Whispering Trees and Skulls

We have trees around the house filled with animal sculls. And scull is very powerful weapon in hands of knowledgeable master as much I know. when you look more carefully into Buddhism you,ll notice skulls everywhere. Skulls do more than just protect the brain — they also stimulate the mind. Often symbols of mortality and power, they have been employed in human ceremony, ritual, and art for tens of thousands of years. From the ancient animal skulls in Paleolithic burial sites to the curlicued cattle skulls that float like spirits over Georgia O’Keefe’s canvas mountains, cultures around the world have turned to skulls to express ideas about both life and death. The frightening old European skull-and-crossbones used as a memento mori in European-style Freemasonry, and as the "Jolly Roger" flag of pirates -- has been tamed over the centuries. Lets start with Guru Rinpoche and Vajrayogini both are depicted carrying a khatvanga or staff upon which are impaled three severed heads. The topmost one is a skull, the middle one is not yet dry, the bottom one is described as "fresh." They stand for the three times (past, present and future.) For use in benevolent practice, a skull can be donated to a monastery by the family of a deceased. For other practices (Hindu, Bon and Himalayan Buddhist)	As the libation vessel of the Vajrayana practitioner, the skull cup essentially parallels the clay pot (kumbha in Sanskrit) of the Vedic sacrifice, the alms bowl of the Buddha, and the sacred water vase (Kalasha in Sanskrit) of the bodhisattvas. As a receptacle for sacrificial offerings presented to wrathful deities, it parallels the precious tray containing auspicious substances-the jewels, flowers, or fruit presented to peaceful deities. In its most benign symbolism, as the begging bowl or food vessel of an ascetic, the skull cup serves as a constant reminder of death and impermanence. The skull of a murder or execution victim is believed to possess the greatest tantric power; the skull of one who has died from a violent or accidental death, or from a virulent illness, possesses a medium magical power; the skull of a person who died peacefully in old age has virtually no occult power. The skull of a child who died during the onset of puberty also has great potency, as do the skulls of miscegenated [sic] or misbegotten child of unknown paternity, born from the forbidden union of castes, out of wedlock, from sexual misdemeanor, or particularly from incest. The 'misbegotten skull' of a seven or eight-year-old child born from an incestuous union is considered to possess the greatest power in certain tantric rituals. Here the vital force or potential of the skull's 'previous owner' is embodied within the bone as a spirit, rendering it as an effective power object for the performance of tantric rituals.	Kapala are used in tantric ceremonies in both Buddhist and Hindu traditions, and in some Himalayan shamanic traditions also. They are used in ceremonies to symbolically transform base offerings to nectar - the food of the gods. They are also used to hold dough offering cakes (torma) representing human flesh, and (or) wine, which represents human blood. These are symbolic offering to wrathful beings such as Mahakala. The dough cakes are often shaped and painted to resemble human eyes, ears and tongues, and can at times contain human blood or corpse fat or posion, but generally are just made from plain barley flour dough. In the iconography of wrathful protective deities the skull cup, held at the level of the heart, may also be paired with the curved knife or chopper which may be held above the skull cup. Here the chopper is the weapon that severs the life veins and vital organs of demonic enemies, and the cup is the oblation vessel in which the blood and organs are collected as the deity's sustenance. Descriptions of the contents of a wrathful deity's kapala include warm human blood, blood and brains, blood and intestines, human flesh and fat, the heart or the heart and lungs of an enemy, the heart of Mara and the blood of Rudra.
