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homomenhommes · 8 months

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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia and more …

1875 – On this date the English occultist and author Aleister Crowley was born (d.1947). Crowley is best known today for his occult writings, especially The Book of The Law, the central sacred text of "Thelema," an initially fictional philosophy of life first described by Francois Rabelais (16th century) in his famous books, Gargantua and Pantagruel. Other interests and accomplishments were wide-ranging — he was a chess player, mountain climber, poet, painter, astrologer, hedonist, drug experimenter, and social critic. Crowley was a highly prolific writer, not only on the topic of Thelema and magick, but on philosophy, politics, and culture. He left behind a countless number of personal letters and daily journal entries. He self-published many of his books, expending the majority of his inheritance to disseminate his views.

Within the subject of occultism Crowley wrote widely, penning commentaries on magick, the Tarot, Yoga, Qabalah, astrology, and numerous other subjects. He also wrote a Thelemic interpolation of the Tao Te Ching, based on earlier English translations since he knew little or no Chinese. Like the Golden Dawn mystics before him, Crowley evidently sought to comprehend the entire human religious and mystical experience in a single philosophy.

Crowley gained wide notoriety during his lifetime, and was infamously dubbed "The Wickedest Man In the World." There is little wiggle room with Crowley. Either you consider him to be nuts, bonkers, loony, albeit brilliant, fascinating and perhaps a touch of con-man - or you are completely in his thrall. Much depends on how you feel about his central thesis: Do whatever you wish. No wonder he was so popular in the 1960s. Crowley also wrote fiction, including plays and later novels, most of which have not received significant notice outside of occult circles. In his The Book of Lies, the title to chapter 69 is given as "The Way to Succeed - and the Way to Suck Eggs!" a pun, as the chapter concerns the 69 sex position as a mystical act.

Largely despicable, and larger than life, the hashish-smoking, yoga-practicing, occult-preaching, self-described religious prophet probably would do even better today. The man knew how to cause a stir. To say he slept around is to practice understatement that borders on the naive. He was an outspoken racist, an anti-Semite, and sexist. To give the reader a sense of his contradictory and maddening character, Crowley, according to his biographer, Lawrence Sutin, used racial epithets and brutal verbal attacks to bully his Jewish lover Victor Neuburg. And while he slept with men, women, and virtually anything that moved, his background was distinctly pederastic. His writings reveal this nature with, for example, a poem beginning "I was bumming a boy in the black-out..." Known his whole life for a cutting wit, once, when a woman asked him which American college would be most suitable for her daughter he replied, "Radclyffe Hall."

1940 – Stathis Orphanos, photographer, writer, and publisher, is half of the famed publishing company of Sylvester & Ophanos, well-known for their beautiful, meticulously executed volumes. The other partner, in business and in life, is Ralph Sylvester. Among the authors and contributors to the books published by Sylvester & Orphanos are many gay writers, artists, and composers.

Stathis Orphanos was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, of Greek parents, both from the island of Samos. He was raised in Greece when trapped there by the outbreak of the civil war, which was fought between 1946 and 1949. He then attended Cheshire Academy, Connecticut, where he was exposed to same-sex romantic encounters.

In 1959 he attended Denison University, where he had his first serious same-sex affair. He then came to California and in the early 1960s attended California State College (now University), Los Angeles. Among his classes was one taught by Dorothy Parker. She praised both his photographs and his written sketches about Greece, but said, "You'll have to choose, honey, between photography and writing."In an interview Orphanos has spoken of his sexual awakenings and attempted seduction at boarding school. With candor and humor he has discussed the different constructions of homosexuality as he has experienced them in Greece and the U.S. He has also noted the different practices in circumcision in the two countries and expressed his relief that Greek art depicts young men uncircumcised, as was he: "I have always sought intact males as my models. This is definitely an influence garnered from Greek art, particularly the vase paintings."

In his figure studies and male nudes, Orphanos prefers to photograph young straight men, who get less attention than gay men. He has observed, "Young men love to be photographed. Young men crave attention. When it is finally bestowed on them through the intensity of a photo shoot, they are almost mesmerized by it. This results in vulnerable, uninhibited moments where I am able to capture their rare male grace. This is true of the young man, the 'Greek Soldier.' "

This work might be called a nude portrait rather than a figure study. A young soldier is posed contre jour (i.e., against the light). He sits in a chair against the available natural light always used by Orphanos. The penis is awesome in its size, edged in a light that gives it volume and weight like sculpture. The face is kept from the light and is without contour in a shadow that flattens the features as in a Minoan profile.

Sylvester and Orphanos met in 1960 in Los Angeles, where they continue to live. They now reside below the Hollywood sign in the Beachwood Canyon area of the city and also own a home in San Marcos, California.

The Sylvester & Orphanos bookselling business specializes in modern first editions of writers whose works have particularly interested Orphanos. The publishing side of the Sylvester & Orphanos enterprise began with "Christopher and His Kind," the memoir by Christopher Isherwood and has continued with works by writers such as John Cheever, James Merrill, and Gore Vidal.

1998 – Matthew Shepard died on this date (b. 1976). Shepard was an openly Gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was attacked near Laramie on the night of October 6th in what was widely reported by international news media as a savage beating because of his sexuality. Shepard died from severe head injuries at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12, 1998. His murder brought national attention to the issue of hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels. His two assailants were convicted of the crime and imprisoned. One is currently serving two consecutive life sentences and the other is serving the same but without the possibility of parole. After his death, Shepard's parents became full-time advocates for the passage of hate crime legislation that would include sexual orientation.

The Matthew Shepard Act (officially the "Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act"), was a bill in the United States Congress that expanded the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. After years of attempting to pass the act, on October 22, 2009, the act was passed by the Senate by a largely party line vote with Republicans opposing the Act and Democrats supporting it. During debate in the House of Representatives, Republican Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina called the "hate crime" labeling of Shepard's murder a "hoax." Shepard's mother was said to be in the House gallery when the congresswoman made this comment. President Obama signed the measure into law on October 28, 2009. Proving once again that elections do matter.

1962 – Colton Ford, Born in California, is the stage name of Glenn Soukesian, a singer and actor, and former gay-sex adult film star.

Colton Ford is a hairy, goatteed, greying stud who made a big impression on his gay porn debut at the start of the 21st century - thanks partly to his dating fellow porn star Blake Harper. He boasts a nice seven-inch penis and has topped and bottomed in his movies.

Outside of porn he's a singer, sang with a jazz quartet, has had record deals and performed with Chaka Khan. He was the subject of the documentary Naked Fame, which charted his move from porn to music and was one of the stars of the American TV channel here! series The Lair. Ford released his album Tug Of War digitally in 2008. His second album, Under the Covers was released in 2009.

Colton Ford's "Let Me Live Again" on YouTube

Ford made his off-Broadway debut in 2011 playing a role in the musical theatre Little House on the Ferry, a modern gay love story set in the legendary summer resort Fire Island, New York. The play included eleven original songs, also released as an album by the original cast and the play included cameos by many members of New York City's LGBT community. "After Hours" (Original Cast Recording) was released as a single featuring vocals by Colton Ford. The show ran in New York from November 3-20, 2011 and featured Colton Ford, Seph Stanek, Chris Van Kirk, Matt Rodriguez, Kit Balcuns, Sean Luftus.

Reportedly, Blake Harper helped support his boyfriend's move to the music world, but they have since parted ways, and both have left the porn scene.

2011 – Huffington Post launches Gay Voices, the first mainstream news organization to have an LGBT-focused section. Noah Michelson is the section’s first editor. The name was changed to Queer Voices in 2016.

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claudiosuenaga · 1 year

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A Era de Hórus, a Era de Crowley

Por Cláudio Tsuyoshi Suenaga

Nascido em 12 de outubro de 1875 em Royal Leamington Spa, no condado de Warwickshire, Inglaterra, o ocultista, mágico cerimonial, poeta, pintor, romancista, viajante e alpinista inglês Edward Alexander Crowley, mais conhecido como Aleister Crowley, foi indiscutivelmente o personagem mais importante do cenário do ocultismo mundial do século XX e uma das mais influentes culturalmente, bem como uma das mais temidas e execradas.

Como muitos daquela época, Crowley era uma espécie de lutador intelectual militante determinado a quebrar as convenções da moralidade social aceita. Não seria exagero dizer que grande parte da revolução cultural e dos costumes que passou a ocorrer já a partir dos frementes anos 20 e mais fortemente nos turbulentos e contraculturais anos 60, deve-se a ele, principalmente por ter fundado a religião e a filosofia da magia sexual, “Thelema” (palavra grega para “verdadeira vontade”), em cujo papel ele se identificou como o profeta encarregado de guiar a humanidade no Aeon de Horus no início do século XX.

Seu pai Edward Crowley (1829-1887) era engenheiro de formação mas nunca trabalhou como um, pois era um abastado dono de uma fábrica de cerveja, o que o permitiu se aposentar antes mesmo que Crowley nascesse. A mãe de Crowley, Emily Bertha Bishop (1848-1917), vinha de uma família com raízes em Devon e Somerset, e como a maioria das mulheres da Era Vitoriana, era uma fanática religiosa. Ambos pertenciam a uma seita de nome Irmandade Reservada, uma vertente ainda mais conservadora de uma comunidade cristã fundamentalista conhecida como Irmãos de Plymouth, que defendia uma interpretação literal do texto bíblico, o que dava margem a todo tipo de superstição e fanatismo.

Para essa seita, o Apocalipse era iminente e eles precisavam preparar o caminho. Apesar da intolerância da família, o que lhe causou profundo distanciamento das afeições maternas, Crowley já manifestava em seus primeiros anos de vida um acentuado caráter de independência intelectual, o que sempre lhe trouxera fama de rebeldia. Suas ações e pensamentos, “terríveis” na opinião de sua família phymouthiana, fizeram com que sua mãe o cognominasse de “A Besta 666”, epíteto que assumiria bem mais tarde uma importância enorme em seu caminho iniciático.

Aleister Crowley aos 13 anos. Foto: Ayay.

Com a morte de seu pai em 1887, ficou sob tutela de seu tio, também elemento ligado àquela seita protestante, impondo ao sobrinho terríveis maus tratos e intermináveis leituras da Bíblia cristã. Este período de sua infância foi denominado por Crowley como a “Infâmia do Inferno”.

Durante sua adolescência praticou alpinismo, e no período de 1902 à 1905 participou das escaladas aos picos do K2 (também conhecida como Chogori, Dapsang ou Qogir Feng, a segunda montanha mais alta do mundo, depois do Monte Everest, com 8.614 metros) e Kanchenjunga (a terceira montanha mais alta do mundo, com 8.586 m de altitude), ambos localizados nas montanhas do Himalaia.

1902: Aleister Crowley (segundo da esquerda, sentado na fileira do centro) com companheiros durante uma expedição. (Foto: Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Estudou no Trinity College, formando-se em Química. Destacou-se em todas as matérias. Conheceu as literaturas Inglesa, Francesa e outras em Latim e Grego. Destacou-se também nas artes da alquimia, canoagem, montanhismo e tornou-se mestre em xadrez.

Interessado em tudo que fosse fora do comum e elitista, em 1896 dedicava-se a leituras relacionadas a magia e empenhava-se decididamente no ocultismo. Em 1898, Crowley escreve ao místico inglês Arthur Edward Waite (1857-1942), o primeiro a empreender o estudo sistemático sobre o ocultismo do Ocidente, após ter lido sua obra The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts (O Livro da Magia Negra e dos Pactos, 1898). Waite lhe recomenda a leitura de Die Wolke über dem Heiligtum (A Nuvem sobre o Santuário), do ilustre filósofo, alquimista e cabalista alemão Karl von Eckartshausen (1752-1803), que havia pertencido a uma irmandade cristã oculta, relacionada com a Fraternidade Rosacruz, mas nada revela sobre seus membros, exceto que são uns “privilegiados”. Frustrado, Crowley escreveu novamente a Waite, perguntando-lhe de que outra seita poderia participar. Waite recomenda a que tivesse paciência, que os grandes chefes das sociedades secretas, “seres quase divinos que governam o mundo”, aceitariam-no ou rejeitariam-no no momento certo, e ele não tinha mais nada a fazer senão esperar.

Crowley decide então que faria parte da Ordem Branca descrita naquele livro, e por volta de 18 de novembro do mesmo ano conhece o ocultista Samuel Liddell “MacGregor” Mathers (1954-1918), fundador em 1887, junto com o legista William Wynn Westcott (1848-1925) e o médico William Robert Woodman (1828-1891), da sociedade esotérica Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (Ordem Hermética da Aurora Dourada), uma das mais poderosas da Europa, sendo iniciado por Mathers e treinado em magia cerimonial.

Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, em traje egípcio, realiza um ritual na Ordem Hermética da Golden Dawn em 1918. Foto: Wikipédia.

Pela privacidade necessária que ela ofereceria à execução da operação de Abramélin, presente no grimório Livro da Magia Sagrada de Abramelin, O Mago, obscuro tratado de magia escrito por volta do ano 1600, cuja autoria é atribuída a um mago e taumaturgo egípcio que usava o pseudônimo de Abramélin (1362-1458), em fins de 1899 Crowley interessou-se pelo castelo de Boleskine House, a 34 km ao sul de Inverness, no lado sudeste de Loch Ness, nas Terras Altas da Escócia, construída na década de 1760 por Archibald Campbell Fraser de Lovat (1736-1815), cônsul britânico em Trípoli e Argel e, posteriormente, coronel da 1ª milícia local de Inverness, no local de uma igreja erguida no século XIII que, segundo a lenda, pegou fogo durante a congregação e matou todos que estavam lá dentro. Corriam outras lendas de que uma pessoa tinha sido decapitada na casa e que suicídios tinham ocorrido ali antes. Em suma, não faltavam naquele castelo relatos de eventos estranhos e histórias assustadoras.

