kalagni

01
Mar
2011

Secrets of the Shattered Name


Sorry for the lack of posting. The last few weeks have been hectic. I took very ill for a while -an unusual occurrence for me-, I’m preparing for some large ritual work so getting and making supplies along with ritual purification, and lastly now is that time of year when professors like to believe that you have no course other than theirs and try to cram in as many tests and assignments as they can before exam period. While my obligations are lightening they are still heavy for the next two weeks or so. As such I haven’t had time to write up a proper post. Below is an article I wrote for a friend’s book on demons, as I mentioned last time I posted such an article the format of the book changed so my article was excluded though the information was still used to some extent. Hopefully I’ll get something original up here soon, and if this week continues in the same manner it begin I’m sure it will be amusing. This article continues Hebrew characters which appear to post correctly on my end, hopefully they display properly for everyone else.
Intrinsically bound to the nature and use of the demons in some the Judeo-Christian magick systems would be the names of their controlling angels. Perhaps the most important set of angels would be the Shem ha’mephorash angels, or the angels of the Interpreted Name, also translated more poetically but less accurately as the Divided Name, or Shattered Name. The Shem ha’mephorash angels are a collection of 72 angels that were carefully devised or discovered –depending on your interpretation– by early Jewish Mystics.
The Names of YHWH are many, and many were considered lost by the Jewish Mystics. In an attempt to discover the lost Names, the mystics applied a variety of Qabalistic techniques to a variety of names and verses to try to discover more. In one attempt they focused on the number 72, one of the Sacred Numbers associated with YHWH’s name, because of how it enumerates in a triangle.
י (10)
יה (15)
יהו (21)
יהוה (26)
72
Writing a Name or a Word in this pyramid style of increasing letters was a method of making a token of increasing or calling upon the Name or Word, writing a Name or Word with decreasing letters was a method of banishing the influence. Because of the importance that was put upon the number 72, for this and other reasons, the mystics searched for an incident in the Torah where one verse had 72 letters. After a long study of the Torah they came across three such verses that happened to be in a row, in English names and notions that would be Exodus chapters 14, verse 19-21. These three verses were written atop each other, the first verse being written normally (which in Hebrew is right to left), the verse below being written left to right, and the final verse being written normally again. To further decode these verses, the mystics read them downward, forming seventy-two sets of three letters each, and at the end of each triplet a divine or angelic suffix was added, either Iah, or El, as those are the most common suffixes in Angelic names. This gave the mystics seventy-two Angels with which to work. The Shem ha’mephorash includes many angels that are unfamiliar to many people, such as Mabahiah but also contain some of the more common or popular angels, like Michael (though the spelling is just slightly different, so it is unknown if this refers to the Michael).
Early modern translations of the Goetia from the nineteenth and twentieth century often began with a single word of warning “Shemhamephorash.” This was often not understood, though the Golden Dawn took it as advice, and began to pair up the Goetic Demons, of which there are seventy-two, with the Angels of the Shem ha’mephorash. Their attempt was admirable and according to some did create a workable magickal system, but more recent developments have cast their attributions into disfavour, if you take Dr. Rudd as correct at least.
One interpretation of the warning of “Shemhamephorash” at the introduction of the Goetia, is that it is advocating for their use as a protective force, but at the time the grimoire was written the use of the Shem ha’mephorash was so widely understood and applied, that it didn’t require repeating. In much the same way, many magick and psychic books don’t include Shielding, Centring or the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, because it is expected that people either already know this, or it is not repeated because it can be easily found anywhere. Another possible reason is that the Shem ha’mephorash was a part of the Goetic grimoires, but was later removed or lost in a transcribing/translation of the text.
Recently the Goetia of Dr. Thomas Rudd, an associate of John Dee, has come to light, and it is one of the earliest translations of the Goetia that has been recovered. The trait that sets this book from other versions is its inclusion of the Shem ha’mephorash. In it, each Goetic Demon is linked to an Angel of the Shem ha’mephorash, which is regarded as its controlling Angel, and it is this Angel that helps contain the Demon on a one-on-one basis, while the magickian works with them. The Angels are simply applied to the Goetic Demons in order, a thought which did not occur to the Golden Dawn, and as such their correspondences of the Goetic Demons with the Angels are different.
Not all who work with the Goetia have accepted this new finding, some feel it is unnecessary, whereas some feel it was Dr. Rudd’s personal addition to the system, rather than something that was a part of the system from an earlier time. The good magickian would be wise to take time and experiment both ways, before falling into such an opinion.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
11
Feb
2011

