Rufus Opus

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  • Wet Cat’s Paws

    Art thou afeard
    To be the same in thine own act and valour
    As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
    Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,
    And live a coward in thine own esteem,
    Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’
    Like the poor cat i’ the adage?
    – Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 7

    Like the cat, fain fish wad ye eat,
    but ye are laith to weet your feet 
    -Scotch Proverb 

    Are you afraid to be the person you want to be? Are you afraid to go after what you really desire? Are you a cat wanting fish, but you don’t want to get your feet wet?

    I have been, often in my life. Obesity, bad relationships, terrible jobs… I put up with all kinds of shit that I didn’t like instead of trying to get something I wanted because it seemed too hard, too painful, or too uncomfortable to endure for the time it would take. There are things even now that I want, but do not try to achieve because I am not willing to go through the perceived discomfort involved in getting my desire.

    But here’s a thing I’ve noticed… Time passes whether or not you are doing what it takes to get what you want. It might take months to get to a target weight and physique, or it might take a year to go through divorce proceedings, or it might take years to get a degree, or months to get a certification, or 10 years to get the experience in a career field that makes you happy.

    But that time is going to pass regardless. At the end of that time, you will be somewhere, experiencing something. What you do between now and then will determine what you’re dealing with when the time comes.

    In August, will you have lost weight and be enjoying your awesome body, having become an inspiration to some and the envy of others? Next February, will you be celebrating being out of a miserable relationship on Valentines’ Day? In 2015, will you be getting your Associates degree?

    Or … not?

    There’s no promise that the cat will get the fish, but they will definitely have wet paws. There’s no guarantee that things will work out in your favor, even if you do the work that should lead to your desired success. There’s a risk that you will suffer, and still not have what you want. There is definitely a chance that we shall fail in our attainment, but if we fail? We fail! And what of it?

    We could be in a worse place, or we might be further away from our goals, or a million other possibilities. These are chances, real chances we take when we risk going after what we want. But there’s an absolute guarantee that you will still be obese, in a miserable relationship, or in a dead end job if you do nothing to change your life.

    And you know what? Fuck that.

  • Practical Magics Revisited

    Ok, so setting aside the man-godness for a bit, let’s focus on the good old fashioned practical magic that I have known and loved for so long.
    The Secret to Making Some Relationships Better

    I recently mused aloud on FB that I was running out of things to do magic about. I was talking specifically about the kind of major dramas that generally distract us from the things we’d rather be doing. For example, my divorce from my ex just got fast tracked, and will be finalized in a couple weeks rather than another six months. I had just done some magic towards that end last Saturday, and by Tuesday I was sitting across from my ex putting it all down on paper. Ex and I agreed on all the important bits, right down to the dollar amount of child support.
    Earlier today I got assigned a task at my bank job that will take a couple years to complete. That’s an unofficial contract extension, with the potential to turn into a permanent position. I’m also looking at my ROpocalypse implementation over the next 10 months. I have conferences and teaching gigs set up every month between now and November, I think. I have time now for the first time in months to focus on getting all caught up on my client Work, my open writing projects, and to lay the foundation for the next phase of writing projects.

    I’m also in the midst of some intense Great Work stuff. I’m learning to implement the 8th Sphere lessons in neat ways that include breathing techniques, visualizations, and … uh, empowerments. I’m working with the Universal Solvent, the Solution to all things that bother us, and also this embodiment of the connective Light that shines on all things. I’m learning to put a really cool ecstatic feeling into practical use, and it feels like coming home. All good things that I can’t talk about because I’m still learning, and don’t have enough data points or practical tech to share.

    So basically, I don’t have a lot left to deal with. Jason brought up in the comments on my FB post that I have service to others Work to do, and while I don’t talk about it, there are a lot of folks reading this right now who are intimately aware of the personal work I do on the behalf of the world. And there are a lot of you who don’t know how much I’ve done for you, and that’s fine. I don’t talk about it because I do it for non public reasons.
    He also mentioned ongoing financial needs. There is always a need for money for something. I’m good though. The magics I’ve done have set me up nicely, not just in terms of having plenty, but also in the skills and means to make more when necessary.
    The comments on the post from everyone were cool. You can tell a lot about people by where their attention turns when money is not an issue. One person suggested a harem of a hundred exotic women. I already am with the most amazing exotic woman ever. She’s worth a hundred harems. Another suggested crossing the abyss, which I had done the first year after K&CHGA.
    The name of this graphic is “Volcanic Bridges Across the Abyss”
    I took the Solar Road to Binah, M’Self

    The questions that were most interesting to me were about time. Those came from people interested in doing it themselves, or who’ve been doing it, and that rocks.

    How long did it take? I don’t know. 40-ish years of life, 20-plus years of occult study, 7-8 years of occult practice, and most recently,starting from scratch in August 2012. So, 5 months with a good framework in place.

    That’s what I think we should focus on. The basic occult framework necessary. 

    Money is the first thing that people think they need. Troubles? Throw money at it! Jupiter rites for the win! And they get money but still have problems.
    Love is a close second. This shit wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for that asshole/bitch/if I weren’t alone! Venus rites for the sexorz! And they get laid and still have problems.
    Basically, we ask for the wrong things. We don’t know what we need to fix the problems. We try to solve things additively rather than holistically. We try to fix problems we don’t understand.
    So the first thing we need is a better understanding. There are rites that bring wisdom and insight that are great for single issues, rites of the Sun and rites of Saturn. But your actual issues aren’t confined to a single sphere. Our lives are the manifestations of the seven spheres working together. Problems in your life are indicative of a general miasma more often than a single planet out of balance.
    So your basic occult practice should be focused on balancing and healing all your issues in each of the spheres. Gradually, not all at once. I weighed 220 when my ex and I split up. I packed on that weight one bite at a time for 12 years. I’ve lost 30 pounds of that in 5 months, which looks good, and feels even better. 
    But it’s not phenomenal. I still have another 20 pounds to go to get to my target weight. I found a way to shed almost a pound a day, if I eat certain foods and work out a specific amount, so I should be there by early March. It took me a while to get to this weight, and to figure out how my body responds to foods and exercises. Now it’s melting like butter in a pan.
    Your problems rarely come into being overnight. Why would we expect them to go away over night?
    I recommend seven spheres over five weeks. As you perform the conjurations of the spirits, their forces will stir up the things in your sphere that need work. Their presence will also heal you and empower you. It is the great work.
    As you do this work, you will find that you are getting smarter. You will see the sources of your issues more clearly. You will find ways to eliminate sources of suffering, freeing up space in your life and your attention to create opportunities for pleasurable experiences instead. You will learn to work with the forces of the planets in your own sphere to create awesome lives.
    This is the true power of magic to make your life better, to eliminate suffering, and to create opportunities for Joy. 
    In the Planetary Gates rites, I provide a simple set of rites to implement this process. I’m putting together a more streamlined process for a boot camp of sorts. Five weeks, seven spheres. More on that soon.

    But this kind of work is healthy. Like exercise, it can be uncomfortable at first, but it gets better quickly, and you get healthier. The more you do, the more you can do.
    And as you cycle through the spheres on a regular basis, you continue the process of refining yourself, cleaning yourself up, purifying yourself. You’re like a lens that focuses the light and projects it through (in both directions). Dirty lenses don’t focus as well, and the Work cleans that up nicely. The clearer you get, the better you can project your own inner light into the world, and the more you can enjoy the experience of the results of that projection as you walk it out in real time and space.

    This then is the best secret to successful practical magic to get you the financial and emotional stability you seek: do magic to be a better you. Not to be someone else’s idea of perfect, fuck that shit. Just do the magic that makes you an awesome you.

    That magic is the Great Work.

  • On Arguing On the Deity of Man

    I started research last night so I can present an actual coherent conversation about the deity of man. Jason’s comments on the guru trip post, and private discussion, and Facebook, and beamed into my head through the aethyrs have demonstrated that I have failed to make a clear and concise (or coherent) argument that clearly defines terms, postulates, theorem, or even a useful thesis statement. I’ve also been challenged to a formal debate on the subject in the Forum by a classically trained rhetoricist, my long time brother in the Work, Logan.

    So I started researching. I went back to my familiar resources, the divine pymander of the corpus hermeticum, and also the bible. Both have clear references to the divinity of man. Pymander explains we are gods who are in mortal flesh, of two natures, united for love.

