tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28332166965046619322024-03-12T19:15:10.666-07:00Heavens Within EarthAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-57321835744299188232016-11-17T09:47:00.003-08:002016-11-17T09:47:31.525-08:00Bullshit Siddhis<div dir="ltr">
Nsala malongo,</div>
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So.....powers. They exist. You work your alchemy, and they start popping up.</div>
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It isn't what you expect.</div>
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It's not like the comics. </div>
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Subtle things happen. You get a little something here, a big something there. Some of them appear useless at first.</div>
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Some years ago, after work in the upper cinnabar field, I gained the dubiously awesome ability to see a sort of spirit double floating around people. At first I was BEYOND stoked, and thought I was well on my way toward ascension from my normal state into a vicious and powerful spiritual overlord, as was foretold. By me. When I was like, fourteen. </div>
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Then, after the wonder wore off, I realized that this was absolutely useless. The double gave me no information about the person, no power to manipulate myself or the other. It was just there. </div>
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So. Countless hours of heat and concentration, and the end result was this?<br />
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Of course it *was* useful in the long-run, as a mark of my developing spiritual sight. And continuing to work with it enabled a sort of Flowering. </div>
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It's worth noting that this growth isn't a goal, but a signpost along the road. Don't get too caught up in them. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-27084620466076618592016-11-16T16:30:00.002-08:002016-11-16T16:32:11.296-08:00Working brujeria for others is often thankless and time consuming.Sala Malongo,<br />
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Man, y'all. I find that I now spend the vaaaaast majority of my sorcerous/meditative time doing work for others. Which is awesome in many ways, as I've gotten very skilled at what I do.<br />
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I've got no time for the experimentation, though. No time just fooling about. Sometimes I'm tempted to just say fuck it, and return to just doing things for myself....but I'm a priest, a Tata Nkisi. So I have duties beyond entertainment, and beyond my own development.<br />
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Gotta balance this stage in the life as well. It's interesting, at the very least. I would have been overjoyed when I was a young aspiring wizard in my 20's to have this kind of problem, haha. Now I look back wistfully at the days when I could meditate for 4 hours straight--or at all-without scheduling a meeting with myself on Google Calendar.<br />
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Many of the folks who are clients become good friends, some become students, others end up becoming sorcerer/priests themselves. And they are a blessing. So while often doing the work is hard and without much in the way of appreciation, in full, because of these awesome people, it's net Gold.<br />
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Sometimes I just want to spend a day geeking out on cool shit. Haha. Gotta re-tune the work/life balance.<br />
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Such is life.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-63447815512585494172015-08-19T17:28:00.000-07:002015-08-19T17:28:00.867-07:00Review: Alchemy Rising, The Green Book by Heliopholus Sala malongo,<br />
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So. The writer states (in summary) quite early in the book that his aim is to revitalize alchemy in the UK.<br />
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I don't know why he's leaving it at just the UK. This book has the potential, assuming you all aren't a bunch of lazy gits, to revitalize modern alchemy *period*.<br />
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I've been an alchemist for some time. Well past the decade mark. I legit spent the first half of that in a state of near perfect confusion. No two books were alike, no meanings the same, progress was near glacial. I grew in understanding in the way a paleontologist does, slowly brushing off old bones in hopes of revelation, unable to move quickly for fear of screwing up the whole mess. I had to learn the hard way, to study spagery in Orders and then of course the laboratory. I worked Junius, I studied Philalethes. From the Golden Chain on down to modern works. Spent roughly eleventy-billion dollars on glassware. What you end up with is an understanding that there are a thousand methods, but one "Way" that is alchemical. There are certain processes that shine with the light of truth, that are consistent in all the works of the operative alchemists. They are rarely explained in such a way that it is easy to grasp. There is rarely clarity.<br />
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Clarity usually only comes from moments of Gnosis; the right line read from a dusty old book combined with an ongoing operation and a *moment* when they shine together. I remember when I first understood, in Emblematic form, what the Toad and the Eagle within a vessel at once meant. I meditated upon the image, and thought about an operation I had ongoing at the time, an elixir of Garlic I was preparing. I'd reached the point where once makes the spirit fly to join the washed Salts (heating the "mercuric" solution in the retort, so that it rises in steam and moves to the other vessel). I remember thinking, there goes the "volatile" sulfur, and looking at the "fixed" salt, and thought" .....!!!!....AHHHH. That's what the bastards are talking about!" Then looked back upon the emblem, saw the Toad and the Eagle, and what had once been a pretty picture was now opening like a flower to reveal it's wisdom. When the Language of the Birds was first truly graspable for me.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ravens at the top of the vessel, toads and serpents at bottom. Serpent and amphibian fixed to the Earth, Birds flying. They must be "married" to create a proper Elixir. </td></tr>
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Well. Wish I'd have had this book.<br />
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Heliopholus is very gentle in his use of obscuration; he does just enough to drive the reader toward self-discovery, without creating walls out of blinds, or misleading. This is, in my opinion, the only sane or sensible way to teach alchemy. His reading and understanding of Paracelsus are internally consistent. That alone makes the book a golden one. Heliopholus is well-named.<br />
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Often modern authors go to great lengths to separate Spagery and Alchemy; Spagery done to completion is Alchemy, and spagyric processes are alchemical processes. Spagery is just specific to plants--what makes a thing a work of Al-chemy is the process, not the nature of the First Matter used. We don't have a separate name for the mineral or animal alchemies, and perhaps we shouldn't. Spagery should bear a badge of honor, for the finest medicines come from the Plant kingdom. Always have. Don't consider Spagery a lesser art; instead, it's a less dangerous and in most cases *more useful* art, as it's medicines can generally be consumed safely and by folks of all ages (who aren't allergic to the root Matter).<br />
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I would recommend this tome before Junius. Before the work of Dubois and the Philosopher's of Nature. Yeah, I said that. You know why? This will make it possible for the aspiring alchemist to deeply understanding the older works. It will enable deeper engagement. This book is a Mercury of sorts, a Crossroads-spirit for folks who wish to open the roads of alchemy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fun with calcination, using the ancient Alchemical tools of a grill and a hot-ass torch. Some things require the furnace, the plant matter is a touch more forgiving. </td></tr>
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I've, for the purpose of working this book, made an elixir of Lemon-balm using Heliopholus' opening of Paracelsus' process. While alchemy is alchemy, there were some subtle differences to my own process that I found quite interesting. The elixir in the end is quite potent, thoroughly alchemical and an excellent medicine.<br />
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This book will join the my own offering on Lambspring, Junius' Plant Handbook, and the PoN course as standard reading for my alchemical students, and recommended reading for my peers. It is a classic. If you are at all interested in Alchemy, you simply must have it and read it. The light shines bright inside, with the only obfuscating clouds providing helpful shade instead of storms of confusion. Go buy it. Buy it twice, once for working, and one to sit pretty on your mantle. I simply cannot recommend it enough.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-35116220938872069632015-01-13T13:08:00.004-08:002015-01-13T13:08:48.255-08:00Old Pacts, Nfumbe, and Modern Continuances. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Working the Dead</b></div>
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Sala Malongo,</div>
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Working spirit for a student / client this weekend, and a few thoughts came to mind. One in particular was about the nature of bone, spirit, and pact as it has moved through time....and how Cuban Palo's history has manifested itself in American Palo.</div>
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There were many Chinese in Cuba working during the slave times, and the societies of Cuba, the Munanso, the cabildo, etc often contained members who were of partial or full Chinese Ancestry. Many of us, Mayemberos and Brillumberos alike, count Tata ndi bilongo "Chino" Arriete as an ancestor. There is an old line of co-working and powerful Cuban spirits of Chinese ancestry in the current of Palo. Their influence flows in interesting ways though practice. </div>
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As I'm working with the remains of an individual to bring forth his spirit from the un-manifest and pregnant darkness, we begin to connect. His identity starts to press against reality, like a finger pushing against water and without breaking the surface tension. As any image viewed through water---and therefore any viewed through the Kalunga--had distortion, so the images received at this time from spirit. This particular spirit suffered an ignoble end.</div>
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His bones--a portion of which I worked over with lustral waters, with mpembe, with mpemba, with ntoto--spoke of his ill use. Of his poor upbringing, of his incarceration and suffering in China. Of his death, which may as well have been a slow execution. His remains sold. "Legally" sold, which does absolutely nothing for him. Without receiving the death rites, the prayers and incense, the <i>connection </i>with both ancestor and child he floats moor-less in the dark. Even if he would be accepted among his ancestry, he doesn't feel worthy of such a thing. He's been in the dark for sometime now, and his mind has come to reflect his environment. Words come with difficulty, structure with difficulty. He's an entity of the formless, and remembering his form is both sweet and sad at once for him.</div>
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I speak to him of pacts. How he is called is secret, of course....but he is called how nature calls all things formless into form. </div>
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He longs for context. For meaning, for power and form. He longs to *do* things. He is willing to work. He wants to. He won't find himself alone in this company of Spirits. </div>
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How interesting. Many of the bones we work, as we can acquire them legally, are of Chinese persons. Persons who have not had proper burials or rites, and are sent powerless into the dark. Rites can change this, can empower the living and the dead. The pact is good, for both the Tata and the Nfumbe.</div>
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People have asked me how a Chinese spirit can work with Palo, and it's amusing. Chinese folk been involved in Palo for centuries. The world isn't simple, and many alliances have been forged. Working peoples tend to find away to get along and get ahead. </div>
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Those first pacts made between communities, particularly between spiritual workers, continue to manifest their power in our structure and practice. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-22527222045758802222015-01-09T12:21:00.000-08:002015-01-09T12:21:03.622-08:00Working Nature<br />
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Sala maleco,<br />
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Medicine is messy. Sorcery is messy. Lot of times you see folks posting images of pristine altars where they have their work's going, and that's cool. However, I can't help but notice that these altars are regularly almost purely about symbol, with little in the way of materia.<br />
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*Warning: There will be ranting. Feel free to disagree....just don't share your opinion if you cannot handle debate.*<br />
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This can work, and often does. Nothing wrong with it. It is, in my opinion, lacking depth.<br />
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Working spirit without Materia, in my experience, just plain doesn't get the same result as working with the virtue of natural, fully-manifested substances.<br />
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Now, there is plenty (-endless reams-) of textual evidence for materia's ascendancy in practical work in near every text written about actual practical sorcerous work. See *all* of your grimoires nearly, see Picatrix, Alexander's Treasure, Agrippa, etc etc etc. This isn't a Black-African sorcery vs European sorcery perspective issue....traditionally European sorcery is chock full of ingredients of varying virtue. So, why have we seen such poor understanding of working materia in the West? I contend it's because the education of the modern sorceror is severely lacking, and that mastering the Hermetic triumvirate has become rare....due to intellectual laziness.<br />
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I think that the over-complication of Alchemy is a problem, and the failure of modern sorcerors to practice the Hermetic Triumvirate is a problem. People have shoddy-ass philosophical underpinnings for their works, a slap-shod understanding of Nature, and generally shit scholarship these days.<br />
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Internal coherency is important. In Palo, we have a concept called malongo, related to working nature. You have to have a Bantu worldview to understand Palo correctly and work malongo effectively. In my opinion, an alchemical worldview is necessary to properly work Western sorcery, and many folks are just plain ignorant of what alchemy is or how it works.<br />
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Goetic understanding alone is not enough . Alchemy alone is not enough. Astrology alone is not enough.<br />
