Some Card Interpretations (Rider-Waite)

I originally posted these card interpretations in the comments section of the now defunct trolltopia blog, and they mostly refer to the Rider-Waite variation of the card. For a while the blog author did a one card reading every day and then gave an interpretation. These were my responses.

2 of Swords

Ew! Card interpetations! Fun! Can I play!

Let’s see, two of swords. Element of air in the number two, which is the number of purity. It rests on the pillar of mercy because a true purity is completely itself and can never be changed or corrupted, causing stagnation (an attribute of mercy, not balance or severity).

And air is representative of the mental side of things, so we have a purity of knowledge, thought, reason, and even imagination.

The two of swords is both knowledge and reason in the abstract and how it applies to physical reality and practical use. It doesn’t bridge the gap between useless, though highly intellectual, information and ideas and useful though more mundane ideas, rather that gap never exists for the two of swords, and all information is at once completely useful and highly intellegent.

Looking at the lady, she’s blindfolded for the same reason that justice is blindfolded. She’s a purity of reason and knowledge, unswayed by any bias or emotion. As discussed earlier, a true purity can never be changed or corrupted.

The swords crossed against her chest are readied for both attack and defense. Her reason will go out and strike down anything illogical, and at the same time it protects her from any falls knowledge. Air is the lesser of the two aggressive elements, but still an aggressive element. Although air isn’t trying to completely consume everything into it like fire, it’s still going to attempt to strike down opposition.

If you were just doing a one card reading on yourself, I’d say the interpetation would be that you’re a great thinker and concerned with logic, but like any Vulcan perhaps you put too much emphasis on the logical and reasonable side of things and not enough on other aspects of life, such as pursuing your passions or giving into your emotional urges every so often.

3 of Swords

Waite’s imagery of the swords was fairly negative in its nature, and unfortunately very few of his imitators ever really understood his deck to begin with (if they did, they wouldn’t of had to copy), and so the swords have ended up being viewed as a negative suit, when in reality they are no more negative than any other.

The three of swords is a good example. It is a the first taint on the mental aspect of things brought about by knowledge of itself.

The card itself typically has a negative imagery. It is a card of self-awareness, a card of knowledge, and the idea that ignorance, now lost, is bliss. It is a direct reference to the fall of man in Genesis. Man’s life was perfect, then he gained an awareness of self by eating from the tree of knowledge, and then everything turned to shit.

But that’s just one side of the card. By eating from the tree of knowledge man became as smart as god, as powerful as god. The three of swords is a card of enlightenment, of epiphanies, of creative inspiration, of self-revelation, of self-awareness, and it’s also the card of the brutal, harsh, cruel, and painful truths.

A law of the universe is there can never be a gain without a loss. This idea is more fully explored in the Hanged Man. In the three of swords, we learn that sometimes in order to gain enlightenment we have to give up something, we have to be hurt.

You will never know pain until you feel it. You’ll never know what it’s like to lose someone you love until it happens.

Someone who knows only of complete and perfect happiness will never be enlightened, because they know naught of everything else.

Someone who is enlightened will never again know complete and perfect happiness, having been exposed to everything else their perfect happiness will never be complete.

So it’s a choice between enlightenment and the bliss of ignorance, but once you eat of the fruit you can never again return to the garden.

I think Pleasentville made a good argument for the choice of enlightenment.

2 of Wands

Ah, there’s a three of wands down there too. I’ll have to do that one next. They have a nice contrast in Waite’s deck. (BTW, you never did say if it was okay that I was doing this on your blog. I just think it’s fun, and I’m assuming it’s okay because you haven’t deleted my posts yet).

Like the two of swords, we once again have a purity, but this time it’s a purity of fire, not air, passion, not reason. And we see this with the flower plaque in the lower left hand corner, red and white flowers crossed (possibly roses, or a rose and a tulip maybe, the design makes it hard to make out the exact flowers). Nevertheless red flowers represent non-platonic love and lust, where as white represents purity.

And our character is a purity of his passions. He stands upon a castle, and literaly holds the world in his right hand, and yet even with all of this he still looks out over the horizen, his hand upon his staff ready for the next conquest. He is absolute desire, and he revels in the ecstasy of desire. On the surface this seems like a sad card, a man who will never be satisfied with what he has, who toils to gain something only to lose interest and move on to the next thing, forever stuck in this cycle.

But with a deeper understanding the card becomes much happier like the rest of the twos. The man is not simply dissatisfied with everything he has, rather he is ever evolving, and every growth he achieves as a person is to him only the stepping stone to the next stage, and he is forever consumed in his journey, never believing he’s grown enough and stopping.

At the same time though, and as opposed to the character of the following card, he truly understands the ecstasy of desire. He is completely content in a state of desire, and he knows that it isn’t the achievement itself but rather the achieving that is really important. It’s the journey, not the destination, that matters. He doesn’t ever need to achieve true completion to find true contentment, he is as content now as he can ever be in a frenzy of desire.

3 of Wands

I’m going to have to disagree with the guy looking well to do. The guy in the two of staffs, he’s well to do, decked out in nice clothes and a cape. But this guy, the garment he’s wearing isn’t even a real garment, it’s at least three different garments sewn together, the yellow in the top left, the checkerboard stripe, and the rest as red. And none of it matches his sleeve, which may be an undergarment or another something sewn on. And to top it off the man has a band on his head, he can’t even afford a proper hat.

