life, I sadly discovered that drugs and drinking were a part of the lifestyle. I began to drink and party out of control! Cocaine, alcohol and ecstasy were my favorites. Before long, I turned into a person I did not want to be. After doing so many hardcore scenes I couldn’t do it anymore. I just remember being in horrible situations and experiencing extreme depression and being alone and sad.” - Andi Anderson

“I shot scenes where I had to pretend to be dead and let someone rape my dead body. I came home bruised and sometimes a little bloody from the rough scenes. I shot deep throat scenes where they slapped me and spit on me and called me horrible things. I threw up, and had to keep shooting.. I couldn’t breathe because of the vomit in my nose and the genitals in my mouth.” - Emily Eve

“Most girls get their first experience in gonzo films – in which they’re taken to a crappy studio apartment in Mission Hills and penetrated in every hole possible by some abusive asshole who thinks her name is Bitch. And these girls, some of whom have the potential to become major stars in the industry, go home afterward and pledge never to do it again because it was such a terrible experience.” - Jenna Jameson

”So what porn gave me was debt, diseases and people who think I’m a used up whore.“ - Anita Remby

“I like to hide — hide everything, you know?… And I’m not happy… I don’t like myself at all… My whole entire body feels it when I’m doing it and… I feel so — so gross.” - Belladonna

"When I arrived to the set I expected to do a vaginal girl boy scene. But during the scene with a male porn star, he forced himself anally into me and would not stop. I yelled at him to stop and screamed ‘No’ over and over but he would not stop. The pain became too much and I was in shock and my body went limp.” - Corina Taylor

“My initiation into prostitution was a gang rape by five men, arranged by Mr. Traynor. It was the turning point in my life. He threatened to shoot me with the pistol if I didn’t go through with it. I had never experienced anal sex before and it ripped me apart. They treated me like an inflatable plastic doll, picking me up and moving me here and there. They spread my legs this way and that, shoving their things at me and into me, they were playing musical chairs with parts of my body. I have never been so frightened and disgraced and humiliated in my life. I felt like garbage. I engaged in sex acts for pornography against my will to avoid being killed. The lives of my family were threatened.” - Linda Lovelace

“I honestly felt that if I had to have another strange man in my face, his hands (God knows where they’ve been all over me) him calling me his baby and having to exude some sort of forged passion for the world to see, I probably would have exploded. And what would have been stuck to the walls would have probably been nothing, just pieces of skin, bone, the brain of a robot, and what would have been left of what would have existed once as a huge and warm heart.“ - Ashlyn Brooke

“A female porn star that’d been in the industry for a while had excessive anal intercourse and a piece of her muscle from her anus fell out on set while she was filming. Some females damaged their reproductive systems which left them unable to have children. A male porn star broke the muscle in his penis because he was having abnormal and outrageous rough sex… Both male and female porn stars were committing suicide. A lot of the porn stars were known to go overseas and do bestiality in porn. (Sleeping with animals.) Shortly after that, a numerous amount of people starting turning up with diseases, Herpes to be exact. - Danielle Williams

“Donkey Punch was the most brutal, depressing, scary scene that I have ever done. I have tried to block it out from my memory due to the severe abuse I recieved during the filming. The guy, Steve French has a natural hatred towards women in the sense that he has always been known to be more brutal than EVER needed. I agreed to do the scene thinking it was less beating, except the ‘punch’ in the head. If you noticed, steve had worn his solid gold ring the entire time, and continued to punch me with it. I actually stopped the scene while it was being filmed because I was in too much pain."  - Alex Devine

"I went through more heartbreaks and became suicidal. I was taken to the hospital for panic attacks. I tried to overdose on xanax, strangle myself, and cut my wrists but not nearly deep enough. I was too scared of the pain. I prayed God would just take me away! I felt helpless.“ - Crissy Moran

"I tried porn a year-and-a-half ago for three weeks. They [my agent DK] booked me for everything I didn’t want to do. I was in the hospital three times. Allergic to lube. Being pounded too hard. My cervix closed up. My ass got torn up.“ - Tiana Lynn

"Being in the world of adult modeling I see A LOT of pain… A LOT of heart break. SO many lost girls get into this business just for some extra money… to help pay for school… to help support themselves or even their children as single moms. "It’s just temporary”. They are only going to do this for a while…just a few shoots. I too started out to make some extra money to help me finish school. Almost ALL of the time It doesn’t end where you think it will…..the path goes on… the hole gets deeper… and the road gets darker. MOST of the time the girls don’t even realize it. One day you see this bright beautiful girl shooting tame nudes… the next they are signing on the dotted line of a hard-core porn company. Lost. Broken. Alone.“ - Erica Campbell

”As I continued to make harder and grosser porn, I transformed from victim into abuser. In my professional life, I began to act out like a man and abuse women on camera. With a strapped on dildo, I did to women exactly what men had done to me. I even knew how to selfishly stroke myself like a man. All those years in prostitution watching male pigs paid off. The men in porn were even worse pigs, ejaculating themselves on any weak woman on any sacred place on her body. I acted out in revenge the very thing I hated: a male pig.“ - Foxy Roxy

"Like most porn performers I perpetuated this lie. One of my favorite things to say when asked if I liked doing a particular scene was, "I only do what I like! I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t like it!” (I would say this with a big fake smile and giggle.) What a total lie! I did what I had to do to get “work” in porn. I did what I knew would help me gain “fame” in the industry.“ - Alexa Cruz

"I did gonzo porn to start out and it was the most degrading, embarrassing, horrible thing ever! I had to shoot an interactive DVD which takes hours and hours of shooting time with a 104 degree fever! I was crying and wanted to leave but my agent wouldn’t let me he said he couldn’t let me flake on it. I also did a scene where I was put with male talent that was on my no list. I wanted to please them so I did it. He put his foot on my head and stepped on it while he was doing me from behind. I freaked out and started balling; they stopped filming and sent me home with reduced pay since they got some shot but not the whole scene.” - Jessi Summers

“My worst day was when I was forced to use a sponge to do a scene because it was already booked and my monthly came early I had never did anything like this. The sponge was pushed so far and got stuck that I had to be taken into the hospital because I had caught a infection and they had to open me up to remove the sponge. I wasn’t able to work for a few weeks and the agent stole two of my checks to replace the money he didn’t get from me leaving me broke and without food.” - Mahlia Milian

“I didn’t want to feel the pain of penetration from an over average sized man, being told to freeze in a position until the camera man was happy with his shots was very painful. I had peoples body fluids forced on my face or anywhere else the producer pleased and I had to accept it or else no pay. Sometimes you would get to a gig and the producer would change what the scene was supposed to be to something more intense and again if you didn’t like it, too bad, you did it or no pay.” - Elizabeth Rollings

“I had bodily fluids all over my face that had to stay on my face for ten minutes. The abuse and degradation was rough. I sweated and was in deep pain. On top of the horrifying experience, my whole body ached, and I was irritable the whole day. The director didn’t really care how I felt; he only wanted to finish the video.” - Genevieve

“My first movie I was treated very rough by 3 guys. They pounded on me, gagged me with their penises, and tossed me around like I was a ball! I was sore, hurting and could barely walk. My insides burned and hurt so badly. I could barely pee and to try to have a bowel movement was out of the question. I was hurting so bad from the physical abuse from these 3 male porn stars!” - Alexa Milano

“I was sexually abused the first time by my step grandfather on my dad’s side and the second time by my actual stepdad so my sexuality was messed up from the beginning. I created another personality that was in complete control and didn’t have those things happen and didn’t have to deal with the pain. The industry is not a real accomplishment.  It’s just a false sense of accomplishment.  It covers everything up for what it is.” - Stephanie Swift

“People in the porn industry are numb to real life and are like zombies walking around. The abuse that goes on in this industry is completely ridiculous. The way these young ladies are treated is totally sick and brainwashing. I left due to the trauma I experienced even though I was there only a short time.” - Jessie Jewels

“I hung out with a lot of people in the Adult industry, everybody from contract girls to gonzo actresses. Everybody has the same problems. Everybody is on drugs. It’s an empty lifestyle trying to fill up a void… I became horribly addicted to heroin and crack. I overdosed at least 3 times, had tricks pull knives on me, have been beaten half to death- the only reason I am still here is God.” - Becca Brat

