Month: June 2014

holy-mountaineering:

Send me an ask for a free/donation 1 card Tarot reading!
Please remember my Paypal button on top of my blog and if you donate a $10 and over you’ll get a spread with pictures and shit!

Until some other nice human or sentient and financially stable non-human life form (which may or may not include computers) donates for a spread, I’m doing one card pulls and listening to weird music

RULES: For free you get a single card reading. I am a professional, I do this because I enjoy it not because I need the practice.

Please do not ask me how another person feels or thinks. It isn’t consensual and I won’t do it and I’ll put you on blast (probably not).

All inquiries for Tarot will be answered for folks who donate first and however I get to everyone else second.

Be nice to me and I’ll be polite and kind to you.

abwatt:

Lucifer: How to make fire on Flickr.

I am working my way through Kevin M. Dunn’s book, <b>Caveman Chemistry</b>, which is 28 projects in how to become a skillful chemist and understand everything from basic alchemy to the development of plastics. Chapter 4 was my mead-making project; <i>chapter 1, Lucifer</i> was a guide to producing fire from a bow-drill.

Because I am a nerd and because I am a magician and because I am an artist, my chemistry project notebook has to look really super-cool and grimoire-like. Here is a double-page spread on Chapter 1 in Caveman Chemistry , listing the definitions for the project, and some of the processes for making fire.

aycakes:

snickerfig:

ornamentedbeing:

“The most intriguing duel fought between women, and the sole one that featured exposed breasts, took place in August 1892 in Verduz, the capitol of Liechtenstein, between Princess Pauline Metternich and the Countess Kielmannsegg. It has gone down in history as the first “emancipated duel” because all parties involved, including the principals and their seconds were female… Before the proceedings began, the baroness pointed out that many insignificant injuries in duels often became septic due to strips of clothing being driven into the wound by the point of a sword. To counter this danger she prudently suggested that both parties should fight stripped of any garments above the waist. Certainly, Baroness Lubinska was ahead of her time, taking an even more radical take on the (at the time) widely dismissed theories of British surgeon Joseph Lister, who in 1870 revolutionized surgical procedures with the introduction of antiseptic. 

With the precautions Baroness Lubinska recommended, the topless women duelists were less likely to suffer from an infection; indeed, it was a smart idea to fight semiclad. Given the practicality of the baroness’ suggestion and the “emancipated” nature of the duel, it was agreed that the women would disrobe—after all, there would be no men present to ogle them. For the women, the decision to unbutton the tops of their dresses was not sexual; it was simply a way of preventing a duel of first blood from becoming a duel to the death.

… 

It is humorous that most recounts of this historic event fail to mention two important things: the winner of the duel (Princess Metternich) and the reason why the women came to arms in the first place—they disagreed over the floral arrangements for an upcoming musical exhibition.”

otterbeans:

The first rule of topless victorian ladies swordfighting club is that topless victorian ladies swordfighting club is not to be mentioned in mixed company.

The second rule is naught but an emphatic repeating of the first.

I’M TELLING YOU PINK IS HIDEOUS!

/WHIPS OUT SWORD.

TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT. WE’RE SETTLING THIS WITH A DUEL. 

I just want to mention Lucifer is/was the most beautiful and powerful angel, so for a nation being led by satanic reptiles from dimension X, I’d say America is on point. But then Lucifer also brought knowledge so what the fuck do I know.

kushl0rd:

hermeticpaw:

kushl0rd-deactivated20150610:

Lucifer is a very complex and multifaceted entity because it depends on which canon you’re following. I look at Lucifer from a very Judaic understanding, which is as The Adversary or The Accuser. Lucifer is not inherently bad, however he does hold knowledge without gnosis over knowledge with gnosis, which can have shitty results for the Hermeticist. Lucifer has the power to bind us in Malkuth by convincing us that Malkuth is the largest, most detailed place on the Tree—the most important part of the Tree because it’s the most prominent in our lives.

