FaceBook folks know I’ve lost 50 pounds since last September, and I’m pretty happy about it. I figure I should mention it here for posterity’s sake.

It all started last July when my now-ex-wife and I split up. I weighed over 225 pounds at the time. The night I left her, I went to a Motel 6. My hotel room was on the third floor, and there was no elevator. The first weekend there I ran up and down the stairs a lot, and my caloric intake dropped drastically. In fact, it consisted primarily of Tullamore Dew. I managed to lose a few pounds there right away.

A couple weeks later, I was in an efficiency apartment, down a very few pounds, and while I had lost some weight, I was still eating like crap, drinking a fifth of whiskey every two or three days, and avoiding exercise because I had some really bad experiences with it.

Specifically, I went to the gym, got on an elliptical, and within a couple of minutes had nearly died. I hadn’t done any cardio in years, and years, and then some more years. It sucked. It sucked hard.

August, 2012… Fuck the Eliptical

So my approach wasn’t very organized at all. I was losing some weight because I wasn’t really eating, but I wasn’t moving at all either, and I wasn’t very happy. Over the last 12 years, I had packed on weight every time my ex did, because why not? She was overweight, and I kind of didn’t give a shit what I looked like. There was a lot of psychic damage there on my part that I hadn’t even noticed while I was in that relationship.

When I left and got seriously focused on my Work, I found myself unable to really look at myself in the mirror for long. When I did, it was only for the briefest of moments, and never at the whole of me all at once. Ye gods. The trauma.

Das Me, 24 September, 2012

Eventually, I met someone who was able to help me see there were better ways to live than what I was doing at the time. I went on what I called the “Babalon diet,” and in a couple of weeks had dropped from 222 to 219. Not bad, not difficult, and for the first time in forever I felt really good about the idea of losing weight. It wasn’t a bummer. It sounded fine. I was single, had just met a beautiful woman who lived on the beach, and damn, I wanted to look good with her come Spring.

So I started working out. Almost every day. The first week I managed to burn 125 calories a day, I think, without killing myself. It took me about 20 minutes to burn that many. The first day, it about fucking killed me. The second was immediately better. By the third day, I was having a whole lot of fun. I had discovered that working out got be really stoned after fifteen minutes or so. The next week I increased the difficulty and duration of my workouts, and I started to see some chartable progress. I kept up the basic pace, ate sensibly, started to lose some weight. I kept track, and this was my first month:

Up and down daily, but overall down 6.6 pounds at the end of the month. Not really drastic, but though I hadn’t lost a lot of weight overall, I had lost visible inches, and I felt pretty good about myself. I kept going, and started experimenting more with my diet and exercise patterns, and it paid off. I wasn’t losing a lot of weight quickly, but I started melting. Slowly, but surely.

October 2012, RO at Crucible Suit’s Starting to Get Too Big

After the first month or so, I started increasing the amount of my exercise. I went from 30 minutes of cardio to 45, and then to a full hour. And I started using the weight machines at my local YMCA. We had a really good set of machines there. I liked them a lot. I kept losing weight, and ate less, and drank, well… as often, but in less quantities. And the weight kept coming off.

November 2012, taken on a visit to Atlanta

And I looked better, felt better, and kept enjoying the scale more and more…

And the mirror more and more…

January, 2013

The next few months passed, and my weight loss decreased. I went from the machines to free weights, and bro, I even lift. I cut back form the hour of cardio a day as I started increasing my larger muscle mass, and I do a half hour now, three times a week usually, and we go on long walks on the beach and swim on the days it isn’t raining.

We modified the diet a bit, and then we modified it again. We’re tweaking our intake and recipes regularly. I outlined a weight loss booklet that I plan on e-publishing for a while, and eventually will include in the overall Applied Hermetics book I have planned. That will have a list of the foods we eat, and the exercise I’ve done to end up where I’m at today.

This morning when I weighed myself, I was at 171, down over 50 pounds from the 225 pounds I weighed when I began. I look better, I feel better, I’d last longer than a minute in a zombie apocalypse.