Disturbing Quotes by Pornographers

“Amateurs come across better on screen. Our customers feel that. Especially by women you can see it. They still feel strong pain.”   – Carlo Scalisi, owner of 21 Sexury Video

"Where else but in porn can you see a guy who just met a girl that day crack her around, choke her out.” - Brandon Iron

“I’m not here to apologize. I’m just here to say, 'We make entertainment and let’s see how far we can take it.’” - Max Hardcore

“Degradation drives the business. … There are things going on right now that are way over the line.” - Khan Tusion

“Even the mildest pornography is shocking to the average person. I’m surprised it’s legal.” - Paul Thomas

“The girls get torn up like usual.” - Vince Vouyer

“I find myself not that much unlike the slaves and slave traders of some 400 years ago. I participate in the most heinous of ALL trades- THE BUYING AND SELLING OF HUMAN FLESH. I trade my own flesh for monetary compensation and I sell the flesh of others for the same.” - Lexington Steele

“I was the first to shoot Rocco. Together we evolved toward rougher stuff. He started to spit on girls. A strong male-dominant thing, with women being pushed to their limit. It looks like violence but it’s not. I mean, pleasure and pain are the same thing, right?” - John Stagliano

“I can like a rape scene if I really like the girl and it’s done well…I’m all about the sex and pretty girls and appreciating them.” —Pornographer John Stagliano, quoted in Robert Jensen’s Getting Off

“It’s like a dog marking its territory. You know, why do dogs pee on fire hydrants and trees? I don’t know. It’s just like a man will leave his mark on a woman. You see something beautiful, you’ve got to let them know you were there.” –Pornographer Brandon Iron, explaining why men like to ejaculate onto women’s faces

“Essentially, it comes from every man who’s unhappily married, and he looks at his wife who just nagged at him about this or that or whatnot, and he says, “I’d like to fuck you in the ass.” He’s angry at her, right? And he can’t, so he would rather watch some girl taking it up the ass and fantasize at that point he’s doing whatever girl happened to be mean to him that particular day, and that is the attraction, because when people watch anal, nobody wants to watch a girl enjoying anal” —Paul Hesky of Multimedia Pictures, as quoted by Robert Jensen in Getting Off.

“I’d like to really show what I believe the men want to see: violence against women. I firmly believe that we serve a purpose by showing that. The most violent we can get is the cum shot in the face. Men get off behind that, because they get even with the women they can’t have. We try to inundate the world with orgasms in the face.” – Ex-porn actor and Free Speech Coalition board member Bill Margold, quoted by Stoller and Levine. 

“My whole reason for being in this Industry is to satisfy the desire of the men in the world who basically don’t much care for women and want to see the men in my Industry getting even with the women they couldn’t have when they were growing up. I strongly believe this… so we come on a woman’s face or somewhat brutalize her sexually: we’re getting even for their lost dreams. I believe this. I’ve heard audiences cheer me when I do something foul on screen. When I’ve strangled a person or sodomized a person, or brutalized a person, the audience is cheering my action, and then when I’ve fulfilled my warped desire, the audience applauds.” - Bill Margold, porn industry veteran and Free Speech Coalition board member.

“When I shot that trailer for Thanksgiving, I really thought there was no problem with anything - it just shows you how genuinely out of touch I am! I was like…a full frontal labial shot, to camera, of a girl landing on a knife seemed like no problem to me. It’s an exploitation movie. It’s my job to exploit. If I don’t exploit this girl, I have failed as a director.” -From an interview with Eli Roth found on filmjerk.com

“Every whore gets the swirlies treatment. Fuck her, then flush her.” —Promotional copy for Swirlies, a series where women’s heads are put into toilets and flushed, by JM Productions

“There’s nothing I love more than when a girl insists to me that she won’t take a cock in her ass, because — oh yes she will!“ -Max Hardcore, interviewed in Hustler (June 1995).

“Women are here to serve men. Look at them, they got to squat to piss. Hell, that proves it.” — Larry Flynt, Hustler’s publisher, quoted on The Anti-porn Resource Center

“T.T. reflects exactly what that sort of porno is about where you screw the hell out of the woman and come all over her face. He throws girls around. He pile-drives till they protest…He’s just aggression.” In an interview in the April 1995 issue of Hustler Erotic Video Guide, T.T. Boy had this to say: “I was a shy little kid when I started, and now I’m just a guy who wants to fuck the shit out of all these girls. Just fuck ‘em to death.” — Bud Swope and T. T. Boy, quoted in Susan Faludi’s ‘Stiffed’.

“There are those who say illogic is the native tongue of anything with tits…(women) speak not from the heart but from the gash, and chances are that at least once a month your chick will stop you dead in your tracks with a masterpiece of cunt rhetoric…the one surefire way to stop those feminine lips from driving you crazy is to put something between them — like your cock, for instance.” — Hustler Magazine, quoted on The Anti-porn Resource Center (oneangrygirl.net/antiporn.html).

"We do a series called ‘Cocktails’ — it’s pretty repugnant. Girls have sex by a couple guys, and the guys and the girl, they have sex with her, and she’s giving fellatio and she’s hacking up boogies in a bowl. And they’re spitting in the bowl. And then she’ll think she’s vomiting in the bowl, and at the end they come in the bowl. And then she drinks it all down. That’s pretty repugnant. (Laughs) Sometimes we do a fellatio line, where the girl’s giving fellatio, and she’s gagging so much she vomits. … It’s repugnant. It is, Yes. We’ve got tons of stuff they technically could arrest us for. And when this happened, I put on our website — I made a big speech: ‘I welcome the LAPD to come on down.’ I said, ‘Come and get me,’ I said, “Because we won’t go down without a fight. We will fight this. Regardless of the cost, we will fight it. We will take it to the airwaves.” —Rob Black, Extreme Associates (Source: pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/interviews/black.html).

“Women were born with three holes for one purpose: To cram a cock deep inside every cuddly cavity! Like true cock sockets, our whores subject their beautiful bodies to the nastiest 4-way debauchery ever lensed. We capture five starry-eyed sluts getting wild and testing the limits of carnal cock-consumption. They redefine raunchy and stretch the limits of ass, mouth, and pussy penetration.” — Promotional copy for Zero Tolerance - No Holes Barred.

"Max fucks chicks he finds the way you like to — getting cute cunts on his couch. Using their tight holes to pleasure his stiff cock. Max turns ordinary teens and mother’s [sic] alike into piss and cum-splattered sluts before your eyes… Max wastes no time, gagging girls on his cock and pissing down their throats before he even learns their email addresses! Max is the originator of rectal-boring action — gaping assholes, and fisting cunts… Max also uses speculums to pry-open their fuck-holes so you can look deep inside. He’ll spray his cum and piss into the gaping tunnels, even making them drink it out of their ass! Whether its [sic] naïve teen or classy broad, Max delivers the same ruthless treatment.” — Excerpt of “Max Hardcore Biography”, Max Hardcore official website (Source: maxhardcore.com/whoismax/index.htm).

Porn Search Trends

A Google search for ‘bestiality’ generated 2.7 million returns.

A Google Trends analysis indicates that searches for “Teen Porn” have more than tripled between 2005-2013.

35 of the top searched sexual interests account for 90% of all erotic searches—meaning that people’s search curiosities “are clustered together into a relatively small set of common interests.”

Videos & Documentaries (Graphic TW Reminder)

Shelley Lubben: Porn as a driver for prostitution and sex trafficking

Porn Actress Exposes Industry: Trafficking in the Porn Industry

Cindy Gallop: Make love, not porn [adult content]

“They call it fantasy,“ - Andrea Dworkin

Dr. Gail Dines: porn culture and rape culture’s intersecting roles in patriarchy

Ran Gavrieli: Why I Stopped Watching Porn [ a man’s perspective ]

Dr. Gail Dine’s lectures on pornography on youtube (1, 2, 3, 4)

Debate: Porn Wars (Does Porn Have A Place in Modern Society?) featuring anti-porn activists and former sex workers

“Demand” - by anti-sex trafficking organization Shared Hope International (18+)

“Harcdcore” - by director Stephen Walker (18+)

“Porn Shutdown” - This high impact and extremely informative documentary addresses the 2004 HIV outbreak in the pornography industry. (18+)

“Diary of a Porn Virgin” - This disturbing documentary follows the journey of two women through their start in the British pornography industry. (18+)

“Death of a Porn Star” - The tragic story of porn star Lolo Ferrari. (18+)

“Does Snuff Exist?” - This very graphic documentary examines the phenomenon of snuff films. (18+)

“Me and My Slaves” - This film follows the journey of a man who has practiced sadomasochism for many years who is choosing to stop. (18+)

“The Price of Pleasure: Pornography, Sexualities, and Relationships.”This is the best current documentary on pornography (according to antipornography.org) (18+)

Hardcore Profits Pt 1 (18+)

Hardcore Profits Pt 1 at Wisevid (18+)

Hardcore Profits Pt 2 (18+)

American Porn (18+)

“Sex: The Annabel Chong Story” (Pt 1) (18+)

“Sex: The Annabel Chong Story” (Pt 2) (18+)

“Adult Entertainment: Disrobing An American Idol”

SNUFF: A Documentary About Killing on Camera (18+)

The Perfect Vagina - A documentary about how women are getting their labias altered with surgery to more resemble the “ideal” labia that men have been trained to desire by pornography.