I sort of agree with The Unknown Friend regarding The Devil. The Devil is any thing or any force which keeps us from being pierced by the light of the Logos. If Malkuth becomes too big, too real, too important before understanding its place on the Tree, then literally, how can the light of Tiphareth reach us? It can’t, because .we have lost our faith in the reaffirming power of gnosis through the Word. And since gnosis I think is our primary connection to Tiphareth through Yesod, that means going through the Middle Pillar is impossible. Which means union with the Godhead is lost. The Devil is matter without spirit, and Idea without spirit. 

Of course there are many positive traits to this idea of The Devil as well. There’s something to be said for forms of knowledge that don’t require gnosis, so long as we don’t worship that kind of knowledge or apply it in magick where it keeps us from reunification with the One. If such knowledge were not important or useless the magician would never have to spend her time with the Seven Liberal Arts, with Scripture, with grimoires, etc. And The Devil—Light’s Shadow—has much to teach us by negative example. Any one who is wise has sat at the knee of the Devil as a student with open ears. Only by completely ignoring him do we not learn anything, do we remain trapped in Malkuth. The Devil can bring us face to face with our own shortcomings, can help us achieve knowledge of all the forces of the Universe, and forces us to contend with the problems of matter as dual beings.

As for your other remark…I personally welcome our reptilian overlords 😉

I’m curious about your assessment of Lucifer as a bringer of Knowledge without Gnosis… As from my own experience, he’s the embodiment of character traits that makes gleaning Knowledge from direct experiences [Gnosis, to me] of our carnality even possible. In the luciferian sense, of which I’m exploring right now, he is the solar stone – to be combined with the lunar stone of Lilith / Babalon. By developing character traits of cunning wit, relentless Will and yes, even Pride [Lucifer / Samael], one can explore and experience their inner dark desires and unconscious beasts [lilith / babalon] first hand… the imagination made flesh… Only then, after the undeniable embodiment of what’s really fuelling you, can you reconcile your nature with that of what you know intuitively / through your HGA to be beautiful… to be Godly.

VITRIOL, right? Visit the depths of your body, to find the hidden stone~

The Adversarial aspects that you mentioned are spot on, as He is the Shaitan of the Natural Order… but the Natural Order of what? Of God / beauty itself? or the Natural Order of your constructed life as you know it..?

Lucifer in my experience, is a powerful begetter of Gnosis… but Gnosis of your own constructed life as you know it.

All of these roles are acceptable of Lucifer. They do not contradict canon about him and they certainly don’t contradict a LHP’s understanding of Lucifer. I also think scrollofthoth was onto something when he said we can use Lucifer’s understanding of Malkuth to transform Malkuth into Kether (because As Above, So Below, Malkuth is in Kether and Kether in Malkuth). So it makes sense also that the Devil is in the Godhead as the Godhead is within the Devil. Light is in Darkness as the Darkness is in the Light. 

I don’t dispute this.

So it’s not that I disagree with you, but my interpretation has to ultimately lie within a Hermetic understanding, and since my Hermeticism is primarily of Judeo-Christian parentage, the Devil assumes a different role for me than it would for a LHP. 

And in the very long run of things it’s just an archetype just like the others. It’s not that the devil is evil or bad. The Devil is just a polarization at the end of a spectrum which is infinite. I stand by my understanding that the Devil is rooted in matter. I take a stance that within the WMT there is a distinct difference between knowledge of spirit and knowledge of matter. We can use either type to find out more about the other, for negative examples are possible and potent, but the path of carnality through the Devil is not one I have chosen for myself.

Reblogged for excellent commentary.

I just want to mention Lucifer is/was the most beautiful and powerful angel, so for a nation being led by satanic reptiles from dimension X, I’d say America is on point. But then Lucifer also brought knowledge so what the fuck do I know.

kushl0rd-deactivated20150610:

Lucifer is a very complex and multifaceted entity because it depends on which canon you’re following. I look at Lucifer from a very Judaic understanding, which is as The Adversary or The Accuser. Lucifer is not inherently bad, however he does hold knowledge without gnosis over knowledge with gnosis, which can have shitty results for the Hermeticist. Lucifer has the power to bind us in Malkuth by convincing us that Malkuth is the largest, most detailed place on the Tree—the most important part of the Tree because it’s the most prominent in our lives.

I sort of agree with The Unknown Friend regarding The Devil. The Devil is any thing or any force which keeps us from being pierced by the light of the Logos. If Malkuth becomes too big, too real, too important before understanding its place on the Tree, then literally, how can the light of Tiphareth reach us? It can’t, because .we have lost our faith in the reaffirming power of gnosis through the Word. And since gnosis I think is our primary connection to Tiphareth through Yesod, that means going through the Middle Pillar is impossible. Which means union with the Godhead is lost. The Devil is matter without spirit, and Idea without spirit. 

Of course there are many positive traits to this idea of The Devil as well. There’s something to be said for forms of knowledge that don’t require gnosis, so long as we don’t worship that kind of knowledge or apply it in magick where it keeps us from reunification with the One. If such knowledge were not important or useless the magician would never have to spend her time with the Seven Liberal Arts, with Scripture, with grimoires, etc. And The Devil—Light’s Shadow—has much to teach us by negative example. Any one who is wise has sat at the knee of the Devil as a student with open ears. Only by completely ignoring him do we not learn anything, do we remain trapped in Malkuth. The Devil can bring us face to face with our own shortcomings, can help us achieve knowledge of all the forces of the Universe, and forces us to contend with the problems of matter as dual beings.

As for your other remark…I personally welcome our reptilian overlords 😉

Or from another perspective, we can all become gods and flip malkuth into kether.

collectivehistory:

Today in History: June, 28 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand is Assassinated

Today at approximately 10:45 a.m. Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, 19 at the time, a member of Young Bosnia and one of a group of assassins organized by the Black Hand. The event led to a chain of events that eventually triggered World War I.

The couple had previously been attacked when a grenade was thrown at their car. Ferdinand deflected the grenade and it detonated far behind them. He is known to have shouted in anger to local officials:

“So you welcome your guests with bombs?!”

The royal couple insisted on seeing all those injured at the hospital. After travelling there, Franz and Sophie decided to go to the palace, but their driver took a wrong turn onto a side street, where Princip spotted them. As the car was backing up, Princip approached and shot Sophie in the abdomen and Franz Ferdinand in the jugular vein. He was still alive when witnesses arrived to render aid. His dying words to Sophie were, ‘Don’t die darling, live for our children.’

The archduke’s aides attempted to undo his coat but realized they needed scissors to cut it open. It was too late; he died within minutes. 

A detailed account of the shooting can be found in Sarajevo by Joachim Remak:

One bullet pierced Franz Ferdinand’s neck while the other pierced Sophie’s abdomen. … As the car was reversing (to go back to the Governor’s residence because the entourage thought the Imperial couple were unhurt) a thin streak of blood shot from the Archduke’s mouth onto Count Harrach’s right cheek (he was standing on the car’s running board). Harrach drew out a handkerchief to still the gushing blood. The Duchess, seeing this, called: “For Heaven’s sake! What happened to you?” and sank from her seat, her face falling between her husband’s knees.

Harrach and Potoriek … thought she had fainted … only her husband seemed to have an instinct for what was happening. Turning to his wife despite the bullet in his neck, Franz Ferdinand pleaded: “Sopherl! Sopherl! Sterbe nicht! Bleibe am Leben für unsere Kinder! – Sophie dear! Don’t die! Stay alive for our children!” Having said this, he seemed to sag down himself. His plumed hat … fell off; many of its green feathers were found all over the car floor. Count Harrach seized the Archduke by the uniform collar to hold him up. He asked “Leiden Eure Kaiserliche Hoheit sehr? – Is Your Imperial Highness suffering very badly?” “Es ist nichts – It is nothing” said the Archduke in a weak but audible voice. He seemed to be losing consciousness during his last few minutes, but, his voice growing steadily weaker, he repeated the phrase perhaps six or seven times more.

The assassinations, along with the arms race, nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and the alliance system all contributed to the origins of World War I, which began a month after Franz Ferdinand’s death, with Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against Serbia.

The assassination of Ferdinand is considered the most immediate cause of World War I.

Sources: 1, 2

Most people do not realize the most influential person in modern history is Gavirelo Princep. Without him there is no first World War. And no Hitler. No WW II. No cold war…..