A Boleskine House em 1912. Fonte: Crowley, Aleister. Manifest of the M.M.M., London, O.T.O./Ballatyne Press, 1912, p. 21.

Crowley alegou ter realizado ao menos cem invocações na Boleskine House, o local escolhido para a invocação de seu sagrado anjo guardião por meio do ritual de Abramelin. Durante a execução do ritual de Abramelin, que durou meses, Crowley teve conhecimento de pessoas enlouquecendo e tentativas de assassinato no povoado vizinho. Seja pelas energias da casa ou as que o ocultista invocava, provavelmente uma junção das duas coisas, o próprio Crowley não passou incólume. A sua primeira filha, Lilith, morreria na casa de febre tifoide com pouco menos de 2 anos de idade, algo que ele mais tarde atribuiu ao crescente alcoolismo de sua esposa Rose.

Mais tarde, em 1914, quando Crowley, já quase falido, buscava novos ares nos Estados Unidos, a Boleskine House seria doada à Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), uma ordem iniciática da qual era um dos líderes e ensinava a Thelema, com o intuito de criar uma espécie de plano de seguro para os membros. Ao longo dos anos, a casa foi mudando de dono, colecionando falências, mortes de animais por inanição, prisões e o suicídio de um ex-comandante do exército no antigo quarto de Crowley.

O guitarrista britânico James Patrick Page, mais conhecido como Jimmy Page (1947-), no início da década de 1970 era dono da livraria e editora ocultista The Equinox Booksellers and Publishers, sediada em Kensington High Street, Londres. Com o crescente sucesso do Led Zeppelin e pela falta de tempo suficiente para se dedicar a ela, Page acabaria por fechá-la. Admirador e colecionador de artigos ligados a Crowley, Page resolveu comprar a Boleskine House em 1970 enquanto a banda gravava o disco Led Zeppelin III, mas efetivamente nunca morou lá. Page passava períodos de no máximo três dias na casa e algumas partes do filme-concerto The Songs Remais the Same (1976), do Led Zeppelin, chegaram a ser gravadas na Boleskine House.

Jimmy Page na Boleskine House no Lago Ness. Foto: The Scotsman.

Coincidência ou não, o fato é que ao mesmo tempo em que o Led Zeppelin ascendia de forma vertiginosa, tragédias começaram a cercar seus integrantes. Jimmy Page chegou a declarar que “fenômenos estranhos aconteciam na casa”, mas que nada tinham a ver com Crowley. Segundo ele, “as energias ruins já estavam lá”, energias essas que pareciam pairar sobre a banda, fazendo com que o baixista e tecladista John Paul Jones (1946-) caísse de cama e interrompesse as gravações do álbum Physical Graffiti (1975). O vocalista Robert Plant (1948-), que gravaria o sétimo álbum da banda, Presence (1976), em uma cadeira de rodas em decorrência de um grave acidente de carro que sofreu em 1975 em Rhodes, na Grécia, com sua então esposa Maureen, perderia em 1977 seu filho Karac (nascido em 1972), vítima de uma infecção no estômago causada por um vírus raro, o que interrompeu a turnê da banda nos Estados Unidos. John Bonham (1948-1980), eleito em 2011 pelos leitores da revista Rolling Stone como o “melhor baterista de todos os tempos”, mergulharia no vício das drogas e do álcool, morrendo afogado no próprio vômito [assim como tinha acontecido com o guitarrista Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)] enquanto dormia, após beber o equivalente a 40 doses de vodka.

Até vendê-la em 1992 por 225 mil libras, Jimmy Page contou com os serviços de um caseiro, Michael Dent, que após deixar seu posto na casa, contou histórias de satanistas tresloucados, visões, barulhos e assombrações. Como num clássico roteiro de filme de terror, a Boleskine House foi destruída por um incêndio em 23 de dezembro de 2015 enquanto seus donos faziam compras. Dessa vez não houve vítimas e a perícia conclui que o incêndio não foi deliberado. Um outro incêndio em 31 de julho de 2019 destruiu o que havia restado da Boleskine House, que talvez tenha se transformado em uma espécie de portal para outros mundos. Curiosamente, as aparições do Monstro do Lago Ness começaram logo depois do ritual de Abramelin praticado por Crowley.

Como o Led Zeppelin bem o demonstra, o rock e os movimentos beat, hippie, punk, bem com toda a rebelião da contracultura, foram fortemente influenciados por Crowley.

O famoso lema de Crowley, "Faça o que quiser", foi gravado no vinil de Led Zeppelin III.

Fonte: feelnumb.

Os Beatles fizeram questão de colocá-lo na capa de Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). John Lennon disse uma vez: "A coisa toda dos Beatles era fazer o que você quer, sabe?"

Fonte: philosophy for life.

Os Rolling Stones e Marianne Faithfull (1946-) aderiram à magia crowleiana por meio do cineasta underground californiano Kenneth Anger (1927-), daí o álbum Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967), nos quais os rostos dos Beatles aparecem camuflados entre as flores, e a música "Sympathy for the Devil". Jagger também fez a trilha sonora do filme de Anger, Invocation to my Demon Brother (1969-), enquanto Marianne Faithful apareceu em Lucifer Rising (1972-), de Anger, estrelado por um futuro membro da Família Manson.

Fonte: feelnumb.

David Bowie (1947-2016), que também era um grande fã de Crowley, o menciona na música "Quicksand" (do álbum Hunky Dory de 1971), muito influenciado pelas técnicas mágicas, simbolismo e filosofia da Thelema. Bowie mergulhou profundamente no ocultismo na década de 1970, particularmente durante a produção de Station to Station (o seu décimo álbum de estúdio, lançado pela RCA Records em 1976), quando temeu ter invocado um demônio maligno e que bruxas estivessem tentando roubar seu sêmen para produzir um filho satânico.

Fonte: philosophy for life.

No heavy metal, o Black Sabbath e o Iron Maiden, entre muitas outras, senão quase todas as bandas, tinham Crowley como fonte de inspiração.

No Brasil, seu seguidor número um era Raul Seixas (1945-1989), que o citava de forma explícita.

Nas artes plásticas, o pintor suíço Hans Ruedi Giger (1940-2014), mais conhecido por suas imagens retocadas que misturavam humanos com máquinas, um estilo conhecido como "biomecânico", pode ser citado como um de seus inúmeros admiradores.

Na literatura podemos citar a obra de Aldous Leonard Huxley (1893-1963), que o conheceu em um jantar em Berlim, em outubro de 1930, William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) e Robert Anson Heinlein (1907-1988).

Em 1900, com o cisma ocorrido na Golden Dawn e a expulsão de Crowley da Ordem, este resolveu viajar pelos quatro cantos do mundo e visitou o México, Havaí, Japão, Ceilão e China. Na viagem ao México ele foi iniciado no rito escocês da Maçonaria e ascendido ao 33º em poucos dias por um obscuro Don Jesus Medina, com quem criara uma ainda mais obscura ordem iniciática com apenas os dois como membros, a Ordem da Lâmpada da Luz Invisível. Nos demais países, principalmente na China e Japão, aprendeu todos os sistemas da yoga, encontrando-se por lá com seu antigo amigo e conterrâneo, o místico Charles Henry Allan Bennett (1872-1923), que se tornou um dos grande divulgadores do budismo no mundo ocidental e o iniciou nas práticas de assana e pranayama, conseguindo atingir a dharana, uma das principais etapas à samadhi, a grande experiência espiritual dos orientais.

Casou-se com Rose Edith Kelly (1874-1932) em agosto de 1903 quase como uma brincadeira, uma travessura. Um casamento de aparências no início, de amor em certo momento, e de tristezas em seu fim, em 1909. Enquanto passavam a lua de mel no Egito, na Grande Pirâmide, entre os dias 8 e 10 de abril de 1904, Crowley conduziu um ritual oculto com a intenção de acessar poderes sobrenaturais e contatou seu “sagrado anjo guardião”, uma entidade espiritual (“praeter-humana”) desencarnada chamada Aiwass, uma das várias formas de Hórus, que declarou: “Eu sou um deus da guerra e da vingança”, e então ditou a Crowley uma obra em forma de poema em prosa blasfemo e estranhamente belo chamada Livro da Lei (Liber AL vel Legis), a pedra fundamental de todo o sistema que anunciava o colapso das civilizações cristãs e o fim da Era (Aeon) dos “deuses escravos” (Osíris, Maomé e Jesus) e o início do alvorecer da Era de Hórus, “da Criança Coroada e Conquistadora”. Sua esposa que jamais demonstrara nenhum interesse especial pelos estudos de Crowley sobre o oculto, começou a receber estranhas mensagens. Várias vezes ela levantava-se de noite gritando para Crowley: “Eles estão esperando por você, por que você não vai encontrá-los?” Rose chegou a proclamar que “o Equinócio dos Deuses chegou”.

Liber AL vel Legis, o Livro da Lei.

De acordo com o Livro da Lei que ele transcreveu, o governo de três deuses exerceu uma força determinante no destino do mundo ao longo da história humana. Primeiro foi o Aeon de Ísis, cujo reinado foi matriarcal e estimulante. Em seguida foi o Aeon de Osíris, seu consorte, cuja influência era patriarcal, destrutiva e cheia de turbulência. O Aeon de Hórus, filho de Ísis e Osíris, introduzido por Crowley, é a era em que vivemos hoje. Hórus, como governante, é apenas uma criança, “e ao longo desta era testemunharemos o amadurecimento da criança e, portanto, a estabilidade do mundo se solidificando gradualmente em novas formas de pensamento mais harmoniosas”. No entanto, o Aeon de Horus seria precedido por uma era de guerras e revoluções, de grande violência, destruição e fogo.

A “bíblia” de Crowley também proclama a Lei de Thelema, geralmente resumida em três versos semelhantes a mantras: “Faça o que tu queres há de ser toda a lei”, “Amor é a lei, amor sob vontade...” e “Todo homem e toda mulher é uma estrela”. De acordo com outro aluno de Crowley, o mágico cerimonial inglês Kenneth Grant (1924-2011), Aiwass é um extraterrestre de Sirius, a representação estelar da deusa egípcia Ísis.

O Hexagrama Unicursal, um dos mais importantes símbolos em Thelema, o equivalente do Egípcio Ankh ou a Rosa Cruz dos Rosacruzes, derivada primeiramente em 1639 pelo Hexagrammum Mysticum de Blaise Pascal.

Thelema é uma palavra grega que significa “Vontade”. Esta Vontade é a manifestação ativa da parte divina do ser humano, aquilo que a Golden Dawn chamava de Gênio Superior. Todo processo de iniciação teria por objetivo único revelar ao homem esta sua natureza divina, permitindo-lhe cumprir sua determinação particular na presente encarnação. Este processo para Crowley era idêntico ao objetivo da Operação de Abramelin, o conhecimento e conversação com o Sagrado Anjo Guardião. O Livro da Lei é representante legítimo de toda a tradição gnóstica que coloca a ênfase da conduta humana, não em um sistema de regras morais, mas em um estado de plenitude interior. Esta plenitude é a integração com o deus interior.

O Aeon de Hórus seria "um tempo de liberdade pessoal irrestrita", em que um punhado de super-homens (liderados por Crowley) aperfeiçoariam suas vontades e se tornariam deuses. "Faça o que tu queres será tudo da lei" para os super-homens, assim como todo tipo de excesso sexual. Enquanto isso, o resto da humanidade, "os escravos", seriam manipulados para servir os super-homens. "Compaixão é o vício dos reis", Aiwass disse a Crowley. "Esmague os miseráveis e os fracos".

Crowley, o Messias Anticristo, a Besta 666, tentou inaugurar a Nova Era com rituais mágicos, tanto privados (longas orgias de sexo, drogas e magia) quanto públicos. O mais famoso, um "Rito de Elêusis" que ele organizou em Londres em 1910, verdadeiro precursor de Woodstock, onde os participantes tomaram peiote, dançaram ao som de bongôs e ouviram Crowley declamando sua poesia mágica.

Viver o tempo todo para quebrar regras e tabus, livrar-se da repressão, praticar todos os excessos e ir além de todas as convenções, era algo que Crowley já fazia décadas antes de roqueiros como Jim Morrison (1943-1971). Assim como os artistas do show business que estão sempre em busca da fórmula mágica que lhes tragam sexo, dinheiro e poder, Crowley já almejava ser uma estrela, um deus, um membro da elite sobre-humana.

A filosofia do "Faça o que quiser" de Crowley tornou-se uma das filosofias dominantes de nosso tempo de vazio moral e espiritual. Crowley venceu e vivemos nesta distopia, no qual a Nova Ordem Mundial é ditada por uma alta elite de "super-homens amorais".

Crowley estava convencido de que buscar contato com seres sobrenaturais oferecia a única salvação para a raça humana: “Minha observação do Universo me convence de que existem seres de inteligência e poder de uma qualidade muito superior a qualquer coisa que possamos conceber como humanos; que não se baseiam necessariamente nas estruturas cerebrais e nervosas que conhecemos; e que a única chance para a humanidade avançar como um todo é que os indivíduos façam contato com tais seres.”

A ufologia mais tarde adotou os mesmos preceitos e objetivos, tanto que relatos dessas entidades associadas a OVNIs se tornaram predominantes na cultura popular da década de 1980 com livros como o best-seller de Whitley Strieber, Comunhão, bem como com muitos filmes sobre “alienígenas” de Hollywood que se seguiriam.

Entre janeiro e março de 1918, Aleister Crowley iniciou outro ciclo de cerimônias de magia sexual e de visões chamadas “Amalantrah” em um apartamento no Edifício Dakota, em Central Park West, na cidade de Nova York (o mesmo em que o filme O Bebê de Rosemary foi rodado em 1967 e na frente do qual John Lennon foi assassinado em 8 de dezembro de 1980). Para abrir intencionalmente um portal e permitir que entidades demoníacas e outras entidades semelhantes (“chefes secretos” ou antigos deuses egípcios) acessassem a nossa realidade terrestre, desta vez ele se valeu da “Scarlet Woman” (“Mulher Escarlate”) Roddie Minor (1884-1979), uma mulher de origem alemã que havia se formado na Columbia University em 1911 com PhD em Farmácia. Ela esteve envolvida no movimento sufragista em Nova York e quando atuou como uma médium para Crowley, era casada e vivia separada do marido.

Uma foto de 1906 de Roddie Minor com sua irmã Jessie (1882–1962). Roddie se formou na Columbia University em 1911 com PhD em Farmácia e esteve envolvida no movimento sufragista em Nova York. Ela ajudou Aleister Crowley em seu trabalho Amalantrah de 1918, ganhando o título de "Mulher Escarlate". Fonte: Gwinnett Historical Society.

Foi pela fenda “entre os espaços das estrelas” criada pelo ritual Amalantrah, que uma entidade chamada Lam – por sinal de tipologia muito aproximada a dos ETs greys (cinzentos) que décadas depois viriam a ser apontados como os responsáveis pelas abduções – e sua coorte passaram para este plano.

O retrato da entidade Lam feito por Crowley, apareceu pela primeira vez em 1919, como um frontispício de seu comentário sobre "A Voz do Silêncio" de Madame Blavatsky. O desenho original Lam foi dado por Crowley a Kenneth Grant (1924-2001), um escritor e mágico cerimonial inglês, defensor da religião Thelêmica e fundador de sua própria organização Thelêmica, a Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis. Não há, no entanto, nenhum comentário de Crowley sobre Lam que se tenha notícia, exceto o que foi publicado por Grant. Publicação original: The Equinox, vol. III, no. 1, suppl. p. 3, Liber LXXI "The Voice of Silence", Detroit 1919.

Crowley estava convencido de que “existem seres de inteligência e poder de uma qualidade muito superior a qualquer coisa que possamos conceber como humanos; que não se baseiam necessariamente nas estruturas cerebrais e nervosas que conhecemos; e que a única chance para a humanidade avançar como um todo é que os indivíduos façam contato com tais seres.”

Discípulos subsequentes de Crowley da O.T.O. tentaram entrar em contato com Lam e relataram sucessos consideráveis. O protegido de Crowley, Kenneth Grant, chamou essa corrente de Culto de Lam e descreveu suas técnicas como Lam Workings.

Os cultuadores de Lam querem abrir mais portais do tipo que foram abertos por Crowley para trazer muito mais seres tipo Lam para a Terra. Eles acreditam que Lam é uma nova forma de deus que está tentando conquistar este plano, derrubar os antigos deuses e estabelecer seu reinado sobre a humanidade. Para os Lam Templars (Templários de Lam), o Fenômeno OVNI faz parte de um fenômeno metafísico maior, de uma “mudança dos deuses” eônica, que eles às vezes simbolizam com um Sol Negro.

O Templo de Lam está localizado no deserto de Mojave, na propriedade de um rico empresário com grande interesse em OVNIs e ocultismo. O Templo é construído para se assemelhar a um disco voador, com uma forma de disco baixo e afilado. Em um estrado no topo está um busto de pedra de Lam, ao qual os templários fazem oferendas e meditam durante seus trabalhos. Na base do templo há dois obeliscos com a palavra “Lam” no alfabeto Harzâd pintada nas laterais. No topo dos obeliscos estão duas grandes pedras de obsidiana em forma de ovo, que refletem a importância do ovo como um símbolo de viagem no tempo astral e tântrico no sistema mágico do culto.

Fonte: Wiki.

Os templários de Lam desenvolveram todo um mito em torno de Lam, alegando que ele é um dos alienígenas “cinzentos” que se tornou famoso por casos de abdução por OVNIs a partir da década de 1950. De fato, como vimos no esboço feito por Crowley em 1919, Lam tem uma forte semelhança com os greys. Os Templários de Lam acreditam que Crowley realmente convocou os greys – que foram retratados em templos antigos, mas não vistos nos últimos tempos –de volta à Terra. Os Templários acreditam que Crowley treinou seu protegido Jack Parsons, junto com L. Ron Hubbard, para continuar seus Trabalhos de Lam. Em 1946, Parsons e Hubbard conduziram o Trabalho de Babalon, que se acredita ter reaberto e ampliado o portal aberto por Crowley, trazendo uma onda de seres Lam para o nosso plano que se materializaram na forma de avistamentos massivos de OVNIs e abduções por greys a partir de 1947.

No Templo, os templários procuram invocar Lam em sua presença e recebem orientação sobre como podem ajudar em sua campanha para que ele se torne um deus do novo Aeon. Ao iniciar o ritual de contato, o sacerdote que o preside traça um nonagrama (estrela de nove pontas) ao redor da estátua de Lam com sua adaga, entoando “Lam” em cada um dos nove pontos. Este rito "abre o portal" para a dimensão de Lam.

Neste ponto, os templários estão sentados em posição de lótus de frente para o retrato de Lam acima do altar do Templo, olhando em seus olhos. Eles repetem mentalmente o mantra “Lam” por alguns minutos, tentando invocar Lam pelo seu nome. Se receberem uma resposta positiva, eles se visualizam entrando na cabeça em forma de ovo de Lam e vendo o mundo através de seus olhos alienígenas. Em seguida, eles "selam o ovo" visualizando os olhos de Lam se fechando e aguardando os desenvolvimentos. Os templários frequentemente experimentam o contato com o ser Lam neste estágio. Quando o contato é perdido, ou o templário é perturbado, ele deixa a cabeça do ovo de Lam e retorna ao mundo mundano. Quando todos os presentes retornam à consciência mundana, o sacerdote toca um gongo nove vezes, realiza outro ritual de banimento para fechar o portal e o trabalho é concluído.

Em 1919, apenas um ano após o ritual “Amalantrah” de Crowley na cidade de Nova York, membros de um grupo ocultista na Alemanha chamado Sociedade Vril (do qual faziam parte todas as altas patentes do Partido Nazista) afirmaram ter estabelecido contato telepático, através do transe mediúnico de uma linda e misteriosa loira de Viena chamada Maria Orsitsch (também conhecida como Maria Orsic, 1895-1945), com seres do sistema estelar de Aldebaran na constelação de Touro, a 65 anos-luz de distância. Esses alienígenas que teriam visitado a Terra e se estabelecido na Suméria – daí que a palavra Vril teria sido formada a partir da antiga palavra suméria “Vri-Il” (“como deus”) – teriam realmente presenteado a Sociedade Vril com a tecnologia de discos voadores.

A belíssima e misteriosa médium Maria Orsic, a fonte dos primeiros discos voadores nazistas e humanos na Terra. Foto: Kinopoisk.

O termo Vril apareceu pela primeira vez em 1871 no livro Vril, o Poder da Raça Futura, do escritor e político inglês Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873), um dos primeiros romances a questionar os modelos de perfeição social figurados na literatura utópica. Provavelmente influenciado por Viagem ao Centro da Terra (1864), de Júlio Verne, Bulwer-Lytton narra a aventura de um protagonista que, ao explorar a profundeza de uma mina, ingressa sem querer em pleno domínio de uma civilização avançada que ali se refugiara de uma catástrofe, desde o período antediluviano, e cuja existência fora garantida pela fonte inexaurível de uma energia ainda desconhecida na superfície – o vril. Com ela, todos são supridos de luz, força motriz, meios de defesa e, sobretudo, de uma fonte de vigor e juventude. Ficando praticamente refém dos vril-ya – como eles se autodenominam –, o curioso egresso da superfície vai conhecendo, de surpresa em surpresa, o avançado modelo social daquela cultura que prosperou sob a crosta terrestre sem a interferência das comunidades da superfície, uma sociedade igualitária, sem classes, com direitos superiores garantidos às mulheres (algo impensável à época de Bullwer-Lytton), sem escravos, sem pobres, e com um sistema modelar de educação. Um extraordinário modelo para o mundo do futuro e que remete, por efeito de espelhamento – mecanismo retórico fundamental da literatura utópica –, a questões sociais prementes não apenas para o período da publicação do texto, mas também para a contemporaneidade. No desfecho da narrativa, a personagem faz uma longa preleção sobre os aspectos ditatoriais e homogeneizadores que subjazem à organização daquela comunidade em particular e de todo projeto utópico em geral. A utopia social de Bulwer-Lytton descortina terrores ocultos sob o manto do idílio, incluindo alguns daqueles que viriam a se concretizar nos regimes totalitários.

Os nazistas da Sociedade Thule, provavelmente influenciados pela obra de Bullwer-Lytton, encaravam o Vril como uma forma de energia eminentemente telúrica que ansiava alcançar e que capacitaria aos seus seguidores o poder de curar ou ferir pessoas, levantar objetos e por fim de elevar seus próprios seres para outra dimensão de nível superior. O Vril consistia para eles em uma espécie de “quinto elemento” (além dos conhecidos terra, fogo, água e ar), uma energia dinâmica que se manifestaria pela “inversão do eixo gravitacional” de elementos materiais. A partir de uma indução energética, seria possível erguer pesados blocos de rocha como se fossem monólitos de isopor. Esta energia Vril era alcançada através da meditação e orgias sexuais. Quando os nazistas se aperceberam deste suposto poder, apoderaram-se do conceito da seita e de suas práticas. A Ariosofia servir-se-ia da energia Vril a qual os faria voar até o infinito e tornarem-se deuses, o que facilitaria ou garantiria o sucesso em alcançar o poder absoluto e metafísico para governar o mundo. Por isso chegaram a medir os crânios dos tibetanos, convencidos que eles eram os ancestrais dos arianos.

A Sociedade Vril era formada por um grupo de médiuns psíquicas lideradas pela médium Maria Orsic, que havia liderado a “Sociedade Alemã de Metafísica” (Alldeutsche Gesellschaft fr Metaphysik) fundada no início do século XX como um círculo feminino de médiuns que estavam envolvidos em contatos telepáticos extraterrestres. Mais tarde, a sociedade foi renomeada como “Sociedade Vril” ou “Sociedade das Mulheres Vrilerinnen”. Tanto Maria quanto as demais, eram todas jovens lindas e de cabelos muito compridos, com longos rabos de cavalo, um penteado muito incomum naquela época. Isso se tornou uma característica distintiva de todas as mulheres que integraram a Vril, baseada na crença de que seus longos cabelos agiam como antenas cósmicas para receber comunicações alienígenas do além. Em público, porém, quase nunca exibiam o cabelo estilo rabo de cavalo.

Maria Orisc atuava como um “canal psíquico” para a transferência de dados extraterrestres, algo hoje chamado de “visão remota”, uma ciência legítima usada por nossas próprias agências nacionais de inteligência.

Cabe lembrar que o notável inventor Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) afirmou que muitos de seus projetos geniais, como o gerador elétrico de “corrente alternada”, vieram a ele “telepaticamente”, e até o pioneiro da astronáutica Hermann Oberth admitiu que o sucesso dos avanços tecnológicos alemães durante a guerra se deveu, em parte, às “pessoas de outros mundos”. E, mais tarde, após a Segunda Guerra Mundial, desenvolveu-se uma curiosa convergência de tecnologias americanas e nazistas dentro dos programas de desenvolvimento de foguetes espaciais da NASA. A simples construção de foguetes superiores aos russos foi a motivação para uma aliança deveras estranha. Ou era algo mais profundo, mais escuro e muito mais oculto?

Nikola Tesla e Maria Orsic estavam relacionadas com a construção de uma máquina voadora anti-gravitacional e contatos com extraterrestres. Fonte: Tô no Cosmos.

Em 1919, a suíça-americana Leah Hirsig (1883-1975) procurou Crowley em seu apartamento em West 9th St. em Greenwich Village, Nova York, devido ao seu interesse pelo ocultismo. Juntos tiveram uma filha, Anne Leah, apelidada de Poupée.

Em 14 de abril de 1920, Leah ajudou Crowley a fundar a Abadia de Thelema em Cefalù, na ilha italiana da Sicília, que logo tornou-se conhecida como um “antro de insanidade”. Durante sua estada na abadia, Leah era conhecida como Soror Alostrael (o "útero", o "santo cálice de Deus"), a "Mulher Escarlate" de Crowley, o nome que ele usava para suas praticantes de magia sexual em referência à consorte da Besta do Apocalipse, cujo número é 666.

O vício de Crowley em heroína e cocaína mostrou-se fora de controle. Ali ele escreveu o livro Diary of a Droug Fiend (Diário de um Viciado), onde conta sua luta contra o vício. Foi lá que a tragédia abateu-se novamente sobre ele com a morte de Poupee enquanto Crowley viajava por Londres e Paris.

Em 16 de fevereiro de 1923, um de seus seguidores, o estudante não graduado de Oxford Raoul Loveday, morreu em consequência da ingestão da água contaminada do local. Com isto, o destino da Abadia de Thelema estava selado. A esposa de Loveday, Betty May, vendeu a história ao tabloide londrino The Sunday Express, que em um artigo de primeira página na edição de 4 de março de 1923, pintou Crowley como "um viciado em drogas, autor de livros vis, o disseminador de práticas obscenas" e " uma das figuras mais sinistras dos tempos modernos".

Na mesma época, o jornal semanal John Bull publicou uma série de artigos anti-Crowley com títulos como "O rei da depravação" e "O homem mais perverso do mundo". A última frase permaneceu como a sua mais afamada reputação desde então.

A edição de 24 de março do jornal John Bull chama Crowley de "O homem mais perverso do mundo".

Os jornais encheram-se de reportagens sobre magia negra e outros rituais satânicos realizados na Abadia. Estas reportagens levaram o ditador fascista Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) a expulsar Crowley da Itália naquele mesmo ano, chamando-o de “bárbaro”.

De lá Crowley mudou-se para a Tunísia e depois para a França, onde lutou bravamente contra seu vício de anos em heroína. Da França mudou-se para a Alemanha, voltando depois para a Inglaterra, onde passou seus últimos quinze anos.

Em 1925, deu-se a eleição de Crowley como líder mundial da O.T.O. A não aceitação desta liderança – e da implantação de Lei de Thelema na Ordem – levou muitos membros a fundarem uma dissidência, conhecida como O.T.O. Antiqua (não Thelêmica). Em 1929, Crowley publica o livro Magick: In Theory and Practice.

Em dezembro de 1928, Crowley conheceu a nicaraguense Maria Teresa Sanchez (Maria Teresa Ferrari de Miramar), filha de pai italiano e mãe francesa. Crowley, juntamente com seu amigo e secretário, o ocultista e escritor inglês Francis Israel Regudy, mais conhecido como Israel Regardie (1907-1985), foi deportado da França pelas autoridades, que não gostavam de sua reputação e temiam que ele fosse um agente alemão. Para que ela pudesse se juntar a ele na Grã-Bretanha, em agosto de 1929 Crowley se casou com aquela que ele chamava de “A Alta Sacerdotisa do Voodoo”.

No ano seguinte encontrou-se, em Portugal, como o poeta Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), que havia lido seu livro Confessions of Aleister Crowley: An Autobiography, que abrange os primeiros anos de sua vida até meados da década de 1920, e que A Mandrake Press publicou as duas primeiras seções como volumes separados sob o título The Spirit of Solitude em 1929.

Em 1934, na tentativa de fazer algum dinheiro, Crowley iniciou uma série de processos judiciais contra aqueles que, conforme alegava, o haviam caluniado, entre eles a Constable & Co. por publicar o livro Laughing Torso (1932), da artista e escritora galesa Nina Hamnett (1890-1956), que se referia à sua prática oculta como magia negra, mas perdeu o caso. O processo judicial aumentou os problemas financeiros de Crowley, e em fevereiro de 1935, ele foi declarado falido. Durante a audiência, foi revelado que Crowley gastou três vezes sua renda por vários anos.

Quando a Segunda Guerra Mundial eclodiu, Crowley percebeu que suas profecias sobre o início da Era de Hórus estavam se cumprindo à risca conforme as entidades o haviam revelado. Ele escreveu para a Divisão de Inteligência Naval oferecendo seus serviços, mas eles recusaram. Crowley então se associou a várias figuras da comunidade de inteligência da Grã-Bretanha na época, incluindo o escritor ocultista Dennis Wheatley (1897-1977), autor da série Gregory Sallust (1934-1968), uma das principais inspirações para James Bond de Ian Fleming; Roald Dahl (1916-1990), autor de A Fantástica Fábrica de Chocolate (1964); o próprio Ian Fleming (1908-1964); e Maxwell Knight (1900-1968), um espião britânico, naturalista e radialista que serviu de modelo para James Bond.

Embora ele não tenha sido a primeira pessoa a levantar dois dedos no ar em sinal de alguma ideia ou insulto, Crowley demonstrou que foi o primeiro a usar o “sinal de V da Vitória”, consagrado pelo estadista e primeiro-ministro do Reino Unido Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), como um contraste mágico para o uso da suástica pelos nazistas. Crowley passou essa ideia para amigos da BBC e para a Divisão de Inteligência Naval Britânica por meio de suas conexões no MI5, eventualmente obtendo a aprovação de Churchill.

O simbolismo do “V de Vitória” refere-se à história de Ísis, Apófis e Osíris, conforme ilustrado no Ritual Menor do Hexagrama, publicado pela primeira vez por Crowley em The Equinox I, nº 3 , em 1910. Nesse ritual, a suástica é usada para representar o luto de Ísis, e o “V” é usado para simbolizar Apophis ou Typhon, o destruidor. Este simbolismo explica o uso de Crowley do "V" como uma antítese para a suástica, uma vez que Apófis mata Osíris, causando o luto de Ísis.

O símbolo “V” também ecoa o triângulo apontando para baixo, um símbolo de Hórus, a Criança Coroada e Conquistadora do Novo Aeon.

O símbolo do V de Vitória usado pelos thelemitas, com direito ao 666. In hoc signo vinces é a tradução latina da frase grega en touto nika e significa "com este sinal vencerás".

Para ajudar no esforço de guerra, ele escreveu uma proclamação sobre os direitos da humanidade, Liber OZ, publicado em 1942 na forma de um manifesto da O.T.O. Junto com a artista indiana Marguerite Frieda Harris, conhecida, por sua própria insistência, como Lady Frieda Harris ou Lady Harris (1877-1962), cria seu baralho de Tarot (com design de Frieda), o Livro de Thoth, que só foi publicado em 1944 em uma edição limitada de 200 exemplares.

Crowley morreu em 1º de dezembro de 1947, vítima de bronquite crônica e problemas cardíacos em sua casa na cidade de Hastings. A lenda que diz terem sido suas últimas palavras “eu estou perplexo”, não passa disso, uma lenda, pois Crowley morreu sozinho em seu quarto. No dia 5 de dezembro seu corpo foi cremado em Brighton, em uma cerimônia assistida por amigos, admiradores e discípulos.

E foi um discípulo de Crowley tão feérico, excêntrico e lascivo quanto, que percebeu igualmente que certas revelações profundas poderiam ser obtidas de trabalhos e rituais mágicos, revelações tão profundas a ponto de serem secretamente incorporadas a projetos específicos de exploração espacial, ampliando os portais que haviam sido abertos para trazer para esta dimensão os seres que inaugurariam a chamada Era Moderna dos Discos Voadores. Mas isso, como diria Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), já é uma outra história que irei abordar na próxima oportunidade.

#aleister crowley #thelema #ocultismo #religião #magia #secret society

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potaetopic · 2 years

Text

naeun's reading update —June 2022

Tags : a - angst, c - crack, d - dark, f - fluff, s - smut, y - yandere ☁️ - fav

a/n: hello! for authors that seen me before, im sorry for tagging yall again as im in a process of renewing(?) my page atm, but i promise this is gonna be the real one. no more take backs :]

ONE SHOT

cherry blossom avenue. @scriptaed —ksj a c f (arranged marriage!au)

penny for your thoughts @tuanforyou —myg f (college/university!au) ☁️

In a Dream @jjkeverlast —jjk f s (wedding!au) ☁️

Primed For Sin @thvhoe —jjk s (brother's best friend!au)

extra: 1 2

piano boy @arckook —myg a f (high school!au)

Both Sides @stellalunatmblr —ksj f c

Heartbreak Hotel @myooniverse —kth a f (valentine!au) ☁️

SERIES

till the night is over @tuanforyou —kth,jjk a f (college/university!au) ☁️

New Girl @jjkeverlast —jjk a f s (roommates!au)

Unexpected Lovers @jjkeverlast —myg a c f (fake dating!au) (2)

Ristretto @shina913 —knj f (established relationship!au) (2)

anima meaology @arckook —kth,jjk a f (soulmate!au) (5)

One Last Time @myooniverse —myg a f (divorce!au) (on-going) ☁️

Birthday Suprise @pinkcherrybombs —pjm a (college/university!au) (2)

Moonlight @myooniverse —knj a s (assassin/one night stand!au) (2)

DRABBLE

so i heard you like bad boys @scriptaed —myg c f (college/university!au)

…cause i like you?! @scriptaed —ksj c f

friends with snacks @scriptaed —ksj c f (roommates!au)

Effortless @jjkeverlast —jjk s (fwb!au)

Hitman @jiminables —ksj a (assassin!au)

Get Wet @thvhoe —jjk s (established relationship!au)

It Will Come Back @wildernessuntothemselves —myg f (neighbour!au)

thelema @s-sugarsweet —jjk s ☁️

retire, final @s-sugarsweet —jjk a (idol!au)

BTS AS CLICHE TROPE @pinkcherrybombs

BTS + SPIT KINK SERIES

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landofspaceandrainbows · 1 year

Text

thanks to @flashfictionfridayofficial for the prompt!

Series: Homestuck

Ships: Dave Strider/Rose Lalonde

Rating: Some implied nsfw

Lilacs and Green Stars

April is the cruelest month / breeding lilacs out of the dead land / mixing memory with desire / stirring roots with spring rain.

- T S Eliot, The Waste Land

They said that everyone had a mark on them that explained the circumstances under which something remarkable would happen, when they would meet their so called soulmate. Dave looked again, for the uncountable time, at the short equation tattooed off-center in the general vicinity of his wrist.

Monday, in the gentle sun, he had pulled his sleeve up and showed Jade the tattooo. She was into that stuff - physics, astrophysics.... They were birdwatching in the college quad with her doggo. The physics student and the repair worker. It’s not one of those fancy colleges like MIT&T with full magic and thaumatugy classes, but for ordinary sciences, good. And once again, the location and wildlife was turning out to be fantastic.

Anyway, she handed him a book on Tuesday, and apparently the equation was for the critical mass for a nuclear fusion reaction, no, for half the critical mass.

Half a continent away,

Rose found out about hers, running across her foot and calf, when she misspelled “Thelema”. “The Order of the Golden Dawn” and then just “Dawn” had lead her on a wiki walk. The Tattooed equation lay in two parts on her sunburned skin, and the second half that wasn’t about critical mass, was this odd allusion that fission reactions were often used to start or kindle nuclear fusion reactions in bombs.

Three years later, faster than light magic was discovered, they were both accepted into the space program. Six and they had met their first alien.

The two of them stood on the spaceship bridge, the red pulsing light of the bomb in front of them. The world flickered redly in the pigeon’s-blood colored light. It made Rose’s stomach twist. And then - inferno. As the red inferno built, fingers sought out fingers. Their hands tingled where they touched. Breaths growing faster. She was the first to pull his headup to meet hers. Their lips brushing.

As the Flame wrenched the protective glass and the world asunder ant turned green.

The phoenix-change was stating. Some of it had been documented and they knew, but the flame reached unexpected places, searing her closed below, ridding her of what she never really used, burning him open. Rearrangements and flowerings of flesh.

Finding their feet - it was like a green waterfall, and they bathed like finches or sparrows.

And somewhere far along the river’s flow they could feel Jade, blowing kisses for her into the green flames, for the current to deliver.

As they swam their way to the surface of the sun, Dave whisperered, “Don’t forget the new gear”.

It’s a good thing that new gods could shed and put on their clothes by thought alone. They had people waiting for them up on the surface.

#flashfictionfridayofficial #flash fiction #My writing #homestuck #dersecest #rose lalonde #dave strider #rose #dave #AU

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brookston · 1 year

Text

Holidays 2.26

Holidays

Bill Hicks Day

Black Lives Matter Day

Carnival Day

Carpe Diem Day

Cheongwoldaeboreum (Korean Folk Festival; North Korea)

Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khojaly Massacre (Azerbaijan)

Fats Domino Day

For Goodness’ Sake Day

For Pete's Sake Day

Grand Canyon Day

Grand Teton Day

Happy Burp Day

Hazrat Alis Day (Uttar Pradesh, India)

Hoodies All Day

Jazz Record Day

Letter to an Elder Day

Levi Strauss Day

Liberation Day (Kuwait)

Llama Dress Day

Man in Black Day

National Customized Wheel and Tire Day

National Personal Chef Day [also 7.16]

National Ranboo Day

National Remembrance Day (Papua New Guinea)

National Saul Day

National Set a Good Example Day

Patrick Star Day

Read Me Day

Rooks Nesting Day

Sourdough Rendezvous

Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Thanks Day (Myanmar)

Thermos Bottle Day

Thriller Day

Tournament of Hearts (Scotland)

Trayvon Martin Day

World Leisure Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Bacon Day (Iowa)

National Pistachio Day (a.k.a. World Pistachio Day)

4th & Last Sunday in February

College Goal Sunday [Last Sunday]

Freedom Sunday [Last Sunday]

National Woman’s Day (original date; 1909) [Last Sunday]

Independence Days

Texas Independence Day Celebration, Day 2 (of 2; Texas)

Feast Days

Alexander of Alexandria (Christian; Saint)

Anaximander (Positivist; Saint)

Day of Nuit (Thelema)

Emily Malbone Morgan (Episcopal Church (USA))

Emo Phillips Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Festival of Ayyám-i-Há (Baha'i)

Festival of Mihr (God of Fire; Armenia)

First Sunday in Lent (Western Christianity) (a.k.a. ...