I’m going into this because I wanted to contrast this with the two. Both characters are looking out into the horizon, but this one is poorly dressed and standing atop a small empty mound, whereas the other fellow was well dressed and standing atop a castle. And yet both stare out into the horizon, waiting for their ships to come in as you put it.

Whereas the two represents I Am and the purity of being, the three represents I Know I Am and the corruption of purity, the first corruption occurring through a knowledge of the existence of self.

Translated into the idea of passion, when it realizes its existence it becomes want and desire. Here we have a poor man, a man who wants, looking at the horizon with a staff in hand, ready for conquest.

Where as the man in the two finds happiness in his conquests, the man in the three sees conquest as a means to his happiness. For him it is the destination, not the journey, that truly matters.

The card itself is fairly sad in its energy. The man will never really know happiness. He’s one of those types who thinks happiness is gained by finally achieving what he wants to achieve, and he spends his life in pursuit of that and typically dies sad and still trying to reach his completion.

Career paths are a good way to look at this idea. There are certain people who get into a certain profession, and take certain jobs, because they believe that it will eventually lead to them making a descent income and getting the things that they want (cars, houses, money for children, ect.). Then there are those people who enter into a profession because they have a natural calling towards it, they feel a certain drive and passion in doing the work. Every step in this path (raises, promotions, moving to a better company) isn’t a movement towards getting to that spot where they’ll finally be rewarded with the financial lifestyle they want, but rather it’s a step towards making them better at their chosen profession. And they aren’t putting in their time for that eventual reward, rather being able to make a living doing the work is the reward.

And now ask yourself, which is the better professional? Which would you rather have working under you? Which would you rather be in your own life?

As for these two professionals, the former is the man from the three of staffs, and the later is the man from the two of staffs.

Knight of Cups

Let’s see, Knight of Cups, which corresponds to the airy part of the element of water.

Air is the mental element. It corresponds to thought, ideas, knowledge, logic, reason, and imagination. It’s also the lesser aggressive element.

Water meanwhile corresponds to emotion, love, relationships, sex, and is the greater passive element.

The knight of cups is actually at an advantage being the airy part of water. He is able to take the positive elements of water and control them, since he’s an active side of a passive element. And unlike the fiery side it’s a very reasoned and calculated control.

The Knight of Cups could, under the best of circumstances, be a zen master, completely in control of his emotions and able to will them to whatever he wants them to be.

In most cases though he’s probably just a guy who’s really good at keeping himself under control. He never flies off the handle and he never breaks down crying, and although he may laugh at times he’s never ROFLHFAO. Most people probably see him as a bit stoic and emotionless.

Then again, in a more negative sense, he could be like Mr Prufrock, over anylzing every emotion until, finally, measuring out his life in coffee spoons he never acts on his emotion and ultimatly fails to do anything of consequence.

As for a personal interpetation for you, I think, and with regards to yesterday’s card, the reading would be that you’re putting too much thought into things and not taking enough action. It’s good to be in control of your emotions and passions, but sometimes you have to act on them and make rash decisions, otherwise you’ll never get anywhere. Sometimes it’s best to just grab the girl, stick your tongue down her throat, and then lift her with one hand onto the bed before making mad passionate love to her. Sure, you’ll most likely get a hernia from this, but if you sit around contemplating that for two long she’s going to end up with that sleazy best friend of yours (we all know your life is basically an eighties sitcom, there’s no sense in trying to hide that now :).

Ace of Coins

The aces are so simplified and abstract they’re the hardest card to put into words. But they are the seeds of what’s to come, and here with the pentacles we have the seeds of the element of Earth, or the material world (and as such material gain).

As with all of the aces, we have the object being presented by a hand in the clouds, the hand of God, because as per Christian beliefs all things begin with God creating them and placing them into the world.

More interesting in the symbolism is what lies below the hand. Here we have the Garden of Eden, the first material created on Earth, and we have a path running towards the gateway of Eden, and through it lies the mountains.

At the same time, looking at the ace of swords, the seeds of knowledge, we have the barren mountains instead of Eden, and knowledge being what exiled man from the garden and into the harsh and barren world outside.

At the same time, the ace of pentacles is the spiritual aspect of the element of earth. Spirit is the original and all encompassing element, the divine, a part of the all or the source.

If we look at Judeo-Christian philosophies, Eastern philosophies, and even the pagan philosophies they tend to side with the idea that the material aspect of things and wanting material gain is a bad thing, or at the very least not a good thing, and is at the exact opposite of spirituality. Passion can be spiritual (as with art for example), emotion can be spiritual (love, compassion, ect.), and reason can be spiritual (the idea of the enlightened master or the scribing monk), but material gain is never spiritual. You can’t take it with you into the next life. Temptation needs to be removed. The truly spiritual man is a poor man and has evolved beyond a need for money. The material plane is the antithesis to the spiritual plane.

And yet the ace of pentacles tells us that all of this is untrue, and that’s it’s secret. Spirit is all encompassing, it exists in everything, even at the material level. Your spiritual path in this lifetime may very well involve the aquisition and enjoyment of wealth, and there is nothing unspiritual about doing that.

More disturbing is the man who claims enlightenment and yet turns away from the material plane of being. He is a man who has completely dismissed one spiritual aspect of this lifetime, and at the same time one has to wonder why he is incarnate if his path does not involve being a part of physical being.

