tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15060811135127328382024-03-19T01:47:55.550-07:00The Moonlit HermitThoughts on magic, astrology, goetia, tarot, and related things.Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14872844617045982248noreply@blogger.comBlogger138125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-29040477911406487122023-05-16T10:44:00.001-07:002023-05-16T10:44:50.597-07:00Alleyman Oracle to include Moonlit Hermit Tarot CardThere is a new Alleyman Oracle deck in production. It will include a Moonlit Hermit Tarot card, specifically my 6 of Swords. Check out the Kickstarter for the project here, <h2 class="yiv5773270162gmail-orb-typography yiv5773270162gmail-h2 yiv5773270162gmail-no-margin" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #c8cfe0; font-family: nova; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word !important; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="yiv5773270162gmail-body-title" href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/publishinggoblin/the-alleyway-oracles" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: initial; color: #8aaaff; overflow-wrap: break-word !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">bit.ly/AlleyOracle</a>. </h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_QEpiASobWkPPyR1IxpbHAR2D9TzM5iNPvPn_IVok_MwUFX3mtg16EeTP8rB-jIV67eoRg1S-zZ9nGEqwv1Rr93Cq4jLC7TkKimy-CUqN-R6K3PDs4ljN6mpPlF2Z66dvqK0TIc06pCLuAlXx0KlwDnnOMNDxlZ3_xj7Q4cIUgi2EjaJ0VQAQ_np/s2400/IMG_0472.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="2400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_QEpiASobWkPPyR1IxpbHAR2D9TzM5iNPvPn_IVok_MwUFX3mtg16EeTP8rB-jIV67eoRg1S-zZ9nGEqwv1Rr93Cq4jLC7TkKimy-CUqN-R6K3PDs4ljN6mpPlF2Z66dvqK0TIc06pCLuAlXx0KlwDnnOMNDxlZ3_xj7Q4cIUgi2EjaJ0VQAQ_np/s320/IMG_0472.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-64647213920292514472023-04-30T14:12:00.000-07:002023-04-30T14:12:37.951-07:00A Review of Celestial Angel Magick by Corwin Hargrove<p> I recently finished reading <i>Celestial Angel Magick </i>by Corwin Hargrove (2023). This is the first book by this author that I have read. I have not read any of Hargrove’s other books mostly because I find the marketing for them a similar flavor as BALG and other “dark fluff” books about spirit work. Really, I know almost nothing about this author or their other works so I can’t talk about their authenticity or how this book compares to any of their others. </p><p>Having said that I will say that there are things I really like about this book and other things I really dislike. <i>Celestial Angel Magic</i> is all about the Mansions of the Moon. I have been researching the Mansions of the Moon for my own projects and when I find something about the Mansions I grab it to add to my knowledge. It is a slim volume, 79 pages on the ebook, Kindle version. </p><p>First, the things I like about this book. The greatest asset of <i>Celestial Angel Magick</i> is the set of 28 Arabic talismans, one for each Mansion, that Hargrove calls sigils. The author claims to have come across the same talismans in two separate, handwritten, personal grimoires that collectors sold to him 12 years apart. I personally have only a little exposure to Arabic magic through my research on the Mansions but they look like other Arabic talismans I’ve seen in different contexts and the story is plausible enough. Paradoxically, the apparent lack of research that went into the writing of this book bolsters this claim. </p><p>The second thing I like about this book I actually have mixed feelings about and that is the poetic verses that accompany each Mansion. I love the idea of poetry acting as the image, as opposed to a picture, in working image magic. I am ambivalent to them being referred to as “pathworkings” just because I recognize this term has come to mean “meditative visualization”. Personally, the talismans and the idea of verse images have justified the purchase of this book.</p><p>But my criticism of the verses themselves are that they are strikingly similar to each other. The author implies that these verses came from one of the handwritten grimoires but my impression is that they were derived from a few scrying or visualization sessions the author may have done themselves. In itself this isn’t problematic but it feels almost superficial and lacking depth. Similarly, the stated powers of each Mansion lack depth to my ear but they are written ambiguously enough to apply to a variety of applications.</p><p>The names of the Mansions are the common Arabic names but I am a little surprised that Hargrove lists the name of each Mansion as the spirit name (Al Sharatain, Al Butain, etc). No doubt the sources for the talismans lists them this way, or is ambiguous enough that one would infer this. Variations on the names of the Mansions or attributing spirit names to them are dismissed as deliberate obfuscation by some unknown person or group who is trying to keep the truth from the reader. This is absurd and discounts the literal thousands of years across cultures in which the concept of the Mansions of the Moon existed.</p><p>What this book is not about is astrology or astrological magic. The procedure to use these talismans is simply to gaze at them, visualize or read aloud the pathworking image verse, and state your petition, then walk away. This is all fine to me but Hargrove is strangely dismissive of any kind of elaboration into a praxis. Perhaps this is simply to reassure a beginner that ceremony is not necessarily required. </p><p>I mention earlier in this review that it seemed there was little research done in preparation of writing this book but honestly I can't know that. It seems that way because there is not much content. There is mention of the <i>Picatrix</i> and the <i>Liber Lunae</i> but only in that they mention the Mansions of the Moon. It is unclear if they lent any elucidation on the subject to the author. Hargrove explicitly says that, because this content came from private grimoires that research was impossible. And who cares anyway because it works. Similarly, Hargrove says that the reader shouldn't, and indeed can't, interpret the marks in the talisman sigils themselves. This too is strangely dismissive to me and sounds more like an excuse for why one would choose to not even try. Most frustrating to me, there is no bibliography. This reinforces the idea that, one, <i>Celestial Angel Magick</i> is simply a repackaging of a found grimoire, and two, that very little research went into writing this book. </p><p>All in all I am glad to have found this book. I think the contents will lead me to some interesting experiments as I work with the Mansions and their spirits. I can't say I am impressed with Hargrove's writing or logic but there are things about this book that excite me. </p>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-14157799937016214772022-11-27T15:33:00.002-08:002022-11-27T15:36:10.794-08:00Seeking Mystery in the Lunar Mansions<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I have entered a new phase in my work with the spirits of the Mansions of the Moon. The invocations and the ability to connect with the spirits has gone well. I have come to realize that trying hard to connect with the spirits of the Mansions was something like a fish trying hard to find water. Their presence is all around all the time. Additionally, my experiments with Mansion talismans has gone reasonably well with some hits and (more) misses with a lot more work to do in this arena. And, most importantly, art making is progressing, albeit slowly, on a few fronts at the same time; some tablet drawn stuff, some Photoshop collage, and some physical collage. I’ll share some work in progress in future posts.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In my working with ideas for art making I find I have a desire to explore the Mansions more deeply. The thing I find missing is mystery. And by mystery I mean a few things. One, that there exists for each Mansion a riddle, a sort of thought experiment that has no resolution but only deeper and deeper ideas and truths. Like a math problem that gives a never ending series of digits, like Pi. Variations on a theme leading off into infinity. </p>
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<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">But mystery also means spiritual truths and realities that are seemingly contradictory or incongruent. Like the alchemical marriage, by understanding some part of the mystery transformation of elements are possible. In this way, initiation and spiritual advancement are also possible as well as magical effects and deeper wisdom. I kind of hope to find unexpected features and facets of each of the Mansions, things that will add depth to my creative projects.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Essential to mystery, however, is its inherent ineffability and unknowability. One can never really find the end of a mystery, it just keeps unfolding with more and more expressions and manifestations of the deeper truths. What one can do is explore that mystery. A person can start with what tools they have and ask for the guidance of spirits to impart the lessons of the mystery to which they are part. And, stepping stone by stepping stone, one can delve into the lessons that each of the Mansions has to teach. </p>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In order to explore the mysteries of the Mansions of the Moon I am inventing little rituals, unique to each Mansion, to be performed while the Moon is in that Mansion. One devotional action each day in the name of the spirit of that Mansion. It is my contention that the repeated performance of each rite will teach lessons over time. </p>
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<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Or maybe not. Who knows? But we’re going to try it and see what happens. </p>
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<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Over the past lunation I did a couple of tarot divinations each day, asking two questions, “what is the mystery of this Mansion” and “how can I explore the mystery of this Mansion”. I have recorded those divinations and will base this project on those throws to develop a series of rituals. Along with the divinations I will use other Moon based rituals in the Latin Picatrix, like those given in Book 4, Chapter 2, and other sources as I am guided. </p>
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<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Ideally, these are fairly easy, quick rites that can readily be expanded or contracted as circumstances warrant. Personally, I would love them to be ten minute affairs with minimal tools or props, something I could do on a lunch break. They are tailored to the Mansion in question and performed in the name of the spirit of that Mansion. There should also be an opportunity for feedback built into the ritual structure. </p>
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<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We’ll see what kind of direction this experiment takes me. </p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Let's call these the Little Lunar Mystery Rites. </p>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-62580863590123363702022-07-11T09:30:00.001-07:002022-07-11T14:21:49.833-07:00Lunar Mansion Notes: Albelda<div class="separator"><br /></div><p> As I write this the Moon is in Albelda, the Lunar Mansion at the end of Sagittarius. It is a Mansion characterized by transitions, hard stops, and open space. The influence of Albelda was apparent to me before the Moon was in it in the tropical zodiac. Currently, I am traveling abroad with a family group of six. One of our members became seriously ill and I caught a cold. Even while the Moon was still in Alnaym we had a hard ending to our itinerary to seek medical attention for our companion. In comparison my cold was a minor, if gross and full of mucus, inconvenience. And now, here I sit with the rest of my party waiting under the pretext of relaxing, to hear how they are doing and recovering from my own illness. </p><p>I have seen Albelda described as the District, the City, and the Area. But I think my favorite translation is how Amina Inoles characterizes it in her translation of the Shams al Ma’arif as the Wasteland. It occupies a bit of sky in which there are few visible stars on the ecliptic and was considered an open space. For this reason, the Wasteland seems an apt name for this Mansion. Its image in the Picatrix is a Janiform man, that is, a man with a face both on the front and on the back of his head, and its talismanic power was to depopulate and devastate an area or a city. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdDamaxu5F46uHguPXd5q69Cao-1CX7m_4HN8i3X-p441Iv1d4fh-GP89rIgFAXcHFPYi_7zZrCu7e2CWVdyCqoU2bz0G3OQG4sj8n-521N9Xm0O5c20Ra7hWcMZJLzPuk3QA6qlEjCfVqCMrC5c5S4Kcys2lF2OkJwDJ5aDmB_FQRem3JYAMbrs4/s1237/25DFA830-A34D-4F1A-9950-6D3253BD1C1A.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1237" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdDamaxu5F46uHguPXd5q69Cao-1CX7m_4HN8i3X-p441Iv1d4fh-GP89rIgFAXcHFPYi_7zZrCu7e2CWVdyCqoU2bz0G3OQG4sj8n-521N9Xm0O5c20Ra7hWcMZJLzPuk3QA6qlEjCfVqCMrC5c5S4Kcys2lF2OkJwDJ5aDmB_FQRem3JYAMbrs4/s320/25DFA830-A34D-4F1A-9950-6D3253BD1C1A.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In ancient Rome Janus was a god of thresholds, marking the end of one state and the beginning of another. The month of January is named after Janus and it occurrence marks the beginning of a new year. Janus would reportedly be invoked to mark the beginning of religious ceremonies or the formal declaration of war. To pass Janus’s doorway was to never go back. </p><p>This implication of abrupt change was certainly my experience during my travels. The remainder of this trip will not be as I had originally planned it. In terms of its place among the Lunar Mansions Albelda sits just before the series of “lucky” stars and so marks another threshold. Part of me wonders if, long, long ago, Albelda was the beginning of the Mansions. It would be appropriate, just as in the calendar of months, to begin with Janus. But I haven’t done the math to see just how many thousands of years back we would have to go to account for procession so this may be idle musing. </p><p>Part of the symbolism of the doorway is its sense of in-betweenness, the state of not this any longer but not that yet either. There is a moment, even if infinitesimally brief, of stillness; a pause between inhalation and exhalation, the floating feeling as the rollercoaster cart reaches the apex of a crest just before gravity pulls it down the other side. And as I continue to wait here this aspect of the symbol of Albelda is thrown in high relief. Albelda is a rest between the hunting in Alnaym and the sacrifice of Sadahaca. It is the breath before the ritual begins. </p><p>And so, I accept my forced downtime, even as I feel a slight frustration at not being able to explore. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-49718649482251466192022-03-27T12:09:00.003-07:002022-03-27T12:09:59.228-07:00The Practical Uses for the Mansions of the Moon<p><span> So much of my magical attention has been trained on the Mansions of the Moon lately. If one were to dig through the archives of this blog one would find references to the Mansions of the Moon years and years back but for the past year and a half the Mansions have been the center of my focus; the names, the images, the spirits. I continue to dig into the star lore, the magic, and the thinking behind the Mansions in a concentrated effort to learn as much as I can and try to understand them. I am just now getting to the point where I have an idea of how much I don’t know and how vast the amount of things yet to learn. But understanding needs to have a starting point and a process and so, here I am, working through trying to understand them. </span></p><p>Let’s work through some of the ideas and insights I’ve stitched together from various sources or invented myself to see if I can make sense of any of it. Organizing my thoughts for public consumption will help me question my assumptions and lines of thinking. Explaining things to you will help me understand them. In the spirit of the Moon I reserve the right to be irrational, obscure, or cryptic as the mood strikes me. </p><p>I will begin with a general idea, an abstract, thousand foot level question to kick things off. No doubt we will wade through the weeds of minute detail as we progress but I need to define some broad outlines first. I need some big shapes to get my figurative hands around before we drill down into the pith of individual Mansions. </p><p>At this point I am not going to get into what the Mansions of the Moon are with the hope that you are at least somewhat familiar with the idea of the Mansions. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept </p><p>Why bother with the Mansions of the Moon? This question is probably best answered with practical, concrete advantages and things one might hope to get or achieve by working with the Mansions. From my perspective there are several good reasons why one might go down this rabbit hole. </p><p>The first practical use I'll give is the reason that I started to study the subject in the first place, the Picatrix. The Picatrix says in Chapter 4 of Book 1 that the Mansions of the Moon are essential to working astrological magic. One needs to know the effects and condition of the Moon based on where it is in the lunar zodiac in order to fully understand the potential results and efficacy of a magical working undertaken at a particular time. I infer from the Picatrix that consideration of the Mansions is a basic skill in the performance of electional astrology but in modern times the Mansions are not a big part of Western magic if one is working outside of Chinese, Arabic, or Hindu contexts. And while Chinese, Arabic, and Hindu traditions have immense value, the inclusion of the Mansions of the Moon in the Latin Picatrix and in Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy hints at a tradition in Western magic that is somewhat forgotten, muted, and struggling to regain a place of prominence. Studying the Mansions of the Moon reestablishes some of the depth and complexity of magic with European roots. </p><p>And I have found that the depth and complexity of the Mansions is profound. In all seriousness one could spend their entire lives studying nothing but the Mansions of the Moon. I am convinced that each Mansion has its own lessons to teach and mysteries to reveal. As I said earlier, the more I study the Mansions the more I realize how little I really know or understand. Part of the purpose of these blog posts going forward will be to try and work out some of the tangle of ideas to find the stepping stones on this path. </p><p>One of the exciting things about the Mansions is that I have found the spirits of the Mansions readily available for communication using either pendulum or tarot cards. In some ways it was almost too easy. Sometimes I would lament what I perceived as a failure in invocation or communication only to realize I was calling to someone who was already there. I started joking that it was like being fish trying to be aware of the water it was in. At all moments of every day the angel of the Mansion in which the Moon is sitting is present and exerting its influence on the world. This realization opened up my perception and suggests the third practical use of the Mansions of the Moon, development of skills. In terms of astrological elections Mansion talismans are considered one of the easier kind to find suitable times to perform. In terms of spirit communication the spirits of the Mansions are readily available to teach and perform tasks. Additionally, other occultists have linked the Mansions to other traditions. Two that I have seen are Jake Stratton-Kent equating each Mansion to a spirit in the Grimorium Verum and Chris Reppucci linking the Mansions to the 28 icons of Hekate initiation mentioned in PGM VII lines 756-794 The Prayer to Mene. I find this idea intriguing that the context of the Mansions can expand into a variety of traditions or practices. </p><p>Lastly, for me, the Mansions of the Moon are a great way to break out of the homogeny of astrology and the standard zodiac. The lunar and the solar zodiacal wheels are related but I have found the Mansions to be much more descriptive of star lore. I have found great value in changing my perspective on the stars in the ecliptic with the Mansions that I didn't so much feel when studying the decans. </p><p>I imagine as I progress with my research and learning that other practical uses will become apparent. These are the most easily identified reasons I have for chasing down the Mansions of the Moon. As this blog moves forward and we explore each Mansion individually more will be revealed. </p><p><br /></p>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-2057155992959843912021-12-05T14:06:00.000-08:002021-12-05T14:06:00.391-08:00The Moonlit Hermit Tarot, the Spirit Cards<p>In the Moonlit Hermit Tarot deck there are four cards that are supplementary to a classic tarot deck. These four cards were added as a reward in the Kickstarter campaign and make the Moonlit Hermit Tarot an 82 card deck. Here I will talk about the inspiration behind making them and offer some ideas about how they can be interpreted in a tarot reading.</p><p>First off, I feel I should say that this essay is meant simply as a set of suggestions. The four supplement cards are unlabeled and therefore can take on whatever meaning the reader chooses. If the ideas in this essay don't resonate with you feel free to discard them.</p><p>Echoes of goetic spirit magic pervade the Moonlit Hermit Tarot. For instance, the hem of the angel in the Temperance card is the "dancing" sigil of the spirit Klepoth from the <i>Grimorium Verum</i>. The four unlabeled spirit cards originally were representations of a set of spirits called the Four Kings. The concept of the Four Kings exists in several cultures and spiritual cosmologies all over the world. The concept is also prominent in the rituals of the medieval European grimoires. In a nutshell, each of the Four Kings is thought to have dominion over spirits that originate in or have their home in the cardinal direction associated with that King. It is not uncommon to invoke the Four Kings in a ritual context as a way of empowering the magician and claiming authority over spirits in their name. </p><p>As is often the case with spirits in sets of four there is a tendency to attribute them to each of the four classic elements; fire, water, air, and earth. Therefore each King has an association with a cardinal direction as well as an element. If one compares traditions one quickly learns there is no one, standard way to associate a King to a specific direction or element. Also the names of the Kings have gone through changes over the years. This was one of the big factors that suggested I should leave these cards unlabeled. </p><p>In terms of divinatory meaning in the deck the Directional Kings denote the spiritual realm and the actions of spirits. In this context "spirit" is very general and may refer to deities, angels, demons, daemons, nature spirits, elemental spirits, or spirits of the dead. </p><p>First up we have the King of the East.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jjwSOh4V46g/YaQoJsQkFkI/AAAAAAAAAgE/Zw9yWY2nptMb0iG-uWNh4jkXeZ6qZWgLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s351/King_East_card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="209" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jjwSOh4V46g/YaQoJsQkFkI/AAAAAAAAAgE/Zw9yWY2nptMb0iG-uWNh4jkXeZ6qZWgLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/King_East_card.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The King of the East rules over the horizon from which all heavenly bodies rise from the Underworld to take their journey across the sky toward the west. It is the ascendant of the zodiacal wheel and is a position of empowerment of astrological spirits. It can represent any of the spirits associated with the Morning Star, Lucifer not least among them, and so a certain amount of dominion over spirits in general. The King of the East is associated with light and the element of fire. <div><br /><div>In our image a figure with a dark yet brilliantly shining body stands among red flames. His pose is at ease. In his right hand he holds out a blue sphere. His head is shaped like a flame and behind it is a halo like a bright yellow sun shining through a red lattice. From the halo extend white shafts of light separating the figure from a blue field and black concentric circles of darkness. </div><div><br /></div><div>In divination this card can mean the awareness of or revealing of spirits, spiritual vision, and spiritual authority. It can also indicate spiritual beginnings or the granting of boons or wishes. Power is increasing with this card. It is an active card. </div><div><br /></div><div>Next is the King of the South</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yrxltjvDpfU/YaQtqkWOWAI/AAAAAAAAAgM/ONxPCkuq3r0JlmU0azEUTflQmQMM4rT3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s351/King_South_card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="209" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yrxltjvDpfU/YaQtqkWOWAI/AAAAAAAAAgM/ONxPCkuq3r0JlmU0azEUTflQmQMM4rT3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/King_South_card.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In terms of the wheel of heaven, south is one of the axis poles on which the heavens turn. The King of the South rules the element of air. This card is active and can indicate the movement and action of spirits or spiritual transitions in general. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In divination this card can represent the higher, etherial spiritual realms. There is also a bit of a dual nature to this card. Behind the figure, from the upper right to the lower left are delicate green flowers floating on irregular white lines of motion. This is a sweet fragrance carried on a gentle breeze. Conversely, from the upper left to the lower right, two writhing black dragons with tongues like barbed darts curl about themselves. This is a plague wind and spirits who strike on the air. Therefore, in some contexts, this card can indicate a blessing in disguise or a trap hidden in a boon. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next is the King of the West.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tqsVbLOWcgM/YaQtv2ryCFI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/MlnqZvkjzG8qvikwezGtR5BgqpZK0JjcACLcBGAsYHQ/s351/King_West_card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="209" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tqsVbLOWcgM/YaQtv2ryCFI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/MlnqZvkjzG8qvikwezGtR5BgqpZK0JjcACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/King_West_card.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">West is the direction of the setting sun and the entrance to the Underworld for heavenly bodies. It has connotations of Water is the element ruled by the King of the West. It indicates hidden things and things just out of perception, like objects at the bottom of the ocean. This card has connotations of veils, surfaces, and membranes covering unknowable depths. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Above the head of the spirit is a red and white swirl, the surface of a pool of blood, and through the symbolism of flowing blood this card has connotations of ancestors and family bloodlines. The spirit's face is obscured with a translucent veil that drifts away in wisps. The spirit parts a blue shape that suggests flowing water, which is set between the split of two black, angled shapes filled with swirls. These images remind us that veils may be parted, membranes may be pierced, and hidden things may yet be revealed. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lastly is the King of the North.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uhDAp3AbMfI/YaQtwNKrUcI/AAAAAAAAAgU/f6451T6BeZIDvAJqQq7lbQozq94cSAO2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s351/King_North_card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="209" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uhDAp3AbMfI/YaQtwNKrUcI/AAAAAAAAAgU/f6451T6BeZIDvAJqQq7lbQozq94cSAO2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/King_North_card.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The King of the North is associated with the element of earth. It can indicate spirits of a place, the nourishing aspects of a spiritualized earth, and the spiritual consciousness that pervades all things in the view of the animist. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the Northern Hemisphere the stars in the northern part of the sky never set and so the north has connotations of permanence and stability. This is indicated by the truncated pyramidal form of the lower part of the spirit's body. The pyramid is composed of a lattice structure. It has at its center a long black shape that terminates in root-like reticulations. The spirit's torso resembles a man's with a view of the circulatory system. From his outstretched hands torrents of water flow. </div><div><br /></div><div>Foxes have an internal sense of the magnetism of the planet and can innately align themselves with the north and south poles of the Earth. For this reason our spirit has a fox's head. On its brow, a black square, one of the symbols of an earthy Saturn. From behind the spirit's head emanates thin white rays of light that shine from behind concentric webs of darkness. This represents the divine spark in the dross and obscurity of physical matter. </div><div><br /></div><div>****</div><div><br /></div><div>This is where my thinking is on these cards at the moment. As time goes on, and I and others use the deck more, new meanings and nuances will emerge. Being at this point intuitive cards the spirits themselves will have more say than I do. </div><div><br /></div><div>More information on the Four Kings can be found in multiple sources. H.C. Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, in Book 2, Chapter 9, The Scale of Four, mentions these kings but gives a slightly different directional attribution to them than I have given above. If I were to have labeled these cards in the deck with the spirit names it would have been Oriens in the East (the blue one), Amaymon in the South (the yellow one), Paymon in the West (the white one), and Egyn in the North (the green one). I fully acknowledge that others use different attributions and so I stand by my decision to leave these cards unlabeled to give them maximum latitude and versatility. <br /> </div><div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p></div></div>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-35599310762952651232021-08-01T22:44:00.000-07:002021-08-01T22:44:00.059-07:00Mansions of the Moon, Daily Practice<p> There are two ways to approach the magic of the Mansions of the Moon. One is when the magician uses ritual to capture astrological influence to empower a talisman. And the other is in direct spirit contact, calling out to the spirit and receiving responses in return. And while these are two separate avenues of practice there are overlaps and sometimes the distinguishing line between them can be a bit blurred. </p><p>As I conduct research into the details of the Mansions of the Moon I have been supplementing my academic gathering with a simple meditation and mantra using the names of the spirits of the directions of the Moon. Most days I will get myself settled in a quiet spot, sometimes it is sitting in my home office and sometimes it is while I’m alone on a dog walk, and I will use a visualization similar to my work with Perfect Nature, calling a name while envisioning a presence in that place; Hediz above me, Maryuz below me, Meletaz to my right, Timez to my left, Hueyuz in front of me, Menelaz behind me, Dehanuz as a sphere surrounding me, and Harnuz as a point inside me at my heart that connects all the spirits together, like the hub of a wheel. Then I intone the name of the spirit that rules the Mansion in which the Moon is passing at that time. When I have the time and ability I’ll do this for 108 repetitions on a string of mala beads but I do it at least seven times when I can’t do more. </p><p>Invariably when I do this I get impressions and images in response. I find myself accumulating quite a few bits of UPG about the Mansion and its spirit. Sometimes I will try to concentrate on the image for the Mansion as it is given in the Picatrix or Agrippa and sometimes I will simply try to listen to what comes my way. It is proving to be a font of artistic inspiration.</p><p>As one might surmise with a mention of doing this while walking a dog there are no candles and no incense. I am certain I will add those elements as I get more involved in the spirit contact part of my research and I am actively gathering incense ingredients. I find, however, that this is a good stepping stone into a more elaborate Mansions practice. The influence of the Moon is so pervasive that <i>striving</i> to feel it is like pushing a river. The more one tries, the less successful they are. </p><p><br /></p>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-26414702701579280632021-05-23T11:28:00.002-07:002021-05-26T08:41:27.164-07:00Moonlit Hermit Tarot, Kickstarter Now Live!<p> The Moonlit Hermit Tarot, which I have labored on for the past two years, is now ready to go to print. I am getting a Kickstarter campaign underway to fund the initial printing. The pre-launch page is now live and you can check it out here: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moonlithermit/the-moonlit-hermit-tarot">Moonlit Hermit Tarot</a>. </p><p>The campaign launched in earnest on Wednesday, May 26th, 2021, on the Full Moon. </p><p>I designed this deck with an eye to divination and spirit communication, the main uses for tarot in my practice. Each card is a piece of collage art made up of razor cut paper and found images from magazines, books, or out in the wild. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ll6LJPK4EFE/YKqSWd7McsI/AAAAAAAAAcw/_DhJ0nQ4j9wmYhb2jlKerhX5FU_YkNnfQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_0382.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ll6LJPK4EFE/YKqSWd7McsI/AAAAAAAAAcw/_DhJ0nQ4j9wmYhb2jlKerhX5FU_YkNnfQCLcBGAsYHQ/w221-h294/IMG_0382.jpeg" width="221" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwO0EX7IThDO1xCpEB1Tg9T3z5b5Tfx1TB9prbw1zbGWuPC25fyJnCkSYEWsHL2HQxFsQz9z27HzdkANj2xYg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I styled the deck after the classic Tarot de Marseille. The Major Arcana, the Court cards, and most of the Aces are strongly influenced by the classic deck, though some of them might look quite different. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Minors are lightly illustrated based on my interpretation of them. In these cases I was most influenced by Alejandro Jodorowsky's <i>Way of Tarot.</i> Aces are the essence of the suit. Twos represent gestation and coalescence of the suit. Threes are the manifestation of the suit. Fours are the stability of the suit. Fives are the change in the suit. Sixes are pleasures of the suit. Sevens are effort and work of the suit. Eights are balance in the suit. Nines are crisis in the suit. Tens are endings in the suit. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Justice is numbered 8 and Strength is 11. All the figures in the cards face the same direction and their gaze is in the same direction as it appears in the Marseille deck. </div><br /><div>As I worked on each image I kept other examples of the cards close at hand.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-liin-BZG9wI/YKqXCp3t0dI/AAAAAAAAAc4/VHC2x5xwVsETpBlWJ5m9ak_Pz0NqLGGogCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_0388.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-liin-BZG9wI/YKqXCp3t0dI/AAAAAAAAAc4/VHC2x5xwVsETpBlWJ5m9ak_Pz0NqLGGogCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_0388.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R6UMCV12VcU/YKqXsdbfSoI/AAAAAAAAAdA/DSS3y6GWi6QtsHq-TqfzUQQg7NlPiQRwACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/kickstarter_deck_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1974" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R6UMCV12VcU/YKqXsdbfSoI/AAAAAAAAAdA/DSS3y6GWi6QtsHq-TqfzUQQg7NlPiQRwACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/kickstarter_deck_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rCY2JhLUm9w/YKqXvUIuNzI/AAAAAAAAAdE/zOGOSHA-vl4wyd5pX_CMAzPehddmtEczACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/kickstarter_deck_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2031" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rCY2JhLUm9w/YKqXvUIuNzI/AAAAAAAAAdE/zOGOSHA-vl4wyd5pX_CMAzPehddmtEczACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/kickstarter_deck_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-581EQnAAG6c/YKqXvroSFgI/AAAAAAAAAdI/YEQnvZ_H6_orMo0HB1-SW46pQXtgDUJBwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/kickstarter_deck_3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2013" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-581EQnAAG6c/YKqXvroSFgI/AAAAAAAAAdI/YEQnvZ_H6_orMo0HB1-SW46pQXtgDUJBwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/kickstarter_deck_3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ecotNFQva0M/YKqXyDE1AxI/AAAAAAAAAdM/hCnujzIzV4kBohh1mscB_xrmMmYFlCT1gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/kickstarter_deck_4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2038" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ecotNFQva0M/YKqXyDE1AxI/AAAAAAAAAdM/hCnujzIzV4kBohh1mscB_xrmMmYFlCT1gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/kickstarter_deck_4.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PQRIMfmoYiE/YKqX12PPFeI/AAAAAAAAAdU/cF6T-2-mOroiuCw22aMStJoot7UIGUPLACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/kickstarter_deck_5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2017" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PQRIMfmoYiE/YKqX12PPFeI/AAAAAAAAAdU/cF6T-2-mOroiuCw22aMStJoot7UIGUPLACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/kickstarter_deck_5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QAupAFHxcxQ/YKqX19Rs0mI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/NYUKnxczZYIJPSg327KPpdYAhwSrM4uvACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/kickstarter_deck_6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2013" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QAupAFHxcxQ/YKqX19Rs0mI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/NYUKnxczZYIJPSg327KPpdYAhwSrM4uvACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/kickstarter_deck_6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Each deck comes with a tuck box and a 40 page Little White Book. </div><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ETG9m24RP1I/YKqZaohCTJI/AAAAAAAAAds/VutZ4QVAcDA8zYRIU60YYUi23nkh5NfogCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/kickstarter_deck_9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1732" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ETG9m24RP1I/YKqZaohCTJI/AAAAAAAAAds/VutZ4QVAcDA8zYRIU60YYUi23nkh5NfogCLcBGAsYHQ/w241-h285/kickstarter_deck_9.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gEXCGfZNpwE/YKqZYggaJZI/AAAAAAAAAdo/h22Bnh910zoNDFNh5FbvtTBkDvdPaiR_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s479/kickstarter_deck_10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="412" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gEXCGfZNpwE/YKqZYggaJZI/AAAAAAAAAdo/h22Bnh910zoNDFNh5FbvtTBkDvdPaiR_gCLcBGAsYHQ/w243-h283/kickstarter_deck_10.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have the Kickstarter set to begin on Wednesday, May 26th and will run for 28 days. I am looking to raise $5700 to pay for a print run large enough to keep the retail price to $40. I have an Early Bird reward in which the Moonlit Hermit Tarot is going for $30 for the first week. I also have some add-ons. My Picatrix Decans card deck is 10% off if you combine it with the tarot deck. A sticker pack of 10 designs from my archives is also available as an add-on and I am looking for more things to add. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For stretch goals if we can reach $8000 the cards will come edged in matte black. If we can reach $10000 then I will include four bonus cards, the Kings of the Four Directions which are my interpretation of the four Goetic Kings, Oriens, Amaymon, Paymon, and Egyn. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R_HAwhZT60g/YKqdQwx-IAI/AAAAAAAAAd4/syDc5z8TLNUSwIICrGhT4MgzqFjrDY7BACLcBGAsYHQ/s2755/kings.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1141" data-original-width="2755" height="172" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R_HAwhZT60g/YKqdQwx-IAI/AAAAAAAAAd4/syDc5z8TLNUSwIICrGhT4MgzqFjrDY7BACLcBGAsYHQ/w415-h172/kings.jpg" width="415" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Speaking of goetia, I put some goetic Easter eggs here and there in the deck. For instance, the hem of the angel's garment in Temperance is Klepoth's sigil form the Grimorium Verum. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-srYJIzcU1-4/YKqeIH0qjJI/AAAAAAAAAeA/PcvADOo1l0wNokOjWg-Qzhe3wyrvv8DrQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/XIIII_Temerance.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1195" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-srYJIzcU1-4/YKqeIH0qjJI/AAAAAAAAAeA/PcvADOo1l0wNokOjWg-Qzhe3wyrvv8DrQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/XIIII_Temerance.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Support this project. <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moonlithermit/the-moonlit-hermit-tarot">Moonlit Hermit Tarot</a>. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br />moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-16493881613234618092021-04-03T15:31:00.003-07:002021-04-03T15:31:34.557-07:00Moonlit Hermit Stickers<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Some of the reward levels on the Moonlit Hermit Patreon include a monthly sticker subscription when you sign up for $7 a month or higher. Here are the first two sticker designs which will be sent out on the third Friday of the month. Each of these are approximately three inches square. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l0Y1leS0NxA/YGjqo8-ZUvI/AAAAAAAAAb4/HebcITg5fggjyKUWLoW-22oMi5pFIMqDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s900/crown_ouroboros.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l0Y1leS0NxA/YGjqo8-ZUvI/AAAAAAAAAb4/HebcITg5fggjyKUWLoW-22oMi5pFIMqDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/crown_ouroboros.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crowned Ouroboros inspired by the <i>Clavis Inferni </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BigbDym7y0k/YGjqozvmd2I/AAAAAAAAAb8/Fd8CCnklYDgrAo6p73C8TPjBxawYlQvXwCLcBGAsYHQ/s900/joy_angel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BigbDym7y0k/YGjqozvmd2I/AAAAAAAAAb8/Fd8CCnklYDgrAo6p73C8TPjBxawYlQvXwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/joy_angel.