Buergbrennan (Traditional Burning of Bonfires; Luxembourg)

Invocabit (Lutheranism)

Paisee Sunday

People's Sunday (Malta)

Publican Sunday

Forgiveness Sunday (Orthodox Christian) [Last Sunday before Lent]

Hopalong Hamster (Muppetism)

Hygeia’s Day (Pagan Hygiene Goddess)

Isabelle of France (Christian; Saint)

Li Tim-Oi (Anglican Church of Canada)

Lost Pen Day (Pastafarian)

Mourn Lost Socks Day (Pastafarian)

Nuit’s Day (Pagan)

Porphyry of Gaza (a.k.a. Parphyrius; Christian; Saint)

Saviours' Day (Nation of Islam)

Victor of Champagne (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Dismal Day (Unlucky or Evil Day; Medieval Europe; 4 of 24)

Egyptian Day (Unlucky Day; Middle Ages Europe) [4 of 24]

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [10 of 53]

Lucky Day (Philippines) [11 of 71]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [12 of 60]

Premieres

The Abyss (Film; 1993)

Come Away With Me, by Norah Jones (Album; 2002)

Discovery, by Daft Punk (Album; 2001)

Dixieland Jass Band One-Step, by The Original Dixieland Jass Band (Jazz Song; 1917)

Dragon Ball (Animated TV Series; 1986)

Eddie the Eagle (Film; 2016)

El Mariachi (Film; 1993)

Frantic (Film; 1988)

Hairspray (Film; 1988)

Heebie Jeebies, recorded by Louis Armstrong (Song; 1926) [1st Recorded Scat Singing]

Howard’s End (Film; 1993)

Java, recorded by Al Hirt (Song; 1962)

Livery Stable Blues, recorded by the Original Dixie Jass Band (Song; 1917) [1st Recorded Jazz Song]

Mirror Image (Twilight Zone TV Episode; 1960)

Six Characters in Search of an Author, by Luigi Pirandello (Play; 1922)

Spitting Image (UK TV Series; 1984)

200 Cigarettes (Film; 1999)

Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (UK TV Series; 2001)

Today’s Name Days

Edigna, Gerlinde, Ottokar (Austria)

Aleksandar, Branimir, Robert, Viktor (Croatia)

Dorota (Czech Republic)

Inger (Denmark)

Ingmar, Ingo, Ingvar, Selmar (Estonia)

Nestori (Finland)

Nestor (France)

Denis, Edigna, Gerlinde, Mechthild, Ottokar (Germany)

Anatoli, Fotine, Fotini, Photini, Porfirios, Porfyrios, Sebastianos (Greece)

Géza (Hungary)

Arnoldo, Nestore, Romeo (Italy)

Evelīna, Eveline, Mētra (Latvia)

Aleksandras, Aurimė, Izabelė, Jogintas (Lithuania)

Inger, Ingjerd (Norway)

Aleksander, Bogumił, Cezariusz, Dionizy, Mirosław, Nestor (Poland)

Porfirie (Romania)

Svetlana (Russia)

Viktor (Slovakia)

Alejandro, Néstor (Spain)

Torgny, Torkel (Sweden)

Sebastian (Ukraine)

Levi, Nestor, Savana, Savanna, Savannah (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 57 of 2023; 308 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of week 8 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Nuin (Ash) [Day 8 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Yi-Mao), Day 7 (Yi-Mao)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 5 Adar 5783

Islamic: 5 Sha’ban 1444

J Cal: 27 Xin; Sixday [27 of 30]

Julian: 13 February 2023

Moon: 44%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 1 Aristotle (3rd Month) [Anaximander]

Runic Half Month: Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) [Day 3 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 68 of 90)

Zodiac: Pisces (Day 7 of 29)

Calendar Changes

Aristotle (Ancient Philosophy) [Month 3 of 13; Positivist]

#calendar #Holidays

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brookstonalmanac · 1 year

Text

Holidays 2.26

Holidays

Bill Hicks Day

Black Lives Matter Day

Carnival Day

Carpe Diem Day

Cheongwoldaeboreum (Korean Folk Festival; North Korea)

Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khojaly Massacre (Azerbaijan)

Fats Domino Day

For Goodness’ Sake Day

For Pete's Sake Day

Grand Canyon Day

Grand Teton Day

Happy Burp Day

Hazrat Alis Day (Uttar Pradesh, India)

Hoodies All Day

Jazz Record Day

Letter to an Elder Day

Levi Strauss Day

Liberation Day (Kuwait)

Llama Dress Day

Man in Black Day

National Customized Wheel and Tire Day

National Personal Chef Day [also 7.16]

National Ranboo Day

National Remembrance Day (Papua New Guinea)

National Saul Day

National Set a Good Example Day

Patrick Star Day

Read Me Day

Rooks Nesting Day

Sourdough Rendezvous

Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Thanks Day (Myanmar)

Thermos Bottle Day

Thriller Day

Tournament of Hearts (Scotland)

Trayvon Martin Day

World Leisure Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Bacon Day (Iowa)

National Pistachio Day (a.k.a. World Pistachio Day)

4th & Last Sunday in February

College Goal Sunday [Last Sunday]

Freedom Sunday [Last Sunday]

National Woman’s Day (original date; 1909) [Last Sunday]

Independence Days

Texas Independence Day Celebration, Day 2 (of 2; Texas)

Feast Days

Alexander of Alexandria (Christian; Saint)

Anaximander (Positivist; Saint)

Day of Nuit (Thelema)

Emily Malbone Morgan (Episcopal Church (USA))

Emo Phillips Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Festival of Ayyám-i-Há (Baha'i)

Festival of Mihr (God of Fire; Armenia)

First Sunday in Lent (Western Christianity) (a.k.a. ...

Buergbrennan (Traditional Burning of Bonfires; Luxembourg)

Invocabit (Lutheranism)

Paisee Sunday

People's Sunday (Malta)

Publican Sunday

Forgiveness Sunday (Orthodox Christian) [Last Sunday before Lent]

Hopalong Hamster (Muppetism)

Hygeia’s Day (Pagan Hygiene Goddess)

Isabelle of France (Christian; Saint)

Li Tim-Oi (Anglican Church of Canada)

Lost Pen Day (Pastafarian)

Mourn Lost Socks Day (Pastafarian)

Nuit’s Day (Pagan)

Porphyry of Gaza (a.k.a. Parphyrius; Christian; Saint)

Saviours' Day (Nation of Islam)

Victor of Champagne (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Dismal Day (Unlucky or Evil Day; Medieval Europe; 4 of 24)

Egyptian Day (Unlucky Day; Middle Ages Europe) [4 of 24]

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [10 of 53]

Lucky Day (Philippines) [11 of 71]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [12 of 60]

Premieres

The Abyss (Film; 1993)

Come Away With Me, by Norah Jones (Album; 2002)

Discovery, by Daft Punk (Album; 2001)

Dixieland Jass Band One-Step, by The Original Dixieland Jass Band (Jazz Song; 1917)

Dragon Ball (Animated TV Series; 1986)

Eddie the Eagle (Film; 2016)

El Mariachi (Film; 1993)

Frantic (Film; 1988)

Hairspray (Film; 1988)

Heebie Jeebies, recorded by Louis Armstrong (Song; 1926) [1st Recorded Scat Singing]

Howard’s End (Film; 1993)

Java, recorded by Al Hirt (Song; 1962)

Livery Stable Blues, recorded by the Original Dixie Jass Band (Song; 1917) [1st Recorded Jazz Song]

Mirror Image (Twilight Zone TV Episode; 1960)

Six Characters in Search of an Author, by Luigi Pirandello (Play; 1922)

Spitting Image (UK TV Series; 1984)

200 Cigarettes (Film; 1999)

Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (UK TV Series; 2001)

Today’s Name Days

Edigna, Gerlinde, Ottokar (Austria)

Aleksandar, Branimir, Robert, Viktor (Croatia)

Dorota (Czech Republic)

Inger (Denmark)

Ingmar, Ingo, Ingvar, Selmar (Estonia)

Nestori (Finland)

Nestor (France)

Denis, Edigna, Gerlinde, Mechthild, Ottokar (Germany)

Anatoli, Fotine, Fotini, Photini, Porfirios, Porfyrios, Sebastianos (Greece)

Géza (Hungary)

Arnoldo, Nestore, Romeo (Italy)

Evelīna, Eveline, Mētra (Latvia)

Aleksandras, Aurimė, Izabelė, Jogintas (Lithuania)

Inger, Ingjerd (Norway)

Aleksander, Bogumił, Cezariusz, Dionizy, Mirosław, Nestor (Poland)

Porfirie (Romania)

Svetlana (Russia)

Viktor (Slovakia)

Alejandro, Néstor (Spain)

Torgny, Torkel (Sweden)

Sebastian (Ukraine)

Levi, Nestor, Savana, Savanna, Savannah (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 57 of 2023; 308 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of week 8 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Nuin (Ash) [Day 8 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Yi-Mao), Day 7 (Yi-Mao)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 5 Adar 5783

Islamic: 5 Sha’ban 1444

J Cal: 27 Xin; Sixday [27 of 30]

Julian: 13 February 2023

Moon: 44%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 1 Aristotle (3rd Month) [Anaximander]

Runic Half Month: Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) [Day 3 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 68 of 90)

Zodiac: Pisces (Day 7 of 29)

Calendar Changes

Aristotle (Ancient Philosophy) [Month 3 of 13; Positivist]

#Holidays

0 notes

the-musical-cc · 3 years

Text

In which I made a connection and OW.

Bear with me I swear I have a point.

There’s something I remember hearing YEARS ago from a fellow CLAMP fan, but I’ve yet to find a source for, like an interview or literally anything that has CLAMP state it- and yet I can’t say I don’t see it.

That is: The idea that Clow Reed was inspired by a real person, Aleistair Crowley.

This is, most likely, where some of the fanon traits commonly used to write and imagine him in the late 2000′s came from -out of the top of my head, being quite the womanizer, having sexual means to achieve magical goals, being quite the explorer and adventurer, and being very drug-happy are what come to mind- despite the fact that nothing in canon points to it.

Actual traits that do point to this being true, though, are things such as him making his own set of magical cards (Crowley created his own tarot deck) him mixing elements of western and eastern magic (Crowley took elements from what he learned from Golden Dawn and integrated them with elements taken from other cultures, making Thelema a mixture of eastern and western elements.) and being kind of an egomaniac with a god complex (I could speak for hours about this one but let’s just say Crowley thought his dick to be the center of everything and that’s just laughable.)

Now, this might sound familiar: Crowley’s first wife, Rose Kelly was an alcoholic. Additionally, during their honeymoon, Crowley was only able to enter in communion with what he claimed were spirits to write his ‘Book of the law’, the basis of his life’s work, through Kelly’s participation. (And there is some speculation as to whether her alcoholism was a consequence of her inability to process the constant messages she got from the 'Other side’? But I don’t have a good source for that.)

Familiar? Well, here’s another one. Herbert Charles Pollitt, his College boyfriend, ‘Made a poet out of him’ (Which as I take it means he educated his ass) and they broke off due to differences caused by Crowley’s interest in mysticism as a practical means, which became a lifelong regret for Crowley.

In general, Crowley didn’t do well romantically (Because he was a horny ass toxic motherfucker) but anyway, bottom-line being that the two greatest loves of his life were an alcoholic woman who to some degree was more magically capable than him, and a man who taught him a lot and became ‘The one who got away’ thanks to Crowley’s magical hubris. Mix them both and you have Yuuko.

#CLAMP #Clow Reed #Yuuko Ichihara #cc wtf

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maddiviner · 4 years

Note

How much of Scientology is based on Thelema? Is the connection real or a conspiracy theory?

The Scientology-Thelema connection is not a conspiracy theory at all, as far as I’ve been able to tell, but a matter of historical fact. L. Ron Hubbard was a close confidante of Jack Parsons.

The latter went to great lengths in personal correspondence trying to convince Aleister Crowley that Hubbard was and adept in touch with his Guardian Angel. Crowley was having none of it and considered them both “louts,” but Crowley (through Parsons) did influence Hubbard.

Even the Church of Scientology itself admits this, after a fashion. They give us the impossible fable of dashing L. Ron Hubbard “breaking up black magic” in America by infiltrating the OTO.

They don’t deny it happened, just the specifics of it like that, because they have to make Hubbard the protagonist of all this somehow.

The book Strange Angel is a non-fiction biography of Jack Parsons that explains a lot of this. The TV show of the same name is a loosely-derived work of fiction, though.

For those wondering, I studied Thelema from about 2012 to 2015. I was a member of the Caliphate Ordo Templi Orientis. I was also connected with a specific A.’.A.’. lineage run by a very unpleasant man (yeah, that narrows it down! hah!) from around 2013-2014.

I’ve got no connection to Scientology, really. Unless you count my college’s computer system completely crashing due to the students constantly DDoSing Scientology sites back in 2007, which was a thing that did happen, weirdly enough.

I’ve read a large amount of Hubbard’s material on various very old websites, and I’ve read some autobiographies by (former) Scientologists.

I can’t really say how much of it is actually based on Thelema. But I know the connection is there, for a few reasons. It’s been years but yes, there’s certain passages of Hubbard that seem based on older Crowley works.

I’ve heard it suggested that Scientology’s concept of “clear” is merely a reworking of Thelema’s view of “Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.” I’ve also heard that the Scientologist “Wall of Fire” is just a close Xerox of the Thelemite notion of the Abyss.

I’ve personally always thought the Scientology “dynamics 1-4″ concept was based somewhat on Crowley’s pamphlet, Duty, and also draws from a few other places.

Keep in mind, though, that the Abyss and K&C aren’t limited to Thelema. In fact the Thelemic view of these concepts retools their Golden Dawn (and earlier) versions. By that, I mean the original Victorian-era Golden Dawn, not whatever David Griffin is playing.

I guess you can say two things. Hubbard was involved heavily with Thelema, and Hubbard was heavily influenced by the Western Magical Tradition via Thelema and Crowley. Beyond that, it’s not something I can be sure about, and maybe those who know more will chime in?

I also don’t claim to be an expert on Thelema but I do believe I’ve got something of a place to speak from about it.

I no longer consider myself a Thelemite, though, for reasons I’ve discussed before.

#witchblr #witch #magic #occult #thelema #cults #cult #scientology #jack parsons #strange angel #strangel #co$#ceremonial magic #golden dawn #Anonymous

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cackle-and-hex · 3 years

Text

Day 8 Prompt: Frame

This story is super late, as well as the others. Don't worry. I will continue to work on them and get them out.

However, the reason this took so long is because I made the mistake of writing my story in the Tumblr app, and it accidentally refreshed when I was putting in my tags. I lost all of it, and it really just deflated my creativity.

I'm back though. Just needed a couple of days.

Also, this story is a bit long. Not sure if it's longer than others, but it's at least 3 pages.

I hope you enjoy!

Philip held the slide between his thumb and forefinger towards the light as he stared at it through a jeweler’s magnifying glass. The slide contained a single photograph taken by a novice photographer from the 80s, a young woman by the name of Sally Mitchell. He was verifying its authenticity by comparing it to the record journal Sally kept of all her photos. Without the journal, anyone could claim they owned the slide, as nobody knew what was contained in the image’s frame.

Until now.

“Holy sh-t, Mary, and Joseph,” Philip exclaimed after his examination. He pulled back as a huge grin formed on his face. “It’s real. The motherf-cker is real. And I own it.” Bringing it to his lips, Philip planted a kiss on it before getting up and moving to his wall-safe. The safe was hidden behind a painting of his idol, Aleister Crowley.