Sex is Sticky

This is a post I made maybe 3+ years ago to a now defunct yahoo! group. For whatever reason I kept it, and it has some interesting, albeit basic, thoughts on sex energy and sex magick.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to play around with sex energy as much as I would like to. But I have noticed some differences with sex energy as opposed to other types, mainly being that it’s very sticky.

What I mean by that is that it’s very easy to attach something to sex energy, and that even naturally things tend to become attached to it. And of course sex energy is released from a person when they have sex, although they can draw it right back in if they know how. But if they don’t draw it back in, not only is the sex energy lost, but so is whatever was stuck to it.

It really doesn’t take any effort at all to do this on a basic level. Mundanes do this. It’s commonly known that sex can be used to relieve stress (this will be a minor plot device in 50% of the new sitcoms airing this week, I’m semi-psychic :). And now psychiatrists are saying that having sex regularly can help with all levels of depression. And this is what is occuring without effort, with effort it can be used for much greater effect.

Another thing I noticed about sex, even prior to any metaphysical thought about it, is that it’s sort of a boiling pot. It mixes easily with nearly anything and changes. Sex can be mixed with love, or compassion, or anger, or anything else and the end result will be slightly different.

I’ve also talked to some metaphysical healers who have claimed that they are able to use sex magick to heal (in a metaphysical way, not in a physical way), which makes me think that it may be possible for disease to stick to sex energy too.

A few things I’m wondering about and have noted about this:

I’d actually be curious to look at different specific types of entities that are predatory and feed off of sexual energy. I’m guessing what would be found is that in most cases a specific type targets only certain types of individuals determined largely by their general demeanor. The idea being that the entity would have a preference for certain emotions being intermixed with the sex energy, and a repulsion to other emotions.

Another thing, which should go without saying anyways but some people I’ve met really could’ve used someone saying it to them, if a person is going to play around with sex magick and sexual energy, then they should be particular about who exactly their partner is and be sure that they’re compatable.

I’m also thinking that sex can be used for a sort of cleansing effect, and that it is used that way naturally among mundanes from time to time. Basically a way to throw all of the shit out of you, and empty yourself to fill yourself back up how you naturally are.

Now based on the idea that sex energy can be released, that it’s sticky and things are easily attached to it, and that this energy can be reabsorbed by another, I’m thinking that sex can be used as a sort of courior between two people.

On the simpler level, it can be used to transmit simple thoughts and emotions between to people. Or it can be used as a means to communicate information which cannot be communicated through typical means. Or it can be used to send outward some part of oneself to be
absorbed by another.

I’m realizing this while I’m writing the post, but it seems as if this is filling up some of the gaps in what sex becomes as it ascends to higher stages. This seems to fit between what is typical of the physical world and what is a bit higher than that, and actually binding two entities together through sex. It seems to fit together nicely now. A bit later on I may post the different levels of sex that I know of and see if anyone else can add to them or fill in any other gaps. I have to put some things together in my head first though.

Aresian Unbinding Spells

Listed below are two spells meant to aid the practitioner in releasing themselves from any outside interference which may be hindering their true path. In general terms a binding spell refers to a spell that seals away all or some of a practitioner’s powers, and an unbinding spell is one which undoes this. These spells are not specifically meant to deal with a binding, although they may be effective in that regard, instead they are meant to eliminate anything which may be hindering or otherwise holding back the practitioner from pursuing their passions.

These spells work through the power of the Greek god Ares, and it’s important to understand what Ares is in order to use them. Unfortunately Ares was badly slandered by Homer for a variety of reasons, and Homer’s popularity and influence among the Greeks resulted in Ares being badly slandered for ever after.

Ares is a god of the righteous in battle, of justice, of love, of vengeance, and yes there is some violence in him. It would be easiest to say that Ares’ true dominion is in being a slave to ones passions, but it would be profane to say that a god is a slave to their passions. Rather Ares has dominion over following ones passions without regard for the consequences. In that regard he is both a god of justice and vengeance, as when he murdered Halirrhotius, he is a god of passionate love, as when he pursued an affair with his brother’s wife Aphrodite, and he is a god of the warrior in battle.

Aresian Short Unbinding

The short unbinding is a simple spell meant to release the practitioner from any minor outside force which has taken to changing the true course of the practitioner and moving him away from his desires. The spell is meant to target those forces which are manipulating the practitioner against his will, albeit in minor ways, and as such is generally safe to perform whenever the practitioner believes he may have been bound to a path other than his own.

I. To begin with, construct an alter to Ares if one is not readily available.

II. Undertake all necessary preparations to spellwork and presenting yourself before a diety, including any ritualistic cleansing or bathing.

III. The ritual is best performed both alone and skyclad.

IV. If absolutely necessary, any of the first three steps may be omitted, with a mental alter to Ares being built instead of a physical one, if the situation is dire and the practitioner needs the spell cast immediately.

V. To begin, light a new candle on Ares’ alter as an offering to him.

VI. Initiate a communion with Ares. This can be done by sitting in a comfortable position, meditating, and then directing energy towards Ares’ alter while allowing energy to be directed back. Allow the energy of Ares to flow through yourself and ask permission for what is about to be performed.

VII. When ready, and while feeling the energy of Ares flowing through yourself, you may begin the actual spell work, which consists of two parts performed simultaneously, a visualization and an incantation.

VIII. Visualize your body covered in straps and chains, and the energy of Ares bursting forth from every bit of your body, breaking the chains and straps. To the best of your ability, direct the energy of Ares towards this visualization.

