Magick and Crossed Aspirations

When I attended a lecture that Ivo Dominguez Jr. gave on “Karma” at Paganicon, he touched briefly on a condition or situation where the goal that someone is seeking to realize can be rendered impossible simply because they are at crossed purposes. This condition of being crossed could occur because someone close to the one who is seeking that objective is secretly working against it, that the objective is desired by others and there is competition, or that one’s own mind or desires are at cross-purposes with one’s external objective. Ivo compared this situation to a wagon being pulled by different people in different directions, and in some cases the handle that one person is pulling would have more than one branch attached to it, and each branch was getting tugged in still another direction by forces within. The net result is either that the wagon is stubbornly stationary or it can go in a direction that we consciously don’t want it to. Regardless, the outcome is not what is expected nor desired, and the reason is called being at cross-purposes, or being “crossed.”

In the lore of Hoodoo magic this is a typical malady that a conjure man or woman has to deal with in order to help a client. Usually, it takes the form that someone has jinxed or even cursed another person so that their luck and good fortune evaporates. From that moment on, everything that they do or try is thwarted by some unseen or unknown adversary. Such a person has been cursed and crossed so that they will remain locked in a downward spiral of bad luck, missed opportunities and the constant occurrence of maladies, catastrophes and suffering. The conjure man or woman has to break the jinx or curse afflicting their client, reverse its affects and then clear and open the way for forward progress, so that their client might retrieve the accumulation of blessings denied them. It is a rigorous process and it typically assumes that clients so afflicted are being crossed by someone outside of themselves, whether that individual is close to them or not. Therefore, one who is crossed has been jinxed or cursed deliberately or even unwittingly by someone who is envious or covetous, thereby ensuring that the source of misfortune is always external to the victim.

The Hoodoo world is full of negative and positive magic wielded by conjure men and women or unsuspecting spiteful individuals, all of them warring against each other for the sake of third party clients, and that anyone’s hold of good fortune and luck is highly precarious. In the privileged world of the ritual or ceremonial magician, such drama is usually absent. As a ritual magician and religious celebrant I have had very few opportunities to counter curses or jinxes cast by other people. This means that most of time I am free to work magic on any objective I desire and should expect a reasonable return for my work. Thus I live in a world that is peaceful, free of the dynamic exchanges of negative and positive forces, and placid with the boring expectations and occurrences of a happy mundane existence. I have no recourse to blame outsiders for anything that might happen to me. Whatever happens is either my responsibility or accidental and totally beyond my control.

Even so, crossed aspirations can and do happen even if no one is behind them except our own hidden selves. We often see ourselves as singular unified beings with typically singular aspirations, but this, of course, is an illusion. We are actually a conglomeration of different and even conflicting personal desires, self-images, identities, and each of these different personalities has a somewhat different and distinct set of aspirations, emotions and desires. If we seem to be acting as a single being with a single purpose, then that is just the mask that we wear at the moment. We are multiple beings where perhaps one or two attributes rule over the rest, but those dominate traits can and do change over time. When someone that we haven’t seen in a long time tells us (whether pleasantly or as an insult) that we haven’t changed a bit, they are obviously and completely wrong. Different people might actually see different masks on the same person and think that they are actually seeing that person for who they are. Yet human nature is very complex, and people are of more than one mind, opinion or feelings about nearly everything. We work hard to create a mental fiction of ourselves so that we are somehow singular and unified in purpose, but it is in fact a fiction. If you don’t believe what I am saying, then just examine your own Astrological natal chart and you will see how internally conflicted and contradictory you truly are. And all of us are so collectively blessed and cursed by this malady.

With this little and disturbing fact in mind, you can see how easy it is for anyone to be at cross-purposes with themselves. In fact, when the magic fails to produce the outcome that we expect it should, or that the opposite occurs, or perhaps even something catastrophic happens, then we should use our expertise with divinatory tools to determine if we are at cross-purposes with ourselves. Such divination may reveal that the performing of magic had little or no bearing on the issue, or that the probability was so small that a slight bending would make no difference. It could be that the magician failed to perform the most important corresponding mundane actions or that the target was faulty or lacked clarity. As Chief Dan George famously said in the movie “Little Big Man,” to his adopted son, “Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Still, if a magician has been attempting to achieve a specific goal and has failed to do so over a period of time, even when it appeared that the odds were very much in her favor, then it’s time to look at the possibility of crossed purposes. When a magician is crossed regarding a specific material objective, whether it is money, a good job, a stable home or a relationship partner, then any attempt to achieve that objective will fail.

