{"id":35973,"date":"2013-02-26T02:36:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T02:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/26\/nights-were-spent-in-adoration-of\/"},"modified":"2018-11-28T02:08:38","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T02:08:38","slug":"nights-were-spent-in-adoration-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/26\/nights-were-spent-in-adoration-of\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-35973 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/26\/nights-were-spent-in-adoration-of\/attachment\/35974\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mit3981JQU1qm3ezso1_500.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mit3981JQU1qm3ezso1_500.jpg?resize=150%2C150 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mit3981JQU1qm3ezso1_500.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 85vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">&ldquo;Nights were spent in adoration of Thoth.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">&ldquo;Magicians through the ages have used the tried and true method of beseeching a higher power for favor. Since I sought a position as a scholar and writer, I turned to one of my favorite deities, the ibis-headed Egyptian god of knowledge, writing, and magick.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">&ldquo;In my temple, from sundown to sunup, I chanted the invocations, made sacrifices of great clouds of incense, wrote scrolls worth of prayers, collected and kept sacred beetles, and subjugated myself before his image.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201c&#8217;I am Frater Threskiomis, and you shall do my will.&lsquo;\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">&ldquo;(S)he was the better angel of my nature.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201c&#8217;Strange,&rsquo; she said, cocking her head to one side. &#8216;That I should know your True Will and you do not.&rsquo;&ldquo;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201c&#8217;To love me is better than all things. If under the night-stars in the desert, burn incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart, and the serpent flame therein, and you will come to lie in my bosom.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">That sweet and powerful voice, how could they not put her on high? I wanted to run to her myself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">&#8216;For one kiss, you will sacrifice all. Those who release to me but one particle of dust will in turn lose all their treasure. Gather goods and spices; wear rich jewels; or carry only your love for me, and you will exceed the nations of the earth in splendor and pride, and so you will know joy.&rsquo;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">These old hoary rituals, written before the advent of modern propaganda, were often more amusing than inspiring. But this one was spot on, or at least she made it so. I admit it moved me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">&#8216;I charge you earnestly to come before me, if it be in a single robe, or covered in your treasures. I love you! I yearn to you! Pale or dark, veiled or wanton, I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness, desire you. Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendor within you: come unto me!&rsquo;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">She was changing the words. Most were subtle changes, taking out the \u201cthous\u201d and \u201cye shalls,\u201d that grate on modern ears. There were changes in substance as well, a more egalitarian tone to it. I glanced at the audience, none seemed to take offense. Ezra\u2019s eyes adored her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">&#8216;Sing the rapturous love-song unto me! Burn to me perfumes! Wear to me jewels! Drink to me, for I love you! I love you. I am the blue-lidded daughter of sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Selections from <a href=\"http:\/\/jameslwilber.com\/my-babylon-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">My Babylon<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Art by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rtikhomirov.com\/gallery\/Gallery.html\" target=\"_blank\">Rodion Tikhomirov<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Ave Babalon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&ldquo;Nights were spent in adoration of Thoth.&rdquo; &ldquo;Magicians through the ages have used the tried and true method of beseeching a higher power for favor. Since I sought a position as a scholar and writer, I turned to one of my favorite deities, the ibis-headed Egyptian god of knowledge, writing, and magick.&rdquo; &ldquo;In my temple, &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/26\/nights-were-spent-in-adoration-of\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15,13,14,173,101],"class_list":["post-35973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ave-babalon","tag-babalon","tag-magick","tag-my-babylon","tag-writing","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35975,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35973\/revisions\/35975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tumblr.scrollofthoth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}