Aleister Crowley was a renowned occultist and collector of supernatural objects. Philip became fascinated by Crowley after reading the man’s authored works in college. As a fanatic, Philip started practicing Thelema, a mystic religion created by Crowley, attending group seances, coven rituals, and private gatherings utilizing s-x magick. Along the way, he met other collectors, saw objects up close and personal, and experienced real supernatural events.

The frame was rumored to be cursed. Any who wielded the slide, either physically or simply by possession, would suffer grave misfortune.

Philip’s wife, Veronica, begged him not to buy it. She said it was either untrue and completely frivolous, especially with the amount of millions Philip paid to acquire it, or it was true and it would ruin their lives. But he wouldn’t listen.

Many claimed they had possession of the slide. Some even flaunted the fakes to the other collectors in person, saying they used powerful magick to protect them from the curse.

None of it was true, as Philip witnessed several times.

Then, he heard about Miss Mitchell’s journal, and he scoured many nations to obtain it. He spent so much in resources that he drained his entire account filled with millions. There were other accounts in other names, off-shore accounts, physical objects worth the amount he spent alone. Veronica refused to understand, crying that Philip was ruining their lives, their son’s life and future.

Her whining only fueled Philip’s determination in his mission.

The journal said the photo was taken during an Indian Summer at a local lake in Oklahoma, where Sally attended college. She and a few of her roommates chose to go swimming and enjoy the warm weather, and Sally brought her camera to get a few shots for a class project. According to her records, Sally said she took thirteen photos, detailing what each frame contained. However, after she developed the film, Sally saw that the photo didn’t show what she wrote down. Instead of it being “Friends in Lake,” it was a dark picture of a man’s face, or at least it looked like a man. To her, she believed it was a man, up-close to the lens, grinning menacingly in a pitch-black room. Knowing she couldn’t have taken this, Sally reported the event to the police, as she believed someone gained access to her camera, which she always kept close by, and took the photo. She felt her safety was at risk.

From that point, the film from that day at the lake was taken into custody as evidence. The police tried to find the culprit, but there was little they could find based on the photos. While in police custody, the film was cut and each frame placed in it’s own individual slide. After the investigation, the slides returned to Sally.

News articles from that time claim Sally was murdered in her room during a burglary. The culprits took everything in her room that wasn’t bolted down, including the slides. The very same police department that couldn’t help Sally before tracked the thieves to their hideout, filling them full of bullets. Again, the slides were placed in police custody.

A few months later, a fire erupted inside the evidence room, burning the entire department down. Clean-up crews gathered the rubble and took it all to the local landfill.

Amongst the debris were the slides, which were kept in a secured, wooden box. One of the landfill workers came across it during his shift, and he figured he’d take it home to investigate. Unfortunately, the young man choked on food and died as he was reviewing the slides.

The landlord of the worker’s apartment found the man dead, as the landlord received several complaints of a foul smell coming from the man’s apartment. The tenant had no family, so the landlord donated all of his belongings to a church for charity. A few weeks later, the landlord died in a car crash.

To raise funds for their dilapidated church roof, the clergy auctioned off many items in their possession, including the wooden box of slides. A wealthy benefactor won the box of slides for a few thousand dollars, though he was more concerned about helping the church than owning some photographic slides. Sadly, an outbreak of MRSA killed off all members of the clergy, and the church was forced to close down.

Somewhere along the way, the benefactor lost possession of the box of slides, and it ended up in the ether as nothing more than a rumor.

Once Philip had the journal detailing the slide, he was able to find and purchase the slide from a curator of American photography in Boston. The curator claimed it was donated anonymously. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any other information as the previous curator, who was in their early seventies, had died.

Philip saw his wife in bed, turned away from his side. ‘Probably still mad at me,’ he thought as he slid underneath the covers. “It’s real, Veronica. I found the slide.” He wasn’t sure she heard, but he noticed her take a deep breath and hold it. “I know I used up a lot of money, but the slide will bring in so much more than you can imagine. Just wait and see.”

Veronica began to turn around, and Philip went to wrap his arms around her, bringing her into his chest. Instead, she brought her arm around quickly, so quick that Philip didn’t notice the knife in her hand. She stabbed Philip in the neck first. Her face was filled with rage. Then, she climbed atop of her husband and brought the knife down several times.

Now Veronica owned the frame.

#31daysofhalloween #31doh2021 #31daysofhorror #horror #writing #short story #fiction #my writing #frame #flash fiction

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trustedcompanionship · 3 years

Text

Trusted Companionship as Sanctuary

We live in a fucked up world. Even those with the most privilege, around whom this society was quite literally designed, are cracking under its weight as they realize that they have sacrificed happiness and love on the altar of power. Trying to "make a living" is a joyless, often actively traumatic affair, especially for those in less appreciated professions, who are subject to abuse from strangers who use their services and from those above them who profit from their work, while those in power argue that they shouldn't be able to survive off of what they earn. Everything about the process of finding and engaging in the means to ensure one's survival in this world involves some degree of self-subjugation, and although we ostensibly have a choice in this matter, "serve the machine or starve" is not a true choice.

This is where, at least for us, Trusted Companionship comes in.

For my partner and I– two people who unfortunately have to live in a world where our ability to choose what happens to us and how we feel about it is systematically stripped from us– Trusted Companionship acts as a bubble universe in which things work the way they're supposed to, a place to cast off the allostatic load that we tend to accumulate by living in such a world.

My partner, forced into the role of a retail worker in the non-consensual power dynamic known as capitalism, can come back to our Trusted Companionship dynamic and be seen by me for what he is: someone who lives his life in a deeply passionate way, driven by a search for sublime beauty and ecstatic experience as well as an abiding conviction that everyone else deserves to have those experiences too, and worthy of my devotion for all these reasons and more. And I, forced into the role of a starving writer and adult community college student perpetually teetering on the edge of homelessness until my school gets its shit together with regards to financial aid, am seen by him for what I really am: selfless and kind, more comfortable backstage than in the spotlight, with a deep reservoir of loyalty and devotion of which few ever get to partake, and worthy of love and appreciation for all these reasons and more.

I'm not saying that all Trusted Companionship works like this, but our Trusted Companionship certainly does. I am the infinite and receptive, aspiring to the finite and active. He is the finite and active, aspiring to the infinite and receptive. These principles are not gendered, nor does their expression necessarily entail physical sexuality, except when they have to for the convenience of Victorian occultists and those who look up to them.

(One day I'll write that post about how I've reinterpreted aspects of Thelema from the particular lens through which I see the world. Today isn't that day. That day will come whenever I'm ready to talk in detail about my spiritual life here, which won't be for a while.)

In this sense, our Trusted Companionship, though it does include an exchange of power, is not imbalanced. In fact, one could consider it to be vastly more balanced than the world we move through outside of it. Between us, there is none of the exploitation or subjugation that we as disabled poor queers must regularly face in order to survive. My service-oriented nature and desire to forget myself in those I care about is important and worthy of love, as is his protective instinct and desire to see me become as great as he knows I can be.

In the context of one another, we can most fully experience ourselves, even in the face of struggles that would make us forget who we are.

#trusted companionship #anti capitalism #power exchange #theory

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queen-susans-revenge · 5 years

Text

I don’t have time to do it right now but one of these days I really need to write down everything I learned from alt.tarot back in the day Some of it is about tarot but more of it is about how to fight with people on the Internet. I was reminded re-reading the Dickwolf Discourse and how Mike’s hard-won lesson from that is that he could have Just Stopped much earlier. Just Stopping is a great skill that I learned through many bruising fights on Usenet and specifically alt.tarot. See, most people who think they are Knowledgeable About Tarot in fact are Jon Snows to the subject: they know nothing. The received wisdom on tarot is complete garbage; you can easily spend years and read dozens of published books and come away believing things like “tarot was invented by gypsies and contains secret wisdom smuggled out from the fall of the Library of Alexandria.” Insert Luke Skywalker gif: every part of that is wrong. Playing cards were actually invented by the Chinese, reached Europe around 1360, and in the middle of the fifteenth century Italian nobles started using tarot decks to play a trick-taking game resembling bridge. The so-called Major Arcana, or trump cards, were mostly drawn from Petrarch’s poem I Trionfi which translates to “The Triumphs” (triumph=trump). I Trionfi was enormously popular, especially in Italy, and you see imagery from it everywhere during the time period and all kinds of card decks using it. (Looks down at wall of text I have just produced. Whelp. Time for a read-more!)

So almost nobody knows this basic fact, that the structure of the Major Arcana and a lot of the imagery on the cards comes from Petrarch originally. Instead they spend years reading dumb newage books that all regurgitate the same content, like, “Death doesn’t mean death, it means change.” To Petrarch, and to the Renaissance Italians, and to the likes of Waite and Crowley, Death literally meant death. Now they all believed that there were things like Christian faith that could triumph over/trump even death: Petrarch’s poem is structured like a Roman triumphal parade except with metaphysical forces involved, so like the great conquering emperor is brought low by the power of love, and the lovers in turn are brought low by the power of chastity, and the chaste in turn are brought low by the power of death, but death is conquered by fame, and fame is conquered by time, and time is conquered by the eternal Kingdom of God. This is the basic procession that you see in the trump cards. And yes this does mean that tarot was also explicitly Christian, from the beginning, and remained so even as the robes-and-wands set started appropriating Jewish kabbalah and mapping tarot onto it. That happened in the eighteenth century, in France. The two dudes responsible are Antoine Court de Gébelin and M. le Comte de Mellet, two more names that most people who think they know a lot about tarot will never have heard of. The line goes from them through Eliphas Levi, Papus, Wirth, those guys, through to Waite and then Crowley. Now all these dudes were occultists, and occult means clandestine, hidden, secret, so as you might expect they were not at all good at clearly explicating their beliefs. Back on alt.tarot I used to use a Waite quote as my signature: “Superfluities and interpretations notwithstanding, it is directly, or indirectly, out of the recent view, thus tentatively designated, that the consideration of the present thesis emerges as its final term, though out of all knowledge thereof.” (That’s from The Hidden Church of the Holy Graal. It’s all like that.) So, it’s definitely not their fault that most people don’t know about Petrarch and kabbalah and what Crowley really meant when he made such a big goddamn deal about how “Tzaddi is not The Star.” Even when the likes of Crowley or Waite did write books supposedly detailing the meaning of the symbolism of their decks, they threw in lots of misdirection and outright lies “to mislead the uninitiated.” Kabbalah is the key, they’ll tell you, but they won’t tell you that they used it as an athbash--forward and back, just like the Fool’s Journey goes both up and down the Tree of Life; divine power can be called down into Malkuth, the physical world, but one born into Malkuth can also ascend to Kether, unmediated experience of the divine. (So The Star is both Tzaddi and Heh.) Anyway, if you can’t trust the newage books and you can’t trust the occult books, are there any good books on tarot? Yes, there are two: Gertrude Moakley's groundbreaking (and out of print) book The Tarot Cards Painted by Bonifacio Bembo for the Visconti-Sforza Family: An Iconographic and Historical Study, and the equally groundbreaking and equally out of print Rhapsodies of the Bizarre, a collection of essays by Court de Gébelin and M. le Comte de Mellet, with translation and commentary by J. Karlin, the terror of alt.tarot. Jess Karlin was not his real name. He knew more about tarot than, I gradually came to believe, anyone else in the world. He was a jerk, and proud of being a jerk: Thelema is a religion of war, he said, and he came not to affirm but to destroy. He was my teacher, and he taught me a lot, and I tried to repay him both with money and by acknowledging the debt whenever the subject comes up, like now. One of the things he taught me was how to learn from someone who is giving you an actual answer but insulting you while they do it. (Try ignoring the insult and saying thank you, for the answer. They may have more to teach.) I say Karlin knew more than anyone else in the world because the academics after Moakley were disappointing; the field became dominated by playing card historian Michael Dummett, who was so invested in debunking the occultists that he really doubled down on trying to argue that no link between tarot and fortune-telling existed before the French guys came along. Which is stupid, because the links between games of chance and systems of divination have always been super tight--Fate and Luck are the same damn bitch. And you can find (and Karlin did find) very early references to witchcraft performed with playing cards. So because the playing card historians would have nothing to do with the occultists, and Karlin was doing these serious deep dives into formerly-untranslated eighteenth century French occult texts and even earlier stuff, he ended up understanding the iconography and symbolism of tarot way better than the people like Dummett who were much too serious to touch the occult traditions. That was another thing Karlin taught me: that academic consensus can sometimes be just as wrong as newage gobbledegook, and it really is possible, when you start doing deep dives into niche subjects, to outstrip the experts. Sometimes it’s not just possible but frighteningly easy. Anyway, he knew a ton--and he knew it in a field where the vast majority of people think they understand the material, but are very wrong. I think this had the effect of making him quite crabby. Some people came to alt.tarot saying they wanted to learn tarot; and those people, J. Karlin was willing to teach, although he might yell at them some for believing stupid things, if they did. And they probably did--I remember being twenty-one, a shiny new-minted college graduate, proud of my A in an undergraduate Quantum Mechanics For Non Physics Majors class, trying out some “maybe fortunetelling is a quantum effect” angle and getting my ass handed to me, deservedly so. But many, many more people came to alt.tarot back in the day thinking they already knew tarot. And they very much did not want to be corrected. They just thought the cards looked cool and they were perfectly content with their own “I’ll just intuit what I think the cards mean” approach to tarot. And to those people, Karlin was a relentless asshole. Because the symbols did in fact have an original meaning, and it is possible to trace the evolution of the iconography through time, and in fact all those centuries of artists and writers and...I dunno, warlocks and whatnot...working on the cards has created a much, much, much deeper and richer symbolic framework than what most people can make up off the tops of their heads just by looking at a random image from The Tarot of the Cat People or whatever. So that was maybe the first important thing he taught me: there is a truth. Even in symbolic matters, even in stuff that was all “just made up” at some point, it is possible to distinguish what’s important and true from what’s just people spouting off the tops of their dumb heads. And fourth or fifth was that if you argue with someone long enough and you find yourself getting boxed into a corner, fighting desperately to support propositions you’re not even quite sure how you ended up needing to defend, you can just...stop. Usually that’s the cleanest and clearest path. Karlin would not let people save face and he would not let them have the last word: if they were wrong, they’d either have to admit it, or they’d have to flounce off to another Usenet group, orrrr...they’d have to learn how to fucking shut up. It’s a good skill to have. I learned it in alt.tarot, being wrong a lot. I had many fights with Jess Karlin on alt.tarot. But to my knowledge I was the only one from that group that he offered to formally initiate into Thelema. If I have siblings in this lineage I don’t know them; and I never considered myself a Thelemite, even after the initiation. But I have tried to pass on what he taught me. Crowley wrote that the adept “must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals” and I always sort of thought Karlin was living by that principle. At the same time he liked to point out that it’s not necessary to hide your pearls from swine: they won’t take ‘em no matter how brightly you polish and how neatly you letter the sign, FREE PEARLS OF WISDOM, PLEASE TAKE. My worst fights with J. Karlin were always when I was trying to do something nice for him. I still wince remembering when I tried to give him a copy of Alan Moore’s Promethea; that ended with us not speaking for several years. So if he reads this he’ll probably be mad at me all over again but anyway he eventually started using his real name, Glenn Wright, for his Internet writings instead of the Karlin nym. He hops around websites too fast for me to keep track, but as recently as 2015 he had a blog on Tumblr. Sometimes he offers tarot readings for sale--one card, yes or no question only. I recommend these without question whether you “believe” in tarot or not. (I’ve grown out of my quantum woo days and I don’t now think the cards are anything but a fantastic system for self-reflection). This is super long so I’m gonna stop now. Maybe it’ll do for that “what I learned from alt.tarot” post I always meant to make.

#tarot #stories from alt.tarot

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agentargus · 5 years

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More ghost-mutant NPCs because I cannot stop.

Name: Erik Winchester Gibson

Nicknames: Slendy, Techie Scum, Lurch

Designation: Cyber Operations Agent, Archivist Apprentice—Roanoke Society

Mentor: Agent Archivist, Former Agent Alvinne

Security clearance: Case-by-case basis.

Education: MA/MS in computer science from Seattle University, BS in Information Systems from Cogswell Polytechnical College

Height:~6ft 9in

Weight:~200 lbs

Age: ~42, appears and behaves slightly younger due to healing factor.

Likes:

Video games

Trains

Crunchy snacks

Classical music

Cheesy paperbacks

Dislikes:

Talking

Clothes-shopping

Loud noises

Yoghurt

Not being able to fit through doorways (tall people problems. Mun can’t relate.)

I was going to do this in a more creative way but I realized it would require a lot of alternating perspectives to get the whole story written and that’s a lot of work for NPCs who still have a lot of developing to do so I decided to write up something relatively brief. (The irony is that it still ended up being long as f haha. It would have been even longer if I had made it more creative though.)

In addition to going back to some classic creepypastas for inspiration, I finally got into looking into some more locally-minded paranormal legends and it’s quite a wealth of source material so you may see more characters of a similar nature in the future.

Extra special thanks to @theagentofarchives and @roanoke-etc / @spookylilmoonpie for letting me include their characters in the story the way I did. Very long lore under the cut.

Born with standard-fare psychic ability and desperate to grow his power and influence, Andrew Lawrence Rees ran the gamut of involvement with secret societies and cults. After failing the Roanoke agent tests as a young trainee, he attempted to start his own paranormal organization. When that failed, he spent the next few years in and out of various occult and spiritual organizations (including the Church of Scientology) leaving each upon deciding they were scams.

In the late 1950s, Rees took up residence in Italy to research Thelema and study alchemy. While performing a particularly provocative Thelemic ritual taken from the work of Aleister Crowley himself, Rees was apprehended by the

Carabinieri, deemed mentally unstable, and was committed to Poveglia before being deported to the United States. During his brief stint at the asylum, Rees came under the tutelage of Il Dottore. After the asylum closed, he would make more trips back to the island to keep up communication.

In 1960, Rees was declared mentally competent, took up residence in San Jose, California, and began his first experiments. He did not use human hosts at first, preferring less distinctively scientific and more alchemical methods. Passing himself off as an exorcist, he gained the trust of Sarah Winchester’s ghost and began trapping spirits from the Winchester Mystery House. Under the pretext of setting spirits free, he instead contained them and transported them from the house to his lab on Hicks Road using transmutation. The spirits were often damaged by the process and most of the early experiments did not survive into adulthood.

While working with what would become the Berkeley Psychic Institute by day, by night he continued to perform his own rituals. In order to preserve the spirits, he instead began using an interdimensional teleportation unit to transport the spirits.

What Rees didn’t realize was that when each spirit was filtered through the interdimensional rift, they returned with vestiges of what existed between dimensions, things that weren’t meant to be summoned. The experiments created with these spirits had unusual physical features—taller than average, greyish skin and dark scleras without irises or pupils. Little by little, as the survival rate of the experiments increased, they became a family of their own and the lab became a compound of sorts. Soon, the experiments expressed a desire to bring forth other interdimensional energies, if not shatter the boundaries between dimensions entirely.

Around 1976, a young experiment fled the compound. A young drifter named Taylor Gibson found her hitchhiking on Hicks Road and they became traveling companions, marrying at a roadside church. She attributed her strange appearance to a genetic abnormality—technically true—and Taylor didn’t question it. The night their child was born, Taylor fell asleep with the baby in his arms. He awoke to find his wife missing, a strange ink-like substance coating their bed and trailing across the floor. He attempted to file a missing person’s report, but there was no evidence that she’d ever existed. He later moved to Portland, Oregon, where he remarried and had a second child.

Rees communicated to Il Dottore that one of his experiments had returned to the compound, showing signs of having given birth, making Il Dottore realize that his own experiments were capable of bearing children. Rees was finally stopped by Parker Jensen and Dante Argenti during a mission in 2017.

If you were to ask him, Erik Gibson would tell you that he was a completely ordinary, if quiet child. He spent hours at the arcade, the library, or building and racing remote-controlled model cars with his stepbrother, Frank. What unusual situations Erik might have experienced, he always managed to rationalize with a logical explanation. It helped that he only manifested strange physical features late at night, while he and the rest of the household slept.

Nevertheless, others soon began to take notice: One night as a teenager, Erik had left the library later than he’d intended, asking a nearby resident if he could use their phone. Even after being expelled from the house by the fearful owner, it never occurred to him that it the motivating factor might have been fear. (To this day, he is unaware that he was the subject of several of the Portland accounts of Black-Eyed children. He’d only wanted to use the phone.) As he grew older and began staying out later, reports of strange sightings followed in his wake. Any picture of him taken after sundown would blur his facial features completely. Somehow, Erik always managed to rationalize these eccentricities to himself, nearly to the point of delusion.

Though Erik spent most of his life as a skeptic, Frank became more and more convinced of the existence of the paranormal. While Erik studied computer science at Seattle University, Frank became a paranormal investigator. When the first tech bubble burst, Erik lost his job in Seattle and moved to Silicon Valley, one of the few places where tech jobs were still relatively easy to come by. He went back to school, getting a second degree, and by the beginning of the second tech bubble, he was back on his feet. Shortly thereafter, Frank began working at the Winchester Mystery House and moved in with him. That was when things started getting strange.

There was the time the library near Erik’s hotel caught fire, while he attended a conference in the Sterling City area around 2009, then came the letters with no return address that contained indecipherable glyphs. Erik paid these things little attention until around 2017, when Frank did not come home from work one night. The next morning, Erik went to the Winchester House to look for his brother. Instead, he found Parker, Dante, and Hampton apprehending Rees.

Luck was on their side, for Rees revealed that Frank had been taken by the colony while investigating it (partially to prove to his stepbrother that not only was supernatural phenomena real, but an important part of their family.) After Hampton teleported Rees into A Roanoke holding cell, the three went to the colony to rescue Frank.

The three found the colony empty, though Parker and Dante could both sense the presence of something paranormal in nature. They were able to find the underground dwellings of the experiments through trapdoors in the abandoned buildings. Upon finding out that Rees had been arrested, the experiments explained that they had intended to summon interdimensional forces to rescue them from Rees’s abusive testing, but required life energy that could be used as a gateway between dimensions. Erik’s mother claimed to have been visited in a Dream by an entity claiming that having a child with a human would generate the proper energies. Nevertheless after the child was born, she couldn’t bear the thought of sacrificing it. When Rees discovered their plan and that the child had returned to San Jose, he attempted to cast a myriad of spells on Erik, all of which had backfired. Neither Rees nor the experiments gave straight answers when asked what would have happened to Frank if they had gotten their hands on Erik before Roanoke intervened, but it likely wouldn’t have been pretty. After all, supernatural energy manifestation is often the result of trauma. With Rees gone, the experiments were free to do as they wished, but most decided to remain with their family at the compound. Today, the Hicks Road colony remains a popular local legend.

In Roanoke custody, Rees revealed more details about Il Dottore’s experiments in exchange for a lighter sentence. He explained about the Alvinnes: an order of French alchemist witches who were able to keep their life energies in suspended animation after death or to induce reincarnation with their memories intact. Il Dottore had originally intended to recreate their work with modern science, but decided instead to use the technology to develop super-soldiers reincarnated from multiple souls bound together.

Unable to live in denial anymore, Erik began working in Roanoke’s IT department. Agent Archivist took a special liking to him, theorizing that the residual interdimensional energy attached to Rees’s experiments was that of Byagoona, the Great Old One associated with death and reanimation. Deciding that he was probably family, Marie gave him a special job transcribing the archives into digital files, all the while educating him on the history and power of the Great Old Ones.

It was Marie’s training and Erik’s belief in his own abilities that allowed them to grow, his original denial a protective impulse more than anything else. Though his transformations remained mostly cosmetic in nature, they had their uses. He passed the interrogation test by gripping the edge of the building with tendrils as he fell (already avoiding speech in favor of typed dialogue, keeping his mouth shut was probably the easiest part.) Nevertheless, he kept his focus centered on computers, specializing in cyber paranormal activity.

It was all but love at first sight when Erik and Ginny were introduced. Though he worried about the difference in their ages, her pursuit of him continued. (After all, given how ancient some of the society’s members were, a fifteen-year difference simply wasn’t all that much.) After months of unresolved tension, Ginny finally took initiative and asked Erik to buy her a drink, despite the fact that she was allergic to alcohol. As she threw up in the toilet, he wrapped his arms around her, absentmindedly pushing her hair from her face with an inky ectoplasmic tendril. Embarrassed, he nearly bolted from her apartment, but she convinced him to stay. They’ve been together ever since.

There’s a lot more, but this is already much longer than I’d intended so if I explain more, it’ll be in another post.

#muse info

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maximuswolf · 4 years

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r/Satanism Survey Results via /r/satanism

r/Satanism Survey Results

Notes: it wanted $180 to recover all of the “other” results, so the race question has been eliminated and I cannot break down the “other” sections in full, unfortunately. This ended up being more of a practice survey, will do a better one after the turn of the year. I appreciate all the feedback that has been given, all of it will be implemented into the real deal when we do it. Demographic data also will be mainly eliminated next time around, so enjoy it now! I have listed the data in order from most responses to least, and included the original raw data as well. I took the percentages from the data directly where they were large enough, which only uses one decimal place, so if something equals like 99.9% instead of 100% please relax lol. Also left out the political standings, as I only used American terms like a pure stereotype. What you would like to see more of also had to be go, as it was either n/a or other, though I will include the basics. This will be fixed in the “real” one.

Demographics

Age

18 to 24 – 84 – 30.4%

25 to 30 – 61 – 22.1%

31 to 40 – 61 – 22.1%

Under 18 – 36 – 13%

41 to 50 – 22 – 8%

51 to 60 – 10 – 3.6%

61 and over – 2 – 0.7%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/kLLpzvP.jpg

Gender

Male – 179 – 64.9%

Female – 68 – 24.6%

Non Binary – 21 – 7.6%

Do not wish to answer – 6 – 2.2%

Other – 2 – 0.7%

Birth Religion

Christianity – 185 – 67%

Atheist/None – 62 – 22.5%

Other – 21 – 7.6%

Islam – 3 – 1.1%

Hinduism – 2 – 0.7%

Judaism – 2 – 0.7%

Buddhism – 1 – 0.3%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/r6sNG5h.jpg

Sexual Orientation

Heterosexual – 118 – 42.8%

Bisexual – 80 – 29%

Other – 34 – 12.3%

Homosexual – 22 – 8%

Unsure Currently – 18 – 6.5%

Do not wish to answer – 4 – 1.4%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/D9S3jKA.jpg

Highest Level of Education

Some College – 83 – 30.1%

Bachelors – 59 – 21.4%

High School – 52 – 18.8%

Masters – 30 – 10.9%

Associates – 19 – 6.9%

Other – 18 – 6.5%

Doctorate – 5 – 1.8%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/EpYSX7g.jpg

Location

North America – 192 – 69.6%

Europe – 58 – 21%

Other – 12 – 4.3%

South America – 6 – 2.2%

Central America – 3 – 1%

Australia – 2 – 0.7%

Africa – 1 – 0.3%

Middle East – 1 – 0.3%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/DX7lCbF.jpg

Meta Questions

At What Age Did You Discover You Were a Satanist?

