Dionysian Atavism

Quote of the Week

2012-01-21T16:25:00.000-08:00

“I thought the hero found hanging upon some oak of Dodona an ancient mask, where perhaps there lingered something of Egypt, and that he changed it to his fancy, touching it a little here and there, gilding the eyebrows or putting a gilt line where the cheekbone comes; that when at last he looked out of its eyes he knew another’s breath came and went within his breath upon the carven lips, and that his eyes were upon the instant fixed upon a visionary world: how else could the god have come to us in the forest? The good, unlearned books say that He who keeps the distant stars within His fold comes without intermediary, but Plutarch’s precepts and the experience of old women in Soho, ministering their witchcraft to servant girls at a shilling apiece, will have it that a strange living man may win for Daemon an illustrious dead man; but now I add another thought: the Daemon comes not as like to like but seeking its own opposite, for man and Daemon feed the hunger in one another’s hearts. Because the ghost is simple, the man heterogeneous and confused, they are but knit together when the man has found a mask whose lineaments permit the expression of all the man most lacks, and it may be dreads, and of that only.”
-Yeats, PER AMICA SILENTIA LUNAE.

Via VVF.

On another, but similar, note: wikipedia now appears to have an entry on Heroons. I await the day that the hero cults of old return...

Further comments on the Stele of Jeu.

2012-01-16T13:00:00.000-08:00

I have commented several times in this blog on the “Stele of Jeu the Hieroglyphicist,” also known as the “Rite of the Headless Daimon,” in the PGM. It is, as I've stated before, the backbone ritual behind both Crowley's Bornless One Ritual and Liber Samekh.

In the past I have insisted that the entity conjured by the ritual is the Agathos Daimon, based on the way the ritual ends: “My Name is a Heart Encircled by a Serpent: Come Forth and Follow.” This line is highly important, but not for the reasons I assumed (such as the explicit imagery of the serpent and the heart).

As it turns out, the Headless Daimon could actually refer to a number of things, some of which I will get into with this entry.

In the first place, it may be a reference to the Sternophthalmoi, or Blemmyes*.
Amongst the ways of referencing them was to refer to them as “Akephalos” - “without (a) Head”.
The term Akephalos is also used and applied to certain strains of Egyptian Magic, as it turns out.
I had no idea because I am rarely interested in “Egyptian” magick as it's put forward by Neo-Pagans and Ceremonial Magicians. Nonetheless, not realizing this aspect has been a problem.

I shall now quote John Coleman Darnell's “The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar Oriris Unity.” The reason for quoting it will become quite clear in a moment:

“He is the Headless Body, the mummy without a face;
he is the color changing bull, the commander commanding eternal silence,
the tkm of every day, the great silence.”

“This is the mighty eastern giant, his Orisiran part as Akephalos, his solar part as the Buchis bull, the tkm-form of the sun at the horizon. But there was also a desire that the head be knitted to the body in the Netherworld. In the final text to the Sixth Division of the Book of Caverns, Khepri is termed ts-tp, “attached of head.” Akephalos was not powerful without his head, but because of what his headlessness implied – his head was with the sun (italix mine), and was the sun.

The heads before headless mummies on the Second Shrine of Tutankhamun are connected by light to disks atop the back of the serpent. This representation recalls Amduat and the Book of Gates scenes of disks and heads atop the back of Apep, emerging from the coils of the serpent. The heads emerge and rise up to rejoin the headless corpse...” (P. 116-117)

In the footnotes to page 116, he further explains:

“The light of the deity and the voice of the deity are equated, and this for the headless Akephalos, the headlessness merely heightening the emphasis on the portentiously unseen solar head.”

Now, in the past, I have shown enormous hostility to those who suggest that the “Rite of the Headless Daimon” is just an exorcism, as the enormous amount of information within the ritual itself suggests otherwise. Yes, it is clearly an exorcism and that is the primary function of the ritual. However, there is something else going on, and making this clear has made me a tad annoyed at times. Especially when dealing with individuals who have never done the ritual and then claim that Crowley's version serves a purpose the original does not. This is completely incorrect, and will always be incorrect. The rituals serve the same function.

That said, my insistence that the spirit was the Agathos Daimon? I now must admit that it appears I was wrong. I also need to dive into the PGM and go over rituals involving executed criminals and their ghosts (as some of them ended up “headless” and were manipulated afterward), to see what else I'm missing. Nonetheless, I felt that I needed to post this entry and redact my past stupidity. As it turns out, I'm still a clueless fool.

* There is also some interesting research to be done into why the Nubian tribes were referred to as such on my part, as I think it may actually link together in the end. But, I could be wrong.

Examples of Affirmations in Prayers

2012-01-08T15:28:00.000-08:00

The word “Affirm” means to “validate, assert as true,” or “declare one's support for” a given subject. In the context of affirmations made during the course of ritual, magical or spiritual work we have many given examples of it occurring.

I say this because reading Robert's last entry on the subject has me thinking about it.

Most prayers revolve around affirmations: a good example of this is the Psalms, which can be thought of as a sacred hymn or song. Let us consider the affirmations in Psalm 23:

“The Lord is my shepherd...”

The Lord is a totally awesome guide.

“He restoreth my soul...”

The Lord is totally holy and good for my soul!

“He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”

Have I mentioned how awesome, Holy, and filled with 'goodness' the Lord is? No? Well, he totally is.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

With the Lord beside me, I am Without Fear, even when dwelling in the Land where Death's Shadow doth abide. His Holy Might is besides me, and therefore I may walk with security. The Lord is like totally cool, man.

And so forth. But, lest we think that 'songs sung with a harp for spiritual purposes,' are uniquely Christian – let us examine a few of the Orphic Hymns that I have been so fond of discussing lately. In particular, I'm drawn to Hymns #27 and #28 (Hermes and Persephone, respectively) today.

Hymn #27 begins:

“Hermes, draw near, and to my pray'r incline, angel of Jove [Zeus], and Maia's son divine;
Studious of contests, ruler of mankind, with heart almighty, and a prudent mind.”

Unlike the way that Psalm 23 begins, with an affirmation of the Lord and his mighty stature, the Orphic hymns often begin with a blatant request for the attention of the spirit or God that is being called upon. This is obvious here with the lines “draw near,” which his presence as the messenger (angelos) of Jupiter pretty obviously facilitates. His familial line (son of Maia) is designated, and his attendant positions: he favors those in contest, he rules mankind (as an Olympian, or a God), and he has a benevolent heart and a prudent mind. In the last case, the Homeric Hymn to Hermes tells us that: “He sang the story of the deathless gods and of the dark earth, how at the first they came to be, and how each one received his portion. First among the gods he honoured Mnemosyne, mother of the Muses, in his song; for the son of Maia was of her following.” I have discussed Mnemosyne before, but her relations with Hermes – while not explicitly stated – seem to at least be implied, both in his phenomenal mental faculties (he appears to even be able to bathe or drink from the Lethe without problems) and his use of the poetic arts for his various purposes.

“Celestial messenger, of various skill, whose pow'rful arts could watchful Argus kill:
With winged feet, 'tis thine thro' air to course, O friend of man, and prophet of discourse:
Great life-supporter, to rejoice is thine, in arts gymnastic, and in fraud divine:
With pow'r endu'd all language to explain, of care the loos'ner, and the source of gain...”

Again we see an affirmation of Hermes role as a deity of skill, and I suspect that the reference to “Argus” in the Hymn is an alternative spelling for “Argos,” the dog. This ties together with his strength in the arts of thievery (“in fraud divine”), and one imagines that being an amazing gymnist would facilitate better methods for breaking and entering, at the very least. One particular drawback openly stated is that Hermes also loosens care, and the Hymn openly admits this.

For the most part, even the traits that some might frown on in Hermes, the Orphics affirm as important to his sphere of work. Later on in the Hymn, his cunning with words is referred to as the “dire weapon of the tongue,” again demonstrating that the abilities and spheres of influence that are primary to Hermes are not distinctly 'wonderful,' but suggesting to me that his mastery of them is part of what makes him “divine.” While we might typically shy away from the dark side (if you consider theft less than divine, for example) of the Gods, the Orphic hymns do not demonstrate this tendency at all. Instead, the Hymns seem to be a pretty open-minded representation of the deities.

To this end, I want to end this blog entry by looking at the Hymn to Persephone, #28.

“Daughter of Jove [Zeus], almighty and divine, come, blessed queen, and to these rites incline:
Only-begotten, Pluto's [Plouton's] honor'd wife, O venerable Goddess, source of life:
'Tis thine in earth's profundities to dwell, fast by the wide and dismal gates of hell:
Jove's [Zeus'] holy offspring, of a beauteous mien, fatal [Praxidike], with lovely locks, infernal queen...”

In this case, the designation of familial ties (to the hymns, at least) specifies Persephone as the daughter of Zeus. Her state as the Queen of Hades is reinforced prior to the request for inclination toward the particular rites in which the Hymn is being used, which I take as to an affirmation of her importance to the “Orphic” sphere of thought. She's then treated to various other affirmations: “the source of life,” “Pluto's honored wife,” and her great insight (“earth's profundities”) is honored. What is interesting is the affirmation that she is Praxidike: The Exacter of Justice. In this instance, we might turn to the Orphic “Gold Leaf” tablets which have been referenced before in this blog: “And to be sure, they will consult the Subterranean Queen, And they will give you water to drink from the lake of Mnemosyne...” (Orphica Tablet from Hipponion c. 400 BCE. Taken from Bernabe, p.8)

To be sure, it would suck greatly to run into Persephone if one had crimes on their hands and she was appearing in her role as Praxidike.

“Source of the furies [Eumenides], whose blest frame proceeds from Jove's [Zeus'] ineffable and secret seeds...”

When the Furies are mentioned, they are typically referred to as the Eumenides (Kindly Ones) because of their sheer danger. There are two hymns specifically to the daimons, #68 and 69. One set appears to be the Erinyes, with which we again find reference to Praxidike: “The boundless tribes of mortals you descry, and justly rule with Right's [Dike's] impartial eye.” In this case, they hold the righteous eye of Justice similarly to Persephone. In fact, I strongly suspect that this indication shows that to those using the Hymns, Persephone is the ruler of the spirits referenced in the two hymns. The latter, #69, again references Persephone: “Holy and pure, from Jove terrestrial [Zeus Khthonios] born
and Proserpine [Phersephone], whom lovely locks adorn.”

This suggests that Hades (Zeus Cthonios) and Persephone are literally the parents of that range of daimons, and their rulers. This is particularly different from other sources for the parentage of the Furies. It does, however, make sense. By identifying Persephone as the 'exacter of Justice,' the Furies (who punish the unjust) necessarily fall under her jurisdiction, if you will.

“Mother of Bacchus [Eubouleos], Sonorous, divine, and many-form'd, the parent of the vine...”

This is a reference to the Zagreus myth, and Persephone's importance to that myth. Instead of dragging this out, I want to just point out the last set of requests and how they tie together with the affirmations of the Hymn:

“Last in extreme old age the prey of Death, dismiss we willing to the realms beneath,
To thy fair palace, and the blissful plains where happy spirits dwell, and Pluto [Plouton] reigns.”

As “Praxidike” and the ultimate judge of the Orphic soul, these conferences (the right to abide in the House of the Dead, the fair palace, or the blissful plains of happy spirits) are hers alone to give. The mention of the happy spirits, incidentally, makes me think of the “happy mystic band” who appear in Aristophanes comedy, The Frogs.

HERACLES: And next the breath of flutes will float around you,
And glorious sunshine, such as ours, you'll see,
And myrtle groves, and happy bands who clap
Their hands in triumph, men and women too.

DIONYSUS: And who are they?

HERACLES: The happy mystic bands,

XANTHIAS: And I'm the donkey in the mystery show.
But I'll not stand it, not one instant longer.

HERACLES: Who'll tell you everything you want to know.
You'll find them dwelling close beside the road
You are going to travel, just at Pluto's gate.
And fare thee well, my brother.

But then again, if you could spend half an eternity dancing madly and crowned in a state of perpetual intoxication, wouldn't that be something worthy of an affirmation?

Prayer. It totally sucks less than some people think it does.

Witch Councils, and America

2011-12-22T16:51:00.000-08:00

I have remained largely mute about the recent attempts to re-start the “American Council of Witches,” which appears to have ended in failure. This is not especially surprising, given the history – as I understand it – of the original 1973-4 “American Council of Witches.”

It is still a subject I should like to see others shed more light on, as it seems to be fundamental to the present state of Wicca in America. Amongst the members was Jessie Wicker Bell, who in 1971 had first published (via Llewellyn) Lady Sheba's Book of Shadows. She claimed it was her family's hereditary Grimoire, and that she had been commanded by the Goddess to publish it.

In fact, it was a somewhat altered version of the Gardnerian Book of Shadows. According to Michael Howard's Modern Wicca (p. 221-222), Bell was sent her BoS by his coven and she was initiated after a year and a day by proxy. He writes:

“Reluctantly, I was persuaded by my own Gardnerian initiator Rosina Bishop to pass on a copy of the version of The Book of Shadows we were using so Bell could be initiated into Wicca by proxy. This is also done in traditional pre-Gardnerian witchcraft where “the power” can be passed through a written text or magical object. However, as was the trend among other Gardnerians, we had made some important changes to the BoS. This including amending the Craft Laws and also adding a poem written by Doreen Valiente originally published in the WRA newsletter Pentagram...”

Of course, I very much doubt that the “Traditional Witch Square Dances” found in Lady Sheba's BoS originated from Howard, and so it's clear that she added her own material as well. That said, in 1974 she integrated herself (along with a few other Llewellyn authors) into the Council of Witches. This might not have been a huge problem, except that Bell seems to have decided to use a tactic that often backfires terribly:

“This group put forward thirteen principles that all Wiccans could adhere to, and that were later incorporated into the US Army's handbook for its chaplains.* Unfortunately, not all American witches wanted to sign on to these principles and became suspicious of Lady Sheba when she started reffering to herself as “America's Witch Queen.” (Italix mine.) According to an internet article on “Wicca Fundamentalism” by Ben Gruagach (dated August 11, 2007), Jessie Bell declared she was the leader of all American witches (italix mine) at a WitchMeet in 1974.”

From those I have been able to discuss on the subject, this was – or has at least been presented to me as – the catalyst for what may have been America's first Wiccan Witch War (yee-haw!). I could probably take this discussion into the realm of near-conspiracy theories, but I will resist.

The original 1974 Council of Witches, suffice it to say, was a fiasco and has resulted in a noticeably negative impact on the subject of Wicca ever since. I honestly have no idea why anyone in their right mind would have ever wanted to try and repeat it, or even pay homage to the event.

*This claim has, I believe, been criticized as a-historical and mythical.
Edit: Or not. Wild Hunt indicates that the addition was made to the Chaplain's handbook.

The Golden Opportunities of Fast Food! [Edited]

2011-12-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

It is only by the Will of God that you will Get Through This.

There comes a time in every bastard's life when his parents point out how poor they are, and tell him that he has to grow up and get a job.

For me, that commentary came alongside the revelation that working as a soccer referee for two years during my teens did not exactly constitute a “real employment history,” and lacking contacts to other jobs I was left with but one solution: Fast Food.

So, I got a job with the Yum Corporation at a Taco Bell not too far from my home. I road my bike there for two years, working nights while trying to survive my first few semesters of City College. I'd arrive on the premise at 4 PM, and look forward to riding home at 3 AM... If I was lucky. The store officially closed every day at 11PM-12 AM, depending on what day of the week it was, but getting out meant that the entire place had to be cleaned. The day shift was always “too busy” to clean up after themselves, and so we'd end up doing it: regardless of how busy we'd been that night, or how much shit was left to be done.

Every night, you'll wish this happens.

There are some things you should know about going to school and working at a Taco Bell:

“We'll work with your school schedule!”

Your employers will tell you this. What this means is that, in exchange for having the time when you're in class unscheduled, they'll be calling you in every time you have a day off. Don't expect to have friends, and don't expect to have any time to yourself. Except when you're sleeping.

“This management position is an opportunity!”

Those words are your doom, kid. If you listen to them, you can look forward to a 50+ hour work and dropping out of school. Who survives 50 hours of Taco Bell management and goes to school? Fucking no one, that's who. But the Yum Corporation and its acolytes will knowingly try to get you to take up that position of responsibility, complete with lines about how much more you'll be making. Which is where it gets funny, because that pay raise might be between 10 cents and three bucks. Don't expect to make more than 13 dollars an hour, unless you spend a lot of time accumulating raises as a team member and then take the “opportunity” that's offered.

“We'll pay for your school!”

But only if you take business courses, and only if you pass. See the above warnings and then apply them to this.

“We have scholarships for team members!”

They also have something like 2 million team members in the U.S. alone, if not more. You're not getting the one scholarship that they offer and pluralize to make themselves look good.

There are some things you should know about working at Taco Bell, period:

People are going to treat you like crap, routinely.

Just accept that you'll be yelled at for things that aren't your fault (“I told you, no onions on my burrito!” - Especially funny when you're the cashier. Because I totally made your food, Hoss. Hey, Bong, spit in that guy's fucking burrito, will ya?)

Just 89 cents! Wow, why don't we buy 60$ worth! Through the fucking Drive Thru!

People are going to regularly order 60$+ dollars of food and then expect it through the drive-thru.

They will never want to pull over. Most of those doing this will be well over 300 lbs., they will have ordered an extra-large Diet Pepsi (because, really, that'll help the calorie intake!), and they will want to flatten your face if you ask them to pull around to the front of the store, because other people want food, too. You can look forward to two or three of these folks on a good week. You can look forward to one a night on a bad week.

People are always “sick” when they ought to be at work.

What's better than coming in to your place of employment to find it trashed, and knowing you'll be held responsible for that state of affairs? Having your team-mates call out constantly. See, Taco Bell also keeps track of what they call “Employee Turnover” and rates a team according to how low that state of affairs is. So, people just claim to be sick nigh-endlessly, and never get fired. You end up short staffed – sometimes just a cashier and a manager trying to get by, and watch the amount of time you'll be cleaning things increase after work. I actually quit the job on a day when we had two people there, and we'd just had a 350 lbs woman (whose stomach caved in around the steering wheel of her SUV, she was so fucking huge) order 60$ of food and scream at me. It was the combination of knowing I would not be seeing my then-girlfriend that night, being screamed at by yet another idiot, and knowing that this state of affairs would continue until I did something about it.

So I declared, “FUCK THIS SHIT!” and went to get a better job.

Listen to me, if you be a young bastard looking for employment: It is only a job. Do not give them your heart or your soul. It's not worth it. Do not let them make you more responsible for anything. The whole point of this tactic is so the corporate wankers with BMWs and Benz's have someone to hoist all the blame on, while looking good themselves. Do your time, and get the fuck out. Fast Food is not an opportunity, it's a trap. You spring the trap and then get free as quickly as possible. But you don't ever remain.

However – and I know this works because I almost caused a riot at a company party one night by suggesting it – you can annoy your bosses easily and often. This is the only pleasure you'll find in the job, alas. Thus, when they ask what your “team name” should be? Vote for the “Wage Slaves.” It makes them freak out every time.

(The corporate individual veto'd our – by all accounts winning majority vote for being the “Wage Slaves” – and thus I was for a time part of Taco Bell “Team Fairy.” … Sigh.)

EDIT: I got a bit of back chatter a little bit ago via Facebook private messages about my cruelty towards the Obese in this entry. So, I feel compelled to apologize to anyone that felt insulted by my comments. It's not my intent to mock the obese.

There are a few things I learned very quickly working at Taco Bell. The biggest was that new items are driven by tests establishing how often people will return for an item. In a sense, the more addictive the food is to you, the better it will sell. And so, top chefs (I use those words with amusement) put together these items and market them out. People try them out at various corporate locations (stores, corporate offices, test pilot shit that team members never see) and the higher they rate with the public in terms of taste and a desire for the repeat, the more they get brought out as new items.

We wanted to sell you the closest equivalent of food-crack that we could. It doesn't matter how bad it is for you, how it will affect you if you eat too much, etc. These just aren't concerns. The concern is that you spend as much fucking money on us as possible. Then we would pull those items off the market for 6-8 months, and cycle them back in again later. This would often upset many people, who felt entitled to their crack. It made things unpleasant, to say the least. "We just don't have that," was never taken happily as an answer. In some cases, we couldn't even approximate the product, because it came with unique ingredients that we wouldn't carry any longer. People would throw fits about this, as if whoever they were whining to could fix it.

But. The addictive part of this business is what I'm talking about. It created a very unhealthy dynamic between workers and those they're serving on many occasions. People would be upset it was taking too long to get their food. They'd be upset because they lacked their fix. Sometimes, they just had bad days and took their anger out on you. I was a cashier for those full two years, and so I was always a half-assed public relations consultant. I was paid because I had curly, golden locks and a winning smile. And hopefully, I could convince you to calm down, fix the problem, etc.

But then, there are just some people who feel entitled to looking down on you. Ironically, they're not always the rich or those in expensive cars. Often, they're obese, or lower class (based on what they're wearing and driving, which is hardly concrete proof), or... Whatever. I had a few goths get on my case for working for the man once, even. It was somewhat funny, honestly.

But the more the other person might be used to being treated like crap (such as for being fat), the more likely they were to go nuts on you. And for some reason, half the people ordering too much food and expecting instantaneous results had a higher likelihood of being poor or larger in weight. I have no idea. They also had the highest chance of flipping out on you over something.

If you're larger in weight, and I can say anything to you, it's this, I hope. Avoid fast food. It was created to make you fat, feel terrible, and keep coming back for more. I know it's hard, but find a way to fight the habit. Because it will fucking kill you in the end, just like smoking cigarettes or drinking too much will. In the end, the choice is yours. But if you choose to continue an addiction to fast food, please. Please, please, please. Be nice to the poor folks that work there. They aren't paid crap. They get treated like shit all day. They're struggling, just like you. And they don't need you screaming at them about some small error or another. Most - anyone with sense - will want to correct the error, if you ask. You don't need to fucking scream at them about it.

And don't ever order more than $30 worth of food in the drive-thru. That's just fucking lazy, and annoying. Be an adult and walk inside the fucking restaurant and wait like a decent human being. You lazy fucking wanker.

Scarlet Imprint, Ebooks, & Etc

2011-12-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

Some time ago I was quite critical of Scarlet Imprint, after they (and a few less savory characters joined them) complained about Piracy.

At the time, they were just preparing to – or just had – announce(d) their “Bibliotheque Rouge” books, and had not yet said a word about e-books or digital editions.

In November they announced that they'd be releasing their Rouge books in ebook formats while saying:

“We want the same information which is in our fine editions and hardbacks to be accessible. We have also struggled to buy books, pay rent and put food on the table whilst being committed students of magick.”

This basically means that SI, in my book, can now complain about piracy as much as they want. They've met every criticism that I had initially over the discussion, and they've worked towards making their books accessible. This is something I not only applaud, but I further retract my earlier criticism(s).

Now, I'm still very critical about Llewellyn complaining about low book sales, but that's another matter entirely.

Magical Thinking

2011-12-16T18:19:00.000-08:00

Magical thinking is correlative reasoning which ascribes meaning to various acts or occurrences in the world around one. It's powered by correlation – that is to say, association. In so many ways, we can totally say that magical thinking is supposed to be the magician's forte.

And so long as the magician maintains a clear head and doesn't let fear or paranoia conquer their internal state, it is not especially dangerous to engage in. (And you will.)* There are some issues when it comes to combining magical thinking with paranoia; one of these is that it is easy to become overwhelmed by a sense that one is constantly being threatened by powerful, evil forces.

This is not to say that there are not powerful, evil forces out there. But the question of how often one encounters them, or what forms they take, is a fairly important one. When you're making use of both magical thinking, and engaging what I call The Paranoia Engine (“Fuck! ALL KINDS OF UNWHOLESOME OCCULT/DEMONIC/WHATEVER SHIT WANTS ME FOR BREAKFAST!”), you're giving a lot of power (in terms of psychology) to the Other. If you simultaneously make the other, via association, into a monster?

That is profoundly, spiritually, fearsome.

And the pesky thing about Fear, when discussed in the context of weird shit, is that the Fight or Flight Response is still a part of the equation. Having grossly empowered these ideas, with your own thoughts, you then create and give the monster flesh. The mind finds all kinds of reasons for these ideas to be True.

And suddenly you're going through Youtube looking at signal degradation errors, or video codec errors, and thinking that you're seeing Reptilians. And since all of this other bad shit in the world is happening, you ascribe those happenings to the agenda of your personally created monster.

And does it live? Oh, yes. And it spreads from your mind, to others, every time you insist it must exist. Every time you beguile someone that doesn't know enough about information theory to know crap television reception when they see it. And in spreading your monster abroad, in giving it a context to live, you do two things:

- First, you deprive yourself of the actual ability to confront horror, and terrible things and take power back from them. The cacophonous demons of urban legend? If you shatter them and take back the power that you've given them, then you will find yourself purged of certain worries. If you're engaging in pure Paranoia and Fear as a dynamic for mapping certain ideas, and you ascribe real certainty to them, then you're not confronting your internal demons or the events that are making this reality seem so utterly certain. Instead, you're running away. Projecting your demons into the world outside you, and ascribing every terrible event to them.

- Second, you are not making those who are responsible for true terror, and true horror, actually responsible for their crimes. You're creating a creative, magical gloss, in which their inhumane acts are part of a bigger, far more terrible picture. This is the reason you're more concerned about Reptilians that eat babies (oh, Satanic Panic 2.0! How you make me laugh!), and not concerned enough about the Tuskegee Experiments in which individuals were unknowingly afflicted with syphilis and left untreated. You're focusing on Monarch Programing, when you need to pay attention to MKULTRA. If we are to trust Naomi Klein at all, and we might at well, the big point behind MKULTRA was not Manchurian Candidates, nor the LSD tests that helped pave the way for the Hippy movement (at which point the CIA lost control of it's beast, and legislation sought to correct what it discovered to be a grave mistake) but to facilitate better torturing techniques, including but certainly not limited to, information retrieval from targets that were resistant to torture. As I understand it, this was the “real” purpose of techniques like “Psychic Driving”.

When you're looking for the monstrous aspects of MKULTRA, it's easy to focus on the cartoonishly evil aspects of the project (that just might be intentional disinformation) and to forget that underlying it is this: individuals were subjected to extensive psychological projects intended to hamper aspects of their personality, without their consent. It is very easy to forget just how harmful such projects were to those exposed to them. But, and this is more important, it's just as easy to forget that if the reason for MKULTRA was better psychological torture and information retrieval from hostile targets then those techniques are almost assuredly being used, right now, on prisoners of war. In prisons our government doesn't like admitting exists.

That's real horror, right in your backyard, right now. And the people who did and do such things should be found and put on trial. They should face human rights violations. They should be held accountable.

But they will never be fucking found as long as people focus themselves on the most outlandish and unbelievable, and try to make it seem like the world is overrun by fantastic monsters from beyond. This hides, right in plain sight, the people walking around and doing terrible things around us all the time. It leaves them unaccountable. And the world, see, remains tarnished by their continued ability to perpetrate evil.

The ideas inspired by magical thinking – those used to navigate and investigate, via association – should never be treated lightly when you're engaging them. You need to ask yourself what the consequence that you're ignoring is. You need to stop assuming you see the world clearly; you do not. You simply see it differently. And there may be some truth in it. It's just very rarely literal, unless we're talking about thaumaturgy.

But magick, like magical thinking, is best when it's subtle. It infuses the “mundane dross” of our every day reality, of the ideas we play with and spread, and just gently brightens or darkens them. Ultimately, there is a question of how much power you're giving to certain notions. If the world has nothing but demons – and I don't really care how you contextualize them be they grays or succubi or Men in Black – then there's something important missing. Like, for instance, icons of love and and wonder and worship that exist alongside you, constantly. Allies that provide you with insight. Moments of bliss, lost looking at the beauty of the colors and their vibrancy in the world all around you.

And no matter how much you invoke the light, no matter how much you try to call it to you, it will be diminished by the spectral presence of the (largely internal) monsters that you've cast into the shadows around you.

Is that the way anyone really, and I do mean really, wants to live?

I thought about it long and hard for years. I wandered to weird astral places. I did strange, spooky shit. The darkness isn't as terrifying, and contains more wonder, when you bring the love and amazing experiences that have shaped you for the better with you into it.

Nothing is quite as good as holding and kissing someone you love. Nothing is quite as fantastic as seeing the smile on the face of a friend. Nothing is quite like knowing that you can comfort them in the time of need, if they should ask. We make the world better, in so many ways, by choosing to interact positively with those around us. But it is far, far harder to actually do this when you've got a dozen urban legends, and a few half-baked-half-mad thoughtforms to boot, breathing down your neck.

The fear comes in, and you have to run away. Or fight it!

In reality, the fear is the enemy. Yes, there is horror and very real terror in the world. Yes, there are human monsters and astral ones.

But there's other, better, things too. There's also being in the moment. The magick of friendship. The bonds of solidarity. The love of one's community.

So you have to ask, which is more important? Trying to fight the monsters you've empowered with your own mind in a state of Fight or Flight, or focusing on the people around you right now, who both need and love you?

Call me a sell-out, wanna-be white-lighter if you want. It's cool. I've heard worse. But I'd rather fix myself before I try to locate all the world's problems and fix them. Because I know that if I don't continue to work on my microcosm, to shed the poisons and feed the positives, then inevitably I'll destroy everything I love and cherish. And then it will all be for nothing.

I threw in my chips a long time ago on the side of love. Somehow, it actually made the monsters less threatening. And there was no need for paranoia after a while, either. In it's place was something else, something indescribable, but totally better.

Which is not to say that I don't occasionally scry an urban legend now and again. Sometimes, it's just fun to do the old dance without taking it too seriously. Call it gnostic agnosticism about certain subjects if you want.

You may now return to your Prison Planet, and worries about the NDAA, which is still a totally fucking horrible bill that should never happen. And don't even get my started on SOPA.

* Most toxic aspects of magical thinking can, in my experience, be slain with the raw talismanic power of Occam's Horrible-Ass Razor. Magical thinking is rarely simple, and thus often susceptible to the Razor.

EVP, Paranormal Practice

2011-12-14T17:03:00.000-08:00

Via the folks at Paranormal Practice.

I'm related to one of the folks involved with this project, and they're (the individual, that is) always asking me about haunted houses and where to find them. So, in the event that there's a place you think just plain needs some EVP recorded within, drop them a line!

All that said: man, why the hell am I not trying to spend all night in haunted locations and do EVP recordings?! Although, truthfully, I'd rather try using things like U.D.'s Gaze Techniques found in the first volume of High Magick: Theory and Practice (or Jason's version of very similar techniques) at such a place.

This makes me seriously ponder if I could ever, in any sort of good faith, claim to be a psychic and join such an excursion. I really don't think I'm psychic enough, when you get right down to it.

“When Kingdoms Come” - A Jupiterian Anthology

2011-12-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

“O Jove much-honor'd, Jove supremely great, to thee our holy rites we consecrate,
Our pray'rs and expiations, king divine, for all things round thy head exalted shine.
The earth is thine, and mountains swelling high, the sea profound, and all within the sky.
Saturnian king, descending from above, magnanimous, commanding, sceptred Jove;
All-parent, principle and end of all, whose pow'r almighty, shakes this earthly ball;
Ev'n Nature trembles at thy mighty nod, loud-sounding, arm'd with light'ning, thund'ring God.
Source of abundance, purifying king, O various-form'd from whom all natures spring;
Propitious hear my pray'r, give blameless health, with peace divine, and necessary wealth.”
- Orphic Hymn #14, To Jupiter.

We, by which I mean myself and an entire cult dedicated to Jupiter, are pleased to announce the forth-coming “When Kingdoms Come” (title tentative) – an anthology dedicated to Jupiterian magick, comprising essays by a dozen or so members of the present Cult, and brought to you by the wonderful Hadean Press. Contributors to include:

Mr. Rufus Opus

Mr. Jason Miller

Mr. Sef Salem

Mr. Chris Bradford, better known to bloggers as Fr. AIT, who has just unleashed Opening the Book of Lambspring

Derik Richards, who has written on the subject of the The Lunar Formula of IAO.

Mike Cecchetelli, author of Crossed Keys and the Mardukite Magick ebook.

Ryan Valentine

Bryan Garner

Logan Hillier

All these talented individuals, plus myself, and more!

For those members of the (ladies and) Gentlemen for Jupiter that wish to contribute and have not yet heard the news, please contact Mr. Sef Salem.

Until then – Happy Thursdays, Jovial Blessings, and...

Be seeing you.

J.F.

Left-Over Hostility

2011-12-07T20:38:00.001-08:00

This image was found by searching for Enraged Donkey...

About a year ago, I had a conversation with someone else that was just... dismal. I'm not really sure how to convey the mood it left me in, except to say that some of the hostility I've displayed in this blog has been a response to that very conversation.

It was with someone that many people would call a “craft elder,” at least if you base your assumptions about what an “elder” is on age. They were easily two to three times my age. And the conversation began harmlessly enough: they were telling me about the evolution of the neo-Pagan and Ceremonial Magick circles, from the perspective of someone that saw them arise. But at a certain point of the conversation, they began asking me questions that left me feeling uneasy. The reason for this feeling was readily revealed when the individual admitted that they'd spent god-knows-how-many-hours on initiations, rituals, regular ritual work, and so forth and then... Said that nothing, nothing at all, had happened.

Since I was so knowledgeable or something, they started demanding answers from me: “why didn't this initiation work? Why can't I invoke the Gods? Why do I never have moments of Gnosis?”

It was almost as if I was being accused of being the reason, though I'm sure that wasn't the case. When I couldn't offer any explanations, except to ask “have you ever thought about making some internal changes?”

… The person just snapped on me. I was told that my practices were obscene and evil, that I embodied all that was wrong with the Neo-Pagan community, and about a dozen other things. I honestly chalk it up to the individual being very, very emotional about the subject. But it's left me feeling very irritated ever since. The conversation ended thus: “I know I'm right!”

Here was someone with decades spent on research, on trying out magical rituals, on working hard to try and refine their subtle body – and they admitted that it meant nothing. All that time wasted. If I'd had words to ease that sensation or help them, I'd have said them. But I didn't. All I could do, in the end, was sit miserably and listen to how horrible I was.

Since then, I've avoided the individual. Not because I don't like them, but because I just... I don't have time or the emotional energy to try and help them. And with the way the conversation ended, I was left not wanting to even bother to try. I wanted to say: “Well, if you know everything, then tell me – why isn't it working? Why aren't you becoming more spiritually aware? Why don't the Gods or spiritslisten to your calls?”

But that would have been cruel, and pointless. They didn't know, nor did I. It would just be like rubbing salt in what was obviously an old wound.

Since then, I've pretty much stopped talking to anyone who I could tell has put up walls against certain knowledge. People who can intelligibly discuss As If or Ex Opere Operato and then create massive walls, pointing out all the things they don't know about a subject annoy me to no end. If you're going to lionize the idea of As If or Ex Opere Operato, then you need to be 100% holistic about that shit and understand that by performing the act of magick, the person is themselves engaging in a process. This does not require complete knowledge of any given system. You must be willing to receive the knowledge that you lack, before you can receive it.

Otherwise, you're just wasting your time and creating walls that will keep you from Doing the Work.

On paper, all rituals are but words and pictures (pretty or otherwise). The ritual must be engaged before sufficient understanding is ever made. Experience is a pivotal part of magical development, and if experience is what you're lacking then you need to address the walls to knowledge that you've put up within your own microcosm, and the reason you put up those walls.

This is a personal matter, and in the end, I suppose no one can really help unless you let them. But please: don't ask me to, because I'm sick of being yelled at by the Elderly and Inept.*

*This entry may disappear if VVF says I'm being a douchebag. Fair warning. It's my goal to address the subject without being a complete dick...

EDIT: There is a difference between someone that's done decades of magical work that worked and tells me that they're right about something, and someone that tells me that nothing has worked. I wish to make these differences explicit right now. Yes, tons of folks in the bloggosphere make my just-over-a-decade of practice look miniscule. I do respect that.

I do not respect the alternatives, who throw up road-blocks to the work, and claim things don't work (when they can't do them, but know damn well that others can).

The Mask

2011-12-04T18:48:00.000-08:00

“From the earliest times man has experienced in the face with the penetrating eyes the truest manifestation of anthropomorphic or theriomorphic beings. This manifestation is sustained by the mask, which is that much more effective because it is nothing but surface. Because of this, it acts as the strongest symbol of presence. Its eyes, which stare straight ahead, cannot be avoided; its face, with its inexorable immobility, is quite different from other images which seem ready to move, to turn, to step back. Here there is nothing but encounter, from which there is no withdrawal – and immovable, spell-binding antipode. This must be our point of departure for understanding that the mask, which was always a sacred object, could be also put over a human face to depict the god or spirit who appears.

And yet this explains the significance of only half the phenomenon of the mask. The mask is pure confrontation – an antipode, and nothing else. It has no reverse side - “Spirits have no back,” the people say. It has nothing which might transcend this mighty moment of confrontation. It has, in other words, no complete existence either. It is the symbol and the manifestation of that which is simultaneously there and not there: that which is excruciating near, that which is completely absent – both in one reality...”

“No suffering, no ardent desire of the human soul speaks forth from out of this excitement, but the universal truth of Dionysus, the primal phenomenon of duality, the incarnate presence of that which is remote, the shattering encounter with the irrevocable, the fraternal confluence of life and death.

This duality has its symbol in the mask.

True, there have been other masked dances in the past, and there still are today. But what must remain in them as anticipation or as indication, emanates as reality from the depths in which Dionysus holds sway. Here we have not only the spectral presence of demonic beings of nature and the dead. The whole splendor of that which has been submerged draws imperatively near at the same time that it is lost in eternity. The wearer of the mask is seized by sublimity and dignity of those who are no more. He is himself and yet someone else. Madness has touched him – something of the mystery of the mad god, something of the spirit of the dual being who lives in the mask and whose most recent descendant is the actor.

This spirit of madness in which the miracle of immediate presence becomes an event was the spirit which breathed new life into the tragic mythos and had it reappear in a form which manifested its high seriousness and majesty more over-whelmingly than any which had come before. And so Dionysus made his appearance at a time of his choosing in the spiritual world of the Greeks, too, and his coming was so shattering that if still affects us today.” - Walter F. Otto, Dionysus: Myth and Cult (1923)

Some time ago, I asked one of my mentors what he thought the ultimate goal of Dionysian magick was. His response was that the individual pursuing such ecstatic experiences was attempting to “wear the same face.” While in every day consciousness, we maintain and facilitate a “respectable mask,” which is not our true selves. While intoxicated (physically or simply in trance), we encounter the Truth of the God as he (or it) is approaches. In vino veritas, is but one part of the equation. The rest is integration of that truth - that intoxicated joy - into everyday, conscious reality.

I've been thinking about that response for a long time, and reading Otto's comments on masks (taken from the sixth, and then the final chapter: pages 90 and 210 respectively) makes me contemplate those same thoughts. If the two masks: the mask of the self immersed in the moment of the God, and the mask of false identity worn during everyday awareness end up completely entwined, what happens?

Do I end up a mystic after all, or do I simply continue life as I have, grinning ear to ear because I've discovered the key to recovering joy?

I have no idea. But, hell, it's worth a shot, either way.

I Find My Inability to Make Distinctions Dissatisfying

2011-12-04T01:45:00.000-08:00

Sorcery: c.1300, from O.Fr. sorcerie, from sorcier “sorcerer,” from V.L. *sortiarius, lit. “one who influences, fate, fortune,” from L. sors (gen. sortis) “lot, fate, fortune” (see sort).

Sor·cery: 1: the use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits especially for divining : necromancy
2: magic

I have been, since reading a certain hilarious tirade on Jason's blog (I'd probably have said something like that to him at 19 or 20... Or even 23 years of age), trying to figure out at what point in history the word 'sorcery' became essentially blended, as a term, with Maleficium (“mischief” or “wrongdoing” - punishable by law in many places in the ancient world).

While the indictments against various forms of magic, divination, or dealings with spirits are explicit at different places in the Bible, I find myself somewhat puzzled over how a term that initially meant “one who influences, fate, or fortune” (Sortiarius) to the present definition.

Did it occur about the same time that sorcery and witchcraft became technically similar (in the context of the day) terms? Something like 1400s CE – 1600s CE?

And when people – who are not complete and utter w... Heh – refer to sorcery, what are they typically alluding to? When I refer to myself as such, it's normally an indication that I make pacts (or agreements, or enter into a relationship with) spirits; or I'm referring to a mode of practice similar in many, if not most, respects to witchcraft of the 'traditional' sort. However, when I think of the word “ensorcell,” which means to bewitch or enchant, I'm forced to not that the ability to influence seems also to relate intrinsically to spell work as well (if not glamors and many other types of the magical... crafts).

This leaves me at a loss as to what the distinction really signifies, if anything, from any other of the labels that float around?

Histeria: The-Know-It-Alls

2011-11-30T15:05:00.000-08:00

No seriousness in this post.

As a child, I watched this cartoon show obsessively. And I think, aside from my fondness for reading, that somehow it contributed to my love of history and learning about it.

Certainly dated, but it made me grin to see segments of the show (if not entire episodes) on Youtube. I'd actually forgotten that I'd ever watched it until reminded earlier today.

Phrensie: Agrippa's (Occasionally Ecstatic) Vehicle for Oracular Knowledge

2011-11-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

I recently wrote about my theory about using the Muses, and their placement in Agrippa against the Platonic celestial bodies, and about trying to make fluid condensers based on those planetary considerations.

It seems that the primary reason that Agrippa includes the Muses in his Phrensie sections, however, is for the transmission of oracular knowledge. There are about five total sections in his Third Book that concern this process:

All of these are terribly interesting, but for the purpose of this blog entry I'm going to be focusing on the general state, ad the first two forms of Phrensie/Ecstasis (the Muses and Dionysus).

On the general nature of Phrensie, he tells us that:

“Soothsaying is that which the priests or others were stricken withall, and discerned the causes of things, and foresaw future things, viz. when Oracles and Spirits descend from the Gods or from Demons upon them, and are delivered by them; which descendings the Platonists call the falling down of superior souls on our souls; and Mercurius calls them the senses of the Demons, and the spirits of Demons. Of which sort of Demons the Ancients called Eurideae, and Pythonae, who, as the Ancients believed, were wont to enter into the bodies of men, and make use of the voyces, and tongues, for the prediction of things to come; of which Plutarch also made mention in his dialogue of the causes of defect of Oracles. ... Now that the foretellings of things to come are properly the fallings down of the Gods. Isaiah affirms, saying, And tell unto us those things that are coming, and we will tell them, because ye are Gods; But these kinds of fallings down, or senses, come not into our souls when they are more attently busied ahout any thing else; but they pass into them, when they are vacant. Now there are three kinds of this vacancy, viz. phrensie, extasie [phrensy, ecstasy], and dreams, of each of which in their order.”

He goes on, in the next section on the Muses to tell us that:

“Phrensie [phrensy] is an illustration of the soul coming from the Gods, or Demons. Whence this verse of Ovid,
God is in us, Commerces of the throne
of God, that spirit from above came down.
Plato defines this by alienation, and binding; for he abstracts from those by which the corporeal senses are stirred up, and being estranged from an animal man, adheres to a diety [deity] from whom it receives those things which it cannot search into by its own power; for when the minde is free, and at liberty, the reines of the body being loosed, and going forth as out of a close prison, transcends the bonds of the members, and nothing hindring of it, being stirred up by its own instigations, and instigated by a divine spirit, comprehends all things, and foretells future things.”

He then proceeds to explain the relation of the Muses to the first form of Phrensie. He states that the Muses are “the souls of the celestial spheres, according to which there are found several degrees, by which there is an attraction of superior things to inferior,” at least as he is concerned. While in my previous article, I merely listed the page of JSK's rendering of the Muses to the Platonic spheres (p.186), I'm now going to list them and add in Agrippa's comments about what the Muses teach through each of the spheres, combined with the name of Bachhus that JSK supplies:

Primum Mobile – Calliope – Cribonius

“The ninth degree answers to the primum mobile, viz. the ninth sphear [sphere], as the very universe: this possesseth things more formal, as Numbers, Figures, Characters, and observes the occult influences of the intelligences of the heaven, and other mysteries, which because they bear the effigies of celestial dieties [deities], and invocated spirits, easily allures them, and compelleth them being forced by a certain necessity of conformity to come to one, and detains them, that they shall not easily go back, of which we read in the Oracles in Porphyrie [Porphyry].
Cease now at length, spare words, to life give rest,
Dissolve, and leave old shapes (I thee request),
Dishape the members, and the winding sheet
Unloose -----
And in another place in the same book.
Ye Garlands loose the feet, with water clean
Let them be sprinkled, and the Laurel green
Be taken off from th' hands, and every line
And Character be blotted out -----”

Fixed Stars – Urania – Picionius

“The eighth degree resembles the starry heaven; this observes the situation, motion, raies [rays], and light of the celestial bodies: it possesseth also images, rings, and such like, which are made after the rule of celestials, as we have abeve spoken.”

Saturn – Polyhymnia – Amphietus

“The seventh degree resembles Saturn: this possesseth the more secret intelligencies, and quiet contemplations of the minde. I call here, the contemplation, the free perspicacity of the minde, suspended with admiration upon the beholding of wisdom. For that excogitation which is made by riddles, and images, is a certain kind of speculation, or discourse belonging to Jupiter, and not a contemplation.”

Jupiter – Terpischore – Sabazius

“The sixth degree answers to Jupiter: this possesseth the discourses of reason, deliberations, consultations, and moral purgations: of these we have spoken in part above, and further we shall speak afterwards; It possesseth also admirations, and venerations, at the astonishment of which, the phantasie [phantasy], and reason are sometimes so restrained, that they suddenly let pass all their own actions: whence then the minde it self being free, and exposed to a diety [deity] only, whether to any God, or Demon, doth receive supernal, and divine influences, viz. those concerning which it did deliberate before. So we read that the Sybils [Sibyls], and the Priests of Pythia were wont to receive oracles in the caves of Jupiter, and Apollo.”

Mars – Clio – Bassarius

“The fifth degree is answerable to Mars: this possesseth vehement imaginations, and affections of the minde, conceits also, and motions thereof, of all which before.”

Sol – Melpomene – Trietericus

“The fourth degree belongs to the sphear [sphere] of the Sun; this possesseth voyces [voices], words, singings, and harmonical sounds, by the sweet consonancy whereof it drives forth of the minde any troublesomeness therein, and chears [cheers] it up. Whence Hermes, Pythagoras, Plato, advise us to compose a discontented minde, and chear [cheer] it up by singing and harmony. So Timotheus is said to have with sounds stirred up King Alexander to a phrensie [phrensy]: so the Priest Calame (Aurelius Augustus being witness) was wont at his pleasure by a certain shrill harmony to call himself forth out of his body into a rapture, and extasie [ecstasy]; of these also we have before spoken.”

Venus – Erato – Lysius

“The third degree answers to the sphear [sphere] of Venus; This possesseth subtile powders, vapours, and odours, and oyntments [ointments], and suffumigations, which are made of these of which we have spoke above.”

Mercury – Euterpe – Silenus

“The second degree resembling Mercury, possesseth those things which are from animals, and which are compounded of the mixtion of divers natural things together, as Cups, and Meats; upon this account the heart of a Mole, if anyone shall eat it whilest it is warm, and panting, conduceth, as it is said, to the foretelling of future events. And Rabbi Moses in his commentaries upon Leviticus tells, that there is an animal called òåãç Jedua, having a humane shape, in the midle [middle] of whose navel comes forth a string, by which it is fastened to the ground like a gourd, and as far as the length of that string reacheth, it devours and consumes all that is green about it, and deceiving the sight, cannot be taken, unless that string he cut off by the stroke of a dart, which being cut off, it presently dies. Now the bones of this animal being after a certain manner laid upon the mouth, presently he whose mouth they are laid on, is taken with a phrensie [phrensy], and soothsaying.”

Luna – Thalia – Lyeus

“The inferior of these resembling the sphear [sphere] of the Moon, possesseth those things which are from vegetables, as plants, fruits of trees, roots, and those which are from harder matters, as Stones, Metals, their alligations, and suspensions. So it is said that the stone Selenites i.e. Moon-Stone, and the stone of the Civet-cat cause divination; also Vervain, and the Hearb [herb] Theangelis cause soothsaying, as hath been ahove said.”

***

He goes on to tell us in the next chapter that:

“Now the second phrensie [phrensy] proceeds from Dionysius: this doth by expiations exterior, and interior, and by conjurations, by mysteries, by solemnities, rites, temples, and observations divert the soul into the mind, the supream [supreme] part of it self, and makes it a fit and pure temple of the Gods, in which the divine spirits may dwell, which the soul then possessing as the associate of life, is filled by them with felicity, wisdom, and oracles, not in signs, and marks, or conjectures, but in a certain concitation of the mind, and free motion: So Bacchus did soothsay to the Beotians, and Epimenides to the people of Cous, and the Sybil [Sibyl] Erithea to the Trojans. Sometimes this phrensie [phrensy] happens through a clear vision, sometimes by an express voyce: So Socrates was governed by his Demon, whose counsel he did diligently obey, whose voyce [voice] he did often hear with his ears, to whom also the shape of a Demon did often appear.”

This seems to me to be oracular revelation via Genius or Daemon; and to this end, I shall quiet myself, as I've already written enough on the topic of attempting to conjure or find the Genius in the past. However, he also goes on to write that:

“Many prophesying spirits also were wont to shew themselves, and be associats with the souls of them that were purified; examples of which there are many in sacred Writ, as in Abraham, and his bond maid Hagar, in Jacob, Gideon, Elias, Tobias, Daniel, and many more. So Adam had familiarity with the Angel Raziel. Shem the son of Noah with Jophiel; Abraham with Zadkiel: Isaac and Jacob with Peliel; Joseph, Joshua and Daniel with Gabriel; Moses with Metattron [Metatron]; Elias with Malhiel; Tobias the younger with Raphael; David with Cerniel; Mannoah with Phadael; Cenez with Cerrel; Ezekiel with Hasmael; Esdras with Uriel; Solomon with Michael. Sometimes the spirits by vertue of the souls enter into, and seize upon organical bodies, whether of brutes or men, and using the souls thereof as the basis, utter voyces [voices] through organical instruments, as is manifest in Baalams Ases, and in Saul, on whom the spirit of the Lord fell, and Prophecyed. Of these Apollo in his answers in Porphyry thus;
Phebean fulgor charmed, did from on high
Come down, and through pure air was silently
Conveyed; came into souls well purified
With a sonorous breath, a voyce uttered
Through a mortal throat -----”

I am not entirely sure what to make of the last section in this chapter. It seems to confirm that the Daemon could be anything, and that it acts on the man, but... I don't know if what I'm reading in this section is the same as what Agrippa is writing.

Finally, on the topic of Phrensie in and of itself, in the last chapter linked he writes that:

“Therefore we must know, that (according to the doctrine of the Aegyptians,) seeing the soul is a certain spirituall light, when it is loosed from the body, it comprehendeth every place and time, in such a manner as a light inclosed in a Lanthern [lantern], which being open, difffseth it self every where, and faileth not any where, for it is every where, and continually; and Cicero in his book of Divination saith, neither doth the soul of man at any time divine, [except] when it is so loosed that it hath indeed little or nothing to do with the body; when therefore it shall attain to that state, which is the supream [supreme] degree of contemplative perfection, then it is rapt from all created species, and understandeth not by acquired species, but by the inspection of the Ideas, and it knoweth all things by the light of the Ideas: of which light Plato saith few men are partakers in this life; but in the hands of the gods, all: also they who are troubled with the syncope and falling sickness, do in some manner imitate a rapture, and in these sicknesses sometimes as in a rapture do bring forth prophesie [prophecy], in which kind of prophesying we read that Hercules and many Arabians were very excellent, and there are certain kinds of soothsayings, which are a middle betwixt the confines of naturall predictions, and supernaturall Oracles...”

EDIT: One more link, via Melita Benu, entitled A Quasi-Ceremonial Orphic Banishing Ritual. Totally worth looking at.

And let me add that that blog, in general, is made of goddamn win.

Moar on Otherkin

2011-11-28T14:53:00.000-08:00

The seventh chapter of Dion Fortune's Psychic Self-Defense is entitled “The Pathology of Non-Human Contacts.” In it, she makes some astounding claims; but then, this is hardly unexpected since when Fortune's discussions veer off into the unknown, they take on a fantastic veneer. The book is less about how to defend yourself psychically, as it is a warning about what to look out for and selections of stories about Things That Go Bump in the Night: Ghosts, psychic vampires, sodomite-drug-taking-drug-dealing Black Magicians, and “Evil Tibetan Buddha statues.”

In any event, the seventh chapter contains some points that I wished to raise. In it, she writes:

“There are many of us who have met people who might well be described as non-human, soulless, in that the ordinary human motives are not operative with them, nor do the ordinary human feelings prompt or inhibit them, We cannot but love them, for they have great charm, but we cannot but dread them as well, for they spread an infinitude of suffering around them...” (p.79)

“At the moment of sexual union a psychic vortex is formed resembling a waterspout, a funnel-shaped swirling that towers up into other dimension. As body after body engages, the vortex goes up to the planes. In all cases the physical, etheric, and astral bodies are involved; the vortex therefore always reaches as far as the astral plan; a soul upon the astral plane may be drawn into this vortex if it is ripe for incarnation, and thus enter the sphere of the parents. If the vortex extends higher than the astral plane, souls of a different type may enter this sphere, but such extension is rare, and therefore it is said that man is born of desire, for few are born of anything else.

But this vortex may not only extend vertically up the planes (speaking metaphorically), but it may also, under certain conditions, be deflected, as it were, out of the normal human line of evolution, so that its open end extends into the sphere of evolution of another type of life. Under such circumstances it is theoretically possible for a being of parallel evolution to be drawn into incarnation in a human body. Occultists hold that this occasionally occurs, and explains certain types of non-pathological abnormality which are occasionally met with.

These non-humans are either adored or hated by their human associates. They have a peculiar fascination for certain types of temperament, the types that psychologists the unstable. In these types the subconscious comes very near to the surface, deep calls to deep, and they are instinctively drawn towards the elemental kingdoms.” (p.80-81)

This is not to suggest that every Otherkin that claims “non-human” origin is telling the truth, or such. In some cases, we can probably assume that the desire to be “non-human” is rooted in trauma and the use of a narrative structure of associations to deal and cope with the pain. In other cases, escapism is another possible solution. But Fortune does raise the question of the possibility “non-human”... evolution... in a human body. I remain a deep seated skeptic, but it is one of the things that always comes to mind when I encounter people who complain about Otherkin.

There is also the history of looking for “elementals” in a human body; operations such as this were performed by Jack Parsons at the start of the Babalon working that led to Liber 49 and his Book of the Anti-Christ. Parsons claimed his elemental was Marjorie Cameron, who assuredly lived up to such a label in unexpected ways.

Finally: non-human metempsychosis is, as far as I know, possible in Hinduism and Buddhism, where one might 'fall' from there place in man, or rise – at a new birth – from the animal realms. I don't really know a lot about such theories; I am just, at best, aware that they exist. If this sort of rise/fall dynamic is actually prevalent in such theories, then it would not be uncommon at all for someone to feel drawn to the “animal world.”

While I have met more than a few nutty Otherkin (and psi-vamps, and for that matter, people that claimed to be the Reincarnation of Aleister Crowley or Austin Spare), the less nutty ones that I met years ago convinced me that more and more of the teenagers calling themselves such were, in fact, trying to get to a place to deal with Totemic or Atavistic magic, and that they were engaged in very minor early trance and ecstasis/“Shamanic” experiments. This is not to suggest that such experiments won't drive them nuts, but it's not my place to tell someone what not to do or think.

On this subject, I feel compelled to note that the best discussion with Otherkin I've ever had occurred at Pantheacon, following a group deciding to harass me (for reasons unknown to me) after seeing one of Lupa's presentations on Totems or somesuch. Far from being insane, the three seemed to be pretty grounded – for anyone under 25 years of age, anyway. Compared to the 40-something Witch women I've met that have told me about being crystal healers in Ancient Atlantis, they actually seemed very grounded (at least they didn't insist that I also had an animal soul; the Atlanteans always insist you were there with them. Forgive me for not remembering ever being on the Shores of Atlantis.) They were just convinced that their soul, or some portion of it, was not entirely human.

I don't know. Compared to an ancient land where people ruled the earth with all-powerful Crystal Magickz, and then accidentally blew themselves up or offended the gods or something, this didn't strike me as inconcievable.

That said: every avenue of occult and magical thought has some straight up insane sets of associations and ideas. Tons of folks believe in ancient aliens, that we'll evolve as a race in 2012 (I am a serious skeptic), & etc.

It should also remembered that early magical experiences and ideas will be fundamentally altered at the point when any practitioner reaches the Tower. After the Tower experience, just once, everything seems to be hypothetical at best, and the utter ignorance of the practitioner becomes well known to himself or herself.

To my mind, we all go to the Tower eventually, normally led down a path of our own unique and half-mad delusions. So, no, I don't get concerned all that much about the Delusions of Otherkin. I'm way more concerned with my own and how they impact others.

Why I Like Otherkin

2011-11-27T18:45:00.000-08:00

“The satyr as well as the idyllic shepherd of our more recent times are both the epitomes of a longing directed toward the primordial and natural, but with what a firm, fearless grip the Greek held onto his man from the woods, and how timidly and weakly modern man toys with the flattering image of a delicate and gentle flute-playing shepherd! Nature on which no knowledge had yet worked, in which the walls of culture had still not been thrown up—that’s what the Greek saw in his satyr, and so he did not yet mistake him for an ape. Quite the contrary: the satyr was the primordial image of man, the expression of his highest and strongest emotions, as an inspired reveller, enraptured by the approach of the god, as a sympathetic companion, in whom the suffering of the god was repeated, as a messenger bringing wisdom from the deepest heart of nature, as a perceptible image of the sexual omnipotence of nature, which the Greek was accustomed to observing with reverent astonishment. The satyr was something sublime and divine: that’s how he must have seemed, especially to the painfully broken gaze of the Dionysian man, who would have been insulted by our well-groomed fictitious shepherd. His eye lingered with sublime satisfaction on the exposed, vigorous, and magnificent script of nature; here the illusion of culture was wiped away by the primordial image of man; here the real man revealed himself, the bearded satyr, who cried out with joy to his god. In comparison with him, the man of culture was reduced to a misleading caricature. Schiller was also right about the start of tragic art: the chorus is a living wall against the pounding reality, because it—the satyr chorus—presents existence more genuinely, more truly, and more completely than does the civilized person, who generally considers himself the only reality. The sphere of poetry does not lie beyond this world as a fantastic impossibility of a poet’s brain; it wants to be exactly the opposite, the unadorned expression of the truth, and it must therefore simply cast off the false costume of that alleged truth of the man of culture. The contrast between this real truth of nature and the cultural lie which behaves as if it is the only reality is similar to the contrast between the eternal core of things, the thing-in-itself, and the total world of appearances. And just as tragedy, with its metaphysical consolation, draws attention to the eternal life of that existential core in the continuing destruction of appearances, so the symbolism of the satyr chorus already expresses metaphorically that primordial relationship between the thing-in-itself and appearance. That idyllic shepherd of modern man is only a counterfeit, the totality of cultural illusions which he counts as nature. The Dionysian Greek wants truth and nature in their highest power—he sees himself magically changed into the satyr.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy.

Now take these thoughts and apply them to Otherkin. Simply because Gnosis might be odd, and you might understand things a bit literally when you're young, does not mean that you're destined to always do so.

Furthermore, discouraging people from creating a type of “Thereomorphic Shamanism” – and that is what the Otherkin community, with their many Atavistic expressions, may eventually become – seems to me to be a very disastrous thing to do.

The lunar realm of No-Time, where ideas shift in the dreamlike trance of Gnosis, is a pain in the ass to get out of. When I spent my horribly lengthy stint there, I looked more crazy than anything else. People would tell me that I was ungrounded, etc. They never actually managed to indentify the goddamn problem - I was stuck in Luna - but they always had helpful hints about what Qabalists would do. Especially if you're not around someone with an idea of what happens in ecstatic moments of trance. And most of these experiences are ecstatic, which is why they become so powerful to the individual that does it.

... Then again, Nietzsche eventually claimed to be Dionysos reborn in his later “Mad Letters.” But hey – madness is a part of some realms. What someone may be telling you, when they claim to be an Otherkin, is that they've found a type of aesthetic battery: a place where their microcosm has aligned with a set of primordial, poetic, and fictitious (but useful) ideas which power their trance and experiences. Rather than discouraging them from the experiences and writing about them, it seems to me to be better to encourage them to read Nietzsche (whose fanbase is never short of a few Ubermenchii), or look into Wolf cults in the ancient world (and there were plenty, motherfuckers), & etc.

I'm sure plenty are already doing it. That said, the path of trying to integrate Gnosis and understand why specific spiritual experiences are meaningful is a lengthy road – and not one easily taken, especially when you're subjected to the speculative eyes of the public and to their derision.

I don't claim to be an Otherkin, but I'm sure a few of them will mutate or evolve into something... Very interesting.

EDIT: People are always harping on Gnosis and delusion. The EGO is just so powerful that there can't POSSIBLY highly emotional moments where a spiritual charge intrudes, and something resonates massively and you can't let go of it. Clearly that could only happen in the trained Magickal Elite, or some shit. It's not like everyone's seen a fucking play that made them laugh or cry, or been at church when a topic near to their heart evoked a spiritual moment, right?

I'm expected to tag along and applaud when serious spiritual work is harped on, and enmeshing in the godhead, and a ton of theories are expanded upon - but when approached by some kid who has no idea what's going on, I'm also expected to remind him that he's likely mired in delusions.

Of course he is! He's a fucking kid! What the fuck do you expect? We're lucky he doesn't think he's fucking Blade and try hunting Psi-vamps "on the astral"! (And some of those crazy fuckers do! ... Try to, that is.)

I'm also expected to sit around and agree when someone mature talks about how delusional they were, and how grown up they are now, and then tells other people to keep their mouths shut. Yes, your crazy is your own business. But jesus, name one person that hasn't done something spiritually crazy. That person? He's probably an armchair magician.

I always thought we were supposed to supply mechanisms for use: to actually make use of crazy gnosis (create art with it!), to actually supply details on how to meaningfully integrate spiritual experiences (try being less literal! It may help!), and to supply protective tactics and suggestions for evaluating what one has done. How about testing spirits with elemental pentacles?

None the less, most of what I see is routine poo-pooing and mindless chatter about delusion. Delusion is a constant, a part of life. Either offer how to actually overcome it (from personal experience, as the suggestion goes), or stop complaining.

Bernabe on Plato on the Orpheotelests

2011-11-24T16:55:00.000-08:00

Eros and Dionysos

Because that's not a mouthful or anything.

“The locus classicus for Orphic τελεταί* is a famous passage in Plato:

They adduce a hubbub of books by Musaeus and Orpheus, descendants, as they say, of the Moon and of the Muses, according to which they arrange their rites, convincing not only individuals but also cities that liberation and purification from injustice is possible, both during life and after death, by means of sacrifices and enjoyable games, to those which they indeed call “initiations,” which free us from the evils of the Beyond, whereas something horrible awaits those who have not celebrated sacrifices.

The passage mentions books of Musaeus and Orpheus, that is, written literature supposedly used in initiations intended to liberate the soul from its sins. Those who are charged with carrying out these rituals, obviously the same as those whom other sources call Orpheotelests (italix mine), depend on the holiness of the written word; in other words, it is the possession and control of Orphic writings that confers on them their authority.

We are also told that initiations could be applied to individuals and to entire cities, which implies their value was recognized and was not exclusive to one sect: the seers and reciters of oracles were specialists that could be hired by whoever needed them. The practices of the Orpheotelests were not secret, and to Plato they seemed to be a game, and therefore contemptible for a serious person.

We must interpret the expression “both in life and once we are dead”, in the sense that these rites claimed to project their validity to the Beyond.” (Bernable, 91.)

I found this passage to be especially interesting, as it's included in the author's discussion on the inclusion of sacramental wine and the blessed state of happiness it can incur in the individual. This 'state' of happiness was reciprocal of both life and death, and the 'happy' state is something that Plato took pains to mock. This state is, without a doubt, the state of intoxication. He writes: “Here, wine drinking was no simple pastime or pleasure, but a solemn sacrament, in the course of which the wine was converted into a liquor of immortality... In a sense, drinking wine entails drinking the god: thus, Cicero does not consider it an exaggeration that some should believe they are drinking the god when they brought the cup to their lips, given that the wine was called Liber...” (p.85)

This recalls the earlier comments I pulled from Otto's Dionysus Myth and Cult: “Folklore has given us much evidence for believing that the pleasure man takes in the fruits and flowers of the earth, the enjoyment he has in her intoxicating liquids – in fact, that gaiety, in general, can be linked with those moments when man salutes his dead...”

In this sense, the presence of the God (and his attendant sensation of intoxication), is linked with the increasing perception of the Beyond. To cull a last set of comments from Instructions for the Netherworld: “Outside of Greece, we find parallels for the initiatory use of wine and the belief that access to spiritual intoxication, that causes forgetfulness of the self and engenders true knowledge, begins with physical intoxication. The Irish Samain think they get closer to the world of the gods by means of intoxication.” (p.86)

*Teletai – referring, I believe, to the ability to perform divination, and skill in the rites of priestcraft, e.g. purificatory rituals and sacrificial rituals – JF

Know Your Saints; Know the Response to Them

2011-11-23T17:03:00.000-08:00

COINTELPRO. (Moar Info via wiki.)

History has a troubling tendency to repeat itself. The struggles of the 1960s, and their broad effects, may have become submerged in our cultural narrative, but they have finally returned. As we have seen a backlash against women's rights, against various minorities, and the rise of what might be called (at times) a Police State in the last decade, so to have we seen a return to the massive protests of the 1960s and the 1970s. With this return has come the desire to discuss how far we have not come as a society, and what it just might take to get to that point.

But a new version of COINTELPRO is right around the corner, if it hasn't already sprung up. Always be aware that if you threaten the Powers-that-Be, they will deploy themselves against you. With pepper-spray, and hoses, and batons, and tear gas. And if that fails? There are always more sophisticated weapons.

Still, know your Saints. If all of this has happened before, then that means that there are voices in the past worth looking to.

Fred Hampton was a rising member of the Black Panther Party in 1969, when he was gunned down in his apartment by the Police. Hampton had recently criticized his county's State Attorney, Edward Hanrahan, who Hampton claimed was using speeches about “wars on gangs” - a war that Hamptom claimed really allowed Hanrahan to carry out a “war on black youth.”

While the current situation with the Occupy Protests has not yet reached this height of violence (possibly owing to less occasions for outright racism, in my less than humble opinion), it should be remembered that they may reach this height if the power of the police is not actively monitored by both fellow citizens and the media. This is why it is so utterly important to discuss what it means when the police overstep their place as protectors of the populace, and become bullies to the populace. But then, there is a bit more than meets the eye to the Davis incident.