IX. While visualizing, recite from memory the following incantation:

Lord Ares
Lend your strength
Let each strap be unbroken
Each twine unwound
Let the true heart walk its path
Unswayed, unbound

X. Afterwards thank Ares for his aid. If possible, allow the candle to burn itself out. Otherwise it may be put out and saved for later, but the candle should only ever be burned as an offering to Ares. The alter should be left up for at least a day, if not longer, and when it is deconstructed proper care should be taken as the objects its made of are sacred to Ares.

Aresian Long Unbinding

The long unbinding is a much more drastic spell meant to release the practitioner from any force, internal or external, preventing them from following the true desire of their heart. This spell, being as it is, can have serious repercussions, and should only be used when absolutely necessary, and only after lesser methods have been tried and failed. As noted below, the fourth candle should be lit, if it is lit at all, with extreme caution. It should also be mentioned that fire exists without form, and as such is considered a link between the physical world and the spiritual or metaphysical world. The act of lighting a flame can be considered a connection between the physical and spiritual worlds.

I. Construct a proper alter to Ares if one is not readily available. Make sure that there is enough room for several candle holders.

II. Undertake all necessary preparations to spellwork and presenting yourself before a diety, including any ritualistic cleansing or bathing.

III. The ritual is to be performed skyclad and alone, or if not alone then with an object of one’s desire only and also skyclad.

IV. Initiate a communion with Ares and allow his energy to flow through you and ask for permission for what is about to be done. If with a partner, both should perform this communion. If needed, candles may be burnt in offering to Ares in order to aid in communion.

V. Place three or four candles on the alter as shown:

——-A———-A—
—–2—3—–3—–4
——-1———1–2–

(ed. note: I’m having trouble properly formatting this diagram. I’ll look into getting something better set up soon. If anyone needs this diagram to do the spell in the meantime, email me and I’ll try to help you figure it out.)
VI. When ready, and with the power of Ares flowing through you, recite the following incantation from memory (with two, both partners may recite the incantation, or one may do so as the ritual leader):

Lord Ares
Lend your strength
May all that confines the heart be destroyed

VII. It must be understood that the first candle is meant to release the practitioner from any internal restraints they may have placed on themselves which prevent them from realizing their passions fully. These restraints may have been enacted out of fear, modesty, etiquette, safety, or many other reasons. This candle is meant to make their passions swell within themselves and overcome all else.

VIII. As the first candle is lit, visualize your body being engulfed by a white flame of passion that grows from within you and overswells eventually consuming the all of your being. Recite the following incantation from memory (with two both should perform the visualization, and one or both may recite the incantation):

Let my passions be alight
A burning flame, pure and white,
And let my heart be aright

(Or for two):

Let our passions be alight,
A burning flame, pure and white,
And let our hearts be aright

IX. It must be understood that the second candle is meant to release the practitioner from any external factors that are preventing them from realizing their passions fully. These can be thought of as the forces of society. These are parts of the mundane world which are not just obstacles to achieving ones passions, but are actively working to push the practitioner away from their passions.

X. As the second candle is lit, visualize the flame that has engulfed your body bursting forth from you and consuming everything it comes in contact with. Recite the following incantation from memory (with two both should perform the visualization, and one or both may recite the incantation):

Let my body release its flame,
Let it burn through man’s domain,
And my passions, not man, shall reign

(Or for two):

Let our bodies release our flame,
Let it burn through man’s domain,
And our passions, not man, shall reign

XI. It must be understood that the third candle is meant to release the practitioner from any spiritual forces and bindings that may be preventing them from realizing their passions fully. This would include any spells, hexes, or curses cast, any magickal bindings, any spells which have effected the practitioner’s path and destiny, any pacts or deals made with any entities, and any debts owed so long as these things are contrary to or otherwise prevent the true will of the practitioner’s heart.

XII. As the third candle is lit, visualize yourself bound by ethereal straps (or hands or chains) and the energy flowing through you moving from your body into these straps and completely destroying them, leaving you naked and free of all bonds. Recite the following incantation from memory (with two both should perform the visualization, and one or both may recite the incantation):

Let all binds break
Remove all ties save fate
And return me to my natural state

(Or For Two):

Let all binds break
Remove all ties save fate
And return us to our natural state

XIII: The spell may be completed after lighting any of the four candles, and the fourth candle should be lit with extreme caution. It must be understood that the fourth candle is meant to release the practitioner from their destiny, for use in instances when the practitioner feels as if their destined path runs contrary to their desires. If this portion of the spell is successfully performed, at the point directly proceeding the spell the practitioner will no longer have a future or a destiny, only their desires, and their destiny will then be rewrit from that point. A practitioner will be unhinged from destiny for a moment prior to a new destiny being made for them. The repercussions of lighting the fourth candle are serious and most likely irreversible.

XIV: As the fourth candle is lit, visualize your body being thrown from its current place and put into a void, visualize the energy in you white and pulsing out, destroying any remaining ties you may have to anything, and destroying anything that comes near you. Recite the following incantation from memory (with two both should perform the visualization, and one or both may recite the incantation):

Remove myself from my destiny
Rewrite what is meant to be
And untie even fate from me

(Or For Two):

Remove us from our destiny
Rewrite what is meant to be
And untie even fate from we

XV: Presumably a fifth candle could be lit, supposing the proper visualization and incantations could be figured out, and this candle would allow the practitioner to transcend the laws of the universe if it were within the will of his heart, allowing for such impossibilities like immortality and gain without loss. Perhaps the past could also be rewritten via this candle, or perhaps that would require yet a sixth candle.

XVI: After the ritual the candles should be allowed to burn themselves out. If possible, the practitioner should stay and meditate until all the candles are burnt out. Alternatively the practitioner could sleep in front of the alter until all the candles are burnt out. If the ritual was performed with a partner, the two may have sex following the ritual if they both desire to, although the act would be sacred. After all is finished proper gratitude and respect should be given to Ares, and the alter should be left up for at least a day if not longer.

XVII: A final caution, make sure you know what it is you want before casting this spell.

Why Thelemites Lack Enlightenment

For many people, religion is an important thing, moreso than spirituality. Although variations exist, the human animal has evolved socially in such a way that religion fulfills various important functions that are not adequately fulfilled elsewhere, and for the past several hundred years, in the west, these duties have been fulfilled mainly by Christianity. A church is a place for people to meet, to socialize, to find others of similar beliefs, to court, to find solace and guidance, and to celebrate, among other things. Many people would do just as well as Atheists, so long as they were allowed to keep their church. Meanwhile many Atheists form Atheist groups which are meant to fulfill the functions of the church, even going so far as to proselytize their spiritual beliefs, or in their case a lack thereof.

Crowley recognized this basic social need for religion in most people, even those seeking spiritual enlightenment. Meanwhile Christianity, the current forerunner, generally frowns upon spiritual enlightenment, to say the least. Even considering the resent emergence of neo-pagan religions, these religions, at their best, barely manage to adequately meet the duties that even the smaller Christian churches can do quite well, while at the same time being just as detrimental, restrictive, and even malicious towards any individuals seeking enlightenment. The obvious solution would be for the enlightened to have their own religion, but in practice this idea fails as they tend to lack the necessary numbers to successfully perform the community functions of a church while their perspectives and beliefs are so dramatically varied and at times conflicting they lack the unity and cohesion of a religion.

Crowley’s solution to this problem was Thelema. Basically he was trying to create a religion to socially and spiritually satisfy the masses, attracting a large enough parish to fulfill all of the functions of the church, while at the same time leaving the group open to, and open ended enough to attract, those seeking enlightenment. The spiritual aspect of Thelema was really only meant for the unenlightened among the masses, not the enlightened who were there to receive the social benefits of the religion, not the spiritual.

But in practice Thelema has failed miserably. The OTO, the biggest proponent of the religion, has already died and been resurrected. Although the group may be able to point to rising numbers, the group still hasn’t shown large enough numbers in any single region for it to fulfill the community functions of the church, nor is it making significant gains to where we can assume this will happen within our lifetimes. Thelema has not done well in attracting general parishioners, who seem content to remain with Christianity, and without these parishioners there is no point in keeping Thelema around, because it fails to serve anybody in any capacity.

Absent Thelema, we are still left with Crowley’s works. These are largely quoted as gospel truth, by people who often times can’t understand the denotation of the sentences being quoted, and Crowley himself is transformed from being a practitioner’s peer to a Christ figure that is assumed to have been at an unattainable level, in other words we cannot be as Crowley was, we can only trust in the truth of what he has imparted to us. Most of his followers assume that by learning and following Crowley’s works they will eventually reach some spiritual attainment, a very Christian perspective, and in doing so they have become, like the neo-pagan religions, little more than Christians with different books.

One problem is there is very little attainment to be gained from what Crowley has left us. Even the great secrets of the OTO, which haven’t been well guarded and are easy enough to find and read, offer very little. Crowley was a remarkable teacher and at his worst still a competent magician. I credit Crowley with being solely responsible for me being able to learn the tarot as well as I have, and also with introducing me to quite a few of the subjects that can be categorized under magick. But Crowley’s works weren’t comprehensive guides, they were beginner manuals. The great secrets of Crowley’s works are the basics that lay the foundations for higher attainment.

This isn’t to say Crowley only knew the basics. His tarot deck implies a far deeper understanding of magick and the universe then is ever betrayed in his written works. The Book of Thoth essay though is only an introduction to tarot, despite being typically described as an advanced text.

Crowley never meant for his works to be the alpha and omega of a person’s spiritual attainment. They are just a foundation, enough information and ideas to get a neophyte to the next stage, and not necessarily filled with truth either, just being what the neophyte needs to know in the beginning. It is thought that any true practitioner will, upon completion of that stage, cast off Crowley’s teachings and forge a path of their own, eventually reaching a point of enlightenment and attainment to where they can consider themselves an adept in magick and an equal to Crowley.

Those that are Thelemites, and followers of Crowley, who fail to cast off the shackles of their religion, who expect to find secrets to the universe in introductory texts, who see Crowley not as a man or a peer or something to be surpassed but as infallible and unattainable, will never know spiritual enlightenment, because they cannot spiritually evolve, and they cannot follow their spiritual path and find truth for themselves as all practitioners must.

Magick 101: Grounding

I was looking at that really big site I dislike that shall remain nameless, and this week they have yet another article up about grounding, and the definition of the term is different than every other article they’ve put up on grounding. So far I’ve seen about eight different articles on that site about grounding, and not one has had the correct definition, granted I don’t read it every week. The situation isn’t entirely their fault though, I don’t think I’ve seen the correct definition for grounding anywhere on the Internet, ever. And it’s sad because grounding is one of the basic maneuvers of energy manipulation and an important form of defense. So, due to popular misconception, grounding defined.

