CYCLE 4 IS ABOUT TO START!

I want to thank everyone who signed up for Cycle 4 of the Strategic Sorcery Course. This is the largest starting class since the initial roll-out of Cycle 1, which made this a very Merry Christmas for me and my family!

8****UPDATE AT 7:11PM******
Since I posted this, today has been my most successful day ever for the course! Thank you do much!
*****************************

The New Years Catalyst Ritual is going out this evening.

If you want to get into the Course in time to take part in the New Years Catalyst I need you to sign up before 6pm tomorrow EST.

Below is the info for the course:


The class will begin with a lesson Zero going out on New Years Day followed by 52 lessons arriving by e-mail every Tuesday morning for the next year.


In addition to this, on December 30, I will be sending the instructions for the empowerment ritual that is taking place on the 1st. Whether you participate or not is up to you, but it is an excellent opportunity to tap into the current and share an experience with some of the students from previous cycles.


Some important facts about the class:

• Due to some adult content in the later lessons, you must be 18 years or older to register for the class.
• I will need your real name in order for you to take the class. We can call you whatever you like on the boards, but I at least need your real name A copy of "The Sorcerer's Secrets, Strategies in Practical Magick" is required for the class. Many lessons will refer to practices in this book as a jumping off point.
• The lessons are for your eyes only. If someone cannot afford the class, which right now is less than $2 per lesson, please have them contact me as I will have a number of options available. If I see material plagiarized on the net, I will do what it takes to have it removed and take action against the offender. 
• There is no requirement of daily meditation or ritual to do the class. I learned the art working at my own pace and let others do the same. Some will surely do the exercises I recommend regularly - I am sure they will receive the fruits of their labors quickly as this system is quite streamlined for tangible results. Others will put the lessons on the back burner until a later time - may the instructions ripen when their time is right. Yet others will simply cherry pick a few techniques to work with and ignore the over all training - I wish them well and hope the techniques enhance whatever it is they do. I am sure some will simply collect the lessons and file them away with many of the books and occult ephemera that they have collected - never actually using the material - I hope that the course provides a thought provoking and entertaining curiosity, there is nothing wrong with knowledge for knowledge sake. In other words, what each student does with the material is largely up to them.
• There will be 12 homework assignments - one a month. You do not need to complete these in order to receive further lessons. You do need to complete them in order to graduate. There is a five year limit on getting your homework in. If you send me your homework 20 years from now I am not going to send you a certificate of graduation...
• The cost for the class is $150 payable up front. There are no refunds. Though much more advanced and detailed, the material is in keeping with my books and articles. Please refer to these to get an idea of my style and substance.
• In order for me to filter messages properly I need all correspondence to have a subject line that reads STRATEGIC SORCERY. You can put anything in after those words, but without those words I may not get your message. Once you pay the tuition you will receive a student number, please reference this number whenever possible in correspondence to me relating to the course.

Payment for the class can be done either through PayPal using inominandum@gmail.com or by check or money order send to
PO BOX 36 Barnegat, NJ 08005


Please forward any further questions to me at inominandum@gmail.com and be sure to reference STRATEGIC SORCERY in the subject line.

THEE PSYCHICK BIBLE REVIEW

Last year a former member of the Process Church of the Final Judgement stepped forward and produced a book called "Love, Sex, Fear, Death" that attempted to set the record straight about the much maligned and mysterious group. Though his own words, as well as original source material and contributions from other writers, he managed to shed light on the very real problems of psychological manipulation and exploitation that the plagued the group, while simultaneously dismissing the erroneous claims of murder, animal sacrifice, and child abuse that they have been accused of. One of the writers that contributed to that book was Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, the founder of Thee Temple ovPsychick Youth, and lead singer of Psychick TV.

Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth with its ever present symbol and use of uniforms, was partly modeled on the Process Church and eventually ran into its own issues of false accusations and vilification. It is good timing than that Genesis would release a new expanded version of Thee Psychic Bible, which contains numerous essays and documents from TOPY, commentary from Genesis and others, and some very interesting photographic art pieces throughout the book.

Now, I should say here that while I like some of Psychic TV's pop pieces like Godstar, Roman P, and their covers of Eve ov Destruction and Good Vibrations, I have never been a big fan of the music of Psychic TV over all, or for that matter the genre of industrial music. On top of that I tend not to like movements that are very self-consciously "too cool for school", which TOPY most assuredly was. Throw in my love hate relationship with Chaos Magic and Aliester Crowley, two of the biggest influences on the magic of TOPY, and you can understand that when Behutet sent me a copy of Thee Psychick Bible to review, I was prepared to give it a resounding and dismissive "meh".

I am happy and surprised that my expectations were entirely wrong. It seems that I let the few American members of TOPY that I knew personally color my opinion of the overall work. The book is quite simply brilliant.

Just like "Love, Sex, Fear, Death", this book tells the story of a magical/spiritual group that was as important to the 1980s as the Process was to the 1960's and 70's. It gives inside accounts of the raves and rituals that TOPY orchestrated, and tells the now infamous story of how Genesis was accused on trumped up charges and had to move to the US to avoid arrest in the UK. It also detailed the various social issues that TOPY worked on, including starting a soup kitchen in Nepal, and working towards the closure of a Dolphin Aquarium. Working for animal rights being yet another parallel with the Process which eventually became the Best Friends Animal Society.

This book however, is much more than the history of a Temple. In terms of philosophy, spiritual transmission, and practical magic, there is a lot here for the modern magician to chew on.

Though I had known about the practice of TOPY members making sigils with bodily fluidson the 23rd of each month and sending to a central location to be gathered, I never read the full philosophy behind it. The discussion of the "Sigil of Three Fluids" is probably the best explanations of sigil magic I have ever seen. The explanation of how each fluid relates to a portion of the brain puts a unique spin on a topic that has been done to death over the last 25 years.

The whole chapter on intuitive magic is worth its weight in gold. Here we have everything good about Chaos Magic: the streamlining, the shamanic method, the personalization, the use of modern technology, etc with none of the sillyness about belief shifting or invoking cartoon characters as gods. Indeed Genesis makes a point that I have often made myself, that belief is not only not necessary for magic, but can be the enemy of initiation. The sections on sex magic, the use of magical links (splinters), cut up methods, and other techniques is all top notch sorcery.

Most important are probably the three TOPY books collected in one place:

Thee Grey Book, the first TOPY text that one is introduced to, shows the youthful exuberance of the people who were involved in TOPY at its beginning. For as revolutionary as it may or may not have been at the time, it seems kind of "cute" in nostalgic sort of way now.

Thee Black Book takes things to a new level and gets quite serious about getting down to the business of undertaking the process of transforming the individual.

Thee Green Book, the final TOPY text, is a spiritual work that is on par with the Book of the Law, Liber Pene Penumbra, the Book of the Spider, and other important cornerstone texts. The talk of Ultraterrestrials may be dismissed by some, but whether you believe in them as actual beings or a metaphor for what we are doing to ourselves, the text is dripping with truth and is a wonderful call to action.

Throughout the book there is loads of stories from Genesis's life which explains some of the background of his writings and music. Want to know about the obsession with Brian Jones as Godstar? The story is in here. Want some insight into Genesis's work in the field of pandrogeny and transgenderism? The beginning is here, and I think it will be necessary reading for when he gives the topic a full treatment including his Ketemine explorations. To be clear, there are no plans for this that I know of, I am just assuming that it is in the pipe.

The book is 544 pages with fairly small type. There is a LOT to digest here. All of it is good stuff. If you were into Psychic TV and TOPY than you obviously will want this book. If you, like me, never really gave it much thought when they were active, you should pick it up to see what you missed out on.

Go out and buy THEE PSYCHICK BIBLE. The book is probably the best occult text to come out in 2010.

Just for fun, here is Psychic TV cover of Good Vibrations.