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls (2011)

Hot Girls Wanted (2015) 

Articles

Pornography As a Cause of Rape (Book excerpt from Against Pornography:The Evidence of Harm) - Diana Russel

Exposure to Pornography As a Cause of Child Sexual Victimization - Diana Russel

What is Ethical Porn? What Does it Achieve?

Yale Journal of Law and Feminism: Prostitution, Trafficking, and Cultural Amnesia (2006) written by Melissa Farley

Jenna Jameson’s 25 Good Reasons No One Would Ever Want to Become a Porn Star

Sources & Resources

Stop Porn Culture: Facts and Figures

Your Brain on Porn: Focusing on Addiction and Erectile Dysfunction caused by Porn

Porn Harms | Research

The Pink Cross

Live Internet Porn Statistics

Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality

Diana Russel: Porn as a Cause of Rape

http://gaildines.com

http://shelleylubben.com

http://thepinkcross.org

http://dianarussel.com

http://antipornfeminists.wordpress.com

http://antipornography.org & 101 ways you can help

http://stoppornculture.org

http://www.oneangrygirl.net/antiporn.html

http://p0kemina.tumblr.com/search/anti-porn

Tarot 101: The Story of the Major Arcana

If you’re new to tarot, you might not know that the twenty-two cards that make up the Major Arcana tell a story. Known often as “The Fool’s Journey”, this story shows the movement from each card starting with The Fool and ending with The World. This story is meant to be a metaphor for life and growth as a person. Knowing this story will help you better understand tarot and may also help you remember the purpose of each card in the Major Arcana. Here is that story (featuring some of the Major Arcana from the Linestrider Tarot by Siolo Thompson).

The Fool

The story opens with The Fool. This card represents naivety and the impulsivity that comes with inexperience. The Fool is an innocent and unaware of the hardships that may lay before them. 

The Fool is born.

The Magician

While The Fool becomes some of the cards that follow it, The Magician is one that appears as a secondary character in The Fool’s story. The Magician is a mysterious card. Connected with the conscious, he teaches The Fool how to impact the world. 

The Fool’s eyes are opened to magic.

The High Priestess

Around the same time The Fool meets The Magician, The High Priestess also comes into play. A mysterious individual connected to the unconscious, she is the mother of creative action. With her guidance, The Fool has agency to act on the world in a way unique to them as an individual.   

Together, The Magician and The High Priestess strike a balance – on one hand potential and on the other creation.

The Fool’s creativity is sparked.

The Empress

Following his growth after meeting The Magician and The High Priestess, The Fool enters the care of the Empress and The Emperor. The Empress is a motherly card. Connected to nature, she provides The Fool with support. Even though they are more aware of themselves and their abilities, The Fool still has a long journey ahead.

The Fool is guided by their mother, nurtured to move toward whatever calls them.

The Emperor

The Emperor is the second half of this parental duo. The father, The Emperor is a force of authority. He gives The Fool structure to guide them forward. This structure gives The Fool access to knowledge about the patterns of the world, the way things work, and how rules affect them and who they are.

The Fool’s father shows them structure.

The Hierophant

Moving away from their parents, The Fool, now out in the world encounters The Hierophant. Now, seeking education, The Fool finds in The Hierophant knowledge about belief systems, religions, and ideologies and how they function in the world around them. The Hierophant is connected to the arcane and enlightens The Fool in the ways of culture and identity. 

The Fool enters the world.

The Lovers

Now, indoctrinated into the ways of the world and society, The Fool is entering their teenage phase. This is when, for many, feelings of love and sexual attraction become a priority. Until this point, The Fool focused only on themself, and their interactions with the other characters were self-serving. 

The Lovers present them with a new milestone, not just love and relationships, but also receiving outside opinions. Even when they are not interacting with another person romantically or sexually, The Fool needs to be able to find harmony in the ways their individuality meshes and interacts with others’.

The Fool battles with harmony of the self and love.

The Chariot

Going through the trials set before The Fool by The Lovers, they eventually make their way to adulthood. Now, The Fool has a grasp of their own creativity, a sense of their place in the world, and understands the value of those around them. The Fool feels as though they are on a path to triumph.

The Chariot comes to stand in the way of this. Connected to the ego, The Chariot has a larger control over his presence in the world than The Fool does. The challenge here is for The Fool to find satisfaction in their own successes. Here, The Fool learns to have self-confidence. 

The Fool finds their confidence.

Strength

As they navigate adult life, The Fool finds that there are ups and downs, as many rocks in their paths as there are flowers. They learn to draw on Strength to hone their abilities to be patient, tolerant. Strength supports many aspects of their life both physical and emotional.

The Fool finds physical and emotional strength.

The Hermit

With all the knowledge The Fool has gained to this point of their adult life, they begin to return to the question we often ask during our childhood—“Why?” In a search for answers, The Fool begins to look for knowledge within. The Hermit is who The Fool becomes at this stage of introspection.

The Fool seeks solitude and the knowledge to be found there.

Wheel of Fortune

After time spent looking at the way the world works and their place in it, The Fool has begun to notice patterns and cycles in the movement of the world. Some of this The Fool now understands as the way of life. Others they attribute to fate.

The Fool watches the world, the way it spins and how everything happens for a reason and with some cause.

Justice

With a better understanding of the cause and effect nature of the world around them and the way that there things both controllable and uncontrolled, The Fool now looks backward. It is time to understand the ways they have had an impact on the world and take responsibility for their actions. They know now that Justice weighs on everyone, and The Fool must decide which way to tip the scales.

The Fool sees their impact on the world.

Hanged Man

Justice has made The Fool prone to excessive control over their place in the world. As much as withdrawing before helped them gain more knowledge, trying to puck deeply at everything they do holds them back. When The Fool lets go, lets things happen as much as making them happen, their world is changed. They hang freely in the balance of life and decision.

The Fool is freed and martyred.

Death

With knowledge about themselves and love and the patterns and cycles of life and justice and fate, The Fool begins to take time to dissect themselves once again. This time, the introspection is productive. The Fool undergoes change, letting go of habits and unnecessary worries. This dramatic change is hard, and letting go is even painful at times, but The Fool emerges transformed.

The Fool sheds themselves.

Temperance

Even though The Fool has changed and has learned, their movement through life is still fairly erratic. Temperance teaches The Fool to seek balance and hold onto it. They do not need to move back and forth between happiness and practicality. They can find harmony and fulfillment.

The Fool finds equilibrium.

The Devil

Despite Temperance’s guidance, The Fool continues to stray ignorantly from one obsession to the next finding freedom in some places and despair in others. They are not the same person they began their life journey as, but they are still not strong enough to resist the attraction of the material things The Devil offers.

The Fool is tempted by ignorance and obsession.

The Tower

The Fool is trapped under the influence of his baser instincts and The Devil’s penchant for creating hopelessness. In The Tower of their despair, The Fool finds themselves surrounded by a chaotic landscape inside and within themselves. Only a great cataclysmic event will destroy The Tower and free them.

The Fool is trapped.

The Star

A blast causes The Tower to crumble in a violent moment that leaves The Fool shaken and scared. The light of The Star shines brightly down. Everything has been lost, but The Star gives The Fool hope.

The Fool finds hope.

The Moon

Even with hope, The Fool is not returned to a state of pure peace. The Moon, always half in shadow, provides inspiration for the imagination, and the illusions it causes confuse The Fool and show them that they are still lost.

