The Starry Cave

You can walk down the main avenue And you can laugh Point fingers And feel good In the misery of others Those who are in the same misery Where you are That misery you don’t see Because you raise your head Or drop your balls... Or why not do both Raise your head and drop Your balls Show some tits for Good measure And see who comes along See who stay There in the dusty crowds of your Tap dancing As you dance the world as A tango Or as a rumba Until the rhythm hits you As mirrors upon waters Or as hammers of despair Just to remind you that Life is a dance One step honey The next step wormwood So you can raise your head in honey And drop your balls in wormwood Or not You can also Walk down the main avenue And feel good Sharing the same ship The same canoe With all the gibbering And dancing Down the road As you t...

I am not doing many book reviews, but from time to time publications shows up that are worthy to bring some attention to. Hadean Press published two worthy volumes recently that for quite different reasons, but bound in a thread of commonality, make them well worth to read – and keep. The thread of commonality is about ‘tradition’. Traditionalism is also known as perennialism; what is eternal and timeless. We are speaking about words given voice and ink on basis of being rooted in this timeless truth that lies at the core of tradition proper. These two books unfold in the entire spectrum of celestial and infernal – and in this is found parts of their beauty. They demonstrate the importance of Heaven, Hell and Earth - not as categories of exclusion - but inclusion...   The first book is Talia Felix’ translation of the French Grimoire Le Petit Albert , T he Little Albert, that like many other French grimoires influenced the Western and Caribbean magic in dramatic ways. Th...

Dear Friend, You wrote: “In respecting and accepting our ancestors, there is a struggle in that for many of us, our ancestors come from diverse cultures. Within these cultures they worshiped various deities, and had diversity in beliefs on life and the afterlife. Many people's more recent ancestors were Christians, or some branch of the Abrahamic faiths. How can we ensure that we respect their traditions and cultures as we also try to revive the old beliefs? Do you think that people should incorporate the gods from all their ancestry?” Reverence for ancestors consists in generating a connection across the veil that separates the dead from the living. This is commonly done by offering up light, incense/fumes and food and drinks the ancestor appreciated when they were alive. It is also helpful to place on the shrine dedicated to the ancestor’s tokens they were attached to and also symbols of their religious faith. In doing this we create a sacred space that will ca...

Witchcraft; it seems to have become a meaningless term — a catch-all phrase for everything pagan and sorcerous at core. We have the nostalgia of some, the desire of a return that leads to the recreation of forgotten mysteries and yet others to yield to an infatuation of nature where Nature becomes the temple and purpose. Yet others hail to the diabolic and embrace in witchcraft a ‘counter-nature’ for their aspirations while others see in witchcraft the continuation of Murray’s ‘Dionysian’ fertility cult celebrating a Great Mother.    We find the term ‘witchcraft’ being used as a reference for pagan ways, for naturalism and for a host of practices of a darker strain. In all its varieties the idea of witchcraft gets deluded, enriched and amputated by the diversity of practice and inclination that seek this label – and it might be so that the witches’ art can be taken by anyone, just as anyone can teach themselves a trade or handicraft by a few books. Yet others walk o...

Dear Friend, Parts of your letter read as follows: “I have a question regarding spirits, initiation, and systems of magic.  I have always felt strong connections to these realms of the other, but I have had a hard time with these systems.  Sometimes in my mind I have become connected or imbedded with these principles or forces, but when I attempt a system, it feels so unnatural to me that I feel inside of myself a kind of urge to leave it be and to just shatter it and to directly connect somehow through my own methods developed very intuitively and organically with hints here and there from readings and sources.  I like to think I do not have trouble with the philosophies and the concepts, but when I attempt to use a system it feels completely wrong. ...  I know many people would deem this to be dangerous... Also, I have another question regarding spells.  For instance, if someone wishes to create a work and it involves killing.  I do not wish...

Without doubt the most frequent question I receive concerns ‘fusing of pantheons’ and questions like, “can I incorporate spirit/god/demon X in the eclectic system I created”? In other words it is about eclecticism and it is about treading one’s path and making one’s life unique. While a pragmatic outlook often serves the seeker well – I have great reservations with eclecticism due to its power to mix the planes and invite confusion in all possible directions.  In the process of discovering ones uniqueness many engage in the pursuit of ‘making one’s own system’ and we see odd eclectic hybrids take shape, what I call ‘jigsaw faiths’.   There is nothing wrong in eclecticism per se, if we are mindful about how and why we elect our choices. The problem with eclecticism surfaces when we elect on basis of self-reference and engage in mindless syncretism with the only goal being to give a religious or magical support to our self-construct. I would say that modern theosop...