The Eighth Sermon to the Dead

Someone today asked me these questions: Just why is Gnosis important? How is it useful? And why bother at all? It was a good set of questions? This is my answer. Gnosis is salvation. This knowledge of God, this acquaintance with the Divine is what saves us from a world of systems, archons, and basic bullsh!t . By knowing at a deep, experiential level, that we are all part of the divine and that we're all trapped here together, helps us in our day to day life (we know other folks can't help their failings, and cut them some slack. We also cut ourselves some). We can be healthier, happier, less stressed, less cruel. It saves us from ourselves. It saves us from the anti-life, anti-humanity, anti-virtue culture that we are surrounded with. As within, so without. When we must do something unpleasant, we try to do it in the way that is least hurtful. When we must do something good, we do so with the maximum amount of joy. We see in those the world considers least, the refle...

My girlfriend has a food blog. As part of her expanding into the weird, wide world of internet food writing, she's encountered a lot of people. What I've been most surprised at is the number of people who are afraid of things relating to cooking. "I'm afraid of cardamon (or cumin, or saffron). I don't know how to use it, I've never used it." "I'm afraid of making my grandfather's recipe. What if I screw it up? What if I don't like it?" What's with the fear? It is food. Granted, some food can be dangerous to people with allergies, but most people realize that. These are relatively healthy people, dealing with ingredients that are uncommon in the U.S., but common just about everywhere else. And the fearing to make the grandfather's recipe boggles the mind. Why wouldn't you make it, and reconnect with your roots? Sorry, A break in the 'Luck' series to question it a bit. Are there simple things you fear to do...

Ok, so there are four principles to having good luck manifest in your life. The first one is Maximizing your Luck Opportunities. What does this entail? Well, there are three basic parts to this: Build a strong "network of luck" Have a relaxed attitude toward life Enjoy new experiences So, what does this mean? Well, to build a strong 'network of luck', you have to go out, meet people, and be interested in them just for the sake of meeting people. Extroverts tend to be lucky. They meet a lot of people, they talk a lot, and when they meet people and talk to people who can help them, they manage to make the connections they need. The Relaxed attitude toward life means you're a) open to spur of the moment or new things, and b) not too wound up when things go wrong. You don't hold grudges, you're not neurotic about what people think about you or what the future holds. You roll with it. Go with the flow. You have a goal, but the route is open. Enjoying ne...

When most people think of luck, they think of either superstition, like a lucky rabbit's foot, or chance, like winning the lottery. When they think of influencing their luck, they think of rituals or superstitions. However, at least one psychologist in Britian took some time and studied the phenomenom, of why some people are lucky and why some are not. What he found was surprising. He found Four psychological principles (and several sub principles) that lucky people have in common: Maximize Your Chance Opportunities Listen to your Intuition (lucky hunches) Expect Good Fortune Turn your bad luck into Good I really want to explore these a little more, and see how I end up putting them to use in my own life. I feel I've generally had good luck, and I generally expect good fortune, so I've got some of this down. I'm going to work through the book and the exercises in it, and see what if my luck improves. What does this have to do with gnosticism or magic? Well, I fin...

"There has been much research proving that most viruses, fungi, and bacteria cannot live in the presence of many essential oils, particularly oils high in phenols, caracrol, thymol, and terpenes. Just a .2 percent concentration of lemon oil and vinegar can kill Staph - even the antibiotic-resitent varieties. Eucalyptus, lavender, tea tree, grapefruits seed extract, lemon and oregano essential oils kill MSRA and E. coli on contact. Thieves Oil has been proven to kill 99.96 of unhealthy microbes. Obviously, the medical, pharmaceutical and chemical industries and Donald Rumsfeld don't want people to have this information. The oils should be stored in glass vials/bottle and stored in a cool, dark place. Don't leave bottles open: the lighter, volatile molecules evaporate quickly, leaving the heavier molecules in the bottle. The evaporation changes the chemistry of the oil, making it less beneficial. I have been using Thieves Oil for almost eight years now. The formula that wo...

I come to you, oh Blogosphere, with a question: When supporting medical care for chronic conditions with energy work, magic, etc., what sort of guided imagery do you use? I'm looking at starting some guided imagery to help someone with a chronic condition, and am wondering what sorts of imagery are effective, both for the practitioner (to get in the right headspace) and to tell to the recipient. Anyone have any resources/books/advice?

I've had a hard time locating these, so I'm putting them here for easy location later. Hopefully, they can be of some help to people later. Mercury: כוכב חמה [ko-chav khamah] Venus: נוגה [no-ga] Earth: כדור הארץ [kadur ha'aretz] Mars: מאדים [ma'adim] Jupiter: צדק [tzedek] Saturn: שבתאי [shab-tai] Source: http://muqata.blogspot.com/2009/11/name-that-planet-in-hebrew.html I'm adding: Sun: ש מ ש [Shem-esh] Moon: לבנה [Le-van-ah]

Be thirsty heart, seek forever without a rest. Let this soundless longing hidden deep inside you be the source of every word you say. -Rumi

Shine until the two become one.