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How are you to manipulate nature if you don't properly understand it? Many people use computers every day, and their workings are pure sorcery, a mystery to them. The proper priest, the true Wizard, is akin to a programmer. It's not enough to know that pressing a button gives you a certain result. If you know *why* that result manifests, you can craft powerful processes to manipulate the computing environment. Nature.<br />
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But then, is Sorcery simply a hammer for you? Or is it a <i>discipline</i>? A way, an Art?<br />
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When you have mastery of Alchemy, which is truly an understanding of the natural process, the Engine of nature, all processes become alchemy. I can teach the secrets of alchemy by describing the workings of the combustion engine. Or rainfall. Making a pot roast. Brewing beer. Literally watching mold grow. Alchemy teaches more then the how, it teaches you how to see. How to speak. The much-vaunted language of the birds is not difficult, it is simple to acquire. You don't need to join an order, or buy expensive glassware. A mason jar, sunlight, a strong alchohol (your <b>mercury</b>) and time are all you need. That and observation.<br />
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This is why, in my opinion, an experienced and skillful priest can get consistent results that your unlearned magician often does not. I find the approach to sorcery espoused by folks who treat it like a recipe list leads to magicians who are like script kiddies, instead of the proper hackers they could be if they applied themselves. I think this is a problem I had with early Chaos magic, where the philosophy of discarding that which was superfluous and using whatever worked led to lazy-ass dudes discarding what was <b>difficult</b> for them to grasp, and then poorly appropriating shit they thought was cool. Even Chaos magic needs proper cultivation of wisdom and understanding of Nature! Without it, you're just swinging a hammer. More cultivation then other approaches, even. You can't determine what is good and what is bullshit without developing discernment, and this comes from wisdom, from study and application. From experimentation, observation, and documentation. Find the roots of the scientific method in the old Wizard's grimoire. Tradition is the inheritance of natural manipulations that Worked. Much of the strength of Tradition lies in not having to reinvent the wheel...doesn't free us from learning to understand how the thing works and why.<br />
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A kid working a chemistry set to manipulate elements in high school is twice the Sorceror many of these dudes running their mouths on the net are. He knows how to work the things of nature to create change. He has his assistants for creating change, his acids, his heat, and his materia. He can create a weapon or a medicine, he can create things that cause change in his world and environment. If you are separating your sorcery from physical creation and natural practice, from movement in the Actual World, your work will be mostly bullshit.<br />
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I have a measure of students both in Alchemy and in Palo Mayombe. The world-view taught by both is one rooted in nature. There is no Mayembero who isn't also an alchemist. Plain and simple. I have far more success teaching alchemy to Mayemberos then the other way around, as the wisdom of the hidden Virtue and Heat are intrinsic to the Mayembero's practice. Nearly every operation is alchemical, necromantic, and astrological. Every one. The fragmentation in alchemy and near lack of cohesiveness in Western traditions is leading to bizarre ideas being internalized and poor education.<br />
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People calling themselves "materialists" and also "sorcerors". What foolishness! A proper sorceror knows that the difference between "matter" and "spirit" is illusory, a matter not of Virtue but of <u>coagulation</u>. There is no separation of the two, they are the same. The mystery of the One thing. Grasping that should be a prerequisite. The argument between Theism and Atheism another stupidity; it requires a supposition that a "God" is something definable. That it could be something separate from Existence. That we can even grasp the *idea*! Both sides decide for themselves what the other defines as a "God", and then happily argues with their fantasy. A sorceror, through his own operations, should see through this kind of idiocy. I will happily debate any person who declares otherwise.<br />
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How many call themselves sorcerors and know fuck-all about the stars? Fuck you, go buy a book, a simple telescope, and get your shit together. Can you tell me why a sidereal approach to astrology is bullshit when it comes to practical magic? (Or foolishly argue the opposite, haha, but at least have an educated opinion?) How many have never completed the simplest of alchemical operations? How many have never conducted a necromantic operation, and have no contacts among the dead?<br />
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If you are lacking these things, truly basic understanding, you will miss the heart of sorcerous practice. You certainly shouldn't go around calling yourself a sorceror, a wizard, a magician, a priest... that's for sure. You may be on your way, but you ain't there yet. A near illiterate cunning-man with clothes made of sackcloth from a century ago had a better education in the Art then you do. Great-grandmas sitting in their kitchen with mastery under Jim Crow, dirt-poor and <i>without</i>, contrasted with a sea of men and women with access to an untold amount of wisdom via the internet who *don't know shit*. I don't care what tradition you are in, these are near universal. We need to start challenging folks who practice the Western way to complete the Triumvirate and have proper understanding. It doesn't take much. The aforementioned grandma could come by her understanding through cooking in her kitchen, setting lights for her dead, and praying for wisdom while working underneath a night sky. You just have to Do.<br />
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We all have specialties. My boy RO is a wizard of the neo-Platonist way, JSK clearly a wizard of the goetic way, Jason a wizard unquestionably, Nicholaj a wizard of damn near every way, hahaha. None of these folks are singular in their understanding. Wisdom requires depth. Find me a goetic sorceror with no understanding of Astrology, I'll show you a dude who gets shit results on the regular. Find me a sorceror with no understanding of alchemy, and I'll show you the same thing. The Western arts of necromancy. alchemy, and astrology are meant to be parts of a whole, not entirely separate disciplines. The entire triumvirate is necessary to work Nature, to work malongo.<br />
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Interested in learning Astrology? Work your way through Lilly's "Christian Astrology" <a href="http://www.skyscript.co.uk/CA.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Just do that, work through this one little free book, and you'll be learned.<br />
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Simple alchemy? Without a shitload of expensive glassware and Order-based bullshit? <a href="http://www.levity.com/alchemy/catena1.html" target="_blank">Here</a>. Homer's Golden Chain. Work through the processes he teaches, and be learned.<br />
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Necromancy? Without lion skins or carefully inscribed blades, etc. (Note: those things are awesome. But necessary for <i>particular </i>works, not for necromancy itself). Read <a href="http://www.spiritwritings.com/kardecspiritstoc.html" target="_blank">this</a> and work through the dirt-simple methods for a solid quarter. Be learned.<br />
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There you go. Have the triumvirate for free. There are of course a thousand other books and processes. Many roads to wisdom. You don't get to be wise standing around, though, and wisdom is at the root of wizard.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-80639471346543519212014-05-07T13:26:00.001-07:002014-05-07T13:26:46.413-07:00Jupiter and Inequality. <p dir="ltr">Hey y'all, </p>
<p dir="ltr">We're having ourselves a cocktail party which is ostensibly about Jupiter....but really seems to be about power. Jupiter being a particular manifestation of that principle has been seen and experienced as vicious, benevolent, cruel, graceful, jealous, magnanimous, but always Powerful. All these other qualities have more, from what I've seen, to do with the perspective of a person at one end or the other of the power wielded.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I don't think Jupiter is a <i>person</i>. The image is a stand in for ease of connection. Jupiter is a conscious <b>force of nature</b>. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Jupiter does not have feelings. It's beyond human experience.  A bolt of lightning contains no sentiment, and neither does the electricity that powers a home. Power has no sentiment. Wealth is a stand-in for power, and cares not who possesses it. It cares not if it is used benevolently or otherwise, only that it is used and expressed. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Make your offerings, and make your virtue like that of Jupiter's. As you tune in, you'll find it's virtue expressed more in your own life. See your hermetic axioms.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Jupiter is a God, in truth, of Power, and the grace and benevolence he had been said to possess are often luxuries of the powerful. The same with his vanities and abuses of power. Power requires one thing only, and that is expression. As brother RO mentioned, Genghis Khan accomplished an amazing series of feats.....and he was a goddamn maniac, responsible for so much murder he caused <i>climate change</i>. He lived a long and likely joyous life, full of riches and song. Is that fair? Of course not. There is no such thing. Good and evil are entirely matters of perspective--all things are One thing,  hermeticists. Remember. Stratification in society is a matter of culture, and has little to do with the natural forces that drive being. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Don't sir arounf waiting for the rich to become fair. That is foolish....instead, act with power. Eat them. Eat their children. You will find you have become them, and depending on how wise you wield power, you will have a similar or different fate. Doesn't matter whether you are good or fair, only if you are wise. Because Power doesn't have morality, and neither does Jupiter. <br><br></p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-42460797890761667182013-03-31T09:56:00.001-07:002013-03-31T10:23:36.064-07:00Animal sacrifice and the power of Life and Death<p dir="ltr">Nsala Malongo,</p>
<p dir="ltr">Death and ritual sacrifice are very large components of my magical and religious practice, and I find that very seldom are they explored with any deep understanding of why they are useful and necessary for certain rites and practices. </p>
<p dir="ltr">There is definitely a repugnance for the sacrifice for animals in the frankly White-er side of Western magical and religious practice. I've heard a number of persons rail against it as cruel and entirely unnecessary, that it is uncivilized and barbaric. Obviously I think these persons aren't examining their views deeply; rarely are these individuals persons who abstain from eating animals...they just don't get their hands "dirty". I never hear them complaining about how Jewish folk practice kosher religious slaughter, or even much about the Halal practices of some Muslim folks. Read a newspaper in any city with neighborhoods that have a  decent amount of ATR practicing folks and you'd think the death of a chicken or goat was some rare horror, that only occurs during "Satanic" rituals and the like. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Of course, it can certain be done in an inhumane fashion...like most things. It's cruelty that I feel is rightfully opposed, and not animal sacrifice itself. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Properly done, animal sacrifice combines sustaining the spirit and sustaining the community, in addition to taking responsibility for taking and giving life. It places the priest/ess at the center of the Yowa, in the image of Nzambi. The blood of the sacrificed animal and the energies of it's life feed the Nkisi, and it's body is prepared and fed to the Kanda, the community. So, everyone eats of the same flesh, that has been blessed to improve the health and well-being of the entire community. I'm sure this sounds familiar to the Catholic rooted folks.  </p>
<p dir="ltr">This animal, instead of dying purely to sustain the body, instead dies to sustain the body and Spirit. I can't think of a better way to honor and respect the spirit of the animals that we take. We use every bit of it, ideally--the menga feeds the nkisi, the edible flesh the people. The inedible bits become ngandos, ritual components with particular powers that are used in various rituals including the building of new nkisi. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Compare this to the animal raised in a factory farm, whose body is wasted and discarded, pumped full of poisons and maimed for pure profit. How is this better for the animal than a clean and spirit-minded death?</p>
<p dir="ltr">I've also heard it argued that for magical purposes the deaths are unnecessary. This is sometimes true; when it comes to feeding spirits there are many offerings one can make instead of the life of an animal. Sometimes the nkisi even prefer these offerings....but you cannot build nkisi without ngandos. You need the nature of the animals eventually, and there are times when simply nothing else will do. During initiations, cleanings, the menga must flow. There is a frisson created with the death and dying of a thing, a door opened between the unmanifest and the manifest. This "energy" makes it easier for the dead to speak and manifest, there is a release of vitality and power that cannot be had in any other way. Responsible killing is part and parcel to a Tata Nkisi's work. </p>
<p dir="ltr">It also has a transformative effect on the person doing the killing; the first animal I took as a sacrifice was intensely personal. I could feel it's heart beating in my hand, and it looked back at me and was intensely present and aware in that moment. I was surprised to find it was difficult; I've eaten COUNTLESS animals over the course of this life, and rarely thought twice about them as entities. This living thing's life was beating in my hands--soon beating it's last--and I was taking it for my own ends, no bones about it. Makes you take a close look at what you're trying to accomplish, especially when it comes to sorcery. Can't take a life for some frivolous bullshit. This bird looked me dead in the eye, and I looked right back at it in surety that the work I was doing was worthwhile. If it hadn't been, I'd have had to let the thing go and live it's life. When you respect the spirits of the animals you work with, religion / sorcery is truly a matter of life and death, and you cannot spend their lives needlessly. </p>
<p dir="ltr">This is similar to the concept of licensia, having the license to do a thing in the religion. You need both the spiritual license to do a thing as sacred and holy as taking life, and the balls to take responsibility for the harm you cause and wield the knife. Don't sit down at your dinner table eating that bacon, and then look askance at me when you've never wielded the knife. </p>
