I remain ever impressed by this gal’s work, especially this time around. S.D. continues to produce excellently creative projects which explore the dark side of psychology, decay, madness, and fear. I just…love her! She has just published a photo series called Beautiful Corpses. Make sure to click on the images below to enlarge and take in all the details. I love the color choices and the contrasts. Follow her Instagram @scurvydrunkard
Beautiful Corpses
The obsession
with possession-
the utmost pointless pursuit.
The compulsive urge to preserve
these THINGS which can be seen
felt, or heard.
A washboard must be attained
Guzzling eggs, a dozen a day.
Perhaps a home to die in,
if you can find a way to pay.
Everything, in excess.
Perhaps some-body to display.
The borrowed land you call your own
will also waste away.
You have cried from the hunger
since the day you were born.
Reduced yourself to but a number
insatiably seeking to adorn
the skin you’re living in
always seeking outward things
when one could truly make their mark
if only one would look within.
If only one would look within.
All material traces, forgot
Blood oaths will clot
And the flesh will rot
The flesh will rot.
This is a really interesting archaeological find, and right after I posted my own magical treasure trove. Recently in Pompeii, where excavations have been occurring in one form or another for the past three centuries, there was discovered a casket full of daily-use implements which also included a number of magical artifacts.
Amulets, gems and small objects re-emerge from the excavation of the Regio V. They were related to the female world, used for personal ornamentation or to protect from bad luck. They were found in one of the rooms of the House of the Garden.
Placed in a wooden box, it has been restored and has been brought to its former glory by the restorers of the Laboratory of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. They were probably objects that the inhabitants of the house could not take away before they escaped.
The wood of the box has decomposed and only the bronze hinges remain, well preserved under the volcanic material.
Among the numerous objects found, two mirrors, pieces of necklace, decorative elements made of faïence, bronze, bone and amber, a glass unguentary, phallic amulets, a human figure and various gems (including an amethyst with a female figure and a carnelian with a craftsman figure). In a glass paste is engraved the head of Dionysus, on another a dancing satyr.
The high quality of the amber and glass pastes and the engraving of the figures confirm the importance of the domus owner.
Soon the jewels will be exhibited, with other Pompeian jewels, at the Palestra Grande, in an exhibition that will be a follow-up of “Vanity”, the exhibition dedicated to jewels from the Cyclades and Pompeii, as well as from other sites in Campania. The full article is at Pompeii Sites
This is a very illuminating “snapshot” of the life of one ancient Roman household on the day of October 24, 79 CE. Perhaps the casket was filled in the chaos of the disaster while the owner attempted in vain to take some of her belongings with her to escape, only to suffer the fate of Vesuvius. Just imagine what archaeological evidence you and I will leave behind for some future archaeologist to discover, 2000 years into the future.
Pompeii was a city full of magic at every corner. Photo: Altar of the Temple of Apollo, credit: Faustus
One area of my home is dedicated as a workshop for magical experiments. Once I bought an antique armoire, painted and gilded it, and then consecrated its use for magic. It serves not only as a permanent altar, but also a very useful storage space for my ever-growing collection of magical materials and artifacts. Since so many people who have seen it wonder what all I’ve got in there, let me give you a peak inside. Items marked with an * will have further details at the bottom…
The Red Book of S et L – My personal book of shadows. Essentially the true Book of Faustus.*
Mortar and pestle
Charcoal
Railroad spikes*
Bundle of sage
Cauldron of Ogun*
Shamanic rattle
Fetish of Eleggua* (I messed up and made two 8’s) 8. Deck prism
Assorted candles, figurine candle
Tarot
Herb jars *
Brick dust
Chicken foot charm
Book of Sigils*
Hawaiian Baby Woodrose seeds
Resin incenses
Pipe
Palo Santo
Perfume vials
Witches’ Flying Ointment (by Sarah Anne Lawless)
Morning Glory seeds
Cone incense
Sacred jewelry, kept in a clay pot I made
Vision potion herbal blend
(Located underneath 26) Packets of baneful plant seeds. Henbane, atropa belladonna, cinquefoil and others.
Hot plate for burning vessels
The altar level, which I decided not to release full photos of, contains many other items including the orisha Osun, ceremonial tools of the Golden Dawn, active spells, mojo bags, offerings, bells, wands and everything else.
Any magic mirror of mine needs to be fancy as fuck.
A proper cauldron. Not just for cooking but also for large potion batches–ayahuasca comes to mind…
Gays and their disposable income, what can I say?
***
1: One of my most prized possessions, The Red Book contains a record of my most interesting magical experiments, frequently used spells and ceremonies, correspondences, and spiritual writings. It is of course for my eyes only. Our coven has a separate Book of Shadows for common use.
4, 6, & 8: These Santeria/Yoruba items came to me purely by chance. When I used to work at a homeless shelter, people would come by with donations of all kinds. Sometimes they were useful things, sometimes they just wanted a place to drop their junk. One day a donation came in that was an old box full of strange objects that no one wanted to touch. When I opened the box, here was this head figurine, an iron cauldron, railroad spikes, a metal rooster, and another mysterious box with small animal bones, dust and a written spell. All these items were covered in grease and looked well used. Since fate determined that they would show up on my desk, I decided to take them home and maintain their dignified presence, rather than see them be thrown away.
11: About a dozen herbs are nicely bottled up off-camera here. They include things like wild lettuce, mugwort, damiana, High John, salvia divinorum, foxglove, rose petals, and others.
14: Similar to The Red Book, the less formal Sigil Book is a worksheet for sigil making and destroying. Some sigil drafts remain although their meanings are mostly forgotten by me when I look back. It is mainly a nostalgia piece.
Clay figure with 13 bronze pins, discovered with a lead tablet engraved with a binding spell. A Roman “love magic doll”, showing a nude female bound and stabbed with 13 pins. Found in Antinoopolis with a lead curse tablet, this artifact is likely dated to the 2nd or 3rd century C.E.
1. brain: only think about me;
2. eyes: only have eyes for me;
2. ears: only have ears for me;
1. mouth: only speak about me;
1. heart: only have feelings for me;
1. vagina: only have desire for me;
1. anus: only have desire for me;
2. hands: only work for me;
2. feet: never walk away from me…
Antinoopolis was the pageant ground for a lavish and outrageous new mystery religion to rise up at the dawn of the new celestial epoch, the Age of Pisces. The priests of Antinous were supported and funded well by the state, and worshiped in great luxury and delight. Here, the Pax Deorum thrived as the cult of Antinous strived to commingle all the cultures and religions of the Empire. They were Greco-Roman Pagans trying to uphold Olympus in the middle of the Egyptian desert, surrounded by wild Gnostics, austere Catholics, genius Mathematicians and natural philosophers, the Roman garrison and every assortment of conjurer, and prophet of debauchery that could make his way up the Nile.
The Priests of Antinous venerated the beauty of young men, as living examples of Antinous, one superb manifestation of which was held to be the Divine Ephebe in living flesh, a boy of about nineteen years of age, perhaps the winner of the Antinoean Games, who was worshiped as the carnal and spiritual habitation of Antinous the God. We can be certain that the elegant priests were of the doctrine of the Libertines, placed as they were on the very edge of the world, surrounded by unknown Africa, clinging to the edge of the fertile Nile, with endless desert all around. The citizens of Antinoopolis must have felt as though they were not part of the world, that they were special, not subject to the normal rules and customs, and that they were the champions of civilization in the very extreme of barbarity.
After his deification, the constellation of Antinuous was regarded in the West until the re-classification of common constellations by the scientific authorities of the 20th century
The priests of Antinous kept the fire of the name of Antinous burning by reciting his ceremonies and oracles with a combination of Greek Chant and Egyptian bells. Flutes and harps accompanied the gestures of their ritual. The Christian Fathers tell us that all inflamed with drink, the priests fell upon each other in unholy lust. The Ancient Priests were also well-known for their magical spells, and a papyrus fragment bearing an Antinous Love Spell survives to this day. Thousands upon thousands of pilgrims came to Antinoopolis over five centuries to worship the beautiful god, and to hear the sayings of the oracle. Toward the end, as the Empire disintegrated, Antinoopolis became a place of magic and superstition, and the evidence from this period is that Antinoopolis had become a market for charlatans.
Osiris-Antinous, the Egyptianized form of the Roman God. Found in the villa of emperor Hadrian, now at the Vatican Museum
In 1966 Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan, with his infamous house at 6114 California Street in San Francisco as the headquarters. From there, he conducted public rituals, seminars and lectures on magic. He also kept his pet lion Togare there until its relocation to a zoo. After LaVey’s death, the property was demolished in 2001.
For those of us who never got to visit the House, there is still hope. Warlock Enki is currently working on a VR recreation of the Black House and the ritual chamber within. If you have never had a VR experience before, the technology is finally coming out of its infancy and is now quite good. Check out this preview below. Then go check out his Indiegogo campaign and donate today!
Are you currently working with planetary powers, but you’re tired of mulling over all the arithmetic and calculations, the correspondences, and the timing of it all? Here is my gift to you (and myself)–The Planetary Hours and Days Calculator. Simply enter the day, sunrise and sunset of the time and place your working will occur, and presto-changeo, all the correspondence work is done for you. You can download this worksheet for free, at the link at the bottom.
To use this calculator, simply determine the time for sunrise and sunset at your location, then fill in the red fields at the top. Hours are numbered using a 24-hour clock. Using this tool, you can plan ahead to determine the appropriate time for your planetary working in advance. Click the HERE to download this worksheet.
Fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race rejoice! The Boulet Brothers are about to offer up their third installment of the most disgusting television program ever created, Dragula. This more adult drag competition focuses on filth, horror, glamour, sex, and fear. I showed the first episode to my friends one night and they made me stop it because it was so gross. And that’s why I love it. Coming to the world next month…