Review: The Golden Dawn Enochian Skrying Tarot – Bill & Judi Genaw and Chic & S. Tabatha Cicero


The Golden Dawn Enochian Skrying Tarot: The Synthesis of Eastern & Western Magick – Bill and Judi Genaw and Chic & S. Tabatha Cicero
Llewellyn. 2004. 418pp. 0738702013.
“The Golden Dawn Enochian Skrying Tarot is unique among all published Tarot decks” (1) it “is not simply a Tarot deck with a book of card descriptions. This kit contains a complete system for magickal and spiritual growth. It includes card spreads, meditations, exercises, and rituals that are provided for three levels of spiritual attainment: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.” (2)
This may sound like a grandiose claim but the Ciceros and Genaws managed to win me over to this point of view. It is definitely a unique deck. Rather than the traditional 78 cards this deck has 89 cards, and unlike the traditional Major and Minor Arcana this deck is divided into four elemental suits of 22 cards each, one Spirit elemental card, and the cards are double-sided. Honestly the structure is so different I wonder why they felt the need to call it a tarot deck rather than a divination deck. This deck also comes with a book more than four hundred pages long, just a small sign about how detailed this deck is.
This deck is probably the most complex deck I’ve ever dealt with. One side of the deck is composed of “Western Tattvas” or alchemical symbols, the others side is an intricate synthesis of various symbols and parts of the Enochian Golden Dawn tradition. The Ciceros and Genaws consider the traditional Tattvas and Western Tattvas as both equally valid, but feel that the Western Tattvas are more appropriate and accessible to a Western magickian studying Western systems. So instead of the traditional Tattvas and colours, the deck uses the elemental triangles and colours from the Western Mystery Traditions. The Western Tattva cards are composed of single element/Tattvas, sub-elements, and tri-elemental combinations. The Enochian side of the cards are far more detailed and difficult to explain. They match the elemental attributes of the other side of the card, and are composed of elemental sides of the Enochian pyramids, Enochian angels attributed to the appropriate section of the tablet, astrological correspondence, an Egyptian God, Major Arcana parallel, Hebrew letters, and geomantric symbols. There is definitely a lot going on with these cards.
As mentioned in their introduction the cards serve more than just a divinatory function but actually compose part of a magickal tradition. The Enochian side of the cards can be used to compose the elemental tablets for use in Enochian magick, and the book contains enough of the Enochian theory and Keys to get someone going. An obvious and major part of this is, as the title of the deck says, skrying. This book contains some of the best training exercises for skrying I’ve ever encountered, and I was very pleased and surprised with that. The book leads the reader through increasingly complex exercises to train the magickian for skrying and astral projection. What surprised me was that as a divination deck, that all of the skrying was consciously chosen. If you want to understand something, go through the deck and find the most appropriate card according to the meaning in the book and skry through that card. I don’t see why one couldn’t (or shouldn’t) simply shuffle the cards and draw out the most appropriate card to skry, after all divining gives us access to reasoning beyond our self. The book contains some fairly standard magickal exercises, as well as some unusual ones, such as the creation of elemental “energy balls.”
The only thing I could really complain about is that since the structure is so different from a standard tarot deck, lacking intuitive images, and just so complicated, that the deck will be exceedingly complicated to learn. Beyond this issue I think the deck and book are quite marvellous. What these cards lack in stunning artwork they make up in sheer information. Not a deck for everyone, but anyone seriously studying Western Traditions and/or the Golden Dawn then this deck would make a great addition to your magickal repertoire.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
04
Feb
2011

When The Shadow Calls – The Royal Family & The Poor


Originally when I started this blog and was filled with idealism I thought that every Friday I’d post a magick-themed song. Though as I didn’t end up posting as often as I’d like I decided against that. I did good the last two weeks, so I figured I’d post another song I like.

