ITS BAAAAAACK

It looks like Google FINALLY solved whatever problem was keeping my blog off the web and now it is back.

In Case you did not already know, I have since started a new Blog at my webpage and that will be the one that I stick with from now on.

If you have not already please update your bookmarks to http://www.inominandum.com/blog/

Thank you so much,

STRATEGIC SORCERY FIELD REPORT - THE SS MINI GRIMOIRE AND GETTING A WORK VISA

As some of you know, while the SS course is designed to work with just about any style of magic, there are spirits and sigils connected with the Strategic Sorcery Arcana. Some of these were presented in the one of the lessons that contained the Strategic Sorcery Mini Grimoire. I have gotten some really good feedback from people who chose to work with them, and since I havent posted a field report in a while, I figured it was a good time.

Here is the e-mail that I received yesterday from a student. Name and country have been omitted

As I wrote in the first homework my original goal was:


"My goal would be to get a visa here in COUNTRY X.  I have been living my partner for 5 years, but as I am in an homosexual relationship, I don´t have any rights in this country, so couldn´t find a job, etc. I am waiting for my papers to come via mail, but they are very late. After that, we will try a civil union, and then, try to get a visa. I don´t know if it is possible to enchant our way into the state´s bureaucracies :-)"

I began the process almost two years ago, when the Constitutional Court allowed same sex couples the right of economic and civil partnership. But a lot of troubles, including the divorce papers from my partner that disappeared from the court, and then the own court burned down!

First I tried the Justice spell from The Sorcerers Secrets, no results. I also tried St Expedite and it was clear he wasn´t doing his job. Then I tried Patotriel from the SS grimoire combined with Ganesha.

I made several offerings to Ganesha, asking to help Patotriel to open the roads. I used "open road" oil and a white candle. I invoked the archangels of every direction and to each one I would pore breath the element and ask for their help  (like, "water, wash away the troubles, etc"). Did the same with the planetary powers.

I also had some links with earth that I took from the notary.

My goal was the end of the year to get my visa. Then I had to travel back to my home country, december was coming, and none of the papers seemed to get here.

Then we went asking again, and suddenly, after two years, it all got solved in less than a week, no huss no fuss, nobody asked none of the numerous documents that have been asked over and over... nothing. I got my visa this december 30th and I give many thanks to Patotriel and Ganesha. I will also begin a new job (lousy payment but what to do) this tuesday.

Thanks for the course.

Keep Your Mind on Your Money and Your Money on Your Mind.

On the 28th, RO Posted a post titled "Money: Getting it out of the Way". I have been meaning to post a response to that post for a while now, but haven't had the chance.

I agree with almost everything that RO suggests people do in that post. The thing that I wanted to respond to was the title itself. "Money: Getting it Out of the Way".  Folks I am here to tell you that you NEVER get money out of the way. That shouldnt even be the goal. The goal should be to have your money managed and working for you without it taking over your life. That requires eternal vigilance. It never gets out of the way. 

Now after talking with RO on the phone it was clear that he meant getting debt and crushing money problems out of the way, but thats not quite how it reads. Unfortunately, the way it reads is exactly how a great many people involved in any kind of money magic want their money magic to work. They want the whole issue out of the way and never have to think about it again. This scanario takes two main forms:

1. Winning the Lottery: Two of the first ten people in the course I asked to pick goals to work towards said their goal was to win the Lottery and never worry about money again. I have written about why this is a bad idea many times and it STILL gets turned in as homework. In fact I have to deal with the request for people to win the Lottery so often that I have the following saved amongst my form e-mails that I send out:

Sorcery can shift probability in your favor, and open opportunities where there were none, but some probabilities are just to long on the odds to be managed.


Just to give you an idea, while it varies state to state, on average your chance of winning the big pot in a Lottery is one in 18 million. Your chance of being struck by Lightning is one in 2,650,000. About 45 times more likely than you winning the lottery. If you drive 10 miles to buy a lottery ticket, its about 30 times more likely for you to die in a car accident on the way than it is for you to win the Lottery.


Now, magic does indeed make your probability of winning greater than the norm, as it does for everyone else using magick to win the lottery. Perhaps it reduces your chance from one in 18 million to one in 9 million or even one in 1 million. Not great odds. 


Of course since so many people would like to use magick to win the lottery, its pretty safe to assume that there are thousands of people aiming their magic at any given lotterypot. Most of this magic cancels each other out. 


