Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts

Tuesday, 5 September 2017

Book Review: Intermediate types among Primitive folk


 Intermediate types among Primitive folk




Author:                          Edward Carpenter


Publisher:                      George Allen & Unwin Limited
Type:                              Hard Cover
Pages:                            174
Genre:                            non-fiction
Published:                     1911
ISBN:                             Unknown


 This is an old book, its pages roughly cut and i had to read it in short bouts as its ancient pages brought on sneezing fits.

 This amazing work looks at the why of queer (LGBTQ) people, why did homosexuality evolve, what is its purpose? And in doing so it shows how influential queers have been to the development of civilisation. It is not difficult to read though and avoids using too many "university speak terms." It remains highly accessible to the novice reader.

 I often write notes when i know i am going to review a book, and i have filled two double sides of A4 pages with brief notes to refresh my memory of things i thought were fundamentally important. 

 Do no t fear i am not going to write about everything this book entails. I will note that it does use some antiquated language and has some old fashioned beliefs, but considering it was partly written in 1907 i am sure that can be forgiven. 


 The book looks at the role queer people have had through many different civilisations in our history.  We see again that queer members of society have filled valued positions in the past and such people were seen as a blessing to the group.

 This work is well thought out, excellently explained and logicly reasoned. It shows that being queer is of course natural and proposes that civilisation itself may have relied upon queer people to develop. It shows that queers being outside the usual masculine/feminine roles had time and inclination to think, to developed new ideas and look at problems from a different perspective. It shows that queers were a forward force in human evolution giving us amazing advances in religion, science, invention, art, crafting, healing, philosophy, music dance and poetry, 

 There is also chapters on "hermaphrodites", women, and the Samurai. In addition to a conclusion and index.


 Before talking about what is traditional, (yes this book does demonstrate some traditional same sex marriages through history), you need to read this book. Before talking about what is natural or best for society you need to have read this book. It should be required reading for everyone commenting on queer issues. It should be in every high school and university library.

 It is extremely shameful that we had this knowledge way back on 1907 and homophobic bigots in Australia are still trying to deny queer rights.





 

Saturday, 4 March 2017

News: Satanists curse Trump...really?




You can listen to an YouTube version of this post here.

Satanists curse Trump!


 Is a headline you may have seen recently. I implore you to remember where you saw headlines like this because they are fake news. i should point out that i am using the term fake news correctly here, that is to say that the news story is demonstrably incorrect and misleading. I am not using the trumpian definition of fake news which seems to be anything that is not pro-trump propaganda.



 I am referring to the spiritual of the world who are working good magic against the evil of the Trump administration. So what makes these news story's fake exactly? Firstly the claim that the movement aims to in any way curse Trump is simply untrue. The ritual was a binding ritual, which specifically designed to merely prevent Trump from doing harm. 
 I will point out here that anyone trying to counter this ritual is admitting that they want Trump to do harm, and are actively trying to aid Trump in causing harm. 



 A lot of the news story's refer to satanists and Satan worshipers participating in these rituals. Now while Satan worshipers are certainly not disallowed from participating, i find it difficult to imagine that these Satanist Christians would want to. Surely Satanists would be supporting the evils of the Trump administration not opposing them? And if Satanists are trying to prevent harm and other Christian sects are trying to stop the Satanists from preventing harm....then i think those other Christians need to have a good hard look at their own moral code.



 The ritual is to be performed on every every waning crescent moon which is not technically monthly. The spell will continue to be performed until he is removed from office which doesn't necessarily demand impeachment.
 Lets get it straight the ritual is not a curse, it is not evil! How could preventing someone from doing harm be an evil act? Its not even dangerous, if your really concerned about your spiritual safety or any "karmic" repercussions, you could add something like "harming none, and for the greater good of all" just before you say "so mote it be".  
 You could also just remove the lines "Heavenly hosts. Demons of the infernal realms" if those lines concern you. 
 Also if you follow any gods you would definitely add "In the name and by the power of (your deity's names)", after you list the elemental spirits. 
 In this way the divine will add their own power to your ritual and they will also filter your intent through their moral code. That seems to be the whole idea of this ritual its amorphous enough to be altered without losing intent. I do understand that this may be foreign for a lot of people who are not proficient in spiritual matters, but performing this ritual might enlighten many to the fact that there are other paths. 
 The  #MagicResistance / #BindTrump movement has a Facebook page and the actual ritual can be found here. Remember too that any spiritual advisers who are feeding you a fake narrative about this movement should be of concern, they may actually have little knowledge and couldn't be bothered to educate themselves or are possibly being actively deceitful.




 As an aside i had a lot of trouble just getting the headlines for this post. A lot of Christian websites never stop loading, they play advertisements constantly and they slowed my Internet to a halt if i opened more then one at a time. Some of them even played music?!?
 Don't forget to act in the mundane world to help those being oppressed by Trump and his supporters.
 I would also encourage any "sceptics" to actually study the science before making any uneducated or false claims.