How do we know when we are being crossed? What are the indicators? The key to discovering this situation is a combination of divination and meditation. Divination will show you if your objective can be achieved in a reasonable amount of time. A big clue that one is crossed is if the divination that the magician has performed results in a confusing or inconclusive reading. For instance, if you do a Tarot card reading on the desired objective and it shows no conclusive outcome or produces a reading that makes little sense, then you should consider the possibility that you are crossed. Further Tarot card readings might help to identify what is crossing you or give you additional information; but it can just as easily continue to show you nothing.

At this stage, the magician uses a combination of contemplation and meditation to perform a process that I call “self-scan.” This is done by emptying the mind of everything, especially that specific issue that is vexing one, and then over a period of time when the mind is at rest, begin to ask questions about the nature of the objective. What I have discovered is that the outcome from performing a self-scan can reveal if one has conflicting desires that render the overall objective null and void. That’s when questions such as “Do I really want this outcome?” or “Do I want to assume the responsibility for following this path?” should be asked, and the answers carefully examined. The revelations produced from a self-scan session can be used to spearhead further divination on the subject matter. Over time, the magician will find out what is really going on inside of him and whether or not the objective is worth pursuing.

If the magician decides to pursue the objective even though he or she is not fully aligned internally in order to make it possible then a process of uncrossing must be engaged. Here is where the Hoodoo conjure folk can show ritual or ceremonial magicians a thing or two about overcoming obstacles and achieving goals regardless of adversity.

Much to my regret I can say without embarrassment that I experienced just such a crossed purposes situation that lasted for decades. I just couldn’t figure out what was going on and whatever divination or magical ritual workings that attempted to perform just never seemed to produce any results. Had I known about this potential issue of crossing that plagues nearly everyone at some time then I would have been able to resolve it much more quickly than I did. As it turns out, I fumbled along for many years until I intuitively determined what was going on and managed to rectify it. What was that crossed purposes situation that bedeviled me? It had to do with successfully finding a lover and lifetime partner for a long term relationship. Allow me to briefly describe what I went through.

Many years ago I fell in love with a woman that despite all my desires, intentions and attempts otherwise was never meant to be successful. We all have had these kinds of thwarted desires and deflected amorous objectives, and most of us get over them and continue to successfully find that one person who does love us and want to form a long term relationship. However, for me it was an unhealthy obsession that lasted far longer than it should have. I am not completely at fault here, but I should have been able to see the wisdom of the moment and disengage myself from this woman to look elsewhere.

Even when I had completely resigned myself to the true futility of such an objective, my obsession had created an internal process that had a life of its own. While I sought for the companionship of other women around me, part of me was still pining for this woman even though I knew she was impossible to achieve. I had unwittingly created for myself a powerful crossed-purposes type situation, and this marred and handicapped me completely regarding finding a relationship. The obsession had to be starved over a long period of time before I had any luck at finding a potential mate. Whatever magic I worked to resolve this situation did nothing to alleviate it, and in fact there were plenty of clues written in my magical diaries from that time, both from a magical and divinatory perspective, that I had compromised myself. I was in a trap of my own making, so it required me to understand this fact before I could find an exit.

Only after a long period of time did I finally realize what had happened to me, and only then, was I able to resolve my issue. Still, I could have resolved it so many years ago had I understood the pernicious nature of being at crossed purposes, and that uncrossing is an important tool and technique even for the practitioner of high magick. 

Hoodoo techniques for uncrossing vary considerably amongst different conjuring doctors and their various traditions, mentors and personal tastes. However, an archetypal Hoodoo methodology for uncrossing consists of the following steps, although there are many variations.

1. Divination to identify nature and source of crossing.

2. Bathing, foot washing, blue baths (Reckitts Crown Blue), vigil candles, prayers and psalms

3. Curse/Jynx Reversing - reverse candle burnt upside down, enemy binding, mirror magic (reflecting and returning the curse), mirror box/coffin with charged and bound enemy doll, further bathing and cleansing (removing jynx/curse).