Kapala are often shown in the hands of wrathful beings and female beings called dakini - often filled with foaming and frothing blood. They represent the female atribute found in tantric teachings, as does the tibetan bell - and like the bell they are held in the left hand. They are 'married' with the 'male' flaying knife (Sanskrit: kartrika, Tibetan: trigu), in the same way as the 'female' bell is matched with the 'male' dorje Skulls are multifaceted symbols in tantric literature, simultaneously evoking both death and awakening, as a result, they were powerful symbols. The genre of tantric Buddhist literature in which skulls and associated charnel imagery is most powerful is the Yoginī tantras . These texts were composed in India beginning in the late seventh century or early eighth century (with the composition of the Sarvabuddhasamāyoga- ḍākiṇījālasamvara-tantra ) and continued to be composed up until the final decline of Buddhism in India from the thirteenth through sixteenth centuries.	Figures of buddhas and bodhisattvas in their wrathful aspects often display a 5-skull crown. Here, each skull represents a buddha family and its corresponding quality in the form of the "death" of an associated negativity such as anger, desire, etc. The Great God of India, who alone remains when the universe dissolves, is portrayed atop a mound of ashes and incinerated bones. Symbolizing that he is the sole sustainer of all manifestation (Skt. Shaiva-siddhanta-shara,) he is coated in ash and adorned with a garland of skulls.	Chapter 7 of the Subāhuparipṛccha-tantra, a text composed during the seventh century, describes a vetālasādhana, a rite for reanimating a corpse in order to achieve magical powers, as well as several other charnel ground oriented practices. In Hindu practice, the ash (Skt. vibhuti) of ritual fires is used by yogis to coat their bodies, giving them an unearthly, even a corpse-like, appearance. The whitened effect is a symbol of the complete consumption of mundane desire, especially of a sexual nature. Their deities are adorned with charnel ground regalia, most notably skulls and skull bowls ( kapāla ). The charnel grounds are also the ideal locale for the performance of many of the rites described in these texts, such as the notorious (Vetalā Sādhana , in which the adept seeks to invoke a spirit to animate a corpse in order to compel it to bestow magical powers.
Bones are a type of fetish. A fetish is “an object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit or as having magical potency (source)”. The word fetish originates from the French fétiche which stems from the Portuguese word feitiço meaning “charm” or “sorcery”. Feathers, bones, crystals, and stones are all types of fetishes. Skulls and bones have an appeal to witches who perform spirit work and are a necessary and simple way to connect with spirits of the dead and of animals. Working with bones is not just for necromancers and black magicians. Practitioners who work with bones are a wide range of healers, diviners, shapeshifters, rootworkers, witches, shamans, druids, and pagans. Somadeva, in his eleventh- century work, the Vetālapañca-viṃśatikā, describes the charnel ground as being a virtual incarnation of Bhairava, as follows: Śiva’s penance as the skull-bearing ascetic Bhairava was assumed as the “great observance” ( mahāvrata ) of the Kāpālikas, an infamous Śaiva sectarian group notorious for their extreme modes of practice involving violence and sexuality. Śaivas were clearly not the only ones in early medieval India spending time in charnel grounds. The very horror of the śmaśāna was believed to make it an ideal site for heroic renunciants, who sought to completely cut through all attachments to the world. Included among them were Buddhists.	Naro Dakini is portrayed as pouring blood from a skull-cup into her mouth, the blood trickles from her mouth and her vagina, symbolising how she is both consuming, and is being consumed, by the feminine principle, wisdom. In the crook of her left arm sits a tantric staff. On the apex of this staff, above a half crossed thunderbolt and a vase of nectar, is impaled a fresh head, a decaying head, a skull and a thunderbolt. When held by a female, the whole staff represents the masculine principle, compassion. Like all Tibetan symbolism, the imagery represents multiple levels and layers of meanings, such as the representation of the physical universe or an esoteric formula. Thangkas, like sculptures, serve as picture maps detailing how one can achieve enlightenment in just one lifetime.	According to Grags pa rGyal mtshan a skull deteriorates with its growing number of sections, a circumstance which he connects to the Indian cast system: a one piece skull is a ksaitreya who controls all people, land and property. A two-sectioned skull is a vaishya, it works for the king and knows how to amass food. A three-sectioned skull is a brahmin, it stimulates the realization of Mantra. A four-sectioned skull is a shudra and thus amasses an entourage. A five-sectioned skull is an outcast, it is a skull cup suitable for a fierce person as it wins disputes. Six or more sections stimulate illness. They are known to be inauspicious and should be abandoned. However, for destruction Mantras, for causing hail, for causing enemies, obstacles and inauspicious demons, one uses the ill-omened six-sectioned, seven-, eight- or nine section skull cup. The Tibetan manuscript Thod pa'i lo rgyu mentions strange encounters with skulls in ancient India where the particular value of the skull with one, two, three or more sections was mainly communicated in dreams. In such a way a herdsman gained control over the country and turned into a Bodhisattva with the help of a one-piece skull; the possession of a two-piece skull made a beggar king, a three-piece skull stopped a famine, a four-piece skull turned a sinful man into a practitioner of Dharma and so forth.