<p dir="ltr">This lesson ends up applying in many areas of life. </p>
<p dir="ltr">I hope the day finds you all well! </p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-59602708965564111442012-11-25T22:27:00.001-08:002012-11-25T22:40:00.552-08:00Review: The Book of Abrasax<p dir=ltr><br>
Nsala malongo,</p>
<p dir=ltr>Working with this book has been a pleasure; Mr.Cecchetelli--a brother and fellow Worker--has done it again. </p>
<p dir=ltr>This book is full of useful and practical magic, with well-researched information paired with insightful commentary. It's immediately apparent that Mr.Cecchetelli has done the rites and works he's sharing, as his insights line right up with what one would expect as far as result goes. Physically it is gorgeous, with a rich brown leather and lovely endpapers...truly a pleasure to hold.</p>
<p dir=ltr><b>The </b><b>Coronastrum</b></p>
<p dir=ltr>This is probably my favorite part of the book; I work extensively with mudra and can attest to the efficacy of this one. </p>
<p dir=ltr>The layers of symbol when creating this symbol with one's own body are absolutely delicious. All my years of work and I'd never encountered it..... </p>
<p dir=ltr>The Coronastrum is a mudra, a symbol that Mr.Cecchetelli's contacts gave him during his working. It's a beautiful and <br>
powerful symbol, and the Book of Abrasax gives you enough information about it to begin to delve deeply into it's use. I'm very excited about the potential here. </p>
<p dir=ltr><b>Practical magics</b></p>
<p dir=ltr>The book is divided into sections like "Amorous Magic", "Curses", "Amulets", etc.  The material is solid, with clear and un-obfuscated directions. No blinds, if you're literate and have a litle will and experience, you can use his system to get lovely result. </p>
<p dir=ltr>I can't help but notice how similar many of the workings are to what we do in Hoodoo; there is materia, poppet work, and invocation of spiritual forces similar to the work with Psalms and the like you see in rootwork. This is, in my opinion, because of the unity in nature and the operation of natural law. </p>
<p dir=ltr><b>Theurgy</b><b> as well as </b><b>Thaumaturgy</b></p>
<p dir=ltr>There is a section with works of a Theurgic nature as well, titled "Transcendental". Aptly named, and it gives the system a completeness.  I've worked  a cross section of the rites within, and I can't recommend the Book of Abrasax enough. An excellent work written by an insightful and experienced Magus. You'd be a fool not to buy it.</p>
<p dir=ltr><b>One complaint</b></p>
<p dir=ltr>There has to be one, right? My only issue with the work consists of a single line, related to instruction to sacrifice a black cock. Mr.Cecchetelli notes that he finds such things distasteful and also unnecessary; I would only suggest that the author of the spell included it precisely because it was necessary. I understand that some are uncomfortable with animal sacrifice....there are many works that don't explicitly require them. Nothing wrong at all with noting that the rite was successful without the sacrifice, but  I feel it should be noted whether the rite was attempted with the proper sacrifice, and how the results compared to the rite without it. That being said, a minor quibble. I'm not exactly neutral in that particular debate, haha. </p>
<p dir=ltr>To sum it up, the Book of Abrasax is a beautiful work that  every self-respecting student of the Western Tradition should own. </p>
<p dir=ltr>Purchase it <a href="http://www.nephilimpress.com/store/2012/10/22/the-book-of-abrasax-standard-practitioners-edition">here</a>. </p>
<p dir=ltr>Tata Sima Ngango / AIT</p>
<div class='separator' style='clear: both; text-align: center;'> <a href='http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ayijFJXgvBk/ULMOatjRLMI/AAAAAAAACf4/th8RnrYV8ik/s1600/IMG_0043.JPG' imageanchor='1' style='margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;'> <img border='0' src='http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ayijFJXgvBk/ULMOatjRLMI/AAAAAAAACf4/th8RnrYV8ik/s640/IMG_0043.JPG' /> </a> </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-22740459492054387342012-10-31T01:08:00.001-07:002012-10-31T01:47:53.652-07:00The Book of Coelius<div><p><br>
Ave,</p>
<p>Alchemy is difficult, to work and to understand. Like most things that are of value, it takes work to suss it out, to reap the golden wheat of your planted effort. One of the things that makes alchemy so difficult is that it's obfuscated....by time, by the intention of different alchemists who hid their processes from the unlearned, and by needless complication. There are as many different alchemical methods--ways of processing the First Matter--as there are alchemists who write about it. That isn't to say that any method at all will do, only that true Alchemical processing requires one thing, and one thing only--Fire--and that all the stages and states described in between and established as levels are arbitrary and a matter of culture as opposed to need. In one method you'll find the process described in 5 "steps", in another 7, in yet another 12. This causes difficulty for the student of Alchemy studying the emblems and methods of our forebears; one wants everything on a particular subject to make sense, and finding one respected text refutes another makes for uncertainty in working Alchemy and understanding the language of the Birds.</p>
<p>The cure for this ailment is internal consistency. This is what the varied alchemical Orders have to offer, my own association of brothers in the Ordo Octopi included. The Book of Colieus contains within a complete and internally consistent method of Alchemy. </p>
<p>The Book of Coelius offers exactly that, an internally consistent and complete alchemical system. It's rooted in the Hermetic Alchemy of the west, of the Emerald Tablet and wisdom of Hermes Thrice-greatest.  It presents a method of personal refinement, of earned power and measured loss. Yes, loss as well--the power gained comes at a cost. You can't crack the veil and remain the same. It is worth every second, though. The calcining fire of the Ordo's methods is effective and thorough. There are hotter methods, faster methods, and also slower--the method given in this work is steady and balanced. </p>
<p>I wish that it were around when I first began my study, would have saved me some time!</p>
<p>This is a modern alchemy, a current alchemy. It's an amalgamative work, as am I. A conjunction of the wisdom and ritual practice I've had the blessing to learn, to receive from human teachers and Spirits alike. It's effective, accessible and full of beauty. I make no bones about being proud of the Book, and I hope others on the alchemical path find this work to be valuable and filled with Light and Darkness. </p>
<p>The Book of Coelius is available now, from Hadean Press. Purchase it here: <br>
http://www.studiocirclesix.com/2012/10/30/the-book-of-coelius/</p>
<p>In LVX,</p>
<p>Christopher/AIT</p>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com6Stojanovich Family Park, Campbell37.2822 -121.93496tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-45882324571516455362012-09-18T14:00:00.001-07:002012-09-18T14:15:04.284-07:00Keep your bullshit art off of my religion.<div><p dir=ltr>So.<br>
There is a particular breed of practitioner who, whilst appropriating the spiritual practices of another culture, fail so fundamentally to unify with the tradition that they insult it and it's initiates in jaw-droppingly offensive ways. One of these I've been disgusted with of late involves disrespectful manipulation of that tradition's imagery. <br>
I'm not saying that its not possible to Use said imagery in a respectful fashion, or that one should never engage directly with another traditions symbols. Not at all. The problem is when the user has no sense of the symbols as sacred. That's when they get themselves into trouble.....on the mildly offensive end you get syncretism of the inorganic variety. Not the gentle melding of traditions you get when cultures interact, but the jarring and unpleasant shoehorning of entities and forces into dissonant paradigms unnatural to them. People doing LBRP's with random Celtic gods they have no relationship with, that kind of thing. Not meant to disrespect at all by the operator, although still perhaps offensive to folks dedicated to those same gods. <br>
On the other end you get the fucked up shit--people drawing images of Yeshua fellating people, or faux-devotees shitting on Veve's and calling it "modern art".</p>
<p dir=ltr>These people are assholes, and are invariably not initiated into the tradition they are literally shitting on. </p>
<p dir=ltr>*quick note on Yeshua. I love a good Raptor Jesus comic as much as the next man...it's easy to enjoy when that isn't your particular Patron. Lot of pagans and anti-Christians make fun of Jesus with impunity, but would absolutely lose their shit if the same jokes where made of their Gods. Jesus being the current religious big man on campus in the Western world doesn't exempt him from the respect due to the sacred. Even  if many of his followers are dickbags. They're no worse than the rest of us, they just happen to enjoy more societal power. Thems the breaks.*</p>
<p dir=ltr>These people are a poison to the many respectful and genuine practitioners who honor and work with a tradition and might not have had the opportunity for initiation. Non-initiate practitioners get painted with a broad brush precisely because of the actions of the ignorant and offensive minority. How a person truly feels about the spiritual tradition they work is reflected in how they treat her. </p>
<p dir=ltr>Anyway.... nothing wrong with Art that is respectful of other traditions. If it is disrespectful, then the artist should be held to account. Like free speech here in the US; you can Say whatever you want....that is perfectly legal. You just have to be ready to deal with the sometimes supra-legal consequences. Like a vicious ass-beating. </p>
<p dir=ltr>Tata Sima Ngango </p>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-43872888387371322252012-08-22T23:41:00.000-07:002012-08-22T23:41:27.694-07:00Crossroads--review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Nsala Malongo,<br />
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Having received my copy of the book Crossroads, I had a very enjoyable day and a half reading and deeply connecting with some of the writing within. The first thing you notice is that the book is gorgeous! No big shocker there-- Scarlet Imprint is known for making beautiful tomes and this book is no exception. What is very interesting is that they gathered such a seemingly disparate group of nigromancers....and made it clear that they are not so disparate at all. That standing at the crossroads is something that is at its heart a matter of human spiritual work, the one thing that is consistent with all of human culture. We all dance with the dead, and then dance As the dead. This book altered my views on a few things, which is always a joy. My own Padrino is a skilled spiritualist, having worked Misa since he was a child....I've never truly given the depth of the connection between Kardec's work and the movement that grew from it justice and, now I ( and my fellows) are re-approaching it. That's what, in my opinion, makes these books by Scarlet Imprint so valuable and Relevant to the current occult movement. There are more little gems within--the spiritualism one just stood out in particular for me. I love that the dead are being brought into the Ouroboros of Western practice, after so many years of limited understanding. We live in an exciting time.....now go out and get this book. It's absolutely beautiful.<br />
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Christopher/AIT</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-71765459117569353252012-06-03T14:30:00.001-07:002012-06-03T14:37:40.752-07:00Thaumaturgy and meaning<br />
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Nsala malongo,<br />
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I've been engaged in some intense practical work lately, which has re-affirmed an understanding gained over the course of my work in life; namely that we interact and commune with the world, with Spirit, through the manipulation of <i>meaning</i>. There is no action without doing this, meaning is the context, the rock we stand on when levering against obstacles. </div>
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Everything that is not ourselves also exists within our minds as a concentration of meaning. Everything--not just objects, people as well. Mystics speak of our senses as being illusory; that they lie to us. I used to agree...but now I know better. Saying this..and getting one to believe it...is a crippling measure, the old "blinds" people rant endlessly about in flashes of occult paranoia. Our physical senses give us true information, a lever. They just don't give us Objective information. The senses give us absolutely perfect personal information, and therefore a tool with which meaning can be constructed and manipulated. </div>
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Through our senses we create relation between things, and through this inter-connection the web of meaning is built. There are personal webs of meaning--our own, in which we sit in the center and understand through observation and reaction to the thrums of vibratory meaning that impress on our senses. There are cultural webs, there are societal webs, and there is the fundamental web that is at the root of all meaning. Powerful thaumaturgy manipulates the web of meaning--of existence--on multiple levels. The most powerful observes and grasps as close as possible to the root web of meaning, fundamental to humanity. In my own experience anyway.</div>
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The mystics often argue for the un-reality of the personal experience, that experience of the deep objective reality of Union with the great Spirit is the only reality. How silly this is; I've been this silly myself during my own mystical work. The clarity and power of experiencing the One leaves personal experience seemingly un-real in comparison, but that is often because the personal experience hasn't been approached and grasped correctly. Every single moment of the life, even the most mundane interaction, is interacting with the divine. Living with presence, being Awake, allows for transcendantal personal reality, and this is far more useful than the occasional and sharp moments of illumination received during intense moments of mediation. The key is taking the mind and anchoring it in true Union with the Body and Spirit. I'm digressing a bit, but it's important. We have to live our illumination, and bring that fire obtained during meditation back down into the earth of our bodies. If we leave that fire up on the mountain of deep meditation, we aren't doing it correctly. </div>
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<b>Tailoring Thaumaturgic methods to desired Result</b></div>
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Effective personal sorcery requires deft manipulation of personal meaning. Correspondences from cultures/lives outside of our own for these purposes is near-useless without a huge amount of effort. Sorcery meant to act on one's own person--work done to eliminate a bad habit, or to change a work/wealth situation--is most effective if things of personal meaning are met with things of deep fundamental human meaning in construction of the "medicine". When creating a Spirit, small or large, to accomplish a work (talismanic work is the creation/manipulation of spirits, great and small....which is obvious if we truly understand what a spirit is) it's important that things of the correct meaning (virtue) are included in it's construction. It's also important that these meanings resonate with the practitioner. A correspondence read from a book about a material you have no experience with is near-useless. In one of the modern books of correspondences, you can find that the stone Citrine is one of wealth, and is good for money-related issues. How useless this is for the person--where else in life, outside of that book, are we to find Citrine as a symbol of wealth? It has no connection to wealth in our web of meaning, which doesn't divide itself up into occult/non-occult in our minds and spirits. One cannot go to the bank and exchange citrine for cash. Good luck using citrine to pay the electric bill. </div>