And the aforementioned Godstar

http://www.amazon.com/Thee-psychick-bible-apocryphal-scriptures/dp/0964113600

CHRISTMAS MEDITATIONS

Howdy folks. It is once again Christmas Eve. Whether you celebrate the holiday or not there is a wonderful quality to Christmas Eve. So many people have been manically rushing about getting things done that there is a psychic quality in the air which builds and builds and builds until it climaxes this afternoon.

Tonight at around 9pm most stores will close. People will finish all their preparations and begin gathering with friends and relations or simply retire for the evening. Children will go to sleep with visions of Iphones dancing in their heads and there is a collective sigh of relief throughout the land.

Just as I did with the Eclipse, I encourage using this time to enter into contemplative prayer. Do not make a big deal about it, just slip off somewhere for 15 minutes and open yourself to the flow of grace. Relax the mind and be filled with the holy spirit. In this way you achieve Henosis, union with the ultimate reality. Rather than using effort to reach out to God, simply allow God to show himself within you. In this way you complete the circuit and will realize that as Meister Ekhart says: "The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love."

After you are done relaxing into contemplation, perhaps spare just a few more minutes contemplating the Christmas mystery. You do not have to be Christian to do this. I am often amazed at the zeal at which modern Pagans will jump willie nilly into just about ANY religion and lay claim to any mystery, yet feel absolutely forbidden from even thinking about Christian mysteries in the same way.

By the mystery of Christmas I do not mean the overall meaning of Yule, or the birth of the sun at Equinox or anything like that. I mean the mystery that Linus revealed so elequently to Charlie Brown.

Two Thousand Years ago, the gods were exalted as higher beings which rules our world. Most religion of any kind was mostly about making proper sacrifices at proper times so as to feed God or the Gods and not invoke their wrath.

The Christmas mystery is about cutting through that conception of divinity as something so distant from ourselves. In the Christmas story God manifests not just as a human, but starts off life in just about the lowest and meekest possible way: as a baby who has to sleep in an animal trough. The message is that there is no-one that is so low that the divine spark does not dwell within them.

It is a shame that most Christianity focuses more on the fact that Christ was fully God rather than the fact that, as the apostles creed states, Christ was also fully human. It is the fully human part that makes the whole thing useful. As Bisphop Athanaseus put it "God became man, so that man could become God.". The best part about this is all we need to do is allow it to happen. Theosis is the process of making us by Grace what God is by nature. There are no qualifiers for it, no hoops to jump through. Just do it.

This has NOTHING to do with "accepting Christ as your personal lord and savior" or any other such rubbish espoused by fundamentalists. Nor does it have anything to do with being part of the right Chruch  as some Catholics and Orthodox would have you believe. It just has to do with openness to ultimate reality.

Throughout his life, Christ never drills people on their beliefs. He simply asked people to love god and their neighbors.

In the Gospel of Luke that Linus quotes in the Charlie Brown special the angel of the lord says:

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL PEOPLE.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, AND ON EARTH PEACE AND GOODWILL TOWARD MAN.


Do not let anyone play the "us and them" game with Christmas. That is NOT what it is about.

So, for those of you that celebrate it: Merry Christmas!
For those that don't, hey its Christmas Day anyway, it may as well be merry!
Peace and Goodwill to you all, so matter what religion or lack thereof.
Amen.

What to do for the Equinox

Since I wrote my little call to arms yesterday several people have asked me what I think they should do if they did not already have something they were working on.

Patrick Dunn asks himself the same question in his latest blog post. Thankfully he gives himself, and us, a great answer. 

He is spot on when he states that "doing magic during an eclipse can burn through blockages that prevent previous works from . . . well . . . working".

He wisely notes that if there is nothing pressing to mend to tend in your life right now, an eclipse, especially on that occurs on the Solstice, is a great time to work towards the greater good of the country where you live. In fact I am going to suggest that even if you do have some personal spell work that you are doing, it won't kill you to take a night of a cosmic occurrence and work on a more cosmic level. In fact it may help you gain a new perspective.

Patrick, is aiming for a noble goal and has invited us to work towards the following statement of intent:  “I will that America and its people immediately develop greater freedom and prosperity.”

Thats quite a good one and I am going to add that to my closing invocation tonight. The bulk of my work tonight though is going to be spent in contemplation.

Those of you who have taken my course are familiar with the difference between meditation and contemplation. Those of you who have read Namkhai Norbu or Theresa of Avila also have a good idea of what I mean.

Meditation is an aid to cut through dualistic thinking. Contemplation is the effortless resting in the state of non-dual awareness, amidst which thoughts may arise and set while never disturbing awareness. While resting in this state something truly remarkable yet in some ways completely ordinary happens. It is only in this state can you really understand what the Buddhists mean when they talk about Sunyata and Emptiness and only in this state you really understand what the Christians talk about when they talk about Love and the Holy Spirit. It is in this state that you realize that God is not a noun but a verb. Its a flow that moves in allo directions at once. When you encounter it you only feel like writing poetry, dancing, praying, or remaining utterly silent.

This is not just navel gazing and personal illumination either. I firmly believe that the realization of this state of mind is the key to solvong world problems at their root. To quote Richard Rohr: "It is no exaggeration to say that 'us-and-them' seeing, and the dualistic thinking that results, is the foundation of almost all rge discontent and violence in the world."

As I said in the last post, the reason that eclipses are so powerful for magic is that the predominant spirit/energy/information factor that usually fills the night is silent. This is true in the world at large and in the world of your mind. The void is waiting to be filled or to have its silence used as a tool for cutting through the mechanistic mind.

So, it is 11:34 right now, and the eclipse is starting.

Whether you work on a specific problem for yourself, work towards the goals of freedom and prosperity for your country, or work towards resting in the state of natural indwelling - I wish you well and happy Yule.

Eclipse Sorcery.

No, I am not talking about the horrible movie with glittery vampires. I am talking about actual Eclipses.

Eclipses are not that big of a deal in western Astrology but in Tibetan Astrology, which effects my own practice much more than western (though I am by no means an expert in either), Eclipses are HUGE.

According to Tibetans, all positive and negative actions are multiplied during an eclipse - 1000 for a lunar and 10000 for a solar. The reason for this is that when the eclipse happens, the influence of that planet is blocked and creates a vacuum which allows your own influence to have greater sway.

Think of it as sounds in a room, if there are 100 people talking in a room at any given time, your voice can only carry so far and still be effective. If the largest and loudest voice in the room suddenly goes silent, all of a sudden all the other sounds take on much greater significance.

According to Tibetan Shaman, the eclipse is caused by Rahulas, demonic planets, temporarily devouring the sun or moon so that they gain more power. Not only are your actions more powerful at this time, but they are more needed by the world because the eclipse is seen as moment of ill-omen leaving a gate open for negative influence.

Now you may not know this about me, but I am the mythic Yuleclipse Fairy. I need you to know a few things.

Tuesday is a lunar eclipse. It will be visible from most of North America

Tuesday is also the Winter Solstice - the longest night.

Tuesday is the first night that a lunar eclipse has occured on a Winter Solstice in 456 years.

Tuesday is the day that you will be outside doing magic.

If you don't do something I will know and I will be displeased.  You don't want to piss me off. Just get your lazy ass out there and meditate, cast a spell, dance a jig, do something!



Now for something funny that is only here because of the word "eclipse", 

On Secret Identities

I recently switched career paths and my new job has a lot of people on facebook and does a fair bit of informal communication via FB. Though I could have just kept my FB private, I wanted to participate, so I created a separate non-occult related Facebook Page. This surprised a more than a few people that I, a published Author, lecturer, and professional Sorcerer would choose to be "in the closet". Since there are so many people who feel passionately about being out of the closet I thought it would be a good discussion for the blog.

