Search Term Shoot Back, September 2014

I get a lot of hits on my blog from across the realm of the Internet, many of which are from links on Facebook, Twitter, or RSS readers.  To you guys who follow me: thank you!  You give me many happies.  However, I also get a huge number of new visitors daily to my blog from people who search around the Internet for various search terms.  As part of a monthly project, here are some short replies to some of the search terms people have used to arrive here at the Digital Ambler.  This focuses on some search terms that caught my eye during the month of September 2014.

Before I start with the actual search terms, I’d like to point out that September is generally the month of Virgo.  And yes, if you’ve kept up with the other Search Term Shoot Back posts, then you can probably guess that I’ve gotten a large number of queries involving the Greek god Hermes, the Zodiac sign Virgo, men, and huge dicks.  These search terms are a thing (though I can’t fathom why).  I can’t really speak to whether Virgo men generally have huge dicks; I have my reasonable sample size of them (that I’ve sampled in more than one way, ohhh my), of course, and I can’t draw any good conclusions one way or the other.  Hermes is a god, and generally speaking everything involving the gods is big, so, yeah.  Anyway, onto the more legitimate queries!

“how the moon affect the invocation of angels?” — In my experience, not much, but it depends on the angel you’re calling and for what purpose.  The only times astrological phenomena have negatively interfered with my conjurations of the angels is during periods of Mercury retrograde, when the voices of the angels tends to be more distant or unclear or I might get the wrong spirit in the crystal, but it’s a problem that’s easily worked around.  I’ve also noticed that the angels of the zodiac tend to like being conjured when their sign is rising or culminating, but that’s another issue.  Rather, the Moon affects the purpose of conjuration.  Generally, you want the waxing Moon to bring things into manifestation or achieve worldly ends (since the Moon is reflecting more of the Sun’s heavenly light to the Earth), and you want the waning Moon to take things away from the Earth or achieve spiritual initiations (since the Moon is reflecting more of the Sun’s light away into the heavens).  The Full Moon is good for opening up clear communication and all matters generally, while the Dark Moon is good for obscurity, binding, and hidden matters generally.  I haven’t noticed Void of Course Moon affecting conjurations themselves, but again, consider it as part of a larger project rather than in conjuration alone.

“crucible omnimancers” — The Omnimancers are good people who do good work, and I’m hanging out with them this coming weekend at Crucible Convention 2014 in Princeton, NJ.  More than that, I’m speaking there this year on my mathesis research!  You should totally come by if you’re anywhere in the mid-Atlantic US region during this weekend of October 4.  Not only will you get to meet me and the Omnimancers, but you’ll also get to meet a slew of other awesome people and magicians!

“the great book of saint cyprian pdf download” — You can do so for $10 off my Etsy!

“roman alphabet with english translation” — Technically, English already uses the Roman alphabet.  We use the same letters, generally speaking, as the Romans did for Latin, and have for at least 2500 years or so.  We’ve developed a few extra letters since then (J which is a variant of I, and U and W which are variants of V), and other languages written with the Roman script have developed others (like Nordic and Germanic languages, which use Æsh, Þorn, Eð, Ƿynn, among others).  Still, for a comparison between how the Romans used the alphabet and how we English-speakers use it, compare their corresponding pages on Omniglot.

“greek god sigils” — The Greeks didn’t use sigils for their gods; they may have used special characters to represent the language of the gods or the barbarous words of magic, but they didn’t have seals or sigils like how we developed them for the angels.  The more traditional way is to use isopsephy, or Greek gematria, to reduce their name to a number and use that as an esoteric symbol for them, or you might use my Greek Sigil Wheel to make a sigil for them much as how the Golden Dawn uses their Rose Cross wheel for Hebrew sigils.

“venus conjuration to bind someone to love you in angel magic” — So, while I understand what you’re trying to say, the way this is phrased irks me.  Technically, Venus is not an angel, so you can’t directly use Venus in angelic magic.  Venus is either a Roman goddess or an astrological planet, magically speaking.  Depending on your mythology and theology, you might consider the goddess Venus as an angel or deity subservient to the One, but this is somewhat rude and a little brusque when approaching her.  Instead, you’d want to contact the angel presiding over the sphere of Venus, whose name is Haniel (in Cornelius Agrippa) or Anael (in Pietro d’Abano’s Heptameron).  That’d be the spirit you’d be conjuring.  Second, binding someone to you in love magic does work, but logistically speaking, if you have to compel someone to stay with you, it’s probably not that great.  It’s like how the saying goes, “love is like a fart; if you have to force it, it’s probably shit”.  Rather, while Haniel (or Saint Cyprian, for that matter, since he’s known for love spells) can do love-bindings, you’d be better off smoothing things out so they’d willingly want to stay without the need for compulsion or impelling them, or using Venereal energies to put you in the right place where you’d find the truly right person for yourself.  But hey, if you know what you want, by all means, reach for it however you want.

