That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.
Alhazred (Al Azif)
Cover of Heavy Metal, October 1978.
This series of blogs is based on a talk given for the Minnesota Left Hand Path Community at Magus Books in Minneapolis. Many thanks to the LHP Community and Magus. Speaking of LHP, If you don’t already subscribe, check out Jezebel Pride’s blog. I highly recommend it. She is a tireless advocate of the LHP and her blog is inspiring. I also highly recommend Magus Books, the premiere occult book and supply store in Minneapolis.
Simon’s Necronomicon, the handy paperback edition kids have used to usher in the end times since the 1970s.
Before my talk, Satan’s Little Book Club convened at Magus to discuss Simon’s Necronomicon. This was the first occult book I owned and has a fascinating introduction that draws parallels between the dark entities and elements of Lovecraft’s fiction, and the most notorious and beloved magician of the last century, Aleister Crowley.
Simon wasn’t the first to cover that ground, A few years earlier Kenneth Grant did the same in The Magical Revival. Grant had been Crowley’s secretary at the end of his life and was also a close friend of contemporary wizard, Austin Osman Spare.
The Magical Revival had a seminal role in reintroducing the world to AOS and by doing so, jump starting the Chaos Magic movement. There’s an odd history there – Grant professed leadership of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) while Chaos Magic was a move away from existing institutions like the Golden Dawn, the OTO, and Wicca.
I’m not going to dive deeply into that here but it’s worth mentioning just so I don’t give the impression that Grant was an advocate or leader in the development of CM. Nor is Grant (now deceased) widely accepted as a former head of the OTO. But he was interesting. Alan Moore called him “a schoolboy gone berserk on brimstone aftershave,” which is a colorful and somewhat endearing epitaph you may agree with before we’re done. People will forgive you for being wrong, but not for failing to be interesting.
The Magical Revival. Kenneth Grant beat Simon by a few years and was probably part of the inspiration for his Necronomicon.
A lot of people these days are more interested in Cthulhu plush dolls and pseudo Necronomicons than the man who conceived them. The presentation gave me a chance to talk about H. P. Lovecraft himself, magic in his fiction, and reputed parallels between the work of HPL and Crowley. I wrapped things up with some of what’s new with Lovecraft even though he’s been dead since 1936, particularly the graphic novels of Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows. These include everything from Cthulhu cultists dealing Aklo letters to muggles like street drugs, to the sex lives of the Deep Ones and bondage gear from Y’ha nthlei. Their most recent collaboration, Providence, is a history of the 20th and early 21st century that culminates in the horrifying end of it all. Apocalypse has never been so fun.
The Courtyard, Neonomicon, and Providence, by Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows (Avatar)
I began with Lovecraft’s bio. I’m not going to recount that now, there are plenty of sources including Wikipedia. However, the concept of a Cthulhu Mythos is not technically Lovecraft’s but something August Derleth imposed on Lovecraft’s body of work after his death. HPL’s writing included avid correspondence with fellow authors like the creator of Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard, and the author of Psycho, Robert Bloch. These pen pals, collectively known as the Lovecraft Circle, played a game in which they drew elements from each other’s writing into their own stories, like the Necronomicon and Cthulhu. Derleth aside, you could say that’s how the Cthulhu Mythos took root and grew.
I’ll cover the Lovecraft Circle and the hermeneutic circle they developed with the Cthulhu Mythos in the future, including parallels between the Lovecraft Circle’s fictional black books and historical books of magic, as well as the lore that surrounds them.
Although he’s now recognized worldwide as a great American author, Lovecraft was virtually unknown during his lifetime. He also shares the strange honor with other talented Americans – like comedian Jerry Lewis – of being venerated by French intellectuals. Lovecraft’s pulp horror fiction is a topic in the work of philosophers Deleuze and Guatarri in their celebrated book A Thousand Plateaus.
In a future installments I’ll dive headfirst into occultists’ fixation with Lovecraft, the Necronomicon, and other delights. TTFN
Sources
Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari (1987), A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. University of Minnesota.
Grant. Kenneth (1972), The Magical Revival. Muller.
Heavy Metal, October 1978.
Moore, Alan, and Jacen Burrows (2003), The Courtyard. Avatar Press.
Moore, Alan, and Jacen Burrows (2010-2011), Neonomicon. Avatar Press.
Moore, Alan, and Jacen Burrows (2015-2017), Providence. Avatar Press.
Archaeology is a chthonic practice that provides more than the written word alone. It recovers secrets directly from the earth and can enable us to touch a past unknown to written history. So many ancient spells from inscriptions, clay tablets, and worm-eaten papyri are owed to archaeology that one wonders whether it was the spirits themselves that led the excavators to where these things were found.
Archaeology also deals with prehistory, the time before writing was invented and a much longer period than historical times. Much more is left to imagine and gain from working with archaeological accounts of ancient bones, artifacts, and the prehistoric sites in which they are found. This is not a suggestion to dig up or otherwise use actual antiquities in magic. That’s usually illegal, can involve desecration, and denies others access to those materials and that knowledge. Instead, I am suggesting the greater use of accounts of archaeological finds from reputable publications, internet sites, and museum collections to inform and inspire magical work with new insights that challenge the viewpoints and biases of ancient authors. The possibilities are virtually endless.
Solo and with friends, for some time I’ve worked with a ritual inspired by unique remains from the Bronze Age period in the Eurasian steppe grasslands that were once traveled by the Mongol hordes of the khans, and far earlier by the nomads who first domesticated the horse, crossed the steppes in carts like traditional Romani wagons, and invented the chariot, which appeared only centuries later in the ancient civilizations of the Near East. The people that inhabited the region during that time are reputed to be descendants of nomads who settled there to take advantage of its natural resources.
Golden comb from a Scythian noble’s grave from Solokha, Ukraine, early 4th century BC. Scythians are reputed to be among the most powerful ancient nomadic cultures of the Eurasian steppes.
The evidence for ancient rites with dogs and wolves during that time is intriguing and the seed from which this grew.
Unlike a lot of rituals that ask you to identify with kings or queens, planets of sovereignty like Jupiter or the Sun, the priests and priestesses that controlled state cults in the distant past, etc., in this ritual the performers identify with nomads and pastoralists who lived in carts, yurts, and huts at the barbarian fringe of ancient civilizations, at times harassing them like a (literal) biblical plague. By the time of Hammurabi’s Babylon, which was roughly contemporary with the Late Bronze Age in the Eurasian steppes, laws were enacted against nomads who were ancestors of the ancient Canaanites because they refused to remain settled and serve wealthy and privileged landowners or their gods.
Archaeology is an act of collective remembering that recovers forgotten ways people have lived. These memories can challenge the norms of the present day. They remind us we can reject what does not serve our needs while inspiring us to pursue what does.
Magic is also remembering. Remembering who we truly are and what we are capable of, in contrast to the limits and restrictions we may have sometimes felt we had to accept.
If you find those thoughts appealing and this is your thing, stay tuned.
It’s been a minute, but recent events provide the inspiration for a new blog on the Pleiades.
Among the magics I’ve been interested in and have worked with over time are the Greek Magical Papyri (a.k.a. PGM), fixed star invocation, and talisman making. I like the intersection of spirit and the physical (talismans) in stellar working. As an archaeologist I’m also fascinated by the historic and prehistoric roots of different practices, linked to artifacts and other physical evidence.
Even though much of this has been lost in time there are suggestive connections, such as headless images, and other figures carrying a severed head in the left hand, in the PGM. These indicate probable early knowledge of asterisms associated with Arab and Renaissance fixed star magic involving the Perseus constellation, including the star Algol. It appears to have influenced imagery of Mars as well. There is evidence for deep, ongoing knowledge of imagery in the PGM into the Renaissance, which extends to the Sola Busca Tarocchi.
right: image carrying a severed head from PGM XXXVI; middle: drawing of the Persue constellation from a German astrological text (1450-1499); left: image of Mars from the Krakow Picatrix (1466) – after Lloyd D. Graham
The week of 4/10/2023 was a good one for astro-magical elections for the Pleiades constellation (with location calculated by its member star Alcyone) and the Sun.
In the past, discussing Algol and Sirius, I presented an easy template for fixed star elections that you can use and adapt to your own liking. The Pleiades is unique in that there is an invocation of the angel Zizaubio who is said to dwell in the Pleiades in PGM VI. 795-845. It’s specifically for divination but with minor adjustments, can be used for virtually any purpose. In the Renaissance tradition and drawing from Arabic sources, Agrippa indicates that the Pleiades are useful for finding hidden things and gaining magical skills or power. The gist of the PGM passage from circa the 1st to 4th century A.D. is that the invocation can reveal hidden things through dream. I had remarkable success the same day performing this invocation at the time of the Pleiades election.
In a fixed star magical election, practitioners typical look for a time when the star or planet is rising or at midheaven. This is usually when the heavenly body is conjoining the Moon and when the rest of the planets are in good aspect for the election. In this case, the Pleiades (located by Alcyone at about 0 degrees of Gemini on the ecliptic) conjoined Venus in midheaven at around 3:45 PM on 4/10. (The time is for where I live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan area.) Venus was at 29 degrees Taurus, within 2 degrees of Alcyone which is nearly optimal. Venus at 0 degrees Gemini would have been perfect but within 2 degrees is very good for an election. (Chart made with the Celeste application.)
The invocation from PGM VI. 795-845:
“I call upon you, holy angel ZIZAUBIO, from the company of the Pleiades to whom you are subordinate and serve for all things, [for] whatever she might command you, you great, indestructible, fire-breathing one, who cast the rope of heaven, through which rope all things turn upon earth. Also, you [do I call upon], as many of you angels who are placed under ZIZAUBIO’S power. Hence I call upon you all that you may come quickly in this night, and reveal to me clearly and firmly, concerning those matters I desire. I conjure you, O lord, who rise above the wheel of the whole cosmic region, by the one ruling the whole inhabited world and the benefactor of all. Hence, I call upon you in this night, and may you reveal all things to me through dreams with accuracy O angel ZIZAUBIO.”
I am not going to go over a full ritual in depth but you can find a simple one that can be adjusted for Pleiades in my earlier Algol and Sirius blogs. For more information, I refer you to Christopher Warnock’s book on fixed star and planetary magic referenced in those previous posts.
There is probably no better asterism to choose for an archaeological approach to fixed star magic than the Pleiades, which are depicted as dots above the shoulder of a bull in the 10k+ year old cave painting from Lascaux, France. The image of them above the bull at Lascaux parallels the constellation’s location above the Taurus constellation. We have no idea what these ancients called Taurus and the Pleiades, but we can say they found enough significance in their presence in the sky to paint them, and that the stars making up Taurus were already associated with the bull that long ago by people in the area of present day France. That alone is remarkable!
It’s been said that Tarot cards can be related to mythical characters and vignettes. I’m going to do that with the martial figure of Lancelot du Lac, one that’s resonated with me since I was young, both with Minor Arcana and Majors VII, VIII and IX.
I’ll do this with the most widely used deck, Pamela Coleman-Smith’s. I prefer calling it Coleman-Smith’s deck and not Rider-Waite as it’s often referred to because she designed it and kept it out of copyright, one of the single most helpful acts anyone did for esoteric exploration of the self in the past century. Her heirs could have made fuck tons of cash and prevented the publication of other decks. The woman was a saint – or devil, take your pick. However, as many are aware there are different decks and configurations (switch VIII Strength/Lust for XI Justice/Adjustment, etc.). If you prefer another, please suspend judgement for the present discussion.
Two of Pentacles
Right now my favorite card is II of Pentacles. This card is about being able to handle anything that comes your way, cheerfully, without hesitation. I’ve heard it described as the card of Lancelot in the Arthur cycle, this would be his approach as a skilled warrior. My apologies for gendered language, I know many women who are fearless warriors, possibly more of them than men, and this is certainly open to non-binary perspectives as well.
VII The Chariot
A long-time favorite of mine is VII The Chariot, one reason being it aligns with my Sun in Cancer – see the armor/shell? 🙂 This card also potentially embodies Lancelot but less artfully and with problems. Do we really need such force? Maybe this card doesn’t require that interpretation, The Chariot moves along at will with sphinxes unharnessed but still… There’s a reason VIII Strength follows it, and that The Chariot is not Strength even though it’s among the strongest looking Major Arcana. The 2 of Pentacles gets around the possibly overbearing, ungraceful aspects of the armored warlord, effortlessly pirouetting about the toughest obstacles, a hot coffee in hand, not losing a drop.
VIII Strength
Another conceivably Lancelot-ian card is IX The Hermit, the knight living in quiet and forlorn contemplation, forever faithful both to Guinevere’s unrequited love and the friend he would have to betray to realize it. Let’s not go there. Yeah, I read a lot of this stuff growing up. Notice how this went from VII to VIII to IX? A meaningful sequence.
IX The Hermit
Finally, II of Pentacles reminds me of the Japanese concept of fudoshin, tirelessly keeping your center, remaining grounded but in a light, not stolid, way, relaxed but alert in the face of adversity. Like a sailor on treacherous waters, dodging shoals and sea monsters while never losing control. This is a concept I learned if not mastered practicing Aikido, how we want to face attack and similar situations. None of us (to my knowledge) does this perfectly, yet we have moments of grace when we’re beaming happiness and are unscathed no matter what gets thrown at us. And when we do lose our cool, it’s an opportunity to analyze the situation, figure out where we turned right when we needs to go left, and try again. Realizing something went wrong and comparing it with the ideal, without self-judgement, is the way back to the path.
The angel lighted next to him and sat. There was uncomfortable silence, like old friends who didn’t know what to say. The angel turned to him and spoke. “Fool!”
He didn’t know what they meant but it struck him to the core. He felt guilty and wanted to do something. Angel talk is is like that.
It took him a long time to understand. Others were wise, protecting the guilty out of fairness or love. He was willing to be a fool and speak out. Take your pick, the harm of men or the wrath of God. Men will destroy a community out of ego, God will destroy a town because men placed it in the path of a fire or flood. Bam. Town gone.
Women and men love even those who leave ruined lives behind them. But it won’t stop a flood.
Prophecy is a troublesome gift. The fool dreamt of someone who wouldn’t get out of the way. Then he met her. She was so sad and resigned he wanted to shout, but he restrained himself. What little he said was sometimes taken with gratitude, other times just tolerance, and once even rage. Out of wisdom and love.
It didn’t change a thing. The fire was still coming.
The fool dreamt of a man pleased with his ego and the hurt he caused, striking a flint over dry brush, hunched over, laughing. He thought he knew that man but now realized he really didn’t. Over weeks and months he proved to be as bad as the dream. It didn’t help to warn anyone. He tried being silent. He tried being snarky, thinking it would entertain people and maybe then they’d listen. No, the hunched man was loved by all and everything was fine. He, the, fool, was to blame.
As time passed he quietly did things to bring the man’s harmful actions to light. Mostly no one saw a thing. There were more dreams and the coming fire. The hunched man even accused the fool of lighting fires. Maybe in a way his words did, but beyond that it was just a lie to deceive the town and charges were dismissed. The fool could say very little without getting in trouble and could only nudge people out of the way very slowly. If he said more he was rebuffed. If he gave in to the urge to shout about his dreams of conflagration, he was slammed. And how could you blame them? There was no fire yet.
He couldn’t warn those he loved. He could nudge, and wait. Nudge, and wait. Nudge, and wait. He felt the heat rise and the flames draw closer. And no one else saw a thing. When he thought too much about it he was irresponsible and his work suffered. He waited in silence. Nudged, and waited. Nudged, and waited, etc., etc.
He still felt guilty. Still he was a fool. He dreamt of a prophetess and told her “I love you.” “What does that matter?,” she snarled. After all the love he saw poured on the hunched man, this was something he could understand.
In the quiet he gradually changed. He was not so foolish anymore. A tiger changes its stripes and many miss it but it’s obvious for those who can see. At times he felt very good. Sometimes he dreamt deliverance was at hand, and maybe it was. He would forget about the heat, the flames, and the flood. Then he’d dream the woman was in the the path and panic. When he awoke he would say something to anyone that still bothered to listen. It was no use, they just shouted and threw things at him.
One wise woman could understand. She thought the waiting and nudging was going well, then she saw him speak up. “Oh God, you are such a fool,” she said.
Finally he made a choice. He would stay there too, close to what was coming. Although he wanted to spring, he would quietly nudge and wait, but less than before. Sometimes he’d just sit and do nothing at all. This was the plan.
After a while he could see that the woman he dreamt of and the rest were nearly out of the way. Then she got up and walked back to the path of the coming fire. He wanted to run to her, shout and push her out of the way, but it only seemed to hurt her. The wise woman saw him and could see what he was thinking of doing. She shook her head and sighed. “Goddamn, you really are a fool,” she said.
Then he had a new dream. It told him, “Keep your sword to the lion side, and trust.”
He didn’t know what it meant but it struck him to the core. Dreams are like that…
words by me, image is detail from Icarus by Barry Windsor Smith
When I learned in 2019 that I could make talismans that capture the power of stars with rich mythological stories, like Algol (Beta Persei) which is associated with the head of Medusa, I began to learn how to calculate the times when “the stars are right.” Sirius is another captivating star, both because of its fame in ancient astronaut/conspiracy lore, and its importance in Pharonic Egypt.
Sirius is a fascinating star. It is a “fixed star” so its position remains the same in relation to the wheel of the zodiac, in this case relative to the sign of Cancer the crab (it’s positioned at 13 degrees Cancer on the ecliptic). It was crucial to the ancient Egyptians. The heliacal rise of Sirius (a star in the Canis Major constellation, Orion’s dog) is when the star appears for the first time in the year at dawn far enough from the sun that it’s visible to the eye. The Egyptians (or maybe the Greeks discussing the Egyptians?) called Sirius Sothis, and noticed its heliacal rise occurs before and signals the annual flooding of the Nile in early July, which was so important to their annual agricultural cycle.
Sirius is known as the Dog Star. Anyone who knows Henry Purcell’s music knows you can sail by it :), and this star is noted for powers of peace and reconciliation, for the favor of people in power (as in networking), and for the aid of spirits of the air. Although many people make talismans during stellar elections there is no need to make a talisman, you can say an appropriate prayer or the like at the appointed time to direct the star’s power to your project of peace, reconciliation, networking, or gaining the favor of spirits.
Sirius conjoined the waxing Moon and Mars at Midheaven on May 15 at about 4:20 PM Central Time in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The key for a stellar election is for and appointed star to conjoin the Moon on the Ascendant or Midheaven. This time will vary depending on where you are in the world and an election in on locality will not necessarily be available in other places.
Typically people make metal talismans in an election as an anchor to the star and its powers. But if you don’t wish to make that effort you can simply say an appropriate prayer or wish at this time for the star’s power to aid you. However, if you want to make a talisman to keep so the star continues to work with you in an easier form than metal, for Sirius, you can simply get a drawing or photo of a dog or of Sirius in the sky (printed off the internet will do), draw the Sirius sigil on it (as shown in this post), and follow these steps (these are adapted and simplified from Agrippa and other sources on fixed star magic):
What you’ll need: White candle (4″ temple chime candle or even a birthday cake candle will do), incense (Mugwort is optimal but another like Dragon’s Blood will work in a pinch), a hookah charcoal tablet to burn the Mugwort as incense if you go that route, a suitable metal container for charcoal and incense, something to extinguish fire if an accident occurred, and the dog + sigil image for your talisman described above. Optional: Beryl (the stone sacred to Sirius), and snake tongue (can’t tell you where to get that, and it’s optional).
Begin 5-10 minutes before the election time. Have all ingredients you will use on hand and the paper talisman at your altar or work area.
1) Light the candle, and incense or charcoal for burning Mugwort. If Mugwort, keep adding it as needed during the work.
2) For the invocation, read the Orphic Hymn to Astron substituting Sirius for the star’s name (see below).
3) Watch the time and repeat the invocation until you reach the moment of the election, then state your intention. Wave the paper talisman over the incense as you recite the invocation, this by tradition draws or anchors the spirit of the star into your paper.
4) Briefly meditate on what you’ve accomplished, then thank Sirius for working with you and safely extinguish the candle and incense.
Remember, you can also just do the invocation followed by your wish or statement of intent at the time of the election in step 3, but the other steps will help if you are able to do them. And you can just make your wish, candles and incense are not absolutely necessary. But if you want the full experience, use all the steps above. Sirius’s sigil can also be carved into the candle with a pin before you begin.
Note on safety: If you choose to work with fire, whether a candle, incense, or charcoal, you do so at your own risk. As always, do it safely and be ready to extinguish any or all of them when you finish the work or if something accidentally catches fire. Don’t burn yourself!