Description of the skull's features. Inside at the front it should have a sharp ridge like a Garuda's peak or a tiger claw which will enable one to pick up the skull at this point on one finger. The vein imprints on the surface should be deep and shaped like a "blossoming tree". Much emphasis is laid on the distinction between one's own place and the enemy's place. For this one divides the skull-cup in the middle crosswise, half way from the front to the back, across the line of pearl teeth. On the outside, the frontal line of pearl teeth is considered as the division. On the inside, the division is considered from the supra-oracular plates. The side of the rang sa should be smooth and full of auspicious signs, such as swastikas for attaining realization, a mongoose for increasing the heads, an umbrella for associates, a throne for respect and so forth. Worm holes, burn marks and the like are considered bad if situated in one's own place and good if they are in the enemy's. The left side of the skull is called the "human side" (mi sa), the right side is the "possessions" (nor sa). Grags pa rGyal mtshan subdivides each side into many small sections of a finger's length (sor). They stand for the owners life force, wealth, magic power, personality and so forth respectively. At the "place of descendants" one may recognize the quality of wives, sons, pupils ect. In the same manner the enemy's side is examined where all positive marks are of dire consequence for the bearer.	The association of Buddhists with charnel grounds is evidently quite ancient. archaeological excavations have shown that Buddhist monasteries were often built on or near charnel complexes . Such meditations were believed to serve as antidotes for attachment to the body or sensual pleasures. Elsewhere in the Majjhima-nikāya the Buddha recommends charnel grounds as meditation sites and describes his austerities as a bodhisattva thus: “I would make my bed in a charnel ground with bones of the dead for a pillow.” Dwelling in charnel grounds had become an ac - ceptable vocation for Buddhist renunciants by at least the beginning of the Common era, by which time they were designated as śmāśānika (Pāli sosānika ). The Vimuttimagga, a text composed by Upatissa in Pāli in the first or second century CE, describes the benefits of this practice as including an understanding of death and impermanence, overcoming of fear, and gaining the reverence of supernatural beings. The tantric texts that call upon practitioners to perform rituals, such as mandala construction in charnel grounds, or to use the substances derived from charnel grounds in rituals, followed a venerable precedent. A number of the early tantras, later classified as kriyā tantras in the Indo-Tibetan classification scheme, describe practices necessarily set in charnel grounds. These likely derive from what I have termed “the cult of the charnel ground.”	For early Buddhists, final emancipation, parinirvāṇa, is not attained until death. In traditions of tantric yoga, it was widely believed that in death one gained a vision of the clear light, identified with the dharmakāya or gnosis of awakening, meaning that death provided an opportunity for awakening that is difficult to achieve in normal states of consciousness. Hence such dreadful images evoking death are also seen as symbols of awakening. As a result, in tantric Buddhist literature and art, imagery evoking death, and skull imagery in particular, is quite pervasive, precisely because it also evokes the awakening toward which the tradition aspires. In rituals of the highest tantric order (Yogatantra and Anuttaratantra) the skull is filled with alcohol as the "Inner Offering" (nang gi mchod), symbolizing the "Five Kinds of Fleshes" (sha inga) and the "Five Kinds of Nectar" (bdud rtsi lnga). Within this system of Anuttaratantra skull cups are used as well for offering in two seperate vessels "Blood" (rakta) and "Semen" (bdud rtsi) to the Protective Deities (chos skyong). While strong black tea added with special "Rakta pills" serves as a substitute for "Blood", white alcohol mixed with "Dharma medicine" (chos sman) transforms into "Semen".