The Fool learns that not everything is as it seems.

The Sun

When The Sun rises in the wake of The Tower’s destruction, The Fool can see their illusions and fears in a new light. Good things are attainable. It is time for The Fool to start reaching for them again.

The Fool finds their feet.

Judgement

The Fool is new. After all the trials and journeys they have faced, they can see clearly and know now that Justice weighs heavily on all, but they must be able to forgive themselves for their actions and move forward toward their true purpose and what is most fulfilling to them.

The Fool reassesses their life to this point.

The World

In the final stage of a The Fool’s journey, they leave behind the ruins of the Tower and renter The World. With an entire life behind them and all the opportunity possible ahead of them, they become part of The World, reveling in their accomplishments and knowing that they have the strength to survive and, more importantly, that their journey never truly ends.

The Fool dives headfirst into life.

More Tarot 101: Welcome to Tarot / The Story of the Major Arcana / Card Keywords / Choosing a Deck /  Practice Makes Perfect / Bonding with Your Deck(s)  / An Introduction to Court Cards / Methods of Reading Court Cards / Using Personality Types to Understand Court Cards / Tarot Journaling

The sordid tales of the dark zodiac.

What is the Dark Zodiac?

The Dark Zodiac is an eldritch take on the western zodiac with dark archetypes of each sign, which are shown in "Thirteen Ghosts" (2003).

In the film, a twisted millionaire has found and trapped 12 Earth-bound spirits (ghosts stuck on Earth) in a lavish mansion basement. An unsuspecting family inherits and moves into the mansion, thinking they have struck gold. But, the ultimate goal is to acquire God-level power.

Each spirit captured by the millionaire has their own creepy backstory to match the archetype. Today we will explore those spooky stories & learn some shadow traits! 🎃 TW: Death, Self-Harm, SA

Let the spooky stories begin...

aries

“The First Born Son”

Life was all about gunpowder clouds and sunlit horse rides for young Billy Michaels. The shadow traits of Aries are depicted in a literal child for the “child” of the zodiac. Billy was a very proud Texan, enamored with the bullet-riddled tales of Cowboys and Indigenous peoples. He would play pretend all day long with his toy gun, truly believing he was a real cowboy with a real gun. An only child, his family allowed the delusion. One day, Billy was challenged by a neighborhood boy to an Old Western style duel. Unbeknownst to Billy, the boy had recently discovered a real bow-and-arrow in his father’s closet and perhaps saw a rival in Billy’s cowboy persona. In a bid of childish innocence, Billy steps up to shoot.

Tragically, Billy was shot in the head. The boy was sent to juvenile detention center. This archetype can be compared to the sacrifice or loss of the first born son in scriptural texts or Icarus who flew to close to the sun. We can see the comparison to shadow Aries traits of being a daredevil, bully, reckless, and one-track minded. Youthful arrogance and immaturity. Probably the least frightening of the ghosts, but pretty sad ):

taurus

“The Torso”

The shadow traits of Taurus are cleverly depicted in the form of an actual torso. This particular torso belonged to a New Orleans man named Jimmy "The Gambler" Gambino. A money man through and through, he was about his bucks. With a keen business mind, he opened his own booking operation, which flourished amid the abundance of the Roaring Twenties. Unfortunately, Jimmy was also a compulsive gambler, addicted to the thrill of fast money.

These traits highlight the shadow aspects of Taurus, such as greed, laziness, materialism, and a reactionary nature—much like a bull seeing red. One day, scheming mobster Larry "Finger" Vatelo approached Jimmy with a hefty bet on a boxing match, having heard of his reputation. Greedily, Jimmy accepted the bet, but his fighter lost, and he found himself unable to pay up, as expected. It had all been a setup, just like a bull charging in anger. Vatelo had his men take care of Jimmy, chopping him up and disposing of him in the ocean. This serves as a cautionary tale about the cost of succumbing to carnal desires.

gemini

"The Bound Woman"

The shadow traits of Gemini show up in a popular teen with the gift of gab. Susan LeGrow was the beautiful daughter of the wealthiest family in town, a cheerleader, and the most popular girl in her school—an '80s It-Girl. Having met little adversity in life, she garnered tons of friends and admirers, earning a reputation as a "heartbreaker." It seemed almost destined for her to pair up with the captain of the football team, Chet Walters, during her senior year. However, Susan's yearning for attention prevailed, and Chet was not her "one and only."

This portrayal obviously pulls from the shadow traits of Gemini being deceptive, a trickster, opportunistic, and an eternal adolescent, etc. Tragically, Chet would discover Susan with another guy on their prom night. In a fit of rage, he bludgeoned the young man, bound Susan's hands, and strangled her with his prom tie… breaking her neck. Chet would bury Susan underneath the 50-yard line on the high school's football field. A cautionary tale of entertaining just one too many guests...

cancer

"The Withered Lover"

Cancer is depicted as maternal spirit, of course. Jean Kriticos is a wife and mother of a family that does not fully appreciate her until she’s gone. Her husband is overworked, and her children are disconnected. But she is the glue. On a fateful December night, a log rolls out of the fireplace and starts a blaze that claims her life. Her husband saves the children, assuming his wife made it outside. Her archetype embodies maternal energy, sensitivity, and protectiveness. Jean is probably the least malicious spirit, with her death being an actual accident.

She also guides her family to safety throughout the film, protecting them while they are stuck in the "home," similar to how the moon guides one through a dark night. However, the shadow side of Cancer here is the smothering mother and the invisible man. She spoiled those she loved, gave all of herself, and was unappreciated until she was gone. The weight of her loss can be felt in the script, as the protagonist must almost instantly hire a live-in nanny. Upon her loss, the family is broken in a way that can only inspire transformation. Perhaps her love was hindering this.

leo

"The Torn Prince"

We have probably all seen the tragic fall of a "Golden Boy." The shadow side of the prideful Leo is depicted in a harrowing tale of arrogance and pride set in the '50s—James Dean vibes all the way. Royce Clayton was an exceptional high school baseball player, gifted in every way. He was born into a well-off family and had a prized hot rod that only added to his social status: the big fish in a small town. His baseball skills attracted college prospects from all over the country, guaranteeing him a ticket out of his humble hometown. He felt like a god amongst men and could taste the glory. Unfortunately, his gifts also fueled his unchecked and developing narcissistic complex. This plays into the shadow traits of arrogance, pride, and megalomania.

An envious and shady greaser named Johnny challenged Royce to a race, baiting him through Royce's obvious inflated pride. Royce knew he would win, but he did not know that Johnny had cut his brake line. Upon a sharp turn, Royce's car went airborne off a cliff, flipping three times before bursting into flames. His face is torn (part of his pride), and he can also be seen with his favorite baseball bat in the film. The prince who never was.

virgo

"The Angry Princess"

The shadow traits of Virgo are depicted in a sordid tale of perfectionism and sorrow. Dana Newman was a stunning beauty, even considered one of the most gorgeous women in the world—a model in the business capital of the world. She was surrounded by fast living and even faster trends. Tragically, she lost sight of her own beauty. A slew of abusive partners fueled her secret addiction to "finding" her flaws. I think of Eve, the maiden who was content before the serpent insinuated that she was missing something. Dana sought the friendship of a plastic surgeon, undergoing several facial and body operations to "fix" her perceived flaws.

She even went as far as working for the surgeon as a form of payment for her unnecessary operations, trying to obtain perfection. On one tragic night, Dana flew into an anxious frenzy and attempted to perform an operation on herself. This left her blinded in one eye and permanently disfigured, which was unbearable for poor Dana. Her self-loathing consumed her and she sliced her entire body wildly with a blade while in the bathtub. These shadow traits clearly reflect the Virgo qualities of perfectionism, martyrdom, hyper-fixation, and an insecurity that stems from the mind (Mercury) but does not actually exist.

libra

"The Pilgrimess"

I cannot help but think of the Ancient Egyptian goddess Ma'at (of Libra) when analyzing the story of "The Pilgrimess." Not to mention, Libra is a cardinal sign and the exalted placement of Saturn (Osiris). This archetype is incredibly threatening to a patriarchal society. Enter Isabella Smith, a woman just arriving in New England in 1686. The locals did not welcome her and did not take kindly to her presence. After the livestock of the colony falls ill, they use this as an ignorant excuse to accuse Isabella of witchcraft. The preacher also fell ill while she tried to plead her case. This makes the townspeople form an anrgy mob. She flees into a barn for safety, but they set it aflame.

