I just watched an excellent series on YouTube called Children of the Stones. Old Brit show for young adults. Ian, the guy who drew the cadceus on my blog introduced it to us tonight. Part of the plot is that some of the people are all happy, too happy, and too smart for their own good.
That was what made them super creepy.
They were happy. And they could do math.
Math!
Friggin' pagan bear cult ley line magus interstellar black hole sun transmission and world domination. And time travel.
Anyway, good show, but it's weird to me that the writers chose intelligence and joy as the symptoms of the people being brainwashed. It's like they're saying, hey, those guys are happy... WTF is their problem? There must be something wrong with happy smart people. No one can be that smart and not be a bitter cynic. No one who can be happy can also do all that ... that ... that math!
When I started processing some of the things I learned in my Work, I found myself ebullient with joy and feeling pretty insightful. I was excited and wanted to tell everyone. I admit it, I had a touch of the old insufferableprickitis. But that's ok. Because this time it was different, I had this understanding of how things worked, I could see how people had trapped themselves in terrible lives by telling themselves convincingly that they had to stay there. I'd done it so well myself.
And what I saw was that it is the same ability to convince yourself that you are stuck that is the power of speaking things into being. The thing Hermeticists learn how to do really well in the Great Work, the operation of making the unseen idea in our head into a manifest reality. It's why aphorisms work, it's the power of New Thought (The Secret) and all the things it teaches that work, sometimes. We are that which can turn things imagined into an experience that we and others can participate in.
But when you do that, you are pretty happy. You're aware of what's going on in your life. You know which currents are currently manifesting, and how they will impact your sphere to bring about your current project. You have a framework that lets you predict outcomes, you have an overarching goal in place, and you've got several experiments running in parallel that are bringing you closer every day. You are satisfied at your progress, excited about your latest discoveries, and already working towards what comes next.
And that, apparently, scares the everloving crap out of people.
Like in The Matrix, the first simulated world was perfect, and no human brain could accept it, and they lost whole crops. So they created an imperfect world, our world, and humans thrived.
We can't accept the idea that people can have good lives, be smart, happy, and content. There's something wrong with those people. Something strange. Something just not right.
That's why I've been on this interview schtick lately. I have proof that I'm not alone, and I'm not crazy. Or a fraud, or a guru, or anything like that. I've got friends who are doing it too, making their lives work, and making it happen.
Charming Glamourists, who doubled their sales from one year to the next, doing what she teaches others to do. Bearded frothing mad Bards telling stories of emergence that grip you by the hypocampus and make you see the timeless moment. .Net programmers doing the whole full-on Abramelin rite on the side that matters, the inside. Professional sorcerors managing their kingdom and providing income by talking about sex, and magic.
They're doing it, they're speaking their worlds into being, creating the situations and experiences they want to participate with. And yes, they are terrified, and thrilled, and angry, and prosperous, and insane, and masters, and total noobs all the time with a sense of wonder that pervades all they do. Sometimes it's wonder in an awed sort of way. Other times they're wondering WTF they're doing with their lives.
But they're all doing it, sometimes they're doing it anyway, all pursuing the manifestation of their reality in accordance with their will. They are doing it. Manifesting branches and fruit of Yggdrasil. By seed and root and stem and bud and leaf and flower and fruit do we invoke Thee, they say, making the unmanifest manifest.
And why?
Because they can't NOT.
They've got to, mister. They can never stop doing this thing because it is what makes them happy. It fulfils us to do this. We ascend the spheres and return in power, and we create the world. We're tweaking our approach, honing our techniques, passing on the things we do for others to see, try on, and keep what works for them as they put together their own magical practice.
The thing that drives them is what I mean when I say Joy. Ecstatic mysteries aside, joy is that feeling of awesome thrill when you've done something cool, and it worked. Sometimes it's even noticed, rarely it may even be appreciated.
Even if it is, though, that's not the point.
We do it because we must. We must feel that joy. Nothing else matters. We all found our way to it, and we do what works for us, because we like it.
And that's the point. I say:
Joy.
It doesn't matter what you create, creation itself is the thing that brings it to you:
Joy.
It's what tells you you've done it right, well done, be proud, and what's next?
Joy.
Existence, the active and interactive experince of existence... is pure joy.
Head for the Red: The ongoing adventures and insights of a magician's attempts to accomplish the Great Work.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Friday, December 26, 2014
A Recipe for Cheer
Fundamentally, what I've always experienced as "The Christmas Spirit" is the feeling of celebration of life itself. Sostice is about that, the return of the Sun. Christmas is about that, the coming of the savior of the world. In the darkest of days, a glimmer of hope comes to remind us that Spring is around the corner, and to hang in there, the Holly King will fall, and the Oak King shall return to rule another season.
We exchange gifts to celebrate what we have, what we hope for, what is to come. We celebrate the things we can so-easily lose sight of in the darkest depths of winter, when the days are so short, and we are struggling to get through to daylight again. We celebrate to remind us of the things we lost sight of in the daily bullshit of life. We are Scrooge, who has gotten cynical and needs the reminders and touchstones with bright joyful times of the past and present to avoid a grim and cold future.
That's what the magic of the Christmas spirit is all about, and that is what was lacking this year in the HF-RO HQ Midwest Division.
Harper and I were talking the other day about how the Christmas Spirit hadn't descended upon our house. It wasn't that I was feeling un-cheerful, or un-grateful, or un-celebratory, quite the opposite, in fact. I am joyful and so very thankful for every wonderful aspect of my life. What's missing this year isn't the feelings of Joy at all.
What's missing is the absence of this feeling the rest of the year.
We were talking about it again Christmas morning, and about what makes what we have so cool. Most of the things we do in our lives, we would do regardless of being in a relationship together. We have similar goals, goals that we have each spent a long time figuring out will make us happy. We have similar incomes, the results of our hard work, and the good fortune granted by our invisible friends. We have both been through enough of life to recognize the basic processes that need to be in place to have a happy life, and we do those things together, but not for each other; we would each do so individually, regardless of our relationship.
And that's sort of the thing. Our relationship is based first on our own individual happiness. That's a key piece we both realized after years of trying to do things with people who made us feel badly about ourselves. We both understand that if the things we do individually aren't compatible, no amount of wishing, trying, or sacrificing on our parts will ever make the other person happy. In fact, we recognize that neither of us can make the other person happy. No one can make anyone feel anything. And neither of us are interested in making another person feel anything. We want to be appreciated, sure, but we want it to be honest. And if it's not something the other person feels honestly, well, ok. They aren't the reason we do what we do, we do it for us, and if the other person appreciates it, so much the better.
And we've been fortunate to find another person who appreciates the things we do, the work we've done, the accomplishments we've made, the beauty and joy of our lives, and how much better it is to merge them together. We express our gratitude and joy regularly, because we can. We don't resent one another because we don't sacrifice for one another; we don't have to.
There are some tips and tricks we use to have a great relationship, it's not like we don't do any work to maintain what we have. We based our relationship on the same levels of communication and honesty that our friends in the Polyamory communities use, when they are successful. We had frequent checkpoints to touch base and see how each other were feeling in the first year or so. These days they happen a lot less often, but still pretty regularly. We discuss things that cause us to have feelings we don't like, things that make us sad that happen, and we listen to each other without interrupting. We don't defend ourselves, and we care about each other very much. We don't expect the other person to change because of our feelings, but we trust each other to help us deal with the feelings in ways that are mutually beneficial.
So I was thinking today about how the "Christmas Spirit" is something we experience all year long, and how it's the result of the recipe we have for our lives. We each tried the recipe with other people and it turned out badly, but basically our recipe is a good one, and I'd like to share what we do with you on this Christmas day, so that maybe part of our recipe will be something you can add to yours to increase your Joy all year long:
Be happy with yourselves. I'm not saying be at rest with how you are and make a bunch of excuses for your shitty behavior. If you don't like who you are, if you are working against yourself for some reason, making choices that leave you unhappy, broke, or further away from your heart's desire, then change yourself. It isn't easy, but it isn't impossible either. Whatever you change, you'll find you aren't really changing yourself as much as you are revealing yourself, and it's a process that never ends. But you should be happy with yourself when you're alone. If you aren't happy alone, you won't be happy anywhere with anyone. This is a big part of the Great Work. Or maybe it's just a side effect that I appreciate a lot because it's such a huge difference in comparison to how I felt about myself for so long.