 I implore those with magical knowledge who feel they have legitimate concerns or criticisms to produce their own version of this ritual. Below you can see the ritual modified in a way that should alleviate those concerned with accidentally doing any harm. I also tried to "tidy" the wording up a little and added specific references to divinity. Changes should be in bold. I provide this just as an example of such alterations and encourage you to check out the full ritual,. In fact only the spoken part of the ritual is shown below so you will need to reference the original.

RITUAL TO BIND TRUMP

(v. 2.2 with PRUDE edits)

(Light white candle)

"Hear me, oh spirits
Of Water, Earth, Fire, and Air
O (name deities)
And blessed spirits of our ancestors
Protect and aid me as i do this good work"

(Light inscribed orange candle stub)

"I call upon you good spirits, Elemental, Ancestor and Divine
To bind
Donald J. Trump
So that his malignant works may fail utterly
That he may do no harm
To any human soul
Nor any Animal, or any Environment
Bind him so that he shall not break our polity
Usurp our liberty
Or fill our minds with hate, confusion, fear, or despair
And bind, too,
All those who enable his wickedness
And those whose mouths speak his poisonous lies
I beseech thee, spirits, bind all of them
As with chains of iron
Bind their malicious tongues
Strike down their towers of vanity"

(Invert Tower tarot card)

"I beseech thee in my name
(Say your full name)
And In the name of (name deities) 
In the name of all living things
Of all the spirits of place

In the name of Justice, Liberty, Love, Equality And Peace
Bind them in chains
Bind their tongues
Bind their works
Bind their wickedness"

(Light the small photo of Trump from the flame of the orange candle stub and hold carefully above the ashtray)
(Speak the following loudly and with increasing passion as the photo burns to ashes) 

"Harming none, and for the greater good of all
By (name deities) divine hand
Donald J. Trump and those who abet him are bound  from doing any harm!

So it shall be!"

(Blow out orange candle, visualising Trump blowing apart into dust or ash*)
(Pinch or snuff out the white candle, ending the ritual)

Monday, 30 January 2017

Book Review: Pans Daughter

 Pans Daughter

The Magical World of Rosaleen Norton

 Revised and Expanded
 

Author:                             Nevill Drury
Publisher:                         Mandrake of oxford
Type:                                 Hard Cover
Pages:                                305
Genre:                               non-fiction
Published:                         2013
ISBN:                                9781906958503



 The book does not have a dust cover but has a lovely colored printed hardcover. Its dimensions are about  156 x 232 x 28mm and it has black and white photos, copy's of Rosaleen Norton's art thorough and there is even a few sigils.
 The book is very well made and printed well. I did notice only two minor errors, the word to where it was superfluous (P83) and the word "was" instead of "as" (p87), so noting major at all.



 The book is an overview of the life of Rosaleen Norton and her associates and contemporary's. Today she would probably be referred to as a Pagan artist. Although mention is made of her magical journals very little of her occult information is included within this book.

 I had heard about Rosaleen occasionally growing up, she has a reputation as "the witch of Kings Cross" and i had always wondered if she was legit. The poem written by her in 1962 and reproduced in this book was enough to confirm for me that she had esoteric knowledge. Indeed it is explained that some of her influences included; psychology, general occultism, ceremonial magic, voodoo, the golden dawn, pantheism, Greek mythology, hypnosis, medium-ship, and a welsh tradition of witchcraft said to have arrived in Australia during the colonial era.
 Her description of the Werplon seemed to have an almost lovecraftian flair to it.
 


It seems much like Alister Crowley (who is detailed within the book) she had a public persona so it is difficult to separate that from whom she really was. For instance she claimed to practice in black magic but there seems to be no examples of her doing any such thing. This may instead be to her upbringing, anything non-christian may have been seen as "black magic" by people in Australia before the 1970s.

Her interview with the psychologist Dr. LJ Murphy is interesting as it outlines Rosaleen's methods in developing her natural ability's. It is quite fascinating to hear her attempt to explain the nature of reality in 1960's mundane world speak. While the words she chose differed than those i would have, it is reminiscent of many conversations i have had with many an occultist and laymen over the years.

Rosaleen Norton's assertion that she preferred sex with homosexual men is a little odd. Not that there is anything wrong with having sex with gay men, i myself prefer gay men over straight men, because while straight men are always enthusiastic they don't always want to cuddle after, but i am a guy. 
 Perhaps she had a different understanding of "homosexual back then, maybe she simply meant submissive, effeminate or or even bisexual men. She might have considered the every man who had ever had sex with another man to be homosexual, hell if that were true today we would no longer be a minority.


 The book uses the proper BCE and CE terminology which is always refreshing. It has numbered notes at the end of each chapter and a detailed bibliography and index is included.


