Best wishes on this, the birthday of the Unconquered Sun.
Hail Sol Invictus!
Reply
After an hiatus, I return
“…not to bring peace, but to bring a sword.”
– Matthew 10:34
“War is the father of us all, King of all. Some it makes
gods, some it makes men, some it makes slaves, some
free.”
-Heraclitus
A Reminder
“This is slavery, not to speak one’s thought.”
– Euripides
Religio-politics
Solvitur Ambulando
“I was often reduced to such expedients when wandering in strange lands, camping on glaciers, and so on. I fixed it workably well. In Mexico, D.F. for instance, I took my bedroom itself for the Circle, my night-table for the Altar, my candle for the Lamp; and I made the Weapons compact. I had a Wand eight inches long, all precious stones and enamel, to represent the Tree of Life; within, an iron tube containing quicksilver—very correct, lordly, and damsilly. What a club! Also, bought, a silver-gilt Cup; for Air and Earth I made one sachet of rose-petals in yellow silk, and another in green silk packed with salt. In the wilds it was easy, agreeable and most efficacious to make a Circle, and build an altar, of stones; my Alpine Lantern served admirably for the Lamp. It did double duty when required: e.g. in partaking of the Sacrament of the Four Elements, it served for Fire. But your conditions are not so restricted as this.”
– http://hermetic.com/crowley/magick-without-tears/mwt_23.html
“Now, as many are fully occupied with their affairs, let it be known that this method is adaptable to the necessities of all. And We bear witness that this which followeth is the Crux and Quintessence of the whole Method. First, if he have no Image, let him take anything soever, and consecrate it as an Image of his God. Likewise with his robes and instruments, his suffumigations and libations: for his Robe hath he not a nightdress; for his instrument a walking stick; for his suffumigation a burning match; for his libation a glass of water? But let him consecrate each thing that he useth to the service of that particular Deity, and not profane the same to any other use.”
– http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/lib175.htm
A Weekend Evocation
There is a moment in every evocation where I find myself intensely present. Rather than entering into a fogged and hypnotized state, as the ignorant imagine must occur, I attain a sudden electric clarity. It is as if my normal waking life is the one wrapped in mist and fog. Here, in a circle marked out with pin-points of light, and wreathed in fumes of incense, my senses clear like a cloudless sky.
Introduction to Thelema: Part I
Apologia
I am opposed, as a matter of principle, to the “dumbing down” instinct. This impulse, found throughout modern life, seeks to reduce every concept and experience to a commodity that can be pleasantly consumed by the lowest common denominator. No-where do I find this trend more noxious than in the realm of occultism. My recommendation is always to go to the source as soon as possible. Liber AL vel Legis, The Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on Liber AL vel Legis, Magick without Tears and Book 4 should clear up 75% of the problems a new student of Thelema encounters. However, I realize that three of these books are out of print, and all of them assume the reader possesses a fairly high degree of cultural capital. Many of the people approaching Thelema today will simply not have immediate access to these books, or be able to understanding them.
The Royal Art
Why practice magick today? Isn’t this method of coming to know, and interact with the world, outdated? Isn’t it really just applied psychology? Can’t we accomplish the same things that magick promises through less transgressive, weird, and socially awkward methods?
Every intentional act is a Magical Act.
– A. Crowley, Magick without Tears (MWT), Chapter 1
A Journey
Tonight, two friends and I are leaving the City of Angels for the “Valley of the Sun” .
There is something special about packing a bag and departing from the known, for however short a time period, that raises the energetic level of our lived experience. It is something like dance: a motion that carries meaning.
Thoughts on “The Grey”
The fundamental principle underlying all justification of war, from the point of view of human personality, is heroism. War, it is said, offers man the opportunity to awaken the hero who sleeps within him. War breaks the routine of comfortable life; by means of its severe ordeals, it offers a transfiguring knowledge of life, life according to death. The moment the individual succeeds in living as a hero, even if it is the final moment of his earthly life, weighs infinitely more on the scale of values than a protracted existence spent consuming monotonously among the trivialities of cities.
– J. Evola, The Metaphysics of War
Joe Carnahan’s latest film, starring Liam Neeson, is generating a highly polarized response. Extrinsically, it follows the exploits of a group of men stranded in the wilderness, as they try to survive and reach civilization, while they are pursued by an aggressive pack of wolves. Existentially, the film is about finding a reason to live and struggle on, in a seemingly uncaring and meaningless universe. Hence the name: The Grey.
Great Noontide 