I was honored last week to attend the second annual Swamp Mystics mini convention in Tallahassee, FL. They asked me to be the headliner for the gathering, and I agreed. This was an event put on by my friends Erich and Alannah, who I have known for many years. I had initiated Erich into the Order of the Gnostic Star back in the early 1990's before I moved to Santa Fe, and I gave him the complete library of magical rituals and lore associated with that organization. I have periodically given him updates so that he has been one of the few individuals that has been privy to my work, both as a ritual magician and a founding member of the Order. Over the many years of our friendly exchange, Erich is one of the few individuals who has continued to develop his own techniques and methodologies based on the lore of the Order. In fact, of all the individuals who have been involved with the lore of the E.S.S.G., he is the only one who is currently active and using this lore in an adapted form.
While I had lived in Tallahassee from 1990 to 1994, I had performed nearly all of the workings associated with the conjuration of the Nephilim in my rented townhouse located on Keily Run, off of Old St. Augustine road on the southeast side of town. I met Eric during the last year of my residence in that town, and he was a most apt and precocious student. Since that time, Erich and his wife Alannah have formed the Temple of Limitless Light and brought the practice of ritual magic in vogue in the area of the panhandle of Florida. Swamp Mystics was an idea that they hatched a year previously, and it had been a very successful event, so they decided to promote a bigger venue this year. The event was located at a spacious Air B&B mansion that was generously sponsored by the owner, who was also deeply interested in magic and the occult. You can find the link for the event here, and see what was planned and the speakers who contributed to its success.
True to its theme and location, it rained off and on for the entire period of my visit to Tallahassee. My wife and I did not see the sun or blue skies until we were almost to the airport in Jacksonville on our return drive. We had opted to fly into Jacksonville and then rent a car to travel to Tallahassee, which was a lot cheaper than flying directly. The wet and the rain didn’t succeed in dampening the spirit of the occasion because there were several major speakers at the event, and we were buoyed by the exchange of ideas and by the demonstration of magic that occurred every day that we were there. We adapted to the rainy periods, and the beautiful mansion that where we stayed gave us refuge from the rain when it occurred.
This visit was kind of a home coming for me, although the folks that I met were not the same folks that I knew back when I lived in Tallahassee. Except for Erich and Alannah, everyone was someone new that I had not met before, but because of Eric, they knew about me. As the headliner with both a discussion/lecture and a ritual to perform, I was quite busily engaged and was only able to attend a few of the classes that were offered. However, on Friday night and Saturday night there were intense rituals performed, the first night by Erich, Alannah and the speakers, and the second night, I performed the Mass of the Great Goddess. On Friday night, a series of rituals were performed using the Archetypal Gate ritual to invoke the archangel Raziel, and this was performed outdoors in a covered stage that overlooked the pool in the gated back yard. The property was large, consisting of many acres that included a blue berry farm and many old oak trees covered in Spanish moss. In this beautiful and haunting space we shared our lore and performed magic to enrich the experience of the event.
When the invocation of Raziel was completed, I felt the presence of the archangel, who I had invoked many times in the past, particularly for the most powerful ordeals that I had performed in the previous years. He touched my mind and we shared some past experiences, and then he asked me in a kindly and humorous fashion, “What have you done, Barrabbas? What have you unleashed by publishing your works?” His question was not an interrogation, but a reminder that I had been challenged with the task years ago to present my methodologies and magical lore to the public, and I was now successfully completing that task. Liber Nephilim was now in print, and I had arranged for fifteen copies to be mailed to the event. In February, my book Abramelin Lunar Ordeal would be published, making that methodology available to my reading public for the first time. All of this lore was the most advanced magical techniques that I had developed, and much of it was developed in Tallahassee over 30 years ago. I was returning to the place where it all began, except that now I had revised the magical lore so that it could be performed by any experienced occultist or magician.
On Saturday evening I performed the Mass of the Great Goddess inside the mansion foyer and front room to a goodly sized crowd of attendees. I hadn’t said this Mass rite over seven years, and in fact, I was still in my wintering stage, so I had doubts about my ability to perform this ritual working. I even suggested that it be skipped to Alannah because the timing was running late and our bellies were full of good food. However, I was told that this ritual was a very important part of the event, so I had to persevere and perform it. By the time it started, I felt less full of food and able to perform this rite. Eric and Alannah, and the attendees performed the circle consecration and a Rose Ankh vortex rite, and then the focus shifted to me. I had set up a makeshift altar that was approximately the correct size, and I had variations on the standard mass kit to work with.
While I had doubted that I would have the stamina to perform this extended Mass rite, I surprised myself by performing it with more power and ability than I had assumed I possessed. I not only impressed my audience, but I impressed myself! The Mass was said with the greatest magical power and precision that I have ever performed it. I stumbled over a few of the barbarous words of evocation while saying the introit, but overall, it was a magnificent presentation, and I was in awe of what I had done. I had believed that due to age and lack of practice that I would perform this rite poorly, but as it turned out, I had so many years of magical practice in my past, and so much untapped energy that I was able to connect with the powers and inspiration that I had believed were long dormant. That event opened my eyes to the fact that I was not yet over the hill, and in time, I would have the opportunity to perform more workings and ordeals before the day when I would be truly retired, incapable or simply dead.
Swamp Mystics mini convention was only for one day, but I had another task on the following evening. I had discussed with Alannah the possibility of initiating her into the Alexandrian tradition of Witchcraft, giving her both first and second degree initiations in a hybrid of the traditional Lexie initiation that would allow her to assume the role of a priestess and be able to initiate men into the craft. When she would have elevated a male practitioner to the same degree as herself, she could perform the great rite and be a fully vested third-degree Witch. I left that task in her hands, but a second degree Witch priestess can be given full authority to initiate and run a coven. Additionally, I gave her the complete set of lineage documents for my Alexandrian line, which amounted to over 800 pages of written lore and history. I am handing my Witchcraft lineage off to women that I believe are worthy of this investiture so that it will continue on after I am no longer in this world. It is part of my task to distribute my legacy to worthy individuals, and I will continue to do this work while I still have the strength and stamina to do it.
Alannah’s initiation was performed in Eric’s small but efficient temple in the home they share, and we had the privilege to work this rite with two other people from New Orleans, Erich and my wife. The rite was performed effectively and even smoothly, and the end result produced a very charged and empowered Alannah. I had successfully passed my Witchcraft lineage to her, and now she can function as both a ritual magician of the Order of the Gnostic Star and also as an Alexandrian Witch Priestess. Giving this lineage to her was significant to me, because it was the one thing that I had not yet passed on to the town that I once called home, but now, all my magical and spiritual lore are fully grounded in the wonderful and mysterious location of Tallahassee. It is my hope that others in that community will be able to engage and share in the twin lineages that I have placed there. It is a legacy that will continue to bless and empower others as they further extend their magical and spiritual process.
Overall, I felt that the mini convention of Swamp Mystics was a great success. It was very magical, but the people were friendly and fun to be with. I also happened to sell a lot of my books, and Liber Nephilim was so successfully promoted that there was only one book left in that set of fifteen. I felt that the people in that location were ready to engage with my more advanced lore, and that the Temple of Limitless Light had done a lot of work to help folks get to that point of instruction. Returning to this place after so many years was an important stage in my own magical and spiritual process. I was reminded that after decades of magical work and study, I still have the capability to work powerful magical rituals and ceremonies, and that although I am no longer young or even middle aged, I remain a competent practitioner of the magical arts.
Frater Barrabbas
Thank you so much for headlining our event! It was wonderful, my expectations were surpassed, it was active yet peaceful, like a gathering of old friends.
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