Discordia: An Offering To The Goddess of Strife

Discordia: An Offering To The Goddess of Strife

Thelesis Lodge: 1627 North Second Street, one block South of Cecil B. Moore.
7 pm on Wednesday, Sept 9 and

3 pm on Saturday, Sept. 19.

On Wednesday, September 9, 2009, at 7 pm and Saturday, September 19 at 3 pm, Thelesis Lodge will present Discordia: An Offering to the Goddess of Strife. If you are looking to calm strife in your own world… or to sow Discord amongst your enemies… then Discordia is here to help you.

Inspired by the story of the Judgment of Paris in which Discordia, Goddess of Strife, threw the Golden Apple of Discord between three Goddesses and their fight to prove themselves the fairest of them all sparked the Trojan War, this event is both theatre and magic spell. If you choose, you will receive a magically charged Golden Apple and instructions on how to use it to calm or cause strife. Or you can just sit and watch. Either way, Discordia will shake you up.

A cash bar will be available both before and after the performance.

Visualization

I am up in Vermont this weekend, and whenever I get up here I make it a point to fit as much Vajrayana practice in as possible. Because the air is clean I always do some Tummo practice, but I also work on Sadhana. This trip it is Red Jambhala in the morning and Vajrakilaya at night. Anyway, these two visualization heavy practices got me thinking about the role of visualization in magic.

I was speaking recently with someone about things I do in my regular work that I did not include in my new book but should have (apart from proper grammar and spelling). More visualization was one of my top answers. My friend was a bit surprised as he is pretty dedicated to both Hoodoo and the "Old System" Grimoire magic, neither of which have much visualization to them. "I kinda lump visualization in with new age hooha and GD style work. Its not really very traditional is it?"

The answer of course is that visualization is traditional in magic. For instance, in both generation stage Tantra, and in Taoist Alchemy, visualization plays a key role. I strongly suspect that it played a key role in the magic of the PGM. For instance all those beings that "appear" in the Mithras Liturgy, I am fairly sure are meant to be visualized in a manner similar to visualization of dieties in Vajrayana.

This is a far cry from the "visualize your intent and let it fly" school of magic. Rather than just daydreaming a result, real magickal visualization creates something actual, either on the etheric, astral, mental, or causal planes. Often several of them at once.

Take the visualization of Archangels in the LBRP for instance. Anyone who has done an actual angelic evocation will tell you that visualizing angels is a damn site different than evoking them, just as having an angel contact you and reveal themselves in their full mystic glory is a damn site more powerful an experience than an evocation will provide. In the LBRP and other rites where a being is visualized, you are creating a "throne" for the power of that being to enter. In the case of a regular banishing, or even a full on exorcism, an evocation would be impractical. So instead we visualize the angels, giving them a hold an the astral and etheric world, and seeing them equipped for the job at hand. Than we call upon the power of that being to enter the visualization and vivify it. It really is Michael there in the South, but not the FULL monty. Its a point of access to the fullness of Michael.

As as side point, Michael comes to mind because I am writing a script for a ritual based upon a Vision that I had about 7 months ago at Valley Forge. Thanks to the Evocational Magicks group, I know now that this vision is linked to the same process described the the "Chaplet of St Michael", a prayer that I was unaware of until they started discussing it there.

A more radical visualization of a god or angel takes place in the field of invocation. Here you are "taking on a god form" - visualizing your own body as the body of the target god or goddess. This creates a suitable and attractive astral envirnment for the being to manifest within. At its lowest, this is a good way to channel the blessing of that being, at its best, this can lead to real communion with a divine being or alien intelligence. In the case of Generation stage Tantra, not only the self is set aside, but all phenomina itself is replaced by the mandala (see picture above) and a type of Transvocation takes place. This gets fully realized in the completion stages that do not depend upon visualization.

Apart from visualized beings, I also make liberal use of visualized forms attached to physical objects. This can be anything from a simple sigil linked to an energy source and branded onto a building or person, or it can be a complex "astral mechanism" made to effect a person such as rotating tetrahedrons that circle the central chanel in a patient and cleanse vital force before it reaches the organs. I have been known to visualize costumes on myself or on on people to get them to act a certain way. This is sort of a more complex method of shielding.

Anyway, i just wanted to make a real post to the blog here that wasnt a link to something else, or just self promotion.

Go out an visualize whirled peas.

Zombies

This months issue of Men's Journal has a great article about Haitian Zombies focused on one recent case and the attempts of her family to get her back. While it does re-itterate some of Wade Davis's points, this article focuses on the Bizango Secret Societies and the intricate rules for the possession and transportation of Zombies. Really good stuff.

How I work with 231

After my last post Reiki Sorcery wants to know how I work with Liber 231. Fairly loosely is the best way to describe it.

I should preface it by saying that I did a LOT of work in the 90's with the Shadow Tarot and Mishlen Lindens exercises associated with the seals - both those found in Typhonian Teratomas and from the Black Moon Archive. I spent a lot of time "cooking" tunnel entrances in darkness and immersing myself within them. I mention this because one of the reasons to do work like that is to lay the psycho-spiritual foundation within yourself to do the work faster in the future. Most Goetic magicians for instance can contact spirits that they have summoned in full ceremony with just the seal and the name. So, its like that.