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A joyful angel dancing in green flames</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.patreon.com/jswofford">https://www.patreon.com/jswofford</a></div><br /> <p></p>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-85490883553036707542021-04-02T15:21:00.000-07:002021-04-02T15:21:15.634-07:00The Moonlit Hermit on Patreon<p> Hello, Moonlit Hermit readers. It has been some time since I have posted here and even longer since I've posted regularly. This blog has suffered greatly from some of my personal changes. Not that I have given up on magic or making art but I went through a period of lack of confidence about expressing myself about it. In a lot of ways it was an existential journey. </p><p>And like a lot of others, the pandemic has reset my priorities. </p><p>The intertwining of my esoteric studies and my art making have never been more evident. Also evident is how much I need both of them in my life. To help fuel these two metaphoric booster rockets I have started a Patreon in which I will submit more writing and more art. So far there isn't much, mostly because I only started it yesterday.</p><p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/jswofford">https://www.patreon.com/jswofford</a></p><p>Sign up to hear about the publishing of a full tarot deck I've made, read more of my occult ramblings, and to hear about updates on my next project, images of the Mansions of the Moon. You can also get stickers and other swag. </p><p>Your support will help propel my work forward. </p><p>I will still keep this blog going, albeit at about the same rate it has been for the past couple of years. </p>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-64450776102840303112020-11-04T11:55:00.001-08:002020-11-06T16:16:28.952-08:00The Rite of Perfect Nature, part 3<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thoughts on the Rite of Perfect Nature</div> This is a photograph of a mixture of butter, brown sugar, honey, and olive oil. These are the (modified) ingredients that make up the confection that sits in the middle of the table of offerings for the spirits of Perfect Nature in the rite described in Book III, Chapter 6 of the Picatrix, in both the Latin and the Arabic versions. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SKmsgsRbKZ4/X6GYR5-72bI/AAAAAAAAAZs/zuycWizelmMzVreltGhKfIpQ2lKmWEHCACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_0516.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SKmsgsRbKZ4/X6GYR5-72bI/AAAAAAAAAZs/zuycWizelmMzVreltGhKfIpQ2lKmWEHCACLcBGAsYHQ/w300-h400/IMG_0516.HEIC" width="300" /></a></div><p><br /></p>I have <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/1506081113512732838/8724775895982817391">said before</a> in this blog that I believe Perfect Nature to be a central concept to learning the ritual format of the Picatrix. I have also already <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/1506081113512732838/5656907258948214366">described</a> how I developed a repetitive rite that invokes the four names of Perfect Nature. But what I've never done is the actual Rite of Perfect Nature as it is described in the Picatrix. I really have no idea why I waited so long to try it. It is one of the most explicit things expanded upon in the text. It is almost like being a tourist in one's own town. It was so easy to get to I never bothered to. But let us put excuses aside and look critically at the Rite with an eye toward performing the Rite the next time the Moon enters the first degree of Aries in a few weeks. <p></p><p>It is interesting to compare the Rite in the Latin Picatrix (Greer & Warnock translation) and the Arabic Ghayat Al-Hakim (Hashem Atallah translation). The passages are nearly identical but the differences in how the translators interpreted their respective sources helps to firm up some of the ambiguous details of actually performing the Rite. Let's look at it line by line. I'll designate the line from the Picatrix with P and the lines from the Ghayat Al-Hakim with G.</p><blockquote><p><i>G: When the Moon comes down to the level of the Head of Aries at any time in either day or night.</i></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>P: When the Moon is in the first degree of Aries, be it by day or by night, whenever you wish, </i></p></blockquote><p>These lines are just about the same but they can certainly be interpreted differently. The Head of Aries could indicate the entire first Mansion of the Moon, Alnath. The Moon would be in the first Mansion somewhere between 16 and 25 hours or so, depending on the speed of the Moon at that time. That is certainly a much longer time than the Moon would take to enter and pass through the first degree of Aries, roughly two hours. I like the specificity of the two hour window so I think I'll stick with that. I am choosing to interpret "by day or by night" to mean that the Moon's position in the zodiac is the most important consideration when figuring out the timing of the ritual. And things like planetary hours or other astrological weather is much less important.</p><blockquote><p><i>G: Enter a clean house and put a table at the eastern corner of the house on a step higher than the ground.</i></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>P: go into a house that is clean and splendid, in one corner of which you should put a raised table on the floor, toward the eastern side. </i></p></blockquote><p>A clean house, or a clean and splendid house, is one that is prepared. I am interpreting this to indicate that the ritual area should be formally cleaned, blessed, and consecrated. I find the detail of needing to be indoors a curious one. It is for this reason, among others, that suggest to me that this rite is best thought of as internal to the magician performing it. </p><p>The table is a little more ambiguous and could open to interpretation. I suspect anything from a footed tray to a dining room table would be appropriate. It needs, however, to be raised from the ground. We could interpret this to mean it needs to be up off of the ground if you had a dirt floor, in which case most modern buildings would suffice, or it needs to be higher than the regular standing level of the floor, in which case one could put something under the feet of the ritual table similarly to how John Dee described his ritual table, using seals made of wax, paper, wood, or something else separating the table from the floor. </p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then take four cups; each cup has to be able to hold a whole pound. </i></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>P: Take four pitchers (each of which should hold one pint). </i></p></blockquote><p>This is pretty straight forward. I would submit, however, that the volume may be open to adjustment. Just as the incense recipes have some incredible amounts listed (6 ounces of scorpion brains?) so too the amounts of offerings might be similarly adjustable. I suspect I will use vessels smaller than a pint. </p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then fill these cups with four different oils. Fill the first cup with almond oil, the second with butter, the third with walnut oil, and the last with vinegar oil.</i></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>P: Into one of them put cow's butter, into the second nut oil, into the third almond oil, and into the fourth sesame oil. </i></p></blockquote><p>The lists are nearly the same and can be blended to give us almond oil, butter, walnut oil, and sesame oil. This is helpful since nut oil is ambiguous and I have no idea what vinegar oil is. Grape seed oil? </p><p>Does the order matter much? Does there need to be a prep area in addition to the ritual area?</p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then take another four cups the same size of the first ones and fill them with alcohol.</i></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>P: Then take four more pitcher of the same size , and pour wine into them. </i></p></blockquote><p>Again, quite straight forward. And as my oil cups will be smaller than a pint I think it will be good that the wine cups are the same size. I'll keep that consistent. </p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then make a candy made of walnut oil, butter, and lots of sugar, it needs to be sweet and heavy on oil. </i></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>P: Then make a composition of nut oil, butter, honey, and sugar. </i></p></blockquote><p>This is the composition in the photo at the beginning of this post. The consistency of it was creamy like the blended sugar and butter of a cookie recipe, definitely not a candy. Perhaps less butter and more sugar and then compressed like maple candy. I knew this would take experimentation so I'll need to try again. Another detail worth noting is that I chose brown sugar as opposed to refined white sugar. Turbinado or some other unrefined, raw sugar would also work. </p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then take these eight cups and the candy and a glass vessel. First put the glass vessel in the middle of the table and put the candies on top of it, then put the four cups of alcohol around it facing the cardinal points starting with the east, west, north, and south. </i></p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><i>P: Take the eight pitchers and the mixture you have made, and a glass vessel; put this latter in the center of the table, and put the composition you have made into it. Next put the four pitchers of wine at the four quarters of the table, arranging them in the following way: the first pitcher in the east, the second in the west, the third in the south, and the fourth in the north.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>So we take everything from the prep area to the ritual table and start setting it up. The first thing is an empty glass vessel in the middle of the table. Then the candy or butter goo goes into it. Then the cups of wine are set on the table in a specific, cruciform order. The Latin and the Arabic versions differ in the order of directions. I think this is significant if one were to try to equate the names of Perfect Nature with each of the cardinal directions. I've been working from the Latin Picatrix order for several years so I will stick with that. </p><p>As an aside I would like to mention that this cruciform, quincunx model is mentioned several times in the Latin Picatrix. In many cases it sets the magician performing the operation at the figurative center of the universe, approaching the divine. It has a similar function here, I think, and reinforces my belief in its central importance to understanding the magic of the Picatrix. </p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then you start with the oils first the almond oil to the east on the same pattern of the alcohol cup, then the walnut oil next to the west, the butter to the north and last the vinegar oil to the south.</i></p><p><i>P: Then take the other four pitchers; first put the one full of almond oil in the east, then the one full of nut oil in the west; the one full of butter goes in the south, and the one full of sesame oil to the north. </i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>I think it is significant that the position of the butter stays consistent in each of the systems. This reinforces my supposition that direct correspondences can be drawn between the names of Perfect Nature, the directions, and the offerings. </p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then take a candle and light it and put it in the middle of the vessel.</i></p><p><i>P: Then take a burning candle and put it in the midst of the table.</i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>The candle goes to the table already lit. It is put either right in the middle of everything, which is symbolically interesting, or it simply goes on the table near the middle. If it isn't in the middle of the confection bowl then it should probably be toward the east. In my opinion the candle plays dual roles in this rite. On the one hand it represents consciousness, the divine consciousness of God, the consciousness of the magician, and the consciousness of the spirit of Perfect Nature, all at the same time. On the other hand it too is an offering to the spirits of Perfect Nature as a unity. The candle is for all of them and as all of them partake of it they are conjoined in the symbol of the flame. </p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then take two braziers full of coal, then burn in one of them Kandar a good smelling glue and in the other one burn aloe wood.</i></p><p><i>P: Then take two thuribles full of burning charcoal, into one of which you shall put frankincense and mastic, and into the other aloes wood. </i></p></blockquote><p>The use of two braziers raises more questions for me than answers them. Why are they separate? Are they on the table with the rest of the offerings or no? And, if so, where should they be placed in relation to everything else? </p><p>And perhaps I am making too much of the little detail that the charcoal comes to the table already burning, just like the candle, but it tickles at the back of my mind as potentially significant. </p><p>Kandar is a type of high quality frankincense and mastic could be a good smelling glue so the ingredients correspond between the two versions. </p><p>So now everything is on the table. I think it might look a little something like this. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5GKO8KuKSMw/X6L3YowEH1I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/6kglbaQvtf4dXl1Fo9qus2sMj8kuyJEmACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/perfect_nature_diagram2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1463" data-original-width="2048" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5GKO8KuKSMw/X6L3YowEH1I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/6kglbaQvtf4dXl1Fo9qus2sMj8kuyJEmACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h286/perfect_nature_diagram2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then stand and face the east and repeat seven times Tamaghees Baghdiswad Waghidas Nufanaghdees</i></p><p><i>P: When all this is done, stand upright on your feet facing east, and invoke the four afrementioned names seven times. [Meegius, Betzahuech, Vacdez, Nufeneguediz]</i></p></blockquote><p>The instruction to stand in this part is what led me to suggest a low, tray-like table. I also wonder where the magician should be standing. Presumably one stands in the west since the table is just about against an eastern wall. </p><p>I think it is appropriate to envision each of the spirits in their place at the table as their name is being invoked. </p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then say after that: "I call you, you High and Powerful Spirit of Spirits, the Wisest of all Wise, Intelligent of all Intelligence, Knowledgable with the World's Knowledge, answer me and come to me and get me close to your knowledge, make me as wise and powerful as you are, let me understand what I do not understand, let me see what I cannot see and protect me from ignorance, forgetfulness, and cruelty and make me like the Forefathers of Wisdom the ones that had intelligence, wisdom, attentive awareness and understanding in their hearts, let all that live in my heart and never depart from it."</i></p><p><i>P: When you have invoked them seven times, speak as follows: "I call to you, O strong, potent, and exalted spirit, because from you proceed the knowledge of the wise and the understanding of the intellect, and by your virtue the desires of the wise are accomplished, that you may respond to me, and be present with me, and unite with me your powers and the virtues that accompany you, and strengthen me with your knowledge so that I may understand that which I do not understand, and know that of which I am ignorant, and see that which I do not see; and remove from me all blindness, turpitude, forgetfulness, and infirmity; and lift me up to the degree of the ancient sages (those, indeed, whose hearts were filled with knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and cognition), and affix the aforesaid things in my heart, so that my heart might be like the hearts of the ancient sages."</i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>And here is the petition the magician makes to the Spirit of Perfect Nature. </p><p>There are two very important themes that I think bear mentioning about this petition. First, in both versions the spirit is addressed in the singular. It is tempting for me to think of Perfect Nature in terms of four individual intelligences but this is a reminder that the goal is to contact a singular spirit that is individual to the magician themselves. </p><p>The second big thing I think is important is that the magician implores Perfect Nature to align them with the lineage of ancient magicians that came before. This is a request to learn directly from the spirits with Perfect Nature as the conduit or medium. In fact, both versions of the Picatrix mentions who is "the first to work with spirits" and would presumably be one of the ancient sages to contact and learn from. In the Latin Picatrix the name is given as Caraphzebiz, in the Arabic Kirfisayis; phonetically very similar. </p><p>The petition could certainly be modified as the magician deems fit. </p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>G: Then the spirit said if you do that then you will see me.</i></p><p><i>P: And when you have done the foregoing working in the aforesaid way, you will see me.</i></p></blockquote><p>This is the end of the detailed ritual procedure in both books. They each go on to suggest that the planet that rules a persons nativity will affect the manifestation of the teachings of Perfect Nature. I hesitate to put any kind of interpretation on this until I experience it myself. </p><p>Both books then go into talking about seeing with a spiritual eye, contemplations, and looking within which I interpret to mean that a period of meditation and visualization is the next step. After that one would give thanks to God and to the Spirit of Perfect Nature and the Rite would be ended. The candle would be snuffed and the offerings left for some time, maybe a couple of days, and then ritually disposed of. </p><p>The big outstanding question I have is if any of the offering should be consumed by the magician performing the Rite. I could see reasons for both yes and no. Perhaps this will be one of my first questions to the spirit. </p><p><br /></p>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-57570101842854483712020-11-02T10:55:00.000-08:002020-11-02T10:55:04.919-08:00Lunar Mansion Notes: Achaya<p>The Mansion of Achaya runs from 4° 17' of Gemini until 17° 8' of Gemini. For me locally on the west coast of the United States the Moon will be in this Mansion from 11:35AM today, November 2nd, 2020, until tomorrow, November 3rd, at 1:52PM. That's more than 26 hours in this Mansion which is rather slow. The Moon enters this Mansion with her light waning and in a trine aspect with Venus in Libra. These factors together would suggest workings of gentle separation which might take a while to accomplish but will be long lasting. Or perhaps destroying something or someone with too much of something they love or that gives them pleasure. The influence of Venus in one of her signs lends positivity to a slow and darkening Moon. </p><p>The indicator star for this Mansion is Alhena which is in the feet of the Gemini twins. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RLO5RQt6_Ys/X6BO1gTvFGI/AAAAAAAAAZc/Uun2BSJ0pvMpfQlDm1OMlnTn5yTBVr6RgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1225/alhena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="937" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RLO5RQt6_Ys/X6BO1gTvFGI/AAAAAAAAAZc/Uun2BSJ0pvMpfQlDm1OMlnTn5yTBVr6RgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/alhena.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">image from Sky Guide</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Alhena was called The Mark or The Brand and represented an owner's mark on a camel or a horse. In this way there are connotations of possession and claims of ownership associated with this Mansion, but with bonds of love. It would not be inappropriate to extend the symbol of ownership from a brand to a wedding ring. Lovers exclaiming, "I am yours, you are mine," is the flavor of this Mansion. Alhena itself is a bright, white star giving it connotations of pride and strength though modern astronomers say that Alhena is in the first stages of dying.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Spirit of Achaya is Nederayhe. In Nederayhe's beneficial aspect it is said to put love between two people and improve hunting in the country. Given the connotations of The Mark it would seem this love is more an emotional bond than lustful attraction. It is the bond of The Twins in the depths of the soul.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Nederayhe's wrathful aspect they are said to destroy cities and besiege them with armies, to allow the enemies of kings to exact revenge, to destroy crops and trees, and to make medicines ineffective. I would argue that a possible connecting thread between all these is violations of trust leading to a slow destruction by figurative starvation or suffocation. The Twins betray each other in the destructive magic of this Mansion. <br /><p><br /></p></div>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-38871376958132532622020-10-17T17:14:00.001-07:002020-10-17T17:14:14.789-07:00Lunar Mansion Notes, Alcalb<p> Today, October 17th, 2020, the Moon is in the Mansion Alcalb. Alcalb sits fully within the sign of Scorpio, from 8° 36' to 21° 25'. The image of this Mansion is a serpent with its tail above its head. The serpent, along with the eagle and the scorpion, is one of the traditional symbols of the sign of Scorpio. Its gesture, with its tail above its head, is similar to that of a scorpion and suggests an innately defensive posture. </p><p>The spirit of Alcalb is Egrebel. In its beneficial aspect Egrebel can be called to take away fevers and infirmities of the belly, to guard a house from serpents and hurtful beasts, to build buildings that are strong, and to free captives from incarceration. Or as Christopher Warnock states in his book, <i>The Mansions of the Moon</i>, to 'seize' poisons and render them ineffective. Certainly poisons are the province of both scorpions and serpents. </p><p>In its wrathful form Egrebel can be called upon to conspire against kings, to get vengeance upon enemies, and to separate friends. Again these have poisonous connotations but are used in offense. </p><p>The indicator star for this Mansion is Antares in the constellation Scorpio.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tfs-Yx4ZfII/X4t3cdtuYQI/AAAAAAAAAZE/TrjiqSGQ5D0IeMVnnIBUdCQBdXpkVIt-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1587/IMG_0138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image from SkyGuide" border="0" data-original-height="1345" data-original-width="1587" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tfs-Yx4ZfII/X4t3cdtuYQI/AAAAAAAAAZE/TrjiqSGQ5D0IeMVnnIBUdCQBdXpkVIt-gCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h271/IMG_0138.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> It is known as the Heart of the Scorpion. Its ruddy color puts it on par with the planet Mars in terms of effect. The name Antares could be interpreted as Ant-Ares, an alternative Ares as god of war (Mars). This is apparently how Ptolemy saw it. Mars is the traditional ruler of Scorpio.<p></p><p>According to R.H. Allen, in his <i>Star Names and Their Meanings</i>, Al Kalb was considered a fortunate Mansion. Offering defense against hidden dangers and the effects of poisons.</p><p>Together these elements suggest to me that the this Mansion is best suited to addressing or using poison in the sense of pervasive or systemic destruction, either in defense in the beneficial aspect or in offense in its wrathful aspect. The planet Mars would have an amplified effect, for good and for ill, aspecting the Moon when she is in this Mansion. </p><p>The symbol of water is strongly enforced in the connotations of this Mansion. Scorpio is a water sign and the undulating serpent has a fluid affect. Infirmities of the belly, presumably from something ingested, and the way poison spreads through the blood also reinforce the watery image of this Mansion. </p><p>Potential variations in the talismanic image of this Mansion clearly lie in the gesture and condition of the serpent. Is it attacking or is it defending? Is it hidden or is it plain? These decisions in composing the image will be central to its effect in accordance with the intent of the talisman. </p>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-69607144408345453982020-10-16T12:37:00.000-07:002020-10-16T12:37:15.633-07:00I Am An Imperfect Mage<p>This post is an ice breaker. It seems I have so many of these, mea culpas about neglecting some part of my practice and this blog, as I break through the intimidation of the blank page and the gulf of time from the last post. This post is really a way for me to absolve myself of the sin of sloth. I offer you this absolution too, if you need it. Let us not be stopped by lapses in ritual purity. Let us rise above the guilt of missed offerings and held back teachings. Let us gnash the gristle of the spirit world in our teeth and remember that it is not regular, it is not pretty, and my mouthful is different from your mouthful.</p><p>In spiritual pursuits there is no such thing as a waste of time. </p><p>Spirits are stirring, fires are burning. </p>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-22088263022173431032020-07-22T16:19:00.000-07:002020-07-22T16:19:28.961-07:00Thoughts on Image MagicImage magic, it turns out, is a subject much more vast than I had initially thought. Naively I thought I had a firm grip on what it was and what it entailed. Once I started to drill down and think about it in detail I realized that I had more questions than answers. One of the reasons for the subject to unfurl in greater and greater complexity is simply the vagueness of the word "image" itself. I remember in my younger days when I first heard that the act of writing was once considered a magical act. It surprised me that something so ubiquitous and common was imbued with the power to change reality and was once considered extremely dangerous and therefore inappropriate for the general public. Similarly it is hard to imagine that images have magical properties when I am surrounded by images in the culture in which I am immersed.<br />
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It is precisely this ubiquity that presents some difficulty in my understanding ideas about image magic. I have little doubt that there will be things that are too obvious for me to see. The gulf in contexts between myself now and some of the formative cultures integral to the development of image magic will also be challenging for my understanding. Neither of these challenges is insurmountable and the more I talk out these ideas, the more the proverbial puzzle pieces will fit together. I will make mistakes and I will hold on to mistaken assumptions so feel free to point these out to me as you see them. <br />
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I have lots of ideas swirling around in my head about image magic. I am going to draft some of them out on this blog in no particular order. Let's work out some of these ideas together. What is image magic? What are the ways it was traditionally practiced and how is that the same or different from contemporary practice? What does image magic teach us about spirit communication and magic in general? What can we learn by examining the concept closely? How does it work? What are its limits? Who were the ones before us and what do we know of their methods?<br />
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To start with a purely arbitrary point chosen mostly at random, let's consider something the Picatrix tells us about image magic. It says that image magic is inextricably linked to the constellations and the 8th Sphere of Heaven (Book I, chapter 4). Does this mean that image magic outside the context of astrology doesn't exist? I don't think it does. Of course this runs counter to the idea that everything has its astrological correspondences and analogues but I think that I should try to not conflate the two ideas. The discipline of astrology is not the only possible source of images appropriate to image magic. Having said that, however, it is hard for me to truly conceive of a range of 10,080 (and probably more) separate images and how they may contain the full continuum of human experience. Perhaps what I should do is to make a postulate that astrology is a rich source of images but is not the only one. I am leaning toward the idea that one's imagination is the only real limit to what form an image takes. <div><br /></div><div>There are other sources of imagery in addition to astrology. The Greek Magical Papyri, the I Ching, tarot, mythology, and even popular, contemporary culture all have elements that can easily lend themselves to image magic. How then does one choose or invent an image to use in magic? This is going to be a subjective choice and dependent on the practitioner and their goals. The Latin Picatrix gives us a clue about making images in Book III, Chapter 5 where it says, "For example, if you wish to make an image for battles or to conquer and terrify enemies [make the image] of a lion or a snake." This is presumably based on the correspondences familiar to the author of the Picatrix, essentially a lion or snake is a symbol of physical danger. The thousand details of what this snake or lion might look like will be based on the intent of the magic, what spirits (like the planets, for instance) might be involved, and the media used (a painting, a sculpture, a performance, and so on). All of these decisions need to made in such a way as to support the intent of the image. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ultimately the depiction of an image in image magic is meant to create an emotional response. Our hypothetical lion-in-battle image will be quite different if it is meant to impart bravery, deadliness, leadership, or intimidation in the enemy. If it is done well a quick glance at the image will remind me of the intent, my bravery or how intimidating I am. This emotional response is a major part of the efficacy of an image. The Picatrix tells us this as well when it suggests that one of the essential elements of making magical images is a strong belief in its power. The more we can bolster this belief with emotion the stronger the magical effect will be. </div><div><br /></div><div>So let us end this little post by stating three postulates we have formed about image magic.</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Emotional attribution is a strong part of the efficacy of image magic.</div><div>2. Images that can potentially be used in image magic are infinite and are shaped depending on the intent of the magician.</div><div>3. The Picatrix and other books of magic are rich sources of images but are not the limit of possible images. </div><div><br /></div><div>We will test these assumptions and postulates as I continue to form my ideas about image magic, adding to and subtracting from the list as we go. The postulates will be used to form hypotheses which will in turn be tested with experimentation. </div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-62363335468705213502019-11-03T13:25:00.000-08:002019-11-05T11:42:53.027-08:00The Difference Between a Sigil and an Image<br />
It may seem like a strange question, as they are clearly different things, but what is the difference between a sigil and an image? As a contemporary magician who is deeply invested in the Picatrix and how it fits within the greater philosophies of modern occultism, this distinction is an important one. I have a few thoughts on the matter and a few unresolved questions as well.<br />
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First off, let's define each of these concepts.<br />
A sigil is generally considered to be a symbol, a graphic representation of an idea or an identity. Probably the most well know sigils are the symbols of the astrological sign. But sigils are everywhere in contemporary culture. The grimoires are full of sigils representing all manner of spirits, of the planets, of angels, and of demons. Many logos of corporations would also qualify as a sigil. Indeed almost all letters and written words in various alphabets, singly or in artistic combinations, can be sigils. They can be simple, like the symbols of the astrological signs, or incredibly complex, like mandalas composed of Arabic calligraphy. To me, the defining characteristic of a sigil is its design being rooted in the magic of writing. The sigil making process of A.O. Spare is a perfect crystallization of this idea. A common phrase of intent is reduced to a single symbol that still retains some of the features of the shapes of the Roman alphabet. A sigil is almost no different from an ideogram. It is only the application of magical intent that separates them.<br />
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An image, on the other hand, is much more abstract. An image is a scene, like a picture, or an object, like a sculpture. Any inclusion of symbols, letters, or words are secondary to the greater depiction of the image. Religious icons and tarot cards are probably the most well known types of image magic. But images too can have a range of complexity; from stick figure like representations on the cave walls at Lascaux to a series of comic books by Grant Morrison. Artists use image magic all the time with the visual arts, theater, and cinema to make changes in themselves and in society. Advertising, whether in print, on TV, or over the internet, is all image magic. It works by tapping into the emotional, unconscious parts of the mind. Whenever one sees a picture of some kind it sparks a cascade of allusions and connections in the viewer. Meaning is built through the inherent cultural connotations of the objects, gestures, and characters depicted.<br />
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So why does it matter? Why should we care about the distinction between sigils and images? First, and most importantly for me, an understanding of image magic is a necessary part of learning the magic of the Picatrix. There are a few examples of sigils in my copy of the Latin Picatrix, symbols to drawn for the execution of some spell or other. But there are many more examples of images. The Decans, the Planets, the Mansions of the Moon all have descriptions of images that depict them. These images are important as a way to understand the character and the nature of the astrology and spiritual connotations of these concepts. But more than that, images can be used to make contact with the entity depicted. An image is a representation of that spirit. To be in the presence of the image is to be in the presence of the spirit.<br />
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Making images, inventing them, is one of the important facets of image magic that the Picatrix teaches. I have found this practice to be fundamental to my understanding of various concepts of not only the Picatrix but other grimoires as well. I have posted many of my efforts on this blog. Art making is a powerful way to learn about a subject. Concentrating, digging deeply into concepts, and carefully considering details are all highly instructive ways to learn about spiritual concepts.<br />
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I would suggest that widespread art making on occult subjects and entities is the next big phase of the proliferation of occult information and ideas. The texts and the information is all out there now. It is widely discussed and practiced. But what does one do with the accumulation of all the subjective, personal experiences? Passing on that knowledge through abstract means like art and literature turns it into a road sign for others on the path to spiritual enlightenment through the Mysteries. It renders inarticulate ideas in a way that can be absorbed, if not understood.<br />
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Having said all that I do have a few questions for contemplation.<br />
Are sigils and images two ends of a continuum or are they two entirely separate things?<br />
Where do hieroglyphics fit into these ideas? Mayan hieroglyphs in particular are intriguing to me when trying to parse the difference between images and sigils.<br />
Is there a form of either sigils or images that could be confused with the other? In other words, when does the distinction become murky or they overlap in some way?moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-108308281281836852019-11-02T09:16:00.001-07:002019-11-02T09:16:22.477-07:00Creation Is Your BirthrightCreation is your birthright.<br />
You, yes you.<br />
Human.<br />
Magician.<br />
The act of creating and the products of that creation belong to you. It is your power.<br />
It is the gift from God that you be one step removed from divine power.<br />
Your consciousness is able to conceive and produce all manner of things that have myriad impacts across the whole universe.<br />
You can create.<br />
And, in creating, you make your mark and stake your claim thereby bringing the entire universe into your influence.<br />
Writing, making images, making offerings, these have immense impacts not always readily apparent. The ripples of their influence suffuse not only the culture in which you find yourself, but all of creation.<br />
I call you to action.<br />
Build.<br />
Create.<br />
Make.<br />
Keep making and building despite judgments by yourself or others. The very act of making is God working through you.<br />
It is your birthright.moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-21521147030290074512019-06-27T22:38:00.001-07:002019-06-27T22:38:03.436-07:00Picatrix Decan Card Deck Back in StockTo those of you who have been waiting I am please to let you know that the Picatrix Decan cards are back in stock on my Etsy page and ready for purchase. Check it out here: <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/601015785/picatrix-decans-card-deck">https://www.etsy.com/listing/601015785/picatrix-decans-card-deck</a>. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-12322675840949945672019-06-25T11:31:00.005-07:002019-06-25T11:31:50.215-07:00Egipcios Kier Tarot- The Magician<h2 style="text-align: center;">
The Egipcios Kier Tarot</h2>
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I am fascinated by the Egipcios Kier tarot and I think it is an interesting model of what a tarot or oracle deck can be. I have, however, had a hard time finding a thoughtful analysis of the symbolism found on each card. There is the Little White Book that came with the deck, written by Stuart R. Kaplan, but there is much that I find lacking about some of its suppositions and glosses. Plus, how in depth can one get in such limited space? </div>
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There is also the work of Nelise Carbonare Vieira on her website http://tarotdoor.com but that site is in Portugese, which I can’t read. Google translate is great but I am sure there is plenty that I am missing in the proverbial and literal translation. She also seems to have her own system of understanding the deck that I’m not sure I fully understand or agree with. </div>
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I would like to begin to do my own analysis and research on this important tool. This project will give me a good reason to do some of the more detailed research in Egyptian mythology and the use of symbolism found on each card. I have been using this deck for a few years and have come to have insights and intuitive leaps regarding the meanings of the individual cards. You may like that and you may not. But in the absence of voices on the subject, I would like to try to add my own to the body of knowledge. Essentially I am self-taught in the use of this deck and I would like to use this forum to explore it more deeply.</div>
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Let’s explore together. As always your thoughts are welcome. </div>
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The Egicios Kier Tarot</div>
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<b>1. The Magician</b></div>
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<b>Meanings</b>: Mastery, divine consciousness, divine intervention, magical ability, learning and knowledge, vivifying energy, health, beginnings, confidence and self-awareness. </div>
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The Magician is the first card of the Egipcios Kier tarot and therefore has an especially important part to play. The fact that the deck is numbered 1 through 78 without separation of suits or court cards suggests to me that the sequence is important and that there is at least the connotation of a continuum or cycle. That there is the semblance of cycles in a tarot deck based in ancient Egyptian mythology should not be surprising. </div>
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At the top of the card we have the sigil of the Solar spirit Och from the Arbatel. This is the first of the solar symbols on this card. The Arbatel says of Och that he...</div>
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times"; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 1cm; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">governeth solar things; he giveth 600 yeares,
with perfect health; he bestoweth great wisdom, giveth the most
excellent Spirits, teacheth perfect Medicines: he converteth all
things into most pure gold and precious stones: he giveth gold,
and a purse springing with gold. He that is dignified with his
Character, he maketh him to be worshipped as a Deity, by the Kings
of the whole world."</span></blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times"; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 1cm; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></i></div>
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The bottom, terminal end of the Och sigil has astrological symbol of the Sun incorporated into it. I am not familiar with this little detail and this example is the first I've come across it. The Sun symbol at the bottom of the Och sigil falls between two eyes, right about where the Third Eye would be located. These two eyes are the Eye of Ra and the Eye of Horus, dieties in their own right and parts of the god Ra. On one level the eyes represent the Sun and the Moon, respectively. They are the consciousness of Ra. It is through our own consciousness that we can become aligned with the gods and thereby they become a symbol of the magician assuming the mantle of godhood through consciousness. </div>
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To the left of the eyes is the Egyptian hieroglyph of a kite which E.A.W. Budge lists first in his hieroglyphic dictionary as the sound of the letter A. It is for this reason that it is used on this card. </div>
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To the right of the eyes we have the letter A given in what is called the Alphabet of the Magi. The Alphabet of the Magi dates back to the 16th Century in Italy and was used in the construction of talismans. It was purported to have been transmitted by angelic spirits. Here again it is for the attributes of the letter A as the beginning of the alphabet that it is included. </div>
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In the middle register we have the image of the Magician. He is in an active posture, with one foot in front of the other. On his head is a circlet crown with a cobra ureas serpent on his brow. His hair is a plaited wig. His wealth is signified by his jewelry; lapis bands on his arms and wrists, a large, lapis pectoral ornament around his neck. In his raised left hand he holds a mirror with a wand handle. The tilt of his eyes suggest he's looking into the mirror. His right hand is low, at his side, and he points down toward the ground. He is wearing a stiff skirt that appears to be bound with a lapis belt. In front of him is a cube shaped altar. On the side of the altar is the figure of a ibis bird, the bird sacred to Thoth, the Magician of the Gods. The edge of the altar is delineated by two bands that meet at a right angle. The top of the altar has three objects on it, a sword, a jar, and a coin. With the wand in the Magician's hand these represent the tools of the Magician and the four elements. Bellow the Magician, obscured in hashmarks of darkness, is an isometric drawing of a cube. This is a foundation stone of the universe. </div>
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At the bottom of the card is the title band. On the left most side is the astrological glyph of the Sun. Next to it the astrological glyph of the sign Leo, sign of the Sun's rulership. Next to that is the name of the card, The Magician. To the left of that is the Hebrew letter Aleph and further to the right the number of the card in sequence, 1. </div>
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One of the predominant meanings of this card is consciousness and awareness. Being the first card in the deck it also has connotations of waking up or first becoming conscious. This consciousness has qualities of being self-aware. The Magician, as he gazes into his mirror wand, points to the ground as if to say, "I am the real one over on this side of the mirror," (but of course the image is doing the same thing). With self-awareness comes mastery. With consciousness comes the ability to identify with other consciousnesses, including the all powerful gods. This is indicated by the Eye of Ra and the Eye of Horus at the top of the card. </div>
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Solar iconography is often about self and identification. This is why the Sun sign is often what people refer to as "their" sign. The Sun is symbolic of the self. Carl Jung wrote that the astrological symbol of the Sun, a circle with a dot in the middle, is a graphic representation of the self. Here the identification of the Magician to the Sun is more explicit. Egyptian mythology is a solar theology. The goal of the aspirant was to be able to die, traverse the Underworld, and be reborn just as the Sun does each day. </div>
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In traditional European astrology the Sun is the king of the planets and controls their disposition through their waxing and waning phases. The Sun keeps time and dictates the seasons. The Sun has dominion over the entire universe.</div>
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The Egipcios Kier tarot represents a journey through the Underworld and begins with the Magician, as master of himself and his world, taking up his wand and gathering his tools to walk the path. He is full of energy and backed by the will of the gods. </div>
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moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-19232096021602555742019-06-16T17:14:00.000-07:002019-06-16T17:14:26.688-07:00Ebb and Flow, part 2Oh, this poor neglected little blog. It has been nearly a year since I've posted to it. Too long. But if you were to look back and read all the posts you'd see this is a common occurrence. Gaps abound in my journals. In fact this is really the reason I started this blog in the first place. I know myself well enough to know that I respond well to pressure from an expectant audience. I knew that if I had a deadline, no matter how artificial it was, I would step up.<br />
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At any rate, I had someone asking me a few days ago about this blog. I lamented that I had been so neglectful. "Ach!," I wrote, "what a slacker." I asked them what I should write about. They suggested I write about balancing the elements of life, mundane and magical, and about periods of being a slacker. I've written about this idea before but perhaps it is time for a reexamination, if for nothing else than to break the ice and get back into the swing of not only writing on the blog but also my greater practice.<br />
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One of the great lessons of the material existence is all things move in cycles; birth, growth, death, decay, birth. When one is in the death and decay stages of whatever cycle they're in it is hard to do much. Depression and despair are at once the exact situations for which magic would be a help and the very conditions in which it is almost impossible to do any kind of magic. Or at least it was for me. In a very real way I met my shadow over the course of the past couple of years and it wrestled me to the ground. The obstacles in my path were entirely of my own making and really were only obstacles because of my dogged determination that everything must turn out in exactly one way. Who knows how many opportunities I missed just because I was blindly following a plan that turned out to be futile. My strategy was flawed from the beginning and I wound up working harder and harder for no gain to the detriment of almost everything else in my life. I dropped my magic practice, avoided people, wouldn't allow myself anything pleasurable, and the work I loved was becoming something I was coming to resent. So I quit that job and got a regular one. That's where I've been for the pat several months.<br />
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So, why do I tell you all this? Partly just to vent but I also think there is a lesson to learn from this.<br />
Did I fail magic?<br />
An argument can be made either way. Did I fail magic? Yes. I should have been more prepared with divination to identify and find solutions to the pitfalls that were about to be in my way. I could have marshalled spiritual forces to my advantage.<br />
Did I fail at magic? No. Even the most powerful of mages cannot escape the challenges of a mundane life. Perhaps my experience could have been much worse and was ameliorated by the spiritual authority I have built up over the years.<br />
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I find limited value in this second guessing and questioning my decisions long after the fact. What I can say for sure, however, is that panic and desperation kill my ability to do magic of almost any kind. My divinations become skewed, my offerings turn into childish begging for favors, and my shadow rises up to tell me that I am unworthy for happiness or success.<br />
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I am definitely coming through the other side of this experience. The stability that comes from not stressing constantly about how to pay my bills helps immensely. Some projects that I've had on the proverbial back burner are catching my interest once again. It reminds me that my practice has always ebbed and flowed. I look forward to doing more,experiencing more, and sharing more.<br />
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<br />moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-73288237974983665462018-07-29T16:32:00.002-07:002018-07-29T16:32:37.839-07:00Goetic Magic and the OathWhat is the state of oaths in our modern times? For the goetic magician oath taking is of central importance to the whole philosophy. Whatever one calls it, pact or something else, the oath is one of the things that makes goetic magic what it is. I am of the opinion that if one does not make a pact or take an oath then they are not doing goetic magic and further that the pact concept imposes a goetic context on one's procedures regardless of what spirit or spirits the magician is employing.<br />
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But the word pact is too limiting, I think. Oath is so much more broadly defined and carries a gravity that I think is important. It also more accurately describes what I have come to understand as the underpinnings of the relationship between magician and spirit. I admit that my first pact with a spirit, in writing, was really quite weak and mamby-pamby. One of the weakest parts of it was to make its duration for only one year, a decision I made entirely based in fear of what I might have to give up and fear of the consequences if I wasn't able to keep my end of the agreement. During that year I kept up my end of the bargain, making regular offerings of various kinds in exchange for spiritual and material benefits. These benefits did materialize but in a quite underwhelming way. In fact that year was some of the least powerful or impactful time of our working together. We had much stronger interactions both before and after the term. The reason, I think, is my flawed understanding of the pact coupled with some idiosyncrasies in my personal practice.<br />
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Among those idiosyncrasies are the fact that I carried the First Character for that spirit around for two years before making the formal pact and that my practice has a meditative mysticism about it as opposed to formal ceremonial evocation. I am much more apt to make offerings and sit in concentrated contemplation than to draw out a circle and recite psalms. Because of this I endeavored nearly every day at the beginning to make that spirit's presence part of my life and, being completely honest, that devotion slacked off once I made the pact. The pact itself, the ritual of making it and the process of fulfilling it over the course of a year became a culmination and a sort of graduation from the process of carrying the First Character. In short it was an ending. This is a huge and fundamental mistake.<br />
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What I didn't realize then and am coming to understand now is that, with the creation of the First Character in my blood I was taking an oath. It was an oath to walk the walk and do the work. It was an oath to perpetuate the spirits of the grimoires and to align with them, and foremost the one on my First Character. The ritual isn't portrayed that way in the books and I didn't explicitly think of it that way at the time, at least not consciously. But that is truly what it was. The written pact, made later with specific "I give you this and you'll give me that" details is secondary. Or maybe it is better said that the written pact should be a document of the oath, a confirmation of the oath, and not a separate element of the practice. My weak pact had little to do with my actual practice or the energy I put into it. That is why my interactions with the spirit were and are so much stronger now that the term is expired. That was the big flaw in my thinking.<br />
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I continue to do many of the offerings I did during the pact term even though it is done and they are more effective now because I am doing them out of devotion and love and not out of fear of consequences, like a child. Skipping a few days of making offerings, either by accident or even on purpose, is not enough to break such an oath where the pact would have easily been broken because of the details I put in it. Because the spirits are on my mind, in my heart, and on my tongue the oath holds and the spiritual benefits flow. Maybe that is what it means to 'sell one's soul'; to give one's energy and attention in a positive way when others fear that to do so is a violation of Abrahamic law. To break such an oath as the one I made with the First Character would require a counter-oath. Not just a conscious decision but an actual magical act. Loss of power, loss of cognitive abilities and loss of material possessions would all be appropriate consequence for such an act and the very reason why the oath should not be lightly undertaken. But the little minutia of when one might light a candle or burn some incense is not where the power lies. moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-6877355958525291132018-04-08T13:03:00.000-07:002018-04-08T13:52:18.529-07:00Using the Picatrix Decan Cards<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I completed the images for the Picatrix Decans in late November of 2017. As I was making the images I knew that one of the things I wanted to do with the collection was to publish them as a deck of cards. There are a few reasons I wanted to do this. First I wanted an affordable way for folks to be able to collect my artwork. But more importantly for the readers of this blog I wanted to produce a way for folks to use the images in magical work. The deck of the <i>Picatrix Decan</i> cards is ultimately a practical tool for the practicing magician. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">But what does this mean? How can any cards be used as a tool and in particular what are the uses of the <i>Picatrix Decan</i> cards? Let’s explore some of my ideas that may answer this question. Be aware, dear reader, that these are just my ideas and that you may come up with something completely different that suits you better. As the author of these images I feel no need to be strict about their use. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The initial use I had in mind as I made these images was that they would be used as talismans and magic charms. A description on the box of cards names it as “a collection of 36 talismans”. Incidentally this is the use for which they are presented in <i>The Picatrix</i>. In order to employ a card for this use one would choose a decan that represents an effect they desire. If one wanted wealth, for instance, one may choose to use the Second Face of Aries as their talisman. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Then the magician would choose a time to “wake up” and charge the talisman with the energy of that particular decan based on the astrological conditions. Then they would perform a ceremony to imbue the image on the card with the power of the decan. This can be as simple as telling it to “wake up”, or as elaborate as one wishes with candles and incense and anointing with prepared oil or water. The card itself then becomes a magically charged item that works to bring wealth to itself. If one were to carry the charged card wealth would come to them, if the card were kept at a business wealth would come to the business, and so on. In <i>The Picatrix</i> these talismanic purposes are listed in Book 2, Chapter 11. For those of you who do not own a copy of Greer & Warnock’s <i>The Picatrix</i>, which is the reference I used to make the images, a small pamphlet is included with the deck that paraphrases the descriptions from the book. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Once one is finished with the effects of the talisman another ceremony is enacted to discharge or put the image to sleep, so to speak. This is especially important for talismans that are used for destruction or bad luck. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">There are traditional ceremonies described in The Picatrix that go into detail about how this is done. We will revisit these in another blog post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">One of the underlying beliefs of the ancient authors of <i>The Picatrix</i> is that the planets and stars of astrology are populated with the intelligences and disembodied spirits that comprise the mythology and are more or less available to communication and interaction. In many ways the concepts of spirit communication and talisman empowerment have some overlapping themes and procedures but they can be kept quite separate. It is a somewhat advanced skill and might be available to a person in varying degrees. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">It is a notable fact that The Picatrix does not give names to the spirits of the decans. Other traditions do all the way back to the ancient Babylonians. The British Egyptologist E.A.W. Budge gives the names of the decan spirits in his book <i>Gods of the Egyptians</i>, and the 19th century magical lodge The Golden Dawn has its own list. I chose to follow <i>The Picatrix</i> as my guide and have not presented names for the decans. This should not, however, lessen the spiritual dimension to this work. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">There are many methods one might use to try to communicate with the spirits of the decans that have been passed down from antiquity. The curious reader will have no trouble finding a method that suits them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Divination</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">As a deck of cards the comparison to tarot will be a natural one. Indeed these cards can easily be used as an oracle deck, either in conjunction with or entirely separate from a traditional tarot deck. The diligent student of tarot will be aware that the two most popular decks on the market, the Rider Waite Smith deck and the Crowley Harris Thoth deck, associate the decans to 36 cards of the minor arcana (minus the Aces and the court cards). I did not use these tarot decks as reference in the designs of the images on my <i>Picatrix Decan</i> cards and more often than not the imagery and connotations are disparate. Again, this is due to using <i>The Picatrix</i> itself as the primary source. But this shouldn’t stop one from mixing and matching as one may. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">On its own the Picatrix Decan cards can be used as a divination tool using the talismanic purpose of the image as the interpretation. For instance, the Second Face of Sagittarius is paraphrased in the included pamphlet as “a man leading cows with a bear and ape in front of him. As a talisman- fear, impediments, blockages”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">As an omen or divinatory result one may interpret it as facing one’s fears or that fear blocks their progress.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">For all of the images I used my intuition in the composition of the pieces. It is my hope that some of these intuitive leaps on my part will add potential divinatory meaning to the cards and spark the intuition of those who read them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Reference and Contemplation</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">One of the benefits to me of doing this project was the deep contemplation and exploration of the images of the decans. It is my sincere hope that these may be used as a reference of sorts and that a student of <i>The Picatrix</i> may read it with my cards by their side. To my knowledge there are no other sets of images of the decans based primarily on <i>The Picatrix</i>, as opposed to Agrippa, Ibn Ezra, or other source. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><i>The Picatrix</i> tells us many times in its pages that the passages of the book are written in codes, riddles, and obfuscations. It also tells us the way to discern the hidden messages is through meditation and deep thought. Indeed, I discovered a few philosophical gems in making the project. The most important to me was that I was able to match several of the images to characters from Greek, Hindu, and Arabic mythology. No doubt more secrets may be uncovered through further contemplation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Art Collection</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">On a personal level I am very proud of this work and its place in my art career. As collectors gather my work the <i>Picatrix Decan</i> cards stand as a novel way to acquire all 36 images at an affordable price. The large, fine art prints are sold in limited editions and soon these cards will be the only way to buy them.<span style="font-size: 11px;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><br /></span></span>Decks are still available on Etsy at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/601015785">https://www.etsy.com/listing/601015785</a>. </div>
moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-28121310906153042872018-03-16T21:15:00.002-07:002018-03-16T21:15:52.664-07:00Picatrix Decans Cards on EtsyMy Picatrix Decan cards are now listed on Etsy for your purchasing pleasure. Check it out here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JSwoffordArtandPhoto.<br />
I also have fine art prints for sale and I will have more to come. moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-26734557330936486142018-03-09T11:09:00.000-08:002018-03-09T11:15:30.601-08:00A Review of Jinn Sorcery<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">by Rain Al-Alim</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Published by Scarlet Imprint</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I have recently finished reading <i>Jinn Sorcery</i> by Rain Al-Alim, a book published in February of 2018 by Scarlet Imprint. I would like to now give my thoughts and impressions. As is the case with these kinds of things there are things I like and things that I feel are less than ideal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I think it is probably important for me to give a brief accounting of the perspective with which I come to this task of writing a review for this book. Probably the biggest factor in my point of view is that I have had little exposure to the mythology of the jinn. Other than the representations in contemporary American culture, a reading of some of <i>A Thousand and One Nights,</i> and a study of the Latin Picatrix (which doesn’t really deal with jinn at all), I really know very little about the jinn. I have not read any of the contemporary treatments of the mythology nor any of the contemporary books that purport to teach jinn magic. My childhood had little exposure to peoples of the Middle East. You, dear reader, can make a judgement if this is a detriment or a benefit to my reading of <i>Jinn Sorcery</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">So, why did I buy this book if its subject matter is outside my general purview? Curiosity mostly. I, of course, had heard of jinn but knowing little about them I hadn’t felt compelled to work with them. I have a lot of respect for Scarlet Imprint have have several of their volumes. I know they put out quality products and I decided this was a way to dip my toe into reading about jinn magic without worrying that I was reading some pulp drivel someone invented one day when there was nothing on the television. And this brings up a second reason I bought this book, that it is reported to have hand written manuscript sources written by practitioners presumably transmitted from traditions that may be generations old. And indeed two manuscripts are listed in the bibliography. Further, I trusted that Scarlet Imprint would research and vet the translations and the written Arabic script and ensure their accuracy, since I am unable to do so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">As is the case with all of Scarlet Imprint’s publications, the book as a physical object is beautiful. My copy is number 269 of 1000 of the gold cover, standard hardback editions. The gold cover is glittering and shiny and I imagine that I would feel conspicuous reading this on the bus but it fits the Arabian themes very well. The paper stock that makes up the endpapers and pages are thick and excellent quality. I do, however, miss the letterpress embossing of the text that I fell in love with in my paperback copies of <i>Geosophia </i>and<i> The True Grimoire. </i>I also noticed that by the time I finished reading the book the gold cover retained some smudges where my fingers had rubbed against the gold. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">In terms of the contents of the book one thing is immediately apparent; this is not a book for beginners. The book is brief at only 88 pages and, in my opinion, this brevity is both good and bad. It lends credence to the idea that <i>Jinn Sorcery</i> may be mostly or entirely derived from the notes of hand written manuscripts. After a short preface in which the hierarchy of jinn is touched upon the book dives straight into workings and, in fact, the entire book is only workings of various kinds. Outside of the preface and the endnotes for each chapter there is no material that constitutes an examination of the mythology, its cultural contexts, or where there might be intersection between jinn workings and other workings familiar to the contemporary Western practitioner. Perhaps this information is considered common and readily available from other sources. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Being a practitioner myself I saw several instances where the procedures and talismans in <i>Jinn Sorcery</i> had connections or similarities to workings in the <i>Picatrix</i> and to workings in the European grimoires. This made me question how much influence those sources had on the authors of <i>Jinn Sorcery</i>. If a jinn seal for scrying seems to me to resemble the seal of Scirlin in the <i>True Grimoire</i> are they from a common source? Did one influence the other or are they completely unrelated? I would have really appreciated more material in terms of comparing and contrasting this material with other sources. An examination of the roots of jinn magic and how they may be the same roots or not as other practices would have also been nice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The workings themselves follow a basic pattern; a talismanic seal is drawn, lines from the Qur’an are written (either on the body of the seer or on paper), incense is burned, and a conjuration is recited many times (I saw as little as 9 and as many as several thousand). Seclusion is often prescribed as is fasting for a week to a month. In many ways the workings for jinn conjuration resembled the Abramelin working (which I haven’t done) in that the magician is expected to fully concentrate for the week or month or more on prayers and conjurations while constantly observing ritual purity. These are workings of intense concentration and focus and is another reason I feel this book is not so much for beginners. It is probably wise that these workings be reserved for magicians with experience in spirit work. I don’t doubt that the workings are effective but I have yet to try any myself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">A couple of things I found particularly interesting in <i>Jinn Sorcery</i> are, first, that the book tells the magician to greet the spirits in peace and/or that the spirit will greet the magician in peace. This is in striking contrast to the European grimoires that assume the spirits from their catalogs to be antithetical to the magician. This isn’t to say that there are no warnings or dangers in working the magic of <i>Jinn Sorcery</i>. One of the warnings comes from the workings that are the second thing I find particularly fascinating about this book, that is, marriage to a jinn. The book tells us that once one is married to a jinn they can never be with a human again lest the jinn get terribly jealous and injure the magician. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">All in all this is a great book and I am glad to have added it to my library. The greatest benefit for me personally is that it gives me a perspective on how magic in this region of the world is practiced. I can’t say that I am well versed enough to modify any of the workings but perhaps someone with more experience will be able to. Over the subsequent weeks and months I will probably try some of the workings. </span></div>
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moonlit hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01095039110319809717noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1506081113512732838.post-34494569690427071432018-02-12T15:32:00.000-08:002018-02-12T15:33:32.047-08:00Picatrix Decan Card Pre-Order OpenFriends and Neighbors, I am very excited to announce that the pre-order period is open for copies of the card deck of my 36 Picatrix Decan collage images. Each copy is $36 USD and comes with a little white book of descriptions. Email to <a href="mailto:moonlithermit@gmail.com">moonlithermit@gmail.com</a> to order your copy and to receive more information. Decks will ship on March 15th.<br />
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