The Eighth Sermon to the Dead

It's spring, and we have goat kids! They're cute little balls of fluff, and the last time I saw them they'd mastered backing up but going forward was a bit of a mystery. I don't have a lot to write today. The boys are home from Hawaii, the goats have been born, I'm building a chicken coop, and Paddy will be working a lot this week so I made the menu. I'm immersed in the day to day, so the astral, celestial, and divine has to be found in the farm, the kitchen, and the airport. It's always there. It's always responding to the divine within me, reaching out, making connections. If I let it.

Two years ago, I wrote a series for Holy Week that I think was pretty good. I'm not going to try to out do it, just repost it for your reading pleasure. Palm Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday And Easter

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...

From the Red Book: Ammonius: "Guard against being a slave to words. Here is the gospel: read from that passage where it says: In him was the life. "What does John say there?" I [Jung]: "'And life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not understood it. But it became a person sent from God, by the name of John, who came as a witness and to be a witness of the light. The genuine light, which illuminates each person, came into the world: He was in the world, and the world became through him, and the world did not recognize him.' -That is what I read here. But what do you make of this?" A: "I ask you, was this ΛΟΓΟΣ [Logos] a concept, a word? It was a light, indeed a man, and lived among men. You see, Philo only lent John the word so that John would have at his disposal the word ΛΟΓΟΣ' alongside the word 'light' to describe the son of man. John gave to living men the meaning of the ΛΟΓΟΣ, but Philo...

I am applying for a home loan. I have never seen a more archonic system than that of applying for an FHA loan. 50+ pages of paperwork that repeats itself incessantly. Immense burden of debt. The irony of the 'Paperwork Reduction Act.'  It's hilarious and terrifying all at the same time. So why am I doing it, you ask? I have a family, and our Landlord has decreed we must move out on June 15th. He is well within his rights to do so under the system we live in, so my family gets uprooted at the whim of the owner of the property. So, I wish to become the owner of my own property, so my whims can be considered once in a while. Like, my whim to live in one place. My whim to make improvements, change colors, raise animals. However, to actually own property, one must take part in the system which decrees there are owners and there is that which is owned. And that system is not built to make the process easy. The cost of land and houses where I live is ridiculous, ranging fr...

Gordon, over at the ever erudite Rune Soup, has an article about what he'd like done with his remains  when he passes from this life. I've had some thoughts on this very topic myself, which I'd like to share. Do not cremate me. I did a meditation the other day from Jason Miller 's Strategic Sorcery Course called "Dissolving into Fire".  That was the single most disturbing magical ritual I've ever done. It was incredibly valuable, but in that sort of way that hitting your finger with a hammer teaches you to be more careful where you're putting your hand and the hammer at speed. In the exercise, you're supposed to imagine your body being burned away, starting at the skin, ending with the bones carbonizing into ash and only pure flame remaining. I was able to visualize the process clearly, and it made me realize that cremation is not for me. Neither is dying in a fire. Just not the way I want to go, nor have my remains handled. I did the ...

Don't forget, we have some wonderful books about angel summoning for sale: First, the books by Joseph Wolf,  il miglior fabbro : Angels at your doorstep : exploring summoning elemental angels in a simple and effective ritual. I have had wonderful results with this book, and recommend it to anyone as a gateway into angelic summoning. The Illuminated Circle: Volume 1: Leo , Volume 2: Virgo , Volume 3: Libra : For the more experienced summoner: methods of talisman consecration, summoning, and group ritual working with the angels of the Shem ha-Mephoresh (angels of the 5 degrees of each sign). The books are amazing, the rituals are effective and deep. Second, my own short work: The Hall of Nanael: My own experiences with the Shem Ha Mephoresh angel Nanael, in Kindle and Print formats. Thank you all for reading!

Verse 137 of Hávamál reads: I trow I hung on that windy Tree nine whole days and nights, stabbed with a spear, offered to Odin, myself to mine own self given, high on that Tree of which none hath heard from what roots it rises to heaven. My people come from Northern European stock. I have always considered myself Austrian/German, and figured we were fairly unimportant farmers throughout history, as such things go. My Great-Great Grandfather, Jeremiah Rassbach, moved to Wisconsin from Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. Rumor has it he was Pennsylvania Dutch (Lutherans, Mennonites or Amish). Rumor has it he married a Native American, and that's why he moved from the relatively settled East to the wild Midwest. Rumors abound. There are a number named Roßbach in Germany and Austria, and spellings vary. However, chances are my people are from somewhere in that area. My mother's side is a mix: Norwegian and English. My Grandmother was from the Pope family, and all I know is tha...

