Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Poisoner's Apothecary

Home
Pagan
The Occvlta Interview

The Occvlta Interview

Last updated on: May 22, 2017 at 10:26 pm by Coby Michael Ward

The Occvlta Interview 2017-05-22T22:26:46-04:00 Coby Michael Ward

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It was an absolute pleasure doing this interview with the proprietors of Occvlta. They are a great resource and representation of modern traditional witchcraft practice and the Poison Path, supplying various wares for both classical and modern witchcraft practitioners including spirit flight and conjuration.

Occvlta Conjuration Incense. Photo used with permission. occvlta.storeenvy.com

Poisoner’s Apothecary: How did Occvlta first come to be?  There are many occult stores online, but Occvlta sets itself apart.  The small selection of well-made products is reassuring; this is not another metaphysical supply store catering to love, money and protection.  This is a place for witchcraft.  How do you see Occvlta in comparison to other metaphysical emporiums and how does your focus differ?

Occvlta: First of all, thanks for the words you have dedicated to our work and the interesting questions you have asked us, this is the first interview we give, and we are honoured that you are the one behind it. Occvlta is a two-person endeavour that started 4 years ago with a clear goal: to provide serious practitioners of witchcraft, herbalism, and other paths of magic with artefacts that would enhance their praxis. You see, we consider that people enter the paths of witchcraft and magic not to meet their daily needs, but to go beyond all this; practitioners and seekers have elevated goals of transcendence, mystical contact, and spiritual growth. In Occvlta, we wanted to offer what we actually needed for ourselves: adequate components for a valid magical practice, made in magical context with the aid of spirits. Of course our situation is different to where we started, and our path has changed and evolved with us; Occvlta is a reflection of our development. We have clearly evolved since our beginnings, but we still appreciate our first creations because they show we never aimed for quotidian goals.

Poisoner’s Apothecary: Occvlta provides items for the Poison Path and other traditional witchcraft practices, featuring traditional witches’ herbs.  What advice do you have for those just starting out on the Poison Path? 

Occvlta: Let us paraphrase Daniel Schulke on this: one shall bear in mind a balance between Devotion and Fear. If you think you’re not ready to enter, you are, indeed, not ready to enter: but one shall always be capable to read between the lines, to overcome his/her limitations. Poisons call us, and when they do, their call is impossible to be ignored. This does not mean we must mindlessly run towards them, for one must always be suspicious, and at the same time daring to go beyond. After all, poisons hide the secrets of Life, Transformation, and Death. The only advice I will give you is this: if you hear the call, you must follow that path, but remember that it will always end in Death one way or another.

Working with Occvlta's Myrrh Tincture. Photo by Coby Michael.

Working with Occvlta’s Myrrh Tincture. Photo by Coby Michael.

Poisoner’s Apothecary: I’ve noticed that as some online shops grow the proprietors aim for a more general audience, incorporating traditional medicinal preparations for non-magical purposes.  I have witnessed some small companies catering to the magical community go in more of a mainstream direction, which can be seen in the packaging and language.  As the name implies, Occvlta caters to magical practitioners.  Is this something that you plan on maintaining as your business grows or do you see yourself broadening your demographic?

Occvlta: As you say, there are shops that aim to a general audience, and thus, we have no need to fill that spot. There are lots of high quality medicinal apothecaries that deal with plants harmonically and rationally. We are not looking for this in Occvlta, we are not exclusively governed by harmony or reason: we are ruled by deep intuition and deep illumination. And so, we look for specific customers who are as strongly committed to the Crooked Path as we are. We have never thought about selling medicinal products (even though we make them for our private use) because we consider the audience may benefit much more from our contribution to the Path of Poisons and Magical Herbalism instead of becoming a medicinal apothecary initiative. We want to go deeper into those places where no one dares to go.

Myrrh Tincture and parchment. Photo by Coby Michael.

Poisoner’s Apothecary: The imagery featured on Occvlta’s home page is rich in colour and detail, displaying many of the symbols associated with classical witchcraft.  What do you think about incorporating one’s personal practice, ie; rituals, spells, preparations into artistic images to be shared with others.  I find ritual photography to be beautiful and symbolic, inspiring other states of mind.  Do you believe there is a certain level of secrecy that should be maintained in documenting our actual rituals versus arrangements for aesthetic purposes. 

Occvlta: This is a dilemma we have struggled with for a long a time. We consider that some rituals/tools/altars should be kept private; their power is also dependent on their secrecy. In Occvlta we sometimes take pictures of staged rituals, but the real ceremonies are carried out in private. But Art is, as you say, another form of magic, and we appreciate the symbolism and vibrations that spread out of this. In the end, we think there is a difference between taking a picture of a ritual as something artistic/symbolic/transcendent and taking a picture to show off how cool your tools are, or what a committed practitioner you happen to be. This, in the end, is only known by the practitioner and the spirits.

Poisoner’s Apothecary: What do you say to those who treat the Poison Path and traditional witches’ herbs as a dangerous concept to be avoided entirely?  In my opinion, baneful herbs are such a central theme in classical witchcraft, that by avoiding the study of these plants entirely cuts one off from a large body of classical witchlore. 

Occvlta: Well, again, this attitude is a sign indicating that those who say so are not ready to walk such path. This doesn’t mean everyone eventually has to be ready, it’s a matter of choice (internal or external, conscious or not) and the lack of calling from that side. However, not feeling such a call doesn’t entail anyone to consider those who dwell in that path as ‘drug addicts’, as we have seen somewhere. As you say, baneful herbs (if there is such distinction in the end) is a pivotal topic in witchcraft. Their taboo is shared with the primary taboo of witchcraft: knowledge is a dangerous thing: knowing poisons is as dangerous as knowing the arts of the craft. Neglecting that is a proof that several things have not been understood.

Sigilum Diaboli using Occvlta Tincture. Photo by Coby Michael.

Poisoner’s Apothecary: What are some of your personal reading recommendations for embarking on the Path of the Poisoner, and classical/traditional witchcraft in general?

Occvlta: Our first recommendation is to get hold of a book on the local flora and natural routes of your local area. Our minds are often clouded by the appeal of exotic poisons, disregarding the plant spririts which are at hand. Once one has familiarized with their surroundings, I would advise a practitioner to get classical works on herbalism, such as Culpepper’s, Hyssop’s, Paracelsus’ or Agrippa’s. Of course, all these books should be considered primary sources, but not “bibles”, they are here to help us create a criteria, and to do so we must follow an organic process of knowledge. Finally, once everything is read and understood, I would move forward to the poison path books per se, such as Pendell’s or Schulke’s. Starting the other way round would be quite chaotic and unproductive. And no reading can outmatch practice.

Poisoner’s Apothecary: It feels as though there is an increase in the popularity of magical practices in mainstream society, however, this also gives me the feeling that there is a growing divide between classical witchcraft practices and modern magical practices in modern society.  Is this something that you have noticed as well, or is it just an online community thing?

Occvlta: There is indeed such increase, however, as you say, the appeal seems focused on a much more mainstream view on witchcraft. Nowadays, popular culture has taken the appeal of witchcraft and made it theirs. This is a tricky thing, because it is easier to access knowledge, but at the same time, one must have built a strong sense of objectiveness, being able to discern the charade from the real thing.

Poisoner’s Apothecary:  What can you tell us about your future plans for Occvlta.  Do you forsee more collaborations in the future?

Occvlta: We are working on many things right now. We are nowadays focusing more on custom made orders, and experimenting with new methods of herbal magic. We are about to release some smoking blends, new incenses, and oils. Apart from this, we are part of a research initiative focused on the witch traditions of the Pyrenean area and the Iberian Peninsula called Gremi de l’Art, and so we put a lot of effort on staying coherent with the results of our research. And finally, we have also started planning new collaborations with other occult initiatives, just see where the road take us.

Occvlta Altar arrangement. Photo by Coby Michael.

Poisoner’s Apothecary: What kinds of custom/commissioned orders have you done.  I have seen it mentioned on your website and in your last email.  What sort of thing to customers request when placing a custom order?

Occvlta: We work mainly on custom incenses for specific goals: spirit work, specific deity worship, we work on custom ointments, and also on talismans and fetishes. When requesting something, we ask the customers about the ritual conditions and settings under which the artefact is to be created, we like it to meet the customers’ needs as closely as possible. We like to know the way the customer works and the needs they have. Sometimes, we advise them on how to proceed or what herbs to employ, but we try to respect the customer’s choice and primary intentions.

Occvlta Blog

Occvlta Store

@occvltacrafts

Current Events

Featured Practitioners

Green Witchcraft

The Poison Path

Traditional Witchcraft

Previous Post

May 7, 2017

Poison Path From Equinox to Harvest

Next Post

May 29, 2017 Altar Bones: More Than Decoration

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category alchemy astrology Community Outreach and Events Current Events Featured Practitioners Gods and Goddesses green magic Green Witchcraft herbalism History of the Devil luciferian tradition Magic Magic and Ritual Magic and Witchcraft in History Magical Community magical herbalism Medieval Herbalism Metaphysics Modern Witchcraft natal charts natural magic Northern Traditions Occult Art Occult Artifacts Occultism pagan authors Pagan Community Pagan Holidays pagan philosophy Pagan Sightseeing Paganism Personal Practice planetary glyphs planetary symbols Recommended Reading Sabbatic Witchcraft samhain satanism Spells The Armchair The Poison Path Traditional Witchcraft Uncategorized Veneficium wicca witch's practice Witchcraft witches' sabbats

Select a Month December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz