Thanks, Ancestors. Thanks a freaking lot.

Excellent piece today over at Rune Soup.

After reading it, though, I couldn't help but think, yeah, ancestors, thanks SO MUCH for everything, assholes. We come from a lot of really prick people. Serious major dick heads. Unenlightened violent thieves, rapists, and murderers. And CANNIBALS.

And we wouldn't BE HERE if it weren't for them. We wouldn't have to deal with trying to remember we're free from all suffering at all if they'd just kept their dicks in their pants. Fuck wads.

I found out a little about the Bodhisattva vows recently. You swear to keep on incarnating until everyone reaches Enlightenment.

Fuck. That. Shit.

Human beings have a racial history of being stupid, mean, and vile. Especially to people who try to teach them how to not be stupid, mean, and vile. I've even done it myself, so what does that say about the sad state of affairs?

So I'm putting together a "raise an army of the dead" ritual for Halloween (it's been in process for a couple of weeks, was going to post it, but likely won't finish until a few minutes before I do the rite anyway). I've got dirt from various graveyards around the area, and some other stuff from haunted places, and it's all going into a big old huge fucking Spirit Pot that will be home to my Army of Deadites to send around and do whatever petty shit needs to be done.

The level of spirit I'm aiming for in the rite is pretty base, the shades who haven't managed to dissolve into the parts that make them up, the Nepheshim. Individually, they're pretty weak.

In large numbers, I'm hoping they can do more than just drop the temperature of the room a few degrees when they show up. My hopes and expectations are decidedly low, though, because they're only human after all, and not even the thinking or eternal parts at that. Just some damned souls left to howl in the night when the veils are thinnest.

And why am I doing this? Because like my ancestors, I'm a fuck wad asshole prick who would eat human flesh to survive if necessary. And magic is fun. And who WOULDN'T want an army of the dead to send out at whim to curse the local 7-eleven owner for running out of BFC Monsters when you really need one?

So that's how I'm honoring the dead this year. I'm giving them something to do, and I'm keeping the family tradition alive.

Nightmare

Now your nightmare comes to life...



Ok, so this is a fun song and all, but the lyrics aren't exactly 100% accurate. However, it's still pretty cool. When I dropped demon magic, I found all kinds of stuff touched on in the lyrics of this song just sort of went away. Borderline personality disorders, mental illness afflictions and such just faded. Even a learning disability my daughter had evaporated into nothing, and she's doing great in school this year, with no particular changes in how we do things at home.

Money is coming in and actually staying in for a change. No major catastrophes are leaving us all broke every time we get a windfall.

And I'm over a lot of personal issues that plagued me for years. A friend commented that I'm calmer than ever, even though I've managed to retain my wit. Personally, I don't know how witty I am, but as long as I'm not getting less witty, I'm happy. I was a little concerned about that, since Bune had made me more eloquent. I was afraid I'd end up less loquacious, or dull.

I do write less on the blog, but that's because most of my attention and writing is going into courses these days.

Anyway, I thought the song was fitting. One of the things about demon magic is that people heavily into it are living nightmare existences, one drama or crisis after another, all the time... and they think it's normal. It's not! Life doesn't have to be shit, all the time. Into each life a little shit must fall, don't get me wrong, but it's not supposed to be all the time, every month, year after year.

Now, some magicians seem to be able to work with demons with either no problems, or they're at least adequately prepared to accept the consequences. Hey, if that's you, more power to you. Awesome.

For the rest of us, if you're sick of the drama, but you're hooked on the power and apparent control of your life the demon magic brings, the RO Guide to Demon Magic Recovery is for you. It provides a way to get clean, and to replace the perks of being a magician that you've grown accustomed to with better allies and sources of power. Cleaner stuff. The "good" stuff.

Recent conversations on Evocational Magic had me reviewing my position on demons this week. I mean, I'm kind of the poster child for the guy who gets into demon magic, has bad shit happen, and then goes all anti-demon as a result. There are lots of explanations about why that happens online, and when I was into demon magic, I even wrote a few myself. My take was people weren't initiated enough, or something.

After carefully re-evaluating my position, I've come to the conclusion that demon magic still sucks, but I've clarified my use of the term "demon." Demons are any spirit who is designed to bring destruction or delusion. Focalor, who sinks ships and brings disease, is clearly a demon. Maybe every spirit listed in the Lemegeton's Goetia is not necessarily a demon, but I think enough of them are to make it a poor resource for finding spirit allies. Instead, I advocate working with the Planetary Governors/Intelligences directly, the "Winds," the Princes of the Spirits, and the Genii Loci. I recommend creating your own list of spirits the old fashioned way, finding them, getting their details, and recording their contact information in a Spirit Book.

