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The Sight of Blood

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12:47 / 02.05.05

I'm curious about a remark made in this thread by Mordant, in combination with a few other things I've seen here recently.

Do some entities/workings require blood sacrifice of some kind, and what happens if you don't give blood voluntarily? Will entities/workings come and get it themselves? Can magic become vampiric?

Has anyone else had experiences like this?

I'm asking, in part, because I have had a rash of nosebleeds (which I never get) and other blood-prodicing injuries recently. I believe it's been on a daily basis for almost two weeks. I'm not usually this accident-prone, and some of the injuries are, well, refusing to heal, which is also unusual. I'm wondering if I did something to induce this, or if something's trying to get my attention, or if I'm just turning into a real klutz in my old age.

And anyway, I find the concept intriguing.

14:49 / 02.05.05

Er... perhaps I should add in passing that the same two weeks have also been characterized by extreme good luck in the financial arena. Visits from the money fairy, basically.

Perhaps connected?

15:09 / 02.05.05

I've heard that when working with Ogun (and I'm not sure, offhand, if this is Vodou or Santeria, or both) one should make it clear that any open cuts on your body are not for him, or else he could get a taste for it and start taking it on his own, via accidents. If he can, I imagine other spirits could, too.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

16:13 / 02.05.05

I think people can get too uptight about this particular issue. It's either "argh red scary urgh yuck" or "Oooh! Lookit all the pretty blooood!" (I'm sort of inured to it all, mostly from working as a cleaner on dodgy estates and in bail hostels.)

I often get asked to go and do something-or-the-other during a working: "get a pen and write this next bit down," "light more candles," or "sit down and close your eyes for a while." I think of the random nosebleeds or paper-cuts in much the same way. I don't consider it odd to use blood (or hair, or spit, or whatever). It's part of you, you have to make a small sacrifice to obtain it.

In the case of the book mentioned in the other thread, I think I was being asked to demonstrate some commitment to the work at hand, reminded that I was doing something serious and real and not to be taken lightly, something that would require me to do my bit too.

(Sekhmet, if your cuts are refusing to heal you may be lacking in some vitamin or another. You might want to take a supplement for a bit. When I get a stubborn injury like that I find a dab of tiger balm once a day sorts it right out.)

16:30 / 02.05.05

Sekhmet, Mordant is onto something there. Just to be sure, if you have cuts that don't heal and possibly some other symptoms such as: fatigue, increased thirst, increased urination, infections, blurred vision, unexplained weight loss; these could possibly indicate Diabetes. You may want to go for a check up with your physician and tell them about this. It is very serious and could be fatal if left unattended to.

Not really on topic, but it is definately worth mentioning.

More on the topic: I always give a blood offering to my athame when I use it. Nothing involving self-mutilation, just a drop of blood for unsheathing it and calling upon it's service.

16:34 / 02.05.05

Fortunately, I don't have any particular blood hangups either way. It's mostly the large numbers of mysterious-or-otherwise cuts, contusions, abrasions, bruises, blisters and small burns that are bothersome.

It's definitely a curious subject, though, partly because so many people do have a strong reaction to it. Any discussion at all on the subject is welcome. Does anyone use blood scarifice regularly in their magical practice?

I suppose if one thinks their blood is being drawn, the first step would be to determine by whom and for what reason. Based on that, then, decide whether to allow it to continue, start making voluntary donations, or perform something to make the leech go away...

16:39 / 02.05.05

( Oh, and thanks MC and Strix for the health concerns; I haven't noticed any other symptoms, but I'll see if a multivitamin makes any difference... )

16:42 / 02.05.05

Why do I keep spelling "sacrifice" as "scarifice"? Sorry.

17:41 / 02.05.05

There was a very interesting incident, a girlfriend of mine had when opening a Kali stupa from it's crate. It was sent to the monastary from India and several people were there to help, as it is very heavy, and then ritually treat it. I was not able to attend this, unfortunately. However, my girlfriend was gashed quite sharply while prying off the lid of the crate and she bleed on the stupa. It was said after, with some seriousness, that it was almost like Kali bit her. It was considered a good omen, anyway.

21:20 / 02.05.05

I've had a few occasions where I accidentally cut myself during a ritual. If that happens, I just try to make it a part of the ritual.

I seem to remember John Odin mentioning accidental cuts after working with Odin, in My Evocation Experience. The possibility of Odin becoming proactive in getting his sacrifice was mentioned.

15:22 / 03.05.05

Oh, dear. Yes. I remember that thread.

Guess who I've been trying to chat up recently?

16:27 / 03.05.05

Which I guess leads us to the question: anyone else have similar experiences while building a relationship with Odin? Can we get a show of hands (or stumps...)?

Unconditional Love

16:31 / 03.05.05

i always get hung up on him having one eye, so no ive never tried, i like depth perception.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

08:04 / 09.05.05

Dude, Odin can see into every one of the Nine Worlds. I call that serious depth perception.

07:57 / 10.05.05

Dude, Odin can see into every one of the Nine Worlds. I call that serious depth perception.

but the poor guy still has to turn his head all the way around to do it.

08:57 / 10.05.05

Well,, if we are talking about serious Odin workings, then I will have to add that according to most historical references here in sweden, Odin was one of the Gods that required life as sacrifice.

Battles were dedicated to him, prisoners were hanged to him, or thrown overboard into the stormy sea.
There is also a practice that i find a bit disturbing, of sending cattle into a marshland, or a svamp where they suffocate.

In modern asatru (what you non skandinavians call ye olde norse religion), Blot is traditionally given with apples, onions and mead or beer. IF it was still legal they would also add the blood of a hen or rooster whose head has been chopped off... (Not that some teenagers in norway don´t anyway...)

In other words, always give Odin something that symbolizes life, as a carrier of life. Blood, root-vegetables, salt, beer etc.

12:55 / 10.05.05

And maybe once you start giving it to him, he'll stop taking it for himself.

14:46 / 16.05.05

Follow-up: am now under the impression that the point isn't sacrifice, per se, but something along the lines of becoming acquainted with pain. The beginnings of a toughening-up process. (Maybe more, and worse, to come?)

Still interested in the general topic of blood offerings, if anyone has more input.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

02:56 / 26.10.05

I've been noticing some distinct patterns of physical fall-out when working with certain powers. Freyja burns my fingers if I touch her necklace without asking. Always. Weeks where I'm working more closely with Odin will tend to involve more than the usual number of cuts and scrapes; incidents involving splinters or shards driven into the skin are very common. This is in spite of the fact that he gets given beer, honey, wine ect at least a couple of times a week, plus a drop or two of blood to be on the safe side.

My not-entirely-voluntary trancework seems to manifest physically as well. If something gets damaged/removed/affected in the trance state, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be symptoms the next day. Cramps, injuries, mysterious aches and pains that come out of nowhere; or, conversely, the healing or imporvement of an existing problem. (I'm having a bugger of a time learning to manage this sort of thing, but I'm hoping I can evolve it into a meaningful technique. The proof of the pudding, of course, would be using such a method to fix someone else's problems.)

*

03:38 / 26.10.05

I'm thinking about one of Raven's writings which mentioned that learning to accept penetration of the body gracefully makes it easier to accept God-possession.

04:56 / 26.10.05

I used to incoporate blood offerings when I was involved with devotional magick involving Kali. I found that excercises in physical endurance were just as well received as the blood offerings. For my part I'm inclined to think it's in the symbolic nature of the gesture.

In this case if we see blood as being a symbol of power or currency, it doesn't surprise me that you might subconciously end up getting more scrapes, or just noting them more often. I think this is especially the case when we are consciously devoting ourselves to a particular entity or working.

13:28 / 26.10.05

Interesting that this came up again.

I'm pretty accustomed to having minor injuries pretty much constantly now - considering how I spend my free time, it's really not surprising that I'm banged up a lot. However, the nosebleeds stopped a while ago when I started making very regular offerings. (Cider or mead if available, beer or white wine in a pinch.)

I had no alcohol available to make an offering with last week, so I tried to make do with substitutes - extra incense, that sort of thing. The next day I got a nosebleed. Could be coincidence, I suppose.

incidents involving splinters or shards driven into the skin are very common... - MC

learning to accept penetration of the body gracefully makes it easier to accept God-possession. - entity

Yes, and hmm. I've had an awful lot of splinters, stickers, burrs, bits of glass, and needle pricks in the past few months. The penetration theory resonates...