I’m not where I want to be yet. My initial target was 175 pounds, and when I started geting close I realized I hadn’t really had any idea what I would look like at 175. I am now aiming for 160-165, and I’m focusing on sculpting my body shape now with targeted workouts rather than just melting off the outer layers of fat. It’s fun. I look in the mirror and see new muscles changing the way I look, and I’m all smiles. It’s kind of funny, and a lot of fun.

So… the magic part…

I didn’t do much magic to lose this weight. I did some, early on, but not a lot. There are no Hermetic Rites of Awesome Magical Weight Loss I’m going to sell anyone, because honestly, I’d be lying to you if I said that’s what did it for me.

Nevertheless, my weight loss is entirely the result of the magic I was doing at the beginning, and have continued to do to this day. I did magic to  pursue the Kingdom of God, here on Earth. I went through the spheres on a hard core quest to eliminate all that stood between me and my Source, me and my full potential as a human being. I was after blood, and lust, and life, and above all else, the JOY of existence. I went through every heaven, and returned to the Earth in power! I created my world as I saw fit.

And the weight loss… that was a part of it, but mostly a side effect of me learning what it means to be a creator god, made in the image of god, immortal soul of awesome power and potential in a mortal form capable of amazing and intense pleasures. The weight loss is an expression of my happiness, my joy.

I put together a set of pics of myself changing since last August, except for February because I apparently deleted all the pic of me from that month. The first was taken my first week after I left my ex. The last was taken a week or so ago, but is how I look today. I lost a half a pound since then, but yeah, das me today. You’ll note I got rid of the hipster glasses, but don’t worry, I discovered the hipster filter on my phone’s camera…

It’s been an amazing transformation for me, and the outer form I wear is totally reflective of the effectiveness of the stuff I do.

Success. Proof.

Do magic.

Hell yeah, Advanced Planetary Magic!

So the other day, Jason says he’s got his final draft ready for his Planetary Magic chapbook. He’s pinged me about it off and on over the last few months as he wrestled through some of the tougher parts, and I’ve been really curious about the final outcome. I understood his approach intellectually, but I wasn’t sure how it would turn out in practice.

It turned out fantastic.

What this book provides is a set of nuanced applications of each of the planetary spheres that it takes magi working directly with the planetary forces years to get to when working with each individual planet.

That’s a short sentence, really. Read it again for emphasis. Think about it.

In my Modern Angelic Grimoire, I provide the means to conjure up the seven archangels of the planets and to ask for initiation into each of the spheres. In the Gates Series, I provided the means to tap into the forces of the planets to establish and maintain your personal kingdom. These approaches provide realy powerful methods of empowerment that pave the way for the development of a very subtle and nuanced ability to work with the forces of each of the planets to influence your personal reality.

What Jason provides in his chapbook is a comprehensive method of tapping into the more subtle frces of the planetary powers without necessarily having gone through each of the planetary initiation processes. While it doesn’t take the place of the deeper planetary sphere work, it definitely provides an effective method to access the more advanced results without having finished all the work yourself. It also provides insight into the potential of each of the planetary spheres that you don’t necessarily think about until you’ve worked with them for a while. This book is, quite frankly, the cliff’s notes of a master.

At the end of the book, Jason expresses his hesitancy in claiming the word “Advanced” in the title. It demonstrates his inherent modesty, which I fortunately do not share. This booklet truly deserves the word “Advanced” in every sense. As he always does, Jason has gone deep into the applicability of the magic he discusses and returned with a system and methodology that lets the reader utilize his insight, experience and initiation into the spheres in a way that they may not yet have actually earned on their own. It demonstrates not only the more advanced nuances you can use with planetary magic, but it puts them into practical real life situations that give you the opportunity to use the various aspects of each planet in your daily life situations.

If you’re a student of any of my courses, I can’t recommend this enough to you. It takes things that we can only hint about in the discussions of each individual sphere and teaches you how to take those hints and use them in daily practice. The methodology is direct, relatively simple, and damned effective. Go buy it and read it. RUN, DO NOT WALK.

It’s incredible.

Muahahahahaha!

Back when Hurricane Sandy was barreling towards the East Coast, hell bent on destroying Jersey, I was in Baltimore. She passed over me on October 29, 2012, and around 6:00 PM Eastern, at the height of the storm, I was out on my deck conjuring up the forces of the lightning, thunder and rain, flexing my Gents-for-Jupiter-trained Jovial muscles to play with the storm… and to try a fun witchy experiment: Tying up the storm in knots.

I carefully bound the forces of hurricane Sandy, two knots on one end, three on the other for a total of five knots, in five strips. As I bound the forces into the strips of cloth, I chanted and prayed, calling on the Forces of Jupiter and the powers of Chaos Sandy represented and manifested through Our Lady Eris. I wove the forces into the talismans, explaining to them that when they were released, they would release the full forces of the storm into whatever result the unbinding magician might desire.

Then I tied them together into a cat o’ five tails, put them away, and promptly forgot all about them.

Last Tuesday, Harper Feist, author of the Adyton of Pythia blog, was telling me about her concern for the dryness in her home state of Colorado and the threat of fires to her friends, family, and land that she loves. I lived in Denver in my teens and early twenties and still consider it home, no matter where I end up. You can imagine I was concerned when she brought it up.

Later that day, Frater Ashen Chassan F∴N∴F, a fellow Gent for Jupiter and author of the blog A Magician’s Workings, posted a request for prayers for rain and the movement of lots of water in his home state of Colorado, and I quipped, “Too bad we don’t know any rain gods!”

The next day it occured to me I could send him one of the strips of cloth (which I still need to do, note to self), and then on Thursday afternoon it occured to me that hey, it’s Thursday, Harper and I and Frater Ashen are all Gents, we should just do a combined rite together to bring rain. Also, Frater Ashen is the one who made my ebony Trithemian wand, so I had an easy way to link the magic I did to his efforts. Harper and I also share a bond with Colorado that would draw us into affinity in this work, and it seemed that we could pull off a pretty powerful rite working together in harmony.

And then there were Four

I floated it by her, Harper agreed, and so we arranged group rite.

I was in Baltimore visiting my kids at the time, and so the Planetary hour rolled around my part of the world first. I performed the Gates rite, conjuring Tzadqiel and speaking the Orphic Hymn, and then I put my own part of the plan into action.

I had decided to work with one of the strips from the storm, releasing the forces contained into the manifestation of massive amounts of moisture into the air above Colorado. I wanted the moisture in the air to move where it was most needed, and so conjured Paimon, Elemental King of the Air to direct the forces released.

I asked Tzadqiel to oversee and administer the forces of the rite to ensure no one was harmed as a result of the Work, to aid Paimon in directing the forces of the storm, and to weave together the combined rites of Harper in Florida and Frater Ashen in Colorado. As I spoke the words weaving together the magic of my rite, the rite of Harper, the rite of Frater Ashen, the forces of the current of the Gents for Jupiter, and the spirits we each worked with to bring the desired result in harmony and grace, I saw the forces we conjured pooling over an image of the map of Colorado, and flowing into the atmosphere to bring about the requested results.

I’ll let them tell their stories themselves, but the next day Frater Ashen posted that it was raining in Colorado. Harper found an article about a surprise rain shower and the increased humidity aiding the hard working fire fighters in containing the fires that had threatened her home and her people. I was totally thrilled.

I don’t do weather magic often because I think it’s dangerous for ignorant people to mess with things like climate. Incarnate humans don’t have a very good track record when it comes to impacting the climate. It was the series of coincidental references to the need for rain, the convenient magical links we shared, and the presence of a storm in a strip of cloth that convinced me this would be ok.

Also… I really wanted to see what happened with those knots. I’m in Florida during hurricane season now, and will have many opportunities to get some more storms in knots over the next couple of years, so… yeah. I really appreciated the opportunity to test it out.

What with one thing and another this week, I have totally forgotten to update my blog with this very important information…

So a friend/colleague asked something about the blessing through the web tech, and since it’s been a LONG ASS TIME since I posted anything particularly useful, I thought I’d share how I’m handling this.

This is not “internet magic.” This is web-distributed communication of an event, but it’s still just regular old human Event Management. I’m blessing all who participate in a specific event, the voting process on a web site. It’s not a new phenomenon at all. All prescribed sacrifice/offering systems going back to the shamans and the animal totem spirits of our most ancient ancestors operated on the same principles, basically. The web part of this is just the latest way of organizing it.

