Frater Barrabbas Author Literary Tour - Part 4 - Magical Qabalah for Beginners

 

After I had successfully placed four published books in the public domain, which is what DGRM and MARM consisted of at that time, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at writing a book that was not wedded to my previous opus, “Pyramid of Power,” since both of these books were a product of that original work. I also wanted to publish a book through either Weiser or Llewellyn, the biggest occult book publishers at that time. I felt that I would get a lot more notoriety being an author with books published in either of those publishing firms. These were my thoughts back in early 2010.

Since I personally knew the acquisitions editor for Llewellyn, having met her at Pantheacon gatherings and briefly talking to her, I thought that I would try my luck with that publishing company first. When talking to her, she told me that they were looking for authors to publish books in a “For Beginners” series, and one major unfilled entry that they had was the Qabalah. Of course, I sort of shuttered at first about taking on such a writing project, but then I realized that I already had a lot of writings on the Qabalah. As part of the background education for the Order I had written up some documents for the Qabalah and had passed them around to my fellow members. These documents were written poorly and did not have my current style of writing, so they would need to be revised and rewritten. However, that was better than having to start with no writings at all.

I was able to put together a table of contents quite easily to scope out what I wanted to write, but then I realized that not only were some of my ideas out of date, some of them contained information that was incorrect or inaccurate. I also lacked a standard set of practices and rituals, and I did not have a very good understanding of the history of the Qabalah. So, I began a period of research that lasted for several months while I also worked on rewriting the sections of text that I had previously poorly written. This has become the typical pattern when embarking on writing a book. What I think I know and have used for many years can be either stale or actually erroneous. I had a number of erroneous ideas and perspectives on the Qabalah that needed some deep research to bring them into a much more accurate presentation. It was an excellent learning situation, and I added considerably to my existing knowledge of the Qabalah as a result of that research. I submitted my first manuscript version in April 2012, and a month or so later, had my final version. The book came out in print in January, 2013.

Despite all of that rewriting and researching, I had to rewrite whole chapters of that book after I submitted it to Llewellyn. The marketing staff at Llewellyn had problems with the more advanced writing style and conceptual narrative that I used, and the subject matter was thought to be too complex or difficult for a beginner. What I didn’t want to do was write a book “Qabalah for Dummies” that was too simplistic to be useful for most occultists and ritual magicians. I wanted to write a book that presented the basic concepts to my readers, but also included more advanced ideas and practices for the more advanced student.

The book, as it was finally sent to the printers, took a middle ground between beginner and advanced students that I felt would be more engaging and interesting to someone who already knew something about the subject area, but wanted to proceed to a more advanced perspective. I feel that I was correct in taking that writing approach, although a few readers left negative reviews because they had assumed that the book was really a beginners guide. I don’t really feel bad about that, since the Qabalah is a very complex topic and if you are going to approach it as a magical discipline then simplicity and a shallow purview must be replaced with a more complex and deeper presentation. The Qabalah is not really a topic to be tackled by the uninformed nor the rank beginner, so it is in a similar position as Enochian magic or grimoire magic - it is not for actual beginners. So that is how the book “Magical Qabalah for Beginners” was developed.

Here is the advertisement for the book, as it is currently written on the back of the cover.

Discover the history and theory of Qabalah as well as its practical ritual uses. Explore the five basic but essential parts of Qabalah: the ten Sephiroth, the twenty-two paths, the Four Worlds, the Three Negative Veils, and the Tree of Life.

The Qabalah is the symbolic key to the Western Mystery tradition. Gain invaluable insights into all occult systems including high magic, Tarot, astrology, alchemy, hermetics, and more. In Magical Qabalah for Beginners, Frater Barrabbas shows ritual magicians, Pagans, and occult students how to incorporate the Qabalah into practice, using tables of correspondences, numerology, acronyms and formulae, sigils and ciphers, contemplation, and the theurgy of ascension. Now is the time to penetrate the mystical properties of Qabalah and make them work in your life.

I also had some good reviews from a few individuals who read the printer’s galley version, and these were included in the book. I guess that Llewellyn had to have some kind of good word, or ‘bon mot,’ for my book to get people excited or curious enough  to purchase and read it. The book “Magical Qabalah For Beginners” is still in print, and has sold over 4,000 copies. It is also available in Polish and Russian.

All of that research, writing and rewriting served an important purpose. It made me much more knowledgeable about the Qabalah than I had ever been in the past. As a system, it is complete and without the need for any ancillary practices or studies. You can be a magical Qabalist, but it would seem that being a Qabalist and a ritual magician might be either redundant or a contradictory approach to an applied occultism. That was one thing I discovered.

Writing that book also had another curious effect on me. I lost my passion for the Qabalah when I discovered that to truly function as a Qabalist you had to have sacred scriptures to act as your foundation. Qabalah is not practiced in a vacuum. It should always be focused on revealing the occult truths and magical capabilities within that sacred literature. Also, such a practice elevates the linguistic paradigm of mystical and magical practices, basing it on the power of words and their companions, numbers. I found that lacking a sacred literature was a real deficit in the study and practice of the Qabalah. That lessened my interest in the Qabalah, and I found other magical practitioners were coming to the same conclusion.

It seems almost blasphemous to say that I believe now that the Qabalah is over utilized and contrived in its current occult formulation. One of most important things that I have said about the Qabalah is that the mystical Jewish community created the Kabbalah to add and augment the Talmud as an esoteric commentary on the Tenach, or Hebrew Bible. That is what the Zohar represents to the Jewish study of the Kabbalah. It is the crown jewel, since from that commentary and analysis much of the mystical and magical elements of Judaism has its roots. It is a mystical, occult and magical Talmud, founded on the sacred writings of the Jewish Bible.

If a religion has a sacred body of writing then a Qabalah can be fashioned to develop and gather occult insights into the mystical foundation of that religion. This is true of religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and Hinduism. Thelema has Liber Al, the Book of the Law, so it would qualify as well. Qabalah is founded on a sacred written language, so Hebrew, Greek, Latin (Vulgate), Arabic, Farsi, Sanscrit and English would represent that sacred language. Since Liber Al is written in English there is a place for an English Qabalah, too.

What is missing in this list is a language and sacred book for Witches and Pagans. While the Chaldean Oracles probably comes the closest to functioning as a kind of sacred writ for modern Pagans, there is nothing for modern Witchcraft. The Chaldean Oracles exist as quoted fragments related by other contemporary and later authors and no complete version of the full text has been found. It is possible (but doubtful) that Neoplatonism might be the answer for a mystical and philosophical discipline that could be reconstituted and used by modern pagans, yet it is even less likely to be relevant for practicing Witches.
 
The same could be said about the ancient Egyptians, since nearly all of their sacred literary work contains a large volume of magical spells with only some myths and stories passing down through the ages to us. What was sacred to the Egyptians was magical spells that could obtain for them immortality and life beyond death, and they seemed to mix religion and magic quite freely, so there never was anything like a Bible for the ancient Egyptians. In fact despite the dominance of Amun-Ra in the later dynasties of ancient Egypt, there was never actually a single unified religious faith throughout the history of that land, until Christianity came, and then later, Islam.

The lack of a definitive sacred book is also likely true with many of the ancient western polytheistic religions that academics have examined. Books may have been written for priests to perform priestcraft (although little of any of that remains today), and the absence of such an organized clergy in the Greco-Roman period made the Jewish Tenach that appeared after the end of the Temple period a unique contribution to organized religion, especially when it was translated into Greek. Christianity followed suit, the Gnostics were prolific writers of sacred texts, and so did Islam later on.

Zoroastrianism and Hinduism have had a religious literary tradition for nearly 3,000 years, and the Zend Avesta and the Vedic texts are probably distantly related, both linguistically and doctrinally. Zoroaster reformed his creed, and the Vedic texts were complimented with books called the Upanishads. It might be difficult to formulate a Qabalah for those two faiths, but it would not be impossible, as the later heretical cult of Zurvan attempted to do with Zoroastrianism.

What this simple requirement does is leave modern Pagans and Witches out in the cold when it comes to the Qabalah. We have no sacred writings and no sacred language, so the very foundation of a Qabalistic system would evade us. The Tree of Life glyph, based on the Hebrew alphabet and numbering system, would be somewhat useful; but as a model of eschatology it is limited and not very insightful to a pagan or a witch. I have found that the three or four layered world perspective of traditional Shamanism more useful as a model of the natural and spiritual worlds than the Tree of Life. Additionally, the Hebrew Kabbalah does not use the Tarot as a method for characterizing the twenty-two paths, and if a Christian-Greek alphabet were used then two more pathways would have to be derived in a Christian Tree of Life glyph representing that system.

What is left, then, are the many tables of correspondences, based on the 32 paths (Sephiroth and Pathways) or their various sub-structures. Many of the full 32 path-based tables of correspondences are somewhat awkward and not particularly useful, while the ones that are based on the numbers 4, 7, 10 and 12 are much more useful since they can be readily used to build correspondences for the elements, planets, prime numbers and the signs of the zodiac. These tables are also handy for building correspondences for the full Tarot deck, which is probably one of the most powerful magical systems in use today. It stands by itself and doesn’t need the Qabalah to give it meaning and purpose.

Then we come to the topics of Gematria, Notariqon and Temurah. Gematria is the numerological method for equating numbers with words through the art of adding up the letter number values as found in a Hebrew word. Using the Greek alphabet might also be helpful, and there is an association of number values to Greek letters, since they were once used to write numbers when the Hindu-Arabic system of numeration had not yet been invented. It was likely the Greeks who developed this methodology and the Jews found it eminently useful in their Kabbalah.

The key to Gematria is to develop a book of words (Sepher Sephiroth) that has all of the relevant words found in the sacred text attributed to their letter numeric value, and the book is ordered by numbers to group them together. Without such a book, the process is not as revealing and it has the fault of being quite narrow, showing where connections make sense while avoiding those that make no sense whatsoever. A perusal of Crowley’s book Sepher Sephiroth shows that while some numbers have interesting connections, others are practically meaningless in their obscurity.

While I have found Gematria to be a clever curiosity, I have never found it as a useful method of proving a semantic correlation between word concepts. Authors like Kenneth Grant have over-used Gematria to formulate occultic proofs that are as flimsy as the paper they are written on. I think that Gematria has been overused by Grant and some others, since it should only focus on strategic religious terms, and then it also suffers from the noise of correlations that are irrelevant or meaningless.

Notariqon is the art of building and exploding acronyms and Temurah is the art of letter substitution. I have used Notariqon in building letter and word formulas to bind the segments of rituals together into a seamless whole, but it is just a process of building clever acronyms - there is nothing sacred or mysterious about it. These letter number technologies are interesting and at times, clever, but I have not found them very insightful. Perhaps if I had a sacred text to use them against I would discover all sorts of amazing and fascinating mysteries, but I don’t have such a book and so the greater appreciation of the Qabalah is unavailable to me.

After all of these considerations, I do still find the Qabalah useful and since I have incorporated it into my magical workings, it is still relevant to me. Yet I have found that the overuse and even abuse of the Qabalah to be disappointing. There are many other mystical and occult systems to use in the workings of magic. Sometimes not using any system will yield results that are more straightforward and less convoluted than having to add a thick and sometimes awkward layer of Qabalah to a magical working or process for esthetic reasons. These are, of course, just my opinions.

The book “Magical Qabalah for Beginners” is not only recommend by me, the author, but also by other occultists. The large number of sold copies should be an indicator that this book is worth having and reading. It is, however, not really for beginners, despite what the title of the book says.

Frater Barrabbas    

Am I Becoming a BNM, BNW or BNP?

This month I got my statement from Llewellyn Worldwide about my book published by them this year entitled “Magical Qabalah For Beginners” and I was happy to note that in the last six months, from January through June 2013, my book sold 752 copies, both paper and electronic. That’s more books sold in six months than I have sold since my first book was published in May 2007. It may not seem like a lot of books, and certainly the royalties from those sales don’t amount to much money, but it is a good sign. Perhaps as one of my young associates has told me about this book that it will become more popular over time, becoming one of the “must read” books if one is at all interested in the Qabalah. It also means that I might have a decent chance of publishing future books either with Llewellyn or some other top occult publisher. 

I also haven’t given up on the idea of self-publishing some of the documents and rituals associated with the Order of the Gnostic Star, since that would at least help individuals to master the art of ritual magick outside of the Golden Dawn dominated structures and discipline. Wiccan and Pagans would find the methodologies that I have developed to practice magick far more sympathetic to their existing methods of working magick than adopting a Golden Dawn based one, or attempting to activate one of the hoary old Christian grimoires from the late renaissance. Of course, that's just my opinion.

As the author of “Magical Qabalah for Beginners” I can say that the book is quite comprehensive. If you purchased this book and used it to adopt a system of Qabalistic magick for yourself, you wouldn’t really need to buy another book in order to fully activate that system. The book covers all of the basic areas of both theory and practice, and even delves into some rather complex and advanced topics. I don’t know of very many beginner books that examine the nature of the Qliphoth, discuss in detail the history and evolution of the Qabalah, or for that matter, give the student a series of rituals to perform all of the basic operations in that discipline. 

So, yes, this book is comprehensive and I would highly recommend it, particularly those who are religiously pagan and not very knowledgeable of the Qabalah. My approach was crafted for those who find the typical Abrahamic religious bias of occultism and magick to be troubling or just a complete altogether turn-off. Since Greek (and pagan) Neoplatonism and Neopythagoreanism are to be found in the modern Qabalah, along with a mixture of Jewish Gnosticism, it can be used by Wiccans and Pagans without causing them any amount of cultural dissonance or attempting to employ obviously clashing religious paradigms. I believe that the Qabalah is for everyone who is dedicated to the Western Mystery tradition, and that would include all of the newly developed religions of the Neopagan diaspora. So, if you haven’t already purchased a copy of this book, please pick up a copy. It is quite inexpensive, being around $10 