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Hey everyone, I am no longer offering the Hermetic Diagnosis service. It takes too long, and most of you already know what they’re going to say, honestly. You rock, and you should do more magic. That shit that’s bothering you will go away as soon as you change the things that caused it and maintain it. Do more magic. Make the small changes that are easy and see if they help, if not make the larger ones. Leave the person who makes you feel bad about yourself. Ask the person you like out on a date. Do more magic. You’re probably right about what you want, and if not you’ll figure it out faster trying to get it than you will wondering if you should try or not.

And do more magic.

There you go, all wraped up in a nutshell.

Defense.

(See: Mars)

As she mentions in her latest blog post (Shabbatai!), Harper and I performed a Saturn rite this weekend. It went really well, and she outlines the steps we went through for the conjuration, so I’ll try not to repeat too much.

My experiences were very much in keeping with hers. I saw an old man’s face in the crystal when we conjured Tzaphqiel, and he just sat there staring at us. There wasn’t a lot of interaction, the way there usually is. Harper is often filled with the Spirits we summon, and the conjurations can get really intense. Having a standy-offey spirit was sort of weird in comparison to our usual experiences.

I should note that we conjured Tzaphqiel instead of Cassiel. I’ve been working with the names of the aRchangels from the Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals for a few months, because I liked them. I wanted to switch to Tzaphqiel because I’ve been … ahem, I’ve been studying KBL and doing Golden Dawn derived rites lately. It’s been pretty cool, all things considered, but that’s another post.

Anyway, we went for Tzaphqiel instead of Cassiel this time, and I thought it would be pretty much the same experience, the way Tzadqiel and Sachiel tend to be pretty much the same. It was not. Cassiel fills the room all heavy and dense. He is FATE on site when he comes. He is full and present and expectant, and he fills me with an awareness of his presence. Tzaphqiel was less intense, and a hella lot more observant. Expectant. Tight-lipped and sealed. I felt like I had to do the talking. Which was actually ok, but I didn’t understand what was up until later.

Harper did some research afterwards and found several parallels between our experiences with Tzaphqiel and those of other folks. The common theme in descriptions of this Archangel in modern literature revolves around the word “watcher,” with the emphasis being on the things Tzaphqiel observes coming down from the unmanifest to the manifest, and vice-versa. So seeing a face of a hoary old man looking at me intently makes perfect sense. I felt observed.

So I went into the statement of intent:

“Open us now to hear (+), and to receive (+) and to express (+) the accumulated wisdom of your sphere as we need it in these temporary lives. Make us fit vessels to bear the Wisdom of Jehovah Elohim, make us wise in your ways, yea make us wise in your ways.”

The (+) indicates making the sign of the cross, specifically over the wine that became a eucharistic sacrament we later consumed.

Then I saw a young face superimposed over a dead face, a lot like the Anatomy Occultus face I referenced the other day.* I saw that face obscured by scintilating glimmering web-like occlusions in the crystal, and then I saw those fade away, revealing the face again. I understood without hearing a word that what I was seeing was the means to attain that which I desired.

Saturn is the first sphere through which an Idea passes on its way to manifestation in the Hermetic cosmology. It’s also the last sphere things pass through as they return to the unmanifest as they fade from this world into the experience of the Source of all. In this sphere can be found the wisdom of all that has ever been intended, and the experience of all that has ever happened, all that ever was, all that is, and all that is to come. ALL of it. All the time. In all the times.

So that’s what I wanted to be able to tap at will. And that’s what I saw. To get there, remember that we are the was/is, the youth-in-death and death-in-youth, be in touch with that mortal-immortal selfness, remember clearly that we are immortal gods made flesh for the sake of love and the experience of our lives, recall and reclaim our essential nature, and that wisdom is ours for the taking. Just get past the glimmery glinty shit that gets in the way, tune out the bright shiney, and focus on the essential nature of ourselves-in-toto, us perfectly manifesting for the pleasure of it all.

And then we’ll simply know.

After the rite, we went to bed, and I woke up fucking freezing. Like ice. My extremities were extremely cold. feet and hands, and I couldn’t warm up, even though it was in the 60s outside, and warmer inside. Took a hot shower to get the chill driven out completely.

That passed, but I’ve been feeling the forces integrating into my sphere eer since. I dreamed of being eternal, like Doctor Who, and saw specifically how the things I spent my time on changed immediately from mundane to epic. Because when you live forever, you have time to do whatever the fuck you want. I found myself restructuring my personal time, scheduling workouts, daily practie, meditation, LRPs, LRHs, fucking journaling, and my new day-job work, and the things I can do to get to the stuff that makes me happy. Effiiency, effective spending of the currency of our times upon the Earth.

And tapping into all that, it’s really a simple thing, it’s turning the attention inward and upward, seeing past the illusion of both, and being what we are. Lifting the “veil” of all the things we get wrapped up with on a daily basis, and seeing that simple truth of who we really are underneath, and why we’re here.

And yeah, it’s something we can do, any time we want to.

Just remember who you are.

Any time you want to.

* The sales of that image have raised over $700 for Dove and Serpent Oasis in less than a week. You guys ROCK!

Today I was ever so pleased to receive a long-awaited piece from a fellow Mage and artist by the name of Chuk Vinson. He put together a print called “Anatomy Occultus: A Study of the Tree of Life” as both a magical study of the ToL and Adam Kadmon, but also as a means to raise funds for his local lodge (Dove and Serpent, Atlanta).

(Yeah, and it’s that shirt.)

Hey folks, a lot of people are interested in the Venus Talismans, and someone asked me in email if they would arrive by Valentine’s Day. The answer is yes, of course, as long as you order them far enough in advance, I can ship them overnight as long as you’re willing to pay the shipping… but that doesn’t mean you get your lover by then.

These things, like all magic, take time to work, and there are variables involved.* Most of the magic I do takes about two weeks to manifest. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but on average a couple weeks. Some people have said that’s really good, but based on recent experiences, I think there are ways to make it even more immediate, with, ahem, practice.

More on that in posts to come.

Anyway, if you’re looking for love by Valentine’s Day, sooner is a better time than later to get your talisman and start directing the, uh, ahem… ‘spirits’ to manifest your desires.

I’m enjoying making these a whole lot. Being a Taurus, I have a special relationship with my Lady and her spirits. Fridays have become the busiest talisman making day of the week lately, and I’m able to pump out about three per Venus hour now, with all the practice I’ve gotten lately. I get all pumped up on Venus energy in the process, and then hit the post office to mail the talismans out.

The results are … tangible. Although I am in a relationship that fulfills me in every way, it’s still nice to be hit on when I stop at the liquor store to pick up beer and bourbon on the way home from the post office on Friday afternoons. That kind of thing never happened to me before. I’m more the nerdy shy guy in real life than anything else, but there’s something different when you’re pumping the Venus forces into the world at large. It sort of changes you, makes you more aware of body language, poise, tones of voice. It’s like a “knowing and being known” feeling overtakes the normal reticence. Very cool.

Anyway, I still haven’t bothered with setting up the web page, so you get the same purchasing options below that you had in the last post about this stuff. Past that are the usage instructions, in text form, that I’m sending out with the talismans.

Purchasing:

Use the Buy Now option below to select the talisman you’d like to order:

Using the Talismans


I’ve developed a couple methods of working with the 4th Pentacle of Venus (Come to Me!) talismans, mostly because these are selling more than any others, of freaking course.

Method 1 is pretty simple, Method 2 is a little more Hermetic-Magic-ey.

Method 1:

Take a picture of the person you want to come to you, and place it on a table. Place the talisman over the image, with the 4th pentacle side (with the square design on it) facing up. Light seven green candles in a circle around the talisman and photo, and speak the names of the spirits (Achelia, Nogaliel, Nangariel, and Jocodia), and say “By your names and the seals of these Pentacles, I call you. Receive this offering of fire, and bring to me [Name of person], draw (her/him) to me, bring them to me in love and desire, let them have no rest until they contact me, bring them to me now.” Picture the person you want the whole time you’re saying this. Let the candles burn all the way out, if possible (I use tea-lite sized candles for this kind of thing because they burn out in a relatively short period of time). This method can take a couple of weeks to get the result. If you don’t have the result in a couple of weeks, do it again.

* Note some people are reporting instant results, but some people are lucky assholes. 😀

“Get from Goal setting to Doing” -Jason Miller

Ok, so I’ve got to admit I’m bored writing the “analyze your life and then make a plan and then implement the plan” posts. I think it’s helpful, it’s a really useful system for folks who like to make plans and shit, like myself, and it’s a wonderful organizational tool to help you figure out what comes next.