“joseph lisiewski vs poke runyon” — I’d pay to see this cagematch.  If I recall correctly, Poke Runyon was in the Army, so if his radio show and magical lifestyle haven’t kept him too sedentary, I’d put my gold lamen on him (even if he can be delightfully crotchety).

“the greek way to bless your house from spirits” — So, an ancient Greek household would have three principle gods: Hestia (Lady of the Hearth), Zeus Ktesios (Zeus of the Property), and Hermes (protector from thieves).   What you’d do is have a small herm, a square pillar with a phallus on the shaft (heh) and a bust of the god on top and place it at the gate or entry to the property; this represents Hermes, and he’d watch out for thieves and robbers and keep them away; after all, he rules and leads them, so he can also lead them away from your house.  You’d have Hestia’s shrine set up at and as the hearth of the home, and a bit of every meal as well as a bit of every sacrifice made to any other god was always reserved for her both at the beginning and the last of the worship.  Zeus Ktesios watched over the property in general and its prosperity, but specifically over the pantry, and he’d have a special ktesios jar made as an offering to him as a matter of prosperity.  I really should get around to making a herm for my house and driveway one of these days, and I’ve already written about Hestia earlier this month; I haven’t gotten around to experimenting with Zeus Ktesios yet or ktesios jars, but I may in the future.  Beyond that, it helps to do a monthly cleansing ritual on the Noumenia or on the date of the new moon itself by sprinkling holy water around the house, lighting incense, and making offerings to one’s ancestors and household spirits besides Hermes, Hestia, and Zeus.  I keep thinking that there’s a ritual to get rid of unclean spirits by throwing beans and the like from the entry of the house outside into the street, but I may be conflating traditions here.  Generally speaking, if you have a good relationship with Hestia, Hermes, and Zeus, your house is basically going to be protected and blessed.

“isidore seville chaplet” — Chaplets, or a short prayer rule often done with a set of prayer beads, are an excellent devotion that the Catholic Christian tradition uses, and I’ve written up chaplets for the archangels Jehudiel, Barachiel, and Sealtiel as well as for Saint Cyprian of Antioch before.  However, not all saints and angels have their own chaplets, and there’s no set rule on how to pray them or make them; they’re basically personal devotions.  The most common form of chaplet is the “niner” chaplet, which consists of a medallion of the saint, three sets of three beads, and sometimes a crucifix; you pray the Lord’s Prayer, the Glory Be, and the Hail Mary on the three beads of each set in the honor of and seeking the intercession of whoever is on the medallion.  You can use this as a chaplet for Saint Isidore of Seville who, as far as I know, doesn’t have a specific chaplet form for himself.  I may get around to writing one up one of these days, however, since he’s the patron saint of the Internet and is pretty important in most of our modern lives.

“how big is the magical circle to be draw by trithemius” — Interestingly enough, Trithemius (really, Francis Barrett, since this ritual historically wasn’t likely to have been written by the pre-Agrippan Christian abbot) doesn’t specify how big the magic circle should be.  He specifies that the Liber Spirituum (Book of Spirits) must be about seven inches long, and that the crystal ball should be about an inch and a half in diameter, but those are the only concrete sizes he offers.  Presumably, the magic circle should be large enough to comfortably fit two people, one to conjure and one to scry, though I’ve only needed space enough for the altar and myself.  Thus, a circle about 6′ in diameter should be made at minimum if you’re including the altar in your circle, like I do under Fr. Rufus Opus’ instruction; alternatively, if you’re like Fr. Ashen, you might want the altar outside of the circle, in which case you don’t need as big a circle.  The most well-known size of circle is that from the Lemegeton Goetia, which specifies a circle 18′ in diameter, which is huge.  The rule of thumb I’d go by is, so long as you have enough space to expand your arms without breaking the circle and as long as you have enough space to hold all the gear you need, you have a big enough circle.

