8008

Speaking of Gnosticism, someone on a mailing list that I read made a post about the etymology of the term "Demiurge" and it got me thinking. I had always thought that the "Demi-" just meant "lesser" or middling, as in "demigod", but Wikipedia (backed up by my old etymological dictionary) says:

Demiurge: the Latinized form of Greek dēmiourgos, literally "public or skilled worker", from dēmios "belonging to the people, public" + ergon "work", and hence a "maker", "artisan" or "craftsman"

Emphasis added. Really says it all, I think.

And definitely adds some kick to the old phrase "The God that Failed":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_That_Failed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=622773
 

8008

As of 8:33 PM, my revelation to this lackluster world is complete.

Publication will follow swiftly.

Watch this space.

 

8008

Went to a party at Jason and Andrea's yesterday. It was supposed to be a barbecue but turned out not to be. There was some food, though. I took macaroni and cheese and five-layer dip. Most of the guests were Andrea's family and old co-workers from various places. I did finally meet her sister, who apparently likes me. A lot.

Anyway, I am working on the penultimate chapter of The Black Ship. It is really the last essay, though, because the final chapter is a summary of and commentary on Book Four as a whole. Each of the Books ends with one of those. So, yes, this is the end and it is the most intense part of the whole work. To my mind, at least. It deals with "Chaosmology" and starts with an overview of Gnosticism as a preface to what can best be described as the "Lovecraftian Scientology" that follows. It will be awesome.

Trying to go back to my old strictly carbless ways. It has only been a couple of days now and I already feel better.

8008

Just three chapters left for The Black Ship. Two of them will be an effort, but the other one will be short work. So! Very, very close.

English version will be published by me and should come into being over the summer. I found a German publisher that I like the look of. Now, I just need to find one for the Japanese.

And then everything will be different.

8008

I am in the process of ordering some long-overdue replacement cds. Just now, the UPS truck brought me:

Nature Unveiled (Current 93)

Dogs Blood Rising (also C93)

The Velvet Underground & Nico

I am about to take some melatonin and curl up for the best nap ever.

8008

I recently mentioned here that I was reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. A couple of days after finishing it, I watched the film called Jumper that is currently available on cable to us pre-dawn channel-surfers. The connection is that this opening narration from the film:

Let me tell you about my day so far. Coffee in Paris, surfed the Maldives, took a little nap on Kilimanjaro. Oh, yeah, I got digits from this Polish chick in Rio. And then I jumped back for the final quarter of the NBA finals - courtside of course. And all that was before lunch. I could go on, but all I'm saying is, I'm standing on top of the world.

8008

Writing has slowed a bit because I have been immersed in this very happy book called The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. It is primarily concerned with work and business, of course, but I can see that its principles and techniques can be applied to many areas of life. Anyway, it is giving me many good ideas about how to launch The Gold Protocol (and other things). I am also happily surprised to learn how many of my Apocalyptic functions can be outsourced to India.

Also, I made some lime-gingerade and it is delicious.
 

8008

Went to a party last Saturday. I am not friends with any of the hosts' other friends, but it was still OK. Especially as I do not get out much anymore.

The last part of The Black Ship is really coming together and I am definitely feeling the pride and excitement. There is nothing else like this book out there. The only thing that I can compare it to, in terms of scope and intensity, is Bertiaux's Voudon Gnostic Workbook but The Black Ship is more direct and coherent. Maybe Carroll's Liber Null & Psychonaut is a better comparison, as far as being a New Thing for its time and scene. Anyway, it is Serious Business and I am more delighted with it than I had even imagined.

A week after the Hecate ritual, I have had a couple of anima-type dreams and rather synchronously came across Suspiria on television a few days ago. That is all, so far. Last night was an extended Ancestor service, being May Eve. The next Bime operation will go down once I have collected the needed items. In June, I have that big anniversary (ten years in the Temple, five years of the Covenant) to celebrate and the plan for that is coming together.
 

8008

In a recent entry here, I wrote:

I am not looking at this as a Reconstructionist. I am more on a quest for MY Hecate than that of the Greeks or Romans.

This quest grew out of three components of Initiatory endeavor:

1. The interest in a feminine analogue for the masculine godforms of the LHP that relate most closely to my own practice.

2. The desire for a mythological analogue of my own Anima.

3. The need for a more appropriate and more stimulating alternative to Crowley's Babalon in my own resolution of the issue of the Abyss and its Crossing.

With regard to all of these points, but especially the third, I was quite inspired by A'ano'nin as described in Linda Falorio's Shadow Tarot:

http://www.shadowtarot.net/sht26.asp

Hecate is mentioned there, off-handedly, but I did not start thinking of Her immediately. Falorio's description of A'ano'nin was just slightly different from what I had in my mind (you will not find me worshipping nature anytime soon, for example) but was otherwise almost perfect. It helped immeasurably in redefining the Goddess-type with regard to the Abyss, which was now interestingly only a hair's-breadth in difference from my redefinition of the Arch-Devil (Noznoroch). This seemed appropriate to me that the essential choice to be made within the Abyss should be so seemingly microscopic in difference but so radically divergent. But that is another topic.

Anyway, to work with the idea of A'ano'nin in a practical way, I started to break Her down, so to speak, into basic types of Work that relate to this concept of the feminine. What ended up happening was that I got some inspiration of the "fictive arcanum" type from Dario Argento's Three Mothers trilogy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mothers

...and realized that these three "Mothers" could be reinterpreted as patrons of the three primary areas of Work that I had developed from the concept of the feminine expressed by A'ano'nin.

Mater Suspiriorum: breath and energy work

Mater Tenebrarum: altered states, dreams, art/aesthetics

Mater Lachrimarum: sexual magic/yoga

So, then thinking of these three witches is what originally got me thinking of the trimorphic Hecate. And so, when I (on a different line of Work) did the initial Goetic operation concerning Bime, Hecate was somewhat fresh in my mind and I was able to see a lot of overlap between the two. With that having happened, I determined to pursue Her directly.

And that is where I am now. Last night being the New Moon, I performed a rite for Hecate that included what is called a Hecate's Supper. I baked a small cake as a sort of plate for some eggs and cheese that I topped with garlic, rosemary and black pepper. That and a goblet of wine were the offerings. These were then taken to the crossroads. I happen to live one house over from a crossroads that is ideal for such operations. It is a crossroads of three roads, as the lore recommends. The roads are laid out like the shape of the number 4, which defines a triangular, liminal island in the center. The food offerings were placed within the triangle and the wine was poured out at its points.
 
And now, we will see how things go as the moon grows.

8008

As I continue reading Psyche & Matter, I am encouraged by von Franz's notion of Jung's "collective unconscious" being like the old idea of the "world-soul" and being tied in with the material realm. She feels that this is the basis for Jung's concept of synchronicity - that when something stimulates the collective unconscious at any point, the reaction can ripple out anywhere.

The reason that this idea is exciting to me is because The Black Ship is designed to stimulate several very powerful archetypes: the (Black) Sun, the Mandala, Fire, Blood, the "Magical Race" and so on. As the book finds its way to its proper readers, their efforts will stimulate these archetypes from multiple points, sending out enough ripples to whip up a respectable psychic sea-storm.

Or at least that is the idea. My own theory of the "collective unconscious" and its relationship to physical reality is a little different than that of Jung and von Franz, but it amounts to much the same thing.

 

8008

Yesterday was my birthday, as we know, and fate gave me a gift. Skimming through Psyche & Matter last night, my attention was particularly drawn to the essay "Symbols of the Unus Mundus" where I found the following quote:

"The best-known symbol of this kind is the astrological horoscope. From the very beginnings of alchemy the horoscope's circular structure was identified with the prima materia and with the goal substance of the alchemical process. In the treatise of Komarios (probably first century A.D.) it is said that the prima materia is an analogy of the firmament and its twelve sections, that it is shaped like a wheel or whirl and consists of an all-pervading substance."

Excellent.
 

8008

The vessel turns 39 today.

Added a new step to last night's weekly Ancestor work. When I took the old offerings to the crossroads to dispose of them in the care of the cthonic spirits, as I usually do, I included Hecate as head of those spirits. Recent Hecate research showed that what I was already doing was traditional to the Hecate cult, so I just took the step of doing it in name. I will also do a Hecate-specifc rite at the new moon.

Speaking of Her, I found the essays that make up that $200 book all online. Score. I have enough information, though. I am not looking at this as a Reconstructionist. I am more on a quest for MY Hecate than that of the Greeks or Romans.

Book Three of The Black Ship is nearly done. Book Four has one chapter already done. So, the thing is very nearly complete as a whole. Today's mail brought Marie-Louise von Franz's Psyche & Matter, which is research material for Book Four.  I am about to leave for Jason and Andrea's house, though, so will probably not get a chance to look at it or to do any writing tonight.

 

8008

I mentioned in a recent entry that I am doing a fairly thorough and intense analysis of Setian Priesthood (both in general and as applied to my own ministry, specifically). Part of that process is coming up with a system for handling I* Setians and facilitating their Becoming II* Adepts. The system needs to define the common elements of the process, as I see them, while still being flexible enough to apply to unique Individuals. Over the past couple of days, I have come up with one. It has eleven steps and combines things from my own I* days, my first two II* Recognitions as a Priest and some things from Life Coaching. I look forward to testing it out on live subjects.

The very first thing that I will have them do in this new process is to read and discuss Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, Self-Reliance. There are two reasons for this. The first is that it is just about the best expression of Left-Hand Path thought that I have ever come across. The second is that it comes from a source that is considered so "normal" and "Americana". That shows that material can be found in a wide variety of perhaps unexpected locations and is not all found in ye Blasphemous Tomes of Forbidden Artes. A third reason might be as an initial filter. If they do not get this essay, they are not suited to the Work. At least not with me.

8008

I am suddenly able to see a lot of overlap between Bime (the Daemon) and Hecate (the goddess). This connects a whole lot of dots.