Now here is the greatest rub. Lets say you win! 75% of people that win the lottery end up flat broke just seven years later. This is because they never took the time to understand money or how it works. If they did, they wouldn't have pinned their hopes and dreams on willing lottery.


2. Patron/Benefactor: A number of occultists have pined for the days of rich benefactors and patrons of the arts that would supply them with enough money to carry on their magic without the burden of earning a living.

The problem here is that the life they envisioned never really existed for anyone. Yes, there were people with rich benefactors. There still are. The problem is that the effort it takes to keep these benefactors is often more stressful than a regular job. One of my favorite books that all would-be-Sorcerers should read is Baltasar Gracian's "Art of Worldly Wisdom". Gracian was a Jesuit, but this book is filled with pithy Machiavellian tidbits aimed at keeping yourself in the company of the powerful and wealthy.

A great deal of care and conniving is often required when dealing with a patron. Sometimes the price is the integrity of your work. There are a lot of scholars who feel that the stories about Hoodoo initiations in New Orleans that fill the last few pages of Zor Neal Hurston's Mules and Men were fiction written primarily to titillate her rich white benefactor in New York who was essentially paying her to travel and report back with wild stories about what savage activities black people got up to down South. I myself have seen how the son of an important Patron can get recognized as a Tulku in exchange for some land in Mexico. Do you think Dee and Kelley wanted to travel around central Europe during the most of the 1580's putting on hokey alchemical experiments trying to get backing for their work? Nah

My advice is simple: Get your shit together and take care of business. How you do that is a subject for other posts. The thing that I want you to take home is that once you get your shit together, you need to keep your shit together and take care of business. At no point will it be ok to not keep your shit together and take care of business.  There are no exceptions.

Rich people may not have the stress of debt, but they have to tend their wealth throughout their life. Rich people who do not keep track of their finances get it all taken away from them. Think that Leonard Cohen wanted to be touring at 76 years of age? Nah, his manager ripped him off cuz he did not have his shit together and did not take care of business. Think Annie Leibovitz wanted to put up the rights to her photos as collateral for a loan? Of course not. MC Hammer? Nicholas Cage? Ed Mc Mann? Don Johnson? The list of rich and famous who lost or nearly lost everything is long and all of them have one thing in common. Can you guess what it is? Thats right. They didn't keep their shit together and take care of business.

I can almost hear some of you whining internally as you read this: "But Jason, I am a magician, an artist, a mystic. I have no interest in finance and economics. I just want it to be out of the way!". I know some of you are thinking this because these exact words were spoken to me after a class in financial magic. I will tell you what I told that young man. "To bad. Your a fucking adult. Time to nut-up and handle your business. I am not telling you to become Ben Bernanke. Just figure out how to best make money for yourself and keep your head above water."

Or as Snoop Dogg so wisely does "Keep my on my money and my money on my mind".





Speaking of Snoop. This is the greatest cover of any song ever.

20 C+M+B 11

Today is Epiphany, also called Theophany, Twelfth Night, and the Adoration of the Magi. Traditionally it is today we celebrate the extension of grace through Christ to the gentiles represented by the three Persian Magi that traveled great distance to honor the Christ Child. Of course being the holiday of the Magi, this all has special meaning for those of us that are sorcerously inclined and is an excellent time to begin any long term work.

For instance it is the traditional day to bless your house by consecrating chalk and writing the year and the initials C+M+B above the door. Of course the CMB stand for Caspar Melchior and Balthazar but also has the meaning of "Christus Mansionem Benedictat" (Christ bless this home).

It is normally done in this pattern: 20 C+M+B 11

It is also a good day to make a Three Wise Man cocktail:

1 part Scotch Whisky (recommend a blended Scotch for Coctails. Johnnie Walker Red or Black. Green, Gold and Blue should never be mixed with anything else.
1 part Tennessee Whiskey (e.g., Jack Daniels).
1 part Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey (e.g., Jim Beam White or Black Label).
Serve either neat or on the rocks, according to taste.

Variations include:

Three Wise Men go Hunting, which is the recipe above with the addition of Wild Turkey Bourbon.
Three  Men and a Baby: recipe above, add milk. (YUCK!)
Four Horsemen: above recipe with the addition of 1 part Jose Cuervo

Enjoy!

May the blessings of Wisdom and Personal Sovereignty be upon your houses this day. All of you, without exception.

The Magic of the Necktie

Several people have commented about me wearing a tie in the video. Let me just make one thing clear: I did not put on a tie for the video. I did not think about the backdrop, the lighting, or even what I would say, so I definitely did not dress up for it.

That said, I like neckties. I believe in the power of a necktie. I like the sliver of personal expression and color amidst the otherwise formal attire. The necktie can convey a lot. Blue with small red diamonds tells me that you probably vote republican and wish to convey your conservativeness. Pink tells me that you are probably urban, and confident. Your tie with shades of aqua tied in a four in hand knot tells me that you are laid back and possibly enjoy a Jack Johnson CD on the way to work. A red tie with strong pattern tied in a full Windsor with a perfect dimple tells me that you are strong willed and detail oriented. If you wear any color tie in a Pratt Knot, than you probably attending a boarding school or are just being a show off.

Personally I would like to see a return of just a wee bit of formality to American culture. For instance when I am on a cruise and attending the formal dress dinner, I HATE it when people show up without a tie and jacket. Those of us that showed up in a three piece suit and a date in an evening dress were looking for something a little more "Great Gatspy" and a little less "Margaritaville". I would also love it if I could go to a casino in Atlantic City and get more a little closer to the Monte Carlo in Monaco and a little further away from the cigarette dangling out of Grandmas mouth at the slot machine.

In the case of my video I simply wore a tie for business reasons earlier that night, and it being New Years, decided to keep it on, even though the missus and I were having drinks at home.

My advice top all you guys out there: learn to love your neckties. Unless you are working amidst machines that could catch them or are a doctor (they contribute to spreading infections in hospitals) you might want to consider sporting a tie now and then even if it is not required of you. Remember, unless you want to be a Mexican wrestler, you should dress for the job you want, not the one you have. 

Apart from getting a better job it may even save the one you have. From 2000 to 2003 I worked for a VOIP company called Net2Phone. There was no dress code. People could, and did, show up in pajamas. I usually wore jeans and a T-shirt. My co-worker always wore a tie. We both survived 4 rounds of layoffs because we were good at our jobs. When that fifth round of lay offs came, and they could not find a significant work related reason to can one of us over the other, guess who got the axe? Thats right, me. That evening when I was out with my now former boss he basically told me that it just came down to the fact that my co-worker dressed better. Here is the thing: In my opinion, that decision was perfectly fair. 

Now I know that by and large the modern occult scene is casual. Very casual. So casual that some events requiring no clothes of any kind at all. That is fine, a t-shirt and sport jacket is not only the favored uniform of stand up comedians, but of lecturing Sorcerers as well. I think it is a shame however when uber-casual becomes a uniform of its own. I should not be able to identify you as a Pagan because of your airbrushed wolf sweatshirt or pewter pendant on leather string. I was once given a lecture by a prominent OTO member on how pathetic it is that people conform to wearing a necktie to show their status. This same person wears badges made of sticky felt on their black robe to indicate that they are a "Master Magician". I mean who the fuck are you kidding here? 

I am not suggesting that we get carried away with ourselves. Just stick to neckties on occasions that might warrant them. Unless you are wearing a tuxedo, or are a character on TV you should probably avoid bow ties. Likewise unless you are attending a Silk Pajama cocktail party or are a full-time flaneur you should steer clear of Ascots. It goes without saying that unless you are Charles Nelson Riley or Fred from Scooby Doo are you to don any other type of cravat. 

So with all the above I propose an experiment for all my gentlemen readers. The next time that you take your woman (or man)  out on a dinner date, why don't you throw on the theme to James Bond after your shower, take a little extra time getting cleaned up, and throw on a nice shirt tie? If its a first date it will make you stand out from some of the other jokers that she has been running around with. If you are married or have been together for a long time it will make a nice sense of occasion. She will appreciate the effort. She might even let you tie her hands to the bed post with it later that night. 

MY FIRST VIDEO POST!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

One of the things that I promised would be in the pipeline for 2010 was Video posts. Well, in the final hours of 2010 I recorded this. Sadly I had some issues uploading it, so it is hitting the blog in 2011.

Its one take, and done on my IPOD4G so its not exactly studio quality. There may or may not be more in the future depending on feedback.

With all that in mind, please enjoy this video where I FINALLY teach "The Gesture of Conjuring" that I allude to in the books.

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.