Articles via Krimhum, image via VI, and the rest from me.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

I am thankful to have known (before they passed):
Victoria P. - Who I will always love, at least in memory.
Casey T. - who was the best damn drum player I've ever met, and should have been a rockstar.
Vivian R. - who convinced me, at 16 or 17, that I had the talent for magick and sorcery. And convinced me, long after she was gone (via memory, at least), to pick up the Magic Mirror/Black Mirror and peer into its depths.
Helena Z. - Who I do not have appropriate words to describe.
Chris G. - Who told me, not long before he passed, that he claimed as a child that he would travel to California and become a witch. I will see you again in Time, Brother.
Tom V. - The best damned Uncle a guy could have asked for.
Mauricio M. - The kindest damned Uncle a guy could have asked for.

And this is to say nothing of my family and friends, who are still alive and don't necessarily need a dedicated entry. And of course, I'm most thankful to have met and fallen in love with VVF, who I have had the luck to live with in the days since our meeting.

“I've read this myth before.”

2011-11-20T18:21:00.000-08:00

Medusa: Royal Palace of Turin

Yeah... Uh... Yeah.

I've always felt bad for Medusa, honestly. That's one of those myths that just sucks, all over.

No Heroic Dead in Agrippa?

2011-11-19T18:25:00.000-08:00

I was hunting for the section of Agrippa's Three Books where he says that sometimes a spirit called by a name shows up, and sometimes another spirit (bearing the same name) also arrives. R.O. had shared it with me, like, forever ago and I wanted to add a blog entry to cement where in Agrippa the section was, as well as make sure I understood what he was talking about.

So I kept scrolling through his Third Book, looking for it. And then I found this:

“After the Quires of the blessed spirits, the Animastical order is the next, which the Hebrew Theologians call Issim, that is, strong and mighty men; the Magicians of the Gentiles, call Heroes and Demi-gods, or [half] gods half men: whom Fulgentius, an Author not to be contemned, supposeth were so called, either because that for the meanness of their desert they are not judged worthy of Heaven, nor yet are accounted Terresterial for the reverence of Grace; of this kind in old time were Priapus, Hippo, Vertumnus; or because they being eminent in this life for divine vertues, and benefits for mankinde, after this mortal man put off, are translated into the quire of the blessed gods; alwayes providing for mortal men the same vertues and benefits which they long since had in this life: or because they were procreated from the secret seed of the superiors, whom they think were begotten by the mixture of Gods or Angels with men, & therefore obtaining a certain middle nature, so as they are neither Angels nor men: which opinion Lactantius also followeth; and there are even at this time those who have commerce and conjugall mixture with spirits; and all now believe that Merline, a British Prophet, was the son of a Spirit, and born of a virgin: and also they imagined, that Plato the Prince of wisdome was born of a virgin, impregnated by a phantasme of Apollo. And it is delivered in Histories, that certain women of the Gothes (which they call Alrumnæ) eminent both for beauty and ingenuity, long since at Filimire, or (as others say) at Idanthresie, going forth out of the tents of the King of the Gothes, wandred in the desarts [deserts] of Scythia in Asia beyond the Marshes of Meotis, and there being Impregnated by Fanni and Satyres, brought forth the first Hunni; more over Psellus is the Author, that Spirits sometimes cast forth seed, from the which certain little creatures arise: Therefore these Heroes have no less power in disposing and ruling these inferior things, than the Gods and angels, and have both their offices and their dignities distributed to them: and therefore to them no otherwise than to the Gods themselves were Temples, Images, Altars, Sacrifices, Vows, and other mysteries of religion dedicated. And their names invocated had divine and magical vertues for the accomplishing of some miracles: which thing Eusebius declareth that many tried by the invocation of the name of Apollonius of Tyana; and more of this kinde we read of, both in the Poets, and also in the Historians and Philosophers, concerning Hercules, Atlas, Aesculapius and the other Heroes of the Gentiles; but these are the follies of the Gentiles; but as concerning our holy Heroes we beleve that they excel in divine power, and that the soul of the Meschihæ doth rule over them (as the Theologians of the Jews also testify) that is Jesus Christ, who by divers of his Saints, as it were by members fitted for this purpose, doth administer and distribute divers gifts of his grace in these inferior parts, and every one of the Saints do enjoy a particular gift of working. Whence they being implored by us with divers prayers and supplications according to the manifold distribution of graces, every one doth most freely bestow their gifts, benefits, and graces on us much more readily, truly, & also more abundantly than the Angelical powers by how much they are nigher to us, and more allyed to our natures, as they who in times past were beth men, and suffered humane affections and infirmities; and their names, degrees and offices are more known to us; Therefore out of the number of these almost Infinite, there are twelve chief, viz. the twelve Apostles of Christ, who (as the evangelical truth saith) sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, who in the Revelations are distributed upon twelve foundations, at the twelve gates of the heavenly City, who rule the twelve Signs, and are sealed in the twelve pretious [precious] Stones, and the whole world is distributed to them; but their true names are these; the first éôëä ïéòîù Symehon Hacephi, this is Peter. The second éñòìà Alousi, whom we call Andrew. The third äá÷òé Jahacobah, this is James the greater. The fourth ùåôéìåô Polipos, whom we call Philip. The fift äéëøá Barachiah, this is Bartholomew. The sixt äðäåé Johanah, whom we name Iohn [John]. The seventh is éðîú Thamni, whom we call Thomas. The eighth is called ïåãî Medon, for whom we say Matthew. The ninth is á÷òé Jahacob, this is James the less. The tenth is àôéèë Catepha, that is Thadeus. The eleventh íàîù Samam, who is Simon the Canaanite. The twelfth äéúúî Matattiah, who is called Matthias. After these are the seventy two disciples of Christ, who also themselves do rule so many Quinaries of Heaven, & Tribes, People, Nations and Tongues. After whom is an Innumerable multitude of Saints, who also themselves have received divers Offices, Places, Nations and People into their protection and patronage, whose most apparent miracles at the faithfull prayers of those that Invocate them, we plainly see and confess.”
- Chapter XXXIIII. “Of the Animasticall order, and the Heros.”

Fair enough, Agrippa. Fair enough. I'll continue my hunt through your works later.

Christianity and I

2011-11-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

I have been reading Dr. Raven's last blog entry and thinking about how what he's talking about applies to myself.

In my last entry, I commented on how I got side-tracked from the message of love I had wanted to write about, and include the Tannhauser piece with, by ranting about Paul and what a fucking asshole he could be. Or whoever it was that is claiming to be Paul in the letters. There's some contention that Paul himself may have been a Gnostic teacher, and that the Pauline letters are attributed to him to cover up his past as a Gnostic. I have no idea if those ideas have any veracity or not, I'm simply aware of them.

But – it becomes hard for me to sort my loathing for the poison that I was introduced to as a child and teenager, with the actual message of Christ: which, ultimately, is a message of love. It also becomes hard for me – especially if I've become emotional about the subject – to express the distinction between Christ's message, and that of some his followers. And, when I really become riled up and ranting, I forget about all the people out there who actually have spiritual uplifting experiences as a Christian.

And that the ideas which are spread around today, might not exist (as an edifice of the church) in a hundred, or a thousand years.

And when that happens, I pretty much treat the entire history of Christianity as a thing of dogshit and horror. Which is, honestly, wrong.

The real fact of the matter is that cultures and civilizations, and the religions within them, play against one another constantly. They dance with one another, in a sense. And this dance includes Christianity, Islam, classical cultures, and everything else around us. We are – as humans – social creatures. Discounting the religious significance of Christianity is wrong.

That doesn't mean that I don't think I can have objections about various matters, which I do. But when I get caught up in my loathing toward things I was exposed to in the past, I do further injustice to the matter by passing on my hate to others.

My hope is that in the future, when writing such things, I will better maintain my awareness of my emotional state and how it dictates what flows out of my keyboard. I doubt that I'll always succeed, but henceforth I'm going to talk less about what I loathe in Christianity, and more about what I like (when the moment dawns).

The Tannhäuser Gate

2011-11-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

In the Venusberg by John Collier

“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the darkness at Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die.”
- Roy Batty, Blade Runner.

“Although the viewer is given no additional clues as to where this gate is or what it might be a gate to, the viewer nevertheless recognizes the allusion to Richard Wagner's opera, Tannhauser, about a “minstrel-knight” who has fallen from the graces of not only his fellow man but God as well... We can read Roy's mention of this gate as an aligning of himself with Tannhauser, a character whose fate and predicament seem just beyond his immediate control...”
- Joanne Taylor, “Here's to Plain Speaking”: The Condition(s) of Knowing and Speaking in Film Noir.

It was at the height of a major Venus transit in the last year that I became obsessed with the Venusberg. It was a brief, if fruitful (heheh), encounter. The major request that was made of me was to re-write a scene of Wagner's Tannhauser and dedicate it to her. This has been done; though the way I'd hoped to mesh that result failed utterly. I'd hoped to hide the narrative inside a longer essay, but got side-tracked by hating on Paul's views of Christianity.

Nonetheless, I have wanted to talk more about the Venusberg since the attempt, and was going to use the alien discussions of late as a convenient excuse. But once again, I have discovered myself to be wrong. When I noted that the Clerici Vagantes (we'll get there shortly) claimed to be “on” the Venusberg, I imagined it as an airship, and my brain patched it into the Airship sightings of the 1890s that were eventually replaced by today's flying saucers.

Alas, the Clerici Vagantes are not talking about airships. They are still talking about a mountain. Or perhaps a mysterious otherwordly realm. Or both, at once. But not airships. My bad.

Still, All Aboard the Venusberg.

Regardless of that problem, it's still possible for me to talk about the Venusberg at length, and to talk about how myths and folklore changes shape over time. The best known depiction of the Venusberg is, of course, Wagner's Tannhauser. Wagner located the cave of Frau Venus on the Horselberg, but this is actually a relatively late location. He presumably got these ideas froms the Grimm brother's Deutsche Sagen, where they tell the folk-tales of the Horselberg: “in which the Devil lives, and to which the witches make pilgrimages. Sometimes fearful shrieks and howls come from it, made by the devils and the poor wretched souls. In the year 1398 three great fires broke out in broad daylight near Eisenach, burned for a long time, joined together, then separated again, till at last all three made for the mountain. Country people who were later passing by with a load of wine were enticed into the hill by the evil fiend, and there they were shown several well-known characters who were already sitting among the flames of Hell.”

Earnest Newman, in his The Wagner Operas, explains:

“The place became known as Satansstedt, which name was gradually transformed into Sattelstadt. So much for the Horselberg as the Middle Ages saw it. The modern identification of this fearsome mountain with the Venusberg, however, was a mere flight of fancy on the part of some nineteenth century German scholars. There is nothing in the Horselberg legend connecting it with either Venus or Tannhauser; and it is not an earthly paradise, like the Venusberg, but the haunt of devils.

Classical antiquity ad loved to dream of mountains or caves inhabited by beings whose life was one long round of delights, and of favoured mortals who had been permitted to taste of these. Naturally the longer these stories were in circulation the more circumstantial the details of them became. One mediaeval Italian legend, which was possibly the source of that of the German earthly paradise is what is still knoiwn as the Monte della Sibilla, a peak in the Appennines between the modern Norcia and Ascoli. We have a romantic description of the place by an adventurous Frenchman, Antoine de la Sale, who essayed, though he was finally beaten in the attempt, to penetrate the innermost depths of the mysterious cave of the Sibyl. From the people of the neighbourhood he learned the legends connected with the place, and particularly the story of a German who had actually succeeded in penetrating to the recesses of the mountain, where he found the queen of this paradise seated on a magnificent throne, surrounded by nobles and ladies richly dressed; the felicity of these people, who never lost their beauty and never grew old, would endure, he was told, to the end of the world itself.

The rule of the place was this: a visitor could stay eight days, and depart of his own free will on the ninth, but if he did not leave then he would have to remain until the thirtieth, and so on until the three hundred and thirtieth day; if he did not depart then he must stay there for ever. There was only one little blot on this captivating picture: from every Friday at midnight until midnight on Saturday the queen and the other ladies transformed themselves into snakes and serpents, Strangely enough, it was only on the three hundred and thirtieth day he bade his charming hostess adieu and went off to Rome to confess...” (p.64-5)

He then recounts some basic parts of the Tannhauser tale which are known today, including the Pope being an ass. This version of the tale is believed to have made it's way to Germany, but in this version after the German has been rejected by the Pope, he returns to the Paradise of the Sibyl. Today, the Monte della Sibilla is not far from Narn, Italy. You might recognize the name of Narn as it was written on ancient Latin maps: “Narnia.”

But Were There Visitors to the Venusberg?

The short answer is, more than simply one German fellow claimed to have made his way to the Earthly, Hidden Paradise, of Venus. For more of these details, we might turn to Historian Carlo Ginzburg, who was kind enough to bury helpful details about the Venusberg and it's visitors in his The Night Battles:

“For in the year 1544, Martin Crusius, in his Annales Svevici, cites a curious tale, borrowed from an older chronicle. Wandering about the Swabian countryside were certain clerici vagantes who wore yellow nets draped about their shoulders in the place of capes. They had approached a group of peasants and told them they had been on the Venusberg and had seen extraordinary things there. They claimed knowledge of the past and could foretell the future; they had the power to discover lost objects and possessed charms which protected both men and animals from witches and their crimes; they could even keep hail away. With such boasts, intermingled with fearsome words mumbled ominously through clenched teeth, they shunned both men and women, especially the latter, and extorted money from them. As though this was not enough, they also declared they could call up the 'Furious Horde', made up of children who had died before they were baptized, of men slain in battle and of all 'ecstatics' – in other words of those souls who had had to abandon their bodies, never to return. These souls, they said, were accustomed to gather in the deserted places on Saturday nights of the Ember seasons and on Thursdays of the Advent, andering about, sorrowing, until the appointed timeof their deaths, when they could be received amongst the blessed. These clerici vagantes claimed that they had two lenghts of rope, one for grain, the other for wine: if one of them was buried, the price of grain or wine would increae that year...

Once again, if this evidence had come from the Fruili instead of Swabia, we can be certain that these clerici vagantes would have added being benandanti to their boasting. Here too there are obvious similarities: the journey to the mysterious kingdom of Venus (where, in the popular mind, there was believed to be a real afterlife as we shall see later) gave them the power to cure spells, and, during the Ember Days, to summon the ranks of those who had died prematurely, to which 'ecstatics' like themselves belonged, whose souls had not been able to return to their bodies; it also gave them abilities to obtain wealth for farmers by working their magic, not on the fertility of the fields, as did their Friulian counterparts, but curiously enough, on the prices of agricultural products. This was the year 1544... At any rate, groups of clerici vagantes who claimed to have been on the Venusberg appeared at Lucerne in 1576... and again in 1599 and 1600. A similar group, belonging to an association called Johannesbruderschaft, was tried at L'vov in 1694: like their Swabian fellows of a century and a half before, these clerici vagantes searched for treasures, claimed to have seen the souls of the dead on the Venusberg and tried to call them forth.” (p.55-56)

Fuck. I was gonna write more, but now I've made it so I have to think on this subject for a bit. More on this later. Maybe.Edit: I did not expect what I was writing to get necromantic as fuck. But I probably should have noticed some details sooner. Christ. Caves and cthonic deities and those that claim to meet them. Lmao.

Morality, or why I'm not interested in discussing your thoughts on it.

2011-11-16T13:21:00.000-08:00

I am responsible for no one's actions, but my own. And furthermore

Before you perform any ritual, spell, or trance work for an objective, there is a question you ought to ask: “Will doing this act make me a shit person?”

If the answer is no? Worry not. If the answer is yes, and you care? Don't do it. If the answer is yes, and you don't care? You won't listen to me anyway, and will probably still perform said action.

If you need more of a moral discussion than that? Go read Aristotle's Ethics. Go read Marcus Aurelius. Or the fucking Bible (depending on the section). This blog isn't about morals, though, it's about sorcery, witchcraft, and chaos magick, and anomalous “Greek stuff”. Those are the subjects I prefer write about in it. If I'd wanted a blog on ethics, I certainly would have made one.

Finally, and lastly, if you try to force your ethical code on someone else – even if you believe that you are right – then you're what we call an asshole. Assholes don't get to wear good guy badges.

The Digital Link

2011-11-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

Concept Art from the Neuromancer film that never happened. Via IO9.

“Lucas knows, yeah. The last seven, eight years, there's been funny stuff out there on the console cowboy circuit. The new jockeys, they make deals with things, don't they, Lucas? Yeah, you bet I know; they still need the hard and the soft, and they still gotta be faster than snakes on ice, but all of 'em, all the ones who really know how to cut it, they got allies, don't they, Lucas?”
Lucas took his gold toothpick out of his pocket and began to work on a rear molar, his face dark and serious.

“Thrones and dominions,” the Finn said obscurely. “Yeah, there's things out there. Ghosts, voices. Why not? Oceans had mermaids, all that shit, and we had a sea of silicon, see? Sure, its just a tailored hallucination we all agree to have, cyberspace, but anybody who jacks in knows, fucking knows its a whole universe. And every year it gets a little more crowded, sounds like...”
“For us,” Lucas said, “the world has always worked that way.”
“Yeah,” the Finn said, “so you guys could slot right into it, tell people the things you were cutting deals with were your same old bush gods...”
“Divine horsemen...”
- William Gibson, Count Zero.

Via Augoeides:

“USERS of social media sites should not post their pictures online as they could be used for witchcraft, said Kelantan Darussyifa' Islamic Medicine Association chairman Zaki Ya.

He said that djin (spirits) are able to “connect” with humans through the Internet, including Facebook, Sinar Harian reported.” - The Star.

But, you might ask, how possible is such a thing? Some quick background: between the mid-to-late 1990s, there arose “TIAMAT-L”: Testing the Internet As a Magical/Aetheric Tool List. A bunch of occultists populated the place, and did things from building MUSHs that functioned as astral temples (Damascus Mush – by the way, it is possible to put that MUSH back online, but I need to find a box that runs on UNIX to do so, which I do not currently have) to basic magical rituals.

Their basic conclusion matches my own, which is why I bring it up: can you use the internet for your magic, and sorcery? Can you plug certain spirits into the 'net?

Totally. You can do other shit, too. (That was actually written forever ago, and is one of my lazier bits. But whatever.)

If you're a practitioner, you should have some protections in place. But if you're afraid some crazed bastard on the internet, such as myself, might cast horrible hexes upon you and unleash the spirits of the dread lunar realm (or something) upon you?

Consider this: make a poppet of yourself. Specifically baptize it in your own name, and establish the link. Then put it in a box (not a mirror cage), and bury it in your backyard. It will now act as a lightning rod for some of the crap thrown your way, and which you come across. If you want, you can even plant a bunch of horribly toxic (like Belladonna) plants above it, so that there's an additional layer horrible protection above the lightning rod for sorcery. You can also make a witch-bottle, or something along those lines.

Necromancy: Sources!

2011-11-14T13:55:00.000-08:00

Tiresias appears to Odysseus

Medieval/Grimoire Necromancy:

Magic in the Middle Ages by Richard Kieckhefer.

Forbidden Rites by Richard Kieckhefer.

Grimoires: A History of Magical Books by Owen Davies

Magic in the Middle Ages specifically has a chapter entitled Necromancy in the Clerical Underworld, which discusses some of the sources for necromancy in the Grimoires, and who was practicing it. Forbidden Rites, on the other hand, is a republication and discussion on CLM 849 “The Necromancer's Handbook,” or “the Munich Handbook” as it's respectively known. Conjurations from this Grimoire may well trigger a horde of spirits that come to beat the fuck out of your circle. So, y'know, have fun with that. You may also reach the much vaulted vision state, by which the manuscript appears to operate. It includes directions for scrying and other forms of divination, and a whole slew of angry medieval demons, for you to screw your life up with! And it's all in Latin. Owen Davies' book on Grimoires is more of a general overview of the various forms of magical books, but is helpful in certain instances by examining the contents of some of the various Grimoires and the sources they drew off.

Classical/Graeco-Roman Necromancy:

Greek and Roman Necromancy by Daniel Ogden

Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds by Daniel Ogden

Arcana Mundi: Magic and Occult in Greek and Roman Worlds by Georg Luck

The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation by Hans Dieter Betz

Jesus the Magician by Morton Smith

I am still making my way through Ogden's Greek and Roman Necromancy, and so I cannot comment on his second book. His first is a recompiling of literary and historical examples of Greek and Roman practices centered around necromancy. Insofar as information surrounding the practices go, it's been incredibly helpful toward my sorting of information on the subject. It also helps give you a general idea of why the practice was so widespread in Greece and Rome. I have not read Luck's book at all; it sits on my shelf, neglected for now. Betz's tome contains more than a few rituals for dealing with the dead. Morton Smith's Jesus the Magician was my first reference point for the subject of Goetes, the guys that practiced classical Goetia. (Betz dedicates his tome to Smith.)

I have raved about how great the Geosophia is more than enough. However it's precursor, the True Grimoire by Mr. Stratton-Kent, has been long praised by more than a few individuals. Like Luck's Arcana Mundi, it also sits neglected on my shelf. That said, the Grimoirium Verum is probably my favorite of the Grimoires.

Note: I am being extremely flippant with my treatment of CLM 849. Not all conjurations will occasion a horde of marauding spirits, nor will all of the demons/spirits categorized as demons, fuck with you. However, in the event you've supposed that classical necromancy was just divination involving the dead, you might want to consult the historians. Who seem to disagree with such assessments. Most classical necromantic events (according to Ogden) were precipitated by a spirit beating the shit out of someone, forcing them to go and consult an oracle that dealt with such things. Ogden writes that this is the most common reason for consulting an oracle at a Nekyomanteion. Secondarily, Ogden suggests that at most of the Nekyomanteion oracular sites there was an individual referred to as a Psychagogeo. Ogden specifically translates the term as evocator. He cites a play by Aeschylus entitled The Psychagogoi, which recounts Odysseus' Necromancy, but with a slightly different flavor than usual:

A lake takes the focal role in the fragments of Aeschylus's account of Odysseus's necromancy, Psuchagogoi.The “evocators” of the title announce themselves with the words,“We, the race that round the lake, do honor Hermes as our ancestor.” Like Circe in the Odyssey they instruct Odysseus in necromantic rites:
“Come now, guest-friend, be stood on the grassy and sacred enclosure of the fearful lake. Slash the gullet of the neck, and let the blood of this sacrificial victim flow into the murky depths of reeds, as a drink for the lifeless. Call upon the primeval earth and chthonic Hermes, escort of the dead, and ask chthonic Zeus to send up the swarm of night-wanderers from the mouths of the rive, from which this melancholy off-flow of water, unfit for washing hands, is sent up by the Stygian springs.” - Aeschylus, Psychagogoi (F273a,TrGF)

In this case, the Psychagogeo are mythic individuals (the sons of Hermes), but in most historical incidents they were real people, apparently trained in raising up and dealing with spirits.

Edit x2: I feel there is one more issue that bears discussion. In the event of sacrifice, many misunderstandings arise. One is that the the sacrifice is a wasteful occasion.

In the event that, say, a Ram would be sacrificed:
- The blood appears to have been used, primarily, to empower a disempowered spirit or ghost.
- The body of the Ram would be immolated in the name of the Nether gods after it had been skinned.
- The skin of the Ram would then be worn into the Nekyomanteion, and the individual would sleep and incubate an experience of discussion with the ghost.

The fleece would thereafter become a ritual instrument, but the entire process has meaning and utility. I am not suggesting that anyone immolate Rams in the name of the nether gods; however, I do think you must be, very, very careful about how you categorize sacrifice and what you think is going on. After all, it still happens routinely today. The giving of something of value, to feed the gods and help establish the connections by which you are operating, is something which is never done lightly. It is done for specific purposes, and in specific circumstances.

One Last Thing: Dear Newbs.

2011-11-13T15:14:00.001-08:00

Mandrake - and we're talking Mandragora officinarum, not mayapple - is fucking poisonous. If you do not know your dosages, do NOT fuck around with it. Period.

Seriously. Fucking. Period.

Do your research or do not fuck around. You can die, or seriously make yourself very sick.

Inspiring Goddesses

2011-11-13T14:22:00.000-08:00

So, I've been eyeing Mr. Stratton-Kent's sequence of Orphic Attributions (Geosophia, vol 1., p.186), taken from Agrippa, and trying to figure out what to do with them. These attributions fit a name of Dionysos to a neoplatonic Sphere, along with a relation to one of the Muses. (He seems to indicate that previously the Sirens filled such a role. But I'm not really sure what the music of the spheres is, frankly.)

Earlier in the summer, I made a couple experiments with trying to incubate the Muses into various liquid drinks, which then functioned as libations and instruments for dream incubation. (I would charge up the cup of a drink with the sigil of the Muse – all personally constructed – sitting beneath it, read a custom made prayer to the muse, and then drink the liquid and libate the last 3^rd or so.) But I think, instead, I may try something new.

The last season of fluid condenser work ended without much success. However, a second rainy season is about to descend on my home city, and that means more rainwater to catch for fluid condenser work. Rainwater seems to work better for making then condenser than simply distilled water. I know some magicians also capture dew the old school way for their fluid condensers. This time, I'm going to use the seven basic planetary hours, along with the Agrippan attribution of the Muse, and see if that process (however lengthy – I probably won't have enough water to start until late December) yields greater results than my previously hodge podge attempts to further certain connections.

I may also sing praises to the appropriate name of Dionysos before beginning said work.

What I'm not sure to do about is the Muses attached to the Premum Mobile and Fixed Stars, Calliope and Urania, respectively. I don't know. Maybe the other condensers will help me solve the puzzle, or I'll be left even more befuddled.

As for the question of, “why?” Lemme quote Theoi's article:

“They were originally regarded as the nymphs of inspiring wells, near which they were worshipped, and bore different names in different places, until the Thraco-Boeotian worship of the nine Muses spread from Boeotia over other parts of Greece, and ultimately became generally established.”

And thus I now have more reasons to boil gold. At a later date, at least.

Questions on Cain for Biblical Folks

2011-11-13T12:45:00.000-08:00

Cain and Abel — attributed to Vouet, and to Pietro Novell. Via Organelle.

“And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.”
- Genesis 4: 16-17

Okay, so, I have a couple questions for the Biblical scholars that read this blog. When I read about Cain leaving the presence of the Lord to enter the Land of Nod (and his finding a wife there), I begin thinking that this is a display of tribal thought. Genesis concerns the Israelites and their covenant and creation with their God.

However, I was raised as a protestant and don't know nearly enough about the Judaic tradition to be sure that I'm right. So, why were other tribes or social systems already abundant when Cain left for Nod? And, am I correct in assuming he was probably coming into contact with the early Canaanites?

As If, And Musings [NSFW]

2011-11-10T23:03:00.001-08:00

Black Magic by Rosaleen Norton

The way I worded my last entry still leaves me feeling uneasy. Mostly because there are some things that I don't want to be interpreted as saying.

The first is that I value historical fact over poetical interpretation or even degrees of inspiration. I don't; I see the two as being unified in the “arts” of magick, or sorcery, or what have you. In a certain sense, I feel compelled to note that I find even the idea of a 9,000 year old unbroken line of Matriarchal Witches to be somewhat useful if it can help a woman, of any age, grokk the “current of the witches' craft.”

On the other hand, I don't think that usefulness for ritual purposes, or purposes of feeling kinship to the type of magic one is attempting to do, should be confused with historical fact. In this sense, even my own work of late remains a largely tattered basis of comparisons that I'm using to bridge myself back to an admittedly mythic past of my own creation. I'm just making use of variously scholarly works to try and do it. That doesn't mean I'm even remotely correct in my crazed assumptions.

So, with that said, let me return to the idea of the “Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone.” When we were discussing the subject earlier tonight, VVF commented that Reclaimers used it as an expression for the vehicles of the types of feminine forces. I can see a lot, and I do mean a lot, of use in such types of thoughts.

I become uneasy, on the other hand, when archetypes are treated as expressing the range of experiences that humans must experience. I'm never sure how I ought to respond to the idea. To assume one must be a mother and a nurterer, for example, means that all women must have children bothers me. The reason being is this: nurturing can take many avenues. A woman might not nurture a child, but might instead nurture a career, or stunning artistic depictions of (insert awesome subject here).

I mean, would I have the audacity to suggest to Rosaleen Norton that she ought to have had kids?

… I actually have no idea if she had kids or not. I don't think she did, though, but I could still be wrong. I do know that her art is simply amazing, though.

Dread Triformis vs. Triple Goddess

2011-11-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

Hekate and the Kharites

“And she conceived and bare Hekate whom Zeus the son of Cronos honoured above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a share of the earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honour also in starry heaven, and is honoured exceedingly by the deathless gods. For to this day, whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for favour according to custom, he calls upon Hekate. Great honour comes full easily to him whose prayers the goddess receives favourably, and she bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is with her. For as many as were born of Earth and Ocean amongst all these she has her due portion. The son of Cronos did her no wrong nor took anything away of all that was her portion among the former Titan gods: but she holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning, privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in sea. Also, because she is an only child, the goddess receives not less honour, but much more still, for Zeus honours her. Whom she will she greatly aids and advances: she sits by worshipful kings in judgement, and in the assembly whom she will is distinguished among the people. And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she will. Good is she also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. And she is good to stand by horsemen, whom she will: and to those whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hekate and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess gives great catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so she will. She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock. The droves of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep, if she will, she increases from a few, or makes many to be less. So, then. albeit her mother's only child, she is honoured amongst all the deathless gods. And the son of Cronos made her a nurse of the young who after that day saw with their eyes the light of all-seeing Dawn. So from the beginning she is a nurse of the young, and these are her honours.”
- Hesiod, Theogony (Hymn to Hekate).

In his The White Goddess, Robert Graves discusses the formations of Goddesses who appear in groups of three. To this end his supplies the archetypal roles of Maiden, Mother, and Crone. It is predominately through this text – not ancient, but certainly devotional – that Neo-Paganism inherited the legacy of the Triple Goddess.

There's just one problem. Robert Graves may well have drawn from the (predominately crap) historical research of his day, but he was not a historian himself. He was, rather, a poet. (See Hutton's discussions on Graves in Triumph of the Moon for more on this subject.) And while I rarely object to people who make use of the Triple Goddess figure to further their lives (it's all As If, anyway, right?), this is one of those areas where I become uneasy. Of the various Goddess figures that often gets lumped into the Triple Goddess structure, Hekate is one of the first mentioned. As her depictions even in ancient times often contained three faces, it's easy to fit her into the model that Graves has created in The White Goddess.

The problem is that this masks what the Three Faces of Hekate actually have to tell us about her. Of the various associations she has, one of the most important to consider is that she is the goddess of the Trivium (tri meaning three, and via meaning way, path, or road) – the triplicate crossroads. This is a “T” or “Y” road junction, preferably at the edge of town. Today, practitioners are often referring to the “Quadrivium” (+ or X) when they refer to the crossroads. This is because Roman crossroads were often four-way points. But even in the US, you can still find Trivium crossroads at the edges of town if you pay attention to a map before setting out into the world.

The trivium is and was a liminal place. Liminal spaces are “in between” spaces; not of one thing, nor another. The crossroads at the edge of town are thus not either part one “Road A,” which leads back to town, or “Road B” or “Road C” which lead into the unknown beyond town.

When Hekate has three faces, she is signifying mastery in this liminal state. She represents the ability to survive in situations which are either dangerous, or unknown. To this end her busts were left at other liminal spaces (in the event that Hermes himself did not fill the role): at gates, doorways, entrances and exits. Because these spots are neither part of one “place,” or part of another they are liminal. And when the individual moves through them, he or she is effectively moving through Hekate's domains.

There is a further issue with trying to lump Hekate in with the triple goddess: while she is a goddess that is a protectress of birth (a liminal state, it must be again noted), she is a virgin goddess. The status of “virgin Goddess” is shared by Diana and Artemis: it means that they do not, or refuse to, have a husband or consort amongst the gods.

As an aside, there is possible fragmentary evidence to suggest that she was at least once wed with Hermes Kthonios. However, given that she was more generally considered to have the status of virgin Goddess, that proves nothing.

My Issues with Ancient Aliens *

2011-11-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

Long-time blog readers will most likely know that my stepfather is a Peruvian immigrant. He came over to go to school, made use of student exchange programs, and worked two jobs to help put himself through college. If there is something I feel is lacking in myself, which is on the other hand exemplified in my Stepfather's life, it's a hearty work ethic.

During that time, especially in his initial years in the United States, he spent time living in Other Folk's Homes as part of the exchange program. When I was a teenager, we'd occasionally discuss those years and how they affected him. One of the things he became irritated with, initially, was the proto-typical American ignorance towards other cultures. He would often get asked if the people in his city (and it should be noted that he was middle class by Peruvian standards) had rite of passage rituals, or wore headdresses, or did other “native” things. So he'd make sure to fuck with them: he'd tell them stories about how he'd had to slay eagles, and that he didn't want to return to Peru because he'd have to marry a woman he didn't love.

From "All His Engines."

It was all, you must understand, a set of completely fabricated stories. None of them were true in the slightest; he came from a well educated family, and had come to America because the education system was better here than in his country of birth.

Listening to the theories about who “really” created the Nazca lines makes me start frothing at the mouth. To hear intelligent individuals start claiming that “primitive people” (presumably with headdresses and the ability to Hunt Eagles by Night) could not make the lines is only so much bunk. We can be fairly sure of who made the Nazca lines (e.g. indigenous people in Peru), and what they were used for. Why? Because the folks that still live in the Peruvian hills still use them the same way. To this day, if you visit during the right period, you can see sacred processions across the Nazca lines.

Aliens did not make those lines. People did. If alien entities presided over the process? They probably weren't very physical. And people probablysaw them using drugs or trance techniques. The same way that they continue to do, to this day. Even if it means that they might very well be in physical danger for the mere act of doing so.

In the same way, people love to toss out the actual knowledge and techniques of various cultures to help pave the way for crackpot theories that are fucking useless. Who built the Pyramids? The Egyptians. How? We don't fucking know. But we know they built them, because they fucking told us that they did. Who built the Tenochtitlan temple structure? The Mexica did. Not only that, but first they terra-formed a swamp region so that they could build the structures. And then they proceeded to stomp every culture around them, systematically, until the arrival of Cortez. And even then, in most cases the Spanish didn't actually defeat the cultures that they encountered. They instead convinced locals who hated the Empire around them to help, and thus basically triggered a series of civil wars on the soil of the Americas. Both the conquest of the Mexica and the conquest of the Incan Empires involved the Spanish rallying to their side the tribes and cultures who had been conquered by both Empires.

That they made up silly stories about conquering Empires with only 16 men, or being thought of as Gods was just, you understand, the icing on the cake.

The cultures, the Empires, that were first encountered have long been treated as “primitive”; but actually, they have a tendency to display a way of living, in touch with the land around them, that the West has largely forgotten. That they accomplished feats of achievement and prowess that stand to this day should not, by any means, be reduced down to a simple theory: “aliens did it.”

Because, actually, aliens did not do it. Human labor, and often slave labor at that, achieved the monuments that have been left standing since ancient times.

Now – did those cultures possibly get visited by gods, spirits, or forces that we don't understand? That's distinctly possible. It's also possibly that they imparted specific bodies of knowledge to them. But the method of action, the ways in which these states were achieved and contacts made? They haven't been “lost.” They still exist around us, to this day. If they're on the brink of dying out and more information actually being lost? All the more reason to contend that it isn't the aliens that we should be worrying about.

It's the people. The culture. The history.

*For a good look at what the fictive John Constantine is dicussing, see this entry.

For AIT: Rock Gongs

2011-11-06T19:27:00.000-08:00

Beginning at 5:35 is a boulder (rock gong) which functioned as a drum more than 7,000 years ago. It's currently thought to be one of the roots of the Kush culture that later became the empire the Egyptians called the Nubians.

It's fucking music from rocks! Sorry. I need to just mull over that long, and hard.

Soul Retrieval in Kabbalah

2011-11-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

To my delight, Mr. Harold Roth has put up a post on nefilat appayim, which could be used as a form of Kabbalistic “Soul Retrieval.” The post itself is knocking some things around in my head, but I will spare Mr. Roth a post in which I would certainly inundate him with things I've learned about Graeco-Roman Necromancy, Orphica, Goetes, and Hero Cults.

Nonetheless: the linked post is seriously worth reading.

Jason, Fleeces, & Nekyomanteions

2011-11-03T22:44:00.000-07:00

Beginning at 02:30 and continuing to 5:30 or so.

Why is this interesting? First, the mountain is Pelion, the legendary haunt of Asklepios. Second, the cave shown around 04:30 or so is held by local custom to be Chiron's abode. The tales of men wearing recently killed Ram fleeces into the cave? We actually have plenty of evidence of the type of rituals in such practices were involved:

“In literary accounts of necromancies at tombs, the manifestation of the ghosts follows seamlessly from the performance of the necromantic rites. But what “really” happened after the consulter had performed his rites at the tomb? How did he experience the ghost? There is no direct evidence, but there is a strong circumstantial case for believing that he went to sleep and dreamed (“incubation”), perhaps on top of the tomb, and perhaps on the fleece of the sheep that he had just jugulated for the ghost and immolated for the nether gods. Curiously, the Greeks and Romans tended to attribute the practice of incubation on tombs of the ordinary dead to other races or religions, but in doing so at least demonstrated their familiarity with the custom.” (Ogden, Greek and Roman Necromancy, p.11)

Asklepios, the God of the mountain that the cave is in, was also an incubatic healer. His Greek temples had a long tradition of accepting pilgrims, who would come for the healing services and who would sleep on the floor of the temple. Alas, I can't grab my copy of Peter Lamborn Wilson's Shower of Stars to quote from, but that was my first source for the subject of incubatic dreaming.

Quoting Ogden, further:

“Plutarch's tale of the Pythagoreans discussed above may imply that Theanor slept at Lysis's tomb to receive his prophecy; Pythagoras had himself wittily affirmed that the dead spoke to the living in dreams. Ammias's promise in her epitaph to send her consulters visions by day or night suggests that incubation was at least one of the methods that could be employed to receive one's prophecy from her, whether actually on her tomb or not. The evidence is more decisive in the case of the (indisputably) heroic dead. Strabo tells that the Daunians (Apulians) had a pair of oracular tombs on Mt. Drion, one of Calchas and one of Podalirius (the son of Asclepius), and that one consulted Calchas by sacrificing a black ram to him and sleeping on its fleece. The scholia to Lycophron's Alexandria tell that the Daunians used to sleep on the sheepskins actually on the tomb of Podalirius to receive dream-prophecies, so we may conclude that one probably slept on the tomb, on a black fleece, in both cases. Both texts add that the healing river Althaeus, good for humans and flocks alike, flowed from the tomb of Podalirius. Broadly comparable is the oraclular chamber raised over the pyre of the Cynic philosopher (and much else besides) Peregrinus, after he had immolated himself at the A.D. 165 Olypmic Games.” (Ogden, ibid, P. 12)

But that's not all:

“The fleece was that of a sacred ram, and would likely originally have been black, possibly dyed purple, as with sacred rams in Crete, Samothrace and elsewhere. Ram skins of this kind were worn in important purification rituals and were obtained from sacrificial victims. It is extremely important to note that the ram was by far the most common sacrificial victim offered to heroes. The idea of a golden fleece, and the likely change in colour from the original, derives from the use of fleeces to capture gold particles in a river bed. Both the Hebrus in Thrace and the Phasis in Colchis were gold bearing rivers. A common relative of Jason and Pelias, Phrixus, had fled to Colchis with this ram, and there had been basely murdered and buried far from home. As a result his homeland was cursed, and the purpose of the quest was to rescue the unquiet spirit and lift the curse.” (Jake Stratton-Kent, Geosophia vol. One, p.14)

I was thinkin'... Cult site?

23: The Cosmic Stupid And I.

2011-11-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

“FOR IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD AND AFTER THE FALL, THE WORD-GAME. MINE CROSSWORDS AND SCRAMBLES SHALT BE THE SOURCE OF THINE LAMENTATION.”

- Austin Coppock, Channeling God's Explaination for Enochian.

Over the weekend, this blog jumped above 123 followers (of course, there are more than a few repeats, but let's conveniently ignore those) and I felt it warranted a special post.

In the mystic lands of magic and discourse, much is said of the many and varied “cosmic, pre-cosmic, post-cosmic, extra-cosmic” intelligences and forces. Very little is said about their little brothers, who consistently pop up to beguile the would-be Magus: the dreaded Cosmic Stupid. About the time that the magician or witch begins actually believing the crazy things they're engaging in activities with are real, the Cosmic Stupid makes it a personal point to crash their party. Unfortunately, the person may well be on the ecstatic joy-ride into the beyond and fail to realize that their party has been conveniently hijacked by the “maybe higher, maybe lower, but definitely dumber” forces of the universe.

These batshit specters eke out a meager living at the bare fringes of conspiracy lore, mysterious monstrous encounters (often occurring during an altered state of consciousness for obvious reasons), and other places where magical thinking is employed and they can convince some sad sap that they've encountered a 8,900 year old Lemurian Warrior who laid siege to Atlantis before the dawn of written civilization. They also seem to enjoy making appearances as disembodied specters which call payphones around the unwary and given them explicit instructions to “not forget the donuts,” as if the safety of the universe itself depends on such a weird act.

John Keel's The Mothman Prophecies documents his experiences with the Cosmic Stupid. they progressively laid waste to his life during the course of his research into the 1966 and 1967 UFO and monster sighting flaps that centered in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. But he's hardly alone. Sir Walter Scott apparently called them “the Crew that Never Rests”. John Lilly called them Cosmic Coincidence Control Center and warned that they pay special attention to those who pay attention to them. (At least if we are to trust RAW's word on the matter, and we might as well; he also encountered them.)

They have the rather inconvenient ability to help make an ass out of anyone who foolishly believes everything that they hear, and who turns their personal bullshit radar off. When something pings the Bullshit Radar, remember to pay special attention to that moment, and what is going on and being said.

Despite all this, they remain nonetheless capable of rather amusing displays of power: during my personal meeting with the Cosmic Stupid many years ago, the situation mimicked a scene from William Gibson's Neuromancer almost exactly. On the first two occasions, I was with friends and as I neared a set of payphones they all began to go off. Stamped quite clearly on the dial pad were the words “No Incoming Calls.” Furthermore, as I passed from phone to phone the call on one would end and then the next would begin ringing. On both occasions I answered the phones, and was greeted by static voices. But I couldn't hear what they were saying, and was both amused and freaked out.

On the third occasion, which occurred after 72 hours without sleep and the unfolding of micro-REM, I got my message: “Don't forget the donuts.” Within twenty minutes, I was at a Krispy Kream shop – out to save the universe from Cthulhu or something. They clearly weren't specific.

I seriously never have forgotten the feeling of standing in a Krispy Kream at 2:30 am, and realizing I wad behaving even more like a madman than usual. When I discussed these events with a mentor, much later, he told me that a friend of his had also made contact with the Cosmic Stupid and gotten a similarly hilarious message: “the Dolphin sails at Midnight.”

So remember: just because the universe is infused with consciousness, does not mean that all of that consciousness is... necessarily helpful, or intelligent.

Love Philtres: A Few Questions

2011-11-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

The recent discourse on Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson has generated some negative opinions expressed by individuals such as Robert over at the Doing Magick blog. Rather than systematically assault his characterization and treatment of magick*, I instead have a series of questions which may or may not help establish the use of Love Philtres in a positive manner in a context which avoids dualistic assumptions about Power and its characteristics:

- If I have a willing partner, could I not include a love philtre (and preferably, one from my partner for myself as well) to help stimulate a more romantic or passionate evening? Indeed: don't Neo-pagans perform similar processes all the time with Kitchen Witchery?
- If the above can be done, is it not possible to use such techniques to spark and help instigate (not to mention keep going) "the magic" of relationships that so many adults with lengthy relationships regard as having gone out?
- Is this not an expression of a type of magical power (over situations, and transitory moments)? Is this not an expression of magical precision in an area of life many Americans profess to feel is lacking for them?

I can seriously go on from there into infinity, examining similar uses of things like spagyric philtres, fluid condensers with specific enchanted functions (such as those involving love, romance, passion, etc.) and so forth.

So long as we only look for the negative functions of a specific technique, it seems to me, then the only context for that technique will be negative. If we can find a positive function, and similar processes in other fields, we can more effectively employ our magical resources towards those things which are useful. While a specific technique can probably be used to inflict harm, this does not necessarily mean that is the primary function, or the only function.

*No offense to Robert, but his definition of magick sounds more like Theurgical mysticism to me. And while I fully appreciate the places where the lines between magick and mysticism blur, I do not think presenting such a definition captures of the holistic processes that are engaged in across the world. Spiritual mysticism may well further an individual, but a definition of magick that does not include self-positive reference points for thaumaturgical (and similar practices found world-wide) potential is not worthwhile to me in the least.

Rite of Asclepios

2011-10-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine wished this ritual reproduced, and I asked if he wanted me to reproduce it as well. The friend affirmed that this was the case, and so here it is.

Readers who also subscribe to Robert's Doing Magick blog will note that he has also reproduced it. This is not an attempt by me to steal his thunder, but rather to pass the ritual to those readers of my blog who don't also read Robert's.

I did not write this ritual, but I have helped perform it once. I can attest that it works, and that it was used successfully by it's originator at least twice. If you find you may need to try and use it: please do!

BACKGROUND

The overall framework for this ritual is based upon a healing temple path working from Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki’s Servants of the Light, supplied to me by a fellow magician who had modified it for ritual healing work back in the ‘80s. I modified the ritual further still with various bits of ceremonial magick technique and historical invocations culled from my friends’ suggestions as well as bits and pieces from my own ingenium. It is, needless to say, a bit eclectic; but (I hope) in the best sense of the word.

The core of this ritual relies on a priest (HP) and priestess (HPS) acting as conduits for healing energy sent from a large number of healers. The magician who supplied the outline version assured me that it had been effectively performed “remotely”; i.e. with the HP and HPS present with the subject of the ritual and people who care (in particular good healers) visualizing the scene and sending healing energy to the HP/HPS team who stand at the head and feet of the subject.

TIMING

Ideally done when Luna is waxing in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent[1]) on the day and hour of the Sun[2]. Obviously this must be altered to circumstance. I managed one of the three: the correct planetary hour.

SETUP

This rite takes place in an Astral replica of the Asclepieion, which is a healing temple located at Epidaurus in Greece. All participants who will be remotely sending energy should be provided with a picture of the subject and the Asclepieion. Just prior to the established time, these “Senders” should set up their personal circle (LBRP, BRH, etc) and raise energy using the Middle Pillar or similar technique.

At the established time, the “Senders” should use the images as a meditative focus and visualize themselves sitting in the Asclepieion and the HP and HPS on the stage, standing at the head and foot, respectively, of the subject of the ritual. The Aesclepieion will be full, not just with those who are incarnate who are adding to the energy but also those healers who have passed beyond the Veil but still turn back to help and heal the living. Torchbearers at regular intervals help guide people to their seats.

A low, relaxing tone fills the Aesclepieion. The Senders should now project their raised energy from their Tiphareth center as a beam of golden light to the HP/HPS team.[3] The tone rises and falls. As the tone rises, the energy flows from the healers to the HPS. As it drops, the energy flows out of the HPS, through the body of the patient, to the HP. The HP takes the energy in and purifies any negativity.[4] As the tone rises again, the energy from the HP flows back into the subject as the energy flows in again from the healers.

The pulses of energy become almost hypnotic for the HP and HPS - waves of love and healing, washing away that which is negative, ill at ease, or diseased. The energy builds in the back and forth movement again and again.[5] Back and forth like a tide.

Time loses meaning during the rite. So the remote Senders should stop at a pre-determined time through use of some form of alarm clock. When the ending alarms go off with the incarnate participants, they stop sending energy, the torchbearers dim their torches (except those on the stage) and the healers quietly leave. Exit the visualization, banish, and ground.

THE RITUAL

The HP/HPS visualize themselves going into an ancient bathhouse in Epidaurus. As they walk to the room where there is a healing bath, they pass imagery of healers from all times and places in the rooms they pass. Before entering the room with the subject:

HP: PROCUL PROCUL ESTAI PROFANI

Both stand at the foot of the subject. The following is a variation of the LBRP[6] to be performed by either the HP or HPS as the circumstances and skills of the operators dictate[7]:

AB IGNE CAELESTI
AD AQUOSUM PROFUNDUM
VIA TERRENA
VIA ARIA
SEMPER IN MEDIO MANENS
FIAT!

When inscribing pentagrams vibrate the letters of the word SALUS associating one letter with each line. Divine names in the traditional LBRP are replaced as follows:

East - ZEUS
South - HESTIA
West - POSEIDON
North - DEMETER

The Invocation of the Archangels in the traditional LBRP are replaced as follows:

ANTE, APOLLO
POST, ARTEMIS
DEXTRA, ATHENA
SINISTRA, PAN

Annoint the forehead and feet of the subject with a damp cloth to symbolically wash them.[8] Now visualize them on a litter, which acolytes carry into the Aesclepieion.

HPS
"I begin to sing of Asklepios, son of Apollo and healer of sicknesses. In the Dotian plain fair Coronis, daughter of King Phlegyas, bare him, a great joy to men, a soother of cruel pangs. And so hail to you, lord: in my song I make my prayer to thee!"[9]

HP
Oh, blessed Asklepios, God of Healing, it is thanks to thy skill that [name] hopes to be relieved from [condition], to no longer [describe condition], but to [describe healed state] as thou hast decreed.[10]

HPS
Be gracious, blessed Paion, you who fashioned the remedy, whether the Triccaean ridges hold you, O demigod, or Rhodes, or Cos and Epidaurus on the sea; be gracious, send your always gracious daughter, Hygeia[11], to [N], who will propitiate you with pure sacrifices for the everlasting freedom from pain which you can grant.[12]

HPS assumes godform of Hygeia.

HP
I [NN] call, therefore, with my vows to hear me each one of all the gods, who anywhere in the world provide present and prompt help for men; who anywhere give their aid and show their power in dreams or mysteries, or healing, or oracles; and I place myself according to the nature of each vow in that spot where the god who is invested with that power may the more readily hear.[13]

HP assumes godform of Asklepios.

HPS
“Great Asklepios, skilled to heal mankind,
all-ruling Paian, and physician kind;
whose arts medicinal can alone assuage
diseases dire, and stop their dreadful rage.

Strong, lenient God, regard my suppliant prayer,
bring gentle health, adorned with lovely hair;
convey the means of mitigating pain,
and raging deadly pestilence restrain.

O power all-flourishing, abundant, bright,
Apollo’s honoured offspring, God of light;
father of Hygeia, the constant foe
of dread disease, the minister of woe:
come, blessed saviour, human health defend,
and to mortal life afford a prosperous end."[14]

Manipulate energies as described in setup section. At agreed upon end time HP and HPS continue to roll energy back and forth until it dissipates. Seal it with the symbol of the Staff of Asclepios on the subject’s forehead and feet using healing balm, spagyric tincture, or blessed water. Exit godform. Do NOT banish.

ADDITIONAL/ALTERNATE TECHNIQUE NOTES

“As the energy builds, I've seen a single snake appear entwined around the
patient, as though they were the Staff of Asklepios. I've seen it transform
into a DNA strand where there have been a number of shamanic healers taking
part.”

You can also visualize the energy 'sticking' in the area of problem, shining
a spotlight on it so that the doctors can find out exactly what is wrong.
Like a PET scan, it lights up the problem so the doctors say, "why didn't we
think of that before?"

Visualize yourself pulling a live snake across the subject’s chest and stomach area. Hold the snake first by the tail with the snake's head at the subject’s throat area. Draw it vertically down their body. Then hold it by its head and draw
it vertically up their body towards their head.

The Rod of Asclepius is a direct representation of ancient traditional treatment of Dracunculus medinensis, the winding worm of death. This parasite peeks out of ulcerous blisters to lay eggs, primarily when the wound is placed in water to cool and soothe it. The practitioner would pull the worm out slowly by winding it around a stick.[15] There may be a useful somatic ritual component inherent here.

In a fuller implementation of this ritual it may be possible to utilize Asclepios’ children (who are aspects of Him) to fine-tune the effect of the rite. Note: When the Athenians invoked Asklepios, they called him “sire” and his offspring, “blest”.

Asclepios SIX daughters
1. Hygieia – disease prevention
2. Meditrina – longevity (later roman accretion)
3. Panacea – cures, universal remedy
4. Aceso - recovery
5. Iaso - recuperation
6. Aglaea – natural beauty, radiance (c

Asclepios FOUR sons
1. Podaleirus – diagnostics
2. Machaon – surgery
3. Telesphoros (aka Enamerion ?) – “Accomplisher” or “Bringer of Completion” convalescence
4. Aratus – “

There are a number of possibilities for elaboration here including planetary banishment/invocation through either a GD hexagram ritual or the Star Sapphire or possibly a composite ritual utilizing the unicursal and greek words of power. I made several notes regarding the use of alchemical tie-ins that are probably worth exploring.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON ASKLEPIOS

Those whom the god cured of their disease offered a sacrifice to him, generally a cock[16] (Plat. Phacd. p. 118) or a goat (Paus. x. 32. § 8; Serv. ad Virg. Georg. ii. 380), and hung up in his temple a tablet recording the name of the sick, the disease, and the manner in which the cure had been effected.

Asklepios appears as a kindly, bearded man holding a serpent-entwined staff. Sometimes also a boy is represented standing by his side, who is the genius of recovery, and is called Telesphorus, Euamerion, or Acesius.

Asclepius (pronounced /æsˈkliːpiəs/; Greek Ἀσκληπιός Asklēpiós [askliːpiós]; Latin Aesculapius) is the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia ("Hygiene"), Iaso ("Medicine"), Aceso ("Healing"), Aglæa/Ægle ("Healthy Glow"), and Panacea ("Universal Remedy"). The rod of Asclepius, a snake-entwined staff, remains a symbol of medicine today, although sometimes the caduceus, or staff with two snakes, is mistakenly used instead. He was associated with the Roman/Etruscan god Vediovis. He was one of Apollo's sons, sharing with Apollo the epithet Paean ("the Healer").

Asclepios was married to Epione, with whom he had six daughters: Hygieia, Meditrina (the serpent-bearer),[disambiguation needed] Panacea, Aceso, Iaso, and Aglaea,[7][8] and three sons: Machaon, Podaleirios and Telesphoros. He also sired a son, Aratus, with Aristodama. The names of his daughters each rather transparently reflect a certain subset of the overall theme of "good health".

----------------

[1] This constellation, between Scorpio and Saggitarius, is associated with Asklepios.
[2] Associated with healing and Apollo, the father of Asklepios.
[3] Again, this Solar symbology is consistent with both healing and the solar (Apollonic) paternity of Asklepios.
[4] Visualize it as the energy being muddied as it flows from the subject to the HP then being cleaned by the presence of the invoked Asklepios.
[5] Compare this to the optical amplification technique of a laser.
[6] Based on “RITUS OLYMPICUS PENTAGRAMMOU MINOR AD EXPELLENDUM”, (c) 1993, John Opsopaus
[7] The Star Ruby would, of course, be equally appropriate here. I’ve used Opsopaus’ ritual for greek-themed work before on a number of occasions and opted to use it here out of expediency.
[8] Ideally this would be a spagyrically prepared tonic utilizing one of the plants of the Asclepias genus (i.e. milkweed)
[9] Homeric Hymn 16 to Asclepius (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic ca 7th to 4th B.C.) :
[10] adapted from Pindar, Pythian Ode 3. 45 ff. - “Oh, blessed Asklepios, God of Healing, it is thanks to thy skill that Diophantes hopes to be relieved from his incurable and horrible gout, no longer to move like a crab, no longer to walk upon thorns, but to have sound feet as thou hast decreed”
[11] See notes on children of Asklepios in Additional/Alternate Techniques section.
[12] adapted from Galen
[13] Emma J. Edelstein and Ludwig Edelstien's, “Asclepius: Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies” (Johns Hopkins, 1998, reprint of 1945 original two volumes in one volume)
[14] Orphic Hymn 67 to Asclepius (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.)
[15] Blayney, Keith (Sept 2002). "The Caduceus vs. the Staff of Asclepius". Alternative Journal of Nursing July 2007, Issue 14, page 4.
[16] “Be prepared to offer a cock in sacrifice to Him afterwards. Seriously. I know animal sacrifice is not common these days but the Old Gods appreciate the table of offerings being rekindled from time to time.”

Put Drugs in the Candy!

2011-10-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

“For if it were not Dionysus for whom they held their processions and sang their songs, it would be a completely shameful act to the reverent; Hades and Dionysus, for whom they go mad and rage, are one and the same.”
- Heraclitus

“Folklore has given us much evidence for believing that the pleasure man takes in the fruits and flowers of the earth, the enjoyment he has in her intoxicating liquids – in fact, that gaiety, in general, can be linked with those moments when man salutes his dead...”
- Walter F. Otto, Dionysus: Myth and Cult (P. 116)

*Note: I am not actually advocating putting drugs in candy for kids. Obviously, drugs should only be used by adults aware of the potential hazards that they bring. I would include in this category the ADD meds you force your children to take daily, and that they probably sell at school to spite you.

Objections

2011-10-27T16:12:00.001-07:00

“Look, man, I'm not your enemy. You worship Jesus; I just worship Jove's other son. You know, the drunken one?”

Objections people have normally thrown at me (to the work I do and have done):

“If you do that, you'll go crazy.” (Note: not “you might go crazy,” but “you WILL go crazy.” Because, presumably, only crazy people do “that”. “That” being whatever you're planning to do.*)
“Dionysos is only a party god, and what can he teach you about liberation?” (LOL.)
“You can't engage in this work if (you like sex, you try any drugs, you drink anything, etc.) because it will make it so that you can't control yourself (in circle, with the group, etc.).” (Answer: don't work with those people. They probably have a very basic, at best, understanding of trance.)
“But that isn't HOLY!” (LOL!)
“Only Black Brothers do that.” (Such as: Saturn work. Srsly. I was told that only Black Brothers do Saturn work at one point. I'm not joking.)
“Dion Fortune says that...” (Insert Neo-Victorian dialogue about Black/White magickz.)

Over the years, I've realized that one of the reasons people panic about certain magical work is because they aren't actually drawn to that specific work. That doesn't invalidate either their work, nor yours. It just makes it different.

If you're throwing out objections like the above? You might be a Neo-Victorian.** And the Curse of Moina Mathers (“we can't consummate our marriage because she's too busy fucking angels!”) may very well fall upon you! BEWARE THE CURSE OF THE MATHERS!

I'll be responding to comments from my last entry shortly. I swear.

* Caveat Lector: What you're planning to do may very well be crazy and ill-advised. Just because they're paranoid, does not mean you're not about to fuck up.
** Do you look up to Arthur Edward Waite and hope to write as obtusely as he did? Do you secretly wish you could join a Buddhist monastery somewhere, and escape you animalistic nature? Are you bugfuck for Theosophical theories?

For TeslaQuoyle: Orphica

2011-10-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

“Here, Bacchus is situated midway between the world of the living and that of the dead, because initiation in the mysteries carried out during life obtains its recompense after death, with liberation from the painful cycle of reincarnations.”
- Bernabe, Instructions for the Netherworld (p. 75).

This is the work of Mnemosyne. When he is on the point of dying
Toward the well-build abode of Hades, on the Right there is a Fountain,
And near it, erect, a white cypress tree.
There the souls, when they go down, refresh themselves.
Don't come near this fountain!
But further on you will find, from the lake of Mnemosyne,
Water freshly flowing. On its banks there are guardians.
The will ask you, with sagacious discernment,
Why you are investigating the darkness of gloomy Hades.
Say: “I am a son of Earth and Starry Heaven;
I am dry with thirst and dying. Give me, then, right away,
Fresh water to drink from the lake of Mnemosyne.”
And to be sure, the will consult the Subterranean Queen,
And they will give you water to drink from the lake of Mnemosyne,
So that once you have drunk, you too will go along the Sacred Way,
By which the other mystai and bacchoi advance, glorious.
- Orphica Tablet from Hipponion (c. 400 BCE). Museo Archeologico Statale di Vibo. First edition, Pugliese Carratelli (1974) 108 f. (Taken from Bernabe, p.8)

In the discussions on the first part of My Name is a Heart Encircled by a Serpent, TeslaQuoyle wrote:

“Re the Orphic Hymns. I've used these quite a lot. IMHO I think the fumigations and the hymns themselves get hold of a particular aspect of the deity in question, the Orphic aspect, call it...

Also, in my use of them, the Orphic Hymns give access to these deities' powers that I might not be able to attain otherwise due to troubles such as illness or, yes, toxic spells that have messed me up. Finally, just maybe, the combination of the hymn and prayer get around undesirable astrological configurations, good for working at any time with those deities with an associated planet.”

At the time, I was still trying to sort through information I was attempting to make sense of in Bernabe's Instructions for the Netherworld: The Orphic Gold Tablets (Brill, 2008). The book is a collection of Gold leaf tablets, along with other similarly identified Orphica remains, and a discussion on what, exactly, they appear to mean. Along with some other reading material, the book has gone a long way toward furthering my understanding of the Orphic movement (in a previous entry I referred to it as a “religion,” which it turns out is the wrong point of reference to take with all the evidence of bricollage involved in the Orphic remains). While this blog is my promised response, I'm going to cover more general ground that I typically do in an attempt to be systematic.

One of the things that has occurred to me is that one of the associated triggers for dealing with the “Orphic aspect” of the deity that Tesla is referring to, appears to be sympathy with what be might called the Orphic mindset. In fact, I'm more and more leaning toward the idea that this sympathy defines a type of relationship with the spirits, or pantheons of spirits, and the Gods that the individual is coming into contact with.

In this respect, the Orphic Gold Leaf Tablets (which have a range of differences, depending on the time and place that they were found) propose a few potential solutions. To a certain extent, Bernabe's research sits on an opposite pole to that of Gary Zabel's, but between the two is plenty of ground forth both of their views to be more or less correct (rather than one simply right, and the other wrong). One of the points of contention that Zabel appears to have is that Bernabe draws on 19^th century views of Orphism, which was treated initially as a type of “Protestant Paganism” (with Orpheus replacing Martin Luther as the prophet of the sect, and the Orphic materials constituting a type of Pagan Bible). Bernabe does not necessarily adopt this stance to the extant material that we have in Instructions for the Netherworld, but rather makes use of some of the 19^th scholarly research when going over what the instructions may have meant with regards to those that left them behind. One has to be careful to avoid adopting the “Protestant Paganism” stance for several reasons:

Orpheus was not always directly referenced by the sects referred to today as “Orphic,” which was an ancient category and one that was often publicly disparaged, such when Plato referred to the Orphics dismissively having a “babble of books,” which were “purported” to having been written by Orpheus and Musaeus. One of the things that such disparaging remarks may indicate is that there were many Orphic texts, and that the Orphics may have treated their texts with poetic license in much the same way that mythographers and poets of the ancient world did.
The totenpässe, that is to say the various Netherworld Instructions, differ based on region and timeline. This may indicate syncretization with various local underworld mythos, or be the effect of the aforementioned poetic license.
The general category for those were deemed as Orphic was unfortunately wide-ranging, involving those who were obsessed with purity to an extreme degree (which was seen as a type of deviant behavior), as well as including positive self-definitions that also reach us (which also involve purity to one extent or another). Some individuals who were called “Orphic” may thus not have actually have been members of one of the various sects such as those that left behind coded instructions for initiates.
There may be some connection between the Goetes – whose name descends from their method of action (Goetia), which was the mournful cries that they sang at funerals – and some Orphic initiates, who were occasionally held to be “excellent mourners” such as by Pindar in his Dirges. How far these connections go is well beyond me to even speculate on at the present time.

Nonetheless, the Orphica we have at our disposal does make clear at least some of the relationship of the initiate with specific spirits. The first to cover is Mnemosyne, who is dealt with initially in the above Totenpass. It should be remembered that there are five major tributaries in the Greek underworld:

Mnemosyne by Rossetti

In addition to these is another, hidden tributary, which is Mnemosyne. In addition to being the Titan Muse of Memory (and hence memories of past lives), Mnemosyne was also held to be (variously) an underworld river or lake which acted on the deceased differently than the rest. (There were also other potential resting places for the dead: the Asphodel Meadows, and the Isle(s) of the Blest being two. And then there was the possibility of getting stuck for one reason or another, which was generally held to suck hardcore by all accounts.) At the beginning of the Totenpass, the author declares that the Orphic work at death is “the work of Mnemosyne.” This is one of the reasons, presumably, that the instructions were bequeathed to the dead: so that they had something to help them act on memory, which they had spent their life preparing for. In particular, a cultivated relationship with Mnemosyne seems quite likely. Barnabe explains:

“The goddess takes care that the initiate recalls what he must do, and the instructions that have been revealed to him while alive (probably in the course of initiation), thus becoming the protectress of souls and the guide of his journey.

Mnemosyne presides over the poetic functions, insofar as he daughters, the Muses, are responsible for poets' “recalling” the contents of their poetry. The σοφία (wisdom) that Mnemosyne dispenses to one is an “omniscience” of a divinatory kind. However, just the fact that the poet sings through the inspiration by the Muses does not exclude him from a difficult preparation and learning of the art of a see, so a similar preparation is demanded of the initiate who invokes the divinity at the entrance of Hades.

Yet there is something more. The coincidences between Mnemosyne and Orphism are clear. In the domain of myth, Mnemosyne is related to Orpheus concretely, she is his grandmother – since her daughter, the muse Calliope, was Orpheus' mother. Like the mythic bard, she is a native of Pieria, and like him she is related to poetry and music, since she is the mother of the Muses.

It would not be outlandish to think that for Mnemosyne, the daughter of Earth and Heaven, it is almost a sacred duty to help her sister/brother, the fellow initiate, achieve the happiness of the Elysian field. Yet in addition to this mythic relation, which we might consider superficial, there is a deeper one, of a religious character, which affects a system of beliefs. In an Orphic hymn, dedicated precisely to this goddess, the function we are supposing for Mnemosyne in the tablets is made explicit: Awaken in the initiates the memory of the pious ritual, and send forgetfulness [Lethe] far from them.” (Bernabe, 2008. P. 16)

He continues:

“A further meaning may also be found for the reference to Mnemosyne. Given that the concept of truth in Greek means etymologically the “absence of forgetting,” to remember also therefore means “to know.” Memory breaks down the barrier between present and past, thus extending a bridge between the world of the living and the Beyond, to which all who have abandoned the light of the sun return. Whereas Forgetfulness is the water of death, because no one can approach the realm of shadows without having lost memory and consciousness, Memory, by contrast, is the fount of immortality since he who conserves the memory of things in Hades transcends the mortal condition.
To remember in the other world also means to overcome the divisions of time that mark this brief mortal life. In its mnemonic faculty, the intellect recognizes its ability to overcome what is limited, sensible and mortal, in such a way that the soul becomes aware of the identity by means of memory, that is, by means of the knowledge of its own experience, its responsibility for its actions, and their consequences after death. With memory of the entire series of his previous lives and the faults he may have committed therein, man can pay the price for his injustices in full, and bring the cycle of his individual destiny to a close. The exercise of memory is thus transformed into a means of salvation and liberation with regard to the world of becoming and death.”

While I have thus far not mentioned Dionysus it bears mentioning that his subjects, the Maenads, used ecstatic dance at celebrations specifically to get themselves out of body, and catch a glimpse of their God in the Other World. This successive stage of spiritual evolution would presumably also allow them to maintain their memory after parting from this world, and thus showing a bit of a link between the two. Later totenpässe instructions also include the instruction to tell the Three Infernal Judges (also encountered in Jake Stratton-Kent's Geosophia) that “Bacchus himself has released you,” showing that Liber's role in “liberation” remains intact for some Orphic initiates. One final point, which I may expand on at a later point, is that the individual who “remembers in the Other World,” is considered a Hero. The act of maintaining memory alone after death is seen, at least by Bernabe, as something which only a Hero is capable of.

Hades and Persephone

The relationship with Mnemosyne is not the only thing that Orphic salvation, as an eschatology, is also concerned with. In addition to working with the Titan Muse of Memory (and possibly her two sisters, Aiode and Melete) the initiate also has a particular relationship with the Subterranean Queen, Persephone. To discuss this end of the relationship, Bernabe slips into discussions on the Zagreus myth:

“In reality, the goddess had already been alluded to in the first group we studied, since she is the 'subterranean queen' before whose presence the deceased had to present himself, after correctly answering the guardians' question, but here she is called by her name...

Although her name does not appear in one tablet from Pherai (L 13), the presence of the Brimo (one of her invocations) and the allusions to the 'sacred meadow' evoke 'the sacred meadows and groves of Persephone' cited in the tablet from Thurii (L 8, 6). She is also, no doubt, the 'queen of the underworld beings' mentioned in the tablets from Thurii and Rome, and she appears as such in the Orphic Hymns (29, 6): Mother of the Eumenides, queen of the underworld beings...

According to the Orphic tradition, Persephone is born the result of the rape of Demeter by Zeus. Zeus in turn violates her as well, and she gives birth to Dionysus Bacchus. As the mother of Dionysus, Persephone can be considered the mother of mortals, who, according to the Orphic myth, descend from the Titans who had devoured her son. Indeed, according to our intrepretation of the “great” tablet of Thurii, it is she that the deceased addresses, calling her “mother” (L 12, 6-7): mother, hear by prayer.

The goddess fulfills salvific function, and the initiate confides in her.” (p. 67-69)

“Persephone is the judge in the ultimate decision over the soul's destiny, as seems to be deducible from the expression we find in two Thurian Tablets: “Now I come as a suppliant before chaste Persephone, to see if, benevolent, she may seend me to the dwelling of the limpid ones.” (L 10a-b, 6.f)

And it is to her that the initiate declarations of purification and liberation are addressed: “I come from among the pure, pure, queen of subterranean beings.” (L 9-10, 1.)

That is why, in the tablet to which we are referring, she is the one who must be informed that Dionysus has liberated the soul of the deceased. In the tablets from Hipponion and Entella (L 1-2), the soul must confront the questions of the guardians, but their function does not go eyond the mere transmitters of the correct answer to the goddess, who must make the ultimate decision. In the tablet from Pella (L 16b), her name appears in the dative, which is to be understood in the same sense as the texts from Pelinna: the goddess attention is attractioned, and Posidippus' condition as an initiate in the mysteries is communicated to her, so that she may guarantee him a favorable position in the Beyond...

Since human beings issue forth from the ashes of the Titans, united with the earth, we have within us
residues of the Titanic nature, but also of the Dionysiac nature, since the Titans had eaten the flesh of the god. Consequently, Bacchus, the very victim of the Titanic crime, is the only one who can liberate the human race from the guilt of their ancestors. This is why the tablets from Pelinna say explicitly: Bacchus himself has liberated me.

That is, the principle figure affected by the crime of mankind's ancestors, the god, considers that the initiate has now expiated the crime inherited from his Titanic lineage, for which reason Persephone, the victim's mother, will be able to accept the soul that arrives before her. This is the same situation alluded to in a Pindaric fragment (133 Maehl), in which we are told of: the souls from whom Persephone accepts compensation for their ancient sorrow...” (p. 72-75)

To a certain degree, it seems to me that gaining access to the “Orphic response” from spirits called in the Hymns has more to do with establishing relations with the spirits and deities that are principle to the Orphic work, as well as acting in a specifically “Orphic” manner (which seems contingent on forcing the Titanic factors in man which make him “afflicted, miserable, race of man.” (Orphic Hymn #36, To the Titans). Generally speaking, it would be good for me to pause on a matter I brought up previously, but was unable to explain well: not all of the Titans, and their relations with the individual, are seen as toxic or dangerous forces. As Mnemosyne and the relation between the initiate and the Daemon would show, some of the Titanic forces are specifically called upon so that the initiate is prepared for the realm Beyond. In this respect, my personal experiences thus far have shown that most of the pantheons and spirits (even the negative ones!) begin responding to the call of the Hymns differently than might be anticipated as long as I maintain the Orphic stance. (One of the few things that was forced on me was a heightened attention to purity – e.g. purifying baths and meditative sequences – before using the hymns or calling on the spirits. This hasn't been particularly hard, and some of that demand has relaxed from at least one spirit since I initially encountered it. This is not to say that I'm not crazy or being deceived.)

You can probably expect me to talk about these matters again soon. Except that next time, I may invalidate 90% of anything contained herein. Since, I'm still working out how the relationships all work together.

J.F.

#Occupy Reality

2011-10-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

Via Harlequinade

We went down to City Hall where Occupy Philadelphia is going down. This perfect spot was just waiting to be blown up. Hopefully it will keep the momentum up for the movement and give the space a little extra “umph.” We’ll have some in progress shots posted up soon too. Twas fun! - Nox.

Expect a sigil for the Genius Loci (of Cesar Chavez Park), as well as possibly an image of the spirit itself (we'll see what turns up; can't count your chickens before they're hatched) to appear on this blog, to show solidarity with the Occupy movement. I'll be sure to make sure the spirit is also willing to make a deal with me before presenting it's sigil, too.

- J.F.

P.S. This is also my response to Gordon. Who is awesome.

You Reap What You Sow

2011-10-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

Jovial Jupiter Inspects the Prospective Fields.

Maybe, just maybe, he'll plant a Garden of Pomegranates. Or maybe he'll put down some Coffea, to help with those late nights. Who knows?

Stern Saturnus Inspects the Fields to be Reaped.

It's all about how the cycle, I guess. Not all harvests are things of ill portent, however, and the harvest season has often been one of great joy in the West.

This is the rather uninspiring result of today's attempt to Gnostically work out the relationship between the two. Except that it was a series of beautiful images in my mind, rather than the above.

Also: check out Jow's blog entry, along with the entry by The Unlikely Mage.

Lux e Tenebris

2011-10-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

Saturnus by Polidoro da Caravaggio

“I am concealed with all concealments; when the Most Holy Ancient One is stripped and driven through the marketplace I am still secret and apart.

Whom I love I chastise with many rods.

All things are sacred to me; no thing is sacred from me.

For there is no holiness where I am not.

Fear not when I fall in the fury of the storm; for mine acorns are blown afar by the wind; and verily I shall rise again, and my children about me, so that we shall uplift our forest in Eternity.

Eternity is the storm that covereth me.

I am Existence, the Existence that existeth not save through its own Existence, that is beyond the Existence of Existences, and rooted deeper than the No-Thing-Tree in the Land of No-Thing.”

- Aleister Crowley, Liber A'ash vel Capricorni Pneumatici.

Lately I have been getting a semi-quiet feedback loop of gnashing teeth from individuals all saying the same thing: “I hear you like Jupiter, dawg. Why do you hate Saturn?”

So due to the fact that I never, ever talk about Saturnian astrological magick – and I do mean never! – I figured I'd put these blasphemous thoughts to rest: astrological magick is a system, yes? To simply remove a planet because you don't like what it represents, or don't think it's important (and if you think you can do that, let's not chat at all) is to perhaps blunder into a world of hurt. Suddenly you might become convinced, because of your Jupiterian boons, that something like infinite growth exists. Or like you can't err – ever.

Saturn tends to, in my experience, provide the outer limits within which growth is possible. Saturn delineates the point at which growth simply stops, and to ignore those limits is to set yourself up for a problematic situation.

It has been my experience that there are periods where it is best to stop practicing magick – all together – and give it up as a durational oath and test in the name of Saturn. During this period, you specify only specific prayers or meditative sequences which will be allowed (and during which you use to sort your shit, as were) and to make further concrete the things and areas of your life in which you've been attempting to spark growth. Thus, rather than actively practicing magick, you instead simply read or meditate. And now that you've found that man or woman that you love, you take them out to dinner or spend time focusing on them. You focus on your job, and make your commitments to it concrete. If you have kids, you take them out and have a good time with them. You maintain your dream journal. You make sure to pick an hour of Saturn to read that Orphic hymn, or simply meditate on Saturn. You step back and take stock of the situation, effectively.

And then, at the end of the period, you return to your normal practices. Lest all of this sound easy, let me state that it is easier sound than done, and if you've gotten used to active and regular practice, it can be an extremely bitter experience. Saturn has a funny way of kicking all those problems that you were busy ignoring while you were being an amazingly talented (or amazingly modest) magician, and throwing them right on your doorstep.

But in the end, that shit needs to get sorted, too. And ignoring it just tends to make things worse.

If you don't regularly practice and simply dabble, feel free to ignore this entry. You should probably leave Saturn the fuck alone until you've done some other shit. Or just ignore my commentary altogether. What the hell do I know, anyway?

In Praise of Cynicism

2011-10-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Diogenes by John William Waterhouse

“And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” - Matthew 19:24

Do you wish to know the shortcut on the path to leading a Virtuous life? Take all your unnecessary shit – all the things you don't need, and which do not allow you to lead a self-sufficient life – and burn it. Burn your home to the ground and buy a large car and live in it. Do not attempt to gain money, power, or status. Devote yourself instead to knowledge and self-knowledge, and thus you will enter into the domain of Truth and live a life of virtue.

While it is true that it is virtuous and possible to accumulate wealth to benefit one's fellows – it is also true that this is also a lie many tell themselves to justify their actions, or their participation in a morally bankrupt system of thought. So many devote themselves to the ideas of their nation that they ignore the terrible reality around them, and instead choose to see their actions through rose colored glasses. They are lying to themselves. Wealth can be a trap, in which the belief is that the accumulation of it will lead to happiness, while in reality the person is miring themselves in a morally bankrupt system and choosing to instead value general economy over, say, his fellow man. This is the right of any individual to do: and many will. It is not, however, virtuous.

Many believe that power and status will allow them to live happily. They, too, lie to themselves. Those who wish for power will never love or treat their fellows as if they have worth – unless they have something to gain from that person. And therefore to seek power from the supposedly “Powerful” (which are but wordly individuals) is to mire oneself in the traps of politics and public opinion. All too quickly that power – so forcefully fought for – will suddenly vanish if one does not become, in reality, a Tyrant and instead expects the general goodwill or love of others.

To be a celebrity remains the desire of all too many, despite the fact that our “Stars” are in fact unhappy, pitiful, crippled things that we jeer and poke at. There is no quicker way to lose all sense of self and love for life than to become a part of the public spectacle, the terrible Fool who is ever-present.

To live a life of virtue is an act of courage – and it is not in accord with the laws of the land when they are unjust, nor with the notions of those around living around one. One is not allowed to pretend that shallow ideals will simply be enacted, nor is one allowed to pretend that one is holy or better than anyone else. To live this way is to serve oneself, above the notions of those around one, and to be subject to their derision.

There are no rewards for such a choice, except knowing that you abided by your code and refused to be drawn into systems which you object to. There is no good karma for this: you will suffer as others suffer, and face problems which others will not have to face. That is why so few manage to act this way; and that is why there is so little virtue in the world around us.

In the end, the easier choice is to follow along blindly, and to believe that Power, Privilege, Titles, Fame or Wealth will make you Happy. And perhaps it is possible to be happy in such a state. But it is not, nor has it even been, virtuous.

And for those who wish to deceive themselves on this matter, there is nothing but contempt.

Edit: I do not wish to sound as if I am proselytizing, because I am not. The above is an intentionally constructed extreme of the Cynical philosophy, not by any means something most – if anyone – actually manages to do. The path of cynical thought is to spend one's life disentangling the value judgments that society places on status symbols versus what is actually of worth, and allows for virtue. In this case the primary prizes are knowledge (which can be used any time, any where, and passed along) and self-knowledge (which is used to help disentangle ourselves at the places where are hard to deal with.

The biggest thing I wish to make clear is that acting on this line of thought may very well be highly praised in some eyes, many find it pointless. It neither satiates their personal desire (which some of us find pointless), nor does it give them any visible reward. This is why almost no one acts in such a fashion. Chasing wealth leads to a visible reward, but will always come at the cost of greed. Every time you engage in the process of working to facilitate and maintain wealth, you will run the risk of being greedy. So, while I do think it's a great thing that certain folks are getting their message out there about being a King, and serving your community by being prepared to part with the wealth you've worked for when the time is right – I feel compelled to note that this comes at a higher risk than, say, spurning wealth all together and focusing on other things. Which is not to say that spurning wealth and luxuries is by any means easy.

It is harder to do right by your fellow wo/man when you are consumed by greed, or envy (by far) than it is to simply give up what is necessary to maintain the state you wish.

Enough barking. I'm done for the night.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

2011-10-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

(It is October, which means that I have to get all B-Movie and intentionally freak people the fuck out. Over-the-Top-Occultism, with a motherfucking vengeance.)

Peruvian Moche Funeral Mask

The Handfish

Yes, this fish scuttles across the ocean floor... On its hands.

I mean, it may very well be that the species we once were - when our atavistic predecessors crawled out of the sea and into the primeval world - was just like that fish.

And that in distant aeons, that species of fish will crawl upon the land and birth a new race, to inherit our long forgotten planet, long after humanity is ash and memory.

Do you think they dream yet, in the deeps? Or does that happen later?

***

[x2] Years ago, I had a friend who took some Salvia Divinorum in an attempt to figure out what, exactly, was wrong with his life. After some probing, he finally revealed that the drug had given him a vision, in which he met a spirit - looking somewhat, he stated, like an elf - who had told him that the problems he was having revolved around not having performed a Rite of Passage ritual.

Lacking any type of spiritual leader, he determined that he'd do what his ancestors had done - fish.

So, to make himself a man, he joined an Alaskan fishing vessel and spent the summer learning the fine art of modern fishing.

He admitted, upon his return, that for the most part he didn't feel more manly as a result of his self-made rite of passage, but that he did feel changed after a certain point. He told us that one night - it was getting late, and with the darkness gathered a quick storm, and they were worried about being stuck in such a sudden storm. So they were pulling, quite furiously, the nets up. As they pulled one of the last nets that they'd dropped, one of his fellow fishermen cried out. He'd been struck on the thigh by a poisonous spine from a fish. They removed, quickly the spine, and sent the fellow to sit down and rest until they reached shore. But they also probed the net for fish, and as they did the assailing species came to light.

It was, my friend said, a mottled gray color and spines covered the thing. He insisted that he could find no discernable place for eyes, and that it didn't even really look like a fish at all. As he gazed upon it, one of the older men came up and told him it was either a good omen, or a bad omen - but they wouldn't know which until they got back to the shore.

What is it, my friend asked? The older fisherman at first only shook his head, refusing to even name the thing. He'd seen things like it, he said, but he didn't think they were fish.

Well, my friend asked, what else would it be? It didn't look like a serpent, or any sort of jellyfish.

No, no, the older fishman told him, that thing aint even real. It's the spawn of the nightmares of children, which take root in the deep.

My friend said that he was seized by something, and that he immediately grabbed a near by knife and struck the thing, careful not to get hit by the spines. Then - when he was sure it was dead - he took three of the spines from and put them in a secret place. He told me that he was sure it was the fulfillment of his personal Rite of Passage, and that he'd slain the result of his childhood nightmares and became a man.

He said he'd kept the spines as a trophy. Like any sensible soul, I advised him to get rid of them. For all he knows they have some sort've crazy neurotoxin on them that will kill an elephant in ten minutes or something...

[EDIT]: Many thanks to Mr. King for the original link and his many praises to our Lord of Many Tentacles and Psyche Destroying Menace. (IA, IA--!)

The Supernatural Assistant

2011-09-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

On this matter, I only have a few comments:
This category, in terms of inside the PGM and outside them, is extremely broad. You might say that there are many 'supernatural assistants', and that they form a range or continuum of potential for the magician or witch. Some of daemons, some are the dead, some are deities (treated like daemons). At one end of this range we would have the ghosts of executed felons, with whom the magician has an agreement, and at the other end the HGA.

Most spirits encountered by the magician will fall somewhere in the middle, depending on the context of what's happening, what's been done, & etc.

I do not assume the spirits I have on hand are the HGA. In fact, I'm sure that none of them fulfill the requirements of Abramelin of Worms. To say that the HGA and 'Good Genius' are the same is... Potentially misleading, as R.O. has recently noted. Saying that they fulfill similar functions is the best we can do.

I felt like, with regards to a comment that Conjureman Ali made on Mike C.'s recent entry on certain topics, he hit the nail on the head:

“Yet the point that I believe is important to realize is that there are enough spirits to confuse the HGA with indicates that there is more than one guiding spirit. It is this point that is lost in the debate. While many are in the rush to cultivate a relationship with the HGA, the personal djinn and other guiding spirits are entirely neglected.”

Ceremonial Magicians have been taught, especially in the last century, to only draw from the highest. This is most obviously seen in the form of finding the Holy Guardian Angel. One of the reasons so many people feel compelled to insist that they have found their HGA is because they have, in fact, found a tutelary spirit. It may not match the attributes of the HGA, but they know how it functions and that it has led them in some way or another to what they needed. (Note that I say needed, not wanted.) This is a self-created blindspot for many - because, if they don't realize how many other types of tutelary spirits there are in the historical record and record of practice of magicians worldwide, it leads them to assume some sort of universal process must be at work. And then - bang! “It must be the HGA!”

Unless we distinguish categories of spirits based on function, on the history of practice, and on the precursors of the idea they embody, then we will never manage to be able to discuss these topics with any line of coherence.

In his comments, Mike C. did say something I disagree with, in regards to the HGA: “I'd say, really? I mean, really? No. The HGA does not "provide a path" for us, nor does it create situations in our life. It just doesnt. Ever. Remember the whole concept of free will that God gave us?”

I, uh, disagree entirely on that matter. That we have a hand in our destiny is by no means untrue; but that we 'create' or 'control' it? Or even the belief in true Free Will, at all? Not a belief I personally hold. In fact, most of my experiences have made me suspect that I had less free will than I initially believed I did.

On the other hand, if he's found a way to reconcile the belief in Free Will vs. Fate, I'd genuinely love to hear the theory. Because I've crunched on it for a long time, and find myself sitting somewhere in the middle. There are things we can change; but I don't think we can change some things - in ourselves or the world - at all. We can at best counter-balance them.

I've gotten off topic, however. My point: the idea of supernatural assistants, ESPECIALLY in the PGM, embodies a range or continuum of entities, not a single source of pure Awesome.

EDIT: And if the spirit the magician had on hand was the “Demon of a Dead Man,” and that dead man was a convicted criminal, the magician would likely insist he had a Good Daemon anyway. Because otherwise he was worshiping a criminal in the ancient mind, and that also made him a criminal. Note that this was also problematic for early Christians, who worshiped a condemned criminal (Christ) and faced similar accusations to magicians acting outside the scope of the law.

“Like Bringing a Wand to a Raygun Fight...”

2011-08-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

“Only one thing is certain...

Buzz Kraken, by V.V.F.

...In the 25^th Century, Harry Potterites will Rule the Day!”

HAN: Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
LUKE: You don't believe in the Force, do you?
HAN: Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny.
- Star Wars: A New Hope.

Meet Phanes!

2011-08-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

Meet Phanes.

Some folks syncretically wed him with Eros the Elder, and some Orphic sects saw him as the “ancestral force” (if you will) behind (Zagreus/) Dionysos. At least, if I understand what they're saying, anyway.

As noted in the Theoi article: “His name means bring to light or make appear from the Greek verbs phanaô and phainô.” One would compare this to the idea of Dionysos as “the God who comes,” or “the Lord of Epiphany.”

Orphic Hymn #5 is dedicated to him, as the Protogonus. Like Dionysos, he also seems to have a tendency to hang out with cosmic snakes.

Sometimes, when I use the title “Lucifer” (Light Bringer) I'm being an asshole and referring to Phanes, Iakkhos, or Prometheus. (Although I tend to refer to Prometheus as such.) My reasons for Iakkhos are entirely UPG (I experienced him as “joyous torchlight at midnight,” but hardly expect that to makes any sense to most folks).

I primarily do this to freak out people I don't want to deal with. It's done a pretty good job of keeping me from being overly annoyed in terms of those who I speak with, honestly. They mistake me for a Satanist, and I get to roflcopter along most of the time.

I lampoon the idea of the Black Brotherhood, on an unrelated note, for reasons of satire.

“My RoftlCopter Just Got Taken Out By Ninjas on Lollerblades.”

2011-08-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it. I laughed when I read Star Foster's recent blog entry entitled, “Is Wicca a Christian Heresy?”

The commentary ranks right up there with some of the comments I saw Esoteric Christians make about Wicca last night on R.O.'s facebook feed. We might call some of this bullshit an astounding level of ignorance, broadcast publicly for everyone to see.

To Star:

Her·e·tic
noun
1. a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.
2. Roman Catholic Church . a baptized Roman Catholic who willfully and persistently rejects any article of faith.
3. anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.

A·pos·tate
noun
1. a person who forsakes his religion, cause, party, etc.
adjective
2. of or characterized by apostasy.

Heretic (n.)
mid-14c., from O.Fr. eretique (14c., Mod.Fr. hérétique), from Church L. haereticus, from Gk. hairetikos "able to choose," the verbal adjective of hairein...

Heresy
"An opinion of private men different from that of the catholick and orthodox church" [Johnson], c.1200, from O.Fr. heresie (12c.), from L. hæresis, "school of thought, philosophical sect," used by Christian writers for "unorthodox sect or doctrine," from Gk. hairesis "a taking or choosing, a choice," from haireisthai "take, seize," middle voice of hairein "to choose," of unknown origin, perhaps from PIE *ser- "to seize" (cf. Hittite šaru "booty," Welsh herw "booty").

The Greek word was used in N.T. in reference to the Sadducees, Pharisees, and even the Christians, as sects of Judaism, but in English bibles it usually is translated sect. Meaning "religious belief opposed to the orthodox doctrines of the Church" evolved in Late Latin in the Dark Ages. Transferred (non-religious) use from late 14c.

