Well I butchered the plants. I trimmed off most of the pitchers on my sarracenias.
Yup. It breaks my heart to trip them down, but they have to go into dormancy for at least a month. I always become nervous that they won't make it... But they should be fine.

The rituals are complete.

Well I have finally finished formulating the daily rituals I plan on using which are based on Neoplatonism instead of the qabbalah. Now because Qabbalah is based on the earlier Neoplatonic concepts I am sure one could still see qabbalistic theories present in it.

Anyway. I already started putting them into practice. Now it is just a matter of fine tuning.

Indoctrination station.

I know this isn't supposed to be a political blog, but I am so amazed at the depths of indoctrination our people have been subjected to.

Been caught slacking..

Well it is true. I have been slacking.
There is something about going into a period of writing that makes me procrastinate doing any form of ritual work.

So the other morning I made myself do a gratification ritual to the Lord, after my first cup of coffee, complete with all the smells and bells. All of a sudden I was inspired to get back down to brass-tacks ritually speaking.

So strange how something so simple can put you back on track.

Thor is not..

Really? A black man posing as Thor?

That is such an insult. But because we are white people, its ok to twist and manipulate our ancestral gods, even if it is a comic character based on said Deity.
Should we cast Legba as a white man? Wouldn't that only be fair?

cryptic note to self

Don't forget the little stuffed star-children.

Equality is a lie.

So there I was trying to relax in the tub from a long-day's work, when I was set off by the stream of e-mails.

Really? Magicians spouting-off about spirits evolving in the same way a human being evolves in their daily life from their experiences, and conditions???

This kind of nonesense belongs with the Blavatsky crowd.

Ugh, seriously. Spirits (of the angelic and demonic types) are not incarnated humans. They don't think like we do, they don't act like we do, they have a way about them that is completely different from us and eachother by their rank and station.

I find these folks who try to rationalize or superimpose a human's way of thinking on top of other spirit classes, the same type of utopian nitwhits who think our enemies would be friendlier to us if we we more amicable to them. Its just naive; equality is a lie.

Finally a correlation between astral and pneuma body

I don't know why I kept missing this when I was reading Plotinus, but I am glad I have finally found a url that spelled it out to me in easy-to-understand layman English.

I believed that the ancient Neo-Platonists must have had a concept for an astral-body as it were, but I couldn't find it in the writing of Plotinus. It was there though. Its called Pneuma! Duh.

The soul(Psyche) forms a luminous body around it called the Pneuma, and as it descends down through the celestial world it becomes heavier and more material. By the time it passes the lunar sphere it is heavy enough to attach to the physical body(Soma) of the earthy domain.
Thanks to :
http://www.societasviaromana.net/Collegium_Religionis/animamystery.php in his wrinting.
"Plato's ochema and Aristotle's pneuma remained distinctly different. In later philosophy Plotinus held Aristotle's pneuma forming around the soul as it travels down through the ourasia. His pupil Porphyry, according to Augustine citing the De regressu animae, held the view that the pneuma forms around the soul and became darker and heavier as it accumulates moisture while the soul descends through the air. The concept of these early Neoplatonists still distinguished the pneuma as the means of the soul attaching to the physical body, functioning in some sense as the soul's vehicle, but still not identified with Plato's ochema. In the Hermetic Poimandres the pneuma is regarded as layers of materiality, stripped off into the planetary spheres as the soul ascends once more to its heavenly abode. It is not therefore something acquired in the process of the soul's attachment to the body, but rather functions as the ochema carrying the soul from the body. With the Gnostics this was taken a step further. The Pistis Sophia describes an antimimon pneuma that is acquired by accretion around the pneuma as it carries the soul through the astral planes, so that increasingly a body of passions forms in layers around the soul, weighing it down into a material existence. Clement of Alexandria mentions Basilidian Gnostics who believed in a prosertemenon pneuma or a prosphyes psyche acting in the same sense. These other bodies, being semi-material, or quasi-material, are then distinct from the pneuma. The subtle distinction made by the Gnostics was easily misunderstood. A crude idea identified the soul with the pneuma. Cruder still was the mistaken notion that Gnostic reference to the resurrection referred to the physical body rather than to the nous in a spiritual body. And further still, where the Gnostic notion held redemption to be the reuniting of the soul into the World Soul, so that the human nous could continue on to reunite with the divine Nous, later Christians saw the physical body rising into spiritual realms."

My assumptions at this point:
I assume that this attachment of Pneuma to the physical body(Soma) probably occurs at the first breath of the infant. And the aura is infact the spiritual light of the resident Pneuma.

Just a venting.

Ok I just want to start off my venting-session with an obvious statement...Magicians make for very difficult friends. We are all very opinionated and passionate, which makes it difficult to avoid step on some toes or follow the general rules of politeness. And well, then there is the competitive nature that is ever present in our conversations with each other. I really hate the latter.

Moving on..