    I liked that opening. It is my functional core model when it comes to magic, the Pymander. The dual nature of man is clearly stated. Later it talks about the path of ascension to become a power, what it looks like, and how it is performed. Demonstrating that process as the great work is pretty simple.

    Then I looked up what it says in the bible about the deity of man. John chapter 10, if you want to play along at home. I’m blogging on my phone from my bathtub this morning. I might paste quotes and links later, might not.

    Jesus is telling people that he is in the father and the father is in him. A basic occult statement, something we all get, kether is in malkuth and malkuth is in kether. As above, so below.

    The crowd was not just in disagreement, they were upset. Offended even. Pissed. They started stoning him. He says, wait what? You ate the food, you liked being healed, why are you now pissed?

    Because you are a blasphemer! they said.

    Wait wait wait, said Jesus. Look to the Scriptures! Doesn’t it say ‘haven’t I told you, ye are gods?’ That’s scripture, the same scripture you are claiming makes me a blasphemer. (He’s quoting psalms at them.) If the scriptures said men were gods when they received the word of god, how much more so would that make me a god when you experienced the miracles you have seen? If you don’t believe my words, judge me by my acts!

    And the crowd grew peaceful, thinking on his wisdom, and returned to learning from him.

    Lol! Not really. They kept trying to kill him so he was all, fuck this, and went home.

    This isn’t an easy topic to discuss. There are thoughts and ideas about it that are intractable. I don’t think I can change anyone’s mind, nor prove anything conclusively to a skeptic. I can demonstrate results and experience to those who will receive it, but I don’t expect to prove anything through the evidence of the senses either, or even by the success of others performing the same rites I performed. Some thoughts are too much.

    I haven’t decided whether to take a lesson from Jesus or not. Probably won’t. I’m the little brother who has to prove he can do it too.

    But I went back and looked up Alan Chapman. Jason keeps mentioning him as someone who claims enlightenment and then makes an ass out of himself.

    Funny thing is, reading his writings about attaining enlightenment, I totally know exactly what he’s going through. He used the wrong words to express his results, imo. He’s pathetic because he gets butthurt when the world doesn’t want to hear it.

    It’s easier to learn from Chapman’s mistakes than Jesus, for sure. Arguing about where I’m at in terms of state and stage has proven ineffective and counter productive.

    And really that isn’t even the point. It’s not about me. It’s about you. And joy. And happiness.

    So I will rise to the occasion in the Forum, in hopes that the rhetoric will result in a cohesive argument. It might even be fun.

    But going forward here, I’m going to try to just focus on letting results be proof. No promises that I will succeed, but I shall try.

  • To Witchdoctor Joe

    Which doctor? Witchdoctor Joe.

    A warm congratulations to Joseph Merlin Nichter on getting his degree in Religion this week! Joe, you continue to inspire. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the next steps of your Master Plan unfold! You’re always achieving and striving and attaining and growing, and you pass all that on to your brothers, sisters, children, and students. 
    You’re awesome.

  • The Guru Trip

    Around the borders of the Tartarean abode flows a river, the waters of which completely erase memories. Lethe, this river is called, and here the wounds and ills of lifetimes are washed from the battered and bruised souls who seek its embrace.

    I would give the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone* for a culture-sized dose that I could administer to the entire Western occult audience. That’s you, I’m talking about. I want to steal your memories, erase them, take them away entirely, unlearn ye wee bastards of anything and everything you’ve ever heard about enlightenment and being a guru, whether it’s of Western or Eastern origin, focused on the Great Work, or Meditation, or Rajayoga, or Tantra, or whatever the motherfuck.

    Because it’s all bullshit. Total and complete bullshit.

    Jason wrote a neat piece on States and Stages the other day, and as he says in his response to the Formspring question about my mental stability, we talk on the phone about shit fairly frequently. We had already had the State and Stage conversation, a couple times.

    What bothers people about hearing “we are gods” or “I have accomplished the Great Work”?

    You read through it, and it’s all about the idea that someone is at an enlightened state, happy all the time, and life doesn’t suck for them ever anymore.

    It’s that. That bothers people.

    Because that can’t be. That just can’t be true. We know because we see it every day, right?

    And 10,000 years of written history backs it up. The super advanced mystics of every culture on the planet have written what it’s all about, and how to tell if someone’s really got it, that is, GOT IT! And they talk about humility and knowing how much more there is to know, and never claiming any achievement, and never bragging about it.


    I will tell you the truth, having crossed the alleged abyss**, having created the Stone***, having attained K&CHGA****, I can tell you the absolute truth, the TRVTH even:

    Nobody is a guru! There are no enlightened masters. There is no Philosopher’s Stone*****. Everything you ever learned about Hierophants is bullshit. Nobody knows shit. Nobody ever has. Plato, Aristotle, Hermes Thrice Great, Jesus Christ, Siddartha, they didn’t know shit. They would be happy to tell you so in person, I swear to everything that pretends to be God!

    Their protestations get drowned out, especially after they die. Living people get to say whatever the hell they want to about the teachings of the Masters when they’re dead, when there’s the temple/church/sanctuary fund to fill! And you believe it. Because it would be really awesome if someone were really perfect, wouldn’t it!? If someone actually got it and made it out, enlightened, and fucking happy!? That would be awesome!

    Just sayin’. Don’t hate me. It’s just time to cut the shit.

    In real life, the Stone will not make you live an extra 312 years. Most recipes for the Stone will fucking kill you, like they did Regardie. He’s a smart fella who is recent enough to check the facts and have a decent understanding.

    Most of the Golden Dawn folks who founded the traditions we are so fond of today died of cancer. Because of the Abramelin rites on their bookshelves? Maaaaaayyyyybbbbbbeeeeeeee… Or maybe because they all smoked like fucking chimneys. The world may never know.

    Actually, we do know. We know better. Because we have access to facts. Blavatsky was insane. Gurdjieff? Nuts. Rudolph Steiner? Batshit. Aleister Crowley? Ok, dude had his fucking moments, eh? I mean honestly. He rocked. Brilliant. Fucking honest as shit. Saw eternity. Put it into words. Made fun of you for not getting it. I love Aleister.

    The rest of ’em, whether it’s Hermes, Peter, Paul, Mahmoud or St. John of Patmos, or Hizzonah 007 John Dee himself.. They can all suck my metaphoric dick******! Especially that also-brilliant French bastard Levi. Call those the paths of the Tarot*******!? Shah, right!

    In real life, no one is happy all the time. There are spiritual masters that walk the Earth with us who are super advanced, who radiate a force of god-ness that they have developed by eliminating the things that block them from being that in their daily lives. You stand in their presence, and you feel something cool.

    They have bad days too, and they don’t talk about how advanced they are because they know how far they have to go.

    Rest comfy in that warm and fuzzy reality, boys and girls! Enlightened masters have lives that suck sometimes! Awesome!

    Right?

    Fuck all that. Here’s some uncomfortable truth:

    I have the power and experience to create a life that never sucks. And I will not do it.

    Neither will my sweet lover, the brilliant and accomplished Harper. Or the incredible Jason Miller, though he can. Neither will Harold Roth, or Jack Flash. Or Deborah Castellano. Or her main man Jow, or her non-main-man Gordon. Andy won’t do it, and neither will 4ndy, or Polyphanes, though he’s cool as shit. The people I love the most won’t do it, no matter how much they think they want to, because deep down, way deep down…

    None of us are really ready to give it up. The passion, the drama, the awesomeness of existence with unknown consequence. Nobody wants to live a perfect life. Fucking boring as shit, that. We play for fun.

    [Author’s note: That above part is wrong somehow. Suffering is an indicator that you need to fix something. Suffering is not fun.We don’t do it on purpose, even if we can appreciate its role in our lives. In my opinion, that would be a sickness that needs healing. Having an aesthetic appreciation for a thing is not the same as desiring its manifestation in your life. This part needs more thought. Proactive creation of a not-shitty life is, after all, sort of the whole fucking goal, so we can enjoy life.]

    Sadness creates a more tender heart, not a tougher heart. Ask any romantic. We learn joy from sadness, and joy… that’s what it’s all about. We appreciate a job that lets us be ourselves after we’ve had jobs that did not. We appreciate lovers who love us for who we are instead of who they wish we were. We appreciate pain because it becomes the salt that makes the cookies sweeter. It makes our subjective standards about existence meaningful. It makes life fun.

    I would take from you everything you know about the Guru Trip, if I could. Because it’s bullshit. It gives us false expectations, all of us, whether we see ourselves as gurus or students. States and stages, it’s all bullshit.When Mr. Grim comes calling, we’re all honored, and ready for what comes next, deep down. And that… that’s beautiful.

    And, for the record, you’re a living god, enjoying the shit you wade through. If you’re not happy, change that shit… if you want to. It’s totally your life, and you can hit the reset button any time, at the beginning or the end. The “chain of manifestation,” that’s just a gimmick, a method, a map, a tool that works. Use it or don’t.

    But have fun, no matter whether it seems like something a guru should enjoy or not. Because the guru trip… it’s just a trip that gurus take, and non-gurus take.

    If they want to.

    Totally not necessary for life, and the enjoyment thereof********.

    * It’s not that big of a secret. There are a fuckton of free recipes for it at Adam Mclean’s Alchemy Web Site. Get gold from ore. Make vermilion paint out of mercury sulfate (cinnabar). Extract the sulfur, mercury, and salt from a plant with grain alcohol, mix ’em together and have yourself a tincture. ffs.

    ** It’s a myth, it’s just thinking you know anything, skip that and you’re fine. ffs.

    *** And ground it into powder and made a tincture that I drink before doing heavy magical lifting that makes me a huge fucking magical Beast when I consume it. ffs.

    **** K&C doesn’t make you an enlightened master, it’s the beginning of a relationship with the only MASTER you will EVAR NEED. You just don’t get the punchline til the joke is over.  ffs.

    ***** There totally IS a Stone. I’m just making a point. Metaphorically. ffs.

    ******  Not Jesus though, because of the beard. Facial hair: total turnoff.  ffs.

    ******* Honestly, not bad, not bad. I got nothing better, fer sure.

    ******** For fuck’s sake. (FFS)

  • 4th Pentacle of Jupiter

    A long time ago, I wrote a post about the 4th Pentacle of Jupiter from the Key of Solomon.

    The fourth pentacle of Jupiter.– It serveth to acquire riches and honor, and to possess much wealth. Its angel is Bariel. It should be engraved upon silver in the day and hour of Jupiter when he is in the sign Cancer. 


    Observant commenter Bill asked me yesterday if I’d be creating this talisman this year, as Jupiter enters Cancer at the end of June.

    Yes! Yes I will. And I encourage you to do so as well, brothers and sisters. It’s fairly straightforward. You inscribe the seal in silver on a Jupiter day (Thursday) in a Jupiter hour (use Lunarium to calculate that for you, don’t forget to EDIT your location) while Jupiter is in Cancer.

    There are no other stipulations to creating this talisman. You have 55 Thursdays between June 25th of 2013 and July 14 of 2014 when he leaves Cancer. You have four Jupiter hours per day. That’s 220 opportunities to take some silver and inscribe it with the pentacle.

    Here’s the pentacle:

    I will put together a pamphlet on how to make and consecrate this yourself. It will be mostly copy-pasted from the Talisman Maintenance and Operations Manual, so if you already have that, you can most likely use it to make the talisman from this post. The pamphlet will be inexpensive, and will be available some time this week.

    Remember, it’s Silver, engraved during the Jupiter Hour of the Jupiter Day between June 25th 2013 and July 14th 2014. Plenty of chances to make this yourself.

    If you want me to make one for you, I will start taking pre-orders now. The ones I make will be roughly half an ounce of silver, as I will be melting down one-ounce silver coins and pouring them into disks, which I will then proceed to beat into something inscribable. This is not an exact science, so there’s no telling what they’ll be shaped like or how much they will weigh when I’m finished. The design is pretty detailed, so I will be making them as large as possible. They will be melted, formed, and engraved in the appropriate planetary hours, and then each will be consecrated through the auspices of Bariel, and blessed with every bit of Jupiter current I have accessed, tapped, integrated, and channeled.

    Pre-Ordered, these will be $195 each. After June 25th, I’ll increase the price to $250. I’ll be making extra, and after July 10th, 2014, the price will skyrocket.