According to the gTer ma of Sangs rgyas gLing pa, a Kapala should be consecrated on an astrologically very auspicious day. Then all sorts of obstacles are removed with smoke and wrathful Mantras and some alcohol is poured out to the "Three Roots" (rtsa gsum). The skull needs to be dried and anointed. After that the Kapala is filled with small images of "Three Roots", with Mantras of deities, of the god of wealth, of protectors ect. The names of all members of the Guru Lineage are put in as well as personal whishes. Pieces of gold, silver precious stones, medical ingredients such as camphor, nutmeg, sandalwood, musk, consecrated Dharma medicines, ring bsrel of Lamas, different kinds of wheat, fruits, flowers, pieces of tiger - leopard skin, silk as well as an essential text on Mahamudra or rDzogs chen ect. are placed into the skull bowl which is then wrapped in cloth. After an invocation of the Ye shes pa into the Kapala, it is sealed and hidden in a shrine closet, with the rang sa side showing to oneself. If one continues to make proper treatment the Kapala will certainly qualify as a "Whishfulfilling Jewel" (yid bzhin nor bu). Special Mantras are connected with such skull practices, for instance OM RATNA MAHAKAPALA SARVA SIDDHI PHA HUM HUM or - according to Grags pa rGyal mtshan the Mantra OM KAPALA BODHICITTA OM AH HUM, which ought to be represented 900,000 times in retreat. In this case the skull turns into a support (rten) of enlightened motivation, Bodhicitta (byan chub sems). Through these rituals the Kapala is turned into a direct object of worship. In other cults belonging to the classes of Tantra human skulls are used as offering vessels. According to rites on the levels of Kriya and Carya tantra such as an Amitabha and Amitayus offering feast, the skull cup is filled with sweet fruit juices as a symbol for "lifespan, wisdom and merit increasing nectar"	In the Cakrasamvara-tantra, for example, the tradition’s chief deity, Heruka, is described as follows: Pacific World Place in the center of the lotus the hero who is the terror of Mahābhairava, who is bright and brilliant, and who makes the tremendous noise of very loud laughter. Wearing a skull rosary, divine are his three eyes and four faces. Covered with an elephant hide, his excellent eyebrows are split by a vajra . His hand wields a khatvanga staff, and he is ornamented with a half a hundred garland. This is immediately followed with the following description of his consort, the goddess Vajravārāhī: The goddess who stands before him is the truly awesome Vajravārāhī, facing the deity Śrī Heruka, with three eyes and of fierce form. Her skull bowl is filled with entrails , blood trickles from her mouth. She threatens all of the quarters together with the gods, titans, and humans. The master ( ācārya ), like the deities, also must assume a charnelground-derived garb when performing major rituals. he is described as follows: He has the proper knowledge and understands the tantra and Śrī Heruka’s mantra. He is not angry, is pure and competent, and he understands yoga and is perfected in knowledge. his hair is marked with skulls, his limbs are smeared with ash. his body is decorated with ornaments, and he has a bone garland. his hair is formed into one plait, and he wears a bone garland. The Hevajra-tantra gives additional information concerning the master’s garb, adding details concerning the construction of a skull-tiara that “marks” the master’s hair, as well as ash and the sacred thread, as follows: now he, whose nature is hūṃ , should arrange his piled-up hair as a crest and for the performance of yoga he should wear the skull tiara, representing the five buddhas. Making pieces of skull five inches long, he should secure them to the crest. he should wear the two-stranded cord of hair, which symbolizes Wisdom and Means, the ashes and the sacred thread of hair.	skull with the dharmakāya, or “reality body” of a buddha, representing either the collection of a buddha’s teachings or the gnosis of a buddha ( buddhajñāna ), the realized wisdom whereby a buddha is awakened. This association is rooted in several trends in Mahayana Buddhism. one factor was the development of Buddhist hierarchical systems of classifying Buddhist teachings in terms of the three bodies of a buddha. a nother factor was the rise of the “relic cult,” centering upon stūpas , in Buddhist communities. Since stūpas are basically reliquary mounds, believed to enshrine the physical relics of a buddha, the rising popularity of this cult would naturally elevate the significance of these relics. The famous talking stūpa episode in the Lotus Sūtra, for example, highlights not only the belief that stūpas somehow embody the Buddha and preserve his presence, but even that a stūpa itself could manifest the voice of a buddha ( buddhavacana ), thus embodying his or her “reality body” in the same manner as a textual relic. With the composition of the Yoginī tantras, it is not only stūpas that can talk and thus manifest the Buddha’s wisdom. Talking skulls, too, are found in the increasingly bizarre terrain of tantric literature. The Buddhakapāla Yoginītantrarāja, a ninth-century text, begins with a nidāna opening passage that narrates the origin of the scripture. It relates the death of Śākyamuni Buddha immediately following his sexual union with the yoginī Citrasenā. Although physically dead, his presence lives on via his skull, which gives a discourse, and also disgorges this text itself, the “Buddha skull king of yoginī tantras.” This text, then, clearly indicates what is meant in the tantric context by a skull that is a “relic of the reality body,” a skull that can manifest a buddha’s gnosis.