Today, when I want to delve into a tunnel I set up one of Lindas "cards" which are actually photo paper with a single tealight to illuminate it. If I can do it without waking anyone, I will drum. If not, than I will practice short breaths to access the atavistic mind and allow any kind of gutteral grunts or hissing to surface. When the consious mind gives way the seal usually opens up and I find myself inthe tunnel or cell.

Malkunofat

Walked the tunnel of Malkunofat last night as sort of a nightside mirror of the Sangreal work earlier this month.

After the usual "entry phenomina" I found myself floating in completely dark space. In the distance I could see a circle dance such as you would find at a Sabbat or old time Ganachakra. As I drew closer to the dance, dakinis kept flying up to me, removing my clothes, and replacing them with Tantric ornaments. The last thing they placed upon me was a garland of freshly severed heads. I recognized that these were each my own head from a former life. As I approached the circle I was directed towards the center. All were chanting a mantra that I did not recognize, but which sounded like a disturbed hive because of the thousands of people chanting at once, but not in unison. Above this sound was the drumming which quickly put me into trance.

I realized that everyone and everything around me was in need, so I emanated a dakini to pour nectar into the crown of my head into my central channel, which overflowed and filled my whole body. Another dakini than came and sliced open my stomach, letting the combined essence of the nectar along with all my insides pour out and blanket the world.

I arose over my body which was now just a skin table supported by my four limbs as legs. My spirit rose and left the tunnel, returning to regular space.

I feel quite light and peaceful this morning after a pretty solid and dreamless 4 hours of sleep.

Upcoming Classes

Here is the current list for Fall so far. Still working out the details of some other events

SPIRIT BOTTLES
Mystical Tymes http://www.mystickaltymes.com/
127 South Main Street New Hope, PA 18938
(215) 862-5629
September 15th 2009
7:00 pm – 9:00pm

The Naga Khang of Tibet, the Pwen of Haitian Vodou, The Goetia’s Brass Vessel, the Honden of Shinto, the Nganga of Palo Mayombe. The San Phra Phum of Thailand; all over the world human beings feel compelled to create physical places for non-physical beings to dwell within. The purpose is two fold: to give ourselves an easy way to relate to the spirits, and to give the spirits a greater foothold into our world so that their activities can achieve greater impact.

In this class Jason Miller will go over his methods for creating “Spirit Bottles” which can be put to almost any purpose. He will cover the types of spirits that can be housed, , how to attract spirits to the bottle, the various items that one might want to add to a spirit bottle, how to feed and communicate with the spirits, and more. Come explore the way in which traditional formula and artistic creativity come together in this exciting and potent type of Sorcery.


HOODOO INTENSIVE
Soul Journey, http://www.souljourney.com/JasonMiller.htm
194 Main Street Butler NJ
973/838-6564
September 27, 2009: 10am to 4pm.
Hoodoo is a distinctly American form of Sorcery combining African, European, and Native American practices. In this all-day intensive, Jason Miller (Inominandum) will teach the history, theory, and practice of this potent tradition of magick. After a brief summary of Hoodoo overall, we will be going root by root, bone by bone, through the most widely used and potent curios of the tradition and providing spells for each of them. From the Three John Roots and Devil's Shoe Strings to Gator Hands and Goofer Dust, you will learn to make mojo hands, baths, dress candles, lay tricks, use powders, and all the famous methods of Rootwork old and modern. Special attention will be paid to the way in which Hoodoo can work alone or alongside just about any religious tradition. By the end of this class you will be able to use the formulas of old time to conjure or create tricks of your own.



ELEMENTAL HEALING AND MEDITATION
Sacred Circle New Age Center http://www.sacredcirclenewage.com/
57B Brighton Ave. - Long Branch, NJ 07740
(732) 229-1119
Wednesday October 7th, 2009
7:00pm - 9:00pm

The five elements of Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Spirit/Space are fundamental properties in both western alchemy and eastern mysticism. In this class Jason Miller draws upon his experience in both Tibetan Tantra and the Western Mystery Tradition to present a complete system of meditations, visualizations, and breath techniques related to the five elements that promote health, clarity, and expanded awareness.

THE THREE LEVELS AND PRACTICAL SORCERY
The Crucible Gathering http://www.crucibleconvention.com/
Hyatt Regency Hotel Princeton in Princeton, NJ.
102 Carnegie Center, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540.
(609) 987-1234.
7:00 – 8:30
A Short primer on how to make full use of Empyrian, Aethyric, and Material levels of world and self to improve your success and overcome obstacles in practical magic.
NECROMANCY
Mystical Tymes http://www.mystickaltymes.com/
127 South Main Street New Hope, PA 18938
(215) 862-5629
October 13th 2009
7:00 pm – 9:00pm

Not for the feint of heart, this class details the methods for contacting and working with spirits of departed humans. Topics will include the proper method of collecting and using graveyard dirt, constructing ancestor altars, ceremonial evocations of the dead, and working with the gods of death itself. There will be a discussion of the ethics of this often mis-understood type of work, as well as a transmission of two rituals for contacting the dead.

Inominandum.com forums

Inominandum.com forums are up and running.

I was actually going to wait a while to announce this, as I am still not sure exactly what I want to do with them, but alreday 7 people have joined and one has posted, so I figure its an "if you build it they will come kind of thing".

Just go to www.inominandum.com and click on forums. Register and than, post if you like.

I think I am going to be making occasional Sorcery tips in there, just to keep it moving.

Jason