I've been coming across prayers. I have some friends who are having bad times, going through disturbances and tribulations. I post this for you, and for myself. For I see myself in the first section of this prayer. Edit: Apparently, I missed the end of the prayer. Also, I put in a bit of history about it. Sir Francis Drake Prayer Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true Because we have dreamed too little, When we arrived safely Because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when With the abundance of things we possess We have lost our thirst For the waters of life; Having fallen in love with life, We have ceased to dream of eternity And in our efforts to build a new earth, We have allowed our vision Of the new Heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, To venture on wider seas Where storms will show your mastery; Where losing sight of land, We shall find the stars. We ask You to push back The hor...

Immortal, Eternal, Ineffable, and Sacred Father of all things, who is carried on the chariot rolling without cease, of the worlds which rotate always. Ruler of the Etheric Plain where Your throne of power is exalted and from whose heights Thy formidable eyes discover everything and Your beautiful and saintly ears hear everything. Harken to Your children whom You have loved from their birth through all time. Since Your lasting, great, and eternal majesty shines brightly over the world and the starry heavens, Thou art raised above them. Oh, sparkling fire! There You light and maintain Yourself in the appropriate splendour. There comes forth from Your being never-failing streams of light which nourish Your infinite spirit. This infinite spirit generates all things and makes this inexhaustible treasure of matter which cannot fail to procreate that which always surrounds it because of the forms without number with which it is filled and with which You have filled it since the beginning of t...

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! In esoteric updates: Writing a paper on Christology, playing with my voices of the saints playing cards, and thinking about what Jason Miller and +John Mabry said about being paid for your services and how to offer them.

I'm beginning to understand why esoteric aims are undertaken in silence. Most of the people out there are not sympathetic towards the aims of the esotericist. That's simply the way it is. Also, participation in internet forums is a drain on your energy. At least, on my energy. Sigh. I've met some very knowledgeable and informative people. I've also met some obstinate curmudgeons. Sometimes in the same people. Ah well. I'm in the final 6 months of Abremelin anyway. Perhaps I need to withdraw more.

I've just put a google voice option over on the right hand side of my blog. You need to enter your phone number for it to work, but it's sort of an interesting little gadget. I'd love to have any of the people following call this blog and just say hi, just so I can see what you sound like. I'll make a real post here shortly.

Yesterday being 9/9/9, I decided to do a bit of working with Yesod. I did the standard opening I've been taught, and called upon Gabriel to take me up and show me what I needed to make the desires of my heart become reality. Gabriel showed me the baseness, the elementary nature, and confusion which were the desires of my heart. I'd been all hyped on the luck aspects of the day. I wanted things to change, but wasn't willing to make changes. I was totally unwilling to risk in in order to improve. I was and am consumed with fear. I am disillusioned with my fellows and those I have trusted (I found out through an source I can't divulge that one I thought was sincere and have recommended has been false, either to me or the source. Either way, they've been false.) It was food for thought, and I kicked myself back to Malkuth. I can say unequivocally that it worked, and I'm happy it did. It showed me what I needed to see. It was as if Gabriel held up a big mirro...

I finished consecrating my fire wand! Afterwards, I walked the dog, then went upstairs and wrote 700 words and researched a bit and planned out the rest of the piece of writing I'm working on. This has been really good for reminding me what my passions are, and where my priorities should lie. I'm fairly easily distracted, but with this accomplished, I think I've got a better handle on what I love to do, and what I need to be doing. Also, I have the water cup in hand now, ready to be carved and painted. Can't wait.

I have completed the construction of my fire wand, finally. I'll be consecrating it this weekend/next week, either on Sunday or Tuesday. Haven't decided which day is more auspicious, yet. I'm about to start taking Golden Dawn degrees (about = sometime this year I get my 0=0). I've gotten on a GD forum, and they're perplexed that I've started with my weapons already. I'm simply working on them as the HGA directs. Edit: Had it explained to me by a member of the forum. These are supposed to be adept's (5=6) tools, so making them early is jumping the gun a bit. I'll simply have to make others/reconsecrate them when that time comes. The Abremelin working is going well. I agree with Steven Guth that the working should take longer than not. The purification process is intensifying. I've moved from simple prayers morning and evening to an Invocation of the Archangels, Pater Noster, Heschayist practice, Pater Noster, Dismissal. I'm actuall...

Of a sort. Qualified Bacon Success .

Brother R.O asks: Very cool. Can you describe what the experience of TEX was like? For me, it was like the air got really dense and thick, like I was held tightly in the fist of God. For me, Tex was an endless vista, with fountains of water. It's hard to describe, but it looks sort of like those artist's renditions of alien worlds, with fountains that go from a mountain of icy slush into the air and form great clouds above. I got the impression of great distances, and cool, misty, water. The landscape was shades of grey, and hard to resolve any senses with it. I am a Scorpio, water sign, so that makes sense. Scorpios are sometimes said to be the icy water signs, a fixed surface with turmoil underneath. I think this is what was coming through in the vision. It was also an exercise in fear. I wasn't afraid, but the entity (TEX itself?) told me that I was filled with fear, and my fear kept me from moving forward. I would not be able to go further until I faced the fear...