In the esoteric Tantric tradition, a carefully chosen and prepared skull is much more than a ritual object. A powerful Yogi will be able to use a consecrated jewel skull for all kinds of visionary and prophetic purposes. He may read in its lines the state of his own inner realization as well as his karmic obstacles with greater clarity than in his palm. According to an oral instruction given by a Tibetan sNgags pa one can use a skull for prophetic purposes in the following way: The vein imprints inside the skull signify obstacles by which the person whose skull one bears, was affected during his lifetime. Positive marks in the skull demonstrate the qualities of the deceased. Bone is considered to be alive, therefore the good and bad marks of the deceased will influence also the bearer of the skull and could be of dire consequence to him. A tantric practitioner however will use the karmic power of the skull as a means to enlightenment by mentally transforming the Kapala into his own Mandala.	It is an image that unites the ideas of death and awakening. The skull, then, is a symbol that is particularly meaningful in the tantric context, in which death truly is seen as an occasion for the realization of the dharmakāya, and hence awakening. Passages such as the above clearly highlight the significance of skulls in tantric Buddhist literature and help us to understand their centrality in later tantric Buddhist iconography. They are also very important in tantric Buddhist ritual. Skulls, or more properly, skull bowls, are ubiquitous elements in the tantric Buddhist ritual practices associated with the Yoginī tantras . In the newar and Tibetan Buddhist contexts, these Gray: Skull Imagery and Skull Magic in the Yoginī Tantras bowls are formed from the upper hemisphere of a human skull, the inside of which is often covered with a decorative layer of metal that makes it water-impermeable. These skull bowls are used in a wide variety of rituals such as abhiṣeka initiation rites, usually in conjunction with a vajra. When so deployed, the skull bowl replaces the lotus, symbolizing wisdom ( prajñā ), while the vajra symbolizes expedience ( upāya ). In these cases, the skull retains its dual association with awakening and death, and thus can serve as an agent for either one of these potentialities.	As you can see this tree is filled with sculls. They are not human but animal sculls, Anyway most of the animals have to face violent death because they get killed by people. All around the house we have a sculls on trees. People who seldom appear in our place feel scared. Why? Because it remains them impermanence of our human life. We dont live forever, one day we,ll face the death. In our civilization we have build up illusion that death does,nt exist anymore. We live in illusion what,ll last forever. But does it? Me and Benny feel comfortable here. We make offerings for sculls sake as well, because all scull owners has gone through the death already. One guy from Perth who visited us asked me how you can live here when you are surrounded by death. I answered " I did,nt know that people in Perth can live forever" Buddhism for me is a teaching about death. And specially tantra talks about death. Death and sex are equal because both take us to certain state of mind where we are able to leave the body. I guess woman are more familiar and knowledgeable about it because they can have really deep and mystical orgasms what carries them away. That,s death. When we die we suffer when we have a sex we dont that,s a difference here. And sculls here remain not a sex but death and of course people feel it
The tree of life corresponds now to his own lifespan counted as hundred years starting at the root, his year of birth. The branches of the tree turn into the four elements which are connected to the five wisdoms and five passions. Any negative mark in the skull is then analyzed and identified in the Mandala. By drawing lines to the trunk of the tree, the year of occurrence of obstacles can be detected. Further by connecting the mark to the nearest branch its element is discovered. The nearest bending twig on that branch signalizes the dominating passion of the obstacle. The position of the nearest uprising twig on the same branch indicates accurately the year in which the obstacle transformed in wisdom will be overcome. In such a way a skillful Yogi is aware of his outer and inner obstacles by using a skull. On quite a different level oral tradition knows of the use of skulls for black magic purposes. So for instance, in order to generate a dispute between two parties, one could avail oneself of two skulls from men who both died in a quarrel, fill them with appropriate spells and tie them up with string. When these skulls are buried on a path trodden by the two parties, they will certainly turn against each other. As a counter-action the skulls need only be turned in the opposite direction. A whole skull is used as a medium for entering into contact with the shi 'dre, the ghost of the dead. For this the sorcerer recites particular Mantras which make the ghosts of the dead speak. Then the sorcerer may use the shi 'dre as his servant for all sort of destructive magic.	Human as well as animal skulls are also used in connection with exorcism and protection against evil: in order to avert or to counteract the harm caused by all various classes of sri demons, the most efficacious method is to perform the Great Rite against the sri. For this one has to bury or set out a nine-sectioned Kapala at a crossing, filled with slips of poisonous paper inscribed with magic spells and the drawing of a lings, which contains all evil and harm caused by the sri. The paper must be tied up with a five colored ribbon. In case a nine-piece Kapala is not available, nine different kind of animal skulls must be provided: of a yak, dog, camel, vulture, marmot, cat, fox, jackal and a mouse.	The surviving texts that describe a secret method for producing for oneself a talking skull, one that will tell one the secrets of the world. in Cakrasamvara- tantra several ritual practices employing skulls that contain elements of the Tachikawa ritual, including the anointing of skulls with body fluids and the association of these rituals with ḍākiṇīs and jackals. Chapter twelve of the Cakrasamvara-tantra describes a ritual for giving one’s enemy a hemorrhage or a headache. This ritual involves the creation of a simulacrum of one’s enemy’s skull, which one enchants with mantra and then ritually acts upon. It occurs as follows: With this mantra, the quintessence of Śrī Heruka’s essence, make a substitute skull devoid of flesh, and rub it with the tip of one’s forefinger. his blood will be drawn out. By rubbing it with the left it will return again.
In a western tradition human bones are used in magic and ritual as a fetish or vessel to house the spirit of the dead person and enable them to ground better in this realm so a magical practitioner can better communicate and work with them. The spirits of the dead are not servitors to be bound and ordered around. Instead they are allies to help and guide us. Place your skull or bones in a place of reverence either on an ancestral altar or in a beautiful container like the reliquaries of churches in the Middle Ages. Leave your bones regular offerings. Find out if the spirit has any preferences of alcohol, tobacco, flowers, foods, candies, or objects. You can invite them to share in the essence of your meals ever day at dinner as well. The person the bones belonged to in life can become a familiar spirit to you in your art. They can help you commune with the dead and send messages back and forth. They can travel places you cannot and be your eyes and ears. Always make sure to work with a spirit out of love and respect. If you work with bones not of a family member be sure to build up a friendship with the spirit as you would with a real person. Do not ask too much of them too soon, but instead be consistent in your offerings and communion with them first.	Human bones can also be used in necromancy. Necromancy is a form of divination working with the spirits of the dead. One summons them and presents them with questions about the past, present, or future. It is believed the dead are not bound by time and are excellent oracles and advisers.	Animal bones are used in witchcraft and folk magic to commune and work with animal spirits as familiar, guides, and protectors. Like human bones, the bones of animals can be also be used to ground a spirit animal in this realm. Bones act as a spirit vessel for animal familiars to dwell in when you work with them. This doesn’t mean that the spirit lives in the bone(s) all the time, but instead it is their home when you call upon them. Animal bones and skulls can be placed on an altar or carried in a medicine or crane bag to work with them outdoors or on the move. Animal bones can be used to call upon mythological creatures as well. To do this you need only to combine bones from the different animals that make up the creatures. For example, bind together parts from an eagle and lion to summon a griffon or combine snake, lizard, and the bones or feathers of a bird of prey to summon a dragon.
Animal bones can be incorporated into ritual jewelry for direct contact and easier communion with the spirits the bones belong to. Ritual jewelry using bones is the most practical and direct way of bringing your animal familiars into rituals and spellwork. If you only have very small bones or a delicate insect to work with than you can place the parts in a glass vial and either use it as a vessel on your altar or attach a chain or leather thong to it to wear around your neck. By wearing animal bones you can take on the attributes and powers of the animal they belong to such as fox teeth for cunning, owl bones for seeing in the dark, or snake bones for the ability to renew and change your life. Bones can also confer an animal’s magical abilities. Many animals are “shamanic” in nature enabling the practitioner to whom they are familiar to adopt their ability to travel between worlds. Such creatures known to travel between the realms of earth, sea, and sky or have extraordinary powers of transformation include frogs, toads, snakes, all birds (especially water fowl), alligators, crocodiles, turtles, beavers, otters, dragonflies, spiders, beetles, butterflies, cicadas, and more.	Animal bones can be used to craft ritual tools. Many traditional rattles are made using skulls, turtle shells, or little bones tied closely together for the sound of their rattling against one another. Bones can also be tied to staffs or stangs, wands, or even sewn onto ritual robes. Animal bones, especially chicken and other bird bones, are used for traditional divination methods in many cultures. This can also be incorporated into European practice by carving Futhark or Ogham runes onto animal bones or using slices of deer antler instead of the usual materials of wood and stone.	Animal bones, hides, and feathers have yet another important use in magic — shapeshifting. These parts can be worn as jewelry or donned as a costume while going into trance to leave your body so either your spirit takes on the form of the animal or you are led to a living (and willing) animal to possess temporarily. Another method of using animal parts for shapeshifting includes making a magical salve or potion with bones, hairs, skin, or feathers to rub on your skin or take internally before attempting to shapeshift. If you are making a salve, include herbs and/or fungi associated with that animal as well as bits of your own hair or nail clippings in the recipe. If you are making a tea or tincture as a potion, make sure to do the same. In my experience tinctures are much more palatable than a tea of bone shavings and hair.