    I don’t know how many I will be able to actually make in a month, so I am going to limit the initial pre-order total sales to 36 talismans. I can make three in one day, based on my previous experiences with making silver planetary talismans, but until the first month rolls around and I see how many I can ACTUALLY make in a month, I’ll limit the number to make sure I can deliver.

    Remember though, you can make these yourself! I strongly encourage everyone to do so! You’ve got over 5 months to prepare! It’s simple, it’s easy.

    To order, use this PayPal link:


  • What makes RO a happy mofo?

    Ok, so there have been rumors that I have done gone batshit crazy. Well, questions about it have been whispered on the intertubules, and I can understand why. It might appear, from the outside, that I have flipped my lid, or let my “P.R. go to my head,” as boring old timers who write too many words might put it.

    Why? Because I’ve been happy (ecstatic, blissful, overusing the word awesome) and talking about how this universe, this place we live in, is the direct manifestation of our Wills with the sole intent being the joyful experience of our creation. That state of bliss came after I did some serious focused planetary magic, devotedly, passionately, Seven Spheres in Seven Days.

    And look at this: Today I see one of my favorite fellow magicians post his schedule of practice here. Tonight he posts this quote from the archangel.

    It’s not just me. It’s spreading.

  • Quote of the day…

    “In Christian mythology, Male delivers you!”
    – Scott Rassbach

  • Strategic Sorcery!

    Hey-O! It’s Pimp my Friends Monday! This won’t be a regular thing, it just happens to be Monday, and I happen to have friends, and they’re doing cool shit, and you should be aware and take advantage!


    Next on Pimp my Friends Monday, we turn to Jason Miller’s Strategic Sorcery Cycle 12. He’s putting together something special for Imbolc in this cycle, which is cool, but he’s also partnering with Occult of Personality to provide 3 months free membership and access to a ton of occult materials as part of this cycle’s lessons. He explains the details in the link above.


    I’ve taken and thoroughly enjoyed the Strategic Sorcery course. I can’t tell you how many of my favorite and most skillful students have taken both my courses and Jason’s. They’re my favorite students because they actually do the magic that we talk about. They put it directly into practice. They conjure, they sommune, they direct, they initiate, they integrate, and they shape their worlds according to their wills. There’s something special about the Strategic Sorcery course that really brings it home that magic is what magicians do. 


    So this is yet ANOTHER thing I can’t recommend enough. Take advantage of the course offer while you can, the next cycle of courses starts February 1st!

  • Magick: Theory and Practice in the UK

    Hey-O! It’s Pimp my Friends Monday! This won’t be a regular thing, it just happens to be Monday, and I happen to have friends, and they’re doing cool shit, and you should be aware and take advantage!

    Next on Pimp My Friends Monday, we head to Glastonbury in the UK to see Sef putting together something seemingly rare in the modern occult community: a group of Thelemites actually practicing magick! 

    I shouldn’t joke, I know, but for many years the main complaint I’ve heard from my Thelemite friends in the OTO is that for all the talk and discussion and engineering and conversation that goes into the Theory of magick among Thelemites, no one ever does any magic! People can talk for hours about Crowley’s arrangement of the paths on the Kircher Tree, and lots of people have lots of opinions about the operations Crowley performed, but when you start asking them what kind of magickal operations they’re currently working on, you get responses ranging from uncomfortable silence to cold hard stares and the psychic knowledge that their magickal operations will shortly be the preparation of your Greater Feast, thanks for asking.

    Sef isn’t a sit on your hands and bitch about people kind of magician. He’s more into fixing things. To that end, he’s been training magicians and witches in the UK to actually perform magic. (With and without a k.) He’s already held successful angel magic workshops, and is now putting together something designed specifically for Thelemites who want to learn to actually DO MAGICK instead of sitting around talking about it all the time. He won’t be tossing a bunch of noobs into heavy conjurations without the prerequisite establishment of a firm foundation in Theory, of course, but he will be sneakily getting more people focused on the PRACTICE part of Magick in ways that will knock your proverbial socks off.

    So once again, I highly recommend this course. I’ve known Sef for entirely too fucking long, and I guarantee there will be benefits and boons from taking lessons from him personally that you simply will not receive from anyone else. Ever.