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inkindofmagic · 6 months

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What I did during the full moon lunar eclipse in Taurus 🌕🐂🕯️

disclaimer: I'm not a professional anything but today I did a full moon "ritual" and I wanted to share it! Hope you'll enjoy it and hopefully be inspired~

So this full moon lunar eclipse in Taurus is all about releasing, letting go of what no longer serves us. It's closing a big chapter started November 2021 and even though we may feel tired, even exhausted, we should take a moment for ourselves and take a deep breath. What I did wasn't properly a ritual, it was a series of actions done with intention (okay, perhaps it was, indeed, a sort of ritual)

I started by lighting a candle and put it near my bathtub

I filled the bathtub and used a bath bomb that I bought exactly for this event

I took a moment to enjoy the water, closed my eyes and rested in silence feeling my body

After that, I started taking my energy back. I've spent a lot of energy for people who didn't deserve it, so I said this, out loud, multiple times:

I lovingly and peacefully call all of my power back to me now

As I was saying that, I was visualizing all the energy in the form of a white light coming from them to me and entering my body once again.

I did it for as much time as I felt, until it was right for me. Then I started letting go. Similarly to the situation aforementioned, I was spending a lot of energies for the wrong people and, even if it may feel hard to do and sad, it is right to do the best thing for us and let go. So I started saying:

I accept what enriches me and I let go of what no longer serves me.

I was saying that taking deep breaths and letting stuff go as I exhaled and accepting while inhaling.

After that I started washing myself, as I did, I focalized with what I was saying and I also began to talk to the universe. I said how grateful I was for all the blessings it was providing me, and that as I washed myself I was reborn. Just like a snake, I was letting go of my old skin and mind, I was accepting to become my desired version of myself and I was so happy for everything the universe did to me, because I was able to be present in that exact moment. I was able to thank it and to accept all the blessings it is about to give me. I thanked it for always rooting for me and making everything fall into place just the way I want and it is supposed to be.

I then started to empty the bathtub, I continued talking throughout this process and I didn't leave the tub yet, I waited for the water to be all gone, with all the stuff I had released with it.

Once I was done I dried myself up and I did a thing that was mind-blowing for me: I cut my nails. I know it's nothing special, but it is something so simple that can become so meaningful if done with intention. I cut them visualizing everything I needed to let go and I was happy after I saw my nails pretty and without any superfluous emotions in them (as I was writing it I thought it could be something like "hair holds memory", why shouldn't nails? Of course it's a shorter amount of time but it's still time)

And that's about it, it was so good I had to share it right away, for closing my morning I will also do a special tarot reading and then I'll have a nutritious breakfast.

Hope this post reaches you and brings you some inspiration! Fair Winds~ 🧿

@inkindofmagic

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breakandbuildfiction · 2 years

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Danny Phantom-- Summoning

Has anyone else here read a lot of those ‘Danny gets summoned’ fics? I’ve read like a dozen and I’ve noticed that most of them have him being summoned via some kind of artifact/circle bound to the Ghost King or through some kind of blood ritual. Now I get it, its classic and its ambiance and its ‘the power of blood’ and all that, but what if summoning rituals differed between not just the rank of the ghosts being summoned, but by the preferences of the ghosts themselves?

I’m thinking it goes like this: The summoning ritual or relic is like the phone, it allows you to contact ghosts and otherworldly beings, then you have the chants and incantations which is like the phone number so you get a specific entity that is part of the carrying plan the circle or relic connects to (yes I know carrying plans don’t affect who you can call only where you can call from and for how long), and then you have the sacrifice. Most cultists default to stuff like a human life or a sacred goat, but in fact each ghost wants different forms of payment for their services and until payment it made, the ghost doesn’t have to do anything.

You want Ember to use her music to hypnotize a town? Well you better have a guitar signed by Freddie Mercury! Want to use Young Blood’s army? He wants some authentic gold coins from the pirate era. Skulker wants a new sniper rifle, Technus a gameboy color, Dora wants some finely aged wine, Frostbite a rare type of winter flower, et cetra. If you want them to work for you, they expect to be payed for their services.

