This coming year will be a real banner year for me, unless of course, the world ends as some folks think it might. As an occult optimist (or pragmatist), I don’t believe in mythic ends of the world. What happens is either determined purely by chance (the earth gets hit by a comet or a giant meteorite) or by the collective actions of the human race (decline of fossil fuel sources and rising carbon emissions).
There’s also the local and national politics to consider, since this is going to be an election year of great importance. I might not be thrilled with many of President Obama’s decisions, but considering the alternative, I think that even Mitt Romney as President would be a disaster for our country. Listening to the Republican candidate’s debates and stump speeches makes the current president look better and better every day. I already know where my vote is going this coming year, and I hope that a significant portion of the rest of the country will follow suit. Hopefully, a year from today, I will be relieved that we won’t have to deal with another reactionary upperclass twit for a president. We have already had eight years of such a presidential wonder, and it led to two wars, a tanked economy and a massive national debt.
Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I can now discuss what you’re really interested in reading, namely, what are the magickal tasks that I am going to do in the coming year. Hah! Surprised you there, didn’t I? Yet sharing these objectives might give you some ideas of your own. Every year at this time, I believe in filling up my plate with lots of magickal objectives and see how much of those I can accomplish in the next twelve months. It won’t get warm up here until mid to late May, so I do have some time on my hands to focus on some interesting magickal objectives, especially something that I can work with my girlfriend, and also write up to share with you, my readers.
“Start off the year with a bang!” I have always been a believer in doing something dramatic for the first month of the year, and this coming year I will be attending a weekend intensive workshop with John Michael Greer. He will be teaching a weekend long class entitled “Ceremonial Magic for Pagans,” from Friday, January 27 through Sunday, January 29. I am really looking forward to attending this intensive workshop, which is to be held at the local metaphysical store, Eye of Horus. I have always found it useful to compare perspectives with other pagan magicians, and I have found John’s books, blog articles and email correspondences to be insightful and even inspiring. I believe that John has quite a lot to share with the average pagan occultist, so I expect to learn something new from him. Of the many occultists and pagans that I have met over the years, John Michael Greer is one of the brightest and one of the best. He is one of those individuals that I consider to be a “remarkable person,” the kind of individual that an occultist should have among his or her collection of friends and associates.
I will also be attending and presenting classes at the second annual Paganicon convention, to be held on March 17th in the Twin Cities. I will be giving some thought to exactly what I want to present at the convention, and it will likely have something to do with the Qabbalah, so as to coincide with the manuscript that I have recently sent to Llewellyn. I will write up more details about the convention and what I will be doing there in the next month or so. I won’t be attending Pantheacon this year, unfortunately, since I need to preserve my financial resources for other more local venues, like Paganicon. Traveling out to San Jose and having to deal with the vagaries of the weather is also something that I don’t want to deal with this year. Last year I got stuck in San Jose for two extra days due to a snowstorm in the Twin Cities, and the trip home on a red-eye flight was a miserable experience.
My magickal objectives for the year 2012 are quite ambitious. I don’t know if I will be able to complete them all, but I will be, at the very least, performing another large ordeal. As far as writing and publishing more books, a couple of my book projects are stalled and need to be jump started so they can be finished and moved on to the next phase, which is editing and preparing for the layout stage. I will also need to acquire artwork, diagrams and cover illustration, so that will need time and resources as well. I think after the New Year I will look at where these projects are and see what I can do to move them forward. I also understand that the Qabbalah book project may take up some of that time I have reserved for writing during the year, as I undergo the process of making corrections and revisions to the manuscript. I am hoping that a year from today I will be able to eagerly anticipate the publication release date of that book.
So here are my magickal objectives for the year 2012.
1. Perform the Portae Lucis ordeal working. This ordeal requires quite a bit of preparation. It’s supposed to be performed on or just before the Summer Solstice. However, there are twelve talismanic elementals that will need to be invoked, along with their corresponding Lunar Mansions, so that I might generate three highly charged talismans for the planets Luna, Sol and Saturn. There will be an additional talisman (Mercury of Fire) generated that will represent my own personal spiritual contacts and my demigod muse, Hermes Thoth. I will begin to work on the talismans a full lunar cycle after the Solstice, so that work will start after the New Moon in January, and continue on through May. I will report on the progress of this venture, and I am looking forward to being able to accomplish this ordeal. It will certainly add another important step to my progress towards magickal ascension.
2. Invoke some of the spirits of the Theurgia-Goetia. I am planning on invoking three spirits in this list of spirits to help me refine and vet the ritual, which is called the Hexadecimal Vortex Pylon Invocation Gate. Although I haven’t yet actually chosen the specific spirits that I am going to invoke, I would like to select one of the 16 Elemental Dukes, one of 48 Zodiacal Elemental Dukes and one of the 7 Planetary Archetype Princes. In invoking three of these spirits, I will have at least tapped one of each of the target categories of spirits available in this system.
3. Invoke the angelic ruler of one of the 36 astrological decans. I haven’t selected one yet, of course, but I want to revisit this system of magick in order to fully access and work with the ha-Shem angels and the Goetic demons. I have developed some new rituals in this series that I need to test drive, as well as to prove the usefulness of the matrix system that I have adopted to define the basic qualities of these spirits. I have also discovered the seals associated with the ha-Shem angels, so that will be interesting to test as well. This objective can be delayed until the coming autumn or even a little later.
I would like to complete all three of these objectives, especially the Portae Lucis ordeal working during the course of the year. It will be quite wonderful to be able to work a powerful ordeal that will climax at the moment of the Summer Solstice. I must say that I am jazzed just thinking about it. The other two workings can be done whenever I have some spare time, which hopefully will occur during the long winter months, and also when late fall descends into the another winter later in the coming year. I know that this is quite an ambitious schedule, but I am hoping that it inspires me to be more engaged with working ritual magick in the coming year, since that is one things that has suffered somewhat in the previous year.
In addition to the magickal objectives that I have outlined above, I am also going to be doing some other things as well. Since my girlfriend is going to be very busy with her master’s degree during the summer, I have decided to take over the responsibilities for planting and tending our large garden. I am going to literally get into the soil and really explore that whole domain. This will be something new to me, but I think that it will really help me to better connect with the earth and growing things. My repertoire for a gardening regimen is to plant a cluster of vegetables just like the Native Americans did. I am going to plant corn, beans, potatoes, squash and pumpkins all together, with the corn stalks acting as a kind of natural trellis for the rest of the plants. Another thought about this methodology is that planting these vegetables together in clusters will help them grow, since the cluster of different plants will bolster each other by providing mutual soil nutrition. Anyway, I will give this ancient technique a try and see if that makes our garden much more productive than it has been previously.
I would also like to finish up writing my outdoor grove based magickal system and actually try it out in the grove. As the possessor of a really nice piece of property (3.5 acres adjoining wetlands and a shallow lake), I would like to make a real presence in my outdoor grove this year. The previous summer came and went too fast, and I was just too busy (and also sick for three weeks) to take advantage of it. I intend on remedying that in the coming year. Hopefully, everything will work out and I can perform some magick in the outdoors to add to my yearly accomplishments.
Adding to this large list of things to accomplish in the coming year, I would also like to adopt a more realistic approach to my finances (make up a budget and stick to it) and my health (develop and keep an exercise regimen and eat more responsibly). I will also have to help out my girlfriend through assuming all of the cooking and house cleaning chores while she focuses intensely on the more difficult phase of her master’s degree. I have plans for all of these tasks, and I will diligently seek to realize them. Since I am a Capricorn, I am typically able to adopt a list of tasks and to consistently work through them. I may not get all of these objectives met, but at least most of them will be successfully completed. Of course I will also be continuing to write, and hopefully I will be able to knock off some fiction writing, now that I know how to do that. You can also look forward to continuing to receive from me around two weekly blog articles for a total of eight a month.
Are you putting together a list of tasks and objectives for the New Year? I prefer to put together a task list than making resolutions, since a task list is a lot more tangible and realistic, in my opinion. I find resolutions to be more negative and often, too nebulous. If you have a resolution, then go one step further a put together a list of tasks that will make that resolution capable of being successfully realized during the year.
Finally, I am thankful to my readers for their continued support and thoughtful comments. Feedback for the blog articles has helped me to grow and learn, so the mere act of writing an article is really a two way street. I write these article to share my ideas and thoughts with you, and you leave comments to let me know if you agree, like what you’ve read, think that I am wrong or even delusional. Thanks to all of you and your occasional comments, together we have learned something new this year. Hopefully, that relationship will continue, to our mutual satisfaction So have a wonderful, safe and joyously happy New Year. May the magickal year of 2012 be a banner year for you, too.
Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I can now discuss what you’re really interested in reading, namely, what are the magickal tasks that I am going to do in the coming year. Hah! Surprised you there, didn’t I? Yet sharing these objectives might give you some ideas of your own. Every year at this time, I believe in filling up my plate with lots of magickal objectives and see how much of those I can accomplish in the next twelve months. It won’t get warm up here until mid to late May, so I do have some time on my hands to focus on some interesting magickal objectives, especially something that I can work with my girlfriend, and also write up to share with you, my readers.
“Start off the year with a bang!” I have always been a believer in doing something dramatic for the first month of the year, and this coming year I will be attending a weekend intensive workshop with John Michael Greer. He will be teaching a weekend long class entitled “Ceremonial Magic for Pagans,” from Friday, January 27 through Sunday, January 29. I am really looking forward to attending this intensive workshop, which is to be held at the local metaphysical store, Eye of Horus. I have always found it useful to compare perspectives with other pagan magicians, and I have found John’s books, blog articles and email correspondences to be insightful and even inspiring. I believe that John has quite a lot to share with the average pagan occultist, so I expect to learn something new from him. Of the many occultists and pagans that I have met over the years, John Michael Greer is one of the brightest and one of the best. He is one of those individuals that I consider to be a “remarkable person,” the kind of individual that an occultist should have among his or her collection of friends and associates.
I will also be attending and presenting classes at the second annual Paganicon convention, to be held on March 17th in the Twin Cities. I will be giving some thought to exactly what I want to present at the convention, and it will likely have something to do with the Qabbalah, so as to coincide with the manuscript that I have recently sent to Llewellyn. I will write up more details about the convention and what I will be doing there in the next month or so. I won’t be attending Pantheacon this year, unfortunately, since I need to preserve my financial resources for other more local venues, like Paganicon. Traveling out to San Jose and having to deal with the vagaries of the weather is also something that I don’t want to deal with this year. Last year I got stuck in San Jose for two extra days due to a snowstorm in the Twin Cities, and the trip home on a red-eye flight was a miserable experience.
My magickal objectives for the year 2012 are quite ambitious. I don’t know if I will be able to complete them all, but I will be, at the very least, performing another large ordeal. As far as writing and publishing more books, a couple of my book projects are stalled and need to be jump started so they can be finished and moved on to the next phase, which is editing and preparing for the layout stage. I will also need to acquire artwork, diagrams and cover illustration, so that will need time and resources as well. I think after the New Year I will look at where these projects are and see what I can do to move them forward. I also understand that the Qabbalah book project may take up some of that time I have reserved for writing during the year, as I undergo the process of making corrections and revisions to the manuscript. I am hoping that a year from today I will be able to eagerly anticipate the publication release date of that book.
So here are my magickal objectives for the year 2012.
1. Perform the Portae Lucis ordeal working. This ordeal requires quite a bit of preparation. It’s supposed to be performed on or just before the Summer Solstice. However, there are twelve talismanic elementals that will need to be invoked, along with their corresponding Lunar Mansions, so that I might generate three highly charged talismans for the planets Luna, Sol and Saturn. There will be an additional talisman (Mercury of Fire) generated that will represent my own personal spiritual contacts and my demigod muse, Hermes Thoth. I will begin to work on the talismans a full lunar cycle after the Solstice, so that work will start after the New Moon in January, and continue on through May. I will report on the progress of this venture, and I am looking forward to being able to accomplish this ordeal. It will certainly add another important step to my progress towards magickal ascension.
2. Invoke some of the spirits of the Theurgia-Goetia. I am planning on invoking three spirits in this list of spirits to help me refine and vet the ritual, which is called the Hexadecimal Vortex Pylon Invocation Gate. Although I haven’t yet actually chosen the specific spirits that I am going to invoke, I would like to select one of the 16 Elemental Dukes, one of 48 Zodiacal Elemental Dukes and one of the 7 Planetary Archetype Princes. In invoking three of these spirits, I will have at least tapped one of each of the target categories of spirits available in this system.
3. Invoke the angelic ruler of one of the 36 astrological decans. I haven’t selected one yet, of course, but I want to revisit this system of magick in order to fully access and work with the ha-Shem angels and the Goetic demons. I have developed some new rituals in this series that I need to test drive, as well as to prove the usefulness of the matrix system that I have adopted to define the basic qualities of these spirits. I have also discovered the seals associated with the ha-Shem angels, so that will be interesting to test as well. This objective can be delayed until the coming autumn or even a little later.
I would like to complete all three of these objectives, especially the Portae Lucis ordeal working during the course of the year. It will be quite wonderful to be able to work a powerful ordeal that will climax at the moment of the Summer Solstice. I must say that I am jazzed just thinking about it. The other two workings can be done whenever I have some spare time, which hopefully will occur during the long winter months, and also when late fall descends into the another winter later in the coming year. I know that this is quite an ambitious schedule, but I am hoping that it inspires me to be more engaged with working ritual magick in the coming year, since that is one things that has suffered somewhat in the previous year.
In addition to the magickal objectives that I have outlined above, I am also going to be doing some other things as well. Since my girlfriend is going to be very busy with her master’s degree during the summer, I have decided to take over the responsibilities for planting and tending our large garden. I am going to literally get into the soil and really explore that whole domain. This will be something new to me, but I think that it will really help me to better connect with the earth and growing things. My repertoire for a gardening regimen is to plant a cluster of vegetables just like the Native Americans did. I am going to plant corn, beans, potatoes, squash and pumpkins all together, with the corn stalks acting as a kind of natural trellis for the rest of the plants. Another thought about this methodology is that planting these vegetables together in clusters will help them grow, since the cluster of different plants will bolster each other by providing mutual soil nutrition. Anyway, I will give this ancient technique a try and see if that makes our garden much more productive than it has been previously.
I would also like to finish up writing my outdoor grove based magickal system and actually try it out in the grove. As the possessor of a really nice piece of property (3.5 acres adjoining wetlands and a shallow lake), I would like to make a real presence in my outdoor grove this year. The previous summer came and went too fast, and I was just too busy (and also sick for three weeks) to take advantage of it. I intend on remedying that in the coming year. Hopefully, everything will work out and I can perform some magick in the outdoors to add to my yearly accomplishments.
Adding to this large list of things to accomplish in the coming year, I would also like to adopt a more realistic approach to my finances (make up a budget and stick to it) and my health (develop and keep an exercise regimen and eat more responsibly). I will also have to help out my girlfriend through assuming all of the cooking and house cleaning chores while she focuses intensely on the more difficult phase of her master’s degree. I have plans for all of these tasks, and I will diligently seek to realize them. Since I am a Capricorn, I am typically able to adopt a list of tasks and to consistently work through them. I may not get all of these objectives met, but at least most of them will be successfully completed. Of course I will also be continuing to write, and hopefully I will be able to knock off some fiction writing, now that I know how to do that. You can also look forward to continuing to receive from me around two weekly blog articles for a total of eight a month.
Are you putting together a list of tasks and objectives for the New Year? I prefer to put together a task list than making resolutions, since a task list is a lot more tangible and realistic, in my opinion. I find resolutions to be more negative and often, too nebulous. If you have a resolution, then go one step further a put together a list of tasks that will make that resolution capable of being successfully realized during the year.
Finally, I am thankful to my readers for their continued support and thoughtful comments. Feedback for the blog articles has helped me to grow and learn, so the mere act of writing an article is really a two way street. I write these article to share my ideas and thoughts with you, and you leave comments to let me know if you agree, like what you’ve read, think that I am wrong or even delusional. Thanks to all of you and your occasional comments, together we have learned something new this year. Hopefully, that relationship will continue, to our mutual satisfaction So have a wonderful, safe and joyously happy New Year. May the magickal year of 2012 be a banner year for you, too.
Frater Barrabbas
good info i like, check it too thegoodluck01.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteWelcome 2012
I do enjoy your writing. Although my only contact with your magickal workings is from reading your articles here, I find your work meticulous and stimulating. It reminds me occassionally of Crowley's writing style without all that mystical 'jazz' or tongue-over-cheek teasing, which is a breath-of-fresh-air kind of combination.
ReplyDeleteSo, I have decided for this year to buy and study properly your Mastering Magick book series. And if the writing style is similar to the one on this site then I will be really hopeful of it helping me breaking the great spell that torments me for so many years, that of the 'armchair' magician.
You'll hear from me again, hopefully soon.
I can't in good conscience support Obama and his health care law. So I'm going to help elect republicans this November and get them to repeal it.
ReplyDelete@Nik64 - Thanks for your kind words. I hope you enjoy the Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick series, as well as the Disciple's Guide to Ritual Magick.
ReplyDelete@Soror Abyss-Eyes - Of course, vote for whomever you wish. However, if "Obamacare" is rescinded, I hope you are wealthy enough not to be concerned with the catastrophic costs in health care that having zero laws protecting healthcare consumers will cause. Also, what Obama managed to put into place is identical to what Mitt Romney put into place in Massachusetts. I hope you like irony with your coffee, since both laws are actually Republican in origin.