Comments were acting weird today. I had switched the format a few weeks ago, and there were no problems, but today it went ker-put. I’ve changed the entry format, and it seems to be working now. If you had comments to make, feel free to make them now.
Category: Blogspot Archive
Category: Blogspot Archive
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Tonight’s Work
First, before I forget, the Geomantic Tumblers have been right on so far. They said my daughter would get a B, and she got a B+ on that math test.
Ok, back to tonight’s Work. I just spent a long time making something really … primitive. But I likes it.In the hour of Mercury, on the day of Mercury, I conjured Raphael, Archangel of Mercury to help me with this work. I was trying to make a simple round talisman to the Archangel to use with my Box, but then I got an inspiration. I looked over and saw the huge plaster brick I’d made for the Pentagonal Seal of Solomon, the project that had failed miserably, and thought about how easy it would be to carve using a grinding bit on my dremel tool.
So I carved out a rough figure of the symbol of Mercury, and melted up some pewter, some silver, and a dash of more tin. The mixture of metals, per Aaron Leitch, makes it a mercurial metal when it solidifies. The pewter came from my daughter, who had broken a cheaply soldered fairy’s wings right off. I tried to fix it, but I failed, and she said I could have it. I told her what I wanted to do with it, and she said “Cool.” That works for me. I just realized it was an Arial spirit that it had been molded into, and Mercury is associated with the element of Air. “Cool.”
I melted the metals, and poured them into the rough mold, cleaned up the edges as best as I could, and engraved it with the name Raphael, RPAL in Celestial Script, the Archangel seal of Mercury from the Magical Calendar, and the Sigil of the Planet Mercury, also from the Magical Calendar. Some parts are prettier than others.
Now, I’ve said before that “ugly works.” It’s a good thing. This isn’t fine art, by any means. It shows two things about me. One, I’m an amateur metallurgist. Two, I don’t let that stop me; my passion for communing with the spirits far outweighs any worries I have about how I look while doing so. It’s the communion that counts.
Now I wanted to test it out on my Box, but it’s now the hour of the Moon. No time, no time. It took far longer than anticipated. The next Mercury hour isn’t until 4:08 AM my time, and man, that’s frickin’ early. Or late. I don’t think I’ll be using it this week, unless … Well, I’ll check Trithemius and see what he says.
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Why do we vote on Tuesdays?
Because it’s War!Voting is a Martial act. A revolutionary act. Every Vote we make as an American (or other) citizen is a declaration of War on tyranny. Regardless of the candidate elected, democracy wins against authoritarian regimes, monarchies, despotism, fascism, communism, oligarchies, and dictatorships.
You can see it at the voting booths. Doubt about the outcome, desire to be on the winning team, consternation about the lack of decent choices, hope that whatever happens, they’ll be alright…
It’s not the same as facing bullets, but the war rages on.
Now, what about other countries? What day do they vote on, and what does that tell us about how they perceive voting? Is it just America that has a Martial attitude about everything governmental? Are there any countries that vote on Fridays?
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Why do we vote on Tuesdays?
Because it’s War!Voting is a Martial act. A revolutionary act. Every Vote we make as an American (or other) citizen is a declaration of War on tyranny. Regardless of the candidate elected, democracy wins against authoritarian regimes, monarchies, despotism, fascism, communism, oligarchies, and dictatorships.
You can see it at the voting booths. Doubt about the outcome, desire to be on the winning team, consternation about the lack of decent choices, hope that whatever happens, they’ll be alright…
It’s not the same as facing bullets, but the war rages on.
Now, what about other countries? What day do they vote on, and what does that tell us about how they perceive voting? Is it just America that has a Martial attitude about everything governmental? Are there any countries that vote on Fridays?
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Why do we vote on Tuesdays?
Because it’s War!Voting is a Martial act. A revolutionary act. Every Vote we make as an American (or other) citizen is a declaration of War on tyranny. Regardless of the candidate elected, democracy wins against authoritarian regimes, monarchies, despotism, fascism, communism, oligarchies, and dictatorships.
You can see it at the voting booths. Doubt about the outcome, desire to be on the winning team, consternation about the lack of decent choices, hope that whatever happens, they’ll be alright…
It’s not the same as facing bullets, but the war rages on.
Now, what about other countries? What day do they vote on, and what does that tell us about how they perceive voting? Is it just America that has a Martial attitude about everything governmental? Are there any countries that vote on Fridays?
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I voted!
For myself, of course. If you didn’t click the AARP link the other day, you missed a campaign message from Yours Truly.
Rufus Opus in ‘08!