“big grids penis image” — …I don’t even.  Like, what, are you looking for low-resolution pictures of penis? Do you have a video compression fetish?

“saint cyprian nine days novena” — Yes, there are novenas for this good saint (as I’m sure many of us are now aware, now that the season of Saint Cyprian is done), and you can find a collection of them in my Vademecum Cypriani ebook, which you can buy off Etsy for US$9.00.  Just a note, however: traditional practice says that, when you’re timing a novena to a saint’s feast day, you normally coincide the final day of the novena with the feast day itself.  The process is a little different for Saint Cyprian, since people culturally do his novenas on the nine days before and not including his feast day (the Days of the Cyprians, the nine days between the Feast of Saint Cyprian of Carthage and the Feast of Saint Cyprian of Antioch).  Generally, time the final day to the feast day itself.  However, both of these rules are superseded by the more important rule of novena timing: whenever you need to do one.

“st cipriani evil saint magic” — I detest the notion that the saints can do “evil magic”.  They’re saints; by definition, they’re holy, and what’s holy is not evil.  That said, depending on how you ask, they might be more lenient to granting certain favors.  I mean, some of the saints are morally flexible.  Some are so morally flexible as to be part of a philosophical Cirque du Soleil.  After all, when you have the power of God to intercede with, theodicy becomes less a problem to puzzle out and more a resource to exploit for profit/prophet.

“hours and days for conjuring oriens” — Oriens is commonly known as a demonic, daemonic, or hellish king of spirits in the East (his name means “East” in Latin), and Cornelius Agrippa mentions him in his Scale of Four as a prince of spirits associated with Fire under the archangelic king Michael (book II, chapter 7).  Since Oriens is a sublunar spirit, planetary days and hours don’t need to be used for him, though since he’s associated with Michael who also happens to be the angel of the Sun, you might consider days and hours of the Sun for him.  Beyond that, though, I don’t think there are any special times associated with this spirit beyond what you might need for other works involving him (cf. the moon/invocation query above).

“enochian angels seals, digital-ambler.com” — You won’t find any of those on this site, I’m afraid.  Partially it’s because I have my hands full with so much other stuff, angelic and otherwise, but mostly it’s because Enochiana freaks me the fuck out.  I honestly can’t say why; it’s not the stories that people have told about furniture getting upended by Enochian angels (that’d actually be kinda awesome), or how people go crazy (they probably already were), or whatever.  Something about Enochiana just wigs me out and makes me uncomfortable, and I’m not sure why that is, nor do I particularly care to explore the reasons.

“can i use solomon seal drawing to summon spirits” — Absolutely not.  The Seal of Solomon is used to bind, constrain, and constrict spirits, like keeping them trapped in a prison.  You do not use it to summon them.

Alright.  Now that September is done and the Season of Saint Cyprian with it (though of course there’s always more Work to do), now I get a few days of rest before heading to Crucible this weekend.  Hope to see you there!

Crucible Convention 2014!

Of course, October’s second-biggest event in my life (the first being that noble and highest holiday of my own birth) is still happening: Crucible Convention, as always held by the generous and amazing Omnimancers, this year on October 4, 2014 at the Crowne Plaza Princeton in Princeton, NJ.  Tickets are $40, or $45 if you go to the convention banquet, and the hotel has a discounted rate until September 19th if you want to get a room.  Getting a room is heavily suggested (the hotel discount code is CRU), since occult talks, socializing, and antics go on well until the night, and the Friday night mixer is fantastic to hit up.  If you plan to get the dinner, do so early, since spaces are limited.  The convention schedule can be found here, and you can log in to register here.

Last year was my second year going, and it was a fantastic blast with good knowledge spread and good stories made; my first year was no small amount of fun and education, too.  This year promises to be even better, especially because yours truly is giving his first talk!  Yes, polyphanes will make his conference talk debut at Crucible Convention 2014 on (predictably, given the recent string of posts on it) “Mathesis: Towards a Greek Kabbalah”.  The class blurb from the Crucible Convention class schedule:

Although the traditions of ancient Greece provide the foundation for most Western occulture, the use of Greek techniques and tools is underrepresented in modern Western magic, especially that which falls under the banner of Hermeticism.  Most Hermetic magic practiced today is based on the studies of those who focus on the Jewish mysteries of kabbalah.  While the spiritual technology and philosophy of Jewish, Christian, and Hermetic kabbalah has been invaluable to the development of Hermeticism, Hermetic occulture does not make the best use of kabbalah as Jewish kabbalists do, and even then, kabbalah may not be the best fit for the modern non-Jewish Hermeticist.  As a non-kabbalistic alternative to the practice of the Great Work, polyphanes will discuss a new approach to Hermetic magic using an innovative theurgical and cosmological framework based on Pythagorean and Neoplatonic philosophies called “mathesis”, meaning “teaching of the mysteries”.

If you’ve been keeping up with the posts here, then you’re already ahead of the game (and there’s much to do and explore before I give the talk), but I also want to disseminate this topic as much as I can, since it’s kinda sorta my crowning project at the moment.  I don’t want to pontificate too much and start a schismatic group intent on divorcing Hermeticism from kabbalah, but I do want to give people something to think about, that “hey, there might be other ways to do Hermetic stuff besides kabbalah”.  Not only will it get a much-needed conversation going, it’ll also help in getting feedback from others and improve the system even more.

Save the date, preregister, and come to support me (and a bevy of other fantastic speakers, including my own personal colleagues) at Crucible this year!

Crucible Convention 2013!

It nearly slipped my mind, but chatting with Pallas Renatus recently reminded me that Crucible Convention is coming up soon!  Held on October 26 this year in Somerset, NJ, it’s a convention for mystics, mages, magicians, and occultists of all kinds, traditions, and breeds.  I highly suggest going, especially since they have a new venue this year.  Tickets are $35 for the event and $5 extra for the catered dinner, and as of this writing hotel rooms range from $120 to $300 per night and depending on how fancy you want to get (the suites have bidets!).

Last year was fun, and I’m looking forward to another awesome year this time around.  If you’re interested in going and staying the night (which I highly recommend you do, since events can sometimes last well into the night), let me know and I’ll see if anyone I know going can share a room or arrange one with you.

Also, in case this isn’t quite your magical schtick or you’re on the West Coast, you might be interested in going to Stone and Stang, held earlier in October this year in Simi Valley, CA.  It’s aimed at non-heterosexual men’s spirituality, and I’d probably go if I had the travel budget for it, but perhaps next year.

Birthday Weekend Wrap-Up

I probably tricked you all into thinking I’ve been fairly active lately with the blog, given the large number of posts that’ve gone up recently ranging from orgone to magic circles to philosophy in magic.  Truth be told, I was working out a huge input of Mercurial force in my life from the cazimi election last month, and hot damn did it make me active with minor projects and writing, not to mention social.  I had some posts scheduled for the past week or so, mostly so I could enjoy a pleasantly long birthday weekend.  (God bless my mother for ejecting me from her loins on a federal holiday weekend.)  Yes, dear reader, I am now one year older and undergoing my fantastic second Jupiter return, along with a Solar and Cytherean return!  Astrologers in the crowd, you have my permission to feel old now.

Between getting drunk on presidential debate drinking games, going to a spa with friends, catching up on a few conjurations and trips to other places both physically and astrally, it’s been a blast these past few days.  The big highlight of the weekend was going to Crucible Convention, a yearly conference of mages, magicians, pagans, occultists, and other workers in the Ars Arcanorum.  It was fantastic to meet people that I’ve only read or met online through chats or the blogosphere: Pallas Renatus and his beautiful lady, Frater Rufus Opus and his glorious seeress-cum-partner, Tolderoll’s erudite and classy swank, Jason Miller’s awesomeness, and others.  Part of what made me feel so happy to go was the sublime discovery that these people I read, look up to, and follow on the Internets drink, cuss, and fuck around just as much as I do (God bless the world and all its wonders).  Plus, there was enjoying about twelve hours of panels, workshops, and discussions, helped out by caffeine and gin:

  1. “Space/Time Magic 101” by Taylor Ellwood.  This was a telepresentation, done over Skype, which was fitting for the topic.  However, the hotel wireless in the convention area was spotty at best, which led to a very disjointed presentation (also, perhaps, fitting).  However, despite the name and technical difficulties, I thought it was more appropriately focused on probability magic, which is something I’m interested in that not many people seem to know how to do or explain appropriately.  Mr. Ellwood went over a few sigil-based techniques to enhance probabilities of certain events over others, chaining sigils together to bring several unconnected events into manifestation together, and how to work with alternate realities in subtle but useful ways.
  2. A panel on “Balancing and Polarity in Modern Magic”.  This was hosted by a variety of people, two of whom I follow on the blogosphere somewhere and one I got to meet at the convention.  This wandered all over the place, and was less on polarity as it was different methods to achieving a goal; in a sense, the talk seemed to focus on largely between right-handedness and left-handedness (occult chirality?  occhirality?) in getting shit done with tangents on male/female, sex/gender, purity/eclecticism, and other kinds of balances than what some people might’ve meant.  Really cool talk, and it showed off how different people are in their approaches and styles of talking, which helped for the rest of the convention.
  3. “Magic and Anthropology” by George Hansen.  A real academic treat!  Mr. Hansen went over lots of topics in anthropology, mostly focusing on the power magicians get socially from their marginal, “between and betwixt” state.  Between the poles of religion and science, God and man, man and beast, and life and death, we find magic everywhere in all kinds of society.  It’s this between-state in which magic can be found, but also cryptozoology (Bigfoot, yetis, Loch Ness monster), ufology (flying saucers, alien abductions), poltergeist and ghost activity, and other kinds of paranormal activities which can often appear to be interrelated.  I wish I got a set of his handouts, but the dude was a fantastic presenter.
  4. “Financial Sorcery: The Lightning Glyphs” by Inominanum (Jason Miller).  Although “Extreme Lightning Sorcery” was deemed too pompous even by this fantastic sorcerer, Mr. Miller went through part of his new Financial Sorcery material with lightning speed and precision.  The Sixteen Lightning Glyphs were revealed to him by the god Jupiter to help bring more good, Jovial things into the world, and range from money-drawing to pure luck symbols.  Really cool stuff, and he ended the presentation with a simple-but-potent ritual to Jupiter.  The place was buzzing and damn near electrical with the woo, which was fantastic.
  5. “Angels, Demons, and Magicians (Oh My!): Hermetic Hijinks on the Emerald Road” by Fr. Rufus Opus.  RO’s Pentacostal past has done him good; he was fully taking on the persona of kickass priest-king of the world and preaching the good word of Hermetic philosophy and theurgy.  He recapped his experiences, the Neoplatonic cosmology, the place of man in the cosmos, and any number of anecdotes from his life.  While the last presentation created a jolt of Jupiter in the air, this really rarefied it and cemented it.  Seeing and hearing what RO’s done is a real inspiration, especially for one who’s taking his classes and studying this stuff on his own.  Sitting with other members of his courses was fun, too!
  6. “Magick, Language, and Numbers” by Shawn Knight.  I…actually didn’t go to this one, though I expected to.  I was getting more shots of gin with Rufus Opus, Pallas Renatus,  and their ladies.  Lovely chats all around, though.

After this, a few cigarettes, and some wandering about, there was the party and the rest of the night.  Leaving early the next morning was a shame, since I’d’ve loved to stay longer and get breakfast with the folks there, but now I know.  Next year, perhaps…?  Anyhow, beyond the above panels and discussions, I also learned a few other interesting things:

  • Furries and occultists effect similar fashions and act similarly at conventions.  Must be a geek thing.
  • It’s really amusing to overhear a conversation between one’s HGA and one’s patron god in their head while they’re having drinks.  Sometimes one’d be dismissive and uninterested while the other was all engaged and excited about something going on around them, and other times they’d be debating something and making the other drink more.
  • Conventions go much better drunk.  Duh.  I should have recalled this from my other con trips.
  • Everyone likes gin, just maybe not straight.
  • Everyone lines more gin with their gin.
  • If anyone ever offers you a drink named “the Balrog”, especially offered in an empty jug and labeled with blue painter’s tape, DO NOT ACCEPT THE OFFER.  Holy mother of fuck.
  • The Omnimancers, the group that hosts Crucible, are a fantastic and tightly close-knit gang.  Might I have any Omnis in the audience?  Speak up, because I may have questions for you in the future.

And now I need to start heading to bed and rejoin the world again.  This was a fantastic vacation and break from the usual, and to all those who helped me out, who made me laugh, who’s now a friend or a better one than before, thank you!  You’re ringing in this 24th year for me quite fantastically already!  Now I need to get back to crafting and reading my new gobs of books, shucks.