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Citrine is not a symbol of wealth. It's a symbol of a rock. You could go so far as to say it is a symbol of coagulation, of stability, of firmness...because of it's observed character and virtue. The senses and our relationship with a thing determine it's meaning, and a correspondence given without the connection to meaning is a dead one. </div>
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For an actual symbol of wealth, look no further than the Dollar. It's physicallaty is a near-worthless scrap of processed plant matter and ink. It's true power is in it's meaning. If you are looking for powerful physical talismans, look no further than paper currency. It is pure sorcery. It's entire value is connected to it's careful invocation and licensia of wealth on the web of meaning. A good counterfeit is just as valuable as a "real" dollar, because it's power comes from the meaning it communicates through symbol, and not necessarily through the simple body it inhabits. </div>
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<b>Building Spirits</b></div>
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Concentrations of meaning have a gravity; like attracts to like. This root Hermetic principle is one of those fundamental laws that enable us to manipulate meaning, and therefore Spirit. When I gather together my ingredients to work a bilongo (medicine) to cure an affliction for someone--like un-employment, or migraines--I gather ingredients that tune the completed spirit in such a way as to attract the necessary change into the persons life. A spiritual body made with, for example, dirt from a large bank or investment firm, a gold coin, a fast-growing seed from a tree with bountiful fruit, and the powdered remains of an animal I find to be an especially successful hunter would attract a spirit useful for increasing wealth and creating useful opportunity. The physical body is the container of meaning, and that meaning calls to the above from below, attracting the necessary spirit as we sing our mambos/incantations. Meaning is delightfully mercurial, being both physically embodied in the coagulated substance and subtle-bodied and ephemeral in it's reflection of virtue into the realm of mind and spiurit. Naming the thing in symbol and sound further intensifies the meaning, and therefore the effectiveness, of the spirit. Complication disperses the power of the meaning; if we make a spirit that can do a dozen things, it will do these things weakly. Intensity of meaning and power are equivalent. </div>
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Meaning is the framework the world is built upon, and symbol the language that the world speaks. We have to be careful not to think that "symbol" implies something that is drawn or written. A symbol is something that communicates meaning....everything is a symbol. Everyone outside of ourselves is a symbol. All can be manipulated, and life itself can be manipulated as well through carefully planned interaction with symbol and meaning. Meaning has Gravity. Rites and rituals are careful combination of meaning, so intense as to draw from the objective fundamental reality (our Azoth, our Kalunga) into our subjective personal reality. We don't just work thaumaturgically in ritual though....most of our work in life is a similar bit of sorcery. Our relationships are this sorcery. Every action is a communication of meaning. I rub my eyes when I am tired....this action does not make me less tired. It is a communication of my state to community and existence. A symbolic expression of tiredness, that somehow makes that state of tiredness more <i>real</i>. I pay attention to the delightfully senseless ramblings of my children so that they can see that I love them. This paying attention isn't actually love; it's a symbol of that love. Communication is the highway connecting webs of meaning, whether that communication is subtle (like, say, connecting with a person through useful hair or the like that you've obtained, or a name-paper) or forthright like conversation or body language. The more intensely meaning is communicated, the more powerful the effect.....so, the lines of communication are important as well. Indirect communication often leads to misunderstanding, and a meaning cannot be effective if it isn't understood. Instructing a newborn spirit to generally "increase wealth" will lead to generalized results. Instructing it to "increase wealth through giving me a raise in my job", and creating a bilongo of things related to that raise and company to work with, will result in more directed results. In my experience. </div>
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Hope all are well! --AIT</div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-49848479006522979642012-04-23T16:43:00.002-07:002012-04-23T16:43:44.363-07:00Golden Dawn--WTFAve,<br />
<br />
I've been trying my level best to not talk about this latest eruption of foolishness, but good folks are being dragged through the mud (on both sides), and I've grown weary.<br />
<br />
This whole thing is a steaming pile of bullshit. No one is trying to "destroy" the Golden Dawn, that's just silliness. No one is trying to become the only "legitimate" Golden Dawn order either. I'm sickened by this display.<br />
<br />
Argue in a scholarly fashion! When did this sniping nonsense become the norm? A debate between honorable and wise gents (both of whom I consider Brothers in the Work) like Fraters AM and SR about the Sabbatian Qabbalah would be wonderful, if we could cut all the bullshit out. Quality conversations, ya'll. Skip the vitriol, the name calling and the idiotic marketing methods.<br />
<br />
Yes, it is idiocy. This "McGolden Dawn" nonsense is stupid.Ya'll. GROW THE FUCK UP.<br />
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For the record, The A+O's transmissions are valid, they are real. This isn't stuff that GH Fra LES made up whole cloth, it is genuine. Knowing that, I would suggest that my brothers and sisters in the AO commence with the "not giving a fuck" about what outsiders think of it. Who cares? Just do the work! And stop with the goddamn marketing bullshit already.<br />
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Also. Don't be surprised if people think you're a dick when you're publishing their papers. I mean....come on, ya'll.<br />
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This was the nicest way I could say any of this.<br />
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With love,<br />
<br />
AITAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-84798695564670496212012-03-19T13:19:00.001-07:002012-03-19T13:19:32.048-07:00Hoodoo and Palo Mayombe<i>This is an article I wrote for the <a href="http://www.palo-mayombe.com/">Lemba Congo American Society for the Preservation of Palo Mayombe</a> (or simply the Society, as we call it, because that's a whole lot of name) that addresses heating and cooling spirits, and the links of tradition and approach between Hoodoo and Palo Mayombe. </i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">There is a way of thinking about reality--and learning to interact with it--that empowers all of the Congo-rooted magical systems currently alive here in the West. Having years of experience as a conjurer in the Hoodoo tradition here in America, and learning from an experienced Tata the methods of Palo Mayombe as an Engueyo, I continually am finding parallels between the two. There are two ideas in particular that stand out that I wanted to discuss.</span><br />
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<strong>Heating and Cooling Spirits</strong></div>
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In Hoodoo, we "heat" a spirit to great activity using herbs and roots and powders, and "cool" a spirit using water and herbs and roots as well. The concept of heating and cooling a spirit in Hoodoo comes directly from Congo approaches to medicine and Spirit-Work; cooling herbs are used to calm and soothe, and heating herbs to agitate and cause movement. In Palo, we find the same approach with our bilongo and spiritual baths. "Bitter" herbs in a bath function powerfully to cleanse negativity and remove links to negative spirits because of their natural association with unpleasantness--we use that unpleasantness to chase off the negative spirit. This is similar to how a method for cleansing a home in Hoodoo works; taking a black cast iron skillet, we heat it until it is smoking-hot, and then throw in red hot peppers. We go from room to room while incanting an expelling psalm, using the irritant smoke from the hot peppers to chase the negativity off. Even in the singing of Mambos/Reciting of Psalms we see that the Congo current has powerfully shaped both approaches. If you aren't singing or praying, in Hoodoo or Palo, you aren't working Spirit. An example of "heating" a spirit in Hoodoo would be using Ginger powder in a conjure-hand, in order to get the spirit within lively and moving. If we were being punitive in a working, we may use a particularly harsh "heating" agent, like black peppercorns....heating the spirit into a rage in order to punish an enemy. We would also use heat in a medicinal approach; adding ginger to a work laid at the crossroads to improve on job opportunities and repair the imbalance in life, so that there is activity and action occurring. In Palo the same principle is at work; gentle heat for medicine or simply to awaken and make lively a spirit (think blowing Chamba on the Nganga or a bilongo, for instance) and more intense heat for punitive works. Where a conjurer would add black peppercorn, a palero would likely use fula; working the same principles that are rooted in Congo understandings, with differences in culture changing some of the materials used.</div>
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When working with our nkisi in Palo, the heating and cooling is a constant thing; we blow rum and smoke over them to keep them cool and relaxed and pleasant toward us, and blow hot chamba when we need them up and moving toward accomplishing a particular goal. We often see--especially with our Luceros, in my opinion--that heating our spirits is heating our own lives up, by nature of the pact we have that creates unity between ourselves and the Nkisi. When Lucero is agitated and moving with Fire, I see that same conflict in my life, and when he is soothed and calm, the same reflected for me--especially in opportunities and in relationships with natural forces. This agitation isn't a bad thing, as fire and conflict are often needed to create positive change in a situation.....the understanding of spirit we have from our Palo traditions gives us tools to manage how much fire is applied to our daily lives, and to those of the people we work with.</div>
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<strong>Sweetening Spirits and Souring them</strong></div>
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Another commonality is the idea of "sweetening" ourselves or a given working so that it attracts the right kind of spirits. We see this in the conjure-hand of Hoodoo; this is similar to our bilongo in Palo. Making a mojo hand to make a boss treat you better, for instance, would require some honey or sugar to "sweeten" them toward you. If I were working with a particular spirit from a local graveyard in hoodoo, they'd be paid for their time in coins and food, and honey or sugar-water would be poured on the grave to keep the Spirit sweet on me and pleasant in our interactions. In Palo these same principles are at work, with spiritual baths meant to bless and heal requiring sweet herbs and waters in order to sweeten the spirits interpenetrating a person, and to attract the good and positive spirits into their lives. We offer our nkisi Honey to sweeten them, rum and blood to feed them, smoke and water and rum to cool them. We feed our conjure hands in hoodoo with rum and smoke as well; it is amazing and beautiful to see how the fire of the Congo tradition has found root and blossomed in different ways on our side of the Atlantic.</div>
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Part of the beauty of these two traditions is that they are rooted in nature and direct interaction with it, in perceiving spirit as living, and give us tools to interact with that living spirit from a position of Wisdom and understanding. There is no way to understand the practical work of either of these traditions without fully grasping the concepts of heating and cooling. Even without a deep herbal knowledge, this basic understanding allows us to make effective medicine using smell and taste to gather the correct herbs for baths and workings. I don't need to know the Latin name for mint to taste it and know that it is sweet; nor do I need to know all of the healing/punitive uses of the dandelion to know that it is sour. I can tell that a pepper is hot without years of study....this basic understanding is one that, when fully grasped, makes it possible for the Tata/Yayi or Hoodoo to take a quick walk outside in his garden, or in the nearby brush, or grocery store, and using discernment find herbs that can be worked to accomplish any goal regardless of how many years they have been working. There is no excuse for us not to know, for instance, which plants growing around our homes are sweet and which are bitter. We shouldn't need to order herbs on the internet to do our work, as Palo and hoodoo are nature-based spiritual practice. That being said, a proper understanding of herbs and their uses in workings is a great gift, and one we should strive to work for our entire lives as Paleros....but we are never powerless, even without a personal teacher of herbal knowledge. We can live in the middle of a city, and get everything we need from the produce department of a grocery store, if there isn't a park nearby. Understanding the basic principles of heating/cooling and sweetening/souring, we can work spiritual medicine to heal ourselves and accomplish positive things for the people of our communities.</div>
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<span data-mce-style="color: #999999;" style="color: #999999;">Chris Bradford--Engueyo, Lemba Kongo Kriyumba Engo Brillumba con Mayombe</span></div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-77455937115747348272012-02-12T11:26:00.000-08:002012-02-12T11:26:08.861-08:00Some ChangesAve,<br />
<br />
The vast majority of my work of late--well, the entirety of it--has been in the Palo tradition. I took initiation into the tradition a little while ago, and have found it perfect for me as something I can live...my alchemical knowledge and hoodoo all mesh into existing understanding in Palo. Which makes sense;<a href="http://www.mamiwata.com/hoodoo%20interview.html"> hoodoo is rooted in the Congo</a>, and I've found that the wisdom of roots and herbs is applied in extremely similar fashion between the two traditions. Instead of a red flannel bag, we wrap our works in corn husk (which we have a tratado, a pact with). The importance of different earths and powders is the same, as is the relationship with Spirit. I feel that studying hoodoo is especially useful for American Paleros, as it adds wisdom about herbs and palos local to the land we currently live in, as opposed to Africa and Cuba. As for alchemy, I've already posted about the depths of the alchemical knowledge available in Palo <a href="http://heavenswithinearth.blogspot.com/2011/12/palo-mayombe.html">here</a>. Tremendously interesting stuff.<br />
