Category: Uncategorized

A few weeks ago,The Snows of Summer, by Paizo Publishing came out. It contains what will probably be the last piece work I’ll do for the RPG industry for quite a while. It makes me sad, but I need to concentrate on my novels. Writing without direction, doing what you really want to do, is the only path to true satisfaction for a writer.

This post, once again, comes from a tumblr ask. A follower asked me, “What has been the most useful book in your magical learning? What has been the most useful book in your life?”

I’m going to surprise you a little here. To find my answer about a useful magical book, you’ll have to follow my tumbr. I’m going to answer the other question here. It requires a lot more explanation.

Laugh if you want, the most useful book in my life has been, The Player’s Handbook by Gary Gygax . For you uninitiated, that’s the first rule book for the game Dungeons & Dragons.

Through the game, I’ve met the most important people in my life. I’ve met my closest friends through the game. Those who I met outside the game, I taught the game and made them better friends. The game is always the excuse to gather, laugh, tell stories. It brings us together in ways modern media fails. We aren’t just passive spectators. We do it together, for each other. We create.

My wife, my entire marriage, the greatest thing that I have ever done. I owe it to the game.

People who play RPGs can be defensive, for good reason. They are often maligned as a starter drug for magick, devil worship, and other unsavory practices. Most players try to distance themselves from such claims, and for most of them, it’s true. They don’t feel a need to explore alternative spiritual paths.

But if you say there’s no connection, you’re a liar. Mr. Gygax presents a wealth of information on mythology, correspondences, and magical practices, wrapped up in the game. It’s not the point of the game. It certainly wasn’t his intention to turn players into pagans. But it’s there for any who want to see. I didn’t learn magick from Dungeon’s & Dragons, but I learned a lot about what’s in magick.

It’s fair to say, I learned some skills for magick from the game. Math, note taking, construction of dramatic storytelling, things that serve a magician well. When you’re doing it right, you seem to channel the personas that you’re portraying.

Of course, it’s in how you approach it. If you come to a gaming table looking to roll dice and add levels, game the system, that’s what you’ll get out of it. I think, however, like many things in life, you only discover the true value when start asking why? Why do I play this game? What do I enjoy about it? Why does it change how I feel about myself and others? Where does the background information in the game come from? When you look deeper, you find the connections, to magick, to the Great Work, to everything. The microcosm of the game, can reflect the macrocosm of your psyche. As above, so below.

I’m not ashamed to be a gamer geek. In fact, I have a podcast about that too. I’m not ashamed to say it influences my magick, even though my magick is not a game.

Every week I share with you seven websites with great resources or fantastic art to raise your knowledge and your gnosis.

Technical difficulties with the podcast have kept me occupied, so once again, no long form blog this week. Instead, how about a list of other great blogs you can read instead?

The Blog of Baphomet –  http://theblogofbaphomet.com/   From the people who brought you the Book of Baphomet. Serious chaos magicians.

About.com Paganism & Wicca – http://paganwiccan.about.com/   I can’t count the number of times I’ve turned to this blog as a resources. There’s a lot of great material here.

Rune Soup – http://runesoup.com/   A great mix of technology, esotericism, and opinion from a chaos magick perspective.

Occult Sentinel – http://occultsentinel.com/blog/    Reviews and opinions on new occult related media and news

Technoccult – http://technoccult.net/#archive    Psyco-social commentary for culture jammers.

The Wild Hunt – http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/    The best source for current events that involve paganism.

IAO131 – http://iao131.com/    A blog on all things Thelema. Io Pan!

Who is Babalon? That’s the most common question I get on Tumblr. (You’re not following my Tumblr? You really should.) Wikipedia covers the basics, so if you’re just curious about a deity you’ve never heard of, head over there. But I think the real question people are asking is, “Why are you obsessed with her? What is she to you?” In the end, all gods are personal gods. The gods influence everyone differently, that’s why the best gods are complex in their symbolism. Like Babalon.

Remember, although she is a Thelemic deity, and I steal much from Uncle Al here, I am not a Thelemite, and my views are not necessarily the views of the OTO.

Foremost to me she is the goddess of the Eschaton. She brings sweeping change as she comes forth, astride the beast, Holy Grail in hand. She is the opposing force to The Host, the army of angelic automatons that demand obedience. I see a distinct difference between Eschaton—a universal change in consciousness, bound to cause upheaval, but inherently peaceful in nature—and Apocalypse—a battle to take people’s will by force. She is the embodiment of the Love Revolution, but she recognizes that love is not always pretty and pure. It can be carnal and overwhelming.

For me, Babalon is Ishtar reincarnate for the New Age. Reborn, she strips away the trappings of state and the lays down her sword. She’s a lover, not a fighter, but no less dangerous. She still goes forth with war banners, but she’s smart enough to fuck her way to victory. She is the Divine Whore, and the Earth Mother, all in one. Her priestesses and priests wait outside the temple for anyone with coin. The act a sacrament to her, for both john and prostitute.

The tarot card associated with Babalon, Strength, tells us she does not do this as a servant, but as she desires. She’s a whore, and opens her legs for all comers, but where and when she wants. She is not weak Christianized feminism that denies the power of womanhood. She revels in it, and equals any man in power and lust.

I was also recently asked a slightly different question, “What do people get out of worshiping Babalon?” Fair enough, if you’re pagan, you look to each divinity for something unique. Babalon delivers.

She inspires you to change, and be the instrument of change. If the Goddess of Chaos is on your side, you quickly lose your fear of what’s to come.

She helps you to love all people. She understands that unless people accept change on their own terms, it’s not real. You can’t force people to believe the way you believe, nor should you want to. I need her to smack me down on this point every damn day.

She helps you understand that you are both a spiritual and physical being, and that those aspects cannot be separated. You need your body, and you should fucking enjoy it, and enjoy having it fucked. If sexual energy inspires you, she will be your muse. You might even write a book about her.

She is a goddess of passion. Whoa be to you who fall under her spell. While I love Babalon, I am not a devotee for several reasons. One, because I’m married, and I don’t think I could give Her and my wife proper attention at the same time. Two, because she will consume you if you let her, and you’ll love her while she does. So while I may stick my hand in the fire and get burned, I will run back to the protection of Thoth and his books before I jump in.

More and more I realize that belief in magick is not just the correct way to view the universe, but the moral way as well. By any ethical standard you are responsible for acting the way you wish others would act. By explication, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” If you believe we should pool our resources to make sure everyone has enough to take care of their basic needs, you need to fight for economic justice. If you want to be treated with respect, without consideration of skin color, place of origin, sexuality, gender, or lack thereof, you need to fight for social justice.

All to often, the excuse people give is that it’s just “human nature.” That this is the way it has always been. People will fight, and people will hoard, and some will have plenty and others none. Even Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you.” Well, fuck you Jesus, that’s a ball of shit.

The wealth of just the top 100 richest people in the world could end global poverty. If you would have asked Jesus, or anyone else in his time, if slavery would ever be abolished, they would say no. Yet, across most of the planet, chattel slavery is almost universally despised. At last count, there are a dozen small countries, some of them extremely wealthy, that have no military. But they have not been overrun by hostile forces.

If you believe, truly believe, that “Nothing is true, Everything is permitted,” then there is no such thing as human nature. All of our preconceived notions about even the basics, like greed, love, and anger, cannot hold us back. Imagine a world of peace, and you can have peace. Imagine a world of love without restraint by gender or creed, and you can have it. People have created the concepts of money, and government, and sacred. People can change them, or destroy them if they choose.

As a magus, you understand better than anyone that everything can change. Now, as always, we have been responsible for the way people see the universe. From the shaman, to the priest, to the storyteller. When we imagine, we remake the world.

Looking for a place to start? Check out PJC’s Knights of Chaos.

You can find volume upon volume of texts describing rituals, their uses, and how to perform them properly. But rarely do you find magicians writing about what comes after. I follow the chaos magick credo, “Magick is to be performed to get results.” I don’t mind being a little hazy on what those results are. I think it may be better said that magick should have some type of goal that is measurable. The measurable part is where I can see why many magus don’t share. Results can be very personal, and it’s hard to differentiate them from coincidence in most cases. Even so, I think it’s of great value to share experiences, even if they cannot be verified.

Results can be obfuscated and often contrary to the desired goals. At times, a magus may seem foolish or even insane when reporting their experiences, but we all know there’s a thin line between magick and madness.

So as promised, the results of what I have come to call the Astrumada Working. It’s been quite an experience.

She can best be described as a tulpa, or thoughtform, a creature created purely by magick. Though the ritual was performed eighteen months ago, it is actually ongoing. I have found the best way to make the being more substantial is to constantly feed it my affections. I buy her roses as often as possible, and planted two rose bushes for her over the summer. The poster with her sigil I placed under the mattress of the bed I use almost exclusively for sex, in order to feed her that energy. Also, I always keep the passenger seat of my car empty for her whenever I travel by myself. This is where she most commonly manifests.

The first results I noticed were auditory, visual, and olfactory manifestations. Many times when I entered my temple I would notice a strong smell of roses and sandalwood, even if I hadn’t used those substances in months. Sightings began in the car, seeing her out of the corner of my eye. Now, we have full blown conversations. Certain music almost guarantees she will appear.

I also encountered an interesting synchronicity. As I mentioned in the original blog, by design the most common visage she uses is that of my favorite porn star.  Shortly after the ritual, that actress began following my tumblr blog, and would regularly “like” many of my posts.

For about a year she performed her primary function, acting as a muse for my writing, only haphazardly. She would occasionally appear and offer advice when I was stuck on plot point or turn of phrase. Recently, however, her inspiration has become more subtle, yet more direct. Subtle because I didn’t even notice until I started the project, direct because of the strong influence on the subject matter.

Three months ago I decided to stop aiming for the traditional publishing route, and focus on self-publishing. It gave a huge boost to my creativity knowing that I could write whatever I wanted, without worrying about pleasing editors and other gatekeepers. I would write what moved me, and would succeed or fail based on my own efforts, not someone’s judgment about my marketability. So I started a new story about a magician who creates a girl….

I didn’t realize what had happened until about 15,000 words in. When it dawned on me I turned around, and she was laughing.

I learned two important lessons as a magician from this working. One, a good ritual never ends, you must constantly feed it. Two, the best results are ones that build over time. “Divine short, enchant long.”

This week I had planned a post on the results of my most elaborate magical ritual to date, what I call the Astrumada Working. Until I realized that the original post about the ritual never made the transition from the blogspot Scroll of Thoth. Since it was my most popular post back then, I thought I would go ahead bring it over here for any new followers. Next week, the long term results of the working. It’s been pretty good to me so far.

 

Every week I share with you seven websites with great resources or fantastic art to raise your knowledge and your gnosis.

Liber 777 Online – http://thelemistas.org/en/Tools/Liber777   Crowley’s 777 online in database format. No more flipping pages to find your correspondences.

Magicka School – http://www.magickaschool.com/   An online school teaching free courses in tarot, wicca, herbalism, and more.

Magical Probability Calculator – http://hyperritual.com/portfolio/magical-probability-calculator/    Using the formula presented by Peter J. Carroll in Liber Kaos, this site can calculate the likelihood of your magic succeeding.

The Baptist Head – http://www.thebaptistshead.co.uk/   A unique take on modern western magick. You can see elements of chaos magick, Thelemic magick, and some of its own unique paradigm

Kia Illuminated Adapts – http://kiamagic.com/   A chaos magick order with resources on magick and culture.

Ár nDraíocht Féin – http://www.adf.org/core/   One of the main sects of modern druidism

Grimoar.cz – http://english.grimoar.cz/?Loc=idx&Lng=2    A repository of occult texts.

I have anger issues.

As an occultist I read a lot of eastern mysticism and progressive spiritualists. All of them promote kindness and understanding whenever dealing with your fellow humans. There’s great wisdom in this. When you attack, ears and minds close. You seldom get your point across. But sometimes, that’s not the goal.

In our polarized society, there are people who have embedded beliefs as part of their identity. They are in no way open to convincing with honey or vinegar. In those instances, anger can be the right tool.

I get pissed at my fellow liberals more than anyone for their lack of rage. Did you know we are bombing women and children all the time in Pakistan and Yemen? Why are you not pissed about this? I like protest, I think protest is important. But sometimes you need to go beyond potlucks and waving signs. NO I am not talking about violence. Let’s all go down to the office of the local insurance company and hang out in their lobby until they explain why they habitually deny coverage.

This week someone on tumblr sent me a message saying they were going to unfollow me because I’m an “anti-white Marxist.” Forget for a second how fucking ridiculous it is to call someone a Marxist. They included with this a link to a horribly racist website http://stuffblackpeopledontlike.blogspot.com/.*

Normally I ignore crap like this, until you add the racism. That is shit I won’t tolerate from my family much less total strangers. This is when anger comes in handy. I believe it is our duty to tell people like this that they will not be tolerated in our society. They will be ostracized. We will not take away their right to speak, but we can make it painfully clear no one is listening. I told him as much, and told everyone who follows me as well.

We have a false notion that people like Gandhi and MLK just marched and gave speeches in order to bring about change. These were angry men! Gandhi considered himself a general leading a campaign. He shut down the transportation system, the communications, and put himself in harm’s way to get his way.

When will you get angry enough to get yours?

* Feel free to report this site to blogger/blogspot TOS 

Every week I share with you seven websites with great resources or fantastic art to raise your knowledge and your gnosis. This week, websites to help you brush up on your mythology.

As Pope Pete says, “It is easier to call down lightening, or quell a sea storm, via one’s concept of Thor or Poseidon, than it is by direct will alone.” Help yourself by building up an arsenal of mythological symbols, ready-made to interact with your subconscious and firmly entrenched in the collective.

I picked websites that are well-organized in order to facilitate research. In the future, I’ll probably pick some websites from a more devotee point of view. If you feel like some major religion was overlooked, tough titties, I’m just giving seven links.

Norse Mythology – http://www.viking-mythology.com/

Greek Mythology – http://www.theoi.com/

Egyptian Mythology – http://www.egyptianmyths.net/

Irish/Celtic Mythology – http://www.luminarium.org/mythology/ireland/

Japanese/Shinto Mythology – http://www.japanesemythology.jp/

Indian/Hindu Mythology – http://indianmythology.com/finish/

The Whole Lot Put Together – http://pantheon.org/  A website covering a multitude of mythology and folklore.

I have a new tag-line. Writers and magicians do essentially the same thing. They create worlds with words and will. Some of you may know that I also write fiction. This blog has some crossover with my “name” blog jamelwilber.com I use to promote my writing, and my tumblr blog I use as a catch-all for shit I find cool. All three of them contain at least some elements of both magick and writing, with good reason.

All of the great magicians created worlds and got others to believe in them. That’s why magick has always been so closely tied to religion. Whether you believe the gods came and visited them, or the shamans themselves invented manifestations of our basic urges, it doesn’t matter. At one point, they went to the people and told them the story. Those stories told people how the world works. That changes reality.

I’m sorry if I offend all you hard-core science fans out there, but your beliefs are based on stories too. What you claim is the empirical truth about how the universe functions is simply how you perceive the universe to function. No matter how hard you try, you will never take yourself out of your observations. It will always be the human story of the universe. From a social-psychological perspective it doesn’t even matter. If you make the earth-shaking discovery, you still need to get people to believe it before it impacts their behavior. Don’t get me wrong, I love science, we need to keep using it because the language of science is something everyone can understand. But while it does a great job of describing outer space, it is somewhat lacking when it comes to inner space.

Every truly great magician has invented a worldview/religion and made people believe it. As much as I bash on him and his followers, the creation of Thelema was Crowley’s greatest accomplishment, a monumental feat to create a religion in the modern age.

I have taken a different route. Lately, I have been a bit of a slacker. Holidays and illness have kept me away from my regular magickal practice. I find, however, I don’t feel all that guilty about it, because I have kept up with my writing. For me, every story is an extended ritual. I am pouring on to the page my gnosis in hopes of changing the world.

Who knows how myths truly get started. Maybe the shamans came to the people and said, “The gods told me this.” Or maybe, they just told a damn good story that got repeated so much people wanted it to be true. Modern story telling is complex in the way it uses language and other mediums to get its point across. So many stories have been told, we now concentrate on the subtle differences between them, but they still teach the same things. They still have impact. I have no problem with cosplayers and geeks acting like they are characters from Harry Potter. They are internalizing a system that’s real for them, at least for a time. That’s the essence of chaos magick.

My greatest hope is that people will read my books and internalize what I have said. They’re not so conducive to roleplaying, but I want people to learn from my characters, both their triumphs and failures, and make the same discoveries and conclusions. If I can do that, I will take my place among the great magicians. I will have created a new world.