The Starry Cave

C ain - First born of Eve with Samael, beloved by Eve’s midwife Lilith Cain - First Sorcerer and the beginning and end of all corruption by motion. Cain - Mysterious child of Azazel, -spawned by Lilith and then given to Eve.   Cain - Son of Lilith begotten through the light and seed of Adam, nursed and raised by Eve. Cain - Accursed son of Even begotten by the seed of Shemyaza Cain - Nursed by Lilith, his mother and wife. Cain - Ancestor of cymbals and tong who made the anvil and coals his throne Cain - Man of Nod and Exile, forger of weapons and jewelry Great Father of Beauty and Seduction Are you not Legion and One? Cain - Father of my Blood - my accursed ecstasy you are! My Hand, Eye, Heritage and Land you are!  Amen! Cain and his pivotal role in the first murder and sacrifice are crucial and integral to the mystery of the worlds. In the apocryphical text The Penitence of Adam we read that the consummation of the fruit that gave knowledge of good and evil led to a ruptu...

“Define me – and I shall escape it…”                                  -  Liber Combusta No matter how much we try to define what ‘witchcraft’ is it will still preserve its mystery – and I believe this is how we recognize the presence of the traditional pedigree that constitutes the witches’ arts and crafts. At the core of what defines a witch we find the mark and the blood. No matter what continent we turn to we find that the icon of the witch is steeped in otherness. She or He is that which escapes definition and by this linguistic poverty the western tendency is to paint the witch with diabolic strokes and the ink of forgotten nights – and indeed; the witch is a child of night – because it is in the night – under the rule and breath of the Moon – that the ancient blood is quickened. The idea of the witch or sorcerer being someone not of this world, something unruly, untamed and potentially de...

“… And his father’s fire was quickened in him  & he became god and seed for the accursed race.  The fire running like blood in the silence of night and time…” - The Red Gospel -             Cain’s greatness and importance is not to be found in the lies of his heritage but in the divine blessing given on his brow, which can be equated with a particular form for instant awakening.  Cain’s awakening was the realization of his role in the world, a great task given to him as he realized who he was, whose blood pounded with purpose in his soul.  In Cain a particular blood was found and this blood is popularly referred to as ‘witch blood’. The blood and the realization of one’s Fate mirror each other and for Cain his Fate was to be absence manifested. He had to be to one who marked the other and the one who moved and transformed the stillness of beginning so the world could have motion. By the first sacrifice, by blood flooding the ea...

Pomba Gira is more than just a coquettish spirit with a southern temperament, so much more than a Latin cousin of Lilith – she is the embodiment of all complex possibility we find in mortal woman. It is here in the field of flesh and soul merging with land and motion she finds herself in a constant flash of the spirit and inspires mankind by revealing the kingdoms of passion and blood as map for the route of self. Her question is always; who are you - and she reads your answers in the ways you judge the world and yourself. She is the precaution in our wishes and desires, the danger of dreams becoming reality… Like the Holy Spirit she is an intoxication that invites dreams and prophecy, like the legions of Venus under the embrace of Mercury himself she can provoke mastery of life or slavery to the passions that drive you mad and frantic with life. How you see her is often how she sees you and from this a relationship is build on the premises you come to her temple with. I mean, if ...

An interview with Shani Oates, Maid of The Clan of Tubal Cain. In the Isle of Albion midlands, in the shires around Derby that gave birth to D.H. Lawrence the landscape and taverns throbs in memories and history. As we walk the countryside Roman and Saxon remains abound everywhere as we walk the limestone caves at Cresswell Craggs where mound and hill is covered with archangels who drapes the landscape in celestial breath with their golden petals. Here we also find numerous burial mounds from the Bronze Age and quite a few stone circles. It is a magical land, vibrant with blood and memory. Derbyshire is also where the botanical genius Erasmus Darwin (yes, Charles’s grandfather) was born and founded here the Lunar Society and gave the world books like ‘The Botanic Garden’ and ‘The Temple of Nature’ – books many have unfortunately forgotten. This is also the haven of Shani Oates, the Maid of The Clan of Tubal Cain – and it is here in the comfort of her own enchanted garden that w...

“Unappreciated ability becomes devitalized, breeds a self-indulgent sickness—a self pity that suffers alone. ” – Austin O. Spare We live in a world where man’s dissatisfaction appears to be a chronic condition. Like wounded crows and tigers we ramble around in jungles of stainless steel and fear. In search of our voice and mind, in search of kindred of spirit and lost lovers we roam the nights and tunnels of this world in search for what affirms our beauty, grace and purpose. A man or woman void of appreciation and purpose will eventually create a purpose; it be bound in lies or the knotted cords of Fate. If the purpose is being created from the ‘unappreciated ability’, the disease and suffering it breeds will of course be that most unfitting attribute of any sorcerer or sage, namely self-importance of the most boring kind. This way ward self importance often comes with a boastful and venomous tongue that tries to contaminate the world with its devitalizing venom.

On Robert Cochrane and the encounter with Fate The bane that Cochrane chose for himself, and the ally he went away with can speak to us about the influence of Saturn and Moon in Cochranes life. He chose to go away tempered by Saturn and use the road of the Moon in the ally Belladonna. Maybe in the choice of ally to take him away to the Hidden Company we can understand more about Cochranes approach to the heart of the matter. The Circle of Tubal Cain and thus understand the magical polarities in his pellar craft, that he demonstrated in ways that seem to be odd as far as his ritual suicide is concerned. The polarities I have in mind are those between Chance or Fate and Wisdom (both in its female octave as well as its demanding form of the Horned Lord) as can be seen in the mysteries held within the realms of Tubal Cain and Lady Fortuna.  There is a sixteenth-century French engraving that is striking in the case of Cochranes understanding of Fate as Goddess. In this engraving, d...