Self-consecration: If you acquire a stellar talisman you didn’t make your self, you can also consecrate it to work for you using the steps above. Ideally you would do this on a Sirius election when the star is conjoining the Moon on Ascendant or Midheaven. However, you can do it any time it feels right or if you like, on the planetary day and/or hour of a planet said to be of the character of the star (for Sirius these are Mars and Jupiter).
Orphic Hymn to Astron, Adapted for Sirius Invocation
Translated by Thomas Taylor, 1792
“With holy voice I call the star SIRIUS on high, pure sacred lights and genii of the sky.
Celestial star, the progeny of Night, in whirling circles beaming far your light,
Refulgent rays around the heav’ns ye throw, eternal fires, the source of all below.
With flames significant of Fate ye shine, and aptly rule for men a path divine.
In seven bright zones ye run with wand’ring flames, and heaven and earth compose your lucid frames:
With course unwearied, pure and fiery bright forever shining thro’ the veil of Night.
Hail twinkling, joyful, ever wakeful fires! Propitious shine on all my just desires;
These sacred rites regard with conscious rays, and end our works devoted to your praise.”
There you go. Once done, the paper talisman can continue to work for you as long as the paper is intact. I passed around a few things about Algol in 2020. There are harder and softer ways to find peace, these are new times.
Sources
Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius (1509-). Writings of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535). Digital editions by Joseph H. Peterson. http://www.esotericarchives.com/agrippa/index.html, accessed 16/06/2020
There’s a reason the saying “Know thyself” is associated with ancient mysteries. Of course, it was an inscription displayed at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. But it’s also advice with profound implications for magic.
It may be a gross simplification, but magic encourages us to plan and execute, whether as spooky action at a distance or in deciding to lift your hand to scratch your itchy nose. The latter may be a little too simplistic, but at some level both are magical acts.
This is what much of living in the physical world is about. But it can be taken to extremes with quickly diminishing returns. Know thyself is guidance, maybe even a simple algorithm, for doing it the right way.
The False Coin of Our Own Dreams
At times, too much planning can rob us of the ability to live in the moment and cheats us out of being present for what our precious and limited lives offer us (at least in the present existence). It’s why people enjoy meditation and activities, like gardening, that get us out in the world while slowing down and clarifying our thoughts. Over planning can be a symptom of not knowing yourself and what you would find truly fulfilling. Instead, we can fall into the pit (abyss?) of throwing our energy into a plan or task we don’t really want.
We may think we want something because it looks appealing, and mistake it for our heart’s desire. The classic example is money – it’s not money we want (unless you’re a coin collector) but what we think it can buy. We can become tied to what Graeber (2001, paraphrasing Marcel Mauss and Henri Hubert 1972 [1904]) called “the false coin of our own dreams.”
Not being satisfied, we may then try to get more and more of the substitute, or attempt to re-enact a memory of something that never really was to begin with. Seven of Cups. Endlessly trying to scratch an itch that isn’t there and seeking more and more opportunities to do it. Meanwhile, life continues to tick by.
I’m not saying don’t stop and smell the roses, feast at life’s banquet, or try things out to see if they’re for you or even to make someone else happy for a while. Go for it. But beware of the person or spirit that encourages you to break your own cup, leaving you endlessly seeking to fulfill a desire that isn’t there. This is the path of the hungry ghost, the anti-life equation of consumer society.
Pursuing the “false coin” seems to be the root of addiction. It doesn’t help that exhausting ourselves through whatever that may be (drugs, gambling, battling some imagined adversary, etc.) can bring temporary relief, while the next day we may feel compelled to do it all over again. And the cycle continues.
Darkseid – master of Apokalips and the Anti-Life Equation, by Jack Kirby
A Cautionary Tale
A while ago I knew a person who was afraid someone else would do something they didn’t like. Instead of talking to them about it, they acted on their suspicions and began trying to manipulate that person to make them think they wanted something they didn’t. Initially, their target didn’t know what was up, only that something felt off. They found out much later when it was too late to help the one targeting them.
I don’t want to reveal too many details and hurt anyone involved, but this person collected information, used magic and poor man’s NLP, planned, etc. for several months. They did it to unethical extremes with murder in their heart.
About seven months later when it was clear things were never going to go their way they went ballistic on the person they were trying to influence. It impacted many people and just barely missed having the kind of visibility that would have fucked things up for everyone involved.
They mistook their fear for reality, and became dedicated to changing it or preventing it from happening. It never needed to happen and was a miserable failure.
In a way this kind of dedication is impressive. Wow. And in a funny way probably flattering to the person they had a beef with.
On the other hand, wow > wtf. What a waste of time and effort on an imagined problem their actions were never going to solve.
The person who carried out these tortuous twists and turns was quite experienced and initiated in a few kinds of magic, but it didn’t matter. As it turned out, the person they had the problem with was always ready to listen, at least when they stopped lobbing grenades. Some of what they did was potentially life threatening so now that’s not likely to happen. Instead, thousands of needlessly burnt calories later, there have been many repercussions for them, not only in this situation but a number of others.
They lacked clarity about what was going on, didn’t know what they really wanted. In a word, they overcompensated. If there weren’t better examples of what to do, someone might ask why bother trying to do magic at all? It wasn’t going to fix a thing.
What was needed was to “know thyself,” to know they were pursuing an illusionand to redirect their own actions. They could have simply talked things out, dispelled their fears, and had a much better time. What they got instead was a lost friendship, other damaged friendships, and more besides.
And as for the person they were gunning for, well, even though they were in many ways less experienced, what made a difference is they knew themself better (my neutral pronouns are painfully awkward, I know). When the dust settled, they just kept going. When some residual shit was lobbed, they kept going. They just kept going.
Earlier versions of this were posted on the Social Justice Witchcraft and Folk Magic Society Facebook pages, and the Faith Blind Council Discord server. The Algol Ascendant election is described by Ryhann Butler in Medieval Astrology’s Sagittarius Full Moon Magical Elections podcast for June 5, 2020.
Drawing of Medusa by Barry Windsor-Smith. All images displayed for not-for-profit educational use only.
You on earth have unwittingly felt its distant presence—you who without knowing idly gave to its blinking beacon the name of Algol, the Daemon-Star.
H. P. Lovecraft, Beyond the Wall of Sleep (1919)
On June 18, 2020 the fixed star Algol will be conjunct the Moon first on the Ascendant, and later, approaching Midheaven. Many use these elections for talismans following the writings of Cornelius Agrippa, the Picatrix, and similar sources, but we are in a capricious time. I think these two elections are better for spells/intentions/prayers than metal or stone talismans. Algol, represented by Medusa’s head, is excellent for protection and hexing. George Floyd was killed less than a month ago on May 25, we’ve seen countless acts of violence against protesters and terrorist threats against people of color since then, and 45’s Tulsa rally is June 20. This is a crucial time for social justice work and Algol is raising their hand to help. As Medusa, Algol also is a strong ally for ending and avenging violence against women.
Algol Stele by Hagen von Tulien (2022). Commission from the artist.
Algol is located at 26 degrees Taurus on the ecliptic, or the ring in the sky allotted to the 12 signs of the Zodiac. Algol is part of the Perseus constellation, located above Gemini and Taurus, which was important to ancient Mithraic mysteries as well. Algol was named by ancient Arab astronomers and astrologers, first as R’as al Ghul, the head of the demon, then al Ghul or of the demon (what of the demon? the head!). (Yes, this is where the name of the Batman villain comes from.) From there the star’s name eventually transformed into Algol. Not coincidentally, the name Algol is also the source of the word alcohol. The star made its way into magic in Europe by the Renaissance and probably even earlier in Moorish Spain. As the name implies, Algol is a fearsome ally. I think their connection with ancient Arabic science and magic make them appropriate to call on for aid against racist violence and to change the present political landscape that supports it.
I’ve worked with Algol several times in 2020 including consecration of talismans and an oil. Given the events in 2020, I led a Zoom call about this for the Practicing Magic group, and it seemed helpful to put this blog together to share. Find out more about Practicing Magic at https://www.facebook.com/groups/practicingmagis/.
Detail of the Perseus constellation from Celestial Atlas (1822) by Alexander Jamieson. Algol is the large star in Medusa’s head at the lower left.
The first lunar conjunction in Minneapolis/St. Paul is when the Moon is on the Ascendant at 23 Taurus, and Algol is a few minutes away from the Moon and the Ascendant; at around 3:30 AM on June 18; the second is later that morning about 10:05 AM, when the Algol conjoins the Moon and is applying to Midheaven. In the first, the Moon is close enough to amplify the power of Algol – it’s not at 26 Taurus, but within a few degrees. In the second, the Moon’s position overlaps that of the star on the ecliptic – a precise conjunction. You will want to check the configuration in your own area.
When a star or planet is in conjunction with the Moon it’s often used for talismans, but can be called on to empower spells, prayers, and intentions too. Why? Many believe the lunar conjunction allows the power of the star or planet to manifest on Earth. Algol is known as one of the most powerful of the stars and good for protection work. It is a notoriously wicked star and the protection it offers is the hard kind, a fitting choice for this bitter season when the gloves are off in so many ways. If you want to read in stark terms what Algol meant to Renaissance esotericists, I strongly recommend Peter Mark Adams’ The Game of Saturn.
The Moon is waning June 18. That means it’s better for magic for removing problematic conditions than building things up, which is better to do under a waxing moon. I suggest using these elections for removing harm from black and brown skinned people who are targets of racism and anti-protest violence, and removal of 45 – destroying the possibility of re-election and making him a lame duck til the next president takes office. But feel free to use it as needed.
Good plants for incense or candle dressing in this work are Hellebore and Mugwort (but use it in a well ventilated area and do not breathe in Hellebore smoke!), and the stone is Diamond (I use inexpensive, uncut ones). A suitable invocation is the Orphic Hymn to Astron, using Algol as the star’s name (see the end of this blog for a version of the hymn to use as the invocation). I also recommend a black candle. But in a pinch, just the invocation and statement of intent at the time of either or both elections will do the trick.
“The Constellation Perseus”. Miniature from an illustrated copy of al-Sufi’s Kitab suwar al-kawakib (The Book of Fixed Stars) Iran; mid-15th century.
A very good, straightforward, and well sourced book on fixed star astrological magic is Christopher Warnock’s Fixed Star, Sign and Constellation Magic. If a fixed star or planetary election is new for you, I recommend having your altar/work area set up and your wish/intent or sigil ready by 10 minutes before the election and starting the work then (see below for step-by-step instructions). Ideally, you want to state your intention with emotion and conviction right at the minute of the election. If you had time in that 10 minutes you could repeat the Orphic Hymn invocation, etc. more than once, but state the intent right at 3:30 AM or 10:05 AM, depending on which time you’re using. Then when done, thank Algol. That’s it. If you have more elaborate things you do in your personal practice to start/close a ritual (temple opening/closing, banishing, energy raising…), as long as you get the timing right for the actual intent, by all means use them.
Calling the Demon Star Step-by-Step
What you’ll need: Algol invocation (see below) and a suitable wish or intention.
Note that these instructions can be followed for any suitable election, and adapted for use with any fixed star. An excellent and easy to use source is Warnock’s Fixed Star, Sign & Constellation Magic. It’s not only written in clear language, it quotes heavily from translations of the original grimoires the author consulted. The use of the Orphic Hymn to Astron for invocation is borrowed from Kaitlin Coppock at Sphere and Sundry.
Optional: Black candle (4″ temple chime candle will do), Mugwort, Hellebore, a hookah charcoal tablet to burn the plants as incense, Diamond (any kind – uncut, earring or ring, etc.), a suitable metal container for charcoal and incense, something to extinguish fire if an accident occurred, an image of Medusa, and the sigil of Algol (printouts of images from this blog will do).
Begin about 10 minutes before the election time. Have all ingredients you will use on hand and the images of Medusa and the sigil displayed on your altar or work area.
1) Light the candle and/or charcoal for burning Mugwort and/or Hellebore. If using it for incense, keep adding it as needed during the work. Dried Hellebore is not easy to find, Mugwort alone is less ideal but ok. If using Hellebore, do it in a well vented area. It’s toxic. In fact, Algol is a mischievous spirit and doing this outdoors is recommended.
2) For the invocation, read the Orphic Hymn to Astron substituting Algol for the star’s name (see below).
3) Watch the time and repeat the invocation until you reach the ritual moment (3:30 or 10:05 AM for Minneapolis/St. Paul), then state your intention. If you have your own wish or statement of intent in mind you can use that, or you can use what I propose: ask Algol to remove harm from targets of racism and anti-protest violence, and to remove 45 from office, destroying the possibility of his re-election and making him a lame duck til the next president takes office.
4) Briefly meditate on what you’ve accomplished, then thank Algol for working with you and safely extinguish the candle and incense. If you work both conjunctions, you can save what’s left of the candle after 3:30 AM to use for the 10:05 election.
Remember, you can also just do the invocation followed by your wish or statement of intent at the time of the election in step 3, but the other steps will help if you are able to do them. Algol’s sigil can also be carved into the candle with a pin before you begin.
Note on safety: If you choose to work with fire, whether a candle, incense, or charcoal, you do so at your own risk. As always, do it safely and be ready to extinguish any or all of them when you finish the work or if something accidentally catches fire. Don’t burn yourself!
Algol sigil.
Orphic Hymn to Astron, Adapted for the Algol Invocation
Translated by Thomas Taylor, 1792
With holy voice I call the star ALGOL on high, pure sacred lights and genii of the sky. Celestial star, the progeny of Night, in whirling circles beaming far your light, Refulgent rays around the heav’ns ye throw, eternal fires, the source of all below. With flames significant of Fate ye shine, and aptly rule for men a path divine. In seven bright zones ye run with wand’ring flames, and heaven and earth compose your lucid frames: With course unwearied, pure and fiery bright forever shining thro’ the veil of Night. Hail twinkling, joyful, ever wakeful fires! Propitious shine on all my just desires; These sacred rites regard with conscious rays, and end our works devoted to your praise.
The structure of this ritual is basic and similar to that in Agrippa and Warnock. It could potentially be adapted for use with any fixed star, with the appropriatesigil, incense, and colorof candle.
Sources
Adams, Peter Mark (2017). The Game of Saturn. Scarlet Imprint.
Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius (1509-). Writings of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535). Digital editions by Joseph H. Peterson. http://www.esotericarchives.com/agrippa/index.html, accessed 16/06/2020
The branch caught his cheek just below the eye. It was too dark to see but he felt it.
There wasn’t any blood and he still had his eye.
He opened the flask, took a pull, closed it, and put it back in his pocket.
He looked up the trail. It was so dark now he could see only a few feet ahead. He spat and started walking again as he had for the last half hour.
All those fuckers he’d had to bear for all these years. He didn’t like them much. Well, okay, he did when they listened to him. Laughed at his jokes. All those talks. At least it made him stand out, that’s the important thing. Doing so much good and they don’t even care. Not even her sometimes.
He kept walking. Slowly at first, then faster when he felt sure he wasn’t going to get scratched in the face again or lose an eye.
The next grade. Looking forward to that. They’ll have to listen. He spent so much time taking orders. I’m the one they should be listening to, he thought. I know more than they do. Knew more when I walked in the door. And it was harder for me. He felt a little sad and brushed it off. No more. Not after tonight.
He kept going.
——
How much further was it? He thought he saw the cave mouth and stepped a little further. It was just a patch of shadows between a few pines.
He walked some more and stubbed his toe on a rock in the trail. “Fuck!” A little louder than before. Fucking sandals. He kept going.
