Phenex's Bottle of Inspiration
I used to be a fairly creative person growing up. I still am when I need to be. However, when it comes to the arts I can't deny my creativity has been stifled for quite some time. I had this grandiose plan of making paintings and selling them on the art & antique market in Dordrecht, writing a poetry book containing poems about the demonic divine, knit myself a scarf in the colors of the nonbinary flag, etc. But, after a year I haven't gotten towards this big goal like I imagined I would. I've made one painting, written four poems and well...knitting was a bust to say the least. Honestly, I shouldn't have made this big goal in the first place, but sometimes I can't help myself! There is so much I want to do and so little time. The last half of the year I focused a lot on work and getting Dungeons & Dragons off the ground. So, it's not like I did literally nothing. But, around March I decided it was time to put some energy in creativity again.
After a lot of thinking I ended up with a spell bottle. I didn't want the rush of inspiration to be a one time thing, but rather something I could fall back on if the art block proved to be too strong. It's worth noting that at this point I didn't reconnect with Lord Phenex yet. I had a brief period last year where I worked with him when I wanted to really deep dive into poetry, but I was so consumed with work we both decided it was best if I had a break for the time being. I still had all the stuff for his altar I had at the time. One of the items is a bowl with eggshells and carnelian chips which I grabbed some from to use in the bottle.
The other ingredient I used that not everyone will have is Selenite dust. Selenite dust? Yes, Selenite dust. I bought a selenite sphere at Elfia many moons ago to put atop my wooden staff I was making at the time. However, my ex boyfriend took it out of his pocket so often that it was bound to break; and break it did. I tried making a moon from the remnants and just ground up the rest in my mortar & pestle. Using normal Selenite is just fine (or other things that fill in the gaps of its correspondences), so don't worry about it too much if you're making this bottle for yourself.
The first thing I did was light the pink candle & carve the orange candle with a symbol that stands for the tarot suit of wands. I put the salamander and the carnelian around it and first grabbed the rosemary to sprinkle it counterclockwise three times. This is to release myself of bad experiences around creating art including the perfectionism I struggle with. Then I grabbed the thyme and sprinkled it clockwise three times to invoke courage to make art and go against what my perfectionism is telling me. I stood still for a moment and when I was ready I rang my little bell to signify the start of the ritual and lit the orange candle.
In my mortar & pestle I ground up dragon's blood, orange peel, lavender, selenite powder & star anise. I wrote my one word wishes on the three bay leaves, burned them & added them to my ingredients. This can be 'inspiration', 'passion', 'success', etc. Whatever you need in this particular spell. While the leaves were cooling down I put salt & water in the empty bottle and swung it in circles counterclockwise until the salt dissolved. I added all ingredients from the mortar & pestle, the snow water & the carnelian chips. However, it didn't feel quite right to me back then so I added sugar last minute.
While sealing the closed bottle with orange wax, after I poured the pink first, I said:
Well said....I yelled 'so it shall be', to be honest. The spell bottle has been standing on Phenex's new altar ever since I reconnected with him. It wasn't long after I made this. Because D&D at the library is running smoothly I am a Dungeon Master (in training) there myself now and I finally had inspiration to write and finish two quests; one for the guild and one for a session with the other dungeon masters. I found inspiration in the Faerie Court Seraphine skin, but I admit I have yet to paint it. I also saw that the library in Dordrecht has poetry nights! If that's a reoccurring theme I am definitely going to check it out.
I don't know, life just seems so much more beautiful & inspirational since I did this spell.
This post was originally posted on April 12th, 2023
A cool book regarding the subject:
The Elements of Spellcrafting by Jason Miller
After a lot of thinking I ended up with a spell bottle. I didn't want the rush of inspiration to be a one time thing, but rather something I could fall back on if the art block proved to be too strong. It's worth noting that at this point I didn't reconnect with Lord Phenex yet. I had a brief period last year where I worked with him when I wanted to really deep dive into poetry, but I was so consumed with work we both decided it was best if I had a break for the time being. I still had all the stuff for his altar I had at the time. One of the items is a bowl with eggshells and carnelian chips which I grabbed some from to use in the bottle.
The other ingredient I used that not everyone will have is Selenite dust. Selenite dust? Yes, Selenite dust. I bought a selenite sphere at Elfia many moons ago to put atop my wooden staff I was making at the time. However, my ex boyfriend took it out of his pocket so often that it was bound to break; and break it did. I tried making a moon from the remnants and just ground up the rest in my mortar & pestle. Using normal Selenite is just fine (or other things that fill in the gaps of its correspondences), so don't worry about it too much if you're making this bottle for yourself.
The Spell
You'll need for the altar:
- Orange candle (engraved with a symbol that stands for passion; I used wands)
- Pink candle (love)
- Thyme (courage)
- Rosemary (to release what you need to release; for me it was crippling perfectionism)
- Carnelian (creativity)
- Anything that represents fire (I used a salamander statue)
- A bottle
- Himalayan salt water (cleanse the art block)
- Dragon's blood (to give it an extra kick)
- Sugar (to sweeten the mood)
- Orange peel (the sun & willpower)
- Lavender (rejuvenation & love)
- Selenite powder (the moon, clarity & peace)
- Carnelian chips x3 (inspiration boost from Phenex; else creativity)
- Star anise x3 (the stars, dreams; like wishing upon a star)
- Snow water (purity & beauty)
- Bay leaf x3 (to write your wishes on)
The first thing I did was light the pink candle & carve the orange candle with a symbol that stands for the tarot suit of wands. I put the salamander and the carnelian around it and first grabbed the rosemary to sprinkle it counterclockwise three times. This is to release myself of bad experiences around creating art including the perfectionism I struggle with. Then I grabbed the thyme and sprinkled it clockwise three times to invoke courage to make art and go against what my perfectionism is telling me. I stood still for a moment and when I was ready I rang my little bell to signify the start of the ritual and lit the orange candle.
In my mortar & pestle I ground up dragon's blood, orange peel, lavender, selenite powder & star anise. I wrote my one word wishes on the three bay leaves, burned them & added them to my ingredients. This can be 'inspiration', 'passion', 'success', etc. Whatever you need in this particular spell. While the leaves were cooling down I put salt & water in the empty bottle and swung it in circles counterclockwise until the salt dissolved. I added all ingredients from the mortar & pestle, the snow water & the carnelian chips. However, it didn't feel quite right to me back then so I added sugar last minute.
While sealing the closed bottle with orange wax, after I poured the pink first, I said:
Creativity return to me.
So it shall be!
So it shall be!
Well said....I yelled 'so it shall be', to be honest. The spell bottle has been standing on Phenex's new altar ever since I reconnected with him. It wasn't long after I made this. Because D&D at the library is running smoothly I am a Dungeon Master (in training) there myself now and I finally had inspiration to write and finish two quests; one for the guild and one for a session with the other dungeon masters. I found inspiration in the Faerie Court Seraphine skin, but I admit I have yet to paint it. I also saw that the library in Dordrecht has poetry nights! If that's a reoccurring theme I am definitely going to check it out.
I don't know, life just seems so much more beautiful & inspirational since I did this spell.
Addendum
There are some things I want to clarify. Although, I have used rosemary to go against my perfectionism in the spell, it didn't just disappear because of it. I have to actively work against my perfectionistic mind everyday. It is an ugly part of myself that I hate to admit, but it has a tendency to bleed over to other people; especially at work. It is not fair and not nice. I agree with Jason Miller's idea that magick is an influence. I want to influence myself to do better and although I got inspiration to paint, it won't be more than that if I don't actually paint the painting itself. Hence, I added the orange peel for willpower.This post was originally posted on April 12th, 2023
A cool book regarding the subject:
The Elements of Spellcrafting by Jason Miller