Now that this election business is about wrapped up, maybe we can get back to magic. In a few weeks, or months, I’ll discuss some of the magic I performed in this year’s election. Maybe. I kept silent about it because advertising your Work is just asking for some meat head who doesn’t agree with you to come along and Work against you. With all the awareness of retroactive magic going on, it may be more prudent to just keep mum about it in general.
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Proud of my Son
So tonight my son, who is turning seven next month, expressed his concern that in his school’s winter program, they are singing songs about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and some other stuff about winter, but there are no Christian or traditional Christmas songs celebrating Christmas specifically. I didn’t bring it up, his mother didn’t bring it up, he did. He figured it out on his own that his beliefs and experiences weren’t being represented. He feels cheated. He doesn’t want to participate.
He’s got a strong sense of justice and righteousness. He’s a Scorpio, and a little genius. He’s not opposed to singing the other songs, he just wants his beliefs represented too. He wants it to be fair.
As a Christian Magician, I know how he feels. Most of my friends and colleagues are pagan liberals. I’m a moderate Christian, with decidedly non-mainstream interpretations of what it means to be a Christian, but I get the blow-off from other magicians more frequently than I should. I understand why; Christianity has done wrongs in the name of Christ for thousands of years, and is chock full of disgusting loud-mouthed opinionated bigoted hypocrites. People have been hurt by people in the name of Christ, and it didn’t just happen hundreds of years ago, it’s happening right now as I type this, somewhere in the middle of America.
It’s not fair though. People desperately demanding equal rights don’t give them. People demanding “justice” don’t want the scales even, they want them in their favor. They don’t see their own hypocrisy. No one ever does.I want people to overlook the wrongs other people have done in the name of Christ and see what I’m saying and judge it on its own merits. I try to do that with others. I fail sometimes, but I at least try.
I want $7 Million Dollars, too.
I expect to get the money before I see non-Christians treat Christians with the respect they expect.
So my son wants to opt out of the Winter Holiday recital. We sent an email to the music teacher to get a list of the songs being sung, so that we can see if there’s something in there that represents his beliefs that he doesn’t recognize as traditionally Christian or Christmas-ey. We haven’t been to church in a year or so, he might just not recognize the songs as Christian. I’ll feel pretty lousy if that’s the case. I want him to participate with his friends and not to feel like an outcast because of his beliefs, if possible.
If the school is presenting religious songs and excluding Christianity, I’ll stamp my feet and raise a stink. If it’s a secular Program, then I’ll explain the separation of Church and State to my son as best I can, and see if he wants to participate. If he still feels morally, ethically, or just plain old conscientiously unable to perform in it, then I’ll support him in his determination. Hell, he’s so stubborn he’d probably go but just stand there and not sing if I tried to make him anyway. He’s nobody’s fool.
But I do expect to find out that Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are represented while Christianity is left out. I expect that all mention of the word “Christmas” will be verboten because it dares to have “Christ” in it. I expect my son to learn that his beliefs will, at times, leave him ostracized, pushed to the side, and treated disrespectfully. That saddens me, but I’m pragmatic and know he’ll learn it anyway.
But I am totally and completely proud that he is willing to take the ostracism and stand by his convictions. That rocks.
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Barbatos in 2009
Well, ladies and gents, I’ve got some plans warming.
The Invisible College is a thing I’ve spoken of before. I’m going to start using a blog I set up before to track how I use magic to influence my world. I’d like to invite anyone interested in writing posts for the blog to contact me, and I’ll add you to the list of authorized writers. I ask that only those who are comfortable talking about how they practically use magic to control their world contact me.
The rest of this post is an example of what I would expect to see at the Invisible College Blog, only better written, more creative, and less rambling. I do tend to ramble.
Barbatos in 2009
I was looking through the Goetia descriptions today, and found this description of Barbatos:
Makes you Dr. Doolittle, opens treasures sealed by magicians, divination, reconciles friends and those in power
I know, where did I ever find such an awesome and detailed description of the spirit? From my spreadshet. One of the columns I have for the Goets is a quick-reference guide to their abilities.
No, you can’t have it.
Reconciles Friends and Those in Power
Hey, that sounds like the kind of help a leader of the US might need after taking over from a bumbling Texan with more financial backers than brains who single-handedly pissed off most of the countries of the world over the last eight years. That’s also the kind of help I’d like to see get to work in Iraq’s Parliament, the Palestine-Israel situation, and Russia-Georgia.
So, rather than experiment on my own country’s leadership, I’m going to start in the backwater nations. A quick Google news search tells me that there are ample opportunities for Reconciliations between those in Power in many parts of the world. How wonderful for me!