So to practically manage this one, I generate a chart of the moment I posted the first notice to the web. Then I get the name of the Genius of that chart, and make a lamen for it (paper, cause I can print up the template and write in its name). I do the standard conjure routine:

• Asperges me
• Consecrate space/rite/fire/stone
• Conjuration of HGA
• Conjuration of Tzadqiel
• Conjuration of Genius
• Statement of Intent
• License to Depart

The Statement of Intent is where I explain I’m asking for Tzadqiel to assign an angel to bless the people who participate in this event, and to Work with the Genius of the moment to coordinate and distribute the blessings.

Pretty straight forward stuff.

Hi there! Weird request time, something I haven’t done before and won’t do again. And it’s tied into the Erisian thing.

Ok… so… a friend of mine is in a contest to win the status as the “Biggest Rush Fan” from some stupid radio contest. I think it’s stupid. Rush? I mean, they’re alright… but … Biggest Fan? Whatever.

Regardless of my opinion of his taste in music, I’d really like to get him up to the top of the list. He helped me out a lot before he even knew I existed by putting hyperdiscordia online in the 90s. It would be fucking awesome if we could push him up over the top.

So please take the time to vote for Chris R. at the link below:

http://www.q1043.com/c/?3a

I’ll set up a Jupiter blessing for anyone who votes for him every day for the next six days, something specifically tied to wealth, prosperity, happiness, and joy. It’s free Jupiter blessings for clicking a button on a web page from a founding Frater of the G4J.

Hey folks, Mike Cecchetelli is running a special on his magical materia (talismans, etc.) at the moment, and the proceeds go to beneifit rescue animals. He originally was doing it for 48 hours, but he’s extended the deadline until he hits his target goal. That means you’ve got a chance to place your orders now and benefit from his awesome items. If you hurry.

Of course, you and about a thousand of your occult-item-buying friends are reading this… so hop on it while you can…

Well! Time for a public administrative post to get my shit in gear and provide a little crowd-based self motivation.

Ok then. Things have been hectic. They are still hectic, but they are getting calmed down a bit. I will be back to ye olde regular bloggery soon. Private life issues get all ironed out and finalized over the next month or so.

Business projects continue apace. I am way behind on Hermetic Diagnoses, and getting those caught up is my first order of business. After that, I’ll be pushing out the Planetary Magical Boot camp, formerly known as Seven Spheres in Seven Days. Then I’ll finish the Love Magic book I had HOPED to have ready by Valentine’s day. Heh, that didn’t happen.

And starting in June, I’ll be pumping out those 4th Seal of Jupiter Talismans from the Key of Solomon. There’s still plenty of time to pre-order those. I have almost everything I need to do this lost-wax casting style. I’m very excited.

I had to drop out of the Starfire appearance due to kid-summer-visitation time constraints that I couldn’t anticipate. I’ll be doing some kind of Angel Magic presentation at Azul Nox and something else at Thelesis soon too, though dates have yet to be scheduled.

I think I have a talk show coming up with Gnostic NYC again sometime soon too. That was a lot of fun, I’m looking forward to doing it again.

And then in October, I’ll be speaking at Crucible! I’m very excited. If things go well, I’ll be ready to kick off the ROpocalypse in a major way this October. That will take a lot of work though, and it might not beuntil later on. One never knows though, I happen to be in the miracle business.

Much love, brothers and sisters, much love!

Frater Ashen and Nephilim Press have announced that his book recording his Work with the Trithemian Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals is now available!

He went through the original text and carefully recreated the equipment required to specifications, and then performed the angelic conjurations. It’s definitely an interesting read, and you should totally check it out if you’ve read my Modern Angelic Grimoire or Planetary Gates series. It shows another magician’s take on a text that will be familiar to you, and how others interpret the work.

The meticulous work he puts into crafting his tools alone is worth the price of this book. I use an ebony wand he created for me, and it’s got a really nice kick to it. Seeing the attention to detail he puts into his tools is inspiring.

I also liked seeing his descriptions of his experiences with the Archangels. He’s the kind of magician who has to see the spirits in all their glory to feel like he’s getting the results the grimoires promise. It’s neat to see the parallels, the similarities, and the differences in how they manifest when we conjure them. It’s definitely a good resource for magicians using this system.