Apostate (n.)
mid-14c., "one who forsakes his religion or faith," from O.Fr. apostate (Mod.Fr. apostat) and directly from L.L. apostata, from Gk. apostasia "defection, desertion, rebellion," from apostenai "to defect," lit. "to stand off," from apo- "away from" (see apo-) + stenai "to stand." Used in non-religious situations (politics, etc.) from mid-14c. As an adjective from late 14c.

Apostasy
Late 14c., "renunciation, abandonment or neglect of established religion," from L. apostasia, from later Gk. apostasia, from apostasis "revolt, defection," lit. "a standing off" (see apostate). General (non-religious) sense is attested from 1570s.

Words, you see, mean things. When you use them, make sure you're using them correctly. Or we'll throw popcorn at you and jeer.

I'll end this with my “favorite” Robert Cochrane quote to drop into these conversations, in regards to witchcraft in general (rather than Wicca specifically):

“I really think it is time that a distinction was made between witchcraft and paganism. One can be an ardant [sic] Christian, and practice witchcraft. One can be a raving pagan and never touch the stone or cord. The real trouble lies in Victorian interpretation of the Mysteries and the philosophers who have foolishly accepted such writing as being the last development of thought upon paganism.”
- Roy Bowers (Robert Cochrane), The 1734 Letters.

Now, if you want to be a “pure Pagan” and give up all elements of Abrahamic Religion? That's fine. That's a decision to be made entirely by you.. But don't spout ignorant nonsense to support your personal choice. Furthermore, don't act as if “salvation philosophies” are a strictly Christian category (they aren't), or that Dying and Reborn Gods are a strictly Christian category, because they most assuredly aren't. Now, I realize that Wikipedia isn't the greatest source on earth, but it seems like these brief overviews might be helpful to you. Am I being a condescending ass? Yes. Am I totally doing it on purpose? Yes. Some of the rather questionable debates going on right now have reached a level of stupidity that they never should have.

If you “really” want to research the subject, you might look at some rituals from 2000 years ago. You'll soon discover that “Abrahamic” godnames are included by Pagan magicians! OMGWTF!

I have trolled on this subject enough for one day. Now, to work on things I'm expected to finish.

EDIT: My hostility to this subject was raised yesterday, when the aforementioned moron on Facebook began "explaining" that Wicca "really" only involved thoughtforms and egregores. I subsequently realized that said individual did not seem to really understand what an egregore was. He followed up his justifications with a commentary about Archetypes and how Wicca was lacking in them.

And my brain just fucking broke. Jung did not develop the theory of the Collective unconscious to validate or invalidate religious thought: he developed it to help explore dimensions of religious and mystical thought in a way that might be useful to psychologists. Furthermore, saying that Wicca doesn't involve naturally occuring Archetypes is way, way off. You may say many things about Wicca; that is not one of them.

You can imagine my complete lack of surprise to read Star's blog entry, which while it diverges in the specific thoughts, still carries with it the same problematic tendencies: an inappropriate use of words (heresy, for example), a lack of knowledge regarding the topic brought up.

I have noted in the past, on the topic of the Stele of Jeu, that I prefer it to the Bornless One ritual that Crowley developed based on it. This is personal bias on my part; I would never, however, accuse Crowley of being a heretic of the Greaco-Roman magical school because of his adaptation.

The hostility of certain neo-Pagans towards anything remotely resembling Christian thought (even if it is not, in fact, actually a type of Judeo-Christian thought) is as absurd as the hostility of certain Esoteric Christians towards neo-Pagans that can't just learn to love and accept Jesus.

Revising Errors

2011-08-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

In my review of Robin Artisson's The Witching Way of Hollow Hill, I wrote that:

“I must admit, however, that aside from his attempt to link Apollo (who he claims has an occulted underworld aspect – something I'm unaware of) with the post-Christian name of Azael, I enjoyed his discourse on the names of the Gods and Goddesses that appear in witchery and their links to the underworld. Indeed: my only beef is with Apollo in that context. The closest I'm aware of in that context is the possible cultus of Apollon Lykeios and its links to a chthonic, wolf-form...”

I have since been made aware that I was truly ignorant. While reading Daniel Ogden's Greek and Roman Necromancy I came across references that he made to a form of Cthonic Apollo. He noted that these characteristics were subsumed into Hermes Kthonios and his functions. Or maybe it was Zeus-Kthonios/Hades. Ugh. Unfortunately, I was not paying attention like I ought to have been (I was on the train, headed to my former hometown at the time) and did not make a note and citation in my notebook, as I often do. So I'll have to hunt through the first hundred pages of the book to find the direct reference later. I felt compelled to state this, however, as I was completely incorrect. I'll find the citation later this week and add it to this entry, or one of it's own.

EDIT: I have also reconsidered my stance on VM, and his work. It isn't necessary, but it can be helpful for beginners.

At some point, I'd also like to learn the source of his Red Meal.

There's Always More to Write...

2011-08-21T12:25:00.001-07:00

It also came from the 4Chan

I largely write to cement information in my brain, along with sources, that I have previously read. I have not given up on the Hecate material - some of which was supposed to appear in Sutra v.5 - but have slowed down to make sure the next section of what I write is both coherent and densely packed with useful details.

Nonetheless, when I finish I'm tempted to look deeper into the early American antinomian inclination and discuss fellows like Thomas Morton a bit more.

Editing this entry with my phone is a pain.

The Laughing Heart

2011-08-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

Via the Hermetic Library: Tom Waits reciting The Laughing Heart by Charles Bukowski.

You can ignore Bono's follow-up if he annoys you, of course.

"One or Two Books."

2011-08-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

As Found by VVF on "The 4Chan".

Look, if you're between the ages of 25 - 50 and in the course of a discussion, you try to suggest I have only read one or two books on some subject or another, I'm going to verbally abuse you. I have tried to be patient with certain folks and that patience has been exhausted.

If I have only read one or two books on a subject, I will tell you. If you want to know my source material or where the basis of my thoughts spring, again: ask me and I will tell you.

If you, on the other hand, pull some "you're under 30 years of age and therefore utterly ignorant" bullshit with me, I will turn you into verbal mincemeat for fun and then maybe point 12 pissed off kids in your direction, so they can troll you until you never engage in that behavior again. It isn't just disrespectful: it's obnoxious. Believe me, I can easily cite you to death if I know you're wrong. And I really will joyously do it. I prefer not to, however.

Caveat lector: if you've only actually read one or two books, there is no harm in admitting it. Helpful individuals will point you in the direction of work or works that may be beneficial to you.

(Why did I add that image to this entry? Largely because later tonight I might use the picture VVF found of Bruce Lee as a Green Lantern, in a bit of commentary.)

For Norman Rift

2011-08-17T01:40:00.000-07:00

There I was, reading that later tonight BBC4 was going to air a documentary on the Pendle Witches, recently brought up on this blog. And I thought, I'd really like to watch that.

Thanks to Archive.Org, why not watch it a bit early? Heheh.

EDIT: This is totally not that documentary. It just looks as if it could be, if the documentary airing tonight was beaten with a baseball bat and then forced through sound-glitch Hell. If you were duped, I am sorry.

Before I House-Sit

2011-08-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

Original link.

Is Mercury still flamingly Retrograde? Yes. Is that argument you want to pick ill-advised? Probably.

I've been going back to this chart all week to keep from raving here and there. I think I'll keep it up.

WHAT TIME IS IT?!

2011-08-12T00:48:00.000-07:00

Err, well, it's the Witching Hour here in California for another 15 minutes or so.

However: I was planning to get my discussion on Hecate, Hermes/Hermes Kthonios, and the Crossroads out today. But such is not the case, and so I'm adding an update that I intend to have it ready for Monday (as is, frankly, fitting).

As a humorous aside: my initial opening to my weekly Jovian ritual was, today, interrupted by a trio of meowing (it lasted for about three minutes) cats. They subsequently went quiet and let me restart my ritual, but it was extremely amusing.

I wonder if there are any lunar rituals in which I can make use of a chorus of three meowing cats...

Be seeing you,
J.F.
Kind've a flake. But, you know, a nice one.

“My Name is a Heart Encircled By a Serpent.” (P.1)

2011-08-09T19:05:00.000-07:00

Further Comments on the Stele of Jeu, the Crossroads, Vineyards, & Protections for Non-Beginners.

My first exposure to the Stele of Jeu came on the now-defunct chaosmagick.com forums, as I recall it being both reproduced and given a commentary (like the one presented in Sutra of the Poison Buddha, Vol. III p.36-42, and it is one of my favorite pieces in the Sutras) by Iaxar, I believe. (Please correct me if I am wrong. I believe this was in 2006.) Initially, for it's performance, I only had those two texts printed out. I couldn't get my hands on any Papyrus, or to be more specific, did not know where to buy some... (You can buy it online or, as one fellow I know does, make it yourself.) So I made use of some high quality Vellum paper as a substitute for the preliminary operation in which the paper or papyrus is inscribed. After the performance of the ritual, but while in the presence of the “empty spirit,” the piece can be “charged” with a laying on of hands. Thereafter, it can be treated as a talisman and (if the spirit has been met and the operation performed successfully) displayed to certain spirits or during conjurations in a manner similar to other such talismans as a sign of authority. I should note that you actually need that authority for any such spirit to bother to heed that display.

If I had thought that my first operation of the Stele was enough, then I was soon to discover myself grossly mistaken. Subsequently, I swore to make the damn ritual work and promptly went about using it in foolish ways; such as performing it twice a day, every day, for six straight weeks. All manner of weirdness entered my life and I hadn't the faintest.

Eventually, I started to combine various techniques into ritualized combinations, and use them for more than just wandering to a location and performing the ritual. (I also ignored any astrological significance, for the record, in the ritual: I mean, who wants to bother with all that tedium?) Over the course of that time, some of these techniques appeared to allow me to get access to information that was denied to me. It began as a trickle, but eventually has become something of a standard practice of mine. Neither have I forgotten where that first exposure came from: individuals who gladly shared information and ritual techniques and tips, and who were willing to at least do some research. There were plenty of blunders on my end, with plenty of folks, and with things like speaking too soon or allowing people to assume I was an authority when I was not, and still am not. (This in addition to toxic rituals, over-reactions, & etc.)

Over time my library has gotten better; I've discovered techniques and tricks, along with other elements I've felt lacking, that I am either working on adding to my arsenal, or who are already becoming standard practices. I present these here to those who might want to make use of the Stele in ways similar to my own, and with techniques similar to my own. Best of all: none of this material is “secret.”

There will be a hardline “witch” stance from myself, because that is prototypical of many of my operations these days. All sources will be listed, and at least briefly discussed. In certain cases, I do not have original sources and may make requests for information that others might have.

Some of these topics I have discussed before, here and elsewhere, and some of this material others may never have seen. Many of these are things I wish I had had, or books or information I had had, when I was beginning myself and trying to arduously educate myself on the ins and outs of magick, sorcery, and later witchery.

I should like to thank some of those who helped me develop and become who I am today, who frequented the various forums and other online locales, engaged me in conversations, and pointed me towards some of my earliest reference materials. There are too many to list by name, but I suspect most will know who they are. After all, they were around, too.

Additional Potential Protection of the Hearth and Home

Prior to heading out to the crossroads or other locations for the performance of magick, it is perhaps best to suggest consecrating one's home. Many, if not most, magicians and witches already have ward systems and charms up to keep various types of trouble makers in use. These charms, taken from Elizabeth Hole's 1957 Mirror of Witchcraft, are offered (along with a few other suggestions for using them) in addition to the typical safeguards, and are taken from the chapter entitled “Charms and Counter-Charms,” which is only one of the many interesting subjects she addresses in the book. Some of the charms (such as one taken from the Trial of James Device in 1612, to be discussed later) are quite old. Others, I am unsure of to be quite honest. I will relist the sources she gives.

On the subject of charms, she writes (p.234):

“Many of these ancient charms were frankly pagan, with perhaps a Christian benediction added at the end to make them safe for Christian users, and perhaps not even that. One Lincolnshire cure for argue combined the names of the Trinity and those of Wodan and Loki in a single short invocation; in another, for a sprain, Christ's name was substituted for that of Baldur, which appeared in an older version, but otherwise there was no essential change. A written charm found over the door of a Lancashire house appealed to the sun, moon, and stars for protection against evil spirits, thieves, and disorders of all kinds. Written charms or prayers were frequently worn upon the person, either for general safety from witches and demons or as antidotes to particular ills. Many spoken charms became so garbled in the course of centuries that they ended up as mere gibberish, a hotchpotch of mispronounced Greek or Latin words (the latter often taken from parts of the Mass), and archaic phrases from which all meaning had long since vanished. They were used, nevertheless, because they had always been used, and now their very incomprehensibility lent them the extra force of the foreign and the strange. Of the more elaborate rites, many were based upon the ancient conceptions of 'loke to like', and the last power of a contact, and others were clear relics of heathen sacrifice, like the horrible remedy for horse- and cattle-diseases so calmly noted by Roger Willbraham in his journal for 1605, and the calf-slaying in 1866 recorded by R.M. Heanley...”

“Salt and rowan-wood figured in numerous spell-breaking charms, and so did garlic, vervain, St. John's wort, and various other herbs. Silver was also considered a powerful antidoate, particularly in the form of bullets from shooting a witch-hare. When a cart was magically stopped on the highway, it could be freed by thrashing the wheels with a whip or branch of rowan...” (p.235)

For some of these operations, it may be helpful to include sympathetic elements relating to the subject material. For example, dropping a circle of exorcised and purified salt while reciting some of the the charms, in a circle around the house, can help bolster the efficiency. Likewise with planetary herbs and the charms using the planets.

XVI. A House-Protecting Charm from Lancashire
Harland & Wilkinson

“The following is a correct copy of one of these documents which was found over the door of a house in the neighborhood of Burnley. Its occupier had experienced 'ill luck'. And he thus sought protection from all evil-doers:—
Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Trine, Sextile, Dragon's Head, Dragon's Tail, I charge you all to gard this hause from all evil spirits whatever, and gard it from all Desorders, and from aney thing being taken wrangasly, and give this famaly good Ealth and Welth.” (p.243)

The above is the aforementioned charm calling on the planets. It has been reproduced as garbled as it apparently was, but one can still make out the particulars. In the case of making this operational, I would suggest writing the italicized charm on the front of a sheet of fine vellum paper or Papyrus, or turn a sheet of vellum into an envelope. For the latter, I would include some dried bits of plants for each of the associated planets. On the back, I would put the symbols for the Trine (obviously a triangle) and Sextile conjunctions, and perhaps the Geomantic forms of Caput Draconis and Cauda Draconis. Following this, I would charge the packet at the planetary day and hour of the first specified seven planets, while focusing/meditating on the protective aspects that each of them might embody and how they relate to each other. At the end of the week, I would then slip the paper or packet beneath the threshold of one of my house's doors, or into a crack near a door or window. Finally, the end line: “and give this famaly good Ealth and Welth” is reminiscent of at least two of the requests that end in the Orphic Hymns, particularly the Orphic Hymn to Jupiter (Hymn #14) which has amongst other things, requests for “give blameless health, with peace divine, and necessary wealth.” An interesting question, of course, arises as to what, exactly, “necessary wealth” actually means?

XIV. A Charm To Protect A House From Thieves.
East Anglican Handbook.

“A Spell against thieves, to be said three times while walking round the premises:
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
This house I bequeath round about,
And all my goods within and without,
In this yard or enclosed piece of land,
Unto Jesus Christ, that died on a tree,
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, all Three,
Thieves! Thieves! Thieves!
By virtue of the Blessed Trinity.” (p.242)

Given the economic status of the west, I also offer the above Charm (which is one of my favorites, honestly) and which is intended to be used as a spoken charm. You can test it out walking either widdershins, or deosil – there aren't any directions for how to circle, so choose for yourself. Dropping previously purified salt to form a circle as you do so really can't hurt, honestly. If you can't get your own holy salt, you can probably substitute with Kosher salt, by it's very nature. I am sure someone is going to bring up also using Four Thieves vinegar with the charm, and I don't see a reason why that couldn't be included. It would be cooler if it was a bottle of “Three Thieves” vinegar, however.

As an aside, I would love to see a copy of the East Anglican Handbook that it comes from, as well as know the date that it came into being around. If you should know of a book it's reproduced in, or of a place where it can be perused online, I would very much like that information. At least one more charm from it will be reproduced later.

XXI. James Device's Charm, 1612.
Potts.

“And the other Prayer, the said James Device affirmed, would cure one bewitched... as followeth:
Upon Good-Friday, I will fast while I may
Until I heare them knell,
Our Lords owne Bell,
Lord in his messe
With his twelue Apostles good,
What hath he in his hand
Light in leath wand:
What hath he in his other hand?
Heauens doore key.
Open, open, Heauen doore keyes,
Steck, steck, hell doore.
Let Crizum child
Goe with Mother mild,
What is yonder that casts a light so farradly,
Mine owen deare Sonne that's naild to the Tree.
He is naild sore by the heart and hand,
And holy barne Panne,
Well is that man
That Fryday spell can,
Hise Childe to learne;
A Crosse of Blew, and another of Red,
As good Lord was to the Roode.
Gabriel laid him downe to sleepe
Upon the ground of weepe:
Good Lord came walking by,
Sleep'st thou, wak'st thou GABRIEL,
No Lord I am sted with sticke and stake,
That I can neither sleepe nor weake:
Rise up GABRIEL and goe with me,
The stick nor the stake shall neuer deere thee.
Sweet Iesus our Lord. Amen.
James Device. (p. 145-146)

James Device was one of the Pendle Witches, tried for witchcraft in 1612. Given the date, I assume that the original source that Hole lists (Potts) took the charm from the records of his trial. I assume that this particular charm is meant to be made use of around Good Friday, given when it begins, and therefore suggest that that is the best time to make use of it. If you are forced into recourse to such a thing prior, I would simply make sure to repeat this procedure on the Good Friday that follows, along with consider making use of Psalms of praise for the help that was given (if it should work). I have never made use of it, but felt that it was intriguing enough to include in the “Protection” section.

[ETA: In 9 days it will be the 399th anniversary of the trial of James Device.]

For more information on the individuals and type of magick that was practiced amongst the lower class during this era (1400-1900, or so), see Owen Davies absolutely amazing Popular Magic: Cunning-Folk in English History. He also has a book on Grimoires, and another interesting bit of history in Murder, Magic, Madness which I do not wish to ruin for the individual new to his works.

Commentary on the Orphic Hymns.

While many of made use of Taylor's 1792 translation of the Mystical Hymns of Orpheus for the purpose of planetary magick, the primarily used hymns that have been ascribed to correspond (in one way or another) to the planetary bodies are but a very small portion of the overall Hymns. There are a total of 86 hymns, which Taylor seems to indicate they were possibly (and I'm not sure if this is true) used in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Their attribution to Orpheus and the religion that bore his name allows for some speculation as to what they do. Orpheus was held to be able to charm all things – including animals, rocks, and plants (not to mention spirits) with his songs, which were sang along with his perfected Lyre playing. In this respect, the Hymns appear to be appeasements to different divinities and pantheons of spirits which the magician or witch might encounter on their sojourns into the unknown. Each comes with an associated Fumigation, or plant/scent that is or can be burned alongside their use. I have not really figured out whether these Fumigations (some, if not many, of which reoccur) are meant to sympathetically pacify spirits, or whether they simply 'are' the baseline sympathy of the spirit, god, or pantheon. I suspect I will not know for sure until I have used them much, much more.

For some of the procedures that follow, I will discuss the hymns particularly useful and possibilities for mobile fumigation procedures. If I have not extensively tested something, as per usual, you will be warned.

Preparing for the Road: Calling on Janus

Prior to any and all ventures to the Crossroads, which will be covered fully in part two of this entry series (expect it tomorrow), the magician or witch is encouraged to first take a cleansing bath or shower. This can include any of the following:

Bardonian water cleansing (Initiation into Hermetics p. 77-79)
Hyssop Soup (ala Grimoire magicians and some Traditional Witches). See Psalm 51:7.
Rosemary, which is associated with both the sun and the Muses, can also be used. I have used it in conjunction with Sandalwood soap and can attest that along with some of Bardon's techniques, they work quite well.
See your local Botanica or New Age Store for other potential, associated cleansing elements. Take what you hear at a New Age store with a grain of salt, maybe. Depends on who is helping you, or not.

Following this, either intoxicate yourself (remember laws against public intoxication in the event that you can't handle such a thing) or meditate until you enter a decent state of trance. Then perform an invocation/prayer to Janus. Initially, I was going to supply one of my own... However, as I prepared to write this section I consulted P. Sufenas Virius Lupus' The Phillupic Hymns and immediately decided that I was going to henceforth use his Hymn to Janus. If it hits the right spot for you, I recommend picking up his book. While I will sample this hymn, those referenced hereafter will only be with page numbers and hymn number references.

Ianus (p. 66, Hymn #23)
“May Ianus Patulcius open the door for me
as I open this prayer, may all doors be opened;
May Ianus Pater watch over and protect me
as he watchedover Saturn in his exile;
May Ianus Bifrons keep guard before and behind me
as age is ahead of and youth is afar from me;
May Ianus Quadrifrons protect me on all sides
as ways converge in me and as paths branch out of me;
May Ianus Geminus' temple doors ever open for our aid,
and may his doors ever close for our peace;
May Ianus Clusivus close the door for me,
as I close this prayer, and may there be a close to all troubles.”

During the prayer/invocation (as, his prayer is better than my invocation) I tend to visualize the two-headed bust of Janus sitting stately between two equally facing (and I either open or close them based on what I am doing) doors in my upstairs. If you don't have a set of doors that face one another, you can either visualize them and the bust, or just focus on the bust. Following this, I make a statement as to my intent to either pass through, or close one of the “doors” for a specific purpose (such as traveling to the crossroads, or a vineyard, or to acquire certain information). And then I leave toward my goal.

Note: I will be ending this discussion at this point today, and continue writing tomorrow with further information and details tomorrow, including using the Crossroads, associated Greaco-Roman divinities, potential problems, the Stele performed in the Vineyards, and maybe even incubatic (Incubatio) dreaming if I haven't exceeded six pages by that time.

ETA x2: I realize, now, it can be contextualized that I taught myself witchery, which is patently not true. For me, the transition into an alien system, and its implications, along with learning (and whining about the process, at times) has been infinitely helpful to me. It is my hope that those who might consider such a thing look into it. This is obviously not necessary to the process of witchery, but can be helpful. If not? Your biz, wo/man. Not mine, obviously.