4. Road Opening - vigil lights (road opening candles), use of Van-van or road opening oils for final cleansing and preparation to retrieve lost blessings. Prayers, psalm reading, receiving blessings from root doctor or church, or both.

5. Lucky spells to activate and achieve lost/stolen/blocked objective.

A magician could, if they have a facility for Hoodoo, develop their own low magic technique using the above five steps. Still, what can the ritual or ceremonial magician do to counter a situation where they are at crossed purposes with themselves? How can they use the tools already at their disposal? I feel that I can apply the knowledge that I have of high magic and Hoodoo uncrossing and therefore propose a series of steps and magical actions that magicians can use to uncross themselves.

The following nine steps can be performed if magicians suspect that they (or their clients) are at crossed purposes with themselves. These nine steps can be grouped into three major magical workings, to be performed at different times but in close proximity to each other.

1. Self-scan - determine through a combination of divination and meditation sessions the nature of the crossed-purpose issue. Meditation should consist of emptying the mind (contemplation) and then focusing on specific questions about the nature of the problem. The results from this step are used to assist and facilitate the next step. The magician can also discover if there really is a crossed purpose issue producing a blockage or thwarted objective. (1 step combined/alternating)

2. Cross-roads divination session: During the dark of the moon, the magician will, in her temple, erect a cross-roads tying together the four circle angles within sacred space. In the center where the four angular directions meet, the magician will use a black mirror (peering through an image darkly) to retrieve an image, name and phrase associated with the specifically identified obstruction found in step 1. Once this image and name/phrase is discovered, the magician will produce a sigil symbolizing that obstruction on parchment with the pen and ink of the art, and then consecrate and charge it. (3 steps)

3. Validate crossed-roads divination results with another self-scan session. Make certain that the charged sigil resonates with the energy of the obstruction. It is possible that more than one obstruction may exist, and the magician may have only identified the dominate one. It might be necessary to repeat step 2 if other issues are uncovered in this step. Once all of the issues are identified and symbolized by blessed and charged sigils, then the magician may continue with the next step, which will be performed just before the moon is full. (1 step combined/alternating)

4. Perform cleansing exercises, a meditation vigil and a ritual bath prior to performing the main rite for Opening the Way, which is to be done that evening. (1 step)

5. Cross-roads Opening the Way rite: Magician erects a cross-roads tying together the four circle angles within sacred space. A small cauldron is placed in the center of the circle, and the magician takes the sigil(s) in hand and focuses intently on them, discussing and reviewing the nature of the crossing associated with each one, tearing up the sigil, and then when all of the pieces are in the cauldron, burning them together. Take the resultant ashes and use them draw an equal arm cross on the forehead with the left index finger (sign of the Lenten abnegation), then proceed to the Northern Watchtower and perform the “opening of the portal gesture” therein. Proceed into the Northern Watchtower and turn to face the south, reading off a series of affirmations and intended objectives that are now free to be acquired. Then seal all of the nodes and the working is done. As an additional empowerment, the magician can place one or more (metal) talismans for the appropriate planetary intelligence or godhead in the Northern Watchtower prior to the working in order to facilitate and charge the affirmations at the end. (These should be touched and focused on when entering in the Northern Watchtower. (3 overall steps)

Once the above workings are completed, and after the moon has passed full, the magician should perform some divination to check on the efficacy of the working. He should notice a profound alteration in consciousness and feel completely resolved as if the obstruction was overcome and nothing further can thwart his intentions and objectives in this matter.

Five of the most dramatic parts of this overall uncrossing working are the black mirror scrying, the blessing and charging of the sigil, and the burning of the sigil, wearing the ashes on the forehead and then performing the opening portal in the North, representing the opening of the place of darkness to the light of one’s renewed aspirations. These five ritual actions will symbolically destroy the sigil of the blockage, mark one’s self for their passing, and then open the gateway of material achievement and thereby remove the obscuring darkness of the crossed purpose that has been blocking the desired achievement. The magician can also perform specific workings after a successful uncrossing to assist in the acquisition of the objective, and this time there won’t be a possibility for crossed purposes blocking the outcome. 

Variations on this working can be performed without altering its overall impact, but I believe that this high magic technique of uncrossing should give the ritual or ceremonial magician the mechanism to remove and eliminate obstructions. May you always be uncrossed and unobstructed when pursing your objectives, but if not, then you can uncross yourself. 

Frater Barrabbas

Pantheacon 2011 - Stregans, Remarkable Men and Women, and Low Magick

As you know, I was gone to Pantheacon the last few days, so that’s why there hasn’t been an article posted on this blog for that duration of time. I was also very busy at that event, so I didn’t get around to giving you a blow by blow report on what happened. So, now that I am still stuck here waiting for a late flight to get home, I thought that I would write up a report on how things went and what my experiences were like. There was a massive snow storm that shut down the Minneapolis airport for half a day on Monday, thus canceling my return flight. I had to scramble to get a replacement flight, and there wasn’t much to choose from. I will have to take a red-eye circuitous flight from San Jose, to Atlanta, then to Minneapolis, getting there Wednesday morning. Oddly, I will have flown in a triangle around the country during this entire trip.

Here are some notes that I wrote while the convention was underway.

The last affects of Pantheacon 2011 are winding down this Monday evening, and I thought that I would relate some of what I experienced while commingling with lots of strangely attired and pagan persona possessed people, including myself, of course. We descended on the few so called “normal” folks who were staying at the hotel for purely mundane reasons, and the hotel staff who expertly tolerated the crowds of unusual characters. It was fun, and it was informative - but more importantly, it met all of my expectations and exceeded them.

It would seem that Pantheacon is the kind of event that takes a few years for one to build up the kind of contacts and the social network necessary to make the con an event that is highly enjoyable and filled with the interaction of friendly and interesting folk. At least, this is true for me, an old cantankerous and dodgy sorcerer from the Midwest. It takes me a while to get to know people, and for people to get to know me - a veritable sign of the waning years of middle age. I am definitely not plugged in and hip as my much younger counter parts in the pagan world, so I stumble and creep along like some aged dinosaur, but I eventually get to where I want to go.

Anyway, as you know, I was stuck with the necessity of performing both of my presentations on Friday, which was a bit of a bother, but it turned out to be quite fortuitous. That meant that Friday was pretty much taken up with preparing for and giving the two lectures. Both were newly made and first-time presentations, but they consisted of material that I knew very well.
               
The first lecture was on the Decan Faces, a topic that is near and dear to my heart, and it went off pretty well. There was a bit too much information in the lecture notes, and it will require some tweaks to get it to a state where I will feel contented with it’s final form. This is a typical sentiment for me, being the avowed perfectionist when it suits me. One odd note was that all of the doors for the lecture rooms were locked and I had to get someone to open up the doors, and then the room wasn’t set up properly for the lecture. I guess someone thought that attendees needed their own tables to work on whatever was to be “constructed” for the workshop. My first lecture was moderately attended, and the feedback that I got was quite positive.

Later in the day I assembled my materials and went to give my second lecture, which was on Lunar Magick. Where the previous lecture was moderately attended, this lecture had more attendees than chairs, and soon the room temperature got up to the mid 80's, which was quite uncomfortable for some. This lecture was delivered adequately, although there was a bit of a problem with the end. I will probably go over the last section in the near future and iron it out, perhaps doing a bit of reorganizing. The attendees didn’t notice any of these minor issues, and the lecture was perceived as useful and successful. Some people later thanked me for this lecture and told me how significant it was. The most important point in the lecture is that using the Lunation cycle requires the witch or pagan to break their workings up into multiple sessions, so as to take better advantage of the changing lunar energy. I had stated in the beginning that I wasn’t an astrologer, and one of the questions that I took at the end was about the nodes of the Moon, which was off topic and a bit obscure for me. Thankfully, an astrologer was attending the lecture, a very learned man named Jim Schultz, who was able to answer that and a couple of other astrological questions - many thanks to him.

I also met and was introduced to Robert, the writer and owner of the “Doing Magick” blog. He was friendly and engaging, and we had some interesting conversations later on. I must admit that I was surprised at how he looked and expressed himself, all done in a down to earth and kindly manner, I guess you could say that I imagined that he would look and behave quite differently, based on the persona that I sense is projected in his writings. The reading imagination is an interesting tool when no real life imagery is supplied.