I’m going to start with Somalia. The following dudes are having issues:
President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed & Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein
Granted, I don’t have a large amount of info on the background of their problems, but I don’t want to have to know. I want to gauge the effectiveness of Barbatos in bringing reconciliation between two political leaders. These dudes are the first target. I’ll find some others later to get a wider sampling. If it looks like Barbatos is good at bringing reconciliation without any major catastrophes as a result, then I’ll help Obama out in his efforts with Iran, Russia, and France. I’ll also target the GOP and the Democrats, see if we can get a little peace in congress so we can make some progress.
Hmmm. Maybe I’ll look for a spirit that makes Wall Street people SMART for a change. 😀
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Heading out to vote
Ah! Blessed Libertas! Hail to thee, and all thy Works that have freed me from Evil Tyrrany! If it weren’t for Lady Libertas, we’d still be frickin’ Brittish. :shudder:
Liberty, folks. Americans have bled and died for the right to vote. Support our troops, your bumper sticker reads? Get out and VOTE! Have an opinon on the candidates? Make it mean something, get out and VOTE! Earn a right to your opinion: Get the fuck out and VOTE!
I don’t give two shits in a hat who you vote for. I mean, I have MY PREFERENCES, but you know, it’s the VOTE that makes being an American meaningful.
For years I didn’t vote because I believed it didn’t matter. Either way, the corporations/special interests win. While that’s true to a degree, it’s just a cop out. I pontificated about my political stance and did NOTHING to make a difference. Voting might be the least effective thing you can do to champion your personal cause(s) in government, but it’s a hell of a lot more than I was doing. I don’t organize activist meetings, I don’t contribute to my favored candidates, I don’t even use my blog (much) to influence others to my perspective. I like to think Magic(k) transcends politics.
But the least I can do is VOTE. So regardless of whether you’re a McSamite or Obamatic, get out and VOTE.
FYI: I have very little control over what ads appear on my site. Fr. BH mentioned that an ad for a proposition that I don’t support popped up on his version of my page. I have since blocked that domain from advertising here, but God knows they’re pumping their money into Google’s adsense to influence folks. If you see ads for stuff that you don’t like, it’s not my fault. If you really want to hurt the people that are advertising things you don’t want to see, one sneaky method would be to click their links. Each click costs them money; the more they bid to get their ad displayed, the more it costs per click they get. When they run out of money, their ads won’t pop up anywhere. I’m sure they’ve got millions, so to implement this kind of strategy, one would need to click the ads a few hundred times.
Just remember, I only display ads to make money. I don’t necessarily support, condone, or stand in opposition to the services, beliefs, or goals of those that pay to advertise here. If you see an ad that you don’t think belongs here, let me know and if I agree with you, I’ll block their domain.
If you use Google ads to monetize your site: To filter ads, go to Google Adsense, Adsense Setup, and then click “Competitive Ad Filter.” Type the domain of the advertiser you don’t want to have access to your site in the big old text box in the middle of the page. There’s online help if that doesn’t give you enough detail.
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Heading out to vote
If your’e not a Cowboy Junkies fan, the blog title might not be as entertaining as it was for me.This morning was picture day at school. Lots of hubbub, not a lot of time for Work around daybreak. I don’t know why, but I’m attracted to Martial work in general lately. I’ve been barely resisting the urge to curse people on principle. There’s a … I don’t know, a violence about things in my life, not like a destructive violence, but a strong urge to wage war for the things I think are right. Politics, work, my Great Work, I just want to DO stuff, there’s a pressing urgency to DO stuff.
Like the Box, and the Bune Radio. I want to create, empower, direct, and dominate my world. Not yours, mine.
The song I stole the title for today’s post is about a woman going through that emotional stage of missing her ex-lover, but at the same time, enjoying the new-found freedom she had forgotten about. I was mostly looking for a song that had Tuesday in the title. (Tuesday comes from Tiw’s Day, the Norse God of War, which of course was Martial in nature. You prolly knew that.) There’s also a connection to Fall, leaves falling, the season changing, and although I’m going to miss Summer, I’m finding things about this season that I’d forgotten about, and that I like.
Like Tiw’s Day. It’s Tiw’s Day, Mars Day, and I’m ready for some action. Mars plays an important role with Saturn in the Goetia, and I had a strange apocalyptic dream the other night that I’m beginning to suspect was a Goetic spirit trying to get my attention. The build-up of whatever’s trying to get my attention is getting so thick I can feel it in the air around me. It’s almost like a frustration, but it’s like a palm’s width outside of my body.