<br />
I've taken to doing most of my recent posting on tumblr, at <a href="http://www.palomayombe.tumblr.com/">http://www.palomayombe.tumblr.com</a>. I find it is easier and more natural to post up daily, picture based posts using that blog than this one, in which I'll continue to post broader alchemico-magical thoughts and the like. I tend to write long-ass essays here, and do pictures and quick words there. So, if you are interested at all in that sort of practical work go ahead and giv'er a look.<br />
<br />
In LVX,<br />
<br />
AIT<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-86728065328748844712011-12-30T15:54:00.000-08:002012-01-07T15:00:01.173-08:00The Sea of the Dead<br />
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The Dead are everywhere.<br />
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People say this but don't seem to delve much deeper into the meaning of it. They say that they work with "spirit", as if this is something that is not the dead. There is not a square inch of this planet that isn't permeated with the Dead. With Spirit.<br />
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In Alchemy there is the concept of Azoth, the great sea of mind which exists as a reflection into creation of that Great Mind that is un-created and the source of existence. We find that man is a reflection of that same mind into physicality; it stands to reason that the dead are a reflection of that Mind into the world of spirit. The world of Spirit--the realm of the Dead--teems and boils and churns, and permeates all things. Where it coagulates into life we have matter, always pregnant with the Dead. Life is a coagulation, and death a Sublimation. There is only one thing, though. One thing upon which these changes take place.<br />
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There are permutations of the dead that play varying roles in the life of the person, and even more so that of the alchemist/sorcerer.<br />
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<b>The Ancestral Dead</b><br />
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These are our near-dead. The dead who are often closest conceptually and spiritually and are most accessible to us and amenable to our requests. These are the dead that stand at the threshold of life and death, for us; they are the first dead we address for protection, for wisdom. They radiate from us and inter-penetrate us. Their nature in spirit makes up our closest spiritual "atmosphere"--location-wise they are the internal dead; the vulgar ideas about bloodline and how it affects fate are rooted in the ancestral spirit and the effect on our environment their combined nature and virtue has. Like attracts to like.<br />
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If we look to the Greeks, we can see great concern over the fate of improperly buried ancestors--the agony and displeasure experienced by that spirit, who would be close to his relatives, would coagulate into the lives of it's family members. This impression in the Azoth would attract manifestation in accordance with it's nature, and these manifestations would express themselves in the locale of the Spirit, which in the case of the Ancestral Dead is the body and lives of it's line. The wisdom and pain of the ancestors is expressed within the coagulation of their natures, which is their living descendants. Their bodies, their lives. Our lives. There is no understanding the dead without coming into understanding of the importance of the ancestors. Their nature has a direct effect on the well-being of the person. The relationship with the ancestral dead can be expressed as "fate". It can tinge the life of the person in a beneficial or negative fashion. It's here that the nigromancer begins to work the fates.<br />
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<b>The Ambient Dead</b><br />
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In Palo Mayombe our bilongo ("workings") are concentrated substances of a particular virtue. Just like in our classical European magics, Hermetic principle applies. Like is attracted to like. This is the same principle that fundamentally powers hoodoo's practical work as well. We gather a range of ingredients that "heat" the dead and attract a certain potential or effect. The dead are this potential, and they are the root cause of the effect.<br />
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For instance, a hoodoo powder for getting rid of an enemy (a hot-foot powder) could be made using Graveyard dirt (to attract/effect the Dead--spirit), red pepper (to "heat" the dead and make them volatile), Dirt Dauber nest (so that the dead will sting and harass the enemy) and sulfur (it's hellish associations used to attract dead of a certain sort.). This powder is then laid across their doorstep, blown into shoes, placed in their food...it's made to permeate the spiritual atmosphere around the enemy, and change the nature of the ambient dead that surround him.<br />
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This atmosphere boils around the enemy, the dead that surround him, the spirit, is continually working to coagulate and <i>manifest</i>. This is the impetus given the dead by the Sulfuric Fire that permeates them. The Sea of the Dead--Kalunga--interpenetrates and surrounds the coagulated Salt, the Earth. Our bodies and all other matter. The Fire of Heaven, the Sulfur is only communicated through the medium of the Water, as the Water carries the Fire. The Dead bring the fire to ground--they are a Vital force-- and their very nature affects the nature of the World that they permeate.<br />
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The circumstances that arise in our existences are intimately affected by the dead that surround us. This is why we cleanse and purify, this is why the call "HEKAS, HEKAS, EST BEBELOI" was wielded by the wise old Goets of the Western tradition. Understanding the nature of the dead surrounding us is key to growth as a theurge or thaumaturge.<br />
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The Ambient Dead are the dead (the Spirit) that permeates a given area or person. It is a sea of consciousness. The dead that are in our homes, our food and drink, the air we breath, the tools we use....when we consecrate our tools, we change the nature of the Dead within them so that they are permeated with the virtue we require.When we make a talisman, the dead within an object are given a consecration of meaning and virtue that work for the effect we desire. This concentration in virtue tinges the nature of the Sea of Dead we are permeated with, so that the desired thing is drawn toward us.<br />
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<b>Dreaming, the Moon</b><br />
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It is with the ancestral and ambient dead we contend with when we sublimate from our bodies, and enter into the Sea of Death for a time in our dreams. In Hermetic work we find this realm represented by Luna, through whom all other spiritual forces must pass in order to manifest on the physical. The realm of the dead is truly like a sea, it has tides and fluctuations that can be tracked by the state of the moon, the same way we observe changes in the other powerful natural forces by viewing the heavenly bodies in Astrology. Dreaming is a steeping of ourselves within that Sea; oftentimes powerful messages from our ancestors are communicated through them. Sometimes we find ourselves viewing the life of another, who has since passed into the realm of death and is ambient to us. Powerful spiritual work that concentrates virtue in a given room is often observable in dreams; the Sea of Death in the area has been tinged by the work, and the sublimated person experiences it. We find our fears manifest in the realm of dreams, our constant worryings and brooding having tinged our atmosphere. The concentration of the mind and spirit is a powerful thing, and the dead are a malleable and liquid substance.<br />
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<b>The Holy/Heroic Dead</b><br />
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Here we have Saints, powerful Spirits and entities that are old and concentrated. The greater the Fire within a concentration of Being the more powerful its ability to mold the Sea around it and manifest it's nature into the physical realm. The Holy Dead have, in their perfection, refined and concentrated the fire of life within them beyond that of the average person/thing. There are powerful Dead that don't come from humans; they have among them representation from every thing that exists, and therefore make up entire realms within the Sea of Death.<br />
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Here we find our great amalgations of Spirit, our Goetic Kings with their followers, our Angelic Beings and their Hierarchies, all within the great Sea.<br />
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Like attracts like, so within the Sea there are realms of heavenly and beautiful things, and also of dark and terrible things. Concentration of Virtue, which can be seen as places, but also as entities in and of themselves.<br />
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<b>The Powerful Dead</b><br />
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These are entities like Gods--things that are direct expressions of the fundamental creative force. Even they, in all their power, must express themselves in the world through avenue of the dead. They are a pure Fire, a pure Virtue an incredible concentration. They are often acquainted to natural forces (mpungo in Palo) which are physical manifestations of fundamental spiritual forces. Here we have Love, that is Venus, that is Aphrodite, that is Gravity when fully coagulated. We have Time/Space, that is Saturn, that is Chronus, that is physicality and matter. And so on. The Sea of Death is full of dense concentrations of principle and consciousness, and it must be understand. In my opinion.<br />
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There are, of course other opinions on all this. If you have on of them, please share in ye olde Comments section! This subject must be addressed, I feel, and there is too little proper understanding of it.<br />
<br />
AITAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-82544687913240247712011-12-12T23:14:00.000-08:002011-12-12T23:14:58.998-08:00Enochian experiment resultsAve,<br />
<br />
So, the work with the Enochian angels has been very interesting. I've stripped away everything but the calls for this particular operation (with a censer for incense, of course) and a bit of holy water I use for purification before.<br />
<br />
For this work I began by using the First 18 calls to imitate the Creation and call the Angels that put the wheels into motion. If you move through the temple with the calls --they give you specific direction with certain calls--you find that you are creating a Spiral of sorts, out from the center, like one of those Fibonacci deals. The first seven calls align you with the Creator, invoke the Archangels of the Seven and the Twelve, and then call the entities of the four Winds. The Eighth call invokes the entities that guard against the hard-boys of the Angelic world, who are great and terrible. They are, of course, invoked in the next whirl of Calls, rotating around the center again as they take up their position on the outer edges of the Spiral.<br />
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The 19th call invokes the angels that Are the Aethyrs and opens the gates of the various "worlds". In Leitch's work we see the connection between the Enochian work and the 50 Gates of Wisdom of the Qabalah--the enochian Calls are supposed to be a similar work, something used to enter into direct communion with the Creator itself. To become like Enoch. I decided I'd go ahead and give it a try.<br />
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I used the first 18, creating that Spiraling madness that is existence, in imitation of the Creator in it's work. Using the Calls I spoke with it's authority. I then opened the Gates, beginning with the First Gate--again, in imitation of the Creation--and opening them all down through the 30th Gate. From LIL to TEX. Then I used an incantation built from the Names of the Aethyrs to first enter into deep trance, and then to move up through the opened gates experientially. I was hoping to rise up through them and enter into the wisdom of the 0 Gate, behind which is the Creator itself. This is like hoping to win the damn lottery, but whatevs. You don't win if you don't try, haha.<br />
<br />
I lay down after opening the Gates and began the incantation. I didn't stop and enjoy the scenery; I've traveled through all of the Aethyrs at this point in my previous visionary work. This time I am not interested in visionary experiences; my aim is for direct theurgic experience, or direct thaumaturgical result. I incanted the name of each Aethyr until I'd "entered" it. This wasn't difficult to perceive, luckily, as I'd had gnosis of the states of the various Aethyrs before. I went all the way to the top, and was in for a surprise.<br />
<br />
I went to LIL, and then I went <i>past</i> LIL, into a blackness. A living blackness. Each Aethyr is a realm, and a door. None are meant for people to simply dwell in; they are gates of Wisdom, like those of Binah for the Qabalists. This blackness was an empty but pregnant place/state--clearly not past the 0 Gate, as I was obviously not become Enoch, haha. I sat in silence for a moment, and then the gnosis of where I was began. This area was of Saturn; his glyph hummed a deep, almost black purple, and then was gone. The phrase "<b>Chamber of Creation</b>" arises in my mind. Interesting. This is the "room" from which the Creator stood--expanded--and created all that is. It is pure potential, un-manifested. Uncreated potential, which is mirrored into physicality. I'm not sure I'm explaining this very well, but it was a thing of Saturn. It was a strange place to be. I thought about how I could apply this, and "pop", a useful little thaumaturgic method came into mind, some interesting things involving lamps, spirit pots, and written spell-papers, wax poppets, the works. Going to experiment with those over the next couple of weeks, see how it works. I imagine they came this way because of my own sorcerous proclivities. Thought worked out great for this, so I thought about how I could enter into the zero Gate. The answer was "Sit here in the darkness forever and long for nothing else, only Union with the One". So, yeah. The Calls can take you right up onto the doorstep. Into the Void, as it were. Can't get past without eliminating any desire that differs from Union with the source. Even the smallest hint of desire for the Other, and the door remains closed.<br />
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There's some useful stuff available once ascending into the Chamber of Creation. You can make shit there, and then pull it down back through the Aethyrs with you. This works especially well if you already have a "body" in which to ground the principle prepared in the physical. There are keys to making this work, thaumaturgically. The key in this instance is the Blood of the alchemist; whatever is conceived in the Chamber is expressed in the flesh when the mind returns fully to it. The basis itself --I've used wax and paper so far--needs to be baptized with a small measure of blood. This allows the thing created in the Chamber to find expression in the outside world; in the body, the skin is of Saturn, and is the barrier between yourself and the outside world. Piercing it to allow some blood to escape, allows the thing within to escape from the uncreated state into the world of manifestation.....it's interesting stuff. a bunch to it, of course. I'll write more on it later.<br />
