Deities, Spirits and Entities — Side Notes
Names carry weight. Titles even more so. Gods, spirits, ancestors, demons, saints, guardians, tricksters—every culture has found ways to name the forces it senses moving just beyond the visible world. Some are revered. Some are feared. Some are invited into the home and fed regularly. Others are acknowledged only so they’ll stay where they belong.
The Side Notes in this section approach these beings without dramatics or devotionals. These are not invocations or initiation manuals—they’re observations. Explorations of how deities and spirits are categorized, misunderstood, merged, feared, reclaimed, and reintroduced to modern life. You’ll find cultural context, archetypal patterns, and modern curiosity examined with a steady hand rather than reverent hush.
This is not about belief enforcement. It’s about literacy—knowing what names have been used, why certain figures persist, and how meaning shifts when old entities meet new eras.
Featured Side Notes
You can also find these articles—and many more—within the main Grimoire Blog.
10 Powerful Gods and Goddesses to Invoke for Spiritual Growth — The gods and goddesses of the world are more than just myths—they are living forces of wisdom, strength, and transformation. Whether you seek guidance in love, creativity, or personal power, these ten deities can help you navigate life’s challenges. Learn how to invoke them, offer tributes, and align yourself with their divine energy.
Colossus of Rhodes: The Sun God’s Bronze Sentinel of Defiance — A towering bronze titan of Helios once guarded Rhodes, a radiant symbol of resilience and sunlit defiance—now lost to time but never forgotten.
Deity Work in Witchcraft: How to Know if a God or Goddess Is Reaching Out — Are you wondering if a god or goddess is calling you? In witchcraft, divine contact often begins with dreams, symbols, and synchronicities. Learn how to discern signs of a true calling, test divine messages, and build authentic relationships with deities while balancing intuition with critical thought.
Digital Familiars: AI, Apps, and the Witch’s New Companion — In 2025, witches are embracing a new kind of familiar—AI apps, tarot bots, and notifications that feel alive. Digital companions guide, reflect, and whisper through circuits, blending magic and technology in uncanny, intimate ways.
From Ancestor Veneration to Spirit Festivals: Death Beliefs Around the World — From lantern-lit rivers in Japan to drum-thundered funerals in Ghana and solemn ancestral rites in Korea, discover how cultures worldwide honor the dead. These rituals are more than tradition—they are conversations with the beyond, where memory, fear, and love blur the line between life and death.
Guardian Spirits & Deities: Calling on Divine Protection — When life becomes challenging, calling on guardian spirits and deities for protection can offer profound support. Discover how to invoke these powerful beings from various traditions for spiritual shielding and guidance.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon: The Vanished Eden in the Sky — A garden in the sky, a queen’s longing, and a mystery that refuses to wilt. The Hanging Gardens bloom in legend—real or not, they live on.
Hidden Spells in Fairy Tales: Unlock the Magic of Old Stories — Fairy tales carry hidden spells and magical symbolism in their narratives. Discover how folklore shapes consciousness and empowers personal magic.
How to Start Honoring Ancestors in Your Witchcraft Practice — Ancestor work is a cornerstone of witchcraft, connecting you to your lineage through offerings, rituals, and remembrance. Learn how to start honoring your ancestors with simple yet powerful practices, from building an altar to inviting them into dreams, and discover how ancestral healing can strengthen your magical path.
Keys in Myth & Magic: Unlocking Doors Between Worlds — Unlock the mystery of keys in myth and magic. From crossroads spirits to talismanic charms, skeleton keys and symbolic designs act as portals, protective tools, and gateways between worlds, capturing the imagination of modern witches and social media-savvy mystics.
Meet the Gods: An Introduction to Deities Across Cultures — Discover the myths, magic, and mysteries of gods & goddesses across cultures. Learn their stories & how they shape spirituality today!
Pathworking for Deep Spiritual Growth: A Guide to Inner Mysteries — Uncover the secrets of pathworking and how it can lead to deep spiritual growth. A journey of self-discovery awaits you!
Poltergeists Unleashed: The Chaotic Spirits That Haunt History — Poltergeists are chaos made visible—objects flying, doors slamming, whispers in the dark. From medieval Europe to modern homes, these restless, unpredictable forces challenge reality, psychology, and culture, blurring the line between human emotion and the supernatural.
Rawhead and Bloody Bones: The Haunting Origins of a Timeless Bogeyman — Rawhead and Bloody Bones, the chilling bogeyman of British and American folklore, has haunted children and adults for centuries. From shadowed ponds to Appalachian hills, this evolving legend warns, terrifies, and reflects society’s fears, bridging nursery tales with modern horror in unforgettable ways.
Reflections of Fear: The Enduring Terror of Bloody Mary — In PseudoPod's August 2025 episode, "Reflections on Bloody Mary," the classic urban legend is reimagined through the lens of contemporary horror. This episode delves into the psychological and cultural aspects of the Bloody Mary myth, offering a fresh perspective on a tale that continues to captivate and terrify.