Be a Goes magician practicing Goety by all means! After all, that wouldn't be an inappropriate description of my own Work, from certain perspectives. But avoid any spirit whose primary role in existence is the manufacture and maintenance of suffering. Putting them to work for you is effective, but it comes with a price. For most of us, anyway.

Freedom from All Suffering

When you are free from all suffering, it does not necessarily mean you will never again suffer. However, once you are free from all suffering, suffering will never be able to imprison you again.

You are free to leave the prison of suffering any time. The gates are not locked.

The question faced while suffering occurs is no longer "Why am I suffering," but "Will I suffer through this or not?"

The Hunt Party

It's that most wonderful time of the year: Halloween! Samhain! All Saints! Walpurgisnacth! Raise the dead, joke with the damned, walk the Paths of Hel, Hella, Hades, shudder in dread in the shadow of Cromm, and dance to the maddening beat of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes!

I suggest a Hunting Party. Gather up some heathens, a couple of coolers full of ice, and camp out at a farm of an accommodating friend of similar beliefs, or who will at least turn a blind eye and deaf ear to a night's revelry. You'll need a bonfire, and some hay bales to sit on. You'l need sparsely wooded "wild" areas to wander through in the dark, and a shallow stream someone can fall into and laugh about later. You'll need shadowed hidden places near enough to see the fire, but secluded enough for lovers to have their quality time together without intrusion.

Conjure up the Master of the Hunt. (Did I mention the Master of the Hunt?) You'll definitely need some Hunt Master. Also known as der Jaegermeister, this charming concoction must be stored in the coolers with the ice. Shot glasses are optional, because alcohol kills germs. Figure a minimum of a pint per attendee, and a chaser per person, and you'll bring about enough. I prefer Fraoch Heather Ale as the chaser. So good.

Meet at dusk and pitch the tents. (Did I mention the tents?) Note: pitch the tents BEFORE you start drinking. For serious.

Light the fire, cook some bratwurst on sticks. (Did I mention the bratwurst?) Crack the Ale, pour the first round of shots, and together toast the Spiritus Mundi, the Spirit of the World. Pour one shot on the ground. Another round is poured, and together toast the Genii Loci, the Spirits of the Land. Pour one shot on the ground. A third round is poured, with great solemnity, in silence, and the final toast is made to those who have come before, the honored dead who have passed over. Pour one shot on the ground.

After a moment of contemplation and somber reflection on the dead (which gives the alcohol time to permeate the blood stream), break out the fiddle and the bow, the flute and the drums, and let the drunken revelry commence! (Did I mention the fiddle and the bow and the drum and the flute?)

Note: At no point should anyone perform a conjuration as part of the Hunt Party. This ritual honors the Spirits, but is primarily a celebration for the living. Raise an army of the dead on your own time, with no booze involved.

Oh... God... Yesssss....

Man, it is fucking GREAT to be doing magic again!

Hoo-ah! Ha.

I've spent the last few months mostly stuck in an astral temple. Over the last couple of weeks, I've buckled down and started getting my shit together, rebuilding my altar talisman collection, putting my weapons together, and getting my ass in gear. Well, getting the gears installed so I can at least ... uh, no, no gears installed in my ass... uhm.

Look, I made some magic stuff so I can start doing magic again, and it's going great! That's what I mean

On one of the lists, there was some conversation about the substance vs. intent, and we all agreed that it's more than just those two pieces, and you can't lean too much on any particular side, and I might visit the topic in a blog post eventually, but I can definitely say, having the talismans makes a difference in the sphere of the magician who makes them. Substance adds substance. Form brings coalescence. It's an Important Thing.

So anyway, I had someone get in touch with me today looking for some magical work on their behalf, and it went super good so far. Getting back into magic again feels good. It's like having your shoulders pop after you start working out again after taking a break. And man, the power! I forgot what it feels like, it's been so long. What a fucking rush.

About that Business Basics Thing...

I got an email asking me about the business basics book I wrote.

Yes, it covers some of the things Jason wrote about in his recent blog post, and yes, it goes into more detail. It also has nifty pictures illustrating the business process in simple, standard business formats. It walks through the process a friend of mine went through to open a brick and mortar store, and addresses some things I've learned about online retail. There's not a lot of tech, it's mostly basic theory, and it imparts the most important lesson I had to learn about the value of your products or services.

No, it doesn't teach you how to conjure up demons, angels, genius loci, or the spirits of the dead to make you successful. The reason is because spirits and magic doesn't make you successful. They contribute, they help a lot, but the only thing that makes you successful is work. You've heard it a million times from experienced magicians, famous and infamous: the spirits provide opportunities, you provide the sweat. You're the one with a body, not them. they can help, but until you understand the basics of business, and the sweat equity necessary to succeed, you've got nothing.

Another question was how long is it? It's about 7,000 words, on 26 5X8 pages. When Kindle launches Singles, this is the perfect thing for it. In fact, I'm going to be all over Singles when they come out.

With added responsibility comes ...

Axiom: With great power comes great responsibility.

Ergo, the implied inverse: As responsibilities are added, so too is the power to accomplish these responsibilities.

Therefore: You are never tasked with a goal that you cannot achieve.

Yay! That's great. Words to live by and remember when times are dark and you feel overwhelmed. Tasks can be daunting. Remembering that you have the power to accomplish the task at hand can relieve the pressure you might feel when you see how big the problem really is. Take a minute and remember your power if you get nervous.

And also, remember that with great power comes lackeys who will do the work that you can't or don't know how to do. You just gotta look for them. Kids, volunteers, employees, clerks of the court, public servants, family members, friends who help you move for pizza and beer, elected representatives, someone somewhere in the flesh can help. You just have to figure out who the lackeys are.

However, there is administrative overhead to take into account. You haven't really integrated the powers you've been bestowed until you've updated your resume. An old joke goes, if a woman says something in a forest, does anyone really care? Take out the misogyny, and it's basically an observation on the human condition: people will ignore everything they don't think is important. You've got to be able to tell people what you've done that demonstrates your ability to succeed.

In magic, we don't have a resume. But we do a lot of shit in this Great Work thing. Take some time to write it up using a Resume template. They're free online, and the MS Word 2007 versions are compatible with Open Office and Google Docs, so there's no reason you can't get started filling in the blanks on a template. Keep it secret, keep it safe, but keep it.

When faced with a crisis, pull it out and review it. You'll have forgotten about a trick you used in a previous situation that was similar. You'll see separate occasions that required seemingly unrelated skills that now would combine perfectly to solve your immediate need.

We use resumes in our careers to tell people what we've done and why they should hire us. In magic, your "Curricula Vita" serves as a reminder to you personally that you can do what needs to be done, and that you're the perfect person for the job.

And sometimes, that reminder is all we really need.

Wow, what a prick

Dude, I just read some old articles I wrote. I was a major prick. Sorry about that. I try not to talk down to people with such dripping arrogance these days.

It's hard, I tell you, and really, you should be thankful I go to such lengths.

Planetary Intelligences

See: this article for more info.

When they announced a "goldilocks planet" had been found, one of the first things I did was try to contact them.When trying to contact the Intelligences of the planet. I got nothing but static too.

[Edit: Corrected typo that's been bugging me all week long.]

The Rufus Opus Guide to Business Fundamentals

Now available through my eBooks page: The Rufus Opus Guide to Business Fundamentals.

It's short, it's really basic, but it covers the fundamentals of business process and core theory that books like The Four Hour Work Week and Rich Dad, Poor Dad assume you already know. It's some truly simple concepts that you probably DO already know, but I really wish I had something like this when I was starting out in this whole business thing. It would have focused me on the important things I had to realize on my own up front and saved me a lot of grief.

Because the info is so basic, and the book is so short, I'm charging very little. $3.95 nets you your own copy. The target audience is anyone who's read the books I mentioned above, but felt frustrated because they assumed you understand business processes most folks have little exposure to. It's also good information for people who haven't read those books, but are considering getting into business for themselves.

Please note, there is no occult information included in the book whatsoever. I was going to add a bunch of money-making magical techniques, but that will come later, if at all. Jason covers that better than I could anyway.

Note: Someone pointed out to me a month or so ago that the PayPal Buy Now buttons on my eBooks page took them to the Google Checkout page instead. If you paste the code for the two options too close together, some browsers, like Chrome and FireFox just take you to the first form on the page. Irritating. I fixed it by adding a lot of space between the buttons, but it's ... ugly. One of these days I'll make a beautiful web site and people from all around the world will praise my genius. Or maybe not. Web design is excruciating, and templates are free.

TANSTAAFL

So this guy is complaining that Moloch's list isn't fair because Moloch doesn't discuss ATRs there, even though it's technically "evocational magic." Moloch spent years developing his list, it's got 444 members, and he runs it with an iron fist. He talks about the kind of conjure magic he likes, and he always has. He doesn't discuss ATRs on the list because he knows they require specific expensive initiations to work right, he knows his average subscriber can't afford those initiations, and he knows that anyone who knows enough about the ATRs to be able to discuss useful conjuration methodologies would be forbidden to do so by their oaths. So basically, any public list that talks about ATRs is going to be spreading misinformation at best, dangerous information at worst. So he doesn't allow ATR discussion on the list.

Instead he talks about the kinds of conjure magic you can do without paying exorbitant fees for initiation. Stuff from traditional grimoires that works really well. His list is a treasure trove of useful information on different ways to conjure spirits. He's cool like that.

The guy that's complaining about the list being "discriminatory" because Moloch won't allow discussion of ATRs there is exhibiting symptoms of a spiritual malaise that I feel should be addressed. It's a sense of entitlement that we have to shed when we get serious about magic, because it ruins all our Work.

People seem to think that just because something exists, they have a right to use it however they want. Whether it's someone else's discussion group, someone's written books, or an entire tradition with built-in safeguards that exist for a reason, people think they can just take whatever's around and use it in whatever manner "feels right" to them without consequence.

I'm guilty of that too, by the way. I'm no saint. My approach to the Lemegeton's Goetia is a perfect example of someone who didn't want to follow the rules because I thought I knew better than the grimoire authors about the class of spirits I was dealing with. Arrogance. I also felt that because I had been initiated to a certain degree, I was entitled to rewrite the grimoires the way I thought they should work. It worked with the Modern Angelic Grimoire, after all.* Why not with the demons too?

I've mentioned it before, but my house burned down because I cut corners and thought I was ahead of the game. I stopped treating my spirit familiar like the demon he was, and started treating him like an old friend with characteristics and traits he didn't have. My bad. My sense of entitlement screwed the pooch. You don't get to do whatever you want with whatever you find and have it work perfectly.

But the main problem with a sense of entitlement goes a lot deeper than the fact that it's physically, spiritually, and emotionally dangerous in the occult to just take things that aren't yours and pretend you can do whatever because you have a different belief system and therefore get to make your own rules. The main problem is a spiritual disease that will do far worse than hurt you, or even kill you.

If you think you know everything, you're going to end up prolonging the Work until you can get over it. I tend to forget sometimes, but I'm here for a reason. I study Magic on purpose. My goals transcend this lifetime, and go a hell of a lot deeper than anything I happen to be doing in the moment. See, I do magic to accomplish the Great Work. Whenever I start thinking I know more than the spirits, the grimoires, or the master magicians and adepts I'm honored to be friends with, I stop progressing in the Work. I stagnate, and get stuck at whatever level of attainment I happen to be at when my pride sneaks in, and I start feeling like the world is my toy to play with as I see fit. I stop going Up to the Source to return to Earth in Power and wisdom to use the power effectively, I just sit in my pool of power I've got so far and shoot it out at random targets. I cut myself off from the true potentials.

What I'm trying to say is that a full cup cannot be filled. If you already have "all the power of the universe," you're stuck wherever you're at. I know for a fact you're not where you want to be already, I know there are things that you want to improve in your life. I know this is true because it is true of everyone on the planet. The planet itself, existence, seems to be fundamentally engineered to provide less than we want. Either that, or we're fundamentally designed to always want more, different, better. I think we miss our Source, and we try to fill that ache with stuff, or other forms of improvement, but even then, I still always want more, a closer relationship with God, a better understanding of what I'm supposed to do in the situation I'm in, and how it all fits together in the overall plan.

No matter what you think you know, or have seen, or experienced, there's always more to come. If you cut yourself off from the "more to come" because you think you've already got it, you can't get it. That's why when it comes to traditions of initiation that are shrouded in secrecy and oaths need to be worked with from within. You go through the progressive stages of initiation, and you play the hand you're dealt according to the rules of the game. If you don't, you're not playing the game at all.

Now, this doesn't mean you become a grimoire-thumping true believer who only follows the rules, and turns off their brain. Some of the grimoires were bullshit, others were simply imaginative flights of fancy, and all of them were designed to be used by people who understood some basic things, either because it was culturally general knowledge, or because they had received special instruction and empowerment in a Mystery or seven. You've got to question, challenge, and test the things you're working on. You innovate and incorporate, you syncretize with insight and wisdom.

But you can't do it with a sense of childish entitlement. You've got to do it with an open mind that keeps sight of the long term goals. You take your knowledge up through the spheres with you, and get input from each Intelligence on the way, and then you talk to the Source of the knowledge itself. You keep doing that, keep your eye on the Work, and you won't get caught up in stupidity.

*Note: It worked with the Modern Angelic Grimoire because I didn't change anything in the technique at all, I just rewrote it in modern English, and kept the traditional requirements intact.

Be Excellent to One Another

I wrote a long sarcastic post about how people should be good, pointing out in great irony and wit that people have been telling each other for 10,000 years that they should be nice to each other, and then I summed it all up with a poignant reminder that only individuals mindfully aware of their own individual behavior will be able to manage this, and a warning that some people never will be nice regardless, and that they should probably be killed before they spawn more like themselves.

And then Google ate my post.

It's probably for the best, I have a feeling recent work with no-thing-ness is going to come through as apathy at best, nihilism at the worst, and it's not how I am.

This Just In....

A very important message brought to you by every news agency on the planet known to man and some apes:

Bullying is bad.

It's bad to be a bully AND it's bad if you're being bullied. Really, just bad, all the way 'round.

Thank you for your attention. Because this announcement is "news."

Full Canvas

So... Magic and stuff.

I figured out why it's so hard to use magic to do anything useful. I've spent most of my time lately going in depth into the whole process of manifestation for a number of different projects I'm working on, and it hit critical mass. I get why it's so difficult to get specific results, and why general influential type magic works better than laser-focused stuff.

It's because manifestation is fucking hard. And complicated.

First, it takes shitloads of raw power to add layers to Ideas before they get dense enough to manifest. Most of the power coagulates into form, and it takes a ton of power to make a very small amount of mass. You know Einstein's equation, E=MC^2? It's how we get so much energy out of a little bit of mass. Well, it's true the other way, to make mass, you need a ton of energy. One gram of gold takes the equivalent of the energy released if you explode 21,481 tons of TNT.

Twenty-one THOUSAND Tons of TNT. To make an ounce of gold.

Got that sitting around? Have you been initiated to the degree that you could handle that much power on any of the planes of pre-existence without burning out? Assuming you've got the reinforced, remodeled, re-engineered sphere of power to handle that kind of raw energy, have you looked at everything that goes on to get that power to manifest?

It goes from the Idea-world to the Form-world, and takes on layers under the careful administration of vast powers and principalities. By the time a thing manifests, it's been influenced by the Intelligences and Spirits of 12 constellations, 7 planets, and 4 elements. They've got power and wisdom and skill in making things happen you just can't have. You're not old enough. They know the recipes for grass, the proportions of each planet that have to work together influencing the proportions of the elements for the specific manifestation to occur. They know who to nudge with what inspiration when it's just right to get the thing they're supposed to make happen to happen when it's supposed to.

We don't.

So what's the solution? How do you get your magic to be effective? What's the secret? I think I can sum it up rather simply, by stealing an observation one of my favorite students made the other day in an email. We were talking about hoodoo rites, specifically the one Balthazar posted on Gnostic Conjure, and he said "Magick that has a style like Hoodoo is awesome. They create little Microcosmic stories of the thing you're trying to manifest."

That's it! That's how magic, successful, practical, results-oriented magic really works! You tell a story about how the idea manifests in the mind of God and then materializes as it goes down through the spheres before hitting this one. You have representations of the spheres involved, you conjure the intelligences to manage the proportions, you involve multiple fronts strategically, hitting multiple layers to shepherd the desired result into manifestation. Jason's testimonials from his blog lately show how this works, you conjure an opportunity, and then you conjure the result, you anoint your hands and shake on the deal, you dress your paperwork, you bend over the dude you need to agree with you. You shoal your sigils or whatever.

You take a symbol and do something symbolic with it, but you tell a story.

Crowley once commented that the tools of the Magician are the tools of a scribe, because he saw that the Magician is a story teller. Look at the Magus card in his Toth deck if you don't believe me.

I think the overall reason most magic is weak or fizzles out is because people like to pretend it's really easy to make things happen, and it's just not. It's hard. And complicated.

I've been watching Pirates of the Caribean: At World's End a lot lately. Actually, my kids have been, and it's been on in the background. At the end, when they're all set to destroy the East India Trading Company's ship, they yell, "Full Canvas!" That means they unfurl all their sails and go as fast as they can. They release their full power, not just the main sail, or the littler sails with fancy names that I don't know about, the full canvas, everything they've got. That's how the stories have to be told, fully, not just a piece of the story, not the plot with no characters, or the characters with no plot. The whole thing.