Which brings up the question, what would Danny request as payment for his services? He can’t do it for free after all or he’d be summoned non-stop all the time!

#danny phantom #summoning #headcanon #funny #what if #ghost lore #magic ritual #princess dorathea #ember mclain #youngblood #frostbite #skulker #technus #dp

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skydalorian · 7 months

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Scenery from A Dark Song (2014)

#scenery #halloween #magic #magick #gnosticism #kaballah #kabala #a dark song #films #film #ritual #magic ritual #magic circle #horror films

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just-want-comfort · 1 year

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crafting an offering bowl for loki

since my grimoire is not with me, ill be writing my stuff here :)

wanting to do a little something for Loki i realised i had no place to put it since i'm not home to an altar and i didn't have anything else. i had to get crafty!

using masterful skills, i cut and struggled and fought with a yellow piece of paper i found lying around. until it somewhat resembled a box

then i got some markers out and decided to decorate (with the intent of protection and cleansing~)

then came the final part. i gathered what i wanted (acorns, a cool rock and others). next to it i also offered a chai latte with extra cinnamon!

and a bow on top! <3

#rock's book #grimoire #book of shadows #online journal #spells #magic ritual #loki worship #loki deity #offerings #paganism #witchcraft #baby witch #deity work

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weirdwitcheryart · 2 years

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Sex Magic

#the band ghost #cardinal copia #copia #popia #ghost #ghost bc #montrance clock #ritual #pentagram #candle #magic ritual #oc #vampire #satan #hail satan #impera #papa #papa emeritus #papa emeritus 4

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bricktoygrapher · 2 years

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Doctor Strange

Performing a magic ritual 🌟

#lego #lego photography #legophotography #toy photography #toyphotography #legominifigures #legophoto #toyphoto #brickcentral #toy photoshoot #lego minifigures #minifig photography #minifigs #minifigures #doctor strange #sorcerer supreme #magic ritual #marvel

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the-eastern-witch · 8 months

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From this Friday magic ritual - it's been a while since we did " Mimbar Holistika " ritual, last time was before pandemic. And now we did this magic ritual again, the special ritual for gaining wealth

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witch-of-ren · 2 years

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Reverse Baptism Ritual

The act of reversing a baptism or undoing a baptism should be a personal experience and one that is deeply connected to you. This allows for personalization and changes to make it your own. Breaking the ties and promises to the Abrahamic God may feel draining or tiring by the end. This is normal and recovery shouldn’t take too long. A good night of sleep should help.

As for materials you may need, I include the use of candles, herbs, and crystals. My instructions will list all but you can skip steps or ignore parts that you choose not to do or can’t do. Again, don’t be afraid to personalize this ritual. It should be tailored to each individual who chooses to do this.

If you don’t have or can’t get the physical herb or flower, an oil of it will work just fine as a substitute. I also have multiple options for the same uses and intentions.

HERBS:

Basil - Protection and Exorcism (Meant to help break the ties and remove residual energy)

Chamomile - Purification (Cleanse the body and spirit)

Cinnamon - Power (Give an extra kick to the other herbs)

Eucalyptus - Healing (Any trauma or harm the spirit/body is hanging onto will begin to heal)

Lotus - Protection, Lock-Opening (I mean that as in unlocking the oath to break it)

Peppermint - Purification and Healing

Rosemary - Healing, Protection, Exorcism, and Purification (A good catch-all)

Turnip - Ending Relationships (Optional)

CANDLES:

White - Cleansing and Drawing in Light (Bonus points if it’s a sage candle)

Black - Protection and Removing the Negative (Will also break a harmful relationship)

Blue - Healing (Emotional and physical)

Purple - Spiritual Amplifier

Red - Power (Ritual power amplifier - bonus points for dragon’s blood)

CRYSTALS:

Obsidian - Letting Go, Process Emotions/Experiences

Jasper - Empower Spirit, Support through Stress

Moonstone - New Beginnings

Aquamarine - Healing, Moving On, Inner Strength

Clear Quartz - Healing, Cleansing

Smoky Quartz - Clarity, Emotional Balance

PREPARING FOR THE RITUAL

Preparation is probably one of the most important steps. It’ll make or break the difficulty you have during the actual ritual.

