I will be giving a workshop at the Twin Cities Pagan Pride gathering, which will be happening on Saturday and Sunday, September 25 and 26th, at the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community in Minneapolis. My workshop is about Sacred Space, Temples, and Working Magick in a Grove, scheduled for 12:30 pm, Sunday, in the Purple Room. You can find information about the gathering here, and a schedule of events, here.
This is my first venture and engagement with the TC Pagan Pride gathering, but I have heard such good things about it that I vowed last year not to miss it. So, I will be there for both days, attending some classes, chatting with old friends and making new friends (hopefully). There are some interesting events being planned for both days; I wanted to put in a plug or two about those events that are being put on by friends of mine.
Everything Out of Nothing: Saturday, 12:30 - 1:30 pm - a workshop about cosmologies, conducted by Anne Marie Forrester. This workshop looks particularly interesting, at least to me, since I am quite a fan of mythology and creation myths in particular. Art supplied are provided, so that indicates to me that some craftiness will be involved, it all sounds like fun to me.
Introduction to the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram: Saturday, 1:30 - 2:30 pm - this workshop will explore and learn the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, facilitated by Scott Stenwick and his friend, Michele. Scott is something of an expert in the arena of ceremonial and Enochian magick, so this should be a very good class - I highly recommend it. Both Scott and Michele are quite knowledgeable and experienced in the art of ceremonial magick, and they are personal friends of mine.
Magical Writing: Saturday 2:30 - 3:30 pm - this workshop is all about producing inspired writings, insights and divination involving various gods and spirits. Veronica Cummer is the facilitator for this workshop, and I also consider her a good friend. She is a phenomenal teacher, mentor and writer. Keeping a journal will be one of the main topics that will be emphasized in this workshop, particularly since it’s so useful to keep a record of what has happened for future reference. Any one who is worth their salt as a magician knows about and keeps a journal, but it is typically an acquired skill, so Veronica will assist those who are new to this idea, as well as those who think they know it all (like me).
There will also be a number of other forums, rituals, workshops and vendors, so if you happen to live in the Twin Cities area, or are visiting, please consider stopping by. If you like, you can attend my class and hear me expound about sacred space. Give me a holler afterwards, and if you feel motivated, you can also buy one of my books. I will have some on hand, ready to be autographed by me and my magick pen - of course.
Other things that are going on with me lately?
Well, for one thing, I am learning to be a fiction writer. (Don’t laugh!) I am in the middle of my second fiction writing class, and I recently finished a refresher course for grammar. (So, maybe I might even start writing better and more clearer than I have previously..right!) It’s really not a myth that occultists like to write in an oblique manner to confound their readers, making them presume that the occult author actually knows arcane mysteries that others don’t. It’s actually a fact, one that I attempt to prove on a regular basis! Yes - I suppose you can spot hyperbole a mile away, so I will desist.
Anyway, my attempt at learning to write fiction will fulfill an age old dream of mine, inspired by that fab Beatle tune “Paperback Writer” - which I know that everyone knows and loves just like I do. (Sorry for the unintended ear-worm.) My first attempt at writing fiction will be to produce a vampire story. You don’t like that idea? Too late, it’s already pretty well defined in the “short form” so don’t try to talk me out of it. Here is my passion piece that I wrote up justifying the reason for writing this kind of story.
Passion - I really don’t like vampire stories in the media today that glamorize the vampire. I am a big fan of the old Hammer production horror films, where the monsters were evil, inhuman and terrible. I think that the series “Twilight” represents the worst of this genre (just my opinion). I strongly believe that the vampire is an unsympathetic monster that must be combated and destroyed, or humanity itself will be wiped out.
Here’s a character sketch of the story’s nemesis.
Duncan Sinclair - also known as the Vampire Hunter. Duncan is a mysterious man with connections to various governments and church organizations that he never talks about or reveals. He is a deeply devoted and pious practicing Roman Catholic Christian, but who has other abilities and knowledge that he keeps discreetly to himself. Duncan operates out of some clandestine organization that hunts and kills vampires, having a powerful network of connections and information that goes far beyond any known organization. He is tall, powerfully built, with jet black hair that he keeps short and well groomed. He has an unsightly scar on his left cheek from just below his eye to his jawline. Duncan usually wears a dark brown leather duster, a fedora and heavy rubber soled work boots. In his coat he usually has various knives, wooden stakes, a mallet, flares and a sawed off shotgun that shoots buckshot and holy water. He also has a silver mirror, a large golden pectoral cross, a couple of vials of holy water and a consecrated host mounted in a small golden monstrance. Duncan talks bluntly, passionately, and wastes little time giving his opinion about a person or a situation, and is usually spot on. However, he never swears, avoiding what he calls the “F” word, or the “GD” word (goddamn) - he will use vulgar words and oaths, though, and quite explosively, if angered. Duncan smokes cheroot cigars and drinks gallons of coffee, but never drinks any alcohol, because he says it clouds his mind. He is like a combination of Jack Palance and Nick Nolte.
Well, that’s what they call in show business - “a wrap” - and I am out of here!
This is my first venture and engagement with the TC Pagan Pride gathering, but I have heard such good things about it that I vowed last year not to miss it. So, I will be there for both days, attending some classes, chatting with old friends and making new friends (hopefully). There are some interesting events being planned for both days; I wanted to put in a plug or two about those events that are being put on by friends of mine.
Everything Out of Nothing: Saturday, 12:30 - 1:30 pm - a workshop about cosmologies, conducted by Anne Marie Forrester. This workshop looks particularly interesting, at least to me, since I am quite a fan of mythology and creation myths in particular. Art supplied are provided, so that indicates to me that some craftiness will be involved, it all sounds like fun to me.
Introduction to the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram: Saturday, 1:30 - 2:30 pm - this workshop will explore and learn the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, facilitated by Scott Stenwick and his friend, Michele. Scott is something of an expert in the arena of ceremonial and Enochian magick, so this should be a very good class - I highly recommend it. Both Scott and Michele are quite knowledgeable and experienced in the art of ceremonial magick, and they are personal friends of mine.
Magical Writing: Saturday 2:30 - 3:30 pm - this workshop is all about producing inspired writings, insights and divination involving various gods and spirits. Veronica Cummer is the facilitator for this workshop, and I also consider her a good friend. She is a phenomenal teacher, mentor and writer. Keeping a journal will be one of the main topics that will be emphasized in this workshop, particularly since it’s so useful to keep a record of what has happened for future reference. Any one who is worth their salt as a magician knows about and keeps a journal, but it is typically an acquired skill, so Veronica will assist those who are new to this idea, as well as those who think they know it all (like me).
There will also be a number of other forums, rituals, workshops and vendors, so if you happen to live in the Twin Cities area, or are visiting, please consider stopping by. If you like, you can attend my class and hear me expound about sacred space. Give me a holler afterwards, and if you feel motivated, you can also buy one of my books. I will have some on hand, ready to be autographed by me and my magick pen - of course.
Other things that are going on with me lately?
Well, for one thing, I am learning to be a fiction writer. (Don’t laugh!) I am in the middle of my second fiction writing class, and I recently finished a refresher course for grammar. (So, maybe I might even start writing better and more clearer than I have previously..right!) It’s really not a myth that occultists like to write in an oblique manner to confound their readers, making them presume that the occult author actually knows arcane mysteries that others don’t. It’s actually a fact, one that I attempt to prove on a regular basis! Yes - I suppose you can spot hyperbole a mile away, so I will desist.
Anyway, my attempt at learning to write fiction will fulfill an age old dream of mine, inspired by that fab Beatle tune “Paperback Writer” - which I know that everyone knows and loves just like I do. (Sorry for the unintended ear-worm.) My first attempt at writing fiction will be to produce a vampire story. You don’t like that idea? Too late, it’s already pretty well defined in the “short form” so don’t try to talk me out of it. Here is my passion piece that I wrote up justifying the reason for writing this kind of story.
Passion - I really don’t like vampire stories in the media today that glamorize the vampire. I am a big fan of the old Hammer production horror films, where the monsters were evil, inhuman and terrible. I think that the series “Twilight” represents the worst of this genre (just my opinion). I strongly believe that the vampire is an unsympathetic monster that must be combated and destroyed, or humanity itself will be wiped out.
Here’s a character sketch of the story’s nemesis.
Duncan Sinclair - also known as the Vampire Hunter. Duncan is a mysterious man with connections to various governments and church organizations that he never talks about or reveals. He is a deeply devoted and pious practicing Roman Catholic Christian, but who has other abilities and knowledge that he keeps discreetly to himself. Duncan operates out of some clandestine organization that hunts and kills vampires, having a powerful network of connections and information that goes far beyond any known organization. He is tall, powerfully built, with jet black hair that he keeps short and well groomed. He has an unsightly scar on his left cheek from just below his eye to his jawline. Duncan usually wears a dark brown leather duster, a fedora and heavy rubber soled work boots. In his coat he usually has various knives, wooden stakes, a mallet, flares and a sawed off shotgun that shoots buckshot and holy water. He also has a silver mirror, a large golden pectoral cross, a couple of vials of holy water and a consecrated host mounted in a small golden monstrance. Duncan talks bluntly, passionately, and wastes little time giving his opinion about a person or a situation, and is usually spot on. However, he never swears, avoiding what he calls the “F” word, or the “GD” word (goddamn) - he will use vulgar words and oaths, though, and quite explosively, if angered. Duncan smokes cheroot cigars and drinks gallons of coffee, but never drinks any alcohol, because he says it clouds his mind. He is like a combination of Jack Palance and Nick Nolte.
Well, that’s what they call in show business - “a wrap” - and I am out of here!
Frater Barrabbas
"Everything Out of Nothing" Indeed cosmology is the true foundation of all religious and especially esoteric traditions. Unless you know the how and why of the creation, you have no knowledge of how to interface and work with the universe.
ReplyDeleteAll of the ancient mystery traditions performed a reenactment of some part of the cosmology with each of there major rites and corresponding myths.
I believe that the most important rite one should work, is a self initiating where the main object is to ritually recreate the cosmic order according to your own vision.
Like Marduk in Enuma Elish, reconstructing the cosmic order after the great battle with Tiamat and the preceding generation of gods, or the Olypians after Zues overthrow the Titans, or Odhinn slaying Ymir and the Jottens.
PS. Vampire stories are getting a bit tiring (there are so many..) but I will be interested to have a read when its done, the main character sounds cool.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with it.
I have a concept for a story I would like to write, a post apocalyptic occult pesudo-biography, like a future version of the dreaded Necronomicon (LOL), or the story line in Abramelin, the journey of a future magician piecing together the mystical secrets of the ancient lost civilization of Am-E-Re-ka, of course the grimoire part would have sigils pulled from circuit boards, and other tech stuff, computer OS and hardware history turned into cosmology. the fabled god like power to communicate to any one any where using the secret ritual of the intarweb, lots of silliness, but also some actually usable stuff.
The concept was heavily influenced by a book called 'The hotel of the mysteries' were a future archeologist finds a hotel and interprets it as some burial chamber.
@Serapis - Thanks for the comments. Writing fiction has been a dream of mine for quite a long time. However, a quick note, what I said about vampires in my article above represents my opinion about the fictional genre of Gothic horror and has absolutely nothing to do with any actual groups or individuals who are practicing a form of occult vampirism, which is another topic altogether.
ReplyDeleteI wish you well on your fiction writing. Here's something you might want to consider. National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. During the month of November you write the first draft of a novel...50,000 words minimum. I'm gonna try it this year. If you want to check it out their website is http://www.nanowrimo.org/
ReplyDeleteLouis
@Louis - thanks for the info.
ReplyDelete