She Continues
A couple of years back, I had been working with various entities, and I called up one, and She gave me a sigil, symbol, pictograph. At the time, I began reflecting on that symbol in my mind, and I had an experience in which—bam—I started seeing a coiling mass of serpents (I always say wyrms, […] … Continue reading…Mirrors & Spheres
It is Shakespeare’s (probable) birthday and death-day today. Born in 1564, dying in 1616. Author of 38-ish plays, two long form poems, at least 154 sonnets–the son of a glove-maker from Stratford. I’m of the Stratfordian school: I will argue Shakespeare was the author of his plays–in association with and collaboration with his colleagues in […] … Continue reading…Will Shakespeare
Every man and every woman is a star. —The Book of the Law Something happened on the day he died Spirit rose a metre then stepped aside Somebody else took his place, and bravely cried (I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar) —David Bowie, “Blackstar” Sovereignty has been a topic I’ve seen mentioned quite often […] … Continue reading…Jail-breaking Machiavelli 3: Every Person a Star
It’s interesting to note how quickly the European elite moved to demonize Machiavelli, mostly because he exposed the hypocrisy of political and ecclesiastical power, its violence and deceit. Magicians and witches may have reputations as charlatans, but Machiavelli showed how the same was true of kings and popes. As Alessandra Petrina argues, Machiavelli may have […] … Continue reading…Jail-breaking Machiavelli 2: Shakespeare & Gaming Kingship
At the suggestion of someone whose opinion I’ve come to value, I started reading Peter Grey’s Lucifer: Princeps, and the book is less about “Lucifer” as a definite presence and more about sovereignty, the Dead, and how we enchant our selves and worlds. Early in the book, Grey points to models of sacred kingship–& that […] … Continue reading…Jail-breaking Machiavelli 1: Lucifer, Elizabeth, Machiavelli
I have had a tendency to fixate unconsciously on “stars.” After some rum and wine, probably some Old Crow, I found the following on my phone’s notes the next day: The sky tries to tell me that I am unfurling starlight symphonies against myself—but I can see that’s not the case. I am deceived by […] … Continue reading…Astronomy Domine
One of the things that tripped me up often over the years when I was out of practice was that I “realized” how so much of magic seemed to just be “bad poetry” one was supposed to recite for, boom, results.[*] And I thought at the time that, well, how can wishing accomplish magic? Of […] … Continue reading…Powerful Rhymes
I’ll share a couple of photos here with you. I’ve been trying to scribble into journals for ages. Here in the first photo, you can see a motley collection. The leftmost six are old magical journals from mostly the ’90s, and most of them are not full. I got most of those little journals at […] … Continue reading…Marking Time, Counting Books
I wanted astrology to make sense to me. I was always an astronomy nerd while growing up, especially for the planets. I’d do little reports on the planets and their planetary characteristic trivia when I was in elementary school. I think half the books I checked out while growing up were books on the planets. … Continue reading…Stars & Bodies