To begin with, the term grounding is not originally a magickal term. It was hijacked by the community because of similarities in what happens. Outside of magick, the terms grounding and grounded are references to the way in which electricity operates and moves. To be grounded means that there is either a direct or indirect connection between you and the Earth through which electricity can move. The thing about electricity is that it moves towards the ground, and unless you provide a clear path to the ground, it won’t move through you.

For example, if you jump in the air and touch an exposed electrical wire, nothing happens. But if you stand on the ground and touch the same wire, you get electrocuted. If you’re not touching the ground, electricity won’t move through you. This process is why birds can sit on power lines and not get fried. This is also true whether you’re standing on dirt or at the top of a ten story building. You don’t need to be directly touching the ground, you just need to have a connection to it for a pathway to form. Of course this pathway can be blocked by substances that conduct electricity poorly, such as rubber.

Moving on to magickal grounding, although techniques differ and there are a few variations of the term with bastardizations of the word, the very basic definition of grounding is touching the ground and pushing energy out of yourself and into the Earth, in a sense very similar to how electricity would move through you into the ground.

Much like the way in which electricity works, you don’t have to be touching the physical ground in order to ground. You can just as easily do it from the tenth story of a building. Unlike electricity though, you don’t need to be touching the ground at all to do it. You could, if you wanted to, ground while flying through the air.

Although the term usually refers to putting energy into the Earth, it can also refer to putting energy into other things. When two people have sex, under normal circumstances, both participants forcefully push their energies into their partner who in turn receives them passively. This act, putting your energy into someone else like this, is often times referred to as grounding into them, for example.

There are a few different reasons why a person would want to ground. If they had managed to acquire stronger energy then they were capable of managing, if they had absorbed energy that was incompatible with them or was otherwise harmful or imbalancing, if energy was having an undesired effect on mood, if something attacks by infecting the practitioner with energy their energy, ect.

There are of course other methods a person could use for the same effects. They could cleanse themselves, they could bleed out unwanted energy, or they could convert energy. Each of these techniques are best used under certain circumstances, but at times grounding is the best method to use.

One of the main advantages of grounding is it’s speed and ease of use. For those who are at least a little practiced at energy manipulation, touching their hand to the ground is enough of a ritual aid to effectively and quickly ground, although touching the ground is a superfluous act and grounding can be achieved without doing so.

The other big advantage is that the energy goes into the Earth. Energy has to go somewhere, and energy can do things and attract things, and with grounding you have a safe place to put it. The Earth is a huge renewable source of energy that is quite capable of taking care of itself. Most likely there’s nothing you can hold in your body that would be enough to hurt the planet or even pollute it for long, and even in the case of a reverse flow you most likely couldn’t take enough energy into yourself to put a dent in Earth’s reserves.

Finally, so long as a person isn’t discriminatory, grounding can be used to push out large amounts of energy at near instantaneous speeds.

For these reasons, grounding is usually the best course of action when the practitioner is being attacked with negativity or otherwise being manipulated by energy, or anytime the practitioner has absorbed energy which is immediately harming them. Even though it may be crude and a bit of overkill, because of its speed and ease it’s usually the best method when engaged in a fight.

Bleeding is taking specific energy in the practitioner’s body and pushing it out from any point. Bleeding is a bit tougher to accomplish than grounding and generally takes much longer, especially when the practitioner is being very meticulous about what has to go out and what should stay in. Bleeding also just releases the energy and doesn’t put it anywhere, although the method could be modified to release the energy into the Earth, but this makes bleeding even more difficult to accomplish and will make it take even longer.

Bleeding is best used when the real danger isn’t immediate and the practitioner has a lot of time to work with, not only because of the longer time it takes to bleed energy, but also so their is ample time to diffuse the energy without much build-up. Because a person can’t ground out all of their energy, in cases where the offending energy is severe and deeply imbedded in the practitioner a bleed can effectively rid the practitioner of the energy where simple grounding cannot. Also in cases where the practitioner has managed to isolate the offending energy into one area of their body, bleeding will push the energy out at it’s position, where as grounding will use large amounts of energy to flush the offending energy through the practitioner’s body, using them as a conduit, and possibly infecting the entirety of their body with the energy.

Cleansing, meanwhile, can remove energy, but at the same time the process was meant to do much more. Cleansing tends to be a bit more complicated than grounding, and many people are dependent on ritual aid in order to cleanse themselves. With practice cleansings can be done psionically and very quickly, but typically practitioners will still get better results via ritual, meaning these are essentially weak cleansings. Cleansing was meant to remove not only negative energy, but also outside energy and anything else that may have attached itself to the practitioner, while at the same time helping the practitioner rebalance themselves. Using cleansing to get rid of energy is like vacuuming tile. It’ll clean it some, but you’ll do a better job with a broom and a mop. Cleansing, like bleeding, also just dumps the energy, although unlike bleeding it does it all at once, not giving it much of a chance to dissipate. This is why, if you’re a practitioner, more likely than not your shower is haunted. Although cleansing and grounding overlap somewhat, each has specific purposes for which they’re best suited, and as a replacement to grounding cleansing does a worse job while requiring more of the practitioner.

Finally there’s energy conversions, in which energy is taken in and converted to whatever the practitioner wants it to be. Although this is, in many ways, superior to the other methods, it’s not without its problems. To begin with, an energy conversion will do nothing if the practitioner needs to ground because they have too much energy inside them. Secondly an energy conversion can be very complicated. Not only can it take a long time, but it can require a lot of a practitioner, especially when they are dealing with stronger energies or large amounts of energy. Even when an energy conversion may be the best option, there still may be a good chance that the practitioner isn’t yet capable of doing it. And lastly, there are times when you may not want anything to do with the energy at all for various reasons. In the end a conversion is good for conserving large amounts of energy the practitioner may want to use, but at times it’s easiest just to throw it into the ground and be done with it.

Expect More From the Community

[Originally written over a year ago, I have no idea if I actually posted this anywhere. Found it on the HD tonight and thought I'd put it up.]

For the most part, the magick community is no longer about following ones spiritual path. It’s not even about dressing up like everyday is renfair and prancing around while extolling the benefits of fanatic feminism. It’s about money and power now. And those of us who are seeking aid from the community and those of us who wish to help are suffering for it. The mundane’s have commandeered our leadership positions.

As an example, me and some friends went around to the various metaphysical stores in the area to see if any of them would help us advertise for a local meet-up group we were putting together. All but one turned us down. The reason given was that they hold paid classes and workshops, and our free offering would be competing with them, and they don’t want to help their customers find any outlet for their spiritual advancement outside of the store. Then, of course, they expect us to pay $300 for a crystal ball I can get for less than $30 at the flea market.

I’ve been to some of the free classes being offered around town, and I’ve found them lacking. And the students seem to want something more than what’s offered. I’ve volunteered to help with these groups and teach these classes. I’ve been given excuses like these people won’t do any kind of work, or they’re not very advanced, ect. And the moment I say that doesn’t matter, I’m then told no because these people shouldn’t be taught anything worthwhile period.

I go to the different groups out here, and sometimes some of the people in the group start to respect me more than the group leaders. I don’t claim titles, and I don’t brag, so I can only assume they made a judgement call based on their own criteria. In any case, a lot of the times I end up being kicked out of the group, and then people start spreading rumors about me being chaotic and dangerous, usually because I told someone something real.

So I start my own group, with friends of course, and then certain leaders in the community start trying to make us out to be the villain. Now we’re ‘competing’ with them. I wasn’t aware that non-profit spiritual groups were in competition. I wasn’t aware that there was something immoral about offering better things than other groups can for free.

The point of all of this rambling is, things are pretty screwed up out there. The other point is that it’s everyone’s problem, and it’s everyone’s fault. People in the magick community need to stop supporting these people.

Almost anything you can find in a magick store you can find somewhere else (flea market, weapon shop, bookstore), and usually at a much lower price. And the online stores usually have a much better selection. So before you make purchases at a store, find out what they’re doing to help the local community. Do they, or would they be willing to, put up a billboard so local groups can post events? Would they be willing to pass out flyers or business cards to support a local non-profit group? Are they offering any free services to the magick community? Spend your money at the stores that are actually doing something for the community. As for the other ones, there’s really no point in having an overpriced store that offers nothing else in return.

And if the people running the group you’re working with aren’t giving you what you want, go somewhere else. You deserve to get something out of a group. Also don’t be afraid to question the leader’s abilities or credentials. And don’t be afraid to question their mental stability either. Or their control over members.

Does the group leader not allow members to attend functions outside of the group? Do they not allow group members to attend functions of certain groups or talk with certain people? Are they known to have uncontrolled emotional outbursts? Do they try to control the personal lives of members? Do they act as if they’re infallible? Do they become upset when someone corrects them? These aren’t things that good leaders won’t do, these are things that adequate leaders won’t do. This is the bare minimum of what should be required.

And if you can’t find a group that doesn’t do this, then start your own. Please, start your own. We need good groups led by competent people.

And we all need to be honest, to be confrontational, and to bring things out in the open. Too many of the leaders are lying about their background, titles, accomplishments, teachers, education, past actions, ect., openly and in front of people who know the truth, and yet no one bothers to correct them. Instead they’re allowed to carry on, and abuse a whole new set of people who don’t yet know better. It needs to stop. These people need to be stood up to, and when they lie, it needs to be corrected.

Site Update

It’s been months since I last posted anything. Part of that just has to do with real life keeping me busy. Part of that is because my spirituality has taken a very inward focus lately, which leaves me with very little to contribute to the general community. And part of it is because I want to get more practical information on the site, but I’ve been too lazy to actually get any of that together.

I’m going to try to get a series of articles together about different types of creatures and common characteristics of them and how exactly their logic works, and also how to correctly identify their otherkin counterparts. I’m thinking of doing one on elves and one on fae creatures, and possibly doing one on angels and one on dragons. These are all things that I’ve dealt with extensively in the past and have a fairly good understanding of, and at the same time most of them are very misrepresented in popular culture.

But if anyone was wondering, yes I’m still here and taking care of this blog, and if anyone has any ideas of what they’d like me to go into drop me a line or comment somewhere, I’m a little lost on post ideas right now.

How to Summon Baal, or Anything Else, Quick and Dirty Like.

I posted this on another forum to a fellow who was asking for a method to summon Baal. My reply isn’t specific to Baal and I thought this might be useful to some so I’m reposting it here.

1. Research what it is you want to summon. In the case of Baal, the name can refer to numerous things, including several deities, so you need to figure out exactly what Baal you want to summon, and then you need to get an idea of how Baal is seen, what people generally think about him, and what he’s probably like. So long as it’s something that is popular or common internet searches will probably turn up enough information for the summoning. Be sure to check out encyclopedia mythica and wikipedia, although not always accurate they can still have a lot of information to help you out.

2. Find a statue or image of what you want to summon, and if you can’t find that then try for a symbol associated with it. Spiritual depictions are usually better than artistic depictions, but in any case go with the depiction that you feel most closely resembles what you’re trying to summon. If you have no other alternative you can make your own depiction.

3. Remove any barriers, wards, ect. that you may have around the general area that you’ll be doing the summoning (most likely your home). This includes personal wards and barriers, ones that are anchored to objects (be aware of certain things that may be decoration but are used for protection because they may have become active and can effect the summoning. This includes gargoyle statues and depictions of pentagrams), and ones that may have been put up by others.

4. Take down your shields and natural defenses. Any type of defense can hinder the summoning.

5. Make sure you aren’t in any kind of circle. Make sure there are no seals or sigils in the area since these may have an unknown effect. Refrain from doing any pre-ritual type ritual including asking for protection from anything. We don’t want to be putting up new barriers.

6. Now take your depiction of what you want to summon (in this case Baal), and place it somewhere (such as on a table or a night stand). You can just leave a picture on your computer screen if you want, that works too. Or you can print out a picture and put it in a frame and then place it on a table (the later method will generally bring better results). Now you need to activate this as an alter, in this case to Baal. Unless you want to develop a very strong relationship with Baal, this will probably just be a makeshift alter that we will take down after the summoning.

7. Now that the alter is ready non-aggressively direct energy towards the depiction of Baal with the intent that this energy is to be received directly by Baal. Make sure your defenses and your shields are down and, if he chooses to, Baal will also be able to direct his energy towards you. With a little practice you should be able to figure out how to bury thoughts into the energy in order to communicate, and you’ll be able to receive thoughts in the same manner.

8. Whether or not Baal responds you should also make it clear that he has an invitation to appear in your house and that you wish for him to come.

9. Have fun with your summoning adventures.

Secrets to Sex Magick: A Guide to Ultimate Power

First, certain thereoms need to be taken as fact, or proven as fact, that:

1. All things have a perfect state, that his state exists at the zenieth of all planes, and as anything rises up the planes they achieve this state to a greater degree, and that this state is of greater strength, purity, and simplicity (conversely a similiar, if not entirely mirrored state should exist at the absolute depth of all planes, and this state can also be achieved by moving into that direction, however being closer to the zenieth of all planes than the depth, it is an easier achievement to move upward rather than downward).

2. As all things fall down from the planes they become more complex and impure and as a result are both weakened and fractioned off into smaller pieces.

3. That where we are is somewhere above center, but closer to the middle than the zenieth of all planes of being.

4. That a sexual union of two entities follows all of these rules. That as a generality the sexual unions made in this world are impure and highly corrupted from their perfected form and as a result base. That sexual unions, as occuring in this world, are also fractioned and incomplete, there existing many different kinds of sexual unions which can be defined in many different ways (by method, by emotion being expressed, by deviancy, by purpose, ect.).

5. That higher forms of a physical sexual union can be achieved, both through intense emotions expressed by both partners in the act of intercourse and through means of sexual magick.

6. That even higher forms of sexual union exist, these forms being entirely spiritual, and as sexual union moves towards its perfected form it becomes more and more an act of both union and creation, as souls literally exchange their parts to become eternally bound to each other and recreate themselves as entirely new entities, and that in its perfected state the two souls entirely merge into one for all eternity, creating an entirely new being.

7. That when the universe (or this particular multiverse if you prefer) began there was but a single entity in which all there is existed and all of creation sprung forth from this entity (this entity bearing no relation to the judeo-christian god), hereafter refered to as the all, to give it a name.

8. That the all, as a single entity, was limited and could not evolve and exceed itself.

9. That this all no longer exists as a single entity, that it was itself split in order to create all things, and that it only exists as the sum of the entirety of everything.

10. That when the all first split it created two halves, hereafter known as the male and female, and that each half could evolve, becoming more than a half of a whole, but that regardless of evolution neither half could ever equal the all. However between the two halves every power of the all existed (going back to judeo-christian mythology, God’s greatest act was to create man and woman in the image of himself (each being a half to His whole), and these two halfs, brought together in union, could recreate this act, making children in the image of themselves).

11. And so all things in existance are less than the first which created everything and can never evolve into more than the first.

12. That each of us exists as a half to a perfect whole, split into a male and female side. That these sides have nothing to do with gender. That for every half that exists in the universe, there is exactly one other half which perfectly fits it. There are however many other halves which kind of fit it, or mostly fit it, or even almost perfectly fit it.

13. That this is true of all things, be they insects or men or angels or gods, that each has a perfect half that exists somewhere else.

Leading to the conclusion that:

14. When two perfect halves which have equally evolved engage in an act of perfect sexual union and unify as a single entity that their sum will have exceeded that of the all which first created everything, and that they will have evolved into an even greater entity, something beyond the entirety of everything, and this evolution is the penultimate goal of all things.

Direct Link to Book and Promises of Pictures

Know first off that it’s a miracle that I even manage to upload posts at all. I have no clue what I’m doing or how this blog thing really works.

That being said, I’ve managed to semi-master the art of uploading stuff. Right now the most current PDF of my book is available for download via this site. This is the book as it currently appears on Lulu, minus the covers. This is the fourth revision (which fixes some spelling errors, notably a typo of ore for or and some confusion with the words affect and effect).

I’m also going to try to get pictures attached to posts.