Jason Miller wrote an awesome post on it this year, a follow up to a video he posted last year, and it’s really awesome and covers just about everything I’d like to say anyway. So, go read it, because it’s exactly the kind of balanced motivational thing that puts you in the right frame of mind for getting your ass in gear and making your life better, and it provides a perfect segue to what I REALLY want to talk about instead…

You know how he says the next thing is to do what you’ve planned? So true. Riffing off that, I’m going to get back to some really basic basics for magicians, and get a little philosophical and a little deep in the analysis of what it is we do as magicians, and why we do it, and how we can do it better.

There are a lot of people into magic(k) for self improvement, and while there’s a lot to be said about how the magic(k)al framework provides a good framework through which you can attain knowledge and understanding of the practical application of the mystical fact that you are, in fact, a living and breathing incarnated deity, I’d like to focus on a different motivational reason to learn to use magic, to gain initiations, wisdom, understanding, and attainment:

To be able to cheat like bastards. To stack the deck in our favor. To have an ace in the hole, to have friends in high places pulling strings to our benefit, to bea ble to get stuff we want more easily than anyone else.

Hermes Plays Scrabble

Yes, you should be making a plan, and yes, you should be activating that plan as soon as humanly possible. Yes! YES YES YES!

But magician, fuckin’ cheat. Use the power you have at your disposal, take authority over shit, make offerings, use talismans, conjure spirits, make offerings to gods, join a cult dedicated to the mysteries of manifesting wealth and power and blessing for your personal enjoyment, do the things we know how to do that make things happen the way we want for our benefit. Identify your key milestones in your plan, your main goals, and conjure the fuck out of it.

And let’s be completely frank… Most people want money, and after they have as much of that as they need, they want someone to spend it with. Preferably someone they can also fuck. Don’t feel bad if your primary goals involve money and being alone.

Tangent: You know, the mystical goals of magic(k) can also be said to be directly related to wealth and loneliness too. The main goal of reuniting with the divine Source of all is because we’re unhappy with the material world, because we’re broke and lonely. Or even worse, wealthy and in one or more otherwise healthy relationships, and still feeling unsatisfied and alone. The point of the personal transformation that takes place as a result of accomplishing the Great Work can be argued to be the attainment of the wisdom, awareness, understanding, and power that makes it possible to truly enjoy your life.

Money and sex might not provide the end state, it’s true, but it does afford you the opportunity to truly understand their role in the creation and experience of joy. Joy can’t be bought, or ever received from another person, it’s got to come from you. That’s a for real true fact that can’t be dodged, denied, or avoided, you *will* learn that sooner or later, I guarantee.

But even after learning it, I gotta say… money and sex are still my favorite means of expressing my personal joy. It’s fun. Neither are the point, both are modes and methods of expressing something beyond either, and there are plenty of other ways to get to the joy, for sure.

They’re just my faves.

Back to the main point: CHEAT.

I decided to change the direction my life was going a couple weeks ago. I had been living off my occult business, which was technically doing pretty well, but I wasn’t really happy. I was making what I needed, my growth was on track, about what I expected, and I could see that in a year I’d be where I wanted to be… but I could also get there faster, and have more fun in the process, if I did things differently. So I decided what I wanted to do instead, and did some magic, and tomorrow I start a new job doing what I did before, making more money.

I used my skills and talents, the power I’ve attained, I worked with the spirits I have established relatioships with, and I changed my life. I cheated, as it were, I stacked the deck, I worked with the forces that manifest reality to create an opportunity that was to my benefit.

I don’t REALLY think it’s cheating, by the way. I think it’s just using the resources we have available. We can’t do anything we aren’t allowed to do in magic. We can’t even consistently make everything happen exactly how we want. There are limits, there are unforeseeable consequences, there are unexpected results, and there are ways to use all that to your advantage when you get the knack.

But you can’t REALLY cheat. It only looks like cheating to people who make plans and do things, and only have their own efforts working for them in life.

You know more, you have better access to the kinds of things that will help you win. Make talismans, conjure spirits, get money, find a relationship, do what it takes, follow through on your magic, of course, but use it!

Ahem, and if you’re not comfortable with your own abilities, hire that shit done by others. I sell Business Booster rites to people that double and quadruple their revenues. I sell talismans that blow open the floodgates of opportunity for people to get wealthy. The Key of Solomon Talismans can help you attain more profitable knowledge and understanding and expand your skill sets, they can create opportunities for great wealth, get you the favor of people in high places, and bring you into relationships with the partner of your dreams.

But you don’t need to buy that stuff, you can learn to do it yourself. I have courses, Jason Miller has courses, you can take these and learn the secrets yourself, go through the Work and become the Magus who creates as they speak.

Or do both, buy talismans and magical services you can’t do, and use the resulting release of stress and pressure to take the time to take the courses. Because you can.

Resources:

Jason Miller’s courses in Strategic Sorcery are a great and comprehensive approach to understanding and applying the principles of practical, effective magic. To join, write to him at inominandum@gmail.cominominandum@gmail.com and ask for a Strategic Sorcery Course information packet.

The Red Work Series of Courses – This is my set of courses that take you through the process of the Great Work I’ve used. It’s based entirely on traditional Hermetics (the kind from the Corpus Hermeticum, not the stuff attributed to it after 1799 AD), the Greek Magial Papyri, and the Three Books of Occult Philosophy. I found in the belief system of Hermetics some truly amazing and empowering things, and I’ve been able to successfully pass on the information and techniques that have transformed my life.

Talismans and Magical Services – I need to update my web site. I’ve stopped offering the personal services and hermetic diagnoses, because they were just not as much fun to do as I thought they would be. But I’m still selling the Key of Solomon Talismans, because they fucking rock out loud, and I also offer services based on the talismans. For a full description of the talismans, see THIS POST.

I’ll put this on a web site eventually, but for now, you can only buy these here on my blog:

Purchasing:

Use the Buy Now option below to select the talisman you’d like to order:

Key of Solomon Operations on Your Behalf

If you’re looking for a short-term influx of the forces represented by the talismans, I have a full set that I can use on your behalf. The results will not be as impressive, or as effective as if you buy the actual physical talismans, of course, but it’s a useful solution for people going through conflicts, dealing with love issues, or who need a boost in being able to see spirits. It doesn’t work with all the talismans, of course. You need to actually apply the Disease Destroyer talisman to the afflicted part of the body, for example, and the King Maker talisman… well, it definitely needs to be operating physically in your sphere to reap the full benefits. The things I think will work without purchasing the talisman itself can be purchased below, but bear in mind for the full effect in the long term, you’ll need the talisman.

So it’s the new year, 2014, and I’ve been writing some posts about getting your shit together and figuring out who you are and what you want this year, mostly because I figured it would be on your mind anyway, and this is the kind of thing I like to do, really.

But it occurs to me that we do this every year, and that it’s sort of rote and rhythmical. There’s nothing wrong with that, humans have done things cyclically for fuckin’ ever. Going through the New Year Resolution pattern is as much a ritual for us as anything else, and that’s great.

But chances are, you know the drill. If you don’t, there are plenty of folks writing inspirational stuff, presenting new life hacks, setting schedules for getting things done. That’s important stuff to do, too. I have a “Make Plans” blog post coming up soon, too, I bet. Because that’s sort of where I was going with the inventory and theme posts, and it’s worth repeating this stuff as reminders.

But before I get on with that, I thought I’d take a minute to point out that there’s no rush to get all this stuff done. It’s January 2nd. If you’ve already mapped out your New Year New You, and you’re already hitting the gym and eating less and signing up for that certification program at the community college, or researching other career fields that combine your interests and your experiences in line with the theme you found in your life, great! Good on ‘ya!

But if you haven’t yet… That’s also cool. The thing about being god is you can do whatever you want, whenever you want to. I don’t know about you, but most of the times I’ve made a big production out of changing everything about my life, I made it a couple weeks and quit. The times I’ve just sort of decided I wanted to be different, without a lot of fanfare, the changes have stuck with me. Maybe short-term projects need a lot of fanfare to get things going, and maybe the longer term changes to your lifestyle don’t, because they are deeper and more meaningful, and don’t need all that bluster and steam to get things going.

I don’t know, honestly.

But I don’t want any of my readers to get all fired up about making a big change in their lives, and then two weeks later feel like shit when they miss an improbable goal they exuberantly identified as a key milestone in their planning process. Feeling like shit is bad, mmkay?

Take some time, look at your inventory of skills, think about the theme of your life, and figure out who you are, and what makes you really happy in your life. Then look for ways to do that more … but spend time thinking it through. It’s better to start implementing meaningful change things in your life in February in a way that works than to start some over-thought huge-ass project exactly on January 1, 2014 that has fails by January 12, 2014.

You’re an image of god, you can do what you want whenever you want to. Take your time to figure out what you really want before you go jumping in on everything big. You didn’t get where you’re at overnight, and chances are, you won’t change everything overnight either. Jumping on bandwagons is no more effective in real life than it is at MLM or Ponzi schemes.

Don’t change your life just because it’s the New Year. Change your life because you want it to be better.

Whatever that means.

When you take an inventory of your skills and experiences, you may discover an emergent theme that points you to something about yourself. I can look back over my life going back as far as I can recall and see the man I am today getting shaped and formed.

I liked to be on stage in high school, but always in a supporting role. I wasn’t the lead, they had too many lines. I was there to make the lead look good. I was the assistant manager at my fast food job, and later when I was the kitchen manager at a bar and grill, the role was still subordinate to the general manager. In my first and second marriages, I was the sole provider, but let my wives decide what they wanted to spend the money on. When I parent my kids, I tell them how to have a good time, explaining the ways that “bad behavior” isn’t fun, and letting them figure out what  they’d like to do instead. In my private practice, I like to tell people how to empower themselves, and let them figure out what they want to do as a result. In the Great Work, I like to create the Stone, and then project it into the world to heal the sick, bring wealth to the poor, and to set the captives free.

I’m a facilitator. I get my pleasure from the provision of the things people need to be happy. I had to learn some hard lessons about that, mainly centered around not making my happiness be dependent on other people’s happiness. I had to learn that my happiness comes from the process of helping, rather than what other people do with what I provide. Because people will do what they want with what you give them, and you don’t get to tell people what to do or how to be happy. I had to learn to provide the things that helped me, and let others use them how they want, or not at all, without expectation. That was hard, and like I said, it took a few times before I learned my limits and how to focus on the things that I’m good at doing.

So when you’ve taken a look at your skills and talents and experiences, see if you can find an emergent theme. What roles were you really good at? What roles did you enjoy the most in your life? What was it about those roles that made you so happy? Figure that out, and you’ll learn something about yourself and what makes you tick. Pay close attention to your successes in life, the things you do really well.

Those are the clues that will help you understand who you are, and what you do. Armed with that knowledge, you’ll find yourself creating things with ease and aplomb, and the challenges you face will be the kind that are fun to solve instead of frustrating and annoying.

This thing we do, or things, in between our first and final breaths is the one true essence of the sacred upon the Earth. There is none more holy than the one who acts to create their world, and no thing of greater beauty than that which arises from the work of their hands. Aspirations achieved and imaginations manifest for the enlightenment and enjoyment of the world.

Hey there, you post-Christmas stoned folks! Hope your holidays were great and you’re turning your attention to the coming year. For those of us who like to plan things out, this coming week is a great time to figure out where you are in life, where you want to be, and what it’s going to take to get you there. It’s a time to get your poop in a group, get rid of the shit you don’t need, and make room for the shit you do need.

But first, you need to have an idea of what you’ve got already. Take some time this week to take an inventory of your life. List the resources you have at hand to make things happen the way you want. Take a look at your budget, your income, expenses, responsibilities and luxuries. Take a look at your bank records and see what you’ve spent your money on for the last three months.

Don’t stop there!

How’s your health? Can you touch your toes and your nose without falling over backwards? (Christmas morning, I could ot, but there was alcohol involved.) Look in your fridge and cabinets. What kind of foods do you eat? Lots of processed stuff, or natural living things? How are your walking shoes? Worn out and in need of repair? Completely unused and in need of dusting?

How about your personal Work? Do you know who you are? Why you’re here? What you want to do with your life? Have you taken a look at yourself?

Try putting together a timeline of your life. List the things you’ve done, the roles you’ve had. Start as early or late as you’d like, in the last year, or going back to your child hood. Whatever. It’s your list, your life, your choice. But take a look at the things you’ve done, make a list of your skills, your experiences. Score the things you’ve done on a joyfulness scale. What things have you done that made you the most happy in your life? What things suck the worst?

List your stressors. Everything that makes you feel like shit.

List your sources of Joy. Everything that makes you smile.

List your goals, your dreams, your desires.

Spend a couple days on it, think about it, come back to it tomorrow and see what you think. You’ll be in a position to start looking at your plans for the new year in more detail. You’ll be able to identify things to create, and things to destroy. You’ll be ready to jump in and get started.

And we’ll talk about what that means next.

Joy to you and yours!