Less searchable M0rd4nt

14:13 / 26.10.05

I don't always offer alcohol (the Old Man got no-alcohol apple schnapps with honey in it today) but my nosebleeds have stopped too.

15:49 / 26.10.05

Good thought. I should try some sort of sweet drink next time I'm skint.

Apple schnapps and honey sounds really tasty anyway...

My mead should be just about drinkable by Yule, so after that I won't have to worry about it for a bit.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

19:00 / 26.10.05

The other componant present in bloodletting besides penetration is the release of a substance from the body. This is a theme that has been recurring a lot in my breathwork: being able to fully exhale in order to draw in good air is a skill I'm pretty much having to learn from scratch.

Once you surrender something stale that you're hanging onto, you leave a space for something new to come in. That's hard to do sometimes, especially when the nature and quality of that next breath is unknown.

19:15 / 26.10.05

On the "release of substance" angle, I have found that it seems to make a (positive) difference in my offerings to Papa Legba when I inhale* and hold the cigar smoke to blend it with my own breath before blowing it, and mouthspray the rum (blended with my own saliva). The thought that I needed to invest my own substance, as it were, into the offering dawned very strongly (in that way, y'know) while working his altar, so I'm inclined to take it seriously.

No blood, yet. As I wrote upthread, there are reportedly lwa who will gladly accept (or take) human blood, but there is (also reportedly) a tradition of denying them the blood offering ("My blood is not for you; how about some roast pork?").

*sorry, cigarophiles

Less searchable M0rd4nt

19:29 / 26.10.05

I get a similar thing with Loki and tobacco* offerings, and Odin has me burning bay-leaves and inhaling the smoke from that. No spit'n'rum though.

*Why couldn't I get tapped by the Lwa? Or at least someone who doesn't dig horrible horrible cheap cigarettes?

19:45 / 26.10.05

Because cigarettes are so compatible with breathwork... oh, wait...

19:49 / 26.10.05

Actually, my breathwork/meditation always goes much better after giving a cigar offering - smooth and effortless.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

21:07 / 26.10.05

Yeah, same here (once the coughing spasms have died down anyway). it's like something unlocks. I wouldn't call the work effortless ever but there's definately progress after the smoke clears.

09:25 / 27.10.05

No blood, yet. As I wrote upthread, there are reportedly lwa who will gladly accept (or take) human blood, but there is (also reportedly) a tradition of denying them the blood offering ("My blood is not for you; how about some roast pork?").

Gah! It is not a good idea to offer your own blood to the Lwa. They like blood, they like blood sacrifice. But if you offer them your own blood, what is communicated is that YOU are the blood sacrifice. Some of them, in particular, will not stop drinking until the offering has been consumed. They are not going to be satisfied with a couple of drops - not much use to anyone. If blood is presented, the whole animal will be taken. You probably do not want to be that animal. Know what you are doing before you get into anything like this. Please. With certain Lwa there are warnings that you should not even attempt contact if you have an open cut or if you are menstruating.

09:57 / 27.10.05

With certain Lwa there are warnings that you should not even attempt contact if you have an open cut or if you are menstruating.

Crikey, I haven't come across that yet, I have read some Lwa won't work with a woman who is menstruating but not that.

Can you give me any information on which ones they are? If not, don't worry I'm reading and cautiously doing, I'll tread carefully about the whole blood issue until I've read up more or get into a position where I know someone to ask. Most of my offerings are rum, foodstuffs or brought goods, so the blood thing hasn't really featured.

Madman in the ruins.

11:38 / 27.10.05

Waves bloodied stump in the air (only joking)

Last friday the 20'th I had a really severe nosebleed. I didnt attach nay significance to it till now-maybe there is none.

Just my 2pennworth

12:43 / 27.10.05

Know what you are doing before you get into anything like this. Please.

As I said, no blood for the lwa.

12:47 / 27.10.05

Oh-

And since it probably wasn't clear, the "yet" in "no blood, yet" only meant that the question of blood hadn't even been made an issue, yet (no open wounds during service, etc.) - not to suggest that I might, at some time in the future, consider offering my own blood the the lwa. Sorry if my vagueness caused any alarm, GL.

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