This is “When the Shadow Calls” by The Royal Family & The Poor from the album Songs for the Children of Baphomet: A Musickal Tribute To The Life & Works Of Aleister Crowley. The album is really good, it has a lot of different sounds to it, when I decided to put up a song I had trouble narrowing it down. Some songs have a classical anthem theme to them, some are just soft drifting glossolalic hymns, some have more of an 80’s rock feel, and several that are just hard to place. As for being a tribute to Crowley, this song has an exert from The Bornless Ritual, another is adapted from the Invocation of Horus, one even has the Great Beast himself reciting his poem “The Pentagram,” others as specifically inspired by Crowley’s works, and some are more general about Thelema and the theme of Crowley’s magick. All in all the album has a neat sound and the idea of producing a musickal tribute to Crowley makes for an interesting themed CD.
(As a random aside, the song is alternately called “When the Shadow Calls” and “When the Shadow Falls” depending on where in the liner notes you look.)

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
03
Feb
2011

Tarot Information As An Action Plan


Knowledge may be power, but that’s a simplification of matters. There is a lot of knowledge that is useless to most people, and there is a lot of knowledge that is useless on its own. Knowing that the mayor slept with underage sex workers isn’t power unless you know how to use that knowledge. Basic geometry and carpentry can be useless on their own unless you know how to apply that knowledge to make tables, chairs, buildings and more. So while knowledge may be power it, it is more the application of knowledge that is power.

This of course brings us to the tarot. A good tarot reading is full of knowledge but the trouble is to most people the reading is useless, informative, but useless. This is a problem that affects magickians and reading recipients alike. A reading provides them with the information they ask for, but they have no idea how to apply this information.

This is another one of those things in magick that I feel should be so obvious that it doesn’t need to be said, and yet when I look around I see the same mistake being made repeatedly. I used to make this mistake all the time, I still do occasionally. When rereading my magickal diaries I’m struck by how often my readings were accurate, and moreso how often I failed to do anything about it. The problem, if we want to go so far as to call it such, is that tarot readings are by their nature abstract, and even when they’re specific, there is a level of abstraction. People don’t know how to take the abstract and make it practical. The tarot gives ideas and advice, not action.

The cards may let you know that to succeed at work you have to stop reacting to your boss and keep the work place peaceful. Good idea, but it isn’t an action. The problem with ideas and abstractions is they aren’t remembered for long and make very poor guides. We have to turn this abstraction into something doable and memorable.

One piece of advice I got from a friend and mentor years ago, which I’ve adapted, is making plans from a reading. I always make two plans with any reading; one that can and will be started in the first 48 hours after the reading, and another that can be implemented over the following week. The first 48 hours after a reading are crucial, really the first 24 but some people find 24 too stressful to work with. The longer you wait to act, the less likely you are to act; that’s the major problem. The second issue is if you believe that the future is mutable then within the first few days after a reading then things can change, so in order to make the most of your reading you have to implement it as soon as possible.

The goals, especially the 48 hour goal, do not have to be anything large, they don’t have to solve the problem, and rarely will, but the point is to create a concrete action to get you started working with the problem. Say you need to stop reacting to your boss, think quick and small. Print a sign to put on your monitor or keyboard reminding you that after you read an email from the boss that bothers you, do something else for ten minutes, and then respond. This just gives you a little cool down time. Boom -a simple way of starting to handle the issue, and something small that gets you thinking right away about how to use your reading. You’re more likely to think of other ways to handle the issue if you’ve already having something small set into motion. The key is to do something. Other times my actions have been as simple as just writing out a pro/con list regarding the issue cause it hasn’t been thought through, anything that gets me to begin working on the issue.

So many people get readings and fail to use the information, they think just knowing what will help or hinder them will be enough. They think that in the heat of the moment they’ll suddenly remember what they should or shouldn’t do. They don’t and things don’t improve and the next reading just says more of the same, if not worse. It surprises some of my clients when after the reading I work with them to make a plan of action, some are confused, some are appreciative, and some are almost indignant that I assume they don’t know what to do with the reading. Yet pretty much all of my return clients who have seen other tarot consultants mention how helpful my reading was, if only because I gave them an avenue to make the abstract ideas of a reading into a practical plan of action.

When I see people involved with tarot reading, especially magickians, who are constantly doing readings and adding more cards, all I can think is that for all the information they’re turning up, they aren’t bothering to learn how to use it. If you’re doing large readings, constantly adding more cards, and doing lots of tarot spreads chances are you’re not really in need of all of that information, you’re just failing to put the information you have into action. Knowledge is knowledge, applied knowledge is power.

The key to turning the knowledge of a tarot reading into power, isn’t assuming that you’ll remember it, or know how to use it when the time comes; instead it is about taking the time during the reading to create a real plan of action, devising something you can do in the next day or two that begins to work on the issues of the reading. Without the plan and details you’re left with an abstract. Turn a reading into a roadmap and you’re far more likely to get the outcome you want.

Of course another part of the equation is knowing how to ask good questions, but that’s a tale for another time.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
02
Feb
2011

Wednesday Webshares: Grant, Visualization, Manifestation, and Moon Glyphs


Today Toronto is in the grip of Snowmageddon! Actually it isn’t, we were expecting a major snowstorm, we only got about 15cm overnight, but still much of the city is taking the day to hibernate, my university included. Not to sound stupid, but the term Snowmageddon, does that make sense? Does Mount Megiddo even get much snow?
The first news of the day is from LAShTal. Kenneth Grant passed away on the 15th of January, 2011 after a period of illness. He was a student and friend of both Aleister Crowley and Austin Osman Spare. Author of over a dozen occult texts and various collections of poetry and novels he will be missed. Many occult bloggers are writing great tributes and biographies of him, so I’ll avoid the duplication of effort and leave it at that.
My next point of interest is a recent article on Rune Soup called The Limits of Visualisation: Why You Still Need Magic. It is an examination of the over-emphasis on positive thinking and visualization, à la The Secret. While Gordon makes a lot of magickal sense, he also managed to dig up some enlightening psychology studies about the problems of positive visualization that confirm several of my issues with the system.
Over on Head For the Red, Frater R.O. writes about Manifestation Magic in which he puts down a reasonable equation about using magick to actually get results. With him it’s about strategic planning, effort/work, and creating opportunities. After reading it I forwarded it right away to a friend who has been having troubles with a specific magickal goal and R.O. eloquently puts what I had been trying to explain.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
29
Jan
2011

Burning Hearts – Nuit


(This post was supposed to be uploaded last night, but dealing with catastrophic laptop death and setting up a new one I didn’t have time.)
I woke up singing this song this morning. I don’t know why it was in my head but I’ve always enjoyed it. It’s a condensed version of Chapter II of the Liber AL vel Legis, better known as The Book of the Law. I took my copy to school with me and read it over the day, it’s always an interesting read, I read it at least once a year in April during the “feast” celebrating its writing.
Anyways, without further ado here is Burning Hearts by Nuit

To download the song, read the lyrics, hear the rest of the album, or learn about the band you can visit Nuit’s “Mother Night”.
In the chance you’re unfamiliar with the text you can get the complete book (it is short) online at The Book of the Law on Sacred Texts or get a print copy of The Book Of The Law by Aleister Crowley

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
22
Jan
2011

Strategic Sorcery Blog Migration


For those of you who used to follow Jason Miller’s Strategic Sorcery blog you may or may not have noticed that it is no longer there. Due to a glitch the blog is gone, but he has relocated it his own server.
So if you used to follow it you can find Strategic Sorcery here. If you didn’t follow his blog in the past I recommend it. I reviewed his book The Sorcerer’s Secrets in the past. He’s a very practical sorcerer filled with good ideas and rational thought. I’m glad to see that he revived his blog under his control and was able to recover his old posts.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
21
Jan
2011

Review: The William Blake Tarot (Revised Edition) – Ed Buryn


The William Blake Tarot of the Creative Imagination (Revised Edition) – Ed Buryn
Tools And Rites Of Transformation. 2010. 32 pp., 79 (+1) cards. 9780916804.
Ed Buryn takes the paintings, poetry, and philosophy of William Blake and distills it into 79 beautiful cards. The deck is divided as most tarot decks are, but with a 23rd Major Arcana or Triumph in Buryn’s revising, “00 Eternity 00” a beautiful conception of a card in Blake’s mythology.
The art of the deck is the artwork of William Blake carefully chosen, occasionally collaged, and interpreted to follow the theme of the tarot and bring Buryn and Blake’s vision into the cards. The images on the cards are a better quality than they were on the original, the colours stand out a bit more and there are more fine details. The original deck was wonderful but this deck takes it farther. Most cards are just evocative artwork but two of the suites contain a small fragment of Blake’s written wisdom embedded with the art.
Rather than the traditional four suits Buryn substitutes Blake’s “four eternal Arts” of Painting, Science, Music, and Poetry. From what I can tell, in that order they are roughly equated with Pentacles, Swords, Cups, and Wands. The Court cards have been transformed to Angel, Child, Woman, and Man, their connection to the classic Court cards is less clear, but the Courts and their meanings get shuffled around regularly between decks anyways. Angel and Child being contrasted with Woman and Man is also a nice inclusion of Blake’s world view of Divine Innocence and civilized humanity.
The deck explores Blake’s philosophy of the Soul and creativity; covering humanity’s potential, expression and divine nature. Buryn does an amazing job of sorting through Blake’s works to find the perfect fit for the cards. The challenge isn’t that Blake’s ideas may not be compatible but that Blake created so much that narrowing it down to 79 images is a task of epic proportions, but Buryn does it admirably. The deck is more than just an artistic variation on classic tarot imagery but a transformation of the art and philosophy of the cards.
The cards are great in my opinion. The images, the titles, and the text (if any) give a great source of information when using the cards. Included with the deck is the standard little white book, though this one is a little larger than most, and as the cards are taken from a different perspective than others so I actually found the book helpful. The booklet includes a few spreads, including the “Four-Fold Vision Spread” a simple five card spread meant to take the reader out of Blake’s notion of “single vision” (depicted on the Man of Science card with Blake’s painting “Newton”) and allowing the reader to see the issue from multiple perspectives.
Buryn did a fabulous job with original deck, and the revised edition looks even better. I came to this deck before Blake fascinated me, before I committed five years of my life to studying English and I loved the deck then. Now Blake is my second favourite poet, I’m far more familiar with his work (having read everything of his at least once), and the deck is even more relevant and insightful now.
The deck is published without the book that appeared with the original deck, but it will be available to download no charge from his website William BlakeTarot by Ed Buryn in the near future. Also in the near future you’ll be able to order the deck directly from that site. For now you have to order the deck direction from Ed Buryn using the contact information below.
This boxed set of 80 cards and 32-page booklet will not be sold in bookstores. To order your copy, please mail cash, check, or money order to TAROT, PO Box 720, Nevada City CA 95959; or pay online with your credit card at www.paypal.com payable to [email protected].
The price is $32 plus $5 shipping, for a total cost of $37 each. For California orders, add $2.85 sales tax, for a total cost of $39.85 each. Orders to Canada and Mexico are $32 plus $7 shipping, for a total cost of $39 each. Orders to other overseas countries are $32 plus $10 shipping, for a total cost of $42 each.
All prices are US funds.
I was very excited when I found out that after 15 years The William Blake Tarot was being reprinted so I pre-ordered it within moments of finding out that I had that option. That was a few months ago and the release of the deck got pushed back and it slipped my mind. Then in my poetry lecture we covered Blake and I was quite happy, then when I arrived home there was a package for me and inside was the tarot deck I’ve been waiting five years for since I first encountered the deck at a friend’s house. Life is like that sometimes.
I went through the deck slowly, examining each card, taking in the art and the poetry. After a few test readings I was quite happy with the results and the cards. You don’t need to be a Blake fan to appreciate or use this deck, I wasn’t initially, though you will definitely get more from it the more of Blake you know and understand. It’s a deck of beautiful images and ideas, and highly recommended.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
15
Jan
2011

Aleister Crowley For President 2012



The internet brings the most amusing things sometimes. Redneck Aleister Crowley presidential ads. Crowley as the 45th President of Yankee-land? If I were to interpret that quickly I’d note that 45 is the “mystic number” of Yesod and 4+5=9 also Yesod. Not to mention the Hebrew word GAVLH, meaning redemption, enumerates to 45. Redemption and two Yesods, obviously Crowley as President would bring back the space program and take America back to the Moon. 666+45=711. ADON, or Master is 711. So he would be an unquestioned leader too. People complain about the ghosts in the White House as is, just wait till Crowley spends time there.
I wonder when I see silly or random videos that reference Crowley (or obscure Ceremonial Magick concepts) what their reasoning for including him is. As much as I like Crowley, I often like the videos that use him as a point of humour.
Film what you Will.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
13
Jan
2011

Review: Low Magick – Lon Milo DuQuette


Low Magick: It’s All In Your Head… You Just Have No Idea How Big Your Head Is – Lon Milo DuQuette
Llewellyn. 2010. 206pp. 9780738719245.
“Stories are magick.” (1) With that simple idea Lon Milo DuQuette begins to draw the reader into another wacky, hilarious, and insightful journey of magick and life. I will be frank right off the bat and discuss my problems with this text. I spend a lot of time on public transit reading and this memoir had people on the bus eyeing me like I was a bit crazy. Lon is quite simply a funny guy and at many points in his stories I found myself laughing- sometimes at him, sometimes with him, sometimes because a crazy idea seemed too much like me. Unfortunately when someone suddenly breaks out laughing (especially if that laugh has a tinge of mad scientist to it) people in public don’t know what to do. If you don’t mind odd looks you can read this in public, otherwise read it at home.
The humour is a great drive in the book it helps keep the stories from being too serious and not being a dry biography. Sometimes the asides and comments are just so random and funny that I couldn’t help but laugh such as the mention of nachos and guacamole as “the fast-food favorite of California magicians whose wives are out of town.” (73) That line was right in the centre of a fascinating story of a ritual spanning a few days involving Lon, the Tarot of Ceremonial Magick, and the various spirits tied to the deck.
Now this memoir isn’t just a stroll down memory lane, there is “a great deal of theory and technical information within my nonchronological narratives.” (2) So there are stories, there are laughs, and there is actual information. What I enjoyed what not so much how Lon did certain rituals but his discussion of why he did certain rituals and why he did them certain ways. When discussing a curse on a friend, rather than just using some standard ritual to undo it, or to just say what he did, Lon leads you into his head (and it is all in his head) to show why he decided to use A Midsummer Night’s Dream as the foundation to remove the curse.
Lon goes back and forth from discussing magick in a very traditional ceremonial sense and something more free form. The stories flow from Goetic demons to invoking Ganesha to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel,” from the Hermetic Rose Cross to gorging on quiche for astral adventures. The book covers so much in a great tone. On one hand Lon is confident about his experience and information but knows where his limitations are, and yet the book never has the tone of a magician who thinks too highly of himself. The book discusses success and failure, brilliant ideas and not-so-clever ones.
The title of the memoir is from an early work and it is a statement that I’ve seen people toss around both for and against DuQuette on various email lists and message boards. In this text he goes into more detail about it. “This is not to say, however, that I believe magick is purely psychological. What I am saying is there is more we don’t understand about the human mind than we do understand.” (133) In true DuQuette fairness he discusses this just before describing two stories where the magick and the results seem so removed from him that understanding it as being in his head is quite a challenge, even to him. Whether you agree or disagree with the idea, Lon does show through his experiences where his logic for this idea comes from. A strength of Lon’s writing is his ability to lead you into his understanding, so even if you disagree him you can understand why he thinks a certain way.
This is a hilarious book, filled with great insight into the world of magick, and into the head of one wise and wacky wizard.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick