Piero Barone and his vocal vibrations, Rowan Trees and Hermetic Principles

According to the Celtic Tree calendar, the first day of Rowan.  I was looking at the instructions for growing rowan trees from seed – looked complicated but doable -  and if I held myself to the dogwood and the rowan, I might get away with not having trees take over the whole garden I have planned, if I planted them at the far back corner of the property.

In preparation for class tonight (true to form, it’s snowing, I’m sick with a bad cold and I have to fly to North Carolina a day or so later), I was studying Hermetic Principles.  One of seven was The Property of Vibration.  Which got me to thinking about the more pleasant properties of vibrations.  Such as the vibrational properties of male tenor voices.

“I have owed to him, in hours of weariness
sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood and felt along the heart;
And passing even unto my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration ...”
Paraphrased from William Wordsworth, Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, 1798, 1:26

Enjoyed the Wolf Moon (I love the Wolf Moon!), and reading about the Roman Feasts going on simultaneously:  celebrating Juturna, the water nymph and Goddess of healing, and of Carmena (Carmentalia), the Goddess of women’s health, birthing and prophesy.  For some reason, Carmena’s was celebrated on both the 11th and the 15th although I don’t know why.  Back to the Witch’s Book of Days, their suggestion is to bake a “cream filled cake in the shape of male genitalia”.  Hmmm.  The Real Witch’s Year, for some inexplicable reason, chose Carmentalia (although they never mention it) as a day to perform an animal healing spell.  (???)

It occurs to me that “birthing” doesn’t necessarily have to mean the birth of a child – could be the birth or creation of a project or lifestyle change.

Am reading a lot of things at the moment:

The Philosophy of Natural Magic, in order to get some understanding of the origins of the fire-earth-air-water elements, and how the ancients viewed them.  One’s first reaction is, “How silly!”, because (obviously) I can think of plenty of things that don’t have any of those elements (unless you consider “air” to be the space between vibrating particles.)   So it’s interesting.

I’m also reading a fascinating biography:    Frances A. Yates’ Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (University of Chicago Press, 1964, reprinted in 1979 and 1991).  Now, I may have a few issues with the Yates the author (although not necessarily with the Yates the historian), as she did seem to pepper some of her prose with pro-christian interpretations of what a “demon” was, and interpreted the magic of some as “transcendent” and others as “crude”, based on that viewpoint – which I found irritating.  But her research into the medieval and renaissance magickal and philosophical mindset that surrounded Bruno, his predecessors and contemporaries was unquestionable, so you have many threads of further study to follow.  Downside:  it helps if you know Latin, as she doesn’t translate any of her extensive quotes in that language.  I naturally packed my Latin dictionary already, so came across some of her quotes that I can’t follow.

Remodeling demolition and construction begins this week.  Twenty days from now – more or less – I should be moving into my new home.  Finally!

Gianni Morandi, Wolves and More Sex Magick

The Wolf Moon arrived yesterday ... and in honor of the majestic Wolf, the first photo I saw signing into Twitter was this wonderful photo of Il Volo with the incomparable Gianni Morandi. Last time we saw photos like this, the guest singers appeared on the second album (Placido Domingo, Eros Ramazzotti), so that was my first thought: is Gianni making a guest appearance on the Spanish version of the new album? What a way to get me to buy the Spanish version – put Gianni Morandi on it!!

And you may say, "Hey! What’s dem gotta do wif a wolf?" Well, first: not much. OK, nothing, really. Second: get your dentures fixed; you’re slurring again. Third: SPEAK ENGLISH!

But fourth: the photo did get me singing Morandi’s Fino alla fine del mondo ("Until the End of the World") all day, which I suppose is the Italian pop equivalent of howling at the moon with indescribable loneliness. The British equivalent would be Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf (2004) and the American? Probably Warren Zevon’s Werewolves of London (Live in Passaic 1982 of course! If you have a favorite song that transforms you into a hungry wolf by the second note, let me know, and I’ll try to link to a live version.



I ran across a perfect example of the damage that the judeo-christian-islamic mindset does to their cultures when the topic of sex is under discussion. In this case – and I don’t know who the writer is in this case – someone is writing out a rather confusing sex magick spell.

I’m willing to lay down good money on his national origins: either British or American. Same problem that I have had in the past with writing out spells: what is its purpose? and, where did you get it? are two pieces of information it would be really helpful to know. Both are missing. Obviously, it’s a sex magick spell, given the instructions, and the fact that part of the spell involves invoking Baphomet.

Here’s another problem: Baphomet. Taken out of Wikipedia:

Baphomet is a supposed pagan deity (i.e., a product of Christian folklore concerning pagans), revived in the 19th century as a figure of occultism and Satanism. It first appeared in 11th and 12th century Latin and Provençal as a corruption of "Mahomet", the Latinisation of "Muhammad",[1] but later it appeared as a term for a pagan idol in trial transcripts of the Inquisition of the Knights Templar in the early 14th century. The name first came into popular English-speaking consciousness in the 19th century, with debate and speculation on the reasons for the suppression of the Templars.[2]

Since 1855, the name Baphomet has been associated with a "Sabbatic Goat" image drawn by Eliphas Lévi. It represents the duality of male and female, as well as Heaven and Hell or night and day signified by the raising of one arm and the downward gesture of the other. It can be taken in fact, to represent any of the major harmonious dichotomies of the cosmos. However, Baphomet has been connected with Satanism as well, primarily due to the adoption of its symbol by the Church of Satan.

Given the sketchy history of this figure of Baphomet I doubt I’d have any reason to invoke it without doing considerable more non-Wikipedia research on it – there are so many other well known and much admired deities you can invoke if you’re casting love or lust spells. Even Aleister Crowley had some trouble trying to research the thing, and if it was something invented by Templars to placate christian torturers ... I have the same problem with it that I have with a lot of other wiccan stuff: NOT TRADITIONAL!

But fine. So maybe this spell writer knows something about Baphomet we don’t. But here he is describing the steps of the invocation. Keep in mind that all he’s doing here is raising sexual energy:

"Then when done, visualize yourself as a sexual beast; doing what beasts do when in heat. And it's probably better if you intent someone who already has that look and body language which says "Let's whoopie". Use the picture to masturbate and do all manner of nasty obscene acts."

Well, alrighty, then!  I have yet to read a traditional Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek or Roman spell that uses the words "let’s whoopie" and "nasty obscene acts" in their spells, although you’re right, I haven’t read them all. Still, I doubt I will find phrases like that. Thinking of sex as a "nasty obscene act" is not how the traditionalists thought before the common era. They considered it normal. "Nasty" is something right out of the christian playbook of shame. In other words, this apologist has already turned a simple energy raising spell into something shameful, ugly and disgusting. Made me want to say, "Ew!" and wash my hands with antibacterial hand gel or something.

Okay, so when we’re not a teenage American boy thinking himself all that, down there in his basement and writing up his own version of a titillating spell ... the truth is, a little research will bring you to the realization that sexual energy is a potent and powerful force.

So, here’s another spell example: the writer – who thankfully has dispensed with the christian "sex is dirty and bad!" messages she might have been handed in her youth - has found a picture of a man she finds arousing and desirable.

And I clutched that to my chest as I went into an altered state, which was extraordinary and intense, with amazing feelings of energy coursing through me. And I then proceeded to use a little good old-fashioned sex magic, which is essentially the harnessing of one's arousal and orgasm. That energy is directed into what it is that you are longing for, the goal of your spell, the object of your prayers. And for me it was embodied in this image.

See? No drama, no cringing, no euphemisms that make you go "ew" – none of that. The two examples are night and day. One was the product of the guilt-ridden christian culture, the other wasn’t. One was enthusiastic and positive; clear-headed, even. The other sounded like something that just crawled out of the sewer.

And while I realize I haven’t finished with the list of fallen angels yet, it also made me wonder if I wouldn’t learn more history on the incubus if I researched traditional sex magick spells. Hmmm.

Waiting on the Wolf Moon

Ahhh, we are moving towards the Wolf Moon on the 26th of January...legend has it that at the time of this moon, one often heard wolves in their packs howling in hunger, inching ever closer to the night fire. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule.

And you carry the wolf far back in your earlier ancestral memories ... think of all the mythologies about wolves you "understood" without needing to have them explained to you: Little Red Riding Hood, the song "Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?", the term "wolf" bring applied to a male predator, the stories of werewolves, even the Twilight series ... can you think of more stories about wolves?

(And for anyone interested in the full moon calendar for the year – voilà!)

Full Moon Calendar 2013

January 26th, Full Wolf Moon, 11:38 pm
February 25th, Full Snow Moon, 3:26 pm
March 27th, Full Worm Moon, 5:27 am
April 25th, Full Pink Moon, 3:57 pm
May 25th, Full Flower Moon, 12:25 am
June 23rd, Full Strawberry Moon, 7:32 am
July 22nd, Full Thunder Moon, 2:16 pm
August 20th, Full Sturgeon Moon, 9:45 pm
September 19th, Full Harvest Moon, 7:13 am
October 18th, Full Hunter's Moon, 7:38 pm
November 17th, Full Beaver Moon, 10:16 am
December 17th, Full Cold Moon, 4:28 am

Looking through the day books ... this appears to be St. Agnes Day:

So. Once upon a time (when I first started this blog and before everything went to hell in a hand basket, as they say), I had started out on a "Search for a Soul Mate". That was put on hold while I bravely ... okay, whine-ingly and grumpily ... attempted to recover from one disaster, loss and illness after another. And now here we are, back at St. Agnes Day.  This is hardly a witchy sort of thing, but it did make me laugh. The history behind the day: how to find a husband. All sorts of witchy ideas on how to do that, though.  The ideas are just ... at least in my case ... a tad dangerous.

" ... fetch at midnight from the nearest churchyard a half brick, which she should place under her pillows, by this means, she was sure to dream about courtship and marriage. "

Sleep all night on half a brick, eh? As for the "nearest churchyard" ... hmmmm. That would be Saint Michael’s, built in 1886, and if you’re thinking anyone was buried in the small grassy patch in front of it, think again. No bricks laying around – very clean church. Good thing too; me sleeping on a brick all night, cut in half or no, would not result in a pleasant morning.

Another idea: Instructions from circa 1800 suggest ...

" ... the parties inquiring must lie in a different county from that in which they commonly reside; and, on going to bed, must knit the left garter about the right-legged stocking, letting the other garter and stocking alone; and, as they rehearse the following verses, at every comma knit a knot:

This knot I knit,
To know the thing I know not yet,
That I may see the man that shall my husband be;
How he goes, and what he wears,
And what he does all days and years.
- Accordingly, in a dream,
the desired one will appear,
with the insignia of his trade or profession. "

Here’s hoping his insignia is a caduceus, since the very idea of me – the absolute non-knitter – waving knitting needles around is as dangerous as ... well, let’s just say things could get seriously ugly.

So much for Saint Agnes.