Noob questions

[Lynx]

I'm going to be performing a variation of this ritual to charge a ring as a talisman. The intention is simply to let me see the death that is happening around me, i.e. to be aware of the transient nature of things. I realize I'll have to be careful with the wording here. If I said "I want to see everything around me die!" that could, uh, be taken the wrong way

First, where can I get Saturnian oil? Better yet, does anyone have a recipe that I can make myself, and where can I get the ingredients?

Second, how much blue food coloring would it take to turn a whole bathtub black? Would that be impractical, harmful to the environment, or leave stains on the tub?

Third, and this is the silliest question. I would like to do this at midnight either on a new moon or on the solstice, but I live with my family (parents and three cousins) and I don't want them to know that I practice magic, much less that I'm invoking weird death gods under their roof. How in the world do I get them all out of the house for a night? Is my only option to rent an expensive hotel room with a bathtub and do it there? The bathroom in my house is nearly ideal, because the tub is directly across from a wall mirror. Has anyone dealt with something like this before?

[Lynx]

Okay, well, I got it figured out. But was there a reason no one responded to this?

[Nahemah]

I recall reading this,but forgot to reply.Sorry. [blush]

I didn't see any description of blue dye in the linked ritual,is that an addition you've made or should I read again/have I missed something? [willdo so after posting this...]

Correspondences for Saturn [Planetary] :

There's also pre-made oils list on the site,but using some of these plants/oils,mixed by yourself would give the rite a personal touch and it's good for learning purposes.[Be mindful of potential toxicology issues for the banes though,if you go the plant extract route.Very careful.]

http://www.alchemy-works.com/planets_saturn.html


I like the ritual,it's another way to achieve gnosis,that involves shocking the system.I've done ice baths before and it is an erm...'interesting sensation'...that's for sure,lol.


Have you tried it out yet?

[Nahemah]

The Thanatos Ritual

Preparation: Bathroom in darkness. Bath filled with cold water. Skull and black candle.

Celebrant(s) to be naked, inverted pentagram painted on chest in black.

Nope nothing about blue dye or bath being blackened,not that I can see anyway.

Only black paint for the pentagram.

[Lynx]

No, the blue die isn't in the original description. That was something I'd heard about for scrying/black mirror types of things, and I was considering doing that for the bathtub. I don't think I will, because that would take a LOT of dye to get it black and it will be too dark in the room to matter much anyway.

Haven't done an ice bath before, but I have certainly jumped into freezing water. How long should I stay in there? Just until I can't hold my breath any longer?

I found a monsterous elk skull at my friend's ranch today. It's longer than my forearm and hand. I was expecting something a little more... handheld, but "in works of invocation, nothing succeeds like excess". I may have to scale up accordingly, like using two candles instead of one.

Do you want me to post about how it goes?

[Nahemah]

Well,the ritual description just says to submerge completely,could be momentary or a good bit longer,
depends how long you can take it,really,I suppose. [thumbup]

I remember vividly how I got a huge adrenalin rush from doing the icy bath.The same for an ice cold shower too,more than once.

Sounds obvious,but a nice warm room and lots of towels for after are essential.Make sure you look after yourself.Leaving out the dye will help a lot with not alerting other folk in the house,so good call on that,I think.

I'd love to hear about how it goes for you,so posting about how it went would be great. [grin]

And WOW,on the Elk skull find.That's a powerful item. [cool]

[Lynx]

I think I'm going to have to get a hotel room. The only other option would be to build a makeshift kiddie pool in the garage, but I really don't want anyone to walk in on this one [rofl] They would never think of me the same again, but more importantly it would mess up the ritual. I'm going to be burning a lot of incense, so, smoking or non-smoking?

[ShubNiggurath]

oh.. this is beautiful

[Nahemah]

[quote I'm going to be burning a lot of incense, so, smoking or non-smoking?][/quote]

Well,I find I can burn stick incense indoors without any hassle,generally.I can manage three simultaneusly,with the window open in my decent sized sitting room,but conversly, even small amounts of resins like frankincense set the alarm off.

Best to err on the side of caution,I think. [thumbup]

[Lynx]

Preparation starts today. Tonight and the two nights following, leading up to Saturday, I'll be doing a pagan-style elemental cleansing of the ring in the local graveyard. From now until the invocation I'm going to fill my mind with thoughts of death. Books, movies, music, internet articles. I'm anticipating that could have a depressive effect, but I have lemongrass incense, a dog, and a nice weather forecast to offset it. Any relevant media suggestions would be appreciated

[Ramscha]

Anything you connect with Saturn would be helpful as the saturnic correspondences are associated with death. Things like dark purple or black candles, a lead plate or a dagger with a lead ornament is also nice just as examples. Principly anything you can connect with death you can also connect to the saturnic principle.

Ramscha

[Lynx]

All plans are go. Wish me luck.