Unbelievably, she emerges unscathed, and they are convinced she's a witch. Isabella is imprisoned in the stocks, stoned, and left to die of starvation. It is not confirmed whether she was a witch, but my analysis of the story would say yes. This underhanded power move of vengeance, fearlessness in coming to a new land as a single woman, and surprising knowledge of magic screams shadow Libra. Libra placements are also often victims of the negative side of pretty privilege, with rumors spreading like wildfire concerning their romantic nature.

scorpio

"The Great Child"

Scorpio and Sagittarius are depicted as a duo: child and mother. The raw energies of these archetypes are embodied here. The Great Child is Harold Shelburne. A product of sexual assault, he is born to a little person within a traveling carnival. There, he does not receive the proper social conditioning of a developing child. He never learned how to take care of himself properly, still wearing diapers into his young adulthood. This creates an unnatural attachment to his mother. Harold also does not develop a proper understanding of consequences, making him a very spoiled and clingy soul (think: Dandy from AHS: Freakshow, isolated and clinically insane, meets Twisty the Clown).

One fateful day, some of the carnival workers cruelly kidnap his mother. Harold panics, searching for her until he finds her lifeless body—having accidentally suffocated in the bag they held her in. He goes into an unbridled rage, slaughtering the workers and others who laughed at him in the past. As a final note, he places the bodies on display for paying customers, prompting his seizure and execution. Harold embodies the Scorpio shadow traits of emotional immaturity, complacent stagnation (fixed sign energy), possessiveness (of his mother), and primal rage (Mars). One must know when to separate from emotional connections when they are hindering the soul's expansion.

sagittarius

"The Dire Mother"

Harold's mother, Margaret, is chosen to depict the shadow side of Sagittarius. Margaret was a little person who worked as a sideshow attraction for the carnival. She was sexually assaulted by the carnival's Tall Man and left to raise her child, Harold. She is a very active mother, but almost too active. She coddles her son, spoiling him in every way, while also neglecting to teach him to be independent.

I think of the Jupiterian energy of abundance, hyper-optimism, idealization, and overbearingness. It would appear she did not have a clear grip on reality. I also see a shadow trait of control. I think of Zeus, king of his pantheon. What kingdom would you have without subjects? She hindered his growth, intentionally or subconsciously… We may never know. But, she also chose a life on the road instead of settling down to build stability. A cost of seizing the day and living in the moment.

capricorn

"The Hammer"

Hands down, the most visually frightening spirit (in my opinion) is that of "The Hammer." It is also the saddest story (also, in my opinion), which isn't surprising, given that this is the shadow of Saturn-ruled Capricorn. George Markley is a melanated man living in the racist South of 1887's United States. (Slavery was out in 1865 on paper.) Already, the limitations of race and systemic delays give off Saturn vibes.

George is an exceptional blacksmith, making an honest living while supporting his wife and children. George's success angered the bigots in the town. A white man named Nathan accused George of theft, threatened him, and demanded that he leave town. George fought the accusations, maintaining his innocence. In return, Nathan gathered a gang of imbeciles, ambushed George's home, and hanged George's wife and children. GASP. This is an accurate reflection of the disgusting underbelly of American history & culture that prevails quietly today—horrifying and repulsive.

George flips out, hunts them down, and murders them with a sledgehammer. Equalizer style. In a haunting turn, the townspeople formed a mob, seized George, and brought him to his store. Tied to a tree, they pounded railroad spikes into his body with the sledgehammer, sliced off his hand, and replaced it with the literal hammer (thus the name). This dark archetype plays into the darkness of an underworld god like Osiris while also hinting at the "power-tripping" tendencies of Capricorn that led him to his demise.

aquarius

"The Jackal"

As an Aquarius, this one is just like, WTF, lol. Enter Ryan Kuhn, born to a single mother and sex worker in 1887. No known father, no stability, and surrounded with sketchy characters. Exposure to this lifestyle definitely had an effect on Ryan's ability to fit into society later in life. He grew to be a TOTAL psychopath, attacking, sexually assaulting, and murdering unsuspecting women on the streets of London. Most often, he targeted sex workers like his mother figure. Jack the Ripper vibes. Ryan's animalistic nature scared him the most, and he committed himself to an institution for help.

Unfortunately, mental institutions often fall short of actually helping the human condition. What he needed was love, but he got machine. I think of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". Isolation, heavy medications, and "cutting-edge" treatments only made things worse. Within the cruelty of the asylum, he lost every ounce of humanity and morphed into a literal monster. He soon became a high-risk inmate after attacking a nurse. He was placed in an ever-tightening straitjacket that contorted his limbs, and as punishment for biting, he was forced to wear a dehumanizing head cage.

In the end, the asylum caught fire, and Ryan was believed to have burned within it, forgotten in the bowels of the mental healthcare system. This is definitely a part of the Aquarian shadow: rebellion, extremes, and rejection of popular culture or society at large because one sees its faults. At what point does the rejection of humanity lead to its complete diminishment? Beware of cynicism. The god complex evident here teeters on the serial killer spectrum, whether you see it or not...

pisces

"The Juggernaut"

Speaking of serial killers… I save the most dangerous for last! The combination of the isolating primordial waters of Neptune and the ever-expanding nature of Jupiter clash to create a very dark archetype: The Lost One. The Addict. THE JUGGERNAUT. Dun Dun Dunnnnn! Abandoned by his mother and raised as a single child by his father, Horace "The Breaker" Mahoney never had much in his early years. He was teased for his abnormal facial features and lanky limbs, spending most of his time alone. His father gave him a job in his junkyard, chopping and crushing old cars, and that was all he knew. When his father passed, Horace was left with no one and went criminally insane. Standing 7 feet tall, Horace felt like an alien on Earth; he felt like he did not belong. Anger and rejection consumed him.

Horace fell into the habit of killing unsuspecting hitchhikers and stragglers. He would lure them in under the guise of a ride or kind gesture. He'd take them to his junkyard, tear them apart with his bare hands (like the car crusher), and feed the parts to his dogs. This method earned him the name "The Breaker" among law enforcement. His killing spree continued until he picked up an undercover police officer.

SWAT ambushed Horace's junkyard, and he was able to kill three officers before five were finally able to gun him down. He is probably the most violent and vengeful. The shadow traits of Pisces are evident in his addictions, delusions stemming from extended isolation, and feelings of helplessness or disconnection from humanity entirely.

Thank you for reading.

👻 I hope you guys enjoyed. One of my favorite campy horror films. Halloween is also my favorite time of year. 👻 The thirteenth ghost is a surprise. You must watch to find out.

🎃 Happy Astrotober!🎃

@thesirenisles | masterlist

Glitter dividers by @violetbudd and @444vampireluvv

100 shadow work/journal prompt ideas

I enjoy journaling. It’s almost like therapy, but you’re figuring it out by yourself. You’re trying to figure out your own issues by putting it on paper, sometimes it’s for self reflecting or for figuring yourself out. This is very similar to shadow work. 

What is shadow work? 

Shadow work is addressing your shadow self, the side of you that you bury deep down and avoid. It’s your unconscious mind, and it is important to uncover this side of you in order to achieve your highest self. There are multiple ways to do this, but the most known (and most effective in my opinion), is journaling. I thought I should share 100 prompts that really make you think. 

1. What was one time you remember feeling wronged as a child? How did you react? Has this affected you into adulthood? How?

2. Think about one time where you’ve felt betrayed. What would you say to the person who broke your trust?

3. Write about a time you felt let down by someone you’d previously looked up to.

4. What’s one trait you see in other people that you wish you had. Why do you not possess this characteristic yourself?

5. Do you often find yourself over-thinking what you’ve said or how you’ve acted? What usually triggers this?

6. What were your parents’/guardians’ core values while you were growing up? Do you hold these today or do they differ? How so?

7. What are your core values as a human being? What’s the most important to you? What are you morally passionate about?

8. What tends to trigger envy for you? Why do you think this is?

9. What are the first signs that your mental health is dipping?

10. When are you hardest on yourself? Why? Where do you think this stems for? Why do you put yourself under so much pressure? Why are you so reluctant to be kind to yourself?

11. How do you react when you’re angry? Is this similar to other people who have been in your life since childhood? Why do you think this is?