It's no secret that I like a good game. My current obsessions are The Hoard of the Dragon Queen scenario in Dungeons and Dragons from Wizards of the Coast, and Settlers of Catan .  Both of these have a relationship to Gnosticism. Any game relates a bit to Gnosticism. You're a real person, but you voluntarily step into an imaginary world with artificial rules that constrain your behavior, and you attempt to use those rules to defeat your opponent(s).  From dice to cribbage to chess to Azad , every game has these similar constraints. There are rules, and violating the rules causes you to step outside of bounds, become a 'cheater', and usually is a refusal of other people to play with you. In the end, the outcome of the game usually doesn't have a great deal of effect on your life outside the game. I mean, if you're betting you might get a few extra dollars, or you may gain renown as a great Player of Games, but ultimately there's no great change, other than...

Yesterday, I posted on my facebook: I have encountered an error I cannot comprehend. Sounds like it's time to go home. I have two sets of friends: Technical, and esoteric. The technical folks assumed it was a computer error, and sympathized. The esotericists thought I was making a profound gnostic comment on the nature of reality, tongue in cheek of course. I'm continually struck how much my interest in esotericism is overlapped by my interest in technology. Both groups are often researching obscure areas and sources of knowledge, for bits of information the vast majority of humanity does not care about, in order to produce a result that may or may not be observable by anyone else. We work with immaterial objects to produce subtle effects that create huge differences to those who can see them, but the vast majority of folks it looks like 'luck' or 'easy' or 'why didn't I think of that?' And then, when people want something, they think it...

So, part of my Lenten practice this year is to write every weekday. I was going to write Saturdays as well, but I've noticed that I'd rather play Settlers of Catan with my family, so I've modified it to every weekday. I missed two weekdays last week, because I was writing, but not on the blog. I decided what I wrote on those days (A book, and a journal) count. Writing when you don't want to write is difficult. Today, I simply have nothing I want to say, yet I have an obligation to write. Is it better to remain silent, or to fill the ether with chatter, musing about my inability to write. I know a lot of writers do exactly that, so it's nothing new. It's an odd feeling, to have a lot of things going on (house, book, family, farm, work) and have nothing to say about it. Perhaps it relates back to my love of and more or less complete failure to enact stoicism . Maybe I'm just too private. It's spring, and the daffodils are in bloom. Everything is...

I did not set out to write a book about my experiences with the Shem ha-Mephoresh. However, when talking to Nanael , I was encouraged to get this experience out there quickly, and in a more permanent form than a blog post. I've got a print version on the way, the only version currently is the Kindle one, because kindle is very quick to get from final draft to print. I will not say this the most intense spiritual experience I've ever had, but it has a different quality than the other times I've done this ritual. It was in a group setting, and the imagery was very clear. Usually, these experiences are very dream like, sort of vague and fuzzy. This one was intense and quite clear. The angel, his environs, his words, and his purpose were all quite clearly communicated as was the desire for them to be transmitted further. The gnosis in this book is definitely personal. It's my experience encountering a being who's nature is manifestly different than my own. There are...

So, no posts for two days. Traffic really falls off if there's no post: From a peak of 133 to down to around 40. Data is fascinating. I haven't posted for two days, but I HAVE been writing. In fact, I wrote a book.  And published another. The book I published is The Illuminated Circle Volume 3: Angels of Libra . It's the third book in the Illuminated Circle series, which includes Volume 1: Leo and Volume 2: Virgo . and one of the most interesting in my opinion. It contains a group ritual for summoning the Shem haMephoresh angels. I've taken part in this ritual many times (in varying formats over the years). The reason I find these books so fascinating, and the work so valuable, is because my own experiences using the material are so clear. To give an example, I've decided to share one of my own experiences in book form. That book is in the process of wending it's way through the labyrinthine Amazon approval process*.  Check back here for links when it...

I received my copy of Gateways through Stone and Circle by Frater Ashen Chassen not to long ago. (I still owe you a selfie, frater!). I've read the introduction, and the account of the summoning of Cassiel. It read much like my own summoning of Agiel (an angel of Saturn, instead of the Archangel). There were quite a few similarities in the accounts. I also read the introduction, which mentions that this is an obscure hobby. It truly is, and the fact that I know about 50 people who practice it is a testament to the power of the internet to join together people who have obscure interests. Rufus Opus just recently mentioned  that we don't know how magic works, and that terrible things can happen as a result of doing the operation he proposes (7 spheres in 7 days). I recently did an planetary ascent cycle, where I contacted each planetary sphere on it's day, in ascending order (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday in two week cycle). It gives a day...

This was a very busy weekend out at the farm. On Saturday, we tried to melt aluminum. We ended up destroying the forge. Apparently, there was moisture in something, and we had some explosive boiling of copper in a used crucible. The flower pot was destroyed. Later, I went to the funeral for a brother here at my local lodge. He was an older brother, but a recent mason, only since 2006. The funeral had a good turn out of Masons, probably 35. I wasn't there for the opening of the lodge of Sorrow, nor was I able to get an apron, as they didn't have enough. But I was able to march in with the brothers, and attend the graveside burial. The words are archaic, and yet full of meaning. "We have called the roll of the workmen, and Brother N. has not answered to his name." The ideas may seem simplistic these days: Life eternal, removed from sight but still existing, the eternal Grand Lodge above. Never the less, it makes those left behind think: What will I leave behind?...

I've been having a discussion online about the Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel, by whatever method (Bornless ritual, Abremelin, etc). I did the Abremelin ritual some time ago. It's an 18 month working, where you pray morning and night, trying to become purified enough to summon the angel and join with them, to have a spiritual ally and assistant, to realize your place in the hierarchy of the spiritual world. One of the main outcomes of this working, was that I am not doing magic anymore. I'm living it. Absolutely everything seems to happen in a spiritual framework as well as a material one. When I eat, or sleep, or build something, it has effects and ramifications beyond the simple act, into spiritual world and back to the material. And I'm cognizant of some of those ramifications. Not all of them, but many. My spiritual work seems both more effective and more ... informal. Meditation happens at different times, and ritual doesn't take ...

Last post, I talked about warding the house, claiming a space, and ordering and offering spirits. Many folks of an egalitarian orientation ask 'what gives you the right?' Quite simply, I claim the divine right of kings. I was baptized a Christian as a baby. As such, I have a part and an inheritance in the Heavenly realm of the Father, in which there are many mansions. As an adopted member of the family, I am granted the rights of a prince, a child of my Father. Naturally, I can't overrule a direct order of the King, nor even distract a servant of my Father's when on a direct errand. That said, a great number of other beings are subject to my will, as long as my will does not counteract my Fathers. As the prayer says, 'Thy will be done.' So I can summon an angel, and ask it to help. In my cosmology, angels are the servants and messengers of the Most High, and if they're not doing anything else, they can give me a hand, as long as what I want is in align...

I've lived in 23 locations since I was born.  (Illuminati Fans, take note!) I've owned two. I've had non-relative roommates for eleven. Thirteen have been with significant others (wives, girlfriends). I've never really felt at home anywhere. I think that's the Gnostic's curse, a bit of wanderlust in this material world in which our soul is trapped. I started doing wardings for the house in 1999. I started simply: Just having a mirror on the door. At first it was just a mirror but at one point I did get an actual Feng Shui Bagua Mirror (pictured right). I started warding because I moved into a house built during WWII, and it was heavy with memories and echoes and various other things. While I was recuperating from a surgery, I had lots of images of disabled and elderly people all wandering around the place. When I got better, we bought the mirror for the door. Now, I ward as a matter of course. It's usually a spiritual demarkation of "This is my spa...

Penny and Clover eating foliage I like goats. As far as our animals go, they're very productive and not very drama filled. You basically put them on pasture with enough  greenery, and they just eat, poop, give milk, and breed. But there's more to it than that, of course. They get parasites. They need their hooves trimmed. They break their legs. Like every animal, they have issues. Compared to the smaller ones, though, they seem to have less. Maybe that's just because I have less of them than the smaller ones. Also, we generally don't kill the goats. They are milk goats, not for meat. So, they have babies, and they eat grass, and that's about it. Last weekend, our little goat Robert (that's him, orange on the back of the llama) broke his leg. He's what we call a Wether, a castrated male goat. As such, his job is basically to take care of the intact male goat, called a buck.* We have two other wethers, so he's sort of redundant as to his purpose....

I completely missed posting on Saturday. We were at an all day Rugby tournament, then we did some metal work, then farm work, we had a goat with a broken leg that we had to put down, then... Not from this weekend, but you get the idea. The day got away from me. Living where we do, it's rather difficult to keep connected via internet. Our main method of connection requires a radio tower. Which works fine, as long as the wind isn't blowing. The winds get up to 80 MPH, so that's an issue. So, we do a lot that isn't on the internet. We have been melting metal again (Pewter mostly, but a bit of copper and aluminum). We've been upgrading the farm equipment (need new locations for birds, clean cages for rabbits).  Moving goats to different pastures. Going to rugby tournaments (we have one in Bend this year. Can't wait to go to that one!). So, real life engagement is a much higher proportion of my day. That's unique for me. I used to live on the internet...