Another person that I spent a bit of time with was Ivo Dominguez Jr., who I found to be quite affable, friendly, and very humorous. Ivo is a very quiet, self disciplined and down to earth individual, but his wit and observation of human folly is quite insightful and enjoyable. Ivo is also very generous and socially accessible. I would have liked to have spent more time talking with him, but the reality of Pantheacon is unlimited distractions set within a very short time line. There were other old friends to meet and new friends to make.

One old friend that I truly enjoyed meeting again was Tony Mierzwicki and his lovely wife, Jo-Anne. Tony attended my first class and we spent some of the afternoon together getting caught up with each other. Tony is a delightful man; sensitive, highly intelligent, compassionate, and with the body of a Heracles, he presents a striking contrary image to the typical couch potato occultist. I regretfully communicated that I would miss his presentation on Monday afternoon, but as it turned out, I was able to happily attend it, and spend a good portion of the rest of the day talking with him and his wife.

Lon Milo Duquette was at the convention, of course, and I got to chat with him a few times, most notably with a well made martini in the OTO Hospitality Suite. As always, I found Lon to be eminently charming, hilariously funny, but also deeply insightful and down to earth. I picked up an autographed edition of his newest book on Low Magick, and he signed it “How Low Magick Can You Go?” I will be reading this book (and others) and will hopefully have something to relate on the comment. We both chuckled over it, and shared some other humorous observations about life in general, and occultism in particular. I bought the book a little later at the Llewellyn Author’s Presentation, which had a lot of new authors and books to examine. They also had free cake and a book raffle, but I had to leave after a short while, it was getting quite late for me. I was plagued by being two hours ahead of time in regards to my inner clock, so I found myself getting pretty sleepy by the time 11:00 pm rolled around. That would have been more like 1:00 am for me.

Saturday was the day that the del Bosco Sacro Stregan clan arrived at Pantheacon. I was very glad to meet David Griffin again, and to also meet his wife, Aegeria, and also to finally meet Dianus and Diana. Both Aegeria and Diana had been heavily afflicted with a recent bought of influenza, so that, and the long drive, slightly diminished them all with a veil of fatigue that they worked mightily to keep parted. Even despite these hardships, they were happy to be there, and that happiness was quite infectious, I must admit. They were dressed in long hooded capes and robes, and Aegeria had a drum to beat a cadence as they walked in a procession to the lecture hall. Thus, the long awaited presentation began.

The presentation of the del Bosco Sacro Stregan family was done in the style of an ethnographic interview, where Aegeria, acting as the anthropologist, asked a set of questions to Diana, which were replied by her acting spokesperson, Dianus, and translated by Lupercus (David). Questions and comments from the audience were discouraged during this presentation. This was an unusual presentation methodology, and some found it either unwarranted or unnecessary. However, I can understand why this methodology was used and I thought that was necessary, but it did place a restrictive barrier between the presenters and the audience. It made the proceedings far more formal and restrictive, and less interactive and engaging. The reason for this enforced structure was to ensure that the presentation was able to fully respond to all of the questions that were presented without detraction or disruption. It was also my understanding that the presentation was being recorded for future use. Anyway, the presentation had to be cut short due to desire of some in the audience to be able to ask questions individually, and that such a venue could not be held in the hallway after the event was completed. Aegeria’s list of questions were quite excellent, representing pretty much what everyone would have liked to have asked if they could have done so in an informal atmosphere. Afterwards, I had lunch with the whole group and was able to talk to them extensively in private, although Dianus’ command of English was limited at the present time. To communicate in any depth required David’s ever thoughtful interpretation in both directions.

Having personally met and talked and communed with Diana and Dianus, there was no question of their knowledge and abilities. They represent an authentic traditional teaching, which they were not shy to demonstrate on the following day. For a number of reasons, mostly due to fact that Diana was only recently bed ridden, the ritual event was not performed the following day. Instead, Dianus and Diana performed individual demonstrations of their techniques for a smaller and more intimate group. There were also some initiations performed, but everything was done completely on a voluntary basis, representing a very high degree of personal and spiritual integrity. I am unable to say more about this, of course, but what I saw and experienced in their company did more to eliminate any further doubts about their claims or the presentation of their knowledge. I can safely say that I am completely satisfied with what Lupercus and Aegeria are doing within the various pagan communities. All the various claims of nefarious manipulations, illegitimacy or a lack of ethical guidelines whispered by anonymous individuals can be seen for what it is, petty jealousy and spiteful judgements based on ignorance.

I must admit that I spent a lot of time with these four individuals, and got to see Diana and Dianus experience the wonders of the vender’s market place. I am certain that few Europeans would be able to see such a collection of specialized items for sale as were on display at Pantheacon. I could see the wonder in Diana’s eyes at all that she saw and got to examine in detail. That experience alone was quite a pleasurable past time for me as well as the four of them. Spending time with them meant that I didn’t get to attend as many of the workshops and lectures that I might have otherwise, but the sacrifice was well worth it. Spending time with these good friends and spiritual allies was the equivalent of attending quite a number of Pcon events.

Another interesting person that I met and had deep conversations with was Dr. Robert Word, a most pleasant fellow with a very keen intellect. Talking with him was like conversing with someone who had an almost encyclopedia like grasp of history as well as occultism. Other individuals that I met and got to talk with were Donald Frew, who was responsible for getting me deeply attached to Neoplatonism and who single handedly showed me that my intuitive spiritual perspectives and beliefs were based on the various teachings within that discipline. I also talked briefly with John Michael Greer (I promised him a drink, which I didn’t get a chance to honor), and I look forward with talking with him at the upcoming Pagancon in the Twin Cities.

I also attended the author’s panel put on by Weiser, and the theme for that panel was the republication of the book “Demon Lover” by Dion Fortune.  The author panel was supposed to have read the book and to comment on it. Although the authors presented a number of interesting and engaging perspectives about the book, little was actually said of Dion Fortune. I felt that many of the pagans who may have attended that panel would have only known Dion Fortune by her rather pagan books, such as the Sea Priestess, Moon Magic and the Goatfoot God. Demon Lover was a more obscure fictional story written by Fortune early in her career. However, Fortune’s fictional work was quite different than her non-fiction occult writings, both publically and within her spiritual order. I would have hoped that the panel would have started off with a short biographical note about who Dionne Fortune was, when she lived, died, and her overall contribution to occultism and esoteric studies. For instance, her actual name was Violet Firth, and she was much more known for her occult practices that mixed Christianity with forms of Theosophy than she was for her Golden Dawn or pagan associations. I think that Dion Fortune wouldn’t have liked to be referred to as a pagan occultist. Anyway, I was a bit disappointed by this omission, and was even asked to add some biographical detail off of the top of my head, which was kind of embarrassing, since I was hardly prepared to do so. Yet I managed to speak intelligently, although briefly, about Dion Fortune. Perhaps I may write a blog article about her in the future.

Because my flight was canceled, I got to attend Tony Mierzwicki’s presentation on Greek Religion and witness his invocation of Athena. I thought that it was an excellent lecture, facilitated with an eye-catching power point presentation and an English translation of the Orphic Hymn to Athena. I also spent some of the afternoon with Tony and Jo-Anne, walking in the lovely sunshine and proto-spring like weather outside. It was an enjoyable afternoon and evening, but the next day (Tuesday) saw few if any of the attendees left over. I had a quiet day of reflecting on what I had experienced, and some time to continue my reading of Jake Stratton Kent’s new book, volume one of Geosophia.

It was grand time of reflection, only interrupted when I had to undergo the horrifically torturous process of flying home. The only flight that I could find that was reasonable (only one stop over) traveled to Atlanta from San Jose, and then to Minneapolis. My journey was triangular, so that was kind of a bit of ironic humor. I had to endure a nearly four hour flight sitting next to an older unshaven man, with a bush hat and redneck teeth, who was traveling back to Ashville. While he wasn’t rattling the mucous in his throat, loudly snoring while sleeping, he was alternatingly coughing, sneezing or blowing his nose. He even spit some of what he was coughing up into an empty peanut bag, much to my horror and disgust. At least by the end of the flight I had discovered his middle name - it was Phlegm. Needless to say, I got no sleep on that flight, nor on the next, stuck and cramped as I was in the middle of the row. By the time I got home the following morning, I was quite tired and a bit cranky. I got over it all and settled into a pleasant sleepless reverie until my significant other came to pick me a couple of hours later.

So that was my Pantheacon experience - of course there were lots of other events and details that I have left out, but I think that I shared enough of it to give an idea of what it was like. Perhaps you might consider going there yourself someday, if you weren’t there when I was there. Anyway, time to get back to work and some more mundane things to occupy me for the nonce. There will certainly be more articles coming up, but for now, I need to do some writing and researching, punctuated with some fond memories.

