Inner Traditions

Inner Traditions

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Inner Traditions

@InnerTraditions

Apr 10

Across every culture that has ever named the witch, one thing remains constant: she wields occult power in ways that society deems off-limits. The Latin word for it is "maleficium": the ability to cause change through unseen means, a projection of spirit and will, directed to both heal and harm, to bless and curse. The term originated in Roman law, was weaponized by the Catholic Church, and was codified in the "Malleus Maleficarum" of 1487, one of the most blood-drenched books in history. What started as a derogatory accusation that inspired fear is now a term of empowerment and liberation for many. In the natural world, plants are poisonous and animals are venomous. The practitioner of the poison path harnesses both. The witch's venom, in its esoteric sense, is innate. It is in our ability to cultivate, concentrate, and direct this force that we can fascinate and destroy, heal and empower. This is what marks certain souls as other. Medusa understood this. Cursed, hunted, decapitated. Her curse became a source of power. Her blood could restore life to the dying and act as a deadly poison. Her severed head, placed on Athena's shield, became an apotropaic image. The gorgon became the guardian. Her star still burns. Algol, known in Arabic as "Ra's al Ghul," sits in the Caput Medusae within the constellation Perseus. One of the fifteen Behenian fixed stars used in ritual magic, it can be employed to bring success, increase charisma and personal influence, and protect against malefic forces. Agrippa associates it with diamond, hellebore, and mugwort. Asteroid 149, also named Medusa, reveals in the natal chart the areas requiring healing and the transmutation of energetic toxins. During times of upheaval and oppression, the path is clear: shed your skin. Become monstrous. Wield the power they have always feared. 📖 "The Poison Path Oracle" by Coby Michael — divination, spirit communion, and the reclamation of the witch's venom through the allies of the baneful garden. innertraditions.com/the-pois… @Poisonpath #PoisonPath #Henbane #SacredPlants #Entheogens #Witchcraft #OccultHerbalism #Pythia #AncientMysteries #PlantMagic #ShamanicTraditions #EsotericWisdom #CobyMichael #ThePoisonPathOracle #InnerTraditions #MysteryTraditions

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Inner Traditions

Inner Traditions

@InnerTraditions

Mar 27

The Greeks called henbane "pythonion," named for the Pythia herself, the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Theories regarding how she entered her trance states include inhaling subterranean gases rising from fissures in the temple floor and consuming psychoactive plants. The smoke of henbane seeds, the historical record tells us, was inhaled by pythians, sibyls, prophets, and Germanic alrunas for the same purpose: to part the veil between the living and the dead. At the Necromanteion of Ephyra, the oracle of the dead, believed to sit atop the entrance to the underworld, those seeking counsel with the deceased consumed ritual meals containing mind-altering entheogens. Between flickering firelight, mind-altering substances, and smoke from burnt offerings, the boundary between worlds grew thin. In 1954, archaeologists unearthed the grave of a Viking völva in Jutland, Denmark. Buried with her iron staff and a pouch full of henbane seeds, she was a traveling seer, both respected and feared for her power. She was not an anomaly. The oldest finds of black henbane in association with human settlements trace back to the Bandkeramik culture of 5500 to 4500 BCE. At the ancient Roman site of Houten-Castellum in the Netherlands, a hollow bone containing over one thousand henbane seeds was recovered, a prime example of intentional use. In the ancient world, it was believed that the dead were crowned with chaplets of henbane as they made their journey through the Greek underworld. Ceremonial magicians in the grimoire tradition later combined it with hemlock, benzoin, and frankincense, creating smoke to induce a deep death-like sleep known as soporatum for spirit summoning. While not so well known, this knowledge is far from dead. From ancient Mesopotamia to Norse seiðr, shamanic ethnobotanical traditions survived in pockets around the world among Indigenous peoples, preserved in the mystery traditions of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. As modern practitioners, we can explore how to adopt these ancient techniques into our own practices. "The Poison Path Oracle" by Coby Michael is the guide for doing exactly that. innertraditions.com/the-pois… @Poisonpath #PoisonPath #Henbane #SacredPlants #Entheogens #Witchcraft #OccultHerbalism #Pythia #AncientMysteries #PlantMagic #ShamanicTraditions #EsotericWisdom #CobyMichael #ThePoisonPathOracle #InnerTraditions #MysteryTraditions #MagicAndMyth

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