The Eighth Sermon to the Dead

The title of this post comes from this article , where Mr. Samuels is discussing the literary merits of weird fiction, and why reducing it to social commentary or personal characterization has diminished the genre. The title got me to thinking about Gnosticism, however. The gnostic myth is a horrible story. The Demiurge is at worst evil, at best incompetent, and generally has it out for humanity. The Archons rule our lives with no regard to what we need, but are rather cosmic forces blindly going about their tasks with no regard for who is hurt or even how their tasks affect the rest of the cosmos. They care only for their spheres, and not the wider cosmos, and it's up to the incompetent or evil Demiurge to keep the whole thing running. It is the image of imperfection. And in the world, we see this born out: Life must consume life in order to survive. Our time is limited and we fritter it away on things which do not matter. Even death may not be a release, as our material fo...

Today, I am giving a speech on this event . It's supposed to be a humorous and entertaining speech. I think this qualifies UPDATE: The speech got pushed until later.

We, as humans, like binary dichotomies. Black and white. Male and Female. Positive and Negative. This and that. Etcetera ad nauseum. Reality, however, does not like absolutes. Grey, for instance. Intersex. Quantum Mechanics. 'Tother. Etcetera ad ridiculum. So, we are faced with a world that we falsely like to lump into binary dichotomies. Us vs. them. Christian vs. Atheist. Straight vs. Gay. Science vs. Religion. As if the extremes of these two poles are the only positions we can take. We see this in simplistic depictions of Gnosticism. Us vs. Them. Matter vs. Spirit. Magician vs. Mystic. Demiurge vs. Christ. Gnostic vs. Christian. However, we are exhorted against falling into the false dichotomy trap. "They said to Jesus, "Then shall we enter the (Father's) kingdom as babies?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower" Gnostics shou...

I have to admit, I've never thought of Atlantis much. However, Thursday Night I was treated to a lovely introduction to the subject at the Hermetic Fellowship.  In a speech called " Mention My Name in Atlantis ", which is the title of a humourous book by John Jakes, our speaker brought us through the various mentions and memes of Atlantis, from the first days to the geographical and historical searches for the lost city. Atlantis is first mentioned by Plato, in the works Timaeus and Critias . From Timeaus: This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; and there was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was larger than Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounded the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of Heracles is only a harbour, havi...

So, I'm in a city where I don't know many esoteric people. I emailed a few folks before I left, and someone wrote back to me. The Alombrados Oasis 's secretary wrote to me, and told me they were having a public Equinox ritual, and that I was welcome to attend. So, I asked when and where it was. They told me the address, and said it would be at 5 am. Since the Equinox technically happened at 5:02 am, I thought "Fine, they're going to start right at the Equinox". What happened next was all my own issue. 1) I thought it was going to be a firm start time of 5 am, and was prepared to be a little early. 2) I thought it was going to be in the ritual hall. 3) I didn't ask any questions. So, I show up at the address at 5 am, ready to ritual. I have an Esoteric Book Conference t-shirt and my bag, as I'm assuming the ritual space will be rather warm. I'm the first one there. All the doors are locked. Ok, now what? I called some folks, I rang...

So, a quick follow up on my Spirits of Place post. I said I did an invitation to the spirits of each element and I had a spirit for each introduce themselves. I want to elaborate on the Earth spirit I encountered. I'm using runes to find names, and so I draw runes, and when I get two consonants together, I try vowels until I get one. The name for the water spirit was particularly lengthy, but the Earth spirit's name was a single letter. A vowel. So, I greet the spirit, make an offering, and get a visual. The spirit is a blue feathered ox or bull, with a big smile. It's very jovial, and is glad to be talked to. It would appreciate more varieties of plants around the property, as the property has plenty of hazelnuts and juniper, and it would like to see some other things. It approved of the plants we'd already brought in: geraniums, and a spider plant. I don't usually share a lot of my meditation images with other folks, but this time I felt moved to tell Paddy ...