Frater Barrabbas    

Notes on Pantheacon 2010 - A Good Time Had By All

Well, I am back from Pantheacon today, although quite exhausted and tired from the long journey (a brutal 9 hour connecting flight) and the over-all lack of sleep due to adjusting to a two hour time difference, and the fact that there was just too much going on to get a decent night’s sleep. That being said, I will limp through the next couple of days and regain my rest and sanity incrementally.

So even though my brains feel like mush, I wanted to say a few things about my experience at the Con, talk about my classes and mention a few notables who impressed me. I met several really wonderful people while talking, visiting and attending lectures, and I learned some new things that I would also like to share with my readers. (Yes, I am always learning new things, not to mention having to amend or revise my opinions about various topics.)

First, I would like to mention that I was quite impressed with the workshops and the depth of knowledge as presented by three individuals who I had not previously crossed paths with. These were Athena Wallinder, Ivo Dominguez Jr and Donald Frew. All three gave presentations that were, in my opinion, quite unique and enlightening. I also attended the last few minutes of Dr. Jehon Gris’s presentation and purchased his multimedia CD of the lecture, which I intend on perusing at my leisure. I also got to spend some time with my good friend Tony Mierzwicki, who put on a presentation about Egyptian initiation rites, including stepping us all through an interesting egg spell from the PGM. Tony is by far probably one of the most adept and capable ritual magicians that I have met in some time, and his sole book is probably one of the greatest classics on magick that I have seen in quite some time. You find his book on amazon dot com here.

Athena Wallinder is a wonderful, zany, humorous, artistic, creative and brilliant occultist. Her knowledge is as wide as it is deep and insightful. Although she seems to be kind of jocular and funny much of the time, she is also quite deadly serious about her magickal practice. She is an Enochian magician and a goetic sorcereress of some note, you can find one of her web sites here. Athena actually set up a goetic temple in the middle of a moderately sized presentation room and stepped the attendees through the creation of a seal for the demon Buer, who is reputed to be a healing spirit. She was dressed in the expected garb of a sorceress, somewhat stylish and quite outlandish.

The first slide in her presentation was an image of the current Catholic pope with the word “Fear” emblazoned across the top, as a way to remind folks that having an open mind and approaching things with a bit of courage is important if one seeks to traffic with goetic demons. It was also ironic and quite funny. I suspect that more folks were probably more inimical and afraid of the pope than goetic demons. What I learned from her is that of the list of goetic demons, some of them are harsh and some are more compassionate, such as Buer or Vassago. I also noticed that she uses Egyptian gods and other reclaimed infernal entities as a means of self empowerment and magickal control. This is, of course, perfectly in alignment with some of my own opinions about goetic magick. I have discussed demons as a compete class of spirits instead of also looking at them as individuals, an omission that I will have to rectify and amend my opinions on this topic. Much of what I have stated in past articles I still believe today, but there are details and nuances to ponder in the days to come. Athena hasn’t changed my mind, but has powerfully opened it to other possibilities.

Ivo Dominguez Jr has been around the east coast pagan community for quite a number of years. This was the first time that I got to attend one of his presentations as well as be introduced to him and his perspectives on magick. I found his presentation to be very well thought out, concisely structured and extremely hilarious. Ivo had a number of very funny and even outrageous stories to tell, all of them quite relevant to the topic, I might add, which was practical earth based magick. Ivo’s main talking point was that simple and basic magick is available to everyone, and should be practiced and used to soften the hard edges of life and open one up to life’s many opportunities. He discussed an important point that to work earth based magick one needs to focus on energies and spirits that are close to the earth instead of more attempting to use the remote godheads or higher level spirits, such as angels or demigods.

I met Ivo the next morning and had a brief chat with him. I found that we were both in agreement on a lot of the areas of basic earth magick, that timing had a lot to do with one’s greater fortune. I found Ivo’s knowledge to be breathtakingly expansive. He knows basic practical forms of earth magick and he also is quite conversant with just about any other occult topic as well. I found him to be something of an understated expert in the discipline of astrology, which I also use extensively in my occult practices. Ivo is brilliant and also very down to earth, with a very clever and earthy sense of humor. I recommend his teachings, books and an opportunity to have tea or coffee with him in the future. His website can be found at this location.

Don Frew put on a brief presentation about how Neoplatonism is very important to both modern occultism and to earth based spirituality, such as wicca and neopaganism. He covered the history of neoplatonism, including the various greater luminaries of that philosophical system who lived in the first four centuries of the common era. He also compared the main features of that system of philosophy with modern witchcraft and magick. Since I have been a major proponent of what I call the union of being, representing the source and ultimate destiny of all spirits and godheads, it was good to know that my beliefs are not an outlier, and that they are well represented by neoplatonic philosophy. I will definitely have to examine this topic in much greater detail now that I have been shown the important of neoplatonism and the teachings of the Neoplatonists. Don is a Covenant of the Goddess National Interfaith Representative and witchcraft elder.

As for myself, I presented three workshops during the Pantheacon convention. I have already stated what these presentations were about and when they were to be presented. I will say this about each of them.

22 Steps of the Cycle of Initiation - Transformative Journeys: Friday 3:30 pm. This was my first class and it was probably my weakest performance. I was admittedly a bit tired and had not gone over the workshop notes before performing it, so in my own opinion I was not as prepared as I should have been. I focused too much on my notes and attempted to read from them too often, even though I knew the material pretty much by heart. I was not as accessible nor did I exhibit my rather infamous dry humor. I was a bit too keyed up and unable to relax. However, I still managed to present all of the material and I did succeed in communicating to the audience some very useful points and perspectives. I was somewhat disappointed by my performance, but others who attended didn’t seem to notice it as much as I did. The workshop was adequately attended, since the bulk of the attendees probably had not yet arrived to the convention. Anyway, I vowed to make certain that the next workshop would be much better presented. I had some ideas. Seeing the other presentations also really helped gel in my mind what I needed to do to present a better workshop. Keep in mind that this was the first presentation that I had done in quite a number of years, so I was a bit rusty, but the overall structure of the workshop was quite sound and allowed me plenty of time to present all of the necessary ideas.

The next workshop was the Art of Ritual Evocation: Saturday 9:00 pm. This workshop was well attended and I was well prepared for it. I had considered this workshop to be probably the hardest one to pull off, so I had gone over the notes quite thoroughly. So when it came time to give the presentation, I was confident, relaxed, funny and accessible. I talked to the attendees instead of talking to my notes. Audience response was good, the questions were relevant and thoughtful, and there was time to go over most of the material. What I didn’t do was go over the history of the grimoires, since I had mentioned them at various points of my talk and there wasn’t any time left to make an exhaustive study. What I did focus on was how individuals would use the old grimoires to perform magickal evocation. How I was able to put together a system of magick that allowed me to invoke spirits through a matrix and actually symbolically generate them. This concept was well received and opened a lot of eyes, since my audience consisted of mostly wiccan and neopagans, who were not too crazy about using the old grimoires to perform evocation. I was very pleased by my performance, since it represented what I needed to do in order to be confident and prepared. It also went a long way in restoring my confidence in my ability to give fun and informative presentations.

The last workshop was Elemental Magick - Using the Energy Theory of Magick: Monday 9:00 am. This workshop was surprisingly well attended, although not like the previous one - of course. I was pretty exhausted by this time, but I went over the material in the morning before my presentation, and drank a large cup of coffee, which seemed to revive me somewhat. However, I knew the material very well, having explained it to people and written about it for quite a number of years. Even though I was tired, I managed to give a good presentation and made certain that the attendees understood how an elaborated energy model of magick could be used to refine and focus the magick worked. I explained the importance of qualifying the energy via the four elements and also shaping and giving it a vector. I also touched on the basics of crystal magick and how more advanced systems of magick might be deployed using these structures in a more advanced methodology. I also brought together the ritual structures covered in the previous two workshops and showed how the gateway and the elemental octagon were used in conjunction with the septagon to generate the body and mind of the spirit. There were a few attendees who had attended all three and I could the lights turn on in their eyes when I pulled all of these threads together. For me it was the most gratifying thing that I personally experienced in all three of my classes.

So that was Pantheacon 2010 in a nutshell. I believe that I will seek to attend next year’s gathering, and see what new workshops I can present as well as attend.

Frater Barrabbas