When I was a qabbalistic magician my day was full of small Golden Dawn based rituals which I really enjoyed doing, but there was hardly any practical work I did. Now as a Neo-platonic/grimoiric magician I do mostly practical work and absolutely no daily rituals. I miss the daily rituals of my former magical career.
I have tried to create however, a few rituals that incorporate Neo-platonic concepts rather than qabbalistic formulas, but they either fall flat or I resort to filling in the gaps with qabbalistic formulas again. Sigh, I really do miss the daily rituals though, so I will keep trying to construct them.

Another bone to pick, on herbs.

The yahoogroups are abuzz with whether or not herbs have to be replaced within six months or become useless to the magician.

The simple answer is no.

The long answer is something like this:
Forget all the nonsense of "energy" or "vibrations" you hear new-agers talk bout. That is crap.
The truth is that it is the "idea" of the plant that is the active principal.
From the divine Nous, the idea of the herb descends through the Soul of the World where it picks up its many attributes. In the physical world it is these attributes that are physically represented by its scent, shape, or what have you. Now, when you combine herbs in a mixture for a particular purpose, you focus on one particular attribute that is shared amongst the herbs to make it sympathetic for your purpose. It doesn't matter if the herbs are new, old, wet or dry.

The only time age is of importance is if the herbs are being used medically. And only then it depends on whether the medicinal alkaloids are fragile and known to break down after a period of time.

So no. You do not have to replace all your herbs every six months.

A bone to pick concerning timing.

I recently ran across a fellow magician's post regarding timing his ceremonies. His belief is that no matter how long the ceremony takes, it is when the ceremony begins that is most important. Some how in his mind he thinks that the influences at a given time are locked into place by the start of ones ceremony.

I have to disagree here.

When you start the working matters less than when it is completed.  Take for instance a birth of a baby. Without going into the mechanisms as to why certain astrological positions imparts their influence upon a person, we collectively understand that it is the moment of birth that defines which stellar influences have been inherited. A person can theoretically be seen as a talisman, and a talisman can also be a birthing of a physical body of sorts.

In the realm of magical timing, there are two major routes a would-be magician travels.
There is timing via planetary correspondences with the days and hours of the week, and then there is timing via astrological positions in the heavens. Both are fine and depend on the particular working a magician is planning to do, but which ever one chooses to use, the ceremony must be accomplished within the set time.

Now it is relatively easy to perform and complete a ceremony during one on the magical-hours of the week. But when it comes to basing a ceremony on the astrological positions, you normally only have 15 minutes. Its a lot harder to complete a task magically in 15 minutes especially to complete a talisman.
So the trick is to make most of the talisman during a magic-hour and day that corresponds to the ceremony before the plotted astrological time. Then at the moment of the astrological event, you put the final touches on the talisman and invoke the entities to inhabit it.

September 15th

Well I whipped-up 2.5 gallons of holy water via the Solomonic Arts of magic.
I think that will hold me for a while.

Its a real nice victorian-looking 2.5 gallon glass container with a lever-tap on the front for dispensing into a smaller holy water bottle which is much more portable for ritual work.

I am really pleased with this.

The Oil for the Lamp

So I have figured out how to make it, and I have chosen the way it will look.
I will wait till Mercury is out of retrograde, and I will commence its final construction the day and hour of mercury according to the arts of solomon.

As for the oil..I am going to steep various resins, that one may typically find in the traditional Abramelin's incense recipe, into the oil that will be used in the lamp. I am hoping that the resins will lend their fragrant essences through diffusion into the oil.

Resins:
Olibanum (boswellia serrata) from India
Storax (liquidambar orientalis) from Turkey
Aloeswood (aquilaria agallocha) from South Asia

About altars

Snipped from my response on another blog.

.......... But, I do like to separate and compartmentalize because I'm not a fan of mixing too many depicted theologies in one place. So naturally I have a couple altars. But I try not to run amok because I delight in simplicity. I mean, I like the look of ATR styled altars, but it just seems like it is way too much to be practical for me. I guess its just a matter of personal taste, wouldn't you say?

So anyway...

I have my Working-altar which is in the center of my temple room surrounded the GoS circle. So the stuff on this altar fluctuates with what is needed for the magic undertakings, evocations, and etc at that time.

I also have an Oratory-altar where I recite my daily prayers, purifications, exorcism of tools and what not. This is housed in the walk-in closet of said temple room where most of my supplies are also stored. This one doesn't change much, but is used the most. 

I'm kind of new to this kind of blogspace, so when I understand how, I *might* share some photos. I go back and forth on whether sharing pictures of my oratory/working altars would by offensive of profaning my work. I don't know...

Fountains of water, Lamps of light.

I did not consecrate more holy candles nor did I make more holy water yesterday.
And no, its not because mercury is slowing down preparing to go retrograde. I have decide to go a slightly different route.
Normally I exorcise 100 tea lights at a time to be used in my temple as holy lights. And they usually do last me long enough till the next appropriate time to make more holy lights.
However, I have come to the conclusion that using an olive oil lamp would be much more economic and symbolically beautiful in practice with multiple practical applications like the addition of essential oils and other herbs.
So for the past several days I have experimented with several modes of making an olive-oil lamp. Then it would be the next step which is to make it as beautiful a lamp as possible with of course the sigils and lettering about it.

