Devotion - A Ritual For Self-Love
Sigil for the Devotion ritual created by Alexander Corey
Devotion is the first ritual in my book, The Devil’s Tome: A Book of Modern Ritual. I began the book with a ritual focusing on self-love because, truly, that’s where my Satanic journey began. Because of my fundamentalist Christian upbringing and abusive fathers, I was conditioned throughout my childhood to hate myself, deny my needs, and to see myself as flawed and ugly. Once I removed myself from that environment, I had decades of that programming to purge. I still have the voices of my abusers echo in my head from time to time, and I still deal with body-image and self-esteem issues. My practice has helped me be able to understand where those thoughts are coming from, so that I may heal and work to move beyond them. When you have had those sort of experiences, it takes a very long time to be able to start chipping away at the painful ideas about yourself that you internalize. I created this ritual as a way to radically confront those ideas and start to do the work to heal from them.
Notes
This can be an emotionally intense and draining ritual to perform. Put aside enough time so that you can emotionally prepare and recover after the ritual. You may also want to have a trusted friend or therapist to check in with after you perform the ritual*
All of the items needed for this ritual are in my Devotion Ritual Kit. Many of the individual items as well as Devotion apparel are also available in the shop
Dove’s blood’s ink isn’t made of actual dove’s blood! It’s an ink traditionally used when working on rituals that are focused on love, desire, and intention setting. If you can’t find that ink, feel free to use any other sort of ink/writing implement
Substitute the ritual tools as you need so that it is accessible to you
Tools:
Lighter/matches
Rose quartz
Tourmaline/Obsidian
Rose petals
Devotion scrub
Tome
Lipstick
Sacred space:
A bath/shower
A resting place
Preparation: Create your sacred space by creating an altar with your Devotion candle, your tourmaline/obsidian crystal, and the lipstick. Create a separate space outside of your bathing area that feels lush, beautiful, and comfortable. Create a large circle with rose petals, rose quartz, Devotion ritual oil, your tome, dove's blood and pen, and a pillow in the middle.
Ritual: Light the candle and stand by the altar. Disrobe. Close your eyes and breathe deeply and slowly. Take seven breaths. With each breath, allow yourself to relax more and feel more at home in your body. Feel your breath moving through your body, nourishing it.
Bring to the surface any negative feelings you have about yourself - any perceived flaws, mistakes, and anything that makes you feel unworthy or unlovable. Think of anything negative other people have projected onto you. Sit with those feelings. Allow yourself to sink into any emotions you have been repressing. As you experience these negative feelings and flaws, write them on your body with lipstick. It can be a word, a sentence, or symbol - anything that represents those hurtful things that have been a barrier to feeling self-love or receiving love from others.
Once you are finished and are ready to cleanse yourself of these feelings, step into the shower. Let the warm water comfort you as you use your Devotion scrub bar to symbolically remove each element of blockage.
Repeat, “It is gone, it is done,” as you remove each word or symbol. Move deep and slow, allowing yourself to feel a weight lift after each one is gone.
Once all of the lipstick is removed, step out of the shower and dry yourself off, allowing yourself to feel renewed.
Step within your rose petal circle. Anoint yourself with the Devotion oil. As you rub the oil over your body, say an affirmation about yourself out loud - this could be a physical characteristic, personality trait, ability or talent. Absorb these affirmations.
Sit in the circle and rest.
Open up your tome. Explore your memory. Use the dove’s blood ink to write down your accomplishments and happy memories from the time you were a child until now. Once you are finished, blow out your candles and incense. Use the rose petals, rose quartz, and incense to create an altar. You can come back to this place whenever you need a boost of self-love. Continue to write in your tome as time passes and reflect on it regularly. Wear your Devotion pin as a reminder of your commitment to yourself Repeat the ritual as needed.
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* If you’re having a rough time and need professional support, please consider these resources:
Crisis Text Line - 24/7 text line where every texter is connected with a Crisis Counselor, a real-life human being trained to bring texters from a hot moment to a cool calm through active listening and collaborative problem solving
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK (8255). The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.Vets can press "1" to be connected to VA specialists for resources
Trans Lifeline’s Hotline - Trans Lifeline’s Hotline is a peer support service run by trans people, for trans and questioning callers
The Trevor Project - A free, confidential service that provides live help to LGBTQ youth 24/7 via hotline, chat and text serviceWant to support the work? Check out my shop to pick up The Devil’s Tome and handmade ritual tools. You can also join my Patreon to get additional ritual content and connect with the Satanic ritual community
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