12. What triggers you? Can you identify where this came from?

13. How do you perceive failure? What is your definition of failure? How does it make you feel? Are you afraid of it? Why might this be? How did your parents/guardians react to failure?

14. What situations make you feel less than or not good enough? Why do you think this is?

15. What is your relationship with your parents and/or siblings like? How was it as a child compared to now? Why do you think this is?

16. What parts of your parents/guardians growing up do you see in yourself now? When did these begin to become apparent?

17. What toxic traits have you recognised in your parents? How did it make you feel when you realized that your parents weren’t perfect? Do you also possess these traits yourself?

18. What are your toxic traits? How do these present themselves? How do you project these onto others?

19. What aspects of yourself would you like to improve? Why? Has anyone in your past ever made comments suggesting that you should? If so, how did this make you feel?

20. How do you feel about who you are as a human? Why?

21. How often do you forgive yourself? What kind of things do you feel you need to be forgiven for? Why is this?

22. Write about a time where you messed up and needed forgiveness. Did you ask to be forgiven? Did you apologize? How did it play out?

23. Do you form obsessive or unhealthy attachments easily? Why do you think this might be; do you have a fear of change/abandonment/rejection? Or, on the other hand, do you find it difficult to form emotional attachments; do you struggle with commitment or get restless staying in one place for a certain amount of time? Where do you think this stems from?

24. How do you fill your time when bored? What gives you enjoyment? What self-care do you regularly practise?

25. What negative emotions do you tend to avoid? Why might this be?

26. What negative emotions do you actually feel quite comfortable sitting with? Why might this be?

27. Write about one person you’ve never forgiven. What happened and why did you not forgive them? Was it warranted? How has this event affected you going forward? Do you think you could forgive them now? How did you move on from this?

28. How do you carry the weight of your past trauma? How has it affected you?

29. How did you process emotions as a child, teenager, and young adult? How do you process negative emotions now? Has this changed over time?

30. How do you enforce boundaries? How do you feel when people overstep them? How do you react?

31. What is the biggest lie you consistently tell yourself? Why?

32. What misconceptions have you noticed about your harbor? Can you think about where these started?

33. What are your preconceptions about femininity? Why do you think this is? Where did they come from?

34. What are your preconceptions towards masculinity? Where did these come from?

35. What does the term ‘Shadow Work’ mean to you?

36. What are three main goals you want to achieve with your shadow work?

37. Did you have any heroes growing up? Who did you look up to and why?

38. How were you taught to deal with emotions as a child?

39. How do you deal with negative emotions now?

40. What’s the most hurtful thing you’ve ever done to someone else?

41. What’s the most hurtful thing you’ve done to yourself?

42. How have you moved forward from hurting someone else?

43. How do you plan to move forward after hurting yourself?

44. What’s the biggest promise to you that someone else has broken? How did it make you feel? Why?

45. What’s the biggest promise you’ve broken to yourself? Why? How do you feel about that?

46. Have you ever broken a promise to someone else? Why?

47. When you really think about it, is there any area of your life you’re in denial about?

48. What do you constantly lie to yourself about?

49. What do you lie to other people about? Why?

50. What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told and why?

51. Have you ever had your heart broken? Write about this time in your life.

52. Have you ever broken someone else’s heart? Was it unintentional or intentional? Write about this.

53. Do you ever find yourself manipulating people in an attempt to protect yourself?

54. What’s a question you had as a child that you never got a real answer to? Do you have that answer now?

55. What is something that you’ve always wanted to confront someone about? Why haven’t you? Do you plan to? Why?

56. What is the meaning of life to you?

57. What was the last argument you had about? Was it resolved?

58. How do you feel about confrontation? Why do you think this is?

59. Do you ever have physical reactions to emotional feelings? Write about these. Why do you think this happens?

60. What’s your favorite way to self-soothe? Describe your perfect self-care day.

61. What family patterns am I repeating? 

62. When was the last time I truly felt at peace? Where was I? Who was surrounding me? 

63. In what situations do I feel less than others, equal to others, or better than others? Why do I feel that way? 

64. How do I define failure? 

65. What has been my biggest personal failure and why? 

66. When was the last time I felt jealous of someone else? What do they have that I want? 

67. What is your ultimate dream? Are you currently living your dream? What steps can you take to make it happen?

68. What is your favorite book of all time and why? Movie?

69. Are you doing what you love for a living? What is your dream job?

70. Make a list of 10 things that make you smile.

71. What do you wish you could do everyday?

72. Write down your own bucket list.

73. Write about someone who inspires you.

74. What’s an embarrassing moment you can look back on and laugh now?

75. List 10 of your favorite things, can be anything.

76. Write down your top 10 travel destinations.

77. How do you spend your time alone?

78. What are you the most grateful for in your life?

79. Do you care what other people think of you? why?

80. What excites you about the future?

81. What are some new hobbies you would like to try?

82. How do you want to be remembered?

83. What do you want to accomplish today and tomorrow?

84. What is your favorite song and why?

85. What motivates you?

86. What are your top priorities in life?

87. What are 5 physical features that you love about yourself?

88. What gift do you think you were born with?

89. What holiday or event do you look forward to every year?

90. How would you describe yourself to a stranger?

91. What life lessons have books taught you?

92. Which fictional character would you most like to be, why?

93. What is your favorite place?

94. Is there anything that has changed your outlook on life?

95. Can you keep a secret?

96. How would you change the world?

97. Are you good at organizing your time?

98. What would you do if you could travel into the past?

99. Where in your life do you need to be more fearless?

100.What would you change about your high school experience?

Magics for Anger

Updated: July 22nd, 2017

Spells

[Anger Dispersion Magick Tea]

[Anger Reducing Bath]

[Anger Release Spell]

[Anger Release Spell Bottle]

[Bath Spell to Release Anger] (cw: gif)

[Dispelling Anger Tea Spell]

[“Don’t You Boudé” Anger and Grief Relieving Spell]

[Easy Anger Release Spell]

[Major Anger Release Spell]

[Match Spell for Anger]

[Melt Away Anger- Solidify Peace]

[Place My Rage in My Hand: A Spell to Channel Your Anger] (cw: gif)

[A Quick Way to Cool Anger]

[Releasing Anger Spell]

[Spell for a Fraying Temper]

[Spell for Chilling Out]

[A Spell to Banish Anger]

[A Spell to Cool Anger]

[Spell to Dissolve Anger]

[Spell to Smother Anger]

[A Spell to Soothe Anger]

[Swell Storm Spell]

[This Place About to Blow: Volcanic Rock Spell]

[Winds of Change Spell]

Sigils

[“Anger under lock and key”]

[“Harm none, hate none”]

[“Heal my heart from anger and hatred”]

[“I am calm and in control of my emotions”]

[“I am in control of my temper at all times”]

[“I channel my anger in a healthy, safe, productive manner”]

[“I have my temper in check”]

[“I manage my frustration in a healthy way”]

[“I will not be quick to anger”]

[“My anger is soothed”]

[“My anger is under my control”]

Grimoire - Rituals and Spells

Spellcasting in General: A Beginners Guide to Spellwork Methods of Spell Work Types of Spells & Basic Methods of Casting How to Cast Spells That Work How To Create Your Own Spells Writing your own spells Definitions: “Intent” and “Will” To Nullify a Spell Spells are not simple Components of a Spell Major Components in Spells Tips to avoid negative manifestations of spells Ideas for your spells Why Your Spells Don’t Work Why Your Spells Don’t Work When Your Spell Fails Magical Failure: Why wasn’t my spell successful? “How do spells work if there are so many different spells to cause the same effect?” Disposing of Spell Materials On Substitions There is no Universal Substitute Substitutions, Reworking & Personalizing Spells Substituting with “anything” (a quartz and rosemary-inspired rant) there are no universal substitutes (??) Spell Loopholes Spell Record Worksheet Get to Know Your Spell Ingredients Do Spell Components Matter? 10 Reasons Why Your Spell Didn't Work Why Didn't My Spell Work? "This makes Spells work" Re-Using Spell Materials Methods for Spells "My Method of Spell Design" Should You Do The Spell? Holistic Spell Approach More Effective Spellwork Sealing

Spell Masterposts: how to write your own spells resources Simple/"Beginner" Spellsfriendship spells love spells protection spells glamour spells Glamour Spell Masterpost Valentine’s Day Spells List of Love Spells

Healing Spells: Candle Healing Spell “Mend Your Heart” Spell Healing & Easing Emotional Pain with “Fire Dust” "It will be okay" spell Anxiety-Relief Tea Potion Mental healing spell Strength Spell

Protection Spells: Sleeping Beauty House Protection INSTANT PROTECTION SPELL Blazing Barrier Briar Rose Protection Spell Dragonfire Protection Powder Aromatic Mist

Beauty/Love/Glamour Spells: Intro to GlamourMagic Mirror Beauty Spell How To - Glamour Spells Love Spells and Consent: Navigating Romantic Magick Cleansing + Charging with Love Wrath’s Charm for Self-Love and Cosmic Love “Bring me Matches” Rose Spell glow like the moon Glamoring! Siren Song Shell Charm

Various Spells: A Spell to Strengthen Intuition Spell for Clear Thoughts Super Casual Mini Spells Releasing Spell Anti Bad Vibes Spray a spell to make a home cozier Summon Rain Spell Fire Writing Spell banishing spell to break someone’s hold over you Cord Cutting Spell Bad Vibes Banishment simple wish spell Knots for Binding Another from Doing Harm Fire Productivity Spell Banishing Spell Basic Binding

Rituals and Exercises: Witchcraft Exercises How to send good vibes Small rituals you can do Raise the vibration Small witchy things you can do around the house Circle Casting Casting the Circle How to Cast a Circle using the Elements “Here Lies the Ashes of my Past” Ritual Cord Cutting Ritual Cord Cutting and the Significance of Cords in Witchcraft Wish Board Conjuration

Ultimate Protection Magic Masterpost; Part 1

PERSONAL PROTECTION

Jar Spells & Pouches

“Bubbly Friend” Protection and Cleansing Jar Spell

“Tough As A Nail” Protection Spell

“Portable Barricade” Spell Jar

“Protect My Ass” Spell Jar

“Stay The F*ck Away From Me” Protection Jar

Jar Spell for Protection

Witchywoman’s Protection Jar

Shiroinightmare’s Protection Bottle

Gender/Sexuality Protection Jar Spell

Sea Witch’s Protection Bottle

Stormy Protection Spell Jar

Elemental Protection Jar Spell

Dragon Protection Jar

Protection Jar Against Bindings & Hexes

Basic Warding Jar

Making A Witch Bottle (Charm)

Witches Bottle for Protection

Potent Protective Witch Bottle

Blood Magic Protection Jar

Mini Protection Vial

Ares Protection Pouch

‘Sweet Tooth’ Spell Sachet

Protection Pouches

Protection Pouch

Protection Sachet

Protection Sachet for School

Amulets

Simple Protection Amulet

“Untouchable” Charm Ward

Subtle Protection Amulet

Coral Protection Amulet

Sunglasses Enchantment

Ways to Make Amulets

Simple Protection Necklace

Strength & Safety Amulet

Protection Vial Necklace

Wonder Woman’s Bracelets

Sword & Shield Graveyard/Spirit Jewelry

Nasty Witches’ Brew Protective Jewelry

Bath/Shower Magic

“Armour of Love” Protection Bath

Powerful Cleansing Bath

Simple Purification and Protection Scrub

“Master Protector” Body Scrub

Gossip-Stopping Scrub

Shower Disks for Protection

Pine Protection Balm

Kitchen Witchcraft

Purification and Protection Soup

Fondant Potatoes for Protection & Prosperity

Self Love & Protection Recipe Spell

Abundant Apple Pie Cookies

Grandma’s Pumpkin Bread

Potions

Cleanse & Protect Spray Potion

Rose Shield Potion

Protection Potion

Pisces Protection Potion

Return To Sender Vigor Potion

Bucking Bronco Vigor Potion

Charge Vigor Potion

Spells

Bravery/Protection Spell

Aroma Veil Spell

Protection Spell for Queer Folks

Spell For Protection While Coming Out As Trans

‘Hiding Secrets’ Spell

Stronger Than You Spell

Protection Against Bullies

“Belittlement Barrier” Spell

Expecto Patronum

Substitute Spell

Curse Decoy

LoZ Magic Armour Protection Spell

Riddikulus Charm

Snowdrop Protection Spell

Method for Protection Against Undesired Spirits or People

Evergoing Spell

Rose Quartz Shielding Spell

Protection Candle Spell

Protection Chant

Night Protection Spell

Night Protection Spell #2

Protection Against Curses, Hexes & Bad Energies

Maka’s Black Blood Dress

Mars Celestial Fire Surround

Plutonic Protection Spell

‘Dark Dome Close’ Sailor Pluto Spell

Moon Tiara Magic

Jupiter Thunder Crash

Mind Blast Spell

Metal Claws Spell

Expelliarmus

“Back To You, B*tch” Protection Spell

‘Return To Sender’ Spell

‘Backfire’ Curse Repelling Enchantment

Engraved Hourglass Nebula Curse Return Spell

‘Trainer Chose Squirtle’ Spell

Black Salt Spell for Protection & Absorbing Negativity

Protection Spell Against Negative People & Psychic Vampires

Wards/Rituals

‘Don’t Go In The Dog Park’ Ward

Nail Polish Ritual

PC Magic Warding Ritual

Positive Energy/Banishment of Evil Incense Ritual

‘Fire Rose’ Healing & Protection Ritual

Protection Ritual for the Downtrodden

Sigils

I Am Shielded From Acts of Violence

I Am Protected From Unwanted Spiritual & Physical Entities Who Would Do Me Harm

Protection From Evil Spirits

I Am Safe

I Am Safe At Work

I Am Aware of My Surroundings & Protected

I Am Protected From All Negativity

I’m Protected From Negative Vibes

No Negative Energy Can Affect Me

I Repel Ignorance and Negativity

Protection From Bad Intentions

Protection From Unwanted Eyes

I Am Safe From Fascists

I Am Safe From Transphobia

Those Who Would Harm Me Suffer Their Own Ill Intentions Turned Back On Themselves

I Am One With The Forest

Earth Protection

Protection + Happiness

Ace/Aro Protection Sigil

Protection Sigil/Charm

No Evil Can Touch Me

Sigil for Protection Against All Forms of Magickal Attack

Sigil to Protect One Against All Forms of Possession

Sigil of Protection

Protection

Protection

HOME PROTECTION

Spell Jars

Simple Home Protection Jar Spell

“I Don’t Know Sh*t My Dudes” Protection Jar

My Home Is Protected Spell Jar

House Protection Jar

Home Protection Spell Bottle

Peace & Protection Bottle

Peace & Protection Spell Jar

Home Purification/Protection Spell Jar

Sleeping Beauty House Protection Jar Spell

Mama Cat’s Evil Eye Protection Jar

Sprays & Washes

House-Warding Spray

All-Purpose Cleansing Spray

Protective House Wash

Protective Floor Wash

Rituals

Protecting Yourself And Your Home (Basic Ward Ritual)

Three Elements Home Blessing & Protection Ritual

‘Protect My Space’ Pouch & Ritual

Wards

Quick Protection Ward

Prickly Protection Ward

Protective Storm Ward

Patronus Ward

“Let Only Good Energy In” Horseshoe Ward

Moonbeam Ward

“The Hedgehog” Green Witch Ward

Pumpkin Wards

Complex Bramble Ward

Weaving Protection Wards (ADVANCED)

Spells

Simple Protection Spell

Simple Herbal Protection Spell

Simple Hearth & Home Protection Spell

Home & Body Protection Spell

Clearing Negative Energy from a Room

Home Protection Steam Spell

My Home Is Protected Spell

“Protect My Home” Spell

Home Protection Spell

Home Protection Charm

House Protection Spell

Spell to Protect Your House

House Protection Charm

Threshold Protection Spell

Protego Totalum (Harry Potter Spell)

Four Shells Protection Spell

Pine Cone Prosperity & Protection Spell

“Little Lurkers” Home Protection Spell

Home Protection Spells

A Series of Protection Spells

Strong Home Protection Spell

Home Protection Tip

Home Protection Tip

Sigils

My Home is Protected

My Home Is Protected

This Home Is Protected

Sigil for Protecting One’s Home

Protect This Home

My Home Is A Safe and Healthy Environment

The House I Come Back To Is Safe For Me

Only Positive Energies May Enter My Space

Negative Forces Do Not Enter Here

GRIMOIRE PROTECTION

Spells

Simple Protection Jar For Your Grimoire

Grimoire Protection Spell

Hidden Object Charm

The Serpent’s Lock/Serpent’s Key

Sigils

Protection From Prying Eyes

All Prying Eyes Are Diverted; This Grimoire Is Cloaked In Invisibility

This Item Will Not Be Found

I’m Safe. This Object Is Safe.

The Book in Which This Sigil Is Written Cannot Be Lost or Stolen

This Grimoire Is Protected

This Grimoire Is Protected

My Grimoire Is Protected

Grimoire Is Protected From Those With Ill Intent

This Book of Shadows Is Protected

This Book Is Protected

[part 2]

A Year and a Day UPDATED - 206 prompts - A Quest to discover my individual Witchcraft

*UPDATED - original post was 196 prompts

After a lifetime of subtle magic and a year of failing to step into my power, I wrote this personalized curriculum to learn my own individual Witchcraft over 366 days. There are 206 points on the list. Some will take a bit of time and work. Others require more simple answers.

I used the words "personalized" and "individual" for a reason. Witchcraft is very personal. We are all individuals and nothing we do looks exactly the same. Some of the points may not suit you. Adjust or omit them.

I will be kicking this off with a devotional river bath on June 1st.

Follow me on Instagram if you'd to tag along. Inspired by https://sammmango.tumblr.com/post/175974393404/a-whopping-list-of-grimoire-prompts-and-ideas

Cleansing Commencement Ritual

1. List everything you’re grateful for. Be very specific – from the people you love to the water you drink

2. Write down what you want to change about your life. What is holding you back?

3. List everything you need to release, unlearn, and cleanse

4. Write affirmations to support your unlearning and growth with everyday

5. Take a cleansing shower or bath. Use whatever candles, herbs, crystals, etc. you feel like.

Wheel of the Year

6. Create your own calendar/”wheel” as you go

a. Keep a running list of signs you notice of the changing seasons

7. Research each of the Sabbats and decide how they work into your craft.

a. Summer Solstice/Litha – June 20

b. Lammas/Lughnasadh – August 1

c. Fall Equinox/Mabon – September 22

d. Samhain/Halloween – October 31

e. Yule/Winter Solstice – December 21

f. Imbolc/Candlemas – February 2

g. Spring Equinox/Ostara – March 20

h. May Day/Beltane – May 1

8. How do you wish to celebrate the popular holidays or combine them with related Sabbats? Valentine’s Day? Easter and Ostara? Yule and Christmas?

Witchcraft 101

9. Definitions – Determine what these terms mean to you by researching various descriptions

a. Grounding

b. Centering

c. Cleansing

d. Charging

e. Blessing

f. Charming

g. Enchanting

h. Warding

i. Binding

j. Banishing

k. Consecrating

10. How do you ground and center?

11. How do you cast a circle? Do you bother?

12. What are the corners? How do you call them?

13. How do you set up an altar? Do you bother?

14. Research various workings and their origins;

a. Candle magic

b. Knot/braid magic

c. Sigils

d. Self protection

e. Home protection

f. Egg workings

g. Foot track work

h. Hair/Tag-lock magic

i. Money magic

i. Money bowl/plate

ii. Money candle

iii. Money dust

iv. Lode stone money spell

v. Look up 5 good money spells that you would use

j. Sex magic

k. True jar spells

Correspondences

15. Directions

16. (5) Elements

17. 7 Days of the week

18. Colours

Astrology

19. Read your own birth chart in depth while working through this section

20. Triplicities – Elements in Astrology

21. Quadruplicities – Cardinal/Mutable/Fixed

22. The 12 zodiac signs

23. The 12 houses

24. Aspects

25. Rising sign

26. Sun sign

27. Moon sign

28. Mercury

29. Venus

30. Mars

31. Saturn

32. Jupiter

33. Uranus

34. Neptune

35. Pluto

Lunar Magic

36. Moon Phases

a. Correspondences

b. Add to your calendar/”wheel”

37. New Moon rituals

38. Full moon rituals

Divination

39. Read cards every day

40. Pull a tarot card for each week. Read it for yourself. Research traditional meanings and symbolism as well.

41. Draw some tarot spreads to refer to.

42. Write a list of other divining methods that you’re interested in

43. Make runes or charms…a bone set?

Crystals

44. How do crystals work?

45. How do you cleanse crystals?

46. How do you charge crystals?

47. How do you program crystals?

a. Create a charm to carry with you as reminder and amplifier of your magic

48. What are the uses of crystal grids? Look up some examples for more ideas.

49. How can you use crystals?

a. Physically

b. Metaphysically

c. Around the home

50. Write an information page for every crystal you have. (See Crystal List)

Green Witchery

51. Research all the herbs you are growing;

a. Basil

b. Calendula

c. Chives

d. Catnip

e. Chamomile

f. Dill

g. Lavender

h. Lemon Balm

i. Oregano

j. Peppermint

k. Rosemary

l. Sage

m. Thyme

52. Identify and research 15 plants or trees in your yard. How can you use these in your craft?

53. Identify and research 15 wild plants or trees in nature. How can you use these in your craft?

54. How can you garden by the moon?

55. Note any foraging times on the calendar/”wheel”

Potions

56. Research the essential oils you have on hand

a. Bergamot

b. Cedarwood

c. Cinnamon leaf

d. Chamomile

e. Eucalyptus

f. Frankincense

g. Geranium

h. Lavender

i. Lemon

j. Lemongrass

k. Lime

l. Peppermint

m. Rose

n. Rosemary

o. Tea tree

57. Make body butter

58. Make “Personal Growth” scalp and nail massage oil

59. Make face/gua sha oil

60. Make toothpaste

61. Make toner with oil (like micellar water)

62. Make ‘Thieves’ body spray

63. Create your own signature scent in a body spray

64. Learn to make herbal infusions

65. Learn to make infused oils

66. Learn to make herbal decoctions

67. Learn to make tinctures

68. Learn to make mouthwashes

Spirit Work

69. List the Spirits you can think to work with

a. Ancestors

i. Do you have an item that belonged to them?

b. Flora, Fauna & the Land

c. Planets

i. Where are they in your chart?

70. How can one connect with the spirit of a/an;

a. Ancestor

b. Plant or tree

c. Natural body of water

d. Fairies

e. Planet

71. What type of offerings would you provide different spirits?

a. Ancestors

b. Plants or trees

c. A natural body of water

d. Fairies

e. A planet

72. Take what you’ve learned above and try connecting with spirits;

a. An Ancestor

b. A plant or tree

c. A natural body of water

d. Fairies

e. A Planet

Shadow work

73. Look at your chart;

a. Moon, house

b. 12th house, ruler

c. Saturn

d. Chiron

e. Hard aspects

74. Research Jungian Archetypes and determine which ones fit you.

a. What are your shadows? How can you work on them?

75. Research Myers-Briggs personality types and determine which one fits you.

Personal Maintenance & Glamour

76. Hydrate – your body, brain, Earth and the Moon are mainly water

77. Eat of the Earth

78. Create a soothing bedtime ritual

79. Create a morning ritual that you look forward to

a. ‘Bubble up’ ideas

b. Make a list of Affirmations

c. Gratitude candles

d. Print a checklist

80. Exercise – hike, bike, lift

a. Make a list of your favourite dog walking spots

b. Make a list of your favourite hiking spots

c. Make a list of your favourite biking spots

81. Meditate daily – even if it’s just a few minutes

82. List best hair care practices

83. List best skin care practices

CULMINATING PROJECTS

84. Make a detailed Calendar or “Wheel” with your individualized plans for the next year. (June 1, 2022-June 1, 2023)

85. Write your Grimoire – Create a tidy book of the information that you will use in your craft.

a. Your personalized Holiday/Sabbat celebrations, dates, symbols, etc

b. The basics that make up the foundation of your craft

c. The various workings you do/intend to use

d. Spells

e. Correspondences

f. The tools of your craft

g. Your completed birth chart interpretation

h. Moon Rituals

i. Personal Tarot card meanings, spreads

j. A guide to your Runes, Bones, or whatever divination set you may have made or acquired (#39)

k. Crystal practices, information pages

l. Plant information

m. Essential Oil information

n. Recipes

o. Spirit information, communication records

p. Shadow work and a plan to work on your shadows

q. Your ideal day

r. Your ideal week

12h synastry

journals!! (part 2 of this post)