Rufus Opus

Posts by frredactumopus

Author: frredactumopus

  • Weight Loss

    Long ago and far away, I had a pact with Jason to lose weight this year. We had aimed to lose around 60 pounds. I started at 238, a weight I was proud of being at, since it was less than the 270 I had managed to accumulate after my last child was born.

    Over the summer I managed to lose about 15 pounds by doing a lot of walking and exercises. I hit the 225 mark and stalled, but I finally broke through that plateau and made it down to about 220, before Halloween hit.

    Optimystic asked me to do a write up on the element of Fire over on the Lemegeton list, and this is one of the elements I had planned on working with (at the beginning of the year) to get the weight off. I was hoping to simply increase my metabolism with some gentle work with Oriens, Prince of the East. I was thinking of doing a conjuration of Oriens for the article, and then while I was at it, asking him to up my metabolism.

    Due to the experiences of a certain blogger who shall remain nameless related to magic and weight loss, I have been hesitant to use magic to lose weight. A hasty ritual that doesn’t take into account basic physiology can be hazardous to one’s health. I think that simply increasing my metabolism under the tutelage of Oriens will work. But at the same time, the biggest driver for actual weight loss is always exercise for me. If I build up some meaty major muscle groups, my body burns more calories throughout the day. Long walks and hours spent on the old exerbike seem to work wonders for me. I don’t want to inflame my metabolism, and then give it no outlet to burn.

    So I’m taking a holistic approach, and resisting the urge to conjure up Oriens and get him to do the driving for me. I’ll probably end up Working with each of the elemetnal Kings, and doing some kind of Work on the Guf itself. the Moon’s waning, so I’m thinking it’s a good time for it.

    Even though I’ve only got a couple of months to lose the rest of the weight. Sigh. I don’t think I’ll make it to the full 60 pounds this year, but I do aim to at least break 200 by January.

  • Neo-Platonics Basics

    I’ve compiled the Neo-Platonics Basics series into yet another eBook available over on the right. The original blog posts are still available in the history, and on www.rufusopus.com, but for those who like eBooks to print out and have, it saves you some editing.

    For those who have signed up for the course, DON’T BUY IT. You’ll get a copy as part of the course.

  • Attention Supernatural Assistant Course Members

    If you’ve signed up for the course, you’ve been invited to join the yahoo group. 3 of the course members haven’t joined yet, so check the email you used to set up the google checkout account, and look for an invite to the yahoo group. If you have another email address you want to use, let me know, and I’ll send the invite there.

  • 2.0 – Practical Sections

    With the posting of Section 1.5, the basic philosophical foundations of the Neo-Platonic cosmology (as I understand them) have been laid out.

    The next section of posts will be on the practical application of the system presented in the previous sections. In this next series, I’ll be looking at the practical applications of the following aspects in a bit more detail:

    • 2.1 – The Lamp
    • 2.2 – About those Planets…
    • 2.3 – The Joys of Making Talismen
    • 2.4 – Elemental Kings
    • 2.5 – Spirit Pots
    • 2.6 – Them pesky demons are at it again…
    • 2.7 – The Genius and the Evil Daimon

    These sections will present the methodologies and the tools used in the magickal application of the NP system.

  • The NP Basics Series to Date

    If anyone wants to see the whole NP Basics series from start to the latest post, click the little green NP Basics link beneath the post. You'll have to scroll down to get to the beginning, and then go up. Or you can click this link, and it will take you there too:

    http://headforred.blogspot.com/search/label/NP%20Basics

  • How many courses are there going to be?

    Excellent Question, Martialus.

    The Supernatural Assistant course is Course 1. Soon there will be the Hermetic Merkavah course, followed by a Goetia course. Eventually there may be a course on Working with the Elemental Kings as well, though I suspect it will be a lesson or four in the Neo-Platonic System of Magic course.

    So there will be at least 4 Courses in the foreseeable future. And more as I go onward.

    The day I achieved Knowledge and Conversation with my Holy Guardian Angel is the day the keys to the kingdom were handed to me; without that, I wouldn’t be anywhere close to where I am today. So I’m starting with that, calling it “Acquiring a Supernatural Assistant” as a nod to the fact that it isn’t the same thing as the HGA rites of Abramelin or Samekh. Those rites are so misrepresented that 99% of the people undertaking the path have no idea what they’re getting into, how to recognize what they acquire, or even what to do with it once they have it.

    I aim to fulfill my own destiny, my own Will, and do my part in manifesting a generation of magicians fully empowered and willing to become exactly what the Great Work turns us into: fully conscious human beings restored to our rightful place in the cosmic hierarchy, standing firm with the powers of Creation at our fingertips, with the knowledge and wisdom to use those powers as we see fit. Mad Alchemists, tempered in the fires of our passions, hardened and forged by our joy and our pain, and empowered by the light of God.

  • Still yet more about the Supernatural Assistant

    Sam Johnson says:

    1. Are there any prerequisites? Or can people without any significant experience follow this?

    No, there are no prerequisites. I’m starting here, and then I’m heading through the Modern Angelic Grimoire, and eventually I’ll get to the Goetic one. I’m recreating the process of initiation I went through in course form.

    2. Are there any *actual* requirements for participants during the course? Ideally everyone would follow the homework and the course as it comes, but failing that due to other commitments at least we’ll have the know-how on hand for the future. We’ll have lost the one-on-one help with you, of course, but still. Is this fine?

    Hmmm. I see what you’re saying. I’m thinking the courses will stand alone. St. Balthazar said on the Lemegeton list that in the grimoire traditions, the books became the initiators, and that’s a great way to encapsulate my intent. The books and course work will give you the steps, and when you follow them, you get the Supernatural Assistant. I think you’d stand more chance of doing the work consistently in a group, where there’s some accountability, some social pressure. You’ll be doing the work solitary, but you’ll have help.

    Whole thing sounds great and I’m grateful you’d even do something like this, but I want to make sure I’m getting the most out of it. Thanks.

    You’re off to a good start. You’re taking into account where you’re at in life, and weighing the commitment thoroughly. That’s the kind of approach that results in success.

    In practice, we’ll be talking about 30-45 minutes per day, split up between the morning when you wake up and the evening before you go to bed. The actual time spent in the Work is relatively small, and I think it fits into the schedule of your average working wo/man or even single mothers of three kids. I’ll be timing the initiations to occur on the weekends (Saturn-day or Sun-day), and there are three time slots that can be used each day, so chances are good you’ll be able to find one that fits into your schedule.

  • What You Get with the Supernatural Assistant Course

    A Supernatural Assistant! Isn’t that enough?

    No? You mean, you want to know what comes with it specifically for $75? You get my warm and kind advice, my best wishes, and a lot of encouragement. You get my undying thanks for the money. What more do you need?

    Ok, sorry, I crack me up.

    NOTE: I fixed the link this afternoon.

    Course Stuff

    The course comes with the following:

    • eBook: The Neo-Platonic Basics – It’s a cleaned up and slightly modified/expanded version of the series of blog posts I wrote as I went through some transformations in the first year after making contact with my own “Supernatural Assistant.”
    • ebook: The Modern Angelic Grimoire – In case you don’t have it, we’ll be referencing this book for some of the initiations.
    • The names of your Genius and Evil Daimon (for those who don’t have them yet)
    • Conjuration Ritual for the Genius (this is different than the conjuration of the Supernatural Assistant)
    • Your Own, Personal, Genius Lamen…. something you can wear on your chest, to make you your best…. (sung to the tune of your own personal jesus; you’ll get an image file that you can print out, or draw out by hand on virgin parchment in the light of the Moon while suffumigating it in the smoke of strange alkaloid herbs)
    • Conjuration rite for the Supernatural Assistant (performed nightly after Lesson 3)
    • Membership with the Yahoo group
    • Personal coaching from yours truly, unless you really get on my nerves or turn out to be some kind of lunatic. If the latter is true, you still get no refunds; I mean it, I’m totally spending the money as soon as it comes in.

    Tentative Course Outline (Subject to change):

    • Lesson 1: Intro and Overview (Nov. 6) – Includes the the evolution from the Supernatural Assistant into the HGA over the last couple of thousand years, an overview of the three-part ruler of the soul, and the role of the Genius from Agrippa’s Three Books of occult Philosophy. This will give you some insight into working with your Genius.
      • Homework: Self Assessment – You’ll get a template to fill out that prompts some self-assessment and contemplation that will help you prepare for the process to come. You won’t have to send it in or post it, but you can if you think it will help you stay honest with yourself and others.
    • Lesson 2: The Power of Prayer (Nov. 13) – Includes an explanation of “enflaming yourself with prayer,” the key to building up an ecstatic relationship with God. Explores Crowley’s early training and how he figured out the Secret of Prayer.
      • Field Trip: Visit a Charismatic Christian Church (totally optional if you think you’ll burst into flames when you cross the threshold, or have bad experiences you don’t want to remember)
      • Homework: Daily Face-Time with God. Here beginneth the transformation that leads to attainment.
    • Lesson 3: Can you smell that smell? (a.k.a. Conjuration of the Supernatural Assistant) (Delivered when appropriate) – Includes an analysis of the Stele of Jehu, the Greek Magical Papyri that’s actually called “Acquiring a Supernatural Assistant,” and Crowley’s Liber Samekh. Also includes the conjuration rite you’ll be using.
      • Homework: Solar Initiation by Michael, Archangel of the Sun
      • Homework: Conjuration of the Genius
      • Homework: Continued daily prayer
      • Homework: Nightly conjuration ritual of the Supernatural Assistant (Should take 10-30 minutes)
      • Homework: Update self-assessment.
    • Lesson 4: Working with the Supernatural Assistant: Practical Applications of your blossoming relationship.
      • Homework: Solar/Saturn Initiation by Michael and Cassiel.
      • Homework: Continued daily prayer
      • Homework: Continued Nightly conjuration ritual of the Supernatural Assistant

    At this stage, chances are pretty good that you’ll be going through some serious hell.

    • Lesson 5: The Map of Hell – Personal observations on the landscape of Hell as it manifests in your life; includes some advice and techniques I found were useful in dealing with the layers and layers of crap that tend to come out in the process.
      • Homework: Stay Alive. Keep at the Work. Even when you hate it. Even when you’re convinced it’s all in your head. Even when you think it’s all from Satan. Een when you really want to quit. Even when you’re so sick of hearing me say “it gets better” that you’re ready to shove my keyboard up my ass to see if I can still type it then, motherfucker! (Seriously.)
    • Lesson 6: The Stairway to Heaven (Is Sitting in Hell) – Reflections on the initiatory journeys we’ve been through and preparation for Hermetic Merkavah, to be explored in full in the Seven Heavens Club. (Or the Hermetic Merkavah course. I haven’t figured out what to call it. I thought the Seven Heavens club was a witty nod to Pat Baker, but I figure it may be too cheesey.)

  • 7 Winds Mirror Sold Out

    For those interested in the Mirror of the 7 Winds Chris had available at Renaissance Astrology, it’s too late, you totally missed it. He may take pre-orders for the next time he can make them though, but that’s late next year, and there are only so many he can make at one time.

  • Awesome Opportunity

    Chris Warnock, of Renaissance Astrology fame, is offering a Mirror of the Seven Winds. Based on an intricate ritual from the Picatrix, the Great-Granddaddy of all Grimoires, this item is something you should totally consider buying. He does the etching and seven-day suffumigations according to the requirements of the book, and the benefits are amazing.

    The Picatrix says, “… if you gaze into the mirror and watch it well, know that in it will appear men, winds, spirits, demons, the dead and the living and all of them will be obedient to your command.” It’s a lot like the Table of Practice that I have in the Modern Angelic Grimoire, and the Scrying Media all in one. I highly recommend it, not only because it’s useful, but it comes empowered to accomplish what we need it to do as magicians.

    Chris Warnock is an Adept of the art of Astrological Magic. There are few magicians or occult craftsmen I’d trust to do the kind of operations he does on this mirror and have them be effective. I usually take advantage of the elections he posts on his page, and do my own magic based on the appropriate timing, but when it comes to Picatrix stuff, there’s no one I know of who would be more capable of creating an empowered talisman than Chris.

    Once received, the Mirror is consecrated to the magician when the Moon is conjoined to Venus. At that point it’s yours and yours alone. The Spirits of the Winds are powerful allies in the toolkit of the magician, and they are a set of spirits I can’t wait to begin working with regularly. If I had the time, I’d totally be conjuring them ASAP. They’ve been calling to me for years. There’s a Tower of the Winds somewhere, in Italy or Greece, or Europe. I don’t remember. But ti’s beautiful. I saw a picture of it a long time ago, and have wanted to conjure these spirits ever since. With Chris’ offering of the mirror, it’s an opportunity we shouldn’t pass up.