As for the Holy Water? Well I have recently purchased a huge decanter with a spout on the lower portion. It looks a bit like an over glorified sun-tea container, perhaps slightly victorian. But I think that it will fit the bill for making a nice amount in a single ceremony.

My Interests

1: Neoplatonism.
As stated in my previous post I started my magical career in the lodge-style form of occultism, which means I was a qabbalist of sorts. But as I began to study the grimoires and the philosophy behind them I noticed that they were based primarily on the much older neoplatonic theories and not the more modern qabbalistic ones. For a period of time I tried to juggle both, not wanting to let the qabbala system go in my ritual work. But I think as of today I am content that I understand the qabbala, even though I prefer neoplatonsim which fits better in my work with the grimoires.

2: Occultism.
My view of occultism in general is simply participation with the hidden world aka spirit world, sometimes through physical means. Theurgy and thaumaturgy is part of the work, but the work I do is consistent with older magic. You probably won't read anything in my blog about "energies" or other post-Mesmeric theories.

3: Mystical Christianity.
Yup I am a christian. Outwardly I am an Anglican/Episcopalian and participate in the sacrament of that Church. But I am also a mystic. I relish in the synthesis of Neoplatonism of classical Greece with that of Christianity via Pseudo-Dionysius the Aeropagite, and how it filters down through other writers like Cornelius Agrippa, and Marsilio Ficino, etc.

4: The Grimoires.
These are the heart of my work. Not only do they provide a system in which to work within, but they also lay-out the founding principles to create one's own system, if one so wished.

5: Angels.
My contact with the angels is part of my theurgical (and sometimes thaumaturgical) work, and working with them is complicated requiring a lot of "diplomacy" as Aaron Leitch would put it. But it is well worth the effort. I use the Pseudo-Dionysian model of the Angelic Hierarchy and not that of the qabbalist. And no, I do not work with the Enochiana stuff. I have experimented in the past with those beings of Enochiana, however I do not view them as "angels" per say. I definitely think they are sublunar and not celestial. I know, I know. This is heresy amongst most ceremonial magicians of the day, but oh well.

6: Daemons/Spirits.
Typically "daemon" simply means "spirit" and can refer to those of celestial origin aswell as those that are sublunar, but for simplification here I am using it for all of those of sublunar origin. Now the sublunar realm is teaming with al kinds and classifications of spirits, some that are friendly and others that are not.
My work with these guys is mostly for thaumaturgic work. Now at this moment there seems to be a movement within the occult community for a "spirit-friendly" approach. What this means is that they do not use curses or constraints to deal with the more wild and ferrel of entities. I personally disagree with this approach. I do not mean that I am cruel or harsh with sub-lunars. No, I am just following the "spirit-appropriate" (my terminology) approach. The nasty and infernal type of beings sometimes need to be dealt with firmly much like that of a wild and crazed animal whose nature is not compliant with our own. Once bound by the magician, the spirit can be praised and given offerings if so chooses especially after the goal is achieved. The better natured sub-lunar spirits obviously do not need all the curse and constraints. It is up to the magician to use his or her personal discretion with each spirit.

7: Ancestors.
One type of sub-lunar spirits that I honor are my ancestors. I treat them with the up most respect and love. This of course filters down into my politics as a Nationalist. The concepts of People, Nation, and Sovereignty are central to my politics and ancestral veneration. But this is not supposed to be a political blog so, I will stop there.

8: Astrology.
I am a traditional astrologer, that means I only use the 7 planets, 12 zodiacs, geocentric model. I don't ascribe to the psychological applications of the charts. So the interpretation of the heavens is strictly practical on planning events, making talismans, or launching prayers or conjurations.

9: Geomancy.
I use geomancy as my primary form of quick and dirty divination. I have never found it to be wrong after reciting a series of initial prayers before casting a reading.

My Little Introit

Since this is my first post I think it would only be fitting that I offer a little bit of information about myself. Without going too far as to what was the beginning of my interest in the occult, I will remain in the realm of my serious career in the magical arts.

Like many other magicians of our era I began my career in the fraternal-lodge form of occultism. My main interest of course was the Golden Dawn, but long after working alone I became a member of a local Ordo Templi Orientis temple to satisfy (I hoped) a personal need of inclusion. I became very disinterested in that group fairly quickly after observing the pettiness of it's members and the imperialistic attitude of the higher ranking individuals. I was very put-off to say the least. When I came to the conclusion that this order wasn't for me, I resigned and looked for another route. Something more serious...Something a bit more genuine...

I found my way by "going it alone". But in order to do this I had to read read read, experiment, and understand the older material. I first looked toward the grimoires, then to the concepts that the methodology is based on. Through this I began piecing together my own personal practice that is based on and in harmony with pre-lodge occultism.