In the heart of August, two ancient Roman festivals once honored the liminal spaces between the living and the dead: The Nemesea (August 23rd) and The Mania (August 24th). These were not harvest feasts or celebrations of life, but days steeped in shadowed reverence. They were times to pay debts to the dead, appease the restless, and protect the living from the dangerous side of the spirit world. For the traditional dark witch, these dates open a portal where justice and death walk hand-in-hand. They are not mournful days, but ones of power, negotiation, and pact.  

The Nemesea (August 23rd) – Justice and the Dead

The Nemesea honored Nemesis, the goddess of divine justice, and offered gifts to the shades of the dead to maintain balance between the living and the underworld.  In the Roman calendar, this date once marked the celebration of Nemesis of Rhamnous, a powerful figure who ensured that no mortal grew too proud or overstepped the natural order. Nemesis was not “vengeful” in the way modern minds might assume. She was corrective. A guardian of sacred balance, she moved silently where justice was needed, especially when hubris has gone unchecked. Her power is mirrored in witchcraft through the laws of return, the weight of consequence, and the whispers of karma.  

The Nemesea is not a day to fear. It's a day to reclaim the sacred law of cause and effect. It’s a time to walk cleanly, powerfully, and intentionally. If you’ve felt that something is off energetically, relationally, or magically this is the day to name it and shift it. You don’t have to carry imbalance forward. You don’t have to stay bound to old contracts or unresolved injustice. Let Nemesis walk beside you as a guardian of your sacred flame. 

Modern Dark Witch Practice:

  • Justice Spell. Call on Nemesis to balance scales of injustice in your life. Burn black and white candles dressed with rue and bay, speaking aloud the wrongs you seek righted. 
  • Shielding the Home. Scatter salt and crushed garlic at doors and windows to keep ill-intentioned spirits at bay while the veil thins. 
  • Banishing hubris. Removing egoic distortions, spiritual bypassing, or misuse of power. 
  • Calling back power from situations where you've been wronged, silenced, or diminished. 
  • Petitioning divine balance in relationships, career, finances, or magic. 
  • Cleansing ritual tools of accumulated energy and egoic residue.

 

Ritual Ideas for The Nemesea

1. Altar Setup  

  • A black candle for justice and shadow 
  • A white candle for clarity and balance 
  • A bowl of salt water to absorb excess 
  • A scale or feather to represent truth and equilibrium 
  • Offerings: pomegranate seeds, dark wine, or dried roses 

2. Invocation to Nemesis 

"Nemesis, She Who Sees All, Giver of the rightful share, I stand before you in truth, May balance be restored, May justice be swift and sacred. Let no illusion cloud my power. Let no pride cast shadow on my path." 

3. Shadow Mirror Work Look into a black mirror or darkened glass by candlelight and ask: “Where has imbalance grown in my life or practice?” Write down what arises. Then, light the black candle and burn the paper safely. 4. Salt Bath Release Take a ritual bath with salt, rosemary, and vinegar. Focus on releasing distortions of ego, power struggles, jealousy, or spiritual pride. Visualize Nemesis restoring your psychic field to neutrality and strength.  

 The Mania (August 24th) – The Night of the Hidden Dead

The Mania was an ancient Roman observance associated with the Manes, the honored yet often obscure spirits of the dead. Those who dwell quietly in the underworld, neither malicious nor entirely at peace. They are not simply ancestors of blood, but the collective dead: those known and unknown, remembered and forgotten, peaceful and troubled. This was not a bright ancestral feast, but a somber, chthonic day of reverence and protection. August 24th was considered inauspicious. No major public ceremonies were held. Even the temple of Ops Consiva, the goddess of hidden abundance and the earth’s buried wealth, was sealed shut. For it was said the Gates of the Underworld yawned open, allowing the spirits of the dead to rise - some seeking rest, others recognition. While the Manes could be benevolent if properly honored, they were also believed to turn vengeful if neglected. This was a night not of celebration, but of boundary work. Recognizing the dead, especially those who died without proper rites, with mental unrest, or under taboo circumstances. The point is not fear but reckoning and restoration. This is a night for witches, necromancers, and psychopomps. Not for casual spirit contact or portal opening. But for those walking the shadow path, it is sacred ground for deep clearing, healing ancestral grief, and unbinding energetic entanglements. Modern Dark Witch Practice:  

  • Honoring forgotten or dishonored dead 
  • Cleansing obsessive, ancestral, or mental residue 
  • Cord-cutting from psychic attachments and ancestral burdens 
  • Deep necromantic journeying or underworld meditation 
  • Offering peace to spirits who have been unseen or unspoken 

How to Work with The Mania

1. Prepare a Spirit Offering Table  

  • Black cloth or bare wood 
  • Offerings: black bread, wine, eggs, garlic, honey, or poppy seeds 
  • A bowl of water for scrying and reflection 
  • Candles (black, dark red, or purple) 

2. Speak to the Manes “To the honored and forgotten, To the dead who linger unseen, To those whose names are dust, I offer this light. May peace be with you, And may your silence be heard.” You may feel a shift in atmosphere—breathe deeply and remain present. 3. Journal Your Shadows Reflect on:  

  • What ancestral or psychic burdens am I carrying? 
  • What grief, guilt, or regret have I inherited? 
  • What am I ready to release into the underworld for transmutation? Burn or bury your responses as a ritual act of unbinding. 

4. The Poppy Path Meditation In candlelight, breathe deeply. Envision a field of dark poppies under a moonless sky. One by one, spirits emerge—some grieving, some silent, others curious. Offer your presence, a word, or a flame. Listen. Then return slowly, closing the gates behind you.  

Hekatean Rite for the Manes (The Honored Dead)

Purpose: To invoke Hekate Eidolios, Queen of Phantoms and Psychopomp of the Forgotten, to offer peace to wandering spirits and honor the dead without names. 

Timing: Ideal on the Dark Moon, New Moon, or sacred nights of the dead (Aug 23–24, Samhain, or nights of ancestral work). 

Materials

  • One black or white candle (for Hekate) 
  • Three tea lights (for the dead) 
  • Bowl of water 
  • Bread, poppy seeds, and honey 
  • Incense: mugwort, myrrh, or frankincense 
  • A key or iron nail (symbol of Hekate’s protection and gateways) 
  • Optional: graveyard dirt, bones, photos of cemeteries, stones, poppy petals 

Setup: Place the altar near a threshold (window, doorway, or crossroads). Hekate’s candle at the center, flanked by the three lights for the dead. Offerings placed around them. The key or iron nail before her flame. 

 

Hekatean Rite for the Restless Dead (The Manes)

Purpose: To call upon Hekate Epitymbidia as Queen of the Tombs and offer light and peace to wandering souls who have no one to remember them. 

Timing: Ideal on the Dark Moon, New Moon, or during Nights of the Dead (like Aug 23–24 or Samhain), but may be done anytime.  

Materials

  • A black or white candle (for Hekate) 
  • Three tea lights (for the restless dead) 
  • Water (in a dark bowl or glass) 
  • A small plate of bread, black poppies, and honey 
  • Incense (mugwort, myrrh, or frankincense) 
  • A key or iron nail as an anchor for Hekate 
  • Optional: bones, graveyard dirt, stones, photos of cemeteries 

Setup

Arrange a simple altar facing a window, crossroads, threshold, or darkened corner. Place Hekate’s candle in the center, flanked by the three lights for the dead. Set the offerings and water nearby. Place the key or nail before the central candle.  

Light Hekate’s Candle and Say:

  Hekate Epitymbidia — She Who Is Upon the Tombs Hail to Thee, Hekate Epitymbidia, Mistress of the Silent Halls, Watcher upon the Tombs, Guardian of the Ancestors' Rest. You stand between life and death, Where the veil is thin, Where shadows gather like sacred dust, And the silence sings your name. O Queen of Graves, You keep the watchful flame At the door of the eternal sleep, Lighting the way for souls on their passage. Your presence commands reverence, A shadow deep and steady No restless spirit stirs without your will, No darkness swallows without your consent. You hold the keys to the hidden doors, The threshold where the living meet the dead, Where ancestors whisper their ancient truths, And forgotten power waits in quiet. Epitymbidia, Keeper of the Tombs, Protect me in the face of death’s shadow, Guide my steps through grief and loss, Bless my heart with your steady flame. May I honor those who rest beneath your watch, May I walk with reverence among the dead, May your flame guard my spirit’s journey Between worlds, between times, between breaths. Hekate Epitymbidia, Queen of the Tombs and Silent Ways, I call to you in solemn trust, Hold me close in your dark embrace, And light the path beyond the grave.  -(The Little Book of Witches Psalms, Hekate - Epitymbidia, Magia Sinistra)

Offer the incense and say: 

“Torch-Bearing Queen, receive this smoke. Come in power and mercy, O She of the Tombs.” 

Light the Three Tea Lights and Say:

“This light I offer not for the living, But for the dead who have no name, No rites, no grave, no kin. May they be seen. May they be soothed. May they find rest.” 

Breathe gently on the flames, imagining your breath reaching out across the veil.  

Offer the Water:

Hold the bowl of water and say: 

“Let this water be refreshment to thirsty souls. Let it carry peace to those who wander. Let it be a mirror in which they are seen.” 

Place the bowl down slowly and with reverence.  

Offer the Bread or Honey and Say:

“I offer this to the dead who are hungry - not for food, but for memory. I remember you now. I honor you. I share this in your name.” 

Petition to Hekate:

“Hekate Epitymbidia, Walker Upon the Tombs, Carry these lost ones to your sacred crossroads. If it pleases you, grant them rest or rebirth. If they must remain, let them have dignity. May none be forgotten.” 

Touch the key or nail and say: 

“As this key opens, may the path open. As this iron protects, may no harm pass this threshold.” 

Closing Words:

“Rest now, forgotten ones. This light is yours. Go in peace or stay and be honored. Ave Hekate - Epitymbidia, I thank you. Be ever near.” 

Let the candles burn down safely, or snuff them gently if you must leave. Bury the offerings at a crossroads, base of a tree, or leave them at a cemetery gate.  

A Combined Rite (Aug 23–24): Balancing Justice & Death

These two days - August 23rd (The Nemesea) and August 24th (The Mania) - sit side by side on the wheel of time like a scales-and-scythe combo. One day we call in divine balance, the next we descend into shadow and madness. They were both feared and respected in ancient Rome. And they’re damn potent for dark witches working justice, protection, and ancestral clearing. This is not light magic. It’s about what is fair and what must be buried. You can work with either day on its own, but if you want something deeper, do them together, as a two-night rite that mirrors the path from spiritual reckoning to spirit release.  Invoke and speak with the authority, under the protection of Hekate before conducting these rights

Night One – August 23rd: The Nemesea

Theme: Spiritual Justice, Balance, Sacred Retaliation 

What You’ll Need:

  • A white candle (or gold) 
  • A scale or symbolic item of balance (even two stones on a plate) 
  • A written petition or journal of what must be righted 
  • Optional: incense, poppy seeds, black thread or cord 

Ritual Flow:

  • Center yourself with deep, slow breaths. 
  • Light the candle. Say:  

“I call on Nemesis, Keeper of Balance, Avenger of excess, Restorer of the scales. Let justice move, not from vengeance, But from divine necessity.” 

 

  • Present Your Petition Read or silently meditate on your petition. Feel into what has been thrown off balance - within or around you. If using poppy seeds or incense, offer them now. 
  • Symbolic Action  
  • If using the scale or stones, adjust them gently to symbolically restore equilibrium. 
  • If using black thread, you may tie knots for each injustice named, or cut the thread to sever ties. 
  • Whisper or speak into the air:  “As I see clearly, so shall justice unfold.”  
  • Offer and Release Fold your petition and place it under the candle or near the scale. Let Nemesis hold it now. You’ve been heard. 
  • Close by grounding and journaling anything that comes up. Keep the candle remnant or wax for the next night. 

 

Ritual Flow:

  • Enter the Stillness Sit in silence and low light. Allow the darkness to settle around you. Light the black candle and arrange your offerings before it. This is not a night of comfort, but of truth. Feel into the shadow. Let it open gently. 
  • Invocation of the Manes: Speak with reverence and resolve:  

“To the Manes, the forgotten and intranquil, To those buried in disgrace, unnamed, unrested, To the madness that walks beside memory, I offer light, rest, and remembrance.”  

  • Make Your Offerings: Pour a small libation of wine into the earth, a bowl, or grave dirt. Place the offerings with slow intent. These are for those who linger without peace — the fragments, the lost, the broken. 
  • Release the Petition: Burn or bury your wax/thread/petition from Night One. Let this act become a symbolic sealing. You are not feeding vengeance, but performing sacred closure. Unbound spirits need not remain tethered to your field. 
  • Scrying or Reflection (Optional): Gaze into the water’s surface. Let images, impressions, or emotions rise. You may feel the presence of the dead, your ancestors, or the echoes of madness. Breathe through it — this is shadow communion, not fear. 
  • Closing Prayer to the Ancestors Unknown: Whisper or speak aloud:  

“To those who walk behind me unseen, Whose names I do not carry but whose burdens I feel— May what was forgotten be honored. May what was heavy be lifted. May you rest, and may I rise renewed.”  

Final Thoughts:

You don’t need to be an expert to do this rite but you should have some experience before trying. These two days are perfect for any witch who has been feeling:  

  • Spiritually blocked 
  • Psychically tangled 
  • Haunted by someone else’s energy 
  • Desperate for things to just be fair 
  • Ready to claim their power without inviting chaos 

This is sacred timing for shadow work, ancestor veneration, and cutting ties with energy that isn’t yours. Don’t overthink it. Don’t try to “get it perfect.” Witchcraft is a lived craft and these rites are here to support your growth, not scare you. You don’t need to fear the dark. You just need to light a candle and walk through it.