15 to 18 – 81 – 29.3%

19 to 25 – 74 – 26.8%

26 to 35 – 46 – 16.7%

Before 15 – 36 – 13%

Not a Satanist – 25 – 9.1%

36 to 50 – 11 – 4%

51 or after – 3 – 1%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/Dd0p2HX.jpg

Art of Animals/Hybrids Sleeping with Humans is…

Perfectly Fine – 172 – 62.3%

Gross – 104 – 37.7%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/GMsdWSQ.jpg

Favorite Content Here

In Depth Discussion – 140 – 50.7%

Original Art/Tattoos – 38 – 13.8%

Memes – 31 – 11.2%

Other – 27 – 9.8%

Recommendations – 25 – 9.1%

Dress/Jewelry (Style) – 6 – 2.2%

Venting Frustration – 4 – 1.4%

Outside Interest – 3 – 1%

Promotion of Specific Orgs – 2 – 0.7%

What Would You Like to See More of Here?

Nothing – 174 – 63%

…Something – 102 – 37%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/HwbBMYp.jpg

Favorite Moderator

Heretic Chick – 67 – 24.3%

Modern Quill – 62 – 22.5%

Kitten Love – 38 – 13.8%

Malodoror – 33 – 12%

Goatsac – 28 – 10.1%

Invisible War – 22 – 8%

ArchangelleBorgore – 16 – 5.8%

Ulvok Coven – 10 – 3.6%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/bcPv7FE.jpg

Satanism Starts With…

The Ancient LHP Predating Christianity – 134 – 48.6%

Anton LaVey – 70 – 25.4%

Christianity and Gnosticism – 53 – 19.2%

The Witch Cults – 14 – 5.1%

Thelema – 4 – 1.4%

Brotherhood of Saturn – 1 – 0.3%

Is the Temple of Set Part of Satanism?

Yes – 166 – 60.1%

No – 110 – 39.9%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/tXL9r2Q.jpg

The Individual Satanist

At What Age Did You Discover You Were a Satanist?

15 to 18 – 81 – 29.3%

19 to 25 – 74 – 26.8%

25 to 35 – 46 – 16.7%

Before 15 – 36 – 13%

Not a Satanist – 25 – 9.1%

36 to 50 – 11 – 4%

51 and after – 3 – 1%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/Dd0p2HX.jpg

Which Have You Studied “In Depth”?

LaVeyan Satanism – 193 – 70%

The Satanic Temple’s Satanism – 155 – 56.1%

Luciferianism – 74 – 26.8%

Gnostic Satanism – 46 – 16.7%

Thelema – 43 – 15.6%

Setianism – 41 – 14.9%

None – 36 – 13%

Draconianism – 19 – 6.9%

Acosmic Satanism – 17 – 6.2%

The Crooked Path – 11 – 4%

Typhonian Tradition – 7 – 2.5%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/ugHz7CK.jpg

Which Authors Have You Read?

Anton LaVey – 209 – 75.7%

Aleister Crowley – 121 – 43.8%

Peter Gilmore – 81 – 29.3%

Other – 64 – 23.2%

Michael Aquino – 57 – 20.7%

Stephen Flowers – 38 – 13.8%

Michael Ford – 35 – 12.7%

Venus Satanus – 28 – 10.1%

Don Webb – 25 – 9%

Kenneth Grant – 21 – 7.6%

Diane Vera – 21 – 7.6%

Michael Kelley – 17 – 6.2%

Thomas Karlsson – 14 – 5.1%

Stansislaw Przybyszewski – 13 – 4.7%

Jeremy Crow – 13 – 4.7%

Dyrendal, Lewis, Per Faxneld, etc – 12 – 4.3%

Andrew Chumbley – 9 – 3.3%

Herbert Sloane – 9 – 3.3%

Peter Levenda – 7 – 2.5%

Data p.1: https://i.imgur.com/Ztx5YCl.jpg

Data p.2: https://i.imgur.com/T5lfXlf.jpg

What Type of Satanist are You?

LaVeyan Satanist – 102 – 37%

The Satanic Temple – 61 – 22.1%

Other – 46 – 16.7%

Not a Satanist – 29 – 10.5%

Luciferian – 22 – 8%

Setian / Kemetic Satanist – 8 – 2.9%

Gnostic Satanist – 4 – 1.4%

Typhonian – 2 – 0.7%

Thelemite – 2 – 0.7%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/QGUJPv3.jpg

How Open Are You About Your Satanism?

Open if Someone Asks – 111 – 40.2%

Closest Circle Knows – 73 – 26.4%

Nobody Offline Knowns – 45 – 16.3%

Openly Identify/Known as a Satanist – 27 – 9.8%

Not a Satanist – 20 – 7.2% (you folks are inconsistent 😊 )

Data: https://i.imgur.com/FSuGqZu.jpg

How Long Have You Been a Satanist?

0 to 5 years – 167 – 60.5%

Not a Satanist – 27 – 9.8%

6 to 10 years – 26 – 9.4%

11 to 15 years – 18 – 6.5%

16 to 20 years – 17 – 6.2%

21 to 30 years – 16 – 5.8%

31 to 40 years – 5 – 1.8%

Do You Practice Satanic Ritual?

No – 145 – 52.5%

Psychodrama – 76 – 27.5%

Theistic Ritual – 55 – 19.9%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/dViW4Ig.jpg

Self Assigned Ranks (I kept these in the traditional order)

Not a Satanist – 35 – 12.7%

Neophyte – 131 – 47.5%

Adept – 75 – 27.2%

Priest – 22 – 8%

Master – 5 – 1.8%

Magus – 3 – 1%

Ipsissimus – 5 – 1.8%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/2DrcsHI.jpg

Materialism, Idealism, and Dualism

Dualism, both mind and matter exist – 177 – 64.1%

Materialism, only matter exists – 73 – 26.4%

Idealism, only the mind exists – 26 – 9.4%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/nOBGfM2.jpg

Meaning Is….

Self Created – 199 – 72.1%

Nonexistent – 39 – 14.1%

Objective – 38 – 13.8%

I Believe In…

No Gods – 128 – 46.4%

I Am the Only God – 81 – 29.3%

All Gods – 30 – 10.9%

Hundreds of Gods – 20 – 7.2%

A Single Pantheon – 11 – 4%

One God – 6 – 2.2%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/Wt2sYoA.jpg

Do You Have an Altar?

No – 161 – 58.3%

Yes, an open one – 67 – 24.3%

Yes, a hidden one – 48 – 17.4%

Have You Read the Sticky?

I remember something about that… - 96 – 34.8%

Every one I’ve been here for! – 93 – 33.7%

What is the Sticky? – 87 – 31.5%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/dLs0xtX.jpg

Moral Dilemmas

Trolley Problem

Pull the Lever – 213 – 77.2%

Do not pull lever – 63 – 22.8%

Terminally Ill Relative’s Fortune

Leave it to fate – 222 – 80.4%

Ensure you get policy (kill dying family member) – 54 – 19.6%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/PmNoUHX.jpg

Friend With a Bad Significant Other

Voice Concerns – 217 – 78.6%

Stay Silent – 59 – 21.4%

Data: https://i.imgur.com/5JyFq4e.jpg

Submitted November 03, 2020 at 07:07AM by Purple-Tatters via reddit https://ift.tt/2JqpKpC

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maddiviner · 7 years

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Witches use a variety of tools. The most common are the four weapons. They’re associated with the elements and represent aspects of a witch’s skill.

These are the chalice, athame, wand, and pentacle.

These tools correspond to the four elements - Water, Air, Fire, and Earth. They’re used by the witch to shape reality. Witches use them in many different workings.

Separate traditions associate them with the elements in unique ways. Some switching occurs for the attributions of the wand and athame. Here, we’ll be associating the athame with Air. This is the most common correspondence for it. You can learn more about other associations from those who use them.

These tools (and their elemental attributions) are only symbols. They carry no power in and of themselves. An athame is just a small knife. A chalice is merely a drinking vessel. They are powerless without the Will of a witch. The witch must imbue them with meaning and turn them into conduits for higher forces.

These weapons are not required for effective witchcraft. Yet, they can be helpful in maintaining focus and bypassing the psychic censor. (More on the Psychic Censor here.)

The Weapons are potent symbols for the four elements, parts of a witch’s being, and other concepts.

The Witch’s Pyramid (explained above) contains useful concepts. It helps to encourage our self-development and magical understanding. These are a series of loose goals that many witches hope to embody.

Fourfold concepts exist throughout the Western Magical Tradition. The elements tend to correspond well with other fourfold systems. Many Hermetic scholars connect the four elements to concepts within the Hermetic Qabalah, too.

It’s hard to pinpoint the origin of the association between the elements and these tools. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn popularized the idea. So, the weapons have their roots in ceremonial magick. Aleister Crowley, was very fond of these concepts. He wrote about them in “Magick in Theory and Practice”.

Gerald Gardner, a student of Crowley's, spread the concept amongst witches. Gardner founded Wicca and spearheaded the revival of witchcraft along with it. With that came the emphasis on elemental weapons in witchcraft.

These particular correspondences were, before, rare amongst witches. Historically, witches didn’t use them often, but people like Crowley and the Golden Dawn did.

This is often done in the context of ritual, but you can use them for improvised magick, too. The point is to connect with them, and allow them to connect to the force of the elements themselves. Thus, the tools act as "portals" to the power of the elements.

The Wand

My tradition and practices associate it with Fire. Some associate it with Air, but you will have to read about that elsewhere from someone who does!

Almost everyone associates wands with magick! Wands are a conduit for your own volition. They’re very active tools! Fire is associated with the witch’s Will, hence wands corresponding to it.

Standard wands are as long as the witch’s arm from elbow to fingertips. Wands of this length are practical: easy to brandish and wield. Traditional materials for wand-making vary. Metal, or a symbolic type of wood is often used (and sometimes both). It is common to use wood from a fruit-bearing tree, like apple or almond.

Friends of mine have made their own wands! Often, gathering wood for a wand is a ritual in and of itself. Witches are typically careful to avoid undue harm to the tree.

There are quite a few rituals for gathering wand wood, from different traditions. You can find metal wands in specialty shops. I’ve noticed many metal wands tend to be copper. Copper is conductive, so this is probably chosen as a symbol for the flow of power.

In some traditions, the wand is actually a large staff. These always seemed somewhat impractical to me. They are also much more difficult to get, make, or wield. Still, a lot of ceremonial rituals include them. Many practitioners are indeed comfortable using them.

So, how are wands used? You can use a wand to direct the flow of energy. It can be useful to visualize power coalescing at the tip of your wand. Then, resolutely point it at an object. Picture the power flowing from the wand to enchant the object. I used to use my wand to direct power to craft a subtle boundary, like a magick circle.

The Athame

As mentioned, this is sometimes associated with Fire, but I associate it with Air! These days, the word “athame” usually refers to a knife used in ritual and witchery.

Knives can be dangerous. I associate them with Air, the element of intellect. Why? Like a knife, the intellect is a penetrating force. It is capable of harming or helping. This dual nature is an excellent symbol for the often shifting intellect.

In Wicca and some other traditions, the athame is a double-edged knife. Most often, it has a black handle. The word athame itself appears in medieval grimoires to refer to a ritual blade.

Gerald Gardner popularized the term among the witchcraft community. He had probably read the grimoires that use the term, and chose it as a word for the ritual knife in his tradition.

Despite that, the word has now come to mean a magical dagger. Wicca definitely popularized the term. Even non-Wiccan witches often refer to their dagger as an athame, though.

Sometimes, practitioners will instead refer the knife as an “air dagger.” The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn prescribes a complex ritual for creating one. They do this by imbuing an ordinary knife with power. Similar rituals exist for empowering the other weapons, too.

Older ceremonial traditions prefer to use a sword or larger knife. As with the staff, those are impractical for many of us. Witches in particular often seem to prefer the dagger to the sword. This owes to Gardner’s influence and his lore surrounding athames. It is also, of course, an issue of practicality.

Chalice

The chalice or cup is a vessel. Since a cup holds liquid, it is easy to associate with Water. It is also a receptacle, which mirrors the passive yet powerful nature of human emotions.

External sources can cause drastic emotional changes. This is analogous to a cup receiving liquid. We, as human beings, are chalices in a way, and our emotions are the water. We hold our emotions, yet they ebb, bubble, and flow within us.

Some traditions use a cauldron, instead. Cauldrons in some ways may be less practical. But, they’re quite useful for creating a large quantities. A cauldron is best used in situations where a large amount of liquid is necessary.

Many pagan witches associate the chalice with Cerridwin’s cauldron of wisdom. Even non-magical Christian traditions use chalices in rituals. Some associate them with the Holy Grail and the story of Parsifal. Some scholars believe that the Grail story is a Christianized version of a pagan legend.

Chalices can hold wine, water, grape juice, or anything you like. In ceremonial magic, they often hold blessed wine. This practice has also become common among witches. They should be regularly cleaned, though!

They can also hold offerings to spirits, potions, or other magical liquids. It can also be anything that holds water. It could even be a drinking horn or seashell! Many witches will find a nice goblet or wine glass and consecrate it to act as the elemental weapons. That’s what I did, myself!

Pentacle

The pentacle is usually a flat disk inscribed with a pentagram. A pentagram represents the four elements (as well as unifying Spirit). It represents all Earthly elements and Earthly life as a whole. In many traditions, Earth is the “lowest” element.

This isn’t bad - it means the Earth is a receptive element that the rest flow into. A pentagram, then, represents the combined force of all elements. So, many associate it with the melange we call Earth. Carving the pentagram into a clay or wooden disk solidifies the connection to Earth.

For many witches, the pentacle is a flat disk made of preferred material. In ceremonial magick it is sometimes called a panticle. In that case, it sometimes depicts more than a pentagram. Some practitioners will design their own ornate panticles with their own symbols. This is common in Thelema and the A.’.A.’.

You can make a pentacle from many materials! These include stone, metal, wood, etc. Many ceremonial magicians carve them from wax. Witches should do that more often! It’s fun, and easy, but not as common. I’m not sure why! It’s a great way to make a pentacle or panticle.

These are easy to make with a bit of clay or some wood, and it’s pretty fun to do. I made one back in college using the college’s kiln and supplies!

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