Have a good income. Make some money. A "good income" covers all your monthly bills with 25-30% left over for savings and fun stuff. If you make $1000 a month, you should spend no more than $750 on your monthly expenses. The rest should go to a savings account and for treating yourself well. The variables you can influence are your monthly income and your monthly expenses. Raise the income, lower the out-go, or both. Career training, educations, and certifications can help increase incomes, and there are a ton of resources available about budgeting that you can find in an afternoon on Google. But I've found that if you are saving 20% of your income and have 5% of it available for fun stuff, you're going to have a steady financial experience that eliminates most of your stress in your life.
Be grateful. Being grateful is the natural result of having a low-stress life, I think. It's also one of the keys to ceating one. We spend a lot of time paying our attention to things that we think, feel, and experience. What we pay our attention to in life grows. The more we think about things, the bigger they get in our lives. So if we pay attention to all the negative things more than the positive things, the negative things will keep growing bigger, and the positives will keep growing smaller. I'm not saying if you think positive, everything becomes positive at all. I'm saying if you give a little time each day in appreciation for the good things, you'll start to see more of them, and they will grow larger and more influential in your life over time, and the negative things will shrink down to manageable portions. Having a good income helps.
These are the main things that seem to be the key ingredients for the recipe we use to have a joyful life all year round. We spent the time doing the work, and now we get to reap the rewards. We have goals we are working toward, and we are doing the Work now that will result in our desired outcome. We are physically heatlhy, mentally challenged, and romantically engaged with one another. We celebrate our lives, daily.
On Christmas we celebrated each other's company with our family, opened presents, and had some really good lamb and pasqalina. An excellent time was had, and it was special and joyful in ways that we don't get to celebrate every day, but it was entirely in keeping with the standard of joy in our lives.
Merry Christmas to all! And may your year be full of Cheer!
We exchange gifts to celebrate what we have, what we hope for, what is to come. We celebrate the things we can so-easily lose sight of in the darkest depths of winter, when the days are so short, and we are struggling to get through to daylight again. We celebrate to remind us of the things we lost sight of in the daily bullshit of life. We are Scrooge, who has gotten cynical and needs the reminders and touchstones with bright joyful times of the past and present to avoid a grim and cold future.
That's what the magic of the Christmas spirit is all about, and that is what was lacking this year in the HF-RO HQ Midwest Division.
Harper and I were talking the other day about how the Christmas Spirit hadn't descended upon our house. It wasn't that I was feeling un-cheerful, or un-grateful, or un-celebratory, quite the opposite, in fact. I am joyful and so very thankful for every wonderful aspect of my life. What's missing this year isn't the feelings of Joy at all.
What's missing is the absence of this feeling the rest of the year.
We were talking about it again Christmas morning, and about what makes what we have so cool. Most of the things we do in our lives, we would do regardless of being in a relationship together. We have similar goals, goals that we have each spent a long time figuring out will make us happy. We have similar incomes, the results of our hard work, and the good fortune granted by our invisible friends. We have both been through enough of life to recognize the basic processes that need to be in place to have a happy life, and we do those things together, but not for each other; we would each do so individually, regardless of our relationship.
And that's sort of the thing. Our relationship is based first on our own individual happiness. That's a key piece we both realized after years of trying to do things with people who made us feel badly about ourselves. We both understand that if the things we do individually aren't compatible, no amount of wishing, trying, or sacrificing on our parts will ever make the other person happy. In fact, we recognize that neither of us can make the other person happy. No one can make anyone feel anything. And neither of us are interested in making another person feel anything. We want to be appreciated, sure, but we want it to be honest. And if it's not something the other person feels honestly, well, ok. They aren't the reason we do what we do, we do it for us, and if the other person appreciates it, so much the better.
And we've been fortunate to find another person who appreciates the things we do, the work we've done, the accomplishments we've made, the beauty and joy of our lives, and how much better it is to merge them together. We express our gratitude and joy regularly, because we can. We don't resent one another because we don't sacrifice for one another; we don't have to.
There are some tips and tricks we use to have a great relationship, it's not like we don't do any work to maintain what we have. We based our relationship on the same levels of communication and honesty that our friends in the Polyamory communities use, when they are successful. We had frequent checkpoints to touch base and see how each other were feeling in the first year or so. These days they happen a lot less often, but still pretty regularly. We discuss things that cause us to have feelings we don't like, things that make us sad that happen, and we listen to each other without interrupting. We don't defend ourselves, and we care about each other very much. We don't expect the other person to change because of our feelings, but we trust each other to help us deal with the feelings in ways that are mutually beneficial.
So I was thinking today about how the "Christmas Spirit" is something we experience all year long, and how it's the result of the recipe we have for our lives. We each tried the recipe with other people and it turned out badly, but basically our recipe is a good one, and I'd like to share what we do with you on this Christmas day, so that maybe part of our recipe will be something you can add to yours to increase your Joy all year long:
Be happy with yourselves. I'm not saying be at rest with how you are and make a bunch of excuses for your shitty behavior. If you don't like who you are, if you are working against yourself for some reason, making choices that leave you unhappy, broke, or further away from your heart's desire, then change yourself. It isn't easy, but it isn't impossible either. Whatever you change, you'll find you aren't really changing yourself as much as you are revealing yourself, and it's a process that never ends. But you should be happy with yourself when you're alone. If you aren't happy alone, you won't be happy anywhere with anyone. This is a big part of the Great Work. Or maybe it's just a side effect that I appreciate a lot because it's such a huge difference in comparison to how I felt about myself for so long.
Have a good income. Make some money. A "good income" covers all your monthly bills with 25-30% left over for savings and fun stuff. If you make $1000 a month, you should spend no more than $750 on your monthly expenses. The rest should go to a savings account and for treating yourself well. The variables you can influence are your monthly income and your monthly expenses. Raise the income, lower the out-go, or both. Career training, educations, and certifications can help increase incomes, and there are a ton of resources available about budgeting that you can find in an afternoon on Google. But I've found that if you are saving 20% of your income and have 5% of it available for fun stuff, you're going to have a steady financial experience that eliminates most of your stress in your life.
Be grateful. Being grateful is the natural result of having a low-stress life, I think. It's also one of the keys to ceating one. We spend a lot of time paying our attention to things that we think, feel, and experience. What we pay our attention to in life grows. The more we think about things, the bigger they get in our lives. So if we pay attention to all the negative things more than the positive things, the negative things will keep growing bigger, and the positives will keep growing smaller. I'm not saying if you think positive, everything becomes positive at all. I'm saying if you give a little time each day in appreciation for the good things, you'll start to see more of them, and they will grow larger and more influential in your life over time, and the negative things will shrink down to manageable portions. Having a good income helps.
These are the main things that seem to be the key ingredients for the recipe we use to have a joyful life all year round. We spent the time doing the work, and now we get to reap the rewards. We have goals we are working toward, and we are doing the Work now that will result in our desired outcome. We are physically heatlhy, mentally challenged, and romantically engaged with one another. We celebrate our lives, daily.
On Christmas we celebrated each other's company with our family, opened presents, and had some really good lamb and pasqalina. An excellent time was had, and it was special and joyful in ways that we don't get to celebrate every day, but it was entirely in keeping with the standard of joy in our lives.
Merry Christmas to all! And may your year be full of Cheer!
Monday, December 22, 2014
Scotch Sessions Episode 1 is available!
The unedited version is here, for your amusement. I might go through and make it better if it gets too silly at the end. I don't really remember the last bits of what we talked about, besides just having a really good time.
I totally drank too much and had to take a nap.
I totally drank too much and had to take a nap.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Link to Webinar/Interview/Conversation with Craig Slee
 |
| The Scotch Sessions: Episode 1: Craig Slee and Rufus Opus |
Below you'll find the link to our conversation, scheduled to start in about 45 minutes (12:00 PM Central, 6:00 pm GMT). Please join us and if we aren't too drunk and angry to speak to people, we may take some questions at the end via the chat window.
It's a Gotomeeting, and you can get in using the link below:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/282034413
Saturday, December 20, 2014
ROpocalypse Now! With Special Guest Craig VI Slee!
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!12:00 PM Central, 6:00 PM GMT see Craig VI Slee and Rufus Opus get schnockered and talk/discuss/and-sorta-not-really-argue about Heathenry, Goetia, Hermetics, and the manifestation of the story of our lives!
Craig is a silver-tongued bard from the old country, wandering around living the kind of life that Jake Stratton-Kent is tryingto make available to everyone. His wit, wisdom, and insight into the invisible realms is a thing mighty to behold.
We've each set aside a bottle of scotch for this, he's drinking Laphroaig, I'm sticking with the Macallan, but there will be drunken shenanigans and deep thoughts exchanged.
To get some idea of the kind of guy he is, check out his bio and previous posts to Cold-Albion. He's also curently a writer and creative content developer with Foolish People, one of the most interesting groups I've seen putting magical theory into practice in their lives this decade.
We're still working on determining the format. We'll be drinking live and recording it and publishing it later for anyone who doesn't see it. It will likel be on either Google or GotoMeeting. I'll post a link on my FB page when it's available!
Thursday, December 18, 2014
ROpocalypse Now! With Special Guest Scarlet Magdalene!
At LAST!
Sorry it's taken so long to get this up, but here it is, finally.
Scarlet is wrapping up her Abramelin work and getting ready for the final rites next week. In our discussion, we cover what it's like to go through this process, the perception of it vs. the reality, and of course, how the magic we work manifests in our lives on a regular basis.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Seven Spheres Course Available to the First 25 People to Sign Up (this session, others to follow)
Ok, so I am FINALLY ready to start selling the Seven Spheres Course!
My web site is totally fuct. I'm going to fix it eventually, but until then, I made some blogger pages to house my stuff.
Regarding the Seven Spheres Course: Check out the description on the page. It tells you what you need to know. DO NOT BUY THE COURSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE BOOK. Buy the book here, then sign up for the courses:
I also created a new page for my eBooks, my other Courses, and my personal time. The links are on my blog site on the of these posts, if you're on my blog page. Otherwise they are here below:
My web site is totally fuct. I'm going to fix it eventually, but until then, I made some blogger pages to house my stuff.
Regarding the Seven Spheres Course: Check out the description on the page. It tells you what you need to know. DO NOT BUY THE COURSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE BOOK. Buy the book here, then sign up for the courses:
Saturday, December 13, 2014
ROocalypse Now! Advanced Warning: Special Guest Scarlet Magdalene!
So this weekend, I'll be doing a broadcast of my hit show, ROpocalypse Now! featuring yet another awesome friend of mine who's totally DOING THE WORK that makes this stuff we do so fun.
This weekend at 2:00 PM Eastern, I'll be interviewing Scarlet Magdalene, a long time riend and co-working magician who has been both inspirational and motivational throughout my Work. I think it will be on a GoToMeeting, like SOMA uses, but I don't have a link yet. I'll update it here and publish it all over facebook when the time comes. Here's the link:
1. Please join my meeting.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/522501021
2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended.
Scarlet and I go way back. Our friendship extends to the time I first was thinking I might possibly maybe in some way have attained K&CHGA, and the network of contacts she maintained helped me see and understand what that might mean and how it works in practice.
Long time veteran of many inter-order wars, erotic fiction writer, female geek who overcomes the bullshit adolescent male dominated tech industry dialy, entrepreneur, successful contactor, life coach, and vegan, Scarlet exemplifies the potential of what an activated magician can do, if they want. Nothing stops her, and nothing keeps her down. Fearless and persistant.
Anyway, we're going to have a lot of fun talking about her adventures in the Abramelin rite, the joys of finding almond wands, how stupid people can be, and how to get past that and go after the things you love.
For more information about her, you can find her on FaceBook, or take a look at her blog, Alchemical Musings, "the caffienated philosophical rantings of a mystic who maybe thinks too much."
This weekend at 2:00 PM Eastern, I'll be interviewing Scarlet Magdalene, a long time riend and co-working magician who has been both inspirational and motivational throughout my Work. I think it will be on a GoToMeeting, like SOMA uses,
1. Please join my meeting.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/522501021
2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended.
Scarlet and I go way back. Our friendship extends to the time I first was thinking I might possibly maybe in some way have attained K&CHGA, and the network of contacts she maintained helped me see and understand what that might mean and how it works in practice.
Long time veteran of many inter-order wars, erotic fiction writer, female geek who overcomes the bullshit adolescent male dominated tech industry dialy, entrepreneur, successful contactor, life coach, and vegan, Scarlet exemplifies the potential of what an activated magician can do, if they want. Nothing stops her, and nothing keeps her down. Fearless and persistant.
Anyway, we're going to have a lot of fun talking about her adventures in the Abramelin rite, the joys of finding almond wands, how stupid people can be, and how to get past that and go after the things you love.
For more information about her, you can find her on FaceBook, or take a look at her blog, Alchemical Musings, "the caffienated philosophical rantings of a mystic who maybe thinks too much."
Tuesday, December 09, 2014
ROpocalypse Now! With Special Guest Jason Miller!
In today's edition of ROpocalypse Now!, I sat down with Jason Miller to discuss his latest book, Sex, Sorcery and Spirit. As might be expected, we meandered.I had a chance to go over some of my favorite topics with him, and explore the things we enjoy doing most. Jason has been an inspiration, a mentor, and above all else, a friend over the last few years. We joined the Gents for Jupiter together, and his whole life, in spite of what he likes to say about himself, is exactly the kind of example of what a magician can do if they set their minds, hearts, intentions, and magical resources to manifesting what they want, as they see fit.
He has issues though. He can't admit he's become a living god.
I kid! I kid so much.
But watch the interview, you'll see what I mean. Dude's living the dream and won't take credit for it because he's gone through enough shit to know better than to start claiming titles or anything.
I like this conversing with my friends thing, it seems to be working out nicely. I think I'll keep working on the camera thing, I haven't figured out pointing it at the person speaking yet.
Also it took a few HOURS to load to youtube, so I am not editing it any more to add in my awesome intro/outro music.
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Saturday, December 06, 2014
Tonight: Seven Spheres on SOMA!
This evening we'll be doing another webinar, this time on the subject of my new book, Seven Spheres! It's free to the members of the S.O.M.A. FaceBook group, which can be found here:
My show starts at 11:00 Eastern, and it will likely go for a half-hour to an hour. It's way past my bed time, but it'll be fun anyway.
Also, for those interested in the course, I will be making an announcement about how to sign up here on the blog shortly. I need to fix my web site up a bit, and finish getting a few of the presentations ready before I feel comfortable selling it.
Oh, and guys who bought the book, thank you so much! Sales are going great, the books are flying off the shelves. I thought I'd have a hard time getting rid of them, but man, you guys rock. If you haven't bought yours yet, no pressure, but they're probably about a third gone so far.
When I start the courses, they're going to go for about five weeks at a time. We'll work through the Seven Spheres over a five-week period, and that will make sense to those who've bought the books.
More on that to come!
Tuesday, December 02, 2014
ROpoclypse Now! With Special Guest Deborah Castellano!
I really wish the video had been saved, Deb was every bit as lovely as you'd expect a Glamour Artiste to be. I don't really understand why it didn't, but at least I managed to save the audio.
I had such a good time. This is basically a conversation between two friends who happen to be awesome magicians. Deb's ongoing success speaks louder than anything else ever could, and her practice and graceful approach to this thing we do have been an ongoing source of inspiration and motivation for me since I had the good fortune to meet her.
You can watch the video here, and while it's playing go check out her store in another tab. Remember, all orders must be in by December 12 to receive them in time for Christmas! She's at: