It looks like the Catholic Church has pissed off one too many women in Mexico, where on March 9th, the local march for International Women’s Day reached an apparent frenzy of righteous feminine anger. Several masked protesters launched an attack against the exterior of the Cathedral of Hermosillo, covering it in ♀ symbols and other graffiti. They were unable to destroy the inside however, since the congregants inside barricaded the doors with heavy pews.
I think it’s just great that people are finally acting out after 2,000 years of Christian oppression. It makes me wonder what the French Revolution may have looked and sounded like. We are living in such interesting times! I’d love to see these kind of riots go down on say, Capitol Hill, the White House, or even the Vatican. Let’s tear down the old structures of power already, they are killing the planet.
Good job, ladies. And better luck next time, I say.
Tag: life
The Sword of Malice
Hello again. As promised now that my thesis has been submitted and I am set to graduate, I have so much more time again to dedicate to other readings, writings and magical experiments. I am very excited for what’s soon to be entered into The Book of Faustus.
***
Any regular reader knows about my intense hatred for the Orange Fool currently occupying the White House. You’ll also then know about the monthly mass-binding which members of the magical community have been undertaking for the past three years. I still maintain that this action is working to contain what immense social and ecological evil lies in the infirm mind of His Rotundity. But now that impeachment proceedings are well under way (not that I realistically expect The Bloated One to be convicted by the GOP controlled Senate, let’s be frank), I don’t feel like binding is enough anymore.
So from now on I’m putting aside the sword of justice and picking up (literally) the Sword of Malice, and magically swinging it against the neck of Cheeto Mussolini. In the ritual chamber, my wrath is palpable. I can almost feel it thickening the atmosphere with indignant, wild rage. After these spells are released, I am experiencing deep cathartic relief. The problem is that almost every day the headlines fill me up with anger again. So, I have been performing these curses frequently. I am fully ready to admit that confirmation bias is a real thing, but as soon as I started this curse sequence, Trumple-Thin-Skin spent the weekend in hospital. Just saying.
One positive outcome of the presidency of the Tiny-Handed Tornado is that it has invigorated my magical practice! When I think back on the stories of witches past, who rose up against evil in the darkest hour, I can’t help but feel sympathy and solidarity with them.
We are living in some fucked up times.
Halloween MMXIX
For me, Halloween is the holiest of times. If the veil between life and death is thinnest then, as they say, I want to use that alignment to my full advantage. My home altar was lit up perpetually with offerings of food, incense, liquors, flowers and candles. For the 31 days of October, I kept a votive flame burning for my dearly departed. Tending to the memory of my ancestors served as an aid to my magic, a comfort to my soul, and a means of maintaining our emotional bonds beyond life and death.
Our coven had a tremendous Grand Sabbat, with 50 people in attendance. Although the outdoor element of our ritual was cancelled due to Tropical Storm Nestor, the feast was truly grand and had more than a few luminaries in attendance. We also had a smaller hybrid Black Mass for the full moon in Aries, which opened a gateway of sensual expression for the congregation, and an unexpected psychedelic experience for some.
Every other year or so, I gather a group of friends and/or coven members to travel for Halloween festivities. The past two gatherings have taken place in New Orleans, because it is the absolute best place for people like us to go! The recurring theme in all my gatherings are to “live deliciously” and “keep it weird”, so that is exactly what we did.
Although most of the partying in town had taken place the weekend prior, our group gave more respect to the actual date of festivities. I hate when people try to move holy days around for convenience!! Still, our week in the Crescent City was action-packed with parties, dancing and feasting until the very late hours. Each day and night we brought out our funkiest fashions to stomp around in the streets. On Halloween day we had what was probably the best meal I have ever enjoyed at Gallatoire’s.
After we all put on our best costumes, we met up with my friend Tarah Cards, a most illustrious drag queen of New Orleans, and we went to dance the night away with her and other friends at a hidden warehouse party in Bywater. On any night, you could have found us at Oz, The Dungeon, or slipping dolla bills into the ass cracks of twinks at The Corner Pocket.
All of this time was consecrated by our Priestess to Lilith, whose dark feminine energy of seduction governed all our workings.
Halloween for me is not a single night, nor is it just the spooky season in October. It is a feast that stretches from mortal life into endless eternity. It is a time to enjoy BEING ALIVE, and to endeavor to be fully alive at every moment!
Blessed Samhain. And Happy Halloween to all! Hail Lilith!
October is here again…
If you are a regular visitor here, you know that October is my busiest time of the year. Not only am I planning several big events locally, including a Black Mass this Sunday, then hosting our own Grand Sabbat of Samhain for the very first time! I’m also working on some very detailed costumes for the Party Pentagram’s upcoming return trip to New Orleans for Halloween night.
Unfortunately as soon as we return from New Orleans, I have to crack down on my final class for this degree I’m working on, and I will be changing locations at my big-boy daytime job which will present some transitional challenges. Things on the Book of Faustus may be a bit slow until December. We’ll see!
In the mean time let me forward you this brand new music video by Sharon Needles:
Sanderson Spell Book
This makes a fine addition to my collection. A little pre-Halloween treat for myself, by Aaron Murray at Amulet Tattoos in St. Petersburg Florida.
Full Moon Ritual of Friday 13
Friday, September 13th
Full ☾ in ♓️
This weekend in the northern hemisphere we were all treated to an auspicious occurrence of a full moon in Pisces. This placement to me indicates a great magnification of spiritual movement, intellectual flow and inward creativity. Retrograde Neptune which governs this lunation may cause it to seem like the spiritual seeker is trying to swim upstream–there is struggle but determination in his efforts.
The day of the 13th, Sage, the priestess of our coven, invited me to join her in a full moon ritual. Despite being tired from all the crazy shit going on in my professional life right now, I decided that a full moon on Friday the 13th just cannot be overlooked. So we gathered!
Here in the south it is still hot at night but a passing tropical storm across the state thankfully provided some breeze and ambiance to the surroundings. This night was full of life as all the trees swayed, the crickets sang and a large and invisible family of frogs were calling out to each other as the moon passed silently overhead. To prepare we set up a working table outside. We took a lot of time before starting anything to ground ourselves and discern what need there was for working under this moon. It would be a night for divination and spirit travel! Not having a proper crossroads to work in, we decided instead to get cross-faded with an inebriating combination of alcohol, cannabis, kinnikkinnik, and the last dregs of my vision potion (the jury is finally out on this BTW. It is very inspiring).
We purified ourselves to start, cast the circle with the LBRP and called the elements together. We opened our ritual by drawing down the power of the moon into our space. Then we took out the Black Mirror. This mirror was built by me, consecrated to the moon, and since then has never touched the light of day. Sage took her dive into the depths of the mirror as I stood watch. By now all the potions and fumes from earlier were keeping me relaxed but deeply focused. I couldn’t tell you what Sage saw in the Mirror. That is for her to tell. But when I went in next, I had a profound, almost psychedelic experience.
My intention when starting this divination was to discern whether there was any hope in the future for the human species. As I opened the veil and entered into the Mirror’s fathomless depths, my mind’s eye briefly caught a glimpse of the anthropological story of homo sapiens from the last major Ice Age, to perhaps a not-too-distant future of human space exploration. But before gleaning too much about my intended question, a cosmic voice interjected…
“You’re asking the most boring question ever”, it said. And suddenly my vision transformed into an ever-expanding, multi-dimensional, fractalizing space. It was a universe beyond our own. It was the world of forms and it was the world of the formless at the same time. This multiverse of possibilities, endless endless combinations, opened up to me like a book in an alien script. “Is this the Askashic record?!!”, I thought to myself. No answer. Only the fast whizzing of ineffable words, images and feelings which were beyond my understanding. It was too much to contain. My mind was spinning and then somehow I spiraled back into my normal time and place, outside the Mirror, and outside still under the light of the moon. The lesson from my seemingly idiotic question? The human condition is an illusion of permanence. My human consciousness is a mere drop of water temporarily separated from an immense ocean of Mind. In some ways this is disturbing. In other ways it is comforting.
After this we had to stand up, move around, stretch and breathe. We then sat down for a mutual astral voyage up to the sphere of the moon, to explore its powers, denizens and structures. But that is a highly detailed story for another time. Finally we set up a small telescope which we used to focus moonlight into a singular point. We took turns charging our ritual objects with this favorable lunar energy, and blessing ourselves with its light. We also prepared a lovely urn of moon water, which we will use in the coming days.
The fullness of this moon also serves to remind me how full my life is. It is a blessing to have the means to explore the path of the spiritual seeker. And it is truly a blessing to have companions to explore the path together.
Tools of the Craft
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.
PNAU – Solid Gold
Currently working on some designs for a fashion show I’ve been invited to participate in. I’ve had so much manic energy the past week or so. My thoughts and ideas are just spinning and spinning. It’s been hard to sleep because my brain won’t stop. Despite that, I’ve been receiving some excellent inspiration in my muse-kissed state. I promise to share once it all exists in reality. Here is one of the artists who has been giving me major inspiration-exasperation in the past few days.
Enjoy PNAU’s new music video from their single Solid Gold.
Black Mass of Desecration Revisited – Walpurgisnacht MMXIX, A.S. LIII
As mentioned the other day, the annual celebration of Walpurgisnacht culminated in a celebration of the Black Mass of Desecration. It is always fascinating when I attempt any historical religious reconstruction, to put myself into the worldview and mindset of the people whose rites we are attempting to revive. Much of the lore around the Black Mass comes from Inquisitors, priests, and witch hunters, but at its core there is an element of historic truth. It is certain that there were midnight feasts and revels which flipped the “natural” order of the Christian world, and that these feasts were a means of social release for both the clergy/aristocracy and for rural peasants. We hold similar feasts in the 21st century, some ancient and some new. While our 16th century Satanic liturgy was performed in the grandest fashion, and with all the pomp, ceremony and sacrilege prescribed in the ritus missae nigrae, something was missing–my fear.
This time, as I left the church with the consecrated host in my care, I did not panic. When I looked at the wafer of lifeless bread, I did not sense the presence of Christ. When I pierced it I felt no remorse, and when I urinated on it I felt no guilt. Last year, the fear was what made this ceremony the most worthwhile. It seems its original intent, which was to undo my religious brainwashing at the hands of the Catholic church, was effective! I have always believed that magic exists primarily in the mind, and the Black Mass of Desecration has shown how ceremony can change the mind of a believer into one of unbelief. May I remain unshackled by hierophantic chains!
Because of this realization, I see no further need to repeat this ritual again, except if others may benefit the same way I have.
Walpurgisnacht Eve MMXIX, A.S. LIII
Walpurgisnacht is here again! While chosen as the date of Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan, it has been known for centuries in Europe as Witches’ Night. On that night, the Satanic witches were said to gather in their Sabbats on mountaintops and other savage places to dance, revel and worship the Devil their Lord.
This year, just as we did last year, we will celebrate The Black Mass of Desecration, only now in an even grander fashion. Thanks to the work on this site, as well as the foundation of the new coven, this year’s mass will be larger, more spectacular, and ever more indulgent!
The Book of Faustus 