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I'm obviously not John Dee, so don't feel like I'm saying my methods here are anywhere near how Enochian should be defined. This method is going to avoid visionary experience entirely, with an aim for direct gnosis, and results based magics. No SDA or any of that; DuQuette has already done the Vision method, and done it very well. Amazingly well. This is more of a conjure approach, or at least <i>my</i> conjure approach, hahaha.<br />
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I'll talk more later, hope all are well.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-55696895851403155812011-12-06T09:53:00.001-08:002014-06-06T08:32:23.192-07:00Palo Mayombe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ave,<br />
<br />
I've been engaged in a deep study of Frater Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold's work <a href="http://www.scarletimprint.com/palo_mayombe.htm">Palo Mayombe</a>, and have been steadily amazed at the deep understandings within it. For a long time I've known some small measure of what <a href="http://www.palo-mayombe.com/">Palo</a> is--that it is a worship-centered religion, that it is necromantically powerful. I've also known what it isn't-- Palo is not just black magic, it isn't a club an African/Afro-Latino sorcerer wields to beat people over the head. That being said, engaging in metaphysical contests with it's practitioners is generally un-wise....they don't mess about. <a href="http://www.palo-mayombe.com/">Palo Mayombe</a> is a fierce religion, but it <b>Is</b> a religion.<br />
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What I didn't know was the true depths of it's Wisdom and alchemical understanding. That's right,<b> <u>alchemical understanding</u></b>. Palo Mayombe isn't a simple practice. It's a multi-layered and living religious and alchemical practice, and it's grasp of the forces of life are unparalleled. It's spiritual technologies are very sophisticated as well. The divinatory system is empowered, relying on a deep relationship with Spirit, and not randomness/chaos alone. The Nganga itself is a masterwork of combined alchemical and magical understanding, necessary for powerful necromantic work, in my opinion, because working with and manipulating the three Alchemical priniciples is only possible with understanding of their natures. Necromancy, in the end, is alchemical and evolutionary, a metaphysical Art of life. Giving life to the Dead, and creating a communion between them, an Ouroboros of mutual existence and understanding, is a formula of immortality.<br />
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A beautiful dance that can be seen in the growth of the Ti-Bon Ange in Voudon through regular expansion and communion with the Gros-Bon Ange and work with the Lwa. In the Western traditions our Spirit-Books have become separated from our Alchemies and our Astrology; in the RR et AC the work of the 6=5 in addressing the Spirit-world (if done correctly) creates this understanding, but how many even make it to this grade? How many orders have a living understanding of necromantic rites, untainted by unsophisticated Victorian ideas? There is a basic understanding of the life-mysteries, of the dance of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt that has had to be revitalized in the Western traditions but has never ceased in the African Traditional Religions. <br />
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Palo has this understanding. It's basic teachings, if translated into Western terms and imagery, wouldn't be out of place in the Hermetica at all, nor among the Tantras. It is applied wisdom, not theoretical understanding, which is a wonder. Like the hidden operative alchemical orders of the West, it is a tradition that requires initiation into it's practice and the understanding of Gnosis; no amount of reading will make you a Palero. This is a tradition that carries the Fire, if one has the eyes to recognize it. Reading of it and it's understandings sent shivers up my spine, of joy and recognition.<br />
<br />
The difficulty with coming to a proper perspective of Palo is in it's reputation. It has a fearsome reputation among practitioners, and the plethora of horns and sigils, the skulls and sticks in the prenda....you can imagine how the ignorant Western public views it. Colonialist ideas about all things African abound; I get to deal with that shit on a regular basis. Dark fellows dancing in the darkness, with veve's drawn on the ground and a witches cauldron filled with death, lit only by flickering candle flame...add in rhythmic drumming and devil-horned statues and you've got a recipe for public relations issues.<br />
<br />
Much of the problem comes from Western cultures failure to deal with death. It's externalized, othered, and pushed away into the graveyard. The dead are either inert, a ghostly nothing-ness, or a malignant threat. This attitude leaks into our own expressions of necromantic understanding--just take a look at how the spirits of our own traditions have been demonized, at how necromancy has come to be perceived as evil. Our own beloved dead as things to be feared; looking at a cultural religious practice that actively venerates and works with the dead is bound to result in negative association from that perspective.<br />
<br />
Nicholaj has written a masterful work that dispels many of these misconceptions about Palo; that show it for the vibrant and alchemically powerful and operative religion that it is.I've read a number of works on Palo, and none hold a candle to the clarity with which the ideas in Palo are expressed in The Garden of Blood and Bones. <br />
<br />
Coming into union with Palo is only possible through initiation, but reading this book is literally the closest you can come to understanding of this tradition without knowing a Palero. I would whole-heartedly encourage everyone to read this book. It has a lot to offer Western alchemists and magicians in understanding our own traditions, viewing them through eyes that see the Art through a powerful living tradition.<br />
<br />
<br />
AIT<br />
<a href="http://www.palo-mayombe.com/">Palo Mayombe</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-32241852641863658142011-12-03T01:37:00.001-08:002011-12-03T02:07:28.518-08:00New Approach to Enochian<br />
Been working much on the Enochian rites, and today went "live" with a new approach (for me at least, don't know if anyone else is approaching it this way) that is centered primarily on treating the calls themselves as the Book of Logoaeth and as the primary ritual tool. No pentagrams or hexagrams, no speeches about Watchtowers, no SDA yet. No wand. Just a censer on the altar, with the tablet of Nalvage, and my tablet. Was a bit, uh, concerned going in. Attempted to memorize the calls, but even reading them in my mind dials the phone, as it were. Discovered that any one call on it's own--depending upon the nature of the call--can be powerfully unbalancing. Each call contacts a certain series of entities according to their nature, and the First 8 calls in particular, in my opinion, hold efficacy in creating a balanced and powerful state, with the Quarters called and the Angels that guard against the "stooping dragons" invoked. Kept it simple; called the First three to align myself with the Great One, invoke the attention and authority of the Angels of the Seven and the Zodiac, calling down connection with the Holy Spirit/Galvah. Turned to the South for the Fourth Call, the West for the Fifth, the North for the Sixth, and the East for the Seventh, invoking the angels of those quarters respectively. Then called the Eighth, in order to summon those terrible angels (all 26 of them?) who guard against the stooping dragons. Felt like there were eyes watching me, after about the third call. Tremendous waves of spirit in the subtle body, in addition to random shaking and shivering, during the performance of the calls. I incant them in song, while visualizing the Enochian letter--then I read the meaning of the call in the silence of my mind. This method seems to be very effective. Vibrated the names of the Tablet of Nalvage, then sat down to vision.<br />
<br />
Angels come from each quarter in vision to tell me something--Angel from the North was like a pillar, hardly human-seeming at all. Like an obelisk. Showed me a statue of a Pharoah in a thick brown stone frieze. I asked for clarification, and the stone became thicker. Ahh. They can make men Kings of the earth, of the physical.<br />
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Angel from the South was tall and angular, almost insectile, and not human-ish at all. It used a thin needle to penetrate my arm in three place, then it stepped forward and blew into them, which led to an ecstatic feeling. They gave me the sense that they can make the bodies subtle, that they fill things with the spirit.<br />
<br />
Angel from the West appeared, and was somehow feminine and alien. Feathers and hips. Flowed and undulated, and the whispered. The impression arose that her ilk could inspire spiritual trance and Ecstasis. Oracular and divinatory.<br />
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The Angel in the East come forward and draw a fiery crescent moon, and I get the meaning that their works are deeply affected by the phase of the moon. I believe the "28" in the 7th call is a reference to the mansions of the moon, so this makes sense.This entity looked almost human, all be-winged and the like. Face not quite visible, all aglow and white.<br />
<br />
I asked if my tablet was necessary, and they said no. All that I need was the calls and understanding. Very interesting--the last method I practiced required all kinds of paper images and wax tablets and metal talismans.....and this entity was telling me that wasn't necessary. Enochian allows us to create, to stand in harmony with the creater as the created. The LOGOS, the word is all that is needed. This is a fully incantatory and ecstatic system of magic. The first series of calls creates connections with the Angels that are operant in creation, and the calls of the Aethyrs are there to complete creation, in a way--in the first calls we mimic the creator and speak the world into existence, with the second half we move the created back up the aethyrs into contact with the Creator. Ouroboros. Very alchemical in its working.<br />
<br />
The SDA and the Great Tablet are complicated phone books. They were given to Dee in the fashion they are organized so that the hierarchies of these entities could be understood at a glance (once the ever-necessary code was given, which was necessary because of the way Dr.Dee's mind worked). The SDA gives us the planetary Hierarchy, and the Great Tablet the hierarchy of the Directions/Winds. The Tablet of Nalvage is the Wheel of creation, with the Four Worlds of creation/Four States of existence surrounded by the Angels that animate the Ouroboros of life, moving things from subtle into the Material, and back again. These are not entities that need to be internalized, or forces that need balancing within. They are great and powerful spirits, and not merely expressions of internal reality. Enochian magic should not be approached in the same way we've traditionally used our symbol-heavy Qablistic based magic, in my opinion. Or combined with it at all. No QC, no LBRP, none of that. Just the Calls, and then the conversations and relationships with powers. No need to "ground" forces, in a material basis, I was the talisman and the center of power myself. Strange that no one seems to be approaching Enochian as conjure/Spirit-work....it is. Totally is. I'm fully amazed by it. Reveived a simple method for invoking the power of one of these angles for specific tasks which came through in a very hoodoo way...these entities clearly use what's in the channel of the magician to communicate their truths<br /><br />The Heptarchia Mystica is a straight-up spirit Grimoire. Kings, princes and all, but "heavenly" instead of Cthonic.<br />
<br />
More to come. I hope all are well!<br />
<br />
p.s. Do not incant Enochian Calls without specific purpose. They call Things--those things get pissed if their time is wasted. Then you get your ass kicked, especially if you haven't said the correct calls to align yourself with the correct powers. I say this from horrible experience. Yesterday.<br />
<br />
AIT<br />
<br />
I feel absolutely fantastic after the rite. Powerful. No shakes or craziness, no misplaced furniture...tranquil. Balanced. Which is nice, because I was terribly concerned I was sticking my finger in an electric socket.<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-40740936107719889032011-11-27T10:39:00.001-08:002011-11-27T14:17:00.748-08:00Alchemical Synergy between External and Prima Materias<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YiZZTBeOvho/SltjEsuBegI/AAAAAAAAADI/SYV_8E1K5dE/s1600/kj8a.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YiZZTBeOvho/SltjEsuBegI/AAAAAAAAADI/SYV_8E1K5dE/s1600/kj8a.gif" /></a></div>
<br />
Ave,<br />
<br />
<br />
There was some discussion recently on the fora about the nature of Alchemy, and whether our alchemical forbears were referring to internal substances or primarily to external substances. One of the gentlemen involved is a well known external alchemist, with a tremendous amount of scholarship under his belt. While I respect his contribution, the idea that there is any such thing as purely external alchemy is entirely incorrect.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>***added for clarity. Thank you Mr.Faust!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The gist of the argument being made was that there was no evidence/truth to traditional Alchemy being "internal" in Nature, and that the Basil Valentines, Flamels, and Philalethes' of our tradition where speaking to purely physical processes. Which I, uh, completely disagree with. </span><br />
<br />
Yup. There is no such thing as strictly "external" Alchemy. If an alchemical process doesn't reflect into the Body, it isn't alchemy. Archemy, yes, and sometimes Spagery, but not Alchemy.<br />
<br />
"External" is a handy term we use to describe a <i>piece</i> of the complicated process, a process that can be seen in many of the Emblems--especially in those of Daniel Stolisces' "Hermetic Garden". We see a Sun in the Sky, a Sun in the Sea, and a Sun in a cave in the Earth. This process is symbolic of complete alchemical practice, which is triune, reflective and co-operative.<br />
<br />
The Prima Materia is, always has been, and always shall be the Body of the alchemist, the Self of the alchemist. Any process that doesn't have some involvement with the Prima Materia is play-acting. The confusion comes from those who have read the old manuscripts, and derived true chemical processes from them. They make the mistake of thinking that, because an Alchemist may use an external Materia within his lab-ware, that the Prima Materia is other than the body. This is due to lack of initiation or lack of Hermetic understanding; all alchemical processes are meant to work upon the Prima Materia that is the body--we use the lab in the same way we use the tools of ceremonial magic in Lunar alchemy (Lunar alchemy=Theurgic Ceremonial Magic). What happens within the glass is analogous to the process we wish worked upon our bodies.<br />
<br />
I think the best way to understand this is to compare "external" alchemy to ceremonial magic. Both are processes that use analogy and symbol in order to work upon the substance of the alchemist/magicians Self; both are Theurgic and both are Lunar, in that they operate upon the Prima Materia analogically instead of directly. They are not actually different things, they are different approaches to the same method of Art.<br />
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In theurgic ritual magic, we find that we invariably have a Circle of Art. This is the Symbol of the Body--it delineates the limits of the alchemist's personal sphere in the same way that the Skin does the physical body of the Alchemist. Within the Lab, this would be our External glassware, our Retort.<br />
<br />
In theurgic Ritual magic, we have our symbols for the Elements--the subtle Parts of the alchemist--and invocation of those forces in balanced measure into the Circle. These external symbols are analogous to the Senses and humours of the physical Body in direct Internal alchemy. Within the lab, this would be the physical substance of the analogous Materia we are working with--say Cinnabar, for instance. The physical substance in the glass is representative of the mixed substances within the Alchemist, the lymph and nerve-force and matter that dwell in various stages of coagulation within body. This is why we see so often that mercury-sulfides like cinnabar are used as the Materia in laboratory alchemy; their composition makes for powerful and straight forward analogous connection to the Alchemist, whose body is composed of Salt-Mercury-Sulfur. When we understand the Salt-Force as that which causes the coagulation into physicality and the Mercury and Sulfur forces as Spirit and Soul respectively, we see that a mercuric sulfide is a perfect Materia to serve as an external symbol of the Prima Materia. Spirit and Soul made literally solid.<br />
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In theurgic Ritual Magic, we find all is powered by subtle virtue and LVX--this is the Dragon/Internal Fire of direct Alchemy, and the chemical fire/external burner (depending upon wet or dry method) of the lab-work. This is the "heat" used to refine the matter.<br />
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The processes of "External" alchemy are meant to work upon the Prima Materia; it is absolutely pointless to practice external alchemy without creating a connection between the Prima Materia and the First Matter in the glass. Observing chemical changes without connection in Spirit is a pleasant mental exercise, but it isn't Alchemy.<br />
<br />
Creating that connection isn't difficult at all. What joins all together is our Menstruum, our Mercury, within which we dissolve the Prima Materia and the External matters, regardless of practice. They must both be held by the Spirit and Awareness. Baptism of the External matter is one method which I've found efficacious. Look to the transubstantiation practiced in the Christian Eucharist for guidance there. The Bread is become the Body (Salt), and the Wine the Blood (Spirit). The Holy Spirit (in this case Sulfur) descends with the priest's prayer, and the Eucharist is born as a fully alchemical body, that of the solar Christ. A spark of Gold. The priest then consumes this body, which, after the truly alchemical process of digestion occurs, disperses that gold throughout the body of the priest, lifting the nature of the Priest's body and refining it. A gentle calcination. This is an old alchemical method, an amalgam Way, combining Lunar (use of analogous substances to refine Virtue) with Solar (direct change worked upon the physical Prima Materia, in this instance through digestion.) So, the Key here in many ways is prayer.<br />
<br />
Just as there is no such thing as Ritual Magic without a magician, we can't have Alchemy without the alchemist! External alchemy works upon the Prima Materia; if it doesn't then it is just archemy, perhaps chemistry. Where archemists fail is in neglecting to properly understand the purpose of the process and of the materias involved. <br />
<br />
Classic alchemical practice becomes confused for moderns without initiatory or Hermetic understanding because of the nature of the Language of the Birds. An alchemist can speak of the Prima Materia in one sentence, and be referring to the analogous/lunar Matter in the lab glass, and in the next be referring to the direct Prima Materia that is the body. Over and over, our forebears state that our matter isn't "vulgar" and our Mercury isn't "common", but of course these things are overlooked.<br />
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It's also worth noting that using external matters in combination with internal practices is a Key to the Art; there is a feedback that occurs between the "External" matter in the glass and the Internal substances of the Alchemist that is incredibly useful. It is also difficult sometimes to measure internal states...when there is proper sympathy between the external matter and the Internal, changes to both happen in turn, and the external is much easier to observe. It becomes a visual record of the internal changes occurring during the process. When looking at particular methods--such as the Wet Way espoused by the <a href="http://gyllenegryningen.blogspot.com/2009/07/path-of-red-dragon.html">FAR+C</a>--we can see how the changes the external matter experience can be keyed to the changes experienced in the Prima Materia, and how we can guide both matters forward in changes with Hermetically sealed operation.<br />
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<br />
The External work is only half the process; if not done in sympathy and simultaneously with the Internal work it is a dead thing. If it were otherwise, archemists would have no problems completing the Work.<br />
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Feel free to disagree with me in the comments! =)<br />
<br />
AIT<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-37180926017448269732011-11-25T06:59:00.001-08:002011-11-26T11:51:40.522-08:00Opening the Book of Lambspring<div>
Ave,<br />
<br />
Hadean Press has just published a pamphlet I've written which serves as a solid introduction to internal Hermetic alchemical thought. In "Opening the Book of Lambspring" each of the emblems is delved into, in a straight-forward and clear fashion. It's a great deal at only 3 pounds,and makes for interesting reading for alchemy-loving folk. Even the well-versed in alchemy may find it interesting;they could rant about how their reading of the emblem is completely different than mine, and get a few quality "harrumphs" or grumbles in....which is an important part of the alchemical tradition,haha.
Anyway, go buy it! You will definitely enjoy it. <br />
<a href=""><br /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.hadeanpress.com/2011/11/opening-the-book-of-lambspring/">Purchase your copy here.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
In LVX,
AIT<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-NS3JYTh0ZJg/Ts-zodVzNZI/AAAAAAAAAqE/S7Txyfu2Vqg/Lambspring.png" /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-14608651253930275682011-11-02T21:48:00.000-07:002011-11-02T21:48:29.258-07:00I'm a ...Pagan?Ave,<br />
<br />
So, I was chatting with a fellow Alchemist and dear brother of mine, who was pointing me toward the Feri tradition, an American-born Witchcraft tradition that incorporates elements of Huna and Hoodoo (Which is bloody awesome. Because I incorporate those elements too.) Seems like something I should know about, and I'd never heard of it until he brought it up in one of our recent correspondences. Doing some research for it led me to a blog called The Wild Hunt, which I've read once or twice, but haven't followed closely.<br />
<br />
It would appear that I'm the only magician on the planet who doesn't follow it closely. The writing is quite good. Reading it gave me pause, as it's directed at Pagans, and I'm not a Pagan.<br />
<br />
Right?<br />
<br />
Or am I? Hmm. I'm an Alchemist and a conjurer. I worship the One that is All and is None, as we all do one way or another, and I am a devoted <i>Sacerdos Saturni. </i>I work with the Christian Trinity and Saints/Heroic Dead, and with the ancient Planetary Gods. What do you call someone who works within the Current with eyes open? Is this Pagan?<br />
<br />
Wikipedia says that the widest definition of Pagan is one not adhering to the Abrahamic faiths. When one gets deep enough into esoteric practice and study, one becomes aware that the stream at root of all these differing religions (as Fra RO puts it in this excellent post) is the same stream, manifesting differently according to culture and time. Does the word Pagan even have any meaning, at this juncture? Do magicians still define themselves based on their views about modern Christianity? I mean....Jesu, as Horus, son Of Jupiter/Jehovah/Jove, as Dionysus (or brother to Dionysus, more accurately in my opinion)...all of it is interlinked. Lillith has her place in Judaism and Christianity, even Astaroth has a place in the modern religion. The Christians appropriated entire pantheons, for heavens sake, and the dominant Roman culture before them had done much the same. What do these labels even mean, now?<br />
<br />
I don't think of myself as Pagan. Strange. I also don't think of myself as Christian/Jewish/Islamic; my "religion" is my devotional and alchemical practice. Also....it has to be said. I was at Pantheacon and literally saw only <i>3 other black people both days I was there</i>. I felt out of place at Pantheacon (although I thoroughly enjoyed it!). Unfortunate that that matters, but it does, if only for the sake of not feeling "othered". Intensely ironic as well, when seeing all the ATR/Diaspora traditions being celebrated. It was great to see that, though. I'm not one of those who think you need to be Black to work our traditions. That's silliness. You need only be respectful and Human....but I digress. I've never felt that the Pagan community was speaking to me, or for me. Again, strange. My dearest friends are for the most part avowed Pagans, and I'm a huge fan of the Pagan community. Am I a part of this community, though? I suppose I can dance there, the same as I dance at the churches and the like. Definitely be in good company. <br />
<br />
I'm beginning to think Paganism is a poor label--it seems silly to define yourself based on your opposition to Christianity. Why should that define you? I feel this label should be done away with, and that it is without real meaning. A Witch isn't a non-Christian; she should be defined by what she actively does, not what she doesn't do. A Witch is a Witch. Defining yourself by what you are not--a Christian--puts you in the position of validating Christianity as the standard. Words have power, and language has power; Pagans having to fight to be recognized by the military and prison-systems and the like is an effect of this sort of language, that makes Pagans "other", compared to the "normal" Christians. Why would you accept the label another religious culture gave you, anyway? Especially one that has no respect for you--just doesn't make sense to me.<br />
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Sometimes it's cool to be the "other", but obsession with that is some teenage shit. Better to be equal than be other. I know Pagans who wear all kinds of crazy shit in public, reveling in the "otherness" that makes them feel superior to the asshats who tortured them when they were younger. Time to grow up. While you are reveling in otherness, other religious understandings are reveling in <i>actual social power. </i>Perhaps instead of defining these traditions in their juxtaposition to Christianity, they should be defined by the nature of their worship and understanding--worship of the Old Gods? Perhaps something could be stolen from Lovecraft?<br />
<br />
...just kidding about that. Still, I think this label is a dangerous one to keep. Not that my opinion is all that important, about it, haha. Just thought I'd throw it out there, and inquire about what other people think about all this.<br />
<br />
AITAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-32295909351622404022011-10-24T11:59:00.000-07:002011-10-24T11:59:20.429-07:00Vision-Chat with Saturnus, some observations.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://salonunidad.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/440px-francesco_salviati_005.jpg?w=352&h=479" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://salonunidad.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/440px-francesco_salviati_005.jpg?w=352&h=479" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Kairos..the Supreme Moment</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Ave,<br />
<br />
This Saturday I did a nice long ritual working; I've been crazy-busy the last couple weeks with family matters, and so hadn't done a proper check-in with the Old Man. I'd noticed some things in myself that seemed to be the result of an over-heavy Saturnian hand; nothing huge, but noticeable change in temperament and movement that I needed to sort out.<br />
<br />
This is something to be aware of; continued practical and devotional work with a single entity will show in your life, in your body and in your mind. We are what we continually do, and if your time is spent working with Saturnus, you'll find more and more a resemblance between yourself and Him. It's not a literal and gross change--you probably won't take to Serpent-riding or scythe carrying...although I will declare you immediately awesome if you do--but a subtle and perceptible change that is recognizable in the way the World relates to you, and in the way you relate to it. By "you" I mean the unified you. There is a Saturnian understanding of the self that differs from the norm, in that the body, mind and spirit are no longer perceived as entirely separate things. They aren't of course, but having practical gnosis and intellectual knowledge are two different things.<br />
<br />
You can feel particular re-occurring tensions in the body, which reveal themselves as concerns you've dwelt on, memories you've obsessed over and knots of stagnant LVX when held with the awareness. It is all of those things at once; the self is manifest. There is no true separation, all is one. Within the Body all is coagulated and joined, and so it has a primacy that cannot be ignored.<br />
<br />
You learn that working on the Body is working upon the Mind/Spirit and Soul. You can change how you feel by changing your posture. You can eliminate an old hate with touch, and re-kindle an old love with the same. You can purify and sactify; everything that is done is done through the body. You can move your way into Gnosis of this or that; you can dance into wisdom. You can<i> eat </i>your way into wisdom, for heaven's sake. There are alchemical methods designed purely around the digestive fires, and they <u>work</u>. The body is this important to spiritual matters. Relaxing your body is liberating your self from ailments and stresses. A half-hour massage everyday is far more useful for the spiritual well-being of a person than, say, a half-hour of meditating. Yeah, I just said that. Massage is more important than meditation. Think I'm wrong? Meditate for a half hour, and note how you are immediately after. Do the same after a proper massage; you'll see that after the massage you feel renewed in mind, body, and spirit, you feel <i>whole</i>. Imagine the benefits if you did such a thing once a day, instead of twice a year after your husband/wife gets you a gift certificate.<br />
<br />
You become aware that the body is constantly speaking through sensation, and that you've been ignoring this subtle singing for ages. When the sages speak of living in the eternal moment, the body-awareness is a key that is often left unspoken. You aren't a soul inhabiting a body, a spirit bound in matter. No. You are not. You are your body, which is also your spirit and your soul. These things <i>are not separate</i>. They differ only in coagulation. What of the mind? The mind is an emanation of the body, rising from the Spirit/Water-permeated Earth like a fog. The existence of the mind is a function of the body. This doesn't mean that we only have minds when we are physical; it means that this is how Mind works at our level of coagulation. Your mind's functioning in our current realm--that of Time/Space-- is absolutely dependent upon the Body (observe a person with extensive brain-damage, and see that this is just the plain truth), which is absolutely dependent upon the Mind as well. There is no separation. You are small Soul emanated from the great Soul, animated by Spirit and Coagulated in Body, governed with Mind...which is governed by Body, which is animated by Spirit, which is emanated from Soul. Inside out, outside in, a great Ouroboros of being. All is one thing, existing in different states simultaneously.<br />
<br />
When traveling in the Spirit (after having whitened the Prima Materia) we aren't "leaving the body". In Time/Space, we Are the body! What we are doing is exploring existence in the more subtle realm of Spirit, which isn't coagulated in Time/Space. You never leave your body "here", you become aware of the you that exists in the Spiritual realm and roam about. The physical you is a focal point, a coagulated point of being; it is a part of the Greater you, but certainly not the limit of your existence.<br />
<br />
Anyway, it changes you. This has to be examined to be deeply understood.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Ritual</span><br />
<br />
Saturday's rite was an amazing experience; I haven't detailed one of these in a bit, so here we go.<br />
<br />
Went upstairs about halfway into the Saturnian hour (my wife works with St.Cyprian, and Saturdays are his day as well. He is partial to the number 9, and that also happens to be about when the Saturnian hour was getting going out here in California on Saturday. Let her go first with her Work, knew I'd be at it for longer.) I performed my cleansing first, followed by banishing of unwelcome spirits, and then the Qabalistic Cross to center myself. Lit the candle at my Saturn altar, and lit his incense. Meditated for a moment upon his Image (which I keep next to a Kamea of Saturn, which is underneath the black candle) to make a connection. Felt the connection, returned to small altar in center of the room. I keep my Lotus wand and bronze censer here, next to a bowl of holy water. Burned my Come Here, Angel powder, and then created the Tower of Art. Performed the Holy Yeheshua Rite, Lemnian Fire Rite, and then the Antimaquis Rite for Saturn. Candle burns out immediately after finishing Antimaquis rite. Momentary concern that perhaps I'd been too long between rites, and was about to get chewed out. Turns out Saturn's hour ended at that very same moment as well. What are the chances of these things occuring at once? Ahh, magic. Lit a new candle and burnt another incense-offering for Saturn, and performed the Sign of the Enterer on image. Felt myself being <i>pulled</i> at, and closed my eyes, falling into vision.<br />
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Find myself in a rocky and mountainous clearing under a bright purple night-sky. Stars are bright and throbbing, and there are tall and ancient-looking trees all about me. Before me is Saturn. He isn't huge or ominous looking; he wears a simple deep-purple robe. His face isn't entirely clear to my vision, as if it were back-lit. His beard is greyish-white, and his hands look strong. I sense that this figure in front of me in the vision isn't just Saturn, but a convenience. The entirety of the landscape is Saturn, the entire Vision is Saturn. I ask him if I'm doing things correctly, and I feel him turn his awareness on me. I was immediately filled with Grace. It rushed through me like a river, and I was near to weeping with the beauty of it. It was simply incredible. I haven't felt such a thing before. Not in this measure. He is such a stern figure; I find myself desiring his approval and dreading his disappointment. I'm not unaware of how the whole sky-father deal works, hahaha. His being a God of Death adds a certain flavor to the dreading part, I have to tell you. He took a minute to teach me a lesson about Existence, as he's done for each of our rites together. He also made it clear that I don't need to call him each week for conversation like clockwork; he is timeless. I need to live in the Saturnian body--to do so with the Saturnian awareness--and then, every moment is worship. This is difficult to translate into regular words....It's always a sea of impressions directly after a Vision, and it looses something when it coagulates fully into memory, I think.<br />
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I've worked with any number of Gods, but never in this way. The devotional way; like any relationship, you reap what you've sewn.<br />
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In LVX,<br />
<br />AIT<br />
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<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-8504852305156647992011-10-18T15:41:00.000-07:002011-10-19T09:08:12.776-07:00Review: Crossed Keys by Michael Cecchetelli<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.scarletimprint.com/images/crossed%20keys/crossedkeys_cover_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.scarletimprint.com/images/crossed%20keys/crossedkeys_cover_lg.jpg" width="113" /></a></div>
<br />
Ave,<br />
<br />
Finally finished going deep into this lovely tome, and I have to say that it is very impressive. I've not worked the Black Dragon (grimoire) or done much with the Enchiridion before, so this was a double joy for me. I'm going to break the review into a couple of sections, make it easier to order my thoughts.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Authenticity</span></b><br />
<br />
Mr.Cecchetelli has done something that I think will start to become a standard for modern grimoiric Magicians who choose to write--whether they are re-approaching a classic or communicating their own Grimoire. He's included a sample of his own working journal that notes his results and observations in the work, including preparations he takes before beginning the work. This part is invaluable I think, to both experienced and newb magicians. This ain't my first rodeo, as it were, and reading Mr.Cecchetelli's journal was useful for me because his results told me that he'd actually done the Work.<br />
<br />
He wasn't bullshitting; I've spoken with some of these entities and experienced some similar things (like their absolute hatred of the traditional Threat-based evocatory incantations) and so I find that I trust his work and value it. Trust is important in this case, because he's provided re-worked and improved versions of some of the mangled Seals. Lot easier to jump right in and do some work when you know the research involved in it's creation has been done by an actual practitioner.<br />
<br />
Another interesting thing you get by delving into his journal, for the beginner, is an understanding of how communication with these entities is supposed to work. When I was young and first beginning, I had no idea how this was supposed to go. Would I hear them audibly? See them in the glass or scrying bowl? Would it be within my mind's eye, or on the scrying medium itself? Will I get my guts ripped out if I summon a bunch of demons? You know, the standard stuff one thinks about when first delving into work with the Grimoires. I would have loved this book when I was first starting out. I love it now.<br />
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Catholicism</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></b><br />
I grew up in the Catholic Church. These grimoires seem like they were made specifically for me; un-surprisingly so, because they were likely utilized by clergy and the like. The Orisons in the Enchiridion and the incantations in the Black Dragon all make copious use of Catholic Saints (who are the Christian version of the Heroic Dead) and the Holy Trinity and Blessed Mother. This all works just fine for me; my various initiations within the Church (baptism, confirmation, communion, etc etc) leave me feeling that I have a right to call upon the Catholic pantheon, regardless of my opinion of the structure of the public version of the religion.<br />
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This probably creates a lot of cognitive dissonance for a number of modern magicians, many of whom have developed a strong anti-Christian streak. (I feel that they are only robbing themselves of power by ignoring the most powerful stream in Western civilization; babies and bathwater...you don't have to approach this current in the way any of the churches tell you to.) There is a point in the book where Mr.Cecchetelli discusses that the entities arrive under the power of the Kings, and not of Yeshua. That's one hundred percent true in my experience as well.<br />
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In my personal opinion, the practical role of working with Yeshua in Evocatory magic is different and more subtle than the obvious (making the Magician, who is probably a Priest and likely fearful of dire consequences for working with Demons, feel good about what he is doing.) I think that in truth Yeshua serves as a key between the spiritual world and the mundane--his personal descent into hell in the mythology of Christianity give him precedent for serving in a Hermes-like role as Psychopomp. Clothing oneself in heavenly authority is one of our oldest tricks as magicians, and many of the old Christian magics require we do exactly that. The invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel is common nowadays, but there is plenty of precedent for the role the HGA plays for modern magicians--protector and advisor when working with the world of Spirit--being carried out by Yeshua, who is often directly invoked with the Holy Spirit and called upon to protect and glorify the magician in our traditional grimoires.<br />
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An understanding of how Christian magic works is important to getting the most of these Grimoires. The grimoiric tradition is, in many ways, the reality of practical Christian magic. It is a Christian Tradition, to be frank. Written by priests and performed by priests. The people doing this magic weren't heretics or outsiders, they were the folk who administered the religion.<br />
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That isn't to say that you need to be a Christian to do any of this! However, if the roles of the Christian entities called upon for protection and authority are to be kept intact, you can't revile them. The exoteric religion and the entities aren't the same thing. Yeshua was a Jew, along with most of the disciples. It isn't about the religious structure, it is about the current that powers the thing. <br />
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I mention all this because I find the use of Psalms in the Enchiridion to be incredibly interesting; I wonder what power the words themselves have without connection to the current? They feel powerful and meaningful to me--would they be of the same use to someone who grew up outside of the Church? I'm no Christian in the modern sense of the word--I give no authority over my spiritual practices to any church, and I don't take any of this evangelical business seriously either. I do, however, have a relationship with Spirit, with various Saints and with Yeshua. I just cut out the middle-man, haha. Be interesting to hear peoples experiences.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Method</span><br />
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Some of these entities in the Black Dragon, regardless of whether they were "demonized" and are not actually entirely historically malefic, will still work you over if you don't have any sense. This isn't the entities fault, of course. No one working with cthonic-type entities should be surprised that they work for their own interests. They are old and strong, and they aren't our slaves. They are honored and powerful entities, and need to be respected...and part of that respect is knowing that they can be dangerous. They may want you to do something a certain way--that doesn't necessarily mean that you <i>should. </i> I would have liked to see Mr.Cecchetelli delve deeper into the nature of blood-offering, and how that works in the context of these grimoires. I also would have loved to see a chapter written that explored <i>why</i> he differed in personal practice from the plain instruction of the grimoire in the areas where he did.<br />
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His results as communicated are outstanding. Through his journal he shares what worked well and what didn't for him, and that alone makes the book a treasure.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span><br />
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This is an excellent, well written book that brings new light into the grimoiric magical tradition. You can buy it at<a href="http://www.scarletimprint.com/crossedkeys.htm"> Scarlet Imprint</a>. Damn thing is beautiful; great work, here. Mr.Cecchetelli also writes <a href="http://thelionsdens.blogspot.com/">here</a>, make sure to follow him.<br />
<br />
AITAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833216696504661932.post-44205345815487648982011-09-29T11:58:00.000-07:002011-09-29T11:58:59.927-07:00Spirit-based EmpowermentAve,<br />
<br />
In the old African Hoodoo (and if properly practiced and studied) the Hoodoo of today, it is understood that the power of the herbs and roots we use come from Spirit. This isn't like some sort of spiritual electricity, it is sentient and living virtue; these spirits can be communed with, and propitiated to do the work for us.<br />
<br />
It's worth noting that Spirit empowers more than plants; they empower minerals, words, they can empower <i>methods</i>. There is precedent for this in Western Magic as well.<br />
<br />
In my own book (Kameothic Internal Alchemy) I give my small Ordo's ( the <a href="http://www.ordooctopi.com/">Ordo Octopi Nigri Pulveri</a>, not the Golden Dawn) method of Solomonic-based healing magic that uses the Spirits of the Deacons/Faces (for example, the First, Second, and Third Faces of Aries all have a particular Spirit, from whom certain effects might be had) to create cures for ailments. The methods given in the Solomonic text would be completely ineffectual without the spiritual empowerment; for example, one method involves writing a word on a piece of paper and laying it across the forehead, or somesuch, to cure an ailment. This done without first creating a relationship with the Spirit of the Deacon to whom the method is associated is a waste of time and worse than useless. The method given in the text is a key the Spirit gave to the original author, and it opens the door to the Virtue of the associate Spirit.<br />
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If the Spirit isn't communed with first, you open the door to find nothing behind it. This is especially true of empowered <i>methods</i>, in my experience. You can get by without making much effort to commune with the Plant-Spirits because the virtue is intrinsic to the plant; of course you'll get much better results if you develop a relationship with each plant's Spirit. Methods that connect to the power of a Spirit using ritual and abstract movement or sound to accomplish a task require that first that Spirit be evoked and a relationship created. You couldn't use my name as a reference if we hadn't worked together, for example, and my authority would be useless in getting what you wanted accomplished (in this case a job).<br />
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One of my students asked me whether he needed to evoke the Spirit before attempting the healing method given in our manual, and I thought it useful to discuss in general. I hope all are well!<br />
<br />
AITAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00688466441427496085noreply@blogger.com3