Practical Money Magick

The full moon is associated with money, prosperity and success in nearly every folk tale around the world.

 The following spell is best performed during the waxing Moon or on the Full Moon. You will need a small cauldron, a small green or brown talisman bag, and three silver coins.


1.  Place a dish oinside the cauldron with a small amount of cinnamon and cedar chips on it.
2.  Lay three coins on your altar.
3.  Tap each coin with your forefinger of your power hand (the one you write with) and chant:

Glistening silver coin of the moon, 

 Shiny and round, bring me a boon. 

 Draw to my hands many more your kind. 

 Multiply, grow, like the image in my mind.

4.  Put the coins in the cauldron with the herbs.
5.  Using your power hand, stir the air clockwise seven times over the cauldron.
6.   Chant:

 Earth elementals, cunning and bright, 

 Share your treasures here on this night, 

 Share with me riches of silver and gold, 

 Success prosperity, all I can hold. 

7. Place the herbs and the coins in the talisman bag.
8. Cary this with you until the Moon goes through Her phases and returns to Full.

 (extracted from Llewellyn's Witches Calender July 1999) Written by D.J. Conway

Introduction to Kabbalah: Some Misconceptions

What is Kabbalah

Tree of Life by Andrei Voica

Kabbalah is an occult, meaning hidden, science. Kabbalah is sometimes associated with “Jewish mysticism”; in fact, understanding Hebrew language,  the Torah, and Jewish law are fundamental to understand of Kabbalah.  Kabbalah was intentionally by Jewish practitioners hidden after the Siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the second temple around 70 CE.  After the fall of the second temple, Kabbalah became an underground 

Kabbalah is also hidden, in that it does not deal with the five primary senses.  It is simply not something you can see, touch, or hear.  The true meaning if life cannot be found in material things.

Additionally, the Kabbalistic books themselves are esoteric by employing the language of branches.  The language of branches indicates the metaphysical origin of the mundane.  For example, ordinary words are said to be branches from a metaphysical root.   This is especially evident in the Torah which works on a metaphorical level.  Unfortunately, this complexity leads to the vast misinformation surrounding Kabbalah.

Misinformation and Misconceptions

 Kabbalah is a religion. 

While Kabbalah deals with the upper and lower worlds, Kabbalah is not a means of transcendence.  These worlds are interdependent and not to be transcended but experienced directly.  Kabbalah is a science that is compatible with a variety of world religions.

You have to be Jewish to Study Kabbalah.

Many preeminent kabbalists were not Jewish. While Kabbalah has its origins in Judaism and makes extensive references to Jewish thought, Kabbalah is not a religious denomination in and of itself.

Kabbalah leads to insanity.

Kabbalah is not grounded in “normal” thinking about material things.  From the perspective of individuals who operate on a material level, Kabbalah (and other spiritual matters) is incomprehensible.  

Ultimate Witchcraft Playlist

The occult and witchcraft are popular topics in various media.  While the portrayal of these topics is sometimes misguided, it is important for the practitioner to understand how the arts are represented in music, video, literature and all varieties of discourse.  Plus, some of these songs kick major ass.  Check out my "Ultimate Witchcraft" playlist.

1. Thuston Moore - Wonderful Witches

2. Crim3s - Salt

3. Hole - Softer, Softest

4. The Moving Sidewalks - Crimson Witch

5. Donovan - Season of the Witch

6. Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon (My all time favorite song.  Marry me, Stevie?)

7. Ritualz - Ghetto Ass Witch

8. Yoko Ono - Yes, I'm a Witch

9. Pixies - Blue Eyed Hexe

10. The Sonics - The Witch

Did this playlist leave out some of your favorites?  Drop me a message to let me know what witch-related songs to add!

Who Was Aleister Crowley, Really?

Aleister Crowley is one of the most misunderstood individuals of his time.  His philosophy challenged orthodoxy for the sake of Love and True Will.  To this day, his message continues to be warped to by those it challenges.  In researching Crowley and reading some of books, I have found his message to be one of truth and light.  I strongly encourage the open minded exploration of Crowley's works.  Here is a small sampling of quotes to get you started!