Funny enough, while most Pagans want to get people more and more out of the closet, I actually recommend that Sorcerers stay in the closet! This position has surprised a couple people. There are three main reasons for staying in the closet about your magical practice, and I am not sure that people think very much about all three.

1. OUTSIDERS: This is the obvious one and it doesn't need much explaining. If your concerns are mostly about Wicca or Paganism as a religious movement than it totally makes sense to make a stand and come out of the closet despite whatever resistance you receive. I respect this highly and do not want the rest of my post to seem like I do not. A lot of people today have an understanding about these kinds of things anyway.

If however you are mostly about magic rather than religion, than you might be concerned more with how being "out" will effect your success and acceptance. This too is valid. Some institutions are better than others. When I hear someone that works for the state, tell someone who works for a Catholic Charity that they don't understand why they wont come out of the closet at work, I just shake my head because they are very different environments.

2. INSIDERS: This is actually my primary reason for being in the closet at work and in certain social circles. Despite the reasons above the worst scenario is not that someone I work with discovers my books or blog. The nightmare scenario is when someone that likes my work or who I do work for decides to come to my job or call up or leave a message about demons or exorcism or some shit like that. The nightmare for many of us that have professional careers is not them, its us.

Think it doesn't happen? It has happened. I was outed at AIG in the 90's by someone having an "emergency" and needing me to cast a spell for them immediately. I had a friend who lost his job at Motorola based on a similar situation.

Unfortunately if you are involved socially in any kind of Pagan or Occult community you have to deal with a higher than normal ratio of people that range from having little to no discretion to being nearly insane. If you see me out on the street and want to say hi, please do. But if you don't know who I am with, please do not share the story about how my book on protection magic helped you fend off a cult that was cursing you. Do not tell the group of my friends what a great lecture on Necromancy I gave. Do not ask the people I am with what "tradition" they practice in. The rule should be to assume discretion unless given the all-clear by whoever you are talking to to speak openly.

3. MAGIC: Being out about religion is not the same as being out about magic. You may be a Wiccan and have your co-workers fully accept and get behind your talk of the God and Goddess, Sabbats, Circles, etc. Do not expect those same people to be quite as accepting if you start talking about the spells you do with business cards to influence the minds of your boss, or rituals to insure promotion, or even your incantation to get laid. Witchcraft the religion and witchcraft the craft can be two different things when dealing with outsiders.

Besides that, as a Sorcerer you may be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or even Athiest. The religion is not what you are keeping in the closet, so what gets served by letting everyone know that you are a magician?

Anyway, lesson that I want you to take away from this post is not whether you should come out. It's simply that you should respect whatever decision that other people make based on their circumstances.

A rebuttal to Bathazars post.

I tried to post this to Balthazars blog, but I have too many characters so I will post it here. I am sure that most of my readers also follow his blog, but just in case THIS is the post I am replying to.


Balthazar, I am usually right on with your thinking but I have to say that you are WAY off on this one in a number of ways.

1. First and foremost, Esoteric traditions are not made to appeal to most people. They provide a direct experience and self-transformation and all that you say that they do, but all of that is NOT what 90% of the world wants from religion. To borrow a term from Ken Wilbur they are not looking for transcendence, they are looking for translation.

People want a faith tradition to tell answer basic questoions (ie: translate the world). What happens when I die? How do I be a good person? What is the meaning of it all? The reality is that most people in this life are not mystics or magicians yet they need a spiritual outlet and spiritual guide. And that is OK. Most people are not mystics and not meant to be mystics. The roles of Pistis and Gnosis are VERY different. Complimentary but different.

Paganism is going through the change of its esoteric core growing an exoteric body of people around it who like the festivals and seasonal rites but have no interest in Witchcraft. This is a good thing overall for the growth of the current.

2. If you take any Diasporic or esoteric religion you mention above and make it serve the same function and sheer size of population that an exoteric religion does it, will become just as susceptible to corruption as any other. A look at the history of Haiti, or neighborhoods like the Bronx with a large enough Santeria population will spell that out for you real quick.

Catholicism has done a lot of harm in Africa by preaching against condoms, on the other hand African Traditional Religion has also done much harm in recomending people NOT take AIDS meds that are available and instead relying upon "traditional" cures like raping virgins, usually VERY young girls. Think this is exaggerated? One of my best friends counselled battered and raped women in South Africa - she will tell you different.

2. The Athiests argument is entirely based on straw man versions of the religions they attack and selective evidence. Yes horrible things happen in the same of religion. Horrible things happen in the same of politics. Horrible things happen in the same of national, tribal, and ethnic pride. This does not make these things evil, it makes them of the world. Human nature is such that we do shitty things out of self interest and use whatever is nearby to justify it. Religion is quite convenient. Without religion it is easy to see how evil men would find some other justification.

On the other hand it is not so easy to see what would replace exoteric religion for what it has done good. I know a woman who just recently gave up everything to go help start a school in Honduras. Another who dedicates her life to serving those on death row. Others who have risked their lives to feed and shelter people in war zones where even the UN and secular agencies have pulled out. There are entire countries in Africa that were only held together by churches who were standing up and talking peace and order when the government was dissolved. In all these cases people have been moved by Jesus or the teachings of the Buddha.

Cases like this are ignored by the Athiests or written off as humanities naturally good inclination despite religion. BULLSHIT.

3. You mention in your comment that you are speaking of all exoteric religions. What great evils have been committed in the name of Buddhism? This has been something that the Athiests have had a hard time with. All the talk of Dogma and Afterlife that you do above has absolutely no bearing on Buddhist or Taoist thought.

4. Your statement that the African Diasporic religions hold older unbroken traditions than other religions is unsupported by anything. In what way is it an older unboken line than other religions? The lines of the ATR's are no less (or more) broken than any other religion and definately not older by any means.

Again, I think you are an amazing writer, a great Rootworker and a very spiritual fellow but in this you are dead wrong. Your post really boils down to the same old "your religions suck and mine is awesome" argument that causes the worst religious conflicts.

Prompt Succor

I will be writing a proper blog post or two as soon as time permits, but in the meantime I just HAD to spread the word about Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

I have used her twice in the last week for very material related issues and she delivered each time on the same day! If you need something now, as far as I am concerned, Prompt Succor is even more potent than St Expedite.

Added bonus for those of us that are lovers of New Orleans, she is one of the Patron Saints of the City and the figure that Catholics turn to when hurricanes approach. The Novena that I use from "Favorite Catholic Novenas for All Occasions", easily one of my most often used spell books, even mentions her connection to New Orleans.

Dear Lady. You rock. Thank you. Amen.

Above is a painting of her over the Battle of New Orleans. Below is a statue from the Chapel at the Ursuline Convent.

Twin Peaks by MC Chris

Watched the Twin Peaks episode of Psych last night, very funny.

In related news someone sent me this link, which you must watch if you are a Twin peaks fan.




I still maintain that Twin Peaks can act as magical training for comminicating with certain spirits.

CYCLE 4 OF THE SS COURSE BEGINS NEW YEARS DAY

START THE NEW YEAR OFF RIGHT... 

STRATEGIC SORCERY STYLE!

I am now taking students for the next cycle of the Strategic Sorcery Training Course, which begins on New Years Day 2011.

Over 200 students are currently working through various stages of the course, many of whom have already achieved the goals they set out for themselves at the beginning. 

These are just some of the reports of what students have achieved with the help of the material in the course:

• Landed a 6 figure dream job
• Found their soul mate and got engaged
• Opened an Irish Pub
• Learned to Astral Project
• Conquered their smoking habit
• Quit their day job to live off their passive income

The Strategic Sorcery course consists of 52 lessons arriving every Tuesday morning with a special "Lesson Zero" arriving New Years Eve. 

Cost for the course is $150 - About $3 a lesson!

*********BONUS FOR EARLY REGISTRATION!********

This New Years Day you will have the opportunity to take part in a worldwide Strategic Sorcery Empowerment Ritual where you will link up with the other members of the Strategic Sorcery Course and perform an invocation that will act as a Catalyst for your work in the year ahead. 

For more information write me at inominandum@gmail.com

Offering Thanks and a Rant

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If you have a friend that is appreciative of efforts that you make on their behalf, chances are that you would be more inclined to perform further favors for this friend in the future right? If you had a friend who seemingly did not appreciate anything that you did for them, than you probably would be less inclined to offer further help right? Its just common sense.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the states. The universe is a friend that has done some favors for you, when you wake up tomorrow I want your first mental action to be to offer thanks for those favors. It seems sappy, but trust me my friends it is powerful sorcery. I do it every morning and again every night. If you believe in God than thank God. If you believe in fate than thank Fate. If you don't believe in anything like that just thank the universe and thank chance.

I was talking about this earlier today with someone and they basically told me that they have nothing to be thankful for, that nothing goes right for them, and that basically they feel shit on by the powers that be. This is not the first time I have encountered this attitude. My own Mother constantly says this.

Here is the deal: If you are reading this on your own computer, on a connection that you can afford to pay for, in your own place to live with heating and indoor plumbing, while maybe nibbling on some yummy snacks or sipping a glass of spirits than YOU WON THE FUCKING LOTTERY ALREADY.

Seriously. 50% of the adults on the planet make less than $800 a year. 20% has no access to potable water. Its a hard ass world out there and if you have the pleasure to read these words than you should take the first step in changing your life tomorrow by waking up and kissing the floor and offering thanks for your walls, bed, pillow, blankets, and food in the fridge. You don't have everything you want but for fucks sake people, with very little effort on your part you have eeked out some comfort for yourself just by virtue of being born in a 1st world country with an educational system. Have some goddamn humility.

On New Years day 2000 the Rokpa soup kitchen in Nepal that I worked in was over-run with people because another soup kitchen closed down for the day. After we ran out of Daal and Vegetables we only had rice. A girl with Polio crawled in on all fours too late to get anything but rice. She was genuinely thankful for the rice. I was just thankful I wasn't her.

In summary, the two points I want to make are:

First: Give thanks to the universe for what you have. It is a magical act that will benefit you in the same way that regular offerings do.

Second: If you think you have nothing to be thankful for, cut your crap. 

Trojan Vobsicum!

Hey Y'all. The Pope says that Condoms are better than spreading AIDS!

On the one hand I want to congratulate them for taking a step in the right direction. On the other hand, is it really necessary to applaud such a large organization for taking such a small and guarded step towards a position that is so common sense that they should have held it 75 years ago?

I dunno.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/23/vatican-condoms-for-hiv-p_n_787629.html

Is it Surrender? If so, to what?

It seems that the blog-go-round has got a case of Jesus fever, which is cool.

Gordon wrote an excellent piece about his own emerging interest in Christianity that mentioned not only the fact that it can be terrifying, but that the reason for at least part of that terror is the element of surrender in Christianity. As Gordon notes in the post: "A magical worldview leans more toward taking charge and doing things yourself".

This is especially true of modern magic. In fact, the focus on the self has been the overall theme of most of the Magical, New Age, Self-help, and Spiritual movements of the last 150 years. Even when people get involved in traditional eastern religions like Buddhism, they often misinterpret it as being all about self-discovery and self-actualization. We ask ourselves questions like: What do I want to be? What are my goals? What should I do with my life?

In the orgy of self focus it is easy to loose sight of anything larger than our own ego. I mean, there is no self in Buddhism for crying out loud! It totally throws people for a loop when I tell them that Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche wrote "There is NO introspection in Buddhist meditation". Similarly Christianity is not meant to be largely focused on the self, but on God.

The issue is a matter of where we discover our true will or Thelema. In the Lords Prayer, we hear "Genetho Tou Thelema Sou", or "Thy Will Be Done". Theistically minded magicians have, right up unto the present, ended rituals prayers and spells with a statement along the lines of "as long as it does not conflict with your will o lord." This clearly seems like submission to an external authority.

Though this type of submission seems like groveling, it really is not. It is simply an acknowledgement that most of what you say think and do is confused and based on mechanistic reactions, attachments, and aversions that are not healthy. If you acknowledge that there is something underneath all this, than you begin to discover Thelema. Crowleyites think of it in terms of personal true will that is in harmony with the will of the universe itself, and Christians think of it in terms of Gods will. Either way it simply makes sense to say "this is what I want, but what the will of the universe is, is more important, so if it is counter to that, than never mind". After all, your own true innermost will, will not run counter to the universal flow. When I do work with the Sangreal Sodality we still do something like this and I do not feel like I am groveling at all.

When I think in terms of surrender to Christ, I do not see me as a separate being submitting to an external master. I think in terms of surrendering the false veneer of the ego to the true will of God that is inseparable from me.. The kingdom of God is within you, and you are within the kingdom of God.

The Power of Christ Compels You!

I wanted to bring some attention to a post made by Balthazar today. It is extremely well written, and oh so true.

It is great to work with the Saints, and great to work with Mary, but if you are going that far and still hesitant about jumping with Jesus, than perhaps its time you gave him a spin. I was one of those people that Balthazar talks about, able to relate to the extraneous saints and such but not to Jesus himself because of all the baggage. Still though, something was pushing me forward. As early as Jan 2001 I was having visions of Jesus here and there when I meditated. With some work I began to relate to the Logos and the Gnostic Christ, but still had an issue with "Jesus". It was only through the several years of work with Tau Nemesius that I have been able to really work with Jesus, but man, when I do there is always a ton of juice.

You can attribute this to the Power of Christ as a Christian would. You can attribute this to the power of belief generated by over half the people on the planet. You can attribute it to my own deep psyche. Maybe it is all three, but if you want somnething done, even if you use another Saint for intercession, don't skimp on the Jesus!

When I finish the Strategic Sorcery course I am planning on offering a short course dedicated to specifically Christian Magic, and eventually want to gather a circle of Christian Mages tentatively named "The Circle of Cyprian"  to do charitable magic.

That is all in the future though. For right now let me share with you my favorite all purpose short Christian incantation for spellwork. It can be used in conjunction with a larger spell or spoken alone. Its called the

"Novena of Confidence to the Sacred Heart".

O Lord Jesus Christ,

To your most Sacred Heart,

I confide this/these intention:

(mention your intention )

Only look upon me, And then do

What your Sacred Heart inspires.

Let your Sacred Heart decide

I count on it, I trust in it

I throw myself on Your mercy,

Lord Jesus!

You will not fail me.

Sacred Heart of Jesus,

I trust in You.

Sacred Heart of Jesus,

I believe in Your love for me.

Sacred Heart of Jesus,

Your Kingdom come.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,

I have asked you for many favors,

But I earnestly implore this one.

Take it.

Place it in Your open, broken Heart;

And, when the Eternal Father looks upon It,

Covered with Your Precious Blood,

He will not refuse it.

It will be no longer my prayer,

But Yours, O Jesus.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,

I place all my trust in You.

Let me not be disappointed.

Amen.

Doctors Without Borders Promotion.

I just logged in student 200 into the Strategic Sorcery course!

To celebrate, from now till All Saints Day I will donate half the tuition of everyone that joins to Doctors Without Borders.

I did this after the Haitian Earthquake and with the current Cholera epidemic only days away from hitting Port Au Prince it seems like a good time. If you have ever thought about joining the Strategic Sorcery Training class, now is the time!

An Interview with Dugpanath

I spent the last week up in North Vermont, and while I was there I ran into Frater Dugpanath of the EOD. Being October and all, I always feel a buzz in that part of the brain that is tuned to the 23 current, but since I am so swamped with productive work on Strategic Sorcery, Financial Magic, etc I have no time to devote to dancing with AzagThoth and other madness. So instead I offer up this interview with Frater Dugpanath and his work on restoring the Chod of the Old Ones.

INOMINANDUM: So what have you been doing since the EOD has entered its most recent period of silence?

DUGPANATH: I have been continuing my main work for the Dugpa Order, which is recovering the eldritch keys of the magic of the Old Ones that have been hidden amidst the occult teachings of the world. Hidden Keys amongst Hidden keys if you will.

As a Dugpa my work focuses on Buddhism and Himalayan Shamanism, though I have followed leads all over the world. For example the Tibetan/Hopi Indian connection, The Zurvan cult of Iran, and the lost culture of the Abinaki here in VT.

INOMINANDUM: Wow, well I hardly know where to start. Can you elaborate on what you see as the connection between Buddhism and the Old Ones? Is this Buddhism at large, or just Tibetan Buddhism?

DUGPANATH: Oh definitely Buddhism at large. Buddha and Avalokiteshvara were the Abdul Alhazzred's of their age. I mean if you read the Heart Sutra like its being read by a crazed street-corner priest rather than some sedated boob with a bump on his head, you get a much clearer picture of what I am talking about:

" Form is emptiness and emptiness is form! Emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness! Whatever is form, that is emptiness! Whatever is emptiness, that is form!"

Could these words not have been spoken by a priest of Azathoth in reference to what Lovecraft called " that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity?"

"In emptiness there is no form, nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness! No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind!
No forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or objects of mind!
No mind-consciousness element!
There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance!
There is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death!
There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path!
There is no cognition, no attainment and non-attainment!
IA! IA!


Clearly the supposed Bodhisattva of Compassion here is showing the illusory nature of our daylight world and pointing the way to the unlighted chambers beyond Space and Time.

Buddhism stands against the worship of the New Gods and calling them what they are: simply powerful beings that present themselves as dieties. Buddha pointed out that they, like all things will die, and that the only true reality is beyond all rational concept. The so called Divine Madness and Crazy Wisdom of the Mahasiddhas like Drukpa Kunlegs is the very same madness expressed in the beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous while of the accursed flutes of the Old Ones . One must, in the words of the heart sutra "Go beyond, go very beyond, go completely beyond" reason to grasp the truth. This is the truth of the old ones!

GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE! IA IA IA!

INOMINANDUM: I think you added those IA's in there...

DUGPANATH: I prefer to say that I have restored them.

INOMINANDUM: So how about the Tantric Tradition?

DUGPANATH: In the Tantric tradition, the Old Ones are reflected even more directly in the Yidams and Guardians. The Rinpoche's have used the Old Ones very images to keep them trapped behind the Star Gates, but the day is coming when the great RAHULA will blot out the sun and the call will be sounded by the 11 Dugpas in 23 tones! ZHAMBHALA/RYLYEH will rise! The Old Ones will once again manifest into the physical world and mankind will truly all know what ANATMAN - the lack of inherent self truly MEANS!!!!!

INOMINANDUM: So you are saying that the Tantric imagery is based on the Old Ones, but that the Lamas are using it to keep the Old Ones at bay? I am not sure I follow.

DUGPANATH: Clearly the Tantric Imagery of sex and death is very rooted in the old ones. Not everything related to the Old Ones has to be expressed as tentacle porn you know - that is only a particular facet or cult within the span of what the great old ones are. In some cases the Mahasiddhas adopted their Buddha forms to take the form of a specific type of old one so that they could control and exorcise that influence. Ekajati for instance is sometimes explained as having one eye and tooth because of single pointed concentration etc, but the real reason is simpler than that: that is what Mamo's look like! Same with Rahula, which is not only a guardian but an Evil Planet.... At any rate it is only the Dugpas that seek the real Dharma and hope to unleash the old ones.

INOMINANDUM: Ok, now I am interested in your take on this: who are the Dugpas?

DUGPANATH: Blavatski actually got something mostly right. We are the underground of Himalayan Magic that stand opposed to the type of day-side nicety that passes for religion and morality. We throw ourselves headlong into the true Tantra of Sex and Death. There are very few of us physically on the planet at any one time, but artists that have transcended reason have always known of us, which is why the legend lives on in the art of people like David Lynch and Talbot Mundy.

The Buddhists would have you believe that Blavatski confused us with the Drukpa Kagyu, but that is not the case. Our headquarters are in the Pemako region of Tibet. The Dugmas - female Dugpas that are known as "Poison Witches" guard the gate on this side of the Pure Land, and feed us with the merit that they steal from travelers.

INOMINANDUM: So what specifically are you working on now?

DUGPANATH: I just finished my work restoring the Chod ritual to its original Dugpa form. You see, the Tibetans have many kinds of very elaborate visualized offerings of the body listed in the of the Chod rite. Some where the skull cap is chopped off and used as a pot to cook the rest of the body in. Others where dakinis pour liquor and urine and acid into the central channel until the body is bursting like a baloon, at which point the belly is sliced open spilling the insides out accross the entire world. Still others where the four limbs are used as table legs and your skin as a table where the rest of the body is chopped up and served as is. All of these and more were once used on actual humans when the Old Ones still walked the earth. As such, if done with the proper instruments, to the proper tune, and in the proper state of ecstatic trance - the visualized offering of your own body attracts the attention of the old ones from, behind the gate. Machig Labdron was one of ours and knew this well, which is why she worked to spread the chod so widely that it would spill over from the controling grasp of the High Rinpoche's and Monastaries and into the streets where it could be practiced by the wandering bandits, homeless madmen, and long haired Ngakpas alike.

The white, red, and black feasts of Chod to be performed in the day, evening, and mid-night are well known, but only a true Dugpa will grasp the importance of the Green feast, which is performed outside the cycle of day and night entirely and which has the capacity to bridge the gap between the strange angles of space. I hope to make the Sadhana available online soon.

Advice for those looking to open Occult/Magic/New Age stores

A few months back there was an article in Witchvox containing advice about running an occult store. I read it and thought to myself: Wow, that is almost all incredibly bad advice!

I have a background in retail: not only have I worked it but my father and grandfather both owned a hardware store. I got to be involved in the running, expansion, decline, and eventual rescue and sale of that business. As a lecturer and friend of some shop owners I have also gotten a good glimpse of struggle and often closing of magic businesses. Just to be sure that my opinion wasn't off though I asked three owners of occult stores to read it, and they found the advice so bad that they did not believe the author had any experience other than as a customer.

Many students and friends of mine have told me that they had aspirations to open an occult store. At one time, I myself had this aspiration. Since people are still losing their jobs regularly, and since I am always suggesting people start their own businesses, I thought I might share some of my thoughts on the subject.

I want to clarify that the following advice applied to brick and mortar stores only. This is not about web-based business.

So here than is Jason's advice for those hoping to open an Occult/Magic/NewAge store:

1. Get a lot of input on this before you invest a dime. I am not just talking divination here. Talk to people that owned stores that failed, which is almost every store that has opened in the last 10 years. Talk to people that own stores that are still in business. Don't just ask if its worth it or not - ask about how much a case of merch in the store is worth, ask about how much they started with, etc.

2. You need to LOVE retail. I do not mean the merchandise, but actual process of retail sales. After the novelty of the occult stuff wears off, its just stuff that you have to sell. In the end the merchandise doesnt matter. You have to love selling stuff, if you don't than don't do it.

3. Be prepared to work long hours 6-7 days a week.

4. Be prepared for worrying about things even when you are not at the store. When you own a business you never really clock out at the end of the day. When that business is almost guaranteed to be struggling through its whole existence than you need to be prepared for the psychic weight of that.

5. You need to know that you will probably not make enough to support yourself in a middle class lifestyle, much less retire, unless you have other means of income. Some people get the idea in their head that if you own a business that automatically makes you rich. It doesn't and in the case of an occult store it probably makes you the opposite.

6. You need to be prepared to lose every penny you put into it AND have serious debt if it fails - again just about ALL of them fail regardless of magic.

7. You are running a store NOT a community center. You are in business to make money. Lots of people will use your store as a community center, which is good, but they will often not contribute funds or worry much about you making money. If the people that hang around the store are blocking sales, than you need to be tough. If they are not paying for merch you need to be tough. The community itself can bleed you dry.

8. Do not pay for empty floorspace just for classes and rituals. If the store you are looking at has a big backroom and there is not a smaller cheaper place that you could rent, than great, I love giving talks in nice spaces. If there is a cheaper space though, save the money. Move bookshelves before classes, you will be amazed at how many people will pack into a small space.

9. Fill the space you have. This is a must and another reason for a smaller space. A full store looks successful, an empty one does not. People will talk about how they want to support the failing store, but in reality they go to and spend money in the successful store. If you have a big store, either figure a way to fill it, like with altars and such, or put up a wall to make the front smaller.

10. You need more money than you think you do. Number one reason that new stores of any kind fail is that they are under-capitalized at the beginning. You need to fill the store AND have money to fill it again. If you do not rotate merch, people will stop coming in to see what is new. You cannot just rely upon the initial sales to re-stock the store.

11. Have an angle. What makes you special? The only time that I considered opening a store of my own was going to be a small shop on the boardwalk in Atlantic City that specialized in Gambling Charms. If I felt like dealing with all the graft and possible legal hassels involved in such a venture, I would do it. Bottom line is what makes you special? Are you in a town known for that kind of thing like Salem, New Orleans, or New Hope? Are you servicing a specific community like an ATR or very New Age area? Just wanting a store near where you live is not enough.

12. Do not be afraid of competition. Sometimes its better to move into a town that has another store like yours than it is to go to a town that doesn't. Ever walk around a city? Notice how there is a district for jewlers, a district for Indian restaurants, a district for Punk shops? Your store alone may not be enough to get me to drive an hour. If you are in a town where there are three other shops that are similar but just different enough to make it interesting, I will drive that hour over and over again. What you loose to a competitor will often be more than made up for in increased overall volume.

13. Understand that from a financial standpoint this is a BAD investment. Even done as well as can possibly be done it is still a BAD investment. The ONLY reason to do it is that you are willing to deal with all of the above because somewhere deep down you want to be a magical retailer. ANY other reason and you should bail.

Title vs Ability

Over on the Evocational Magic list they are having a discussion about ATR's (African Traditional Religions) and specifically the tendency for initiates to complain loudly about DIY'ers working with the Orisha, Loa, etc. I wanted to write about it here because it is an important issue in todays eclectic world. The same issues exist in almost every system to one degree or another. Certainly the issue comes up in Tantra a lot, as well as in the magic of various Orders. Why, I had one friend who still kind if insists that anyone who uses the term Witch should be a Gardnerian or they have no right to the term!

When these issues pop up in public forums things can get ugly fast. On the one hand you have overzealous trad-fascists insisting that you need to be an initiate to work with the spirits, methods, or rites in any way shape or form. On the other hand you have people approaching without any traditional initiation calling themselves Santero's, Houngan's, Tantrikas, after reading a couple books and doing a few workings of their own invention. This can be rather upsetting to those who spend years earning those titles and going through the traditional initiations.

After years of navigating this issue I have come to understand it in terms of Title and Ability. The problems usually spring up when someone is equating one with the other.

For example. I work regularly with certain Loa. I do so based on my readings, instructions from initiated friends, and finally instructions from the Loa themselves. It was in fact Papa Legba who steered me away from pursuing initiation as a Houngan. He steered me directly into the arms of the Buddha - go figure. Still I serve him, Ezili, Dambhalla, Simbi Makaya, and others. At this point my methods for doing so are different than you would see in a traditional house, but they are terms that I cam to with the Loa directly. There is no problem because my relationship is based on my ability. If I was to suddenly decide that I should call myself a Houngan Asogwe and set up shop as such without ever receiving that initiation in a traditional way THAT would be a big problem because I would be claiming a title. Get it? At very least I  need to make it very clear that I am claiming the title based on my own spiritual contacts and not through traditional means.

When I meet people who describe themselves as Tantrikas, yet they have no Guru or Abhisheka, I have to object. There is no Tantra without a Guru or Abhisheka. Even Siddhas that are supposedly born fully enlightened like Padmasambhava and Dattareya seek out human Guru's to call teachers so that they can show others how important the Guru is. Now, that does not mean that these folks cannot study the texts and get tips from contacts that they can incorporate into their practice. In fact I would strongly encourage people like Thelemites to study modern translations of Tantric texts for a deeper look at Sex Magic than what E&MOU gives. Your use of the tech is based on ability so there is no problem, your claim to the title however is bogus.

Think of it in terms of a medical doctor. You can study medical texts at home and even apprentice under someone personally to learn all you want to know. You may practice medicine BETTER than 99% of actual doctors, but you cannot call yourself an MD because you did not go through the proper steps. The work is based on ability, the Title is based on certain protocols being followed. They are not the same.

Now, there are very different considerations of how they overlap. There are certain pieces of tech that will only be available to those with the initiation. They may even be dependent upon the initiation itself. Certainly this is the view in Tantra, and in Christian Apostolic tradition. In fact, one Priest I know insists that to work most of the Grimoires were mostly designed to be worked by those who have Holy Orders, in much the same way that Tantras are made to be worked by those with empowerment.

If you are doing your own thing, than you have to be happy with that to some extent and not confuse your own findings and experiments with the tradition that you are borrowing from. When someone tells me that they "do Phurba practice" and than use it to cast circle like an Athame, it takes a good effort not to laugh in their face.

While you shouldn't mistake your own work for the tradition, you also should not discount it. I know a two different cases of REALLY powerful people, one a healer and one a more general Sorcerer, who lost their abilities when they traded in their own work for that of the tradition. What you are doing based on your own work may be BETTER than what you would get in the tradition. Some traditions get stale over time. Some teachers within traditions suck. I know more than a couple Lamas who are legitimate in terms of being recognized Tulkus and such, but who know less about the Dharma than many students do, and who practice even less.

In some cases, though not as many as initiates like to pretend, there are spirits, practices, and energies that CAN be dangerous when worked outside of the tradition. Again, it is all about ability vs title. Your title may enable you to work with those forces safely right off the bat, but that doesn't mean that no one can learn to work with them outside of the tradition. They just need to be warry of the danger.

Basically, what I want to say boils down to two things. If you are an initiate, be a little more respectful of those working outside the tradition, if they can do the work than that may be all that matters. If you are not an initiate, be respectful of those that are by not laying claim to a title that you do not have. If people can follow these two guidelines, than there is no problem

Christine O'Donnel Ad

Similarities between Tibetan Buddhist and Eastern Orthodox Art

Great piece here on the similarities between Tibetan Buddhist and Eastern Orthodox Art. Of course there are manby areas where these two religious systems come into contact with one another, so it is not entirely surprising.

Crucible!

This years Crucible was better than ever. Better yet, we had a small meeting of the NJ based members of the Blog Community.

Going from left to right you have Deb from Charmed I'm Sure. Jow from A Mages Blog, me from right here at Strategic Sorcery, and Kenaz Filan from his excellent eponymous titled blog. 

For those that do not know Crucible is a convention of mages and mystics, and witches etc usually held in October. It is put on by the Omnimancers, If you are into non-ritual based magic that tries to take as scientific an approach as possible and you do not know Arthur and the Omnimancers, than you should definitely check them out.

Not only are the Omni's unique, but they tend to seek out unique topics for the festival, stuff that you just do not hear about elsewhere. In the past there have been workshops on Uncle Chuckies Psionic Devices, Black Magic, Astral Biology, etc.

This year I was on both Panels: Pop Magic  along with Kenaz, Rich, and Heather Freeman discussed the ways in which magic, paganism and pop culture overlap and effect one another for good and for ill. Magical Screw Ups and Oh Shit Moments which also featured Andrei Freeman, Deb, Alex, and Arthur.  If you dont know who these folks are , check out the Line up page.

Unfortunately being on the panels means that I missed a class in Psionic constructs and a workshop on Wyrd.

After the panels I was again torn: do I see Kenaz on Vodou or Jow on Alchemy? I planned to hop back and forth but when Kenaz and Kathy started going on Vodou Money Magic, I just couldn't pull myself away. Thankfully I will be able to catch up on it all on DVD.

After a very nice dinner, where the photo above was shot, I listend to Cliff Low - the proprietor of a site that has been a favorite from almost the very first day I got on-line Necronomi.com. Cliff spoke about his work with the Grimoire "Hermes Trismegistus on the Fifteen Fixed Stars" which is focused on making special rings that channel the powers of each of the stars. He spoke in detail about the Persian Roots of the text, the astrological theory behind it, as well as the current research being done by himself and his mentors Christopher Warnock and John Michael Greer. Better yet, he brought a large selection of rings that he made using the text and shared some stories from his own life that illustrate the powers he is talking about. This lecture was of particular interest to me as I had a vision of four of the symbols of the fixed stars and was told to work them into a spirit trap design. They in turn made their way onto the covers of both my books as well as the logo from this blog.

After that I attended Arthurs talk "Through the Magical Wormhole", which was on the Omnimancy view of realms and dimensions and how they get used in magic. While most magicians access various astral realms, Arthur is one of the few people besides myself that work magic that exploits extra dimensions of space, time, and probability in his magical system.  His powerpoint video helped clearly illustrate a difficult subject and also present the Omni view of topics like the role of deities which differ from most magical trads. It was a great follow up to last years Astral Biology lecture and I look forward to the next in the series.

After that came my spiel on the 10 Principals of Strategic Sorcery. Readers here already know the 9 and I will be writing about the 10th one soon enough. Because I was speaking at the same time, I missed Simon Zelots lecture on "The Magic of the Angelic Wars" which present magic from The Malakim Society. I know absolutely nothing about them and I look forward to seeing that one on DVD as well as the others I missed.

Michael

Yesterday was the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Many people know the short version of the prayer St Michael that was written by Pope Leo XIII, and even magicians have used this prayer to call on  the power of the Archangel. Not as many people know the longer version of the prayer and the story behind it. For some reason I was meditating on this yesterday and thought it timely to share.

The story goes that on October 13th, 1884, Pope Leo entered a trance after celebrating a Mass in his private chapel. He heard two voices talking in the nearby tabernacle. One voice was the voice of Satan, the other the voice of Christ.

Stan Boasted: “I can destroy your Church.”

Christ replied: “You can? Then go ahead and do so.”

Satan: "To do so, I need more time and more power.”

Christ: “How much time? How much power?”

Satan: 75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service.”

Christ: “You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will.”

Immediately after this he went from his chapel to his office, he composed the prayer to St Michael, with instructions it be said after all Low Masses everywhere. The long version of the prayer mentions specifically that Satan has infiltrated the Church:


“O Glorious Prince of the heavenly host, St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle and in the terrible warfare that we are waging against the principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the evil spirits. Come to the aid of man, whom Almighty God created immortal, made in His own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of Satan.

“Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

“These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where the See of Holy Peter and the Chair of Truth has been set up as the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be.

“Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly find mercy in the sight of the Lord; and vanquishing the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.

V. Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.
R. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered the root of David.
V. Let Thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.
R. As we have hoped in Thee.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.


Let us pray.
O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon Thy holy Name, and as supplicants, we implore Thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin Immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious St. Michael the Archangel, Thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all the other unclean spirits who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls. Amen.”


This prayer, and this story, are very popular amongst ultra-conservatives who note that 75 years after it was written, the second Vatican council began, which in their eyes corrupted the church.

Of course to a liberal esoteric type like myself, it indicates much more than that. Especially if you, like me, consider "the Church" to be a lot larger than the RCC. When I first heard the story I immediately interpreted it as the rise of fundamentalism overshadowing reason. Of course you can find in it what you want. I am sure that some would link it to the sex abuse scandals.

Anyway, May Michael the Archangel protect you and keep you. Amen.

CRUCIBLE AND THE 10th PRINCIPAL OF STRATEGIC SORCERY

I have talked about this before, but in case you missed it, CRUCIBLE is this weekend! If you are a reader of this blog and within reasonable distance of Princeton, yet not attending this, I have to ask: what is wrong with you????

I mean, not only will I be there, but so will fellow bloggers Kenaz and Jow. In addition to this you get Cliff Low (founder of necronomi.com) talking about ancient stellar magic, Arthur the head Omnimancer talking about multiple dimensions and wormholes, and... well just go read the line up.

Plus you get to have a proper sit down dinner with a room full of occultists at a four star hotel in Princeton. How many times does that happen?

And if that is not all, during my talk on the 9 Principals of Strategic Sorcery, I will be unveiling THE TENTH PRINCIPAL and talking about why it is essential for any strategic sorcerer.

I hope to see some of you there.

KEYNOTE SPEECH NYC PAGAN PRIDE - 1/24

KEYNOTE SPEECH NYC PAGAN PRIDE - 1/24

Happy Mabon, I am honored to be the speaker here at the 10th NYC Pagan Pride day. Given that we are now at the beginning of the Harvest season and that the whole economy seems to be going to Hades in a hand basket, I thought I would talk a little about the intersection of prosperity and Pagan Spirituality.

Strangely enough I want to start this Pagan Pride address with a quote from the Bible. Specifically the book of Matthew where Christ says "you cannot serve both God and Mammon", mammon being a word implying money as a demon. Of course like many quotes from the Bible it has effected attitudes and culture far beyond Christianity. It is in fact a sentiment that I tend to agree with. You cannot SERVE mammon and Spirit. If you serve Money you tend to become a slave to money, which tends to run counter to the aims of spirituality. Money can corrupt those who serve it as sure as any demon, and I think it is fair to say that a lot of the problems facing our nation today are caused by people obsessed with money.

So how do you avoid serving money? One way that people avoid serving Mammon is by avoiding him entirely. This is the approach was quite popular amidst the counter culture movements of the 60's and 70's, a time that was also the beginning of Paganisms surface and increasing popularity that obviously continues all the way to the present day. It is a noble tactic and one that really works if you do it wholeheartedly.

My observation is that if you are going to avoid money and finance as a part of your spirituality, than you really need to do it! So with that in mind there are really only two ways that this has been a successful approach - become a Monk/Nun OR become a homeless wandering mystic.

For those wishing to become Monks or Nuns I have a list of contact info for Buddhist and Catholic Monasteries that you can apply to. I also have the number of Tom Browns Survival training down in the Pine Barrens. Spend a few weeks with him and you can walk into the woods and be self sufficient for life with just a good knife and the clothes on your back.  

Any takers?

No?

Me niether...

Ok so if we are not going to become Monks and or wandering homeless Mystics, we are not going to avoid Money with much success. Since we cannot serve money or avoid money, that leaves only one choice: we need to Master it and bring it on the spiritual path.

Neo-Paganism has been a huge blessing for those looking for a spiritual path that possesses the deepest and most ancient mysteries religion has to offer, yet is consistent with the developments and values of a modern and free society. Many things that other religions consider sinful, the Pagan considers sacred.

Paganism has taken sex and made it a healthy part of the spiritual path.

Paganism has taken radical freedom of expression, the right to be gay, kinky, and straight up freaky and made it part of the spiritual path

Most important for me Paganism has taken Magic Sorcery and Witchcraft and make it part of the spiritual path.

It is for this reason that Paganism is the ideal platform to take financial wisdom and join it to spiritual wisdom. To marry fiscal responsibility with environmental responsibility and make the financial craft a part of the Witches Craft

It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil, but after traveling to 19 countries and having lived in one of the poorest places on earth,  I can tell you for sure that the LACK of money is the root of way more harm. We need to be able to produce prosperity in ways that are in line with our values and objectives.

So how do we start? We start by realizing that Christ was not far off when he referred to money as a spirit. Money is a lot like a spirit. It is:

Intangible yet able to effect real events.

Represented by sigils, ie: cash, that get used as a means of contact.

Has its own nature and ways it likes to be handled

Like a spirit from an old Grimoire, if it is mishandled, it can corrupt and obsess the noblest among us.  

So what than are the qualities of the Spirit of Money? What is the craft  that we as Pagans can use to master it as part of the spiritual path?

First thing we need is perspective. You cannot start a successful journey without first having a clear idea of where you already are. With this in mind, let me ask you a question: How many of you are Rich? I don't mean rich in spirit or in friendship of anything like that. I mean monetary income. How many of you are rich?

Not many hands raised.

I think that we can all agree that we live in a one world Economy today right? Nothing happens anywhere without effecting economics the world over right? Let me share some numbers with you:

If you make over 40k  a year, you are in the top 1% income earners on planet earth. If you make over 25 you are in the top 10% . 50% of the people on planet earth make less than 800 a year! If you think that can't possibly be right, I can tell you that in Nepal, when I lived there, the median income was $280 a year - and the lifestyle of the common person reflected it.

Now, am I saying we need to be happy with what we have? NO!. If you want to bathe in champagne every night than I hope that you can. I want that for you. Its kinda gross but if that is what you want, I want you to have it.  I want you to have it because money is not a zero sum game. You do not put people out of work by making more money. IF you do it right when you make money, the community around you makes money and things get better, not worse for everyone.

Also, it is important magically to know where you stand. If you summon Jupiter and ask him to make you rich - he is probably going to look at you funny since you are already in the top 1%. If however you ask him to help you double your income by blessing your new web-based venture, he can probably work with that.

After we get some perspective we need knowledge. Unfortunately real knowledge about how finances work is not taught in schools. It should be but it isn't. If it was we would all be able to read balance sheets and income statements, and the small print in the Wall Street Journal. Instead of that financial education we were offered a deal.

They teach us how to be mediocre and not make too much of a fuss

How to get a good job with good security

How to show up on time, and clock in and out until you are 65

In exchange we get enough money to make us comfortable enough that we won't start asking too many questions, or do a re-run of the French Revolution.

The problem is that the deal we were educated for is NO LONGER THE DEAL.

Right now, here is the situation:

No Job security - Everyone talks about the unemployment rate being 10 percent. Let me tell you folks, that means NOTHING. In 1984 it was 14 percent. It can be 50% and everything can be ok as long as there are jobs for all those people top move into. The number that matters is the emplotyment offering rate. Right now if we filled every open job in America only one in 6 unemployed people currently collecting unemployment would have a job.

No Living wage - Chances are that the job you had and got laid off from will either not be there or will be paying half of what you were making before. If you managed to avoid a lay off, you might have had to take a pay cut.

No Pensions - These have been gone for a long time. Even your 401k matching contributions are going by by.  If you ever get to old or sick to work, you are on your own folks.

This is the NEW ECONOMY and it is the result of what happens when Money becomes the master of its handlers rather than the other way round.

That's the bad News. Here is the GOOD NEWS: We are living in a time of unprecedented opportunity for building prosperity by throwing off the old deal and making our own.  Once you have knowledge , you need the willingness and daring to stop acting like unthinking cogs in a machine and re-engaging your genius and your creativity to do something radical.

To use a business cliché, it takes "thinking outside the box" - and folks looking out into the gathering here today one thing is clear: PAGANS KNOW HOW TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX! We have creativity and genius and strength of spirit. There is no longer a well trod path for living a prosperous and happy like in America. Today we must make our own, and we are GOOD at making our own path.

If you have a job, it is time to unleash the Pagan genius and creativity and make yourself the linchpin of your organization.  All it takes is overcoming your fear and acting on that one thing that you KNOW would make things run smoother, faster and better but that you have been silent about because you are afraid of making waves.

If you don't have a job, maybe it is time for you to make one for yourself rather than finding one on Career Builder.With the advent of the Internet, you can come up with an idea, test market it, open a store, and sell your product for just a couple hundred dollars. If it fails, you close it up and try it again with no great loss.

Even if you do have a job, I am a big believer in multiple sources of income. With today's technology, you can work the 9 to 5,  AND operate a website drop shipping specialty candy AND market your Astrology for Computer Programmers DVD AND still have time for the family and kids. Investors tell you to diversify your investments to prevent yourself from loosing it all from one bad deal. I am telling you to do the same with your income. When the fit hits the shan it is really good to have money coming in from multiple places.        

Better than all the above is that many pagans, not all but many, know and use practical magic. The craft of the witchcraft. This is your ace in the hole, and since we have covered Know, Will, and Dare, this is the part that you want to be silent about. Don't broadcast your spells to everyone. This is your own little unfair advantage.  Some people are born with good family connections, others with natural charm, everyone has their special tool that they use: magic can be yours.

Even if you are "out" as a pagan, I urge you to keep your magical activities quiet. It is one thing for your co-workers to accept and understand your religion. It is quite another for them to think that you are summoning unseen forces that they do not have access to and which will help you get ahead.

Now, in my classes I teach a variety of spells, but what is even more important than magical technique is the application. Some say that magic should only be used in emergencies when all else fails. Folks, I respect your view, but I gotta tell you that you are wrong on that one. By the time you have reached the emergency  point, it is probably too late for magic to do much for you except damage control.

Worse yet, if all you are doing is emergency magic, you are simply keeping yourself trapped in the same situation: often a crappy job that you don't even like all that much. Sometimes it is better to let it all fall down and start building on fresh soil.

I am an advocate for smart strategic sorcery applied proactively. Use it to kill debt, to increase income, to manage investments, attain assets, and do it all in accordance with your spiritual view.

The last thing I want to talk about is another quality of the spirit of money. Money likes to move. Mercury has just as much to do with money as Jupiter Does. Jupiter is your savings account, but Mercury is your checking account. Which one do you use more often?

How you spend money is just as important as how you make it. You can start by supporting your community by purchasing things from pagan bookstores and businesses. You can spend it in ways that support the earth and the values that you hold as a Pagan.

Apart from supporting community through wise commerce that I will tell you one other thing that Christians have got right: the concept of tithing. This is not only a secret of spending money in a spiritual way, but is actually a secret of building prosperity for yourself as well. I know a lot of Christians that Tithe and I can tell you that all of them claim that they receive those blessings back many times over.

This is Harvest time, time to gather your fruits and Thank the Gods for the blessing you have, which I hope we have established are considerable. It is also time to plan your strategy for dealing with the long winter ahead, which economically speaking is going to be tougher than normal, but which with knowledge, will, daring and a little magic, may offer the greatest opportunities of your life.  

I will close with a Mabon Prayer from a new Book called the Auguris by my friend Jospeph Merlin Nichter.  He is the first California State recognized Minority Faith Chaplain for the California Corrections system and spends a large amount of his time ministering to those in need and doing Pagan outreach in the prison system. Not only is this book a good example of a Pagan building an Asset for himself in the form of intellectual property that will generate residuals, but also a shining example of community building and charitable works.

(closed with the Mabon prayer from the Auguris)

Thank you again. Happy equinox and Pagan Pride Day.