Summer is gone, harvest is done!
All the fresh seeds are now available in the shop and can be purchased single, in bundles or as part of new seed boxes. This autumn there will also come a new small edition of Black Flower Seed Boxes. Pre-order is open now!
September 18, 2026
Posted In: Herbs & Seeds, Boxes, Garden, News & Site Updates
Tags: poison path, black flowers, gothic garden, seeds, witch herbs, seed boxes, garden, witch garden
As this year’s circle is about to come to a closure, and with Samhain approaching, I felt inspired to write a summary of my research on the wheel of the year.
The wheel of the year is based on the nature observations of our ancestors. It follows natural cycles* and fixed times, such as the solstices and equinoxes, which devide the annual circle into four quarters. Together they form a solar cross, in which the four arms mark the four seasons – spring, summer, autumn, winter (which are characteristic for Europe, as it was once covered in rainforests resulting in a relatively stable climate). This solar cross can be devided further into four lunar cross-quarter events: Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain. These in-between times were considered magical and as doorways to and for the spirits. They fall on the respective full moon of the months of February, May, August and November. For convenience today it is usually on the 1st of these months, when official celebrations of these liminal times take place. The magician may utilize both the full and the new moon, and partake in social activities on the fixed dates.
The celebrations surrounding the solstices are sometimes helt over the cause of 12 sacred nights. The Celts considered Samhain as the beginning of the new year. In Norse religion it is the dark half of the year when the motion of the annual wheel slows down and finally stands still on the winter solstice. It then takes the strength of the golden boar Gullinborsti, who by the end of the Rauhnächte slowly sets the wheel of the year into motion again.
The appearance of the sun cross in Bronze Age religions coincided with the introduction of the spoked wheel. As part of the solar chariot it replaced the solar barge. This sun wheel bears resemblance to the medicine wheel petroforms of native American people as well as the dharmachakra of Indian religions. In his books W.D. Storl refers to it as the European Medicine wheel and links it to our sylvan Celtic origins.
The first appearance of spoked wheels dates to 2000 BCE: Caucasian horsepeople, who travelled with spoked-wheel war chariots deep into the Greek peninsula, joined the mediterranean peoples living there and eventually helped form classical Greece. Celtic people enhanced the spoked wheel with an iron rim in 1000 BCE. Likely, spoked wheels were introduced to China from the West between 2000-1500 BCE.
The horse-drawn chariot, horses and wheels played a special part in Germanic and Slavic divination rituals (hippomancy). They believed their deity rode on the horse or drove the chariot and gave answer through the horses’ behaviour. For example Slavic people would let a blindfolded horse walk in a circle divided by wooden spokes or speersand it was observed whether it stepped on one. The sacred horses (often white, seldom black) were kept seperately.
Apart from being a milestone in the development of humans, the spoked wheel also has connections to deities of weaving and spinning, such as Frau Holle (Dame Hulda), who is the embodiment of an ancient omnipotent earth goddess. Her symbol is the spinning wheel, her sacred herbs and trees open up the realm to the world of the spirits all year round.
©Teufelskunst 2025
October 17, 2025
Posted In: Feast Days, Ritual, News & Site Updates, Incense
Tags: dharmachakra, medicine wheel, feast days, wheel of the year
Due to the US cancelling international de-minimis contracts, the affordable “Warenpost” shipping option is no longer available to my loyal US customers. Frankly, it sucks. =(
From now on I can only offer the option to ship with DHL express. Any – new or old – custom fees and import taxes must be researched and paid by the customer.
For the time it takes to adjust the new shipping fees I am forced to temporarily remove shipping to the US from my shop.
If you plan to order from me, please email me and consider saving up for ordering wholesale or special items, which would justify the shipping fee. The advantages of having things shipped with DHL express are fast and save delivery to your door.
I am always trying to see the positive and turn bad into good. I put countless hours into my art. I hope some people out there will value this and still be able and willing to pay for what it’s worth. ✌️
August 22, 2025
Posted In: News & Site Updates
The complete wheel of the year as incense blends.
Each crafted individually, inspired by the seasons, their devas and their spirits.
It’s been quite a journey.
As so soften, I got lost in the details, rather than quickly writing up and following a concept.
The ingredients are subject to change, as my perception of the annual cycles evolves and expands.
This offer includes all 8 incense blends for the wheel of the year festivals, as well 1 baneful blend for the Rauhnächte.
The bags contain approximately 30 ml of each blend. Printed instructions are included.
For details please read the descriptions in the single listings.
🔥REMINDER: for receiving incense in time for Lughnasadh you have to order until Monday!
Any orders placed after Monday will be handled and shipped in August, when we are back from the mountains.
July 19, 2025
Posted In: News & Site Updates, Incense
Tags: incense, wheel of the year
Tomorrow I will be packing and shipping last orders before this much needed break.
This means there is still a narrow time window to order and receive our Summer Solstice incense et al!
Summer solstice traditions are manyfold and vary regionally. They include: dancing around and jumping naked over the fire, while wearing a girdle made of mugwort, sometimes also setting a wagon wheel on fire and pushing it down a hill, burning straw figures, burning wreaths made from weeds and scattering the ashes in the garden or field, collecting healing herbs (called Johanniskräuter) and passing them through the flames of the midsummer fire to be blessed by the fire god and increase their potency, lighting mullein torches, eating elder bread, drinking psychoactive beer, searching for the male fern’s seed.
The solstices mark important turning points in the annual cycle of the earth and the sun. In myth this is reflected in the killing of Baldur (the god of light) by Loki (Lugus) or the oak king (symbolic of the sun) being defeated by the holly king (symbolic of the dark season). While these are myths, the sacrifice of elderly priest kings on the solstice might have been a real practice among pre-celtic European people.
