The Kindly Ones

With the upcoming launch for ‘Of the Dead’, it might be helpful to clarify what this means and the influences on the product line.

To be clear I mostly identify with the title, ‘secular animistic necromancy’, as a way to define the traditions of magic I was raised and initiated in. My family do not follow Deity. We honour and respect Deities related to our heritage. But very few of us are theistic in nature.

You do not need a relationship with Deity to do magic.

Ancestral Veneration and Animism are the core principals that influence our particular brand of Spirit-mediated magic. Our Ancestors are why we as individuals even exist in this world, and if we acknowledge that the Spirits of human dead are present all around us then it is best to be a good neighbor and honour all the local Spirits.

One the subject of human dead I personally think of our spiritual matter as three parts:

• The Soul: This is the animating force, the life spark which is temporarily part of this life-cycle. While it is perhaps influenced by the experiences it accrues through incarnation. It is not really bound to this existence. I imagine that eventually it might reach a point of saturation or enlightment, but how can we know what that even means.
• The Spirit/Spector: This is the psychic remnant of everything that we are as individuals. It is our ‘identity’. A Spirit, in my experience, is cognizant and aware of its death, progression of time and is able to be enriched and empowered through Veneration. A Spector is not aware of time or even its death, and will often be like a fragment of film that loops through the last moments of its life. In necromantic terms a Spector would be a Lost, Wandering, Wrathful, Vengeful of similar type Spirit. They are not typically interacted with in Veneration and not a place I recommend learning to interact with the Dead.
• The Earth Memory: This is the body and the parts of you that are part of the Earth. This Earth Memory is not functionally like a Spirit, but is why grave dirt can be such a powerful materia in magic.

One person is theoretically able to form multiple Spirits and Spectors in the moment of death. But that is a whole different matter of discussion.

Ancestral Veneration is at its core a form of necromantic worship. We venerate the Ancestors to empower them, to increase their spiritual force and have them as part of our practice and life. But we do not need to venerate all of our ancestors. There is no escaping that people are flawed and can be as terrible as they can be beautiful.

This is where setting parameters in our magic and veneration comes into play.

Kindly Ones set the parameter that the Spirits you are interacting with are benevolent to you. There is a lot of discussion around Well and Healed Ancestors. But speaking as a person who has practiced Ancestral Veneration for 27 years, there are Well and Healed Ancestors that I have who would ruin my life and health if I gave them access to my Work or self.

It is even worth setting out with the parameter: ‘I call to the Kindly, Well and Healed Ones’. As an opening to any Ancestral or Necromantic working.

This is why the ‘Of the Dead’ range has been imbued with the parameters that you are working directly with Kindly Ones. Be they an Ancestral Spirit or one of your Local Dead. This range is ideal for either a person first starting their journey in Ancestral Veneration or Necromancy, or even a seasoned practitioner. These recipes exist in my tradition because they are potent tools for safe and effective Work.

You can book my Ancestral Veneration Mentoring package here: https://wardandweave.com/ancestral-veneration-mentoring-package/

For now may the Kindly Ones bless you, whatever their form or nature.

Love and Manyfold Blessing

Asphodelo xxx