Crowley Top 10 Quotes:

Paganism is wholesome because it faces the facts of life.


Indubitably, magic is one of the subtlest and most difficult of the sciences and arts. There is more opportunity for errors of comprehension, judgment and practice than in any other branch of physics.


The people who have really made history are the martyrs.


Part of the public horror of sexual irregularity so-called is due to the fact that everyone knows himself essentially guilty.


The joy of life consists in the exercise of one's energies, continual growth, constant change, the enjoyment of every new experience. To stop means simply to die. The eternal mistake of mankind is to set up an attainable ideal.


Modern morality and manners suppress all natural instincts, keep people ignorant of the facts of nature and make them fighting drunk on bogey tales.


Falsehood is invariably the child of fear in one form or another.


Every one interprets everything in terms of his own experience. If you say anything which does not touch a precisely similar spot in another man's brain, he either misunderstands you, or doesn't understand you at all.


The Way of Mastery is to break all the rules—but you have to know them perfectly before you can do this; otherwise you are not in a position to transcend them.


Truth! Truth! Truth! crieth the Lord of the Abyss of Hallucinations.

Moon Glyphs

Reconsidering Religion and Science

The resent debate between Bill Nye “The Science Guy” and Ken Ham, founder of the Creation Museum, has fueled the unnecessary conflict between science and religion.  Ultimately, science and religion present two different means of knowing that make different assumptions about reality.

T'ai Chi Ch'uan

Consider this analogy:  T’ai Chi Ch’uan (T’ai chi) and Krava Maga are two different martial arts.  These disciplines have the common goal of self-defense. 

However, both styles make different assumptions about how one should defend themselves. 

For example, T’ai Chi Ch’uan encourages students to redirect an attackers strength against their opponent and is a passive, yet effective, fighting style.  Krav Maga encourages students to end a fight as quickly as possible by attacking vulnerable body parts and is an aggressive and efficient style.

Krav Maga

Both martial arts have pros and cons. While one may be better suited in a particular context over the other, it would be unreasonable to say that one is inherently better than the other.  They have similar goals but make different assumptions about how to achieve these goals.

Likewise, both religion and science represent different processes in the distillation of knowledge. While they are not completely incompatible, it is unnecessary to pit them against each other.  They make different etymological and cosmological assumptions. These assumptions are not based on Truth, but are necessary for any progress to be made.

To illustrate, science requires the assumption of a measurable and material universe with consistent laws. This is a lofty assumption and is often rejected by theoretical and quantum physicists, among other scholars.  Science can only study what is empirically falsifiable.  Science can make no statement for or against the transcendent or the divine which do not exist materially.

On the contrary, most religions operate on the assumption that humans can somehow know and interact with a transcendent principle of reality.  Both science and religion adequately describe the world around but make different assumptions.  To say that one is inherently better than the other is to say that T’ai Chi Ch’uan is better than Krav Maga.

Jason Louv: Magick in the Aeon of Horus

Jason Louv delivers one of the best discussions of magick I've encountered.  I believe that his message is salient to occultists and pagans a like.  What direction will magick and spirituality take in 2014 and beyond?  Check it out!

On becoming a sage (Part 1 Daoism)

This post is the first in a series that will explore the ideal of the sage in various religious and cultural traditions.  This weeks post deals with Daoism. 

For more information on Daoism check out http://ctext.org/daoism. Additionally, no bookshelf is complete without a copy of the Dao De Jing. Roger Ames provides the best translation which is available here.

Become a Daoist (Taoist) Sage

According to Roger Ames, The Dao De Jing “encourages the cultivation of a disposition offered” by the various wu-forms. These wu-forms are associated with the ideal of the Daoist sage, or sheng ren. Wuzhi, wuwei, wuyu, and additional wu-forms are employed by the sage who’s perception is beyond the engagement of things as abstractions. These forms require that the sage put spontaneously arrives at “what is to be know, to be acted in accordance with, or to be desired.” (David Hall)

The wu-forms promote a vitality for living free of fragmentizing social, emotional, and psychological paradigms. In doing so, the wu-forms create the capacity for living and understanding a complex and dynamic philosophy of way making. The forms themselves are complex and dynamic. There distinctions are semantically porous, and, philosophically, there is much overlap. By embodying these wu-forms the Daoist sage may live life in accordance with the-way-in-the-making free of illusions.

The various wu-forms present a way of stripping oneself of illusions and assumptions that inhabit the-way-in-the-making to achieve the enlightenment of the sage. The Da De jing states sages are not bound by “institutionalized morality” or other limiting institutions. One foundational form, wuzhi, rejects the notion that the universe is observable and knowable as abstracted entities or overarching terms. Even language is acknowledged as a limiting convention. “Way-making (dao) that can be put into words is not really way-making.” (DDJ).

The sage must perceive the world on its own terms and avoid limiting paradigms. The myriad things can only be understood in their relative context and their own becomings. The sage should act in accordance to the-way-in-the-making with spontaneity and “on its own terms without allowing preconceptions to arrest one’s exploration and appreciation” of awareness. By recognizing the interconnectedness of all things and the-way-in-the-making, the sage can then see the innate awe inspiring capacity of the cosmos.

Another wu-form, wuwei, addresses how the sage should act in the world. Wuwei promotes spontaneous and unmediated action in accordance with ziran (what is self so). This can be achieved through ming, or “a mirroring of the things of the world as they are.”. In mirroring the world, the sage can reach jing, a “frictionless equilibrium,“ in their environment. Ultimately, through wuwei and ming, the sage can find unity with the-way-in-the-making.

This type of action is accompanied by another wu-form: wuyu (objectless desire.) A Daoist conception of the world is void of objects; it opposes the dissection and abstraction of the world into isolated particulars. A desire without objects is felt instead towards wewei or wezhi as they stand to be desired.

Together Wuwei, wuzhi, and wuyu enable the sage to live in accordance with the-way-in-the-making without the distinction of abstracted particulars. This type of existence promotes a limited attachment of the heart and mind to abstracted particulars. This detachment leads to the supreme stillness for the sage to understand the-way-in-the-making. Ultimately, through the wu-forms the sage can interpret and act in place of the-way-in-the-making.

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know-- 10 Quotes By Alan Watts

Alan Watts was a great importer of Zen and Daoism to the western world. I highly recomend two of his books, "Becoming What You Are" and "The Meaning of Happiness."

1. "You don't look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you." 
2. "Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes." 
3. "I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is." 
4. "But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be." 
5. "You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean." 
6. "A myth is an image in terms of which we try to make sense of the world." 
7. "We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society." 
8. "But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you're connected with everything." 
9. "The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention." 
10. "This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” 

A Short Prayer and Original Poem for Gaia and Eris

                                                     Hail to the great infinite!

                                                     Blessed Eris, my beautiful

                                                     friend, be my guide. Holy

                                                     tree, my astral connection,

                                                     share with me divine perception.

                                                     Share root of will and power

                                                     with Gaia. Abide with me

                                                     by the light of the way.

Discordian Tarot Reading

A thread in occultforum.org got me thinking about divination and tarot. I use a rather unconventional tarot spread. It's fun. And, it works. I've used this spread for communion with Deity, divinition, self exploration, and artistic inspiration. I call it the chaotic spread. 

 Some preliminary thoughts on divination and chaos: 

 The process is based on a Discordian opening ritual. 

Eris, as the Goddess of Chaos represent undifferentiated possibilities. This parallels the Dao De Jing and Quantum physics. In the DDJ, Lao Tzu explains how the determinate arises from the indeterminate (chaos). Quantum mechanics tells us that before a determinate event arises it exists in an undefined or quantum state (check out Schrödinger's cat). Thus, the universe is undefined or chaotic. In a ridiculous way, it may be possible to peek into chaos or even shape chaos through communion with Eris. If anything, it's fun and can add some meaning to the otherwise random string of events we call "life." The following is my Discordian Ritual for communion with chaos:

1. Lose your self to erratic movement and nonsense. (Clap your hands, sing gibberish, and dance with pure spontaneity.) 
2. Sign the Erisian Cross: “Light in my head, fire in my genitals, strength at my right side, laughter at my left side, love in my Heart.”
3.  Call the quarters 
1. Face East: “Blessed Apostle Hung Mung, great Sage of Cathay, Balance the Hodge and Podge and grant us equilibrium.” 
2. Face South: “Blessed Apostle Van Van Mojo, Doctor of Hoodoo and Vexes, Give us the Voodoo Power and confuse our enemies.”
3. Face West: “Blessed Apostle Sri Syadasti, patron of psychedelia, Teach us the relative truth and blow our minds.” 
4. Face North: “Blessed Apostle Zarathud, hard-nosed hermit, Grant us the Erisian doubt, and the constancy of Chaos.” 
5. Look up: “Blessed Apostle Malaclypse, Elder Saint of Discordia, Grant us illumination and protect us from stupidity.” 
4. Say: “Great Goddess Discordia, Holy Mother Eris, Joy of the Universe, Laughter of Space, Grant us Life, Light, Love and Liberty and make the bloody magick work!” 
5. Throw your tarot deck into the air allow the cards to scatter across the room.
6. Interpret the chaotic spread of cards however you see fit. 6. Say: "Hail Eris! All hail Discordia!"

Is the occult evil?

Etymologically, "occult" mean hidden. This typically mean of two things:

1. The information has been intentionally hidden. 
2. The information is innately obscure or hidden (such as the saying "Dao that can be named is no the true Dao".) 

In western society, matters concerning religion or ultimate reality are guarded by clergy. Gnosis(spiritual insight) or distribution of information threaten clerical structure. Occultism threatens the clergy who claim to be the only source of ultimate or divine knowledge. If your truths are not the truth's I preach, you must be evil/heretical/etc.

The only inherently evil thing about occultism is it's representation in western society. Nothing you read in any book (occult related or otherwise) is ultimately true, good, or evil. Books can only contain ideas; they do not contain knowledge or action. Knowledge and action must be produced by the reader.






Ideas themselves are not dangerous. It's the people they effect that can be dangerous. Is Islam or Christianity evil because religious ideas have inspired historical massacre? The same religious ideas have also also promoted a lot good in the world. It's the people who use those ideas (often for misguided or egotistical reasons) that are dangerous.

A responsible seeker distills knowledge structures (conceptual paradigms) from a variety of resources hidden or apparent and material or divine/psychological/magickal/etc.

On psychologizing Deity and misinterpreting Jung. (Where is my mind?)

Carl Jung’s ideas are a topic for discussion in the world of Paganism.  When the historical basis for hard polytheism was challenged in the 1960’s, believers latched onto Jung’s ideas of archetypes to legitimize their faith.  The lasting implication is a rift in  Neopagan philosophy.

Yoda:  Archetype?  Thought-form?  Expression of the unknowable?  Psychic entity?

So who’s right?  Do deity actually exist or are they merely a part of our personal or collective unconscious?  If I were to conduct a poll of 100 Neopagans, I imagine that approximately half would advocate hard polytheism, which is to say Deity actually exist outside the human mind.  The other half would argue that deity are symbolic, archetypal, or are only real within the mind. 

This appears huge divergence in ideology.  Let’s consider a metaphor to show that this situation is more likely complex than truly dichotomous. 

How do I know that I am at my desk typing this post?  Well in my mind, I have a model of both my desk and myself.  I can only know an event through my own internal model of the event.

Here the situation becomes more complex.  In this mental model, my psychic representation also has a mind—it’s mind’ception, a mind within a mind. 

Artist Credit:  Amanda Saker

This paradox raises further questions.  Is my mind in the universe? Or is the universe in my mind?   The most correct answer is probably: both.  Robert Anton Wilson argues that the true nature of the universe is both transcendent and immanent.  It is simultaneously internal and external.  My mind is in the universe and the universe, as I know it, is in my mind.


Following this reasoning, psychological entities are equally as “real” as the material entities that we assume exist externally but are only know through internal perception. This is what Jung means in saying “What most overlook or seem unable to understand is the fact that I regard the psyche as real.” (Collected Works, P. 751.)

To the skeptics who say “that it’s all in your head.” You’re right. My gods and goddesses exist in my head— but so does the rest of the universe. Deity are just as real as anything else in the mind… which is everything.

In this way, Yoda is a real and fictional entity. He's a real, fictional entity. He's a mental representation just like your mom, the president, or you.

NextGen Pagan: Paganism for the Next Generation

What draws young Pagans and Witches to their path?

Author of the book Teen Spirit Wicca, David Salisbury,  explains his interaction and observation within young Pagan and Wiccan communities.

Teenage practitioners offer the following highlights of their paths, via witchesandpagans.com:

"Being able to be part of a loving community and informing others what Paganism is."

-S


"I love the acceptance I get and the help. I'm solitary but I still ask a ton of questions. Its challenging but i love the freedom it gives me."

-L


"Wicca teaches me how to be responsible for myself and to make myself better. It pushes me to do better things with my life."

-A, age 16


"Being a Wiccan has been so helpful because it has helped me to become one with myself and the nature around me. My mind has been set wide open and everything is shed in a new light, which is shattering and beautiful. It has brought me back to who I am and has saved me in more ways than one."

-LP


"I love knowing that the gods are there for me to talk to when I have no one else to talk to. I'm never truly alone."

-K, age 15


"My favorite is that it has helped me be me in almost every aspect of my life. That I see myself, others and nature in a different way than I used to."

-C


"Knowing that no matter what, you can relay on the strength that nature has to support you when you are feeling weak."

-G


"When I meet people who believe the same, I have an instant bond with someone I can connect with in the community."

-L, age 17


"The best part for me about being Wiccan is the amazing feeling of joy I get from helping people. It gives me drive and focus. When I found Wicca I found myself."

-K


"I love that I can connect with other people to share something special about me. I like meeting people who feel drawn to this path like I do."
-B, age 16

read the full article at witchesandpagans.com.
For another look at teenage Paganism check out teen-pagan-problems on tumblr

Magick Resources

http://www.holybooks.com/category/occultism/

Many texts from various Buddhist schools, Daosim, Ancient Religions, Shamanism, occultism and other traditions.

http://darkbooks.org/articles/texts.html

Lots of articles on magick and full esoteric texts.

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhlalpha.html

The Gnostic society Library

http://www.sacred-texts.com/

The Definitive Online Resource for Texts from a variety of World Religions

http://www.chaosmatrix.org/

Huge Collection of Chaos Magick Resources

"The Occult Experience"

A 1985 documentary, "The Occult Experience," is available for free streaming on Vimeo.  The film features classic footage of Margot Adler, Selena Fox, Janet Farrar, among others.  Plus, Alex Sanders accidentally lights his crotch on fire mid ritual.  Check out this retro documentary HERE.

Pentacles of Pride

Check out Pentacles of Pride, an awesome nonprofit serving the pagan community.  Pentacles of pride provides a pentacle to anyone free of charge.  Additionally, the group serves the pagan community by providing scholarships and other assistance.  Check out the link for a free pentacle or to donate to a great cause supporting the pagan community.

Pentacles of Pride

A song for Gaia, born of chaos...

I will sing of well-founded Earth, mother of all, globe of our birth.

She feeds all creatures, all that go upon the goodly land,
And all that are in the paths of the seas, and all that fly:
All these are fed of her store.
Through you, O queen, women are blessed in their children and blessed in their harvests,
And to you it belongs to give means of life to mortal women and to take it away.
Happy is the woman whom you delight to honor!
She has all things abundantly: her fruitful land is laden with corn,
Her pastures are covered with cattle, and her house is filled with good things.
Such women rule orderly in their cities:
Great riches and wealth follow them:
Their daughters exult with ever-fresh delight,
Their daughters in flower-laden bands play
They skip merrily over the soft flowers of the field.
Thus is it with those whom you honor
O holy goddess, bountiful spirit.

Hail, unto you O' Mother of the Gods,
wife of starry Heaven;
freely bestow upon me
for this my song substance that cheers the heart!
And now I will remember you and another song also".

From "The Book of The Goddess."