Shadow Cats and Spirit Guides: Why People Are Connecting with Non-Traditional Familiars — In 2025, witches are redefining familiars. From rescued pets to nature spirits and ancestral echoes, these companions offer guidance, comfort, and a touch of the extraordinary, blurring the line between myth and everyday magic.
Shadow Work 101: TikTok’s Trending Guide to Facing Your Inner Self — Shadow work—the art of facing the hidden self—has exploded on TikTok. With journaling prompts, guided meditations, and therapy-inspired trends, millions are diving into their subconscious. But is this viral practice true healing or just digital ritual? Step into the candlelit unknown and find out.
Summoning Spirits: Exploring the Art and Risks of Evocation — Evocation, the art of summoning spirits, blends ritual, divination, and ancient tradition. From protective symbols to Ouija boards, practitioners seek guidance, insight, or contact with the unseen, balancing curiosity with caution in a dance with the mysterious forces that linger just beyond perception.
The Chosen Ones: Unveiling the Dark Origins and Fate of Supernatural's Special Children — Born under a demon’s mark, the Special Children of Supernatural are gifted—and cursed—from infancy. Explore their tragic origins, powers, and legacy as vessels of apocalyptic destiny, and the chilling echoes of history that inspired their dark tale.
The Crossroads in Witchcraft: Myths, Deities, and Magic of Transition — Crossroads witchcraft is a realm of mystery and transition. Explore Hecate’s guidance, myths, and rituals to harness liminal magic for choices and transformation.
The Cry of the Banshee: Omens of Death in Folklore – How Different Societies Interpret Spirits That Forewarn Mortality — From the wailing banshees of Ireland to Mexico’s tragic La Llorona, spirits forewarn of death across cultures. Explore chilling folklore, omens, and the spectral cries that bridge the living and the dead.
The Dark Mirror: Exploring Ancestral Shadows Through Modern Witchcraft — Witchcraft is casting its gaze upon the past, unearthing ancestral shadows buried in bloodlines and silence. From altars to dark mirrors, modern practitioners are confronting inherited trauma and family patterns through ritual, blending psychology with mysticism. The question lingers—what whispers wait in your lineage?
The Enfield Poltergeist: Echoes of a Haunting — The Enfield Poltergeist terrorized a London family in the late 1970s, with furniture moving, strange voices, and unexplained phenomena. Skeptics doubt it, believers swear by it, and the mystery continues to haunt the imagination.
The Ghosts in the Machine: How Our Memories Betray Us—and Why the Internet Revels in It — Our memories are not infallible archives—they twist, fade, and even betray us. The internet amplifies these distortions, creating collective illusions that challenge reality. Explore the chilling science behind why our minds gaslight us and why online communities can’t get enough.
The Hungry Ghost: China’s Scariest Festival Legend — Uncover the eerie tale of China’s Hungry Ghost Festival—an ancient tradition where restless spirits demand offerings and vengeance. Are you brave enough to learn more?
The Reaper Unveiled: Shadows, Origins, and the Endless Dance with Death — A shadow that transcends centuries, the Reaper haunts folklore, art, and modern culture alike. From skeletal harvester to philosophical guide, it embodies humanity’s fear of mortality, our fascination with the unknown, and the eternal dance between life and death.
The Screaming Tunnel: Canada’s Haunted Passage of Fire and Grief — They say if you light a match at midnight in Ontario’s Screaming Tunnel, you’ll hear her scream—the ghost of a girl consumed by fire and forgotten by time.
TikTok’s Ghost Month Revival: When Digital Youth Rekindle Ancient Spirits — TikTok users are reviving Ghost Month rituals, blending incense, offerings, and ancient traditions with modern digital storytelling. From flickering altars to cinematic smoke, this new wave honors spirits while captivating a global audience, inviting curiosity, reflection, and a haunting connection to the unseen.
Top 7 Rituals for Connecting with the Divine — Learn how to perform a powerful ritual with this beginner's guide. Craft your own rituals for spiritual growth with step-by-step instructions and creative tips.
Tulpas: Echoes of Thought and Shadows of Mind — Step into the shadowy corners of the mind, where tulpas—sentient thought-forms—linger. From Tibetan mysticism to digital-age companions, explore their history, psychology, and the haunting power of creation itself.
Whispers Between Worlds: The Haunting History and Modern Mystery of Ghosts — Ghosts have haunted humanity for millennia, from ancient tombs to modern urban legends. They reflect grief, guilt, and the mysteries beyond life, evolving with culture and technology, appearing in folklore, films, and digital hauntings, reminding us that some presences refuse to fade.
Entities endure because they give shape to forces humans struggle to explain—hunger, protection, death, desire, chaos, guidance. Whether framed as gods, spirits, archetypes, or psychological mirrors, they persist because they work as symbols long after literal belief fades.
The Side Notes don’t ask you to worship, summon, or reject anything outright. They offer context. Some entries may deepen respect. Others may dismantle assumptions. Both outcomes are intentional. Understanding these beings isn’t about allegiance—it’s about recognizing patterns and knowing what kind of stories you’re stepping into when a name is spoken.
Learn the domains. Notice the overlaps. And remember: entities rarely change—but how we relate to them always does.
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