Upon the Altar is a blog about occultism and mysticism, practices of magic and witchcraft, alongside religion and folklore and faith. The name of my blog is inspired by the phrase ‘Devotion I offer: My heart is the Rose that I lay ‘pon Thine Altar’, taken from ‘A Lover’s Call to the Angel of Witchblood’ written by Andrew D. Chumbley. In my opinion, there is nothing more beautiful than the rapture of a heart cracked open in surrender to the divine. The purpose of the blog is for it to be a place to record my thoughts and experiences and share them with those who may be walking on parallel paths: the path of curiosity, of love for the Universe, of the desire to experience and connect and learn.

The name I go by, Ivy Senna, is inspired by Dionysus’ epithets of Kissobryos (ivy-wrapped) and Kissokomes (ivy-crowned). It was Dionysus, after all, who first drew me into paganism and sparked my interest in seriously delving into the occult. Likewise, my upbringing as a Thai woman, born and raised in Bangkok, has given me a cultural background in Theravada Buddhism, animism and folk astrolatry. Yet, my faith is quite eclectic and open. I have venerated and worked with a variety of deities, from those in the Hellenic pantheon as previously mentioned, to Odin of the Norse pantheon, to Varuna of the Vedic pantheon, to the very planets and stars themselves— as in my view, planets and stars are gods in their own right. My practice too is varied, for I have experimented with various texts such as that of the Greek Magical Papyri, the Carmina Gadelica, the Picatrix and countless others that will take hours to name. I also have an interest in traditional and Hellenistic astrology, having completed and passed Chris Brennan’s Hellenistic Astrology course. My current focus though is in astrolatry — the veneration of planets and fixed stars — and stellar witchcraft, inspired by the works of Sasha Ravitch and that of the Cultus Sabbati.

Recent works of mine, published at places such as Hadean Press and the Mountain Astrologer Blog, can be viewed here. Should you wish to support me, you can also send donations to https://ko-fi.com/uponthealtar

I am also active on Instagram @ivy.crowned where I welcome messages from those interested in conversing. Alternatively, I am also reachable on Discord as Ivy#1288 and via my email anivycrown@gmail.com