The summer solstice celebrations last for 12 nights, similar to the 12 nights following the winter solstice. With the arrival of Christianity, the veneration of Saint John the Baptist, who according to lore was beheaded on the summer solstice, substitutet the worship of the oak king and sun god, and the solstice celebration was replaced by St. John’s day. One of the most importrant healing herbs of Europe and even fireflies were thence re-named after the saint. Likewise, the once revered Bilwis (wise men or women who protected the fields and ensured their fertility) were turned into corn demons themselves.
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The Summer Solstice incense blend is dedicated to the rituals surrounding the summer solstice, when the sun reaches its annual zenith. The ophidian seal adorning the incense is inspired by the viper’s bugloss (Echium vulgare) herb, which is typically blooming then and is an ingredient in nine-herbs-charms.
The ingredients for this blend are the herbs and flowers traditionally associated with the summer solstice. The incense blend evokes a vision of a blooming meadow at dusk: bushes of blue flowering viper’s bugloss cover the ground and transform into serpents. Plantain, thistle and St. John’s wort grow beside it. Fireflies begin their nocturnal wedding dance. Nearby, the fragrant yellow flowers of the evening primrose glow in the evening light and emit their sweet scent into the sweltry air, attracting the most wondrous kind of fairy folk, and their flowerheads turn into scaled dragons…
Use this blend for divination, purification and letting go of the old, for protection, renewal, celebrating the night, inspired dreaming and creativity. The blend can also aid in decision making and gaining deeper wisdom: cast out the serpent as a symbol of “evil” or embrace it as a bringer of wisdom and become a serpent yourself. The solsice is also a good occasion for consecrating a magical weapon, as well as exploring new systems of magic…
June 6, 2025
Posted In: News & Site Updates, Incense
Tags: incense, midsummer, summer solstice, summer break
Here comes a another fresh batch of Samhain incense! This blend is was the first I created for the harvest festivals and closes the circle, being dedicated to the third and final harvest feast. At the same time it marks the beginning of the Gaelic New Year. On Samhain the living and the dead assemble and sacrifices are made. The blend is hence both protective and strengthening as well as suited for opening the gates to the spirit world and chthonic realms. It smells woody, herbaceaous and resinous.
Contains: amber, juniper, mugwort, pine + spruce resin from local forests, oak bark, rosemary, sage, thyme, vervain
Please remember my ordering deadlines for Samhain:
18 Oct. ’23 for international shipments
25 Oct. ’23 for orders within Germany
October 14, 2023
Posted In: Feast Days, News & Site Updates, Incense
Tags: feast days, samhain incense, harvest sigil, wheel of the year, harvest feast, incense, samhain, halloween
Mabon / Autumn Equinox 2023
New sigil and new incense for the season!
This incense blend is dedicated to seasonal feast day of Mabon, September feast days and the Autumn equinox in particular. It is part of the Teufelskunst “wheel of the year” incense series and is dedicated to the second of the harvest festivals (the first being Lughnasadh and the third being Samhain). It is all about the rituals of autumn, for example the celebration of the Autumn Equinox and blot rituals / harvest blessing and sacrificial rituals. It smells earthy, warm and sweet, but also resinous. It unifies dark and light aspects. It contains aromatic and warming ingredients, such as cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, precious saffron, storax bark and vetiver root. The resins in this fiery blend are powerful protective agents, such as dragon’s blood, dark copal and pine resin. Sweet myrrh, oakmoss and sticky labdanum in turn revere the scents of autumn and bind the herbs. Fragrant herbs such as mugwort and mullein complete this special composition. Lastly, freshly gathered nettle is included as a reference to the goddesses of spinning and weaving, but also enhances the protective qualities of this magical Mabon blend.
The sigil adorning the blend has been desgined especially for Mabon (read more in my next post).
The incense comes in 30 ml paper bags and is now available in the shop!
In other news, I’ve been switching to paper bags!
I made new designs for them, especially for the qliphotic blends. Step by step I am also re-doing the feast day sigils. It’s a pile of work, but ultimately it will be easier to simply print and fill these than cleansing, labeling and packing up glass jars, which also always meant more packing waste. Also, the production of the silver foil labels wasn’t particularly environmental friendly either. So…
These are meant to be smelled and burnt.
I may still do special editions in glass jars every once in a blue moon. I have in fact been gifted a big pile of small miron violet glass jars…
But for now, it’s paper bags! How do you like them?
September 16, 2023
Posted In: News & Site Updates, Incense, Feast Days, Ritual
Tags: sigils, blot harvest, occult art, dark season, corn moon, ritual incense, papercraft, incense blends, feast days, sigil art, ritual, mabon, incense, autumn, autumn equinox, maponos
For those who missed out on the virtual event, you can still order the VGS publication featuring my essay on Phytography (introducing the term) and my encounter with the guardian of the witch hazel, as well as two illustrations by me: https://viridisgenii.com/product/viridis-genii-series-7-vol-2/
My gratitude goes to the organizers Catamara and Marcus as well as the team of people that made it all possible, especially Kim, Katrink and Prof. Porterfield. Huge thanks also to the people that attended and took part in the workshops, especially David. We made it work, despite catching Covid, despite hurricanes and despite all the other obstacles. I am looking forward to the next point in time when the portals open for communing with the genii of the plant kingdom. Below is a summary of my presentation and workshop.
Creating Magical Images of Plants – Combining Phytography and Ritual Magic
1 hour lecture + 3 hour workshop included the following topics:
Workshop materials provided to attendents included:
Phytographs created during the 3 hour workshop:
October 17, 2022
Posted In: Events, Art, Ritual, News & Site Updates
Tags: workshop, viridis genii, viridis genii symposium, online lecture, phytography, plant magic, events