More than five years. They gotta let me run things after this. He said a little prayer for it, silently. I have so much to give, he thought. I’m not taking anything away from anyone. I level up and everybody wins. They don’t know how good they’ve got it.
After the full moon I’ll remove any resistance. Easy. My spirit will do that. Trapped.
He was so proud of himself he lost track of what he was doing for a second. He pulled himself together and kept walking.
His mind was racing a little now and he didn’t like it. He told himself to enjoy this. He wanted to remember and savor the moment when he got the secret to being in charge. He deserved it. Sometimes she didn’t think so. She always supported him, but he was sure she didn’t completely believe him. He tried to quiet that voice in his head, thought of how she’d helped him finish the damn test and felt a little better.
Felt a lot better. This will be great. I didn’t even have to psych myself into it, he thought. On he walked.
——
He slowed down. Is this it? Probably just another bunch of shadows.
He doubted his eyes for moment but there it was. He stopped and took the last slug of booze from his flask. He turned on the flashlight and walked into the cave.
It was pretty spacey. He was glad he didn’t have to squeeze through anything but wished he saw some graffiti or something. A little trash at least. Is this the right place?
He was getting excited, almost felt a little wood. This is our time. This is MY time. He thought of them partying below. I have to get laid tonight, he thought. After all this I deserve it. No matter how tired or drunk she gets, she can’t say no. Not tonight. The full 9 yards. He thought of the booze down there. They better save some for me. They better save a lot.
He turned back and was far enough in that he couldn’t see the entrance any more. He pointed the flashlight forward and kept walking. He wondered for a second if she’d felt like this when she did it. She should have told him what it says. He’d learned enough to know there was a secret message he’d have to recite to them to prove he’d done it before taking the next grade. That was all.
A message. What I’m supposed to do. What a joke.
She should have just told me. What if I’d drank more tonight and forgot? I deserve this. I’m in charge.
The passage was closing up, not as wide, getting more constricted. Was it close? Will I have to keep going, like for an hour or something?
It got smaller and smaller. He kept going. Should I duck?
At least I’m not thinking I want a drink anymore. Then he realized he just had. Fuck.
Is that it? There’s something up ahead. That’s not it, just shadows.
He got closer. The cave stopped. Something was carved in the wall at the end. This is it.
This is something I’ve practiced more and more since the current administration took office. People who want to control tend to copy what they see. This is even more sus in our post pop-anarchy world. These tips will help you know who your friends are. You may have compassion for the rest but you’ll want to be careful.
What you’ll need: Your intuition
You may find someone you think you can trust occasionally dropping word about other people that rings a bell for you inside. You’ll be talking about something vaguely related, and you’ll hear something like “I wonder about (your sensei),” “I hear (your friend does X),” you enjoy running and have no problems but are told “I hear it’s bad for the knees.”
Collect that in your head. The fact that it drew your attention like a stubbed toe is a tip off. If it comes from some esotericist, well, there’s nothing wrong with that but you may want to consider that this may be a person dedicated to having things their way no matter how it impacts you. Or maybe because it impacts you. Cuz it’s fun for them.
Now – don’t say anything. This is the field study phase. See how often it happens. And how. Does it seem phony and calculated? I have found the earwig is popular with some work supervisors, and among people in some in groups I’ve worked with, usually near the top. If you see it being done by multiple people who are friends or partners, you may have found an earwig’s den.
The difference between expression and manipulation is often shown by how it occurs, and this is where you want to wear your earwig anthropologist’s hat and make careful observations. Now that you’re watching, can you tell it’s contrived? People share opinions and if someone is worked up about another person crossing a friend, I wouldn’t worry about that. It’s when you see it being done very calmly and quietly. That’s usually a sign someone is using some shoddy internet NLP and are confident that you don’t know what they’re up to. But you have an inner bell and you listened.
What do you do if you get the earwig’s message and see this happening? Don’t say anything yet. They will pass the same things on about you to other people, or if they are doing that already they’ll step it up. Talk about it with someone you absolutely trust. Good anthropology means sharing findings and peer review. Watch your back. And take stock of the landscape. Should you be distancing yourself from the situation? Find a new job? If you do opt to confront I recommend being inconsistent. If someone is seeking control, inconsistency will confuse them and that’s good. Agree with them in one meeting, disagree the next. If you are usually sweet they may take that as being a pushover. You can use that to your advantage. You could be surly. But be very careful you don’t endanger a work situation if that will hurt you!
Getting the earwig’s message and knowing what’s up is a win. You have a better understanding of who’s working against you and how. Lying liars have a few typical responses to being found out. One is going ballistic. They may call you all sorts of names, etc. Usually that is just going to work against them, others will worry why they’re so crazy. Another is to claim they’ve been hurt. In this case, don’t react but don’t commit. We just saw Nancy Pelosi tear it up in response to the SOTU.
She can do that because she’s Pelosi and her professional record and balls are bigger and better than 45s. In many cases a simple “I didn’t mean to do that” will suffice. An apology with no apology that puts their impressions in question.
Earwiggers like to claim you or someone else is the problem. We love you Grant, no matter what they say.
Another is they keep their poise. Those are the expert earwiggers, the ones you really have to watch out for. Continue your fieldwork. You may need a grant 🙂
Mojo Navigator 