  All in all i  really enjoyed this book. Pick it up if your interested in Australian History, feminism, sex magic, Paganism, astral travel, witchcraft, NDE (or PDE), occultism, law, ceremonial magic, art or Australian culture.



Tuesday, 26 April 2016

Book Review: La Santa Muerte

La Santa Muerte

Unearthing the magic & Mysticism of Death 

 
 
Author:                                Tomas Prower
Cover Design:                      Ellen Lawson

Interior Photography:       Anthony Louis of Twenty-Deux


Publisher:                            Llewellyn Publications       

Type:                                    Soft Cover

Pages:                                   230

Genre:                                  Non-fiction

Published:                            2015


ISBN:                                   978-0-7387-4551-0



The book itself is nice, the text clear and without obvious errors. It is about nine inches tall and six inches wide. The cover is  colourful and the back has all the information you would need to make an informed purchase. There are not many pictures in the book but a four pages of colour photographs. Also there is a photo of the author and he is quite handsome ;)


This is my personal shrine
 
 This work seems to be devotion to Santa Muerte  filtered through witchcraft traditions. I was reminded in particular of a lot of my Wiccan training. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing at all, i personally believe that Wiccan practices are a great base and a great system of devotion. I wouldn't necessarily call this a Wiccan book really, i am just saying that i got a general Pagan vibe from it.
 I think its along the lines of comparing modern Egyptian eclectic Paganism with the re-constructionist Kemetics who try to worship the Egyptian Gods as the Ancient Egyptians did.
 
This book very much seems like La Santa Muerte religion through a modern Pagan eye.

As an example of this "hexing" is discouraged in this book. In an almost Threefold law kind of way, this book claims that harm has a way of coming back to us. Being that i have always striven to do good and never harm, i can say i feel this is not true. I now believe we have spiritual power for a reason and that we can be the tool that the universe uses to right wrongs.
I am no expert but my experience has been, that La Santa Muerte hears our pleas with a sympathetic ear, and offers us a shoulder to cry on before straightening us up and saying "lets get the bastard!". She is the sympathetic mother, but also the protective mother who will help eliminate the threat to her children.



The book covers death mythology and lore from Ancient Egypt, Greece-Roman, Aztec, Paleolithic and of course Catholic sources.
The author gets bonus points for using the correct BCE-CE terms. It also covers the modern history of the cult.



There is an explanation of the names, colours, tools, and symbols of many death deities. As well as information about Altars and offerings. A decent 101 style guide to spellwork is a nice addition for those beginning their path. 


The book has an extensive bibliography (and a look through that that shows the Pagan influences here as well where to look for more "authentic" devotional practice) and an index, In addition to a list of Santa Muerte locations in the US, which isn't quite as useful to me in Australia.



I can recommend this book if you wish to explore La Santa Muerte from a modern Pagan point of view. I do feel that some of her mystery is lost when she is separated from her Mexican roots and catholic accouterments. 
This book wasn't really for me as i already had ifo on La Santa Muerte from Andrew Chesnuts book, and i have a decent amount of Pagan knowledge.

This is La Santa Muerte from a different view point and i would recommend getting a copy of  Devoted to Death-  by  Andrew Chesnut first. 







As a minor quibble while it may be the standard "pop-science" view, i have to disagree that only humans know we are going to die.

As an example I had a very old dog and she couldn't do all the things she used too love doing. She lost strength in her legs and became terrified of the stairs, and couldn't jump up on the bed anymore or go for walks.
A few days before she died, i caught her sitting on the back stairs, where we used to sit and watch the birds, i sat beside her and had a nice moment. She also whined to get up on the bed, so i lifted her up and she rolled around and lazed there for a few hours. She grabbed her leash and brought it to me, and i put it on (she had lost all interest in walking) she didn't walk far, just in front of the next house and back. It was really like she was doing all the things she loved one last time, i am sure she knew.





 


Tuesday, 22 December 2015

Book review: The Old Magic of Christmas

The Old Magic of Christmas

Yuletide traditions for the darkest days of the year






Author:                                Linda Raedisch
Artist:                                  Ellen Lawson

Type:                                    Soft Cover
Pages:                                   248
Genre:                                  non-fiction
Published:                            2014
                                              Llewellyn
ISBN:                                   978-0-7387-3334-0
Source:                                Independently purchased 



The book is a nice size seems well made and has a smattering of black and white illustrations. It will stand about 8 inches tall on the shelf, is 5 1/2 inches deep and almost an inch thick.



Don't be put off by the introduction, for while it does seem to pander slightly to christian sensibility's, it in no way alienates Pagan readers.




While the term christmas is used thought, it is clear that the subject of the book is not the December holiday but the winter solstice commonly known as Yule.



Subjects addressed include Goddesses, witches, elves, spirits, The Krampus, ghosts, werewolves, The Mari Llwyd, Saints, The Wild Hunt, vampires and The Julbock. 





There are interesting crafts and recipes to make through the book. Though the main focus is on the history, folklore and mythology's of Yule.



There is a long and through examination of the herbs associated with the season, as well as notes, calendar, glossary index, and bibliography.
Bonus points are given for using the correct CE, BCE terms.


I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to discover the true meaning of christmas, or wants to experiment with some new (old) Yule traditions. Those interested in mythology, history and folklore will find this book an entertaining and informative read.
The only thing that would have made this book better would be color pictures, and maybe replacing the term christmas with Yule or winter.



Monday, 23 November 2015

Book Review: The Voodoo Doll Spellbook

The Voodoo Doll Spellbook

A compendium of ancient and contemporary spells and rituals 

 

Author:                                Denise Alarado


Publisher:                            Weiser Books       

Type:                                    Soft Cover

Pages:                                   194

Genre:                                  Non-fiction

Published:                            2010

ISBN:                                   978-1-57863-554

Source:                                Independently purchased 


The book is a decent size (9" x 7"), the pages have an off white colour which i quite like. The cover picture is kind of creepy, and goes well with the theme.


 The book devotes eight pages to a detailed contents section, additionally, the resources and bibliography can be found at the back. But there is no index, the extensive contents pages go some way to making up for this, but an index is always a required section for me.



The book gives practical examples of various doll magic with subjects including but not limited to; banishment, breaking a curse, health, protection, revenge, oils, divination, manipulation, binding, prosperity, and even necromancy. I would avoid the death magic, personalty i don't want the homewrecker to get off that easily, he needs to suffer, the way he has made me suffer.



A large percentage of the work covers voodoo practices so don't be surprised to find christian/catholic symbolism, psalms and other Abrahamic concepts.


 The book doesn't just deal with new Orleans voodoo, many poppet or doll magic practices are covered, there are some Irish, Mexican, Greece-Roman, Ancient Egyptian, and even Japanese examples of doll magic..





I would recommend this book to anyone interested in poppet or symbolic doll magics and traditions. While i haven't done any of the individual rituals myself yet, i did use many as inspiration when creating my own. 





Denise Alvarado is the author of Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook, Voodoo dolls in Magick and Ritual, and Hoodoo Almanac 2012, 2013, 2014. 



Wednesday, 27 May 2015

Charlie Charlie challenge

Charlie Charlie can we play?




There is a craze going around at the moment, called the charlie charlie challenge. You basically take a piece of paper, divide it into four squares. You write yes no, yes no, each to a square. Then you take two pencils and balance them along the lines, so they intersect at the crossroads.You then ask 'Charlie Charlie are you there?" when Charlie Charlie says yes you ask, "Charlie Charlie can we play?" he he again says yes you can ask him questions and he will answer them yes or no. 

NO
Apparently to end the session you should say "Thank you Charlie Charlie, can we stop?". If he says yes you should say "Charlie Charlie, thank you" and stop, some even say to crumple the paper, and drop the pencils on the ground.
He answers yes or no by moving the pencil so it falls into one of the labelled squares.



YES

The 'game' seems to have come from Spanish speaking country's, though it does beg the question why it isn't Carlitos Carlitos? There are even some claims that Charlie Charlie is a ancient Mexican god, such claims seem unlikely unless the deity has had a name change. 


There are also claims that Charlie Charlie is a demon, and the practice is satanic, though i can see nothing overtly christian / catholic about Charlie Charlie or the game itself, so we can probably rule this out. Some say he is a ghost of a young man. Charlie Charlie is said to have black eyes and a red robe and to harass people who don't play the game by his rules. 
Such people have experienced disembodied voices, Telekinesis, unexplained shadows, sinister laughing among other 'paranormal' events.



To my eyes this seems less like Ouija board use, or even use of a Pendulum for divination. But with the Spirit of the Pendulum given a name and back story.


After some experimentation it seems Charlie Charlie does give adequate answers. It can be difficult to set up the pencils where they wont be inadvertently influenced by table movements and your own breath, though it could be argued that maybe that's the energy that can more easily be used by Charlie Charlie to answer the questions.
It seems harmless enough, and might teach the young folk that ending a ritual is just as important as starting it. As well as the ability to tell when a given phenomenon is supernatural or mundane, this is a very important skill to develop and it seems severely lacking in our current society. So many people jump to the illogical conclusion that something is mundane despite all evidence to the contrary.

Personally for my quick divination needs i would stick with the pendulum, its just as easy to perform and gives more reliable results. Please comment below if you have tried it and let us know what happened.
As with everything, caution should be used when dealing with the other realm.



Charlie Charlie can we stop?

Update:

While making a video version of this blog i may have been visited by Charlie Charlie himself.