Where are you planning to do it? How long do you think you’ll need?

I recommend leaving at least 30-45 minutes to do the full ritual and let it sink in. I also recommend doing this in a bathtub, but other places where you can have a basin of water can work.

Are there clothes you’d like to wear? Any jewelry?

If you’re using herbs, you can either place them in a dish or pouch, or you can sprinkle them into the water. It’s up to you. You don’t have to use a lot for the effect it needs. The intention just needs to be there.

If you’re using candles, figure out where you want to place them and if you can place them surrounding your bathtub. When I use these specific candles, I usually put my Black one on the left side near my feet, my White on the left near my head, the Purple near my feet on the right side, and the Blue near my middle on the right side (or wherever it sits without fear of falling). The Red candle doesn’t need a specific location. Its presence will automatically do what it’s supposed to.

If there’s a god/goddess you would like to involve, light a candle for them and verbally invite them to assist and lend their energy if they choose. This isn’t necessary at all to do.

THE RITUAL

Make sure all of your materials and items are ready. This would be all your herbs, candles, crystals, and any other items you wish to use. Bring them to your location.

If you choose to cleanse your space, this would be the time to do it. I don’t feel it’s necessary for this, but it’s a personal preference.

Run the water at your preferred temperature. Once the drain is closed and the water is partially filled, add your herbs. Sprinkling them in, setting the dish nearby, or putting the pouch in the water. Be sure you know how you’re going to clean up the herbs if you’re sprinkling them in. And make certain it isn’t going to irritate your skin.

Once the tub is filled, turn the water off and place the candles in their positions. Light the White candle first, followed by the Black one. The order of color after this doesn’t matter. Lighting the White candle first allows the cleansing of the space before placing the protective barrier of the Black candle.

If there’s a deity of your choosing that you wish to invite to bear witness or partake, this would be the perfect moment to call upon them and light their candle.

If using crystals, this is also the time to place those in your desired positions. Be certain they aren’t water-soluble.

Step into the bath and sit down. Take a series of deep breaths and allow yourself to relax. This is where the true ritual begins.

OPTIONAL: If you’d like to draw a sigil on your chest using the water, I’ve provided one below. (Intention/Meaning: My Bond is Broken)

Start at the bottom left, trace part of the rectangle, backtrack, then trace the slanted line.

OPTIONAL: Recite the short incantation below to set your intention. (Two versions: One for those baptized when they couldn’t decide and one for those that chose to but now want to break that.)

An oath I was given without permission, a bond that will now break. God, Father of Heaven, what ties me to you shall be no more and the soul given to you is mine and mine alone. This is my will and I now let go. My bond is broken, and the tether has been released.

An oath I took once in a time when I chose to follow you. God, Father of Heaven, my ties to you shall be no more and the soul I promised to you is now mine and mine alone. This is my will and I now let go. Our bond is broken, and the tether has been released.

Two Options for this next step:

Submerge yourself entirely beneath the water a total of NINE times. Angel numbers signify this as the number of releasing and breaking. A new chapter is made.

Submerge yourself entirely beneath the water a total of THREE times for NINE seconds each.

Once you’ve completed the Self-Baptism portion, take the time to relax and let the ritual sink in. You can sit until the water starts to become cold or you can get out when you feel you’re ready. I do recommend you sit for a few minutes at the very least.

Before fully getting out, thank the candles and blow them out. Clean any loose herbs out of the water before pulling the drain. Dry yourself off and clean up the rest of your items.

I hope this helps at least one person in their journey.

~ Witch of Ren

#reverse baptism ritual #witch of ren ritual #ren's rituals #witchblr #witchcraft #magic ritual #hellenic pagan #hellenic polythiest #hades #hades devotee #hellenic polytheistic

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midnottart · 1 year

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Spicy #Thorki short with Loki’s idea of a knife play kink 🗡

AO3

#Loki #Thor #midnott’s thorki #Thorki #midnott's stories #midnott #I actually deleted the knife play kink tag because I do not want to give the wrong ideas about this kink #seidr #magic ritual

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ivemanifest · 2 years

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Happy Full Moon my sweets 🤍🌕

Here’s some suggestions for this beautiful full moon :

Cleanse your energy

Light a candle with a specific intention

Script your desires & offer it to the moon

Spend time with loved ones

Meditate in the present moment

Visualize your dream life in the present moment

Full moons are always my favorite because they give me so much energy & amazement, I hope you find yourself in the same place today and that you take time to connect with the Moon 🌝

Love you loads x

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moonlodgemystic · 1 year

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Reading Rituals: Grounding, Framing, and Shuffling

I’m really proud to announce that I am writing an ongoing tarot column for the online magazine A Lighter View. This e-magazine offers content related to creativity, spirituality, and holistic living featuring authors from the Pacific Northwest. This month, my article Reading Rituals: Grounding, Framing, and Shuffling was published in the metaphysics section. Please check it out! Your support…

View On WordPress

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herboire · 2 years

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Did you accidentally brew a cup of tea and then forgot about it? Cooled tea has many uses beyond re-heating it for drinking! Lay candles in it to soak so that they may take on the properties of the tea.

This tea blend is tulsi, ashwagandha, spearmint, calendula, and milky oats from a local farm. It is an adaptogenic blend that helps with stress relief, calming nerves, and emotional balance. These candles will soak in this tea for the day and then be saved for burning in stress-relief rituals.

Safety disclaimer: although any herbs in this process will be diluted and present on the surface of the candle in very small quantities, always research first to make sure they’re safe to burn. Not every herb that’s safe for consumption is safe for inhalation.

#witchblr #candle magic #herbal magic #witchcraft #magic ritual #magic spell #spoonie witch #my stuff

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stegrossaurus · 1 year

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Capes and Cowls

by Lyle

Arty was a great friend when we were little kids. We met in kindergarten and clicked in that way that only little kids do. I think he’s the one that got me into superheroes. We spent the next few years with paper masks on our faces and towels tied around our necks playing in my backyard.

I’d like to say that I don’t know why we grew apart, but I know it was mostly on me. Still liking superheroes and comics and whatnot is fine, but at a certain point, wearing a domino mask to school and publicly geeking out about the new Superman movie stops being cute. His ill-fitting hand-me-downs, perpetually broken glasses, and greasy hair didn’t make him any more popular. It wasn’t Arty’s fault that his family was poor, I know. But the fact is, you’re only as safe as you make yourself and when you cut off deadweight, you can run from a bear a lot faster. So when Arty and I graduated to high school, I left him behind.

“Oh God. Arby’s Olsen is sitting right next to us,” Sheila hissed not-so-quietly to us at lunch. We called him Arby’s because he was greasy and undesirable. Not the most clever of nicknames, but it was nasty enough that we used it anyway. “I can smell him from here. Is he even allowed in the lunchroom?”

“Well, there goes my diet,” Yumi sighed loudly. “I can already taste the food getting greasier.”

Parker flicked a fry at the neighboring table, hitting Arty in the head. “Hey, greaseball! If you're going to be here, you could at least take a shower first!”

The rest of the popular kids laughed. I’m not proud to admit that I did, too, but like I said, you’re only as safe as you make yourself. I don’t want to make things worse for Arty but I want things to get worse for me even less. I tried to avoid looking in my former friend’s direction, but when I couldn’t resist and turned my head, I saw his thick glasses aimed at me. Then he got up and walked over to our table.

At 5’2” with chopstick limbs, Arty didn’t cut a very intimidating figure. But he walked with enough confidence that we all quieted down as he approached. He paused at my seat for a second then pushed by me to get to Parker.

“You dropped this,” he said, flicking the fry in Parker’s face.

In all the years of Arty being picked on, I don’t think I’d ever seen him retaliate. Parker’s stunned face told me that he hadn’t, either. Unfortunately, he wasn’t stunned enough to stop him from grabbing Arty by the throat and tossing him to the ground. He gave Arty a few sharp kicks, while the rest of the kids cheered. I didn’t join in, but guilt burned in my chest as I watched.

Arty managed to pull himself to a sitting position and gave me another glare, his eyes wet but sharp behind his thick glasses.

“Not gonna help me up, Black Drac?” he wheezed. “Some hero you are.” He didn’t sound disappointed, though. As the lunch monitor hauled him away for “fighting”, he was smiling.

“Black Drac? What the hell was that dweeb talking about, Lyle?” Yumi asked.

It was the favorite of the superhero identities that we’d made when we were kids. Black Drac, the vampiric vigilante, and Zodiac Man, master of the 12 powers. Of course, I didn’t tell them that. I just said, “No idea. All that family moonshine must have gone to his brain.” Everyone laughed and I tried to join in, but the guilt burned hotter when I did.

And it didn’t stop there. When Parker tripped a few freshmen in the hallway and I laughed, the burning came back. When Yumi showed off the bracelet she stole from a classmate and I complimented her, it came back again. At the end of the day, when Bart and Parker shook down some nerds to do our homework for us, it happened once again. But this time, Arty popped up behind me.

“You could intervene, you know,” he said, almost smugly. “It’d be the right thing to do.”

Bart, Parker, and even the kids we were bullying looked at me expectantly. Arty was right, of course, I could intervene and it would be the right thing to do. Instead, I shoved Arty to the ground.

“And you could take a shower for once, Arby’s!” I snapped. I thrust my math homework at the nerds and said, “If this doesn’t get an A tomorrow, you and I are going to have a serious problem.”

I walked off without looking back, hoping that sent the right message to Arty and the others. Almost immediately, the burning sensation came back with a vengeance. It hurt so bad, I wouldn’t have been able to walk home if it had lasted more than a minute. The first thing I did when I caught home was check the mirror. I pulled my shirt down and I saw it: a blackening, green-tinged lump of raised flesh in the clear shape of a V. Far from faint or invisible but not quite to disfiguring or concerning levels. If I’d had an explanation for it, I wouldn’t have been worried. But I didn’t have an explanation, not for the bruise of the burning that I’d felt all day.

It didn’t take a genius to grasp how it worked, though. Watching my friends do something nasty made it burn a little, doing something nasty myself made it burn a lot. And the fact that it started happening after Arty pushed by me to get to Parker wasn’t lost on me, either.

For a half hour, I tried ice packs and antibiotics to make the bruise go down, but nothing looked like it was working. I knew I was just stalling. Arty had done something to me and I needed to know what. Steeling myself, I decided to go visit Arty.

I didn’t want anyone I knew seeing me entering the trailer park, so I went through the forest. His family’s trailer was right on the edge of the property, so I could easily go from the trees to his front door, mostly unseen. Walking through the forest brought a wave of nostalgia as I remembered all the fun we had playing there. Arty’s parents were pretty harsh and mine were pretty controlling, even back then, so the forest is where we spent most of our time. Not for the first time, I started to regret cutting him off, but I shut that thought down.

“It’s not my fault that Arty never grew up and it’s not my fault that his family’s trash,” I said softly to myself. “He was deadweight and I cut him loose.” The second those words were out of my mouth, the V started to burn. It was really starting to hurt.

While gritting back the pain, I heard something through the trees. It sounded like a blowtorch flaring up and it went down just as the pain did. As quietly as I could, I crept through the bushes towards the noise.

I recognized the clearing a split-second before it came into view. It was one of our favorite spots. The large boulder at one end was always our superhero HQ (or Pride Rock or Arctic fortress or whatever) and the shallow, rocky ditch on the other was the bad guy’s lair.

Both of those areas were smeared with blood. The boulder had a large H painted on it surrounded by other smaller bloody drawings, and the ground around it was littered with bones. The ditch had a V painted in the center of the dying grass and flyblown entrails everywhere else. One of the rocks had a single black candle with a sickly green flame stuck to it. That unnatural fire somehow commanded more of my attention than the gore around me. Until another blowtorch hiss came from the boulder and I turned to see a blue flame rising out of a red candle that I hadn’t noticed before. Then I heard something else, a loud crunch of wood and stone as something large started coming closer through the trees.

On second thought, I decided to confront him at school the next day.

The bruise was still there when I woke up and it only got worse by lunch. Helping Bart sell his brother’s meds to burnouts. Setting up a prank for the pep rally with Parker. Taunting the special needs kids with Sheila. Giving Yumi the idea to blackmail her history teacher with some doctored photos. Every time the pain came back. I knew I should have stopped, but I couldn’t find a way to do it without wimping out in front of my friends. Still, I was swiftly caring less and less about that as the pain grew and by lunch, I had no problem leaving them to go corner Arty.

“Whatever you did, make it stop, Arty,” I said, once I’d dragged him to a quiet corner.

“You make it stop, Lyle,” he sneered smugly. “If you stop being garbage for 24 hours, the mark will disappear. Of course, it’ll come back if you start up again, but at least it’ll reset.”

I was about to ask what he meant before I remembered how the bruise worsens with each act. I checked on it before lunch. It was close to pitch black and the green veins were almost glowing. If I stopped being a bully for a day, according to Arty, it’d go back to the start, but wouldn’t really go away.

“I’m not being garbage. You’re just being too sensitive,” I snapped. “Are you seriously willing to kill me just because I won’t play Power Rangers in the backyard with you anymore?”

“You abandoned me for those scumbags,” Arty hissed. “And now, you’re the same as them: just a piece of crap that deserves to be punished. And you know that, don’t you?” His smirk came back. “That’s why you just sit back and watch when your new friends are being turds. You think it’ll keep your hands clean.”

“I’m just adapting!” I shout. “I didn’t want to ditch you, but this was the only way to get through life. My parents, the kids at school; none of them would have left me alone if I stayed your friend. I did it to keep myself safe. And you obviously know that or I’d see you sticking up for people like you seem to think I should do. Don’t act like you’re any better than me.”

We stood in silence for a bit. Then he nodded solemnly.

“So will you stop this?” I asked again.

“I’ll undo it after school. Just behave until then. Your candle’s almost melted down so I know you’re getting close.”

“Will this kill me if it keeps going?” I asked, already dreading the answer.

Arty’s watery gray eyes lit up. “So glad you asked. Come with me, Black Drac, I want to show you something.”

He wandered into a stairwell, digging through his backpack. He smiled wanly as he yanked down his shirt with one hand and pulled a stretch of fabric free of the backpack with the other. On his chest was a deep red and blue-veined bruise in the shape of an H. In his hand was a big leather cloth crudely stitched together. The back of the cloth was red fabric except for a rougher part towards the top where Arty was holding it.

“I made part of it with my old towel cape,” he said, wrapping what I then realized was a cape around his shoulders. “The rest is made from my parents’ old curtain and my parents.”

It took me a second to process what he said and a second more to take in that the leather parts of the cape were surprisingly flesh toned. In those seconds, Arty’s thin, short, weak body changed. His Martian Manhunter shirt turned to indigo form-fitting fabric, which immediately ripped under the weight of fur-covered muscle. His sneakers became combat boots that tore around prehistoric reptilian hooves. Avian claws ripped out of leather gloves. His gruesome cape strained as his shoulders separated to make room for the 12 monstrous heads, most of which were wearing domino masks.

“Say hello to Zodiac Man,” the pig, tiger, rabbit, and snake heads said at once. The dragon head laughed cruelly and the baboon head screeched hungrily. The massive ox head extended its thick neck to give my head a sniff. All of his eyes glowed with blue fire. “Doesn’t last long. But once I have my villain, it’ll be permanent.”

“Villain?” I whispered. I was too scared to even try running. I slowly raised a hand to the V blooming under my shirt.

The rat and rooster heads nodded while the dog and horse heads said, “Well, yeah, every hero needs a villain or we’re just weirdos in spandex.” He thoughtfully stroked the ram head’s chin and said, “Dead parents help an origin story, too. You used to know things like that, Lyle. But you were right.” His voices grew pensive. “I’ve been more focused on getting back at you than I have in being a hero. And you were just trying to survive. You’re not my enemy, Lyle, and I don’t want you for my villain. I want you for my partner.”

As promised, the 12-headed nightmare in front of me shrank back down to my former best friend a few seconds later. He left me in the stairwell with a promise to remove my candle after school. I didn’t join in anymore bullying for the rest of the day. I never felt good about being a bully, but after talking with Arty, I wasn’t sure what to feel.

I thought a lot about what Arty had said and what it meant before the bell rang. His parents were always hurting him in one way or another and they thought our friendship was making him “fruity”, so I couldn’t say I’d miss them. My own parents only talked to me when they wanted to tell me how disappointing I was and they thought our friendship was holding me back. Probably wouldn’t miss them, either. I kept that thought with me as I went to the clearing.

Art was there chiseling off the black candle with a knife. Once it came loose, I immediately felt a heat extinguish on my chest. When he saw me, he smiled and walked forward, holding the knife and the old gray towel that Black Drac wore.

We talked for a while about what it meant to be a hero (strength, bravery, dead parents, cool costumes) and a villain (cruelty, selfishness, greed, cool costumes). How hard it is to sew skin to cloth and how bones would make great helmets. How villains are designed to lose no matter how powerful they are. He never told me how he made all this happen (I still don’t think even he knows), but it was fun talking to him after years of trying to shut him out. When I went home for the night, it was with the knife.

The following week was rough. Lying to the police about my parents’ disappearance was a one-time thing; there’s no way they’ll believe the business trip excuse a second time. Rekindling my friendship with Arty meant a fair bit of bullying for both of us but it’ll be worth it. The ditch’s black candles far outnumber the boulder’s two red ones (all it takes is a touch from either of us), but Arty told me not to worry.

“Every new villain just makes us stronger,” he said. “Remember, villains always lose.”

And so here we are at the school pep rally. The laxatives Parker put in the cheerleaders’ drinks start to take effect at the same time the brown dye-packs hidden in the marching band instruments go off. An overhead projector starts playing footage captured from cameras he’d hidden in the bathrooms and the crowd erupts into laughter and taunts. Followed quickly by yelps of pain as over twenty people, both students and faculty, rub their chests and start choking.

“It’s happening, bud,” Arty says excitedly. “A lot at once, look like. Capes and cowls, quick!”

We pull our gear out of our backpacks. The cowls made from scalps and skulls were my idea. We put them on and start our transformation just as our villains start theirs. In all honesty, we’re just as monstrous and frightening as they are, but there’s something sickly about them. The fur under Parker’s ragged spandex is patchy and mangy. Sheila’s six buglike limbs look too frail and skeletal to hold her laser guns properly. Yumi’s second and third heads are practically vestigial, so only her main head has a psychic enhancer helmet. Bart actually shrank a bit as his body broke out in warts and was covered with a bloody lab coat. Compared to them, my thick midnight fur, upturned snout full of fangs, and massive leathery wings look gorgeous.

The villains start attacking the normals who haven’t run away yet. I adjust my skull mask, now transformed to match my new face, and summon ectoplasmic energy to my claws. Zodiac Man readies his cosmic sword and levitates into the air.

“Good to fight alongside you again, Black Drac,” his dragon head shouts over the din.

“Same, Zodiac Man,” I rasp. “It’s good to feel like a hero again. Now let’s have some fun.”

#short story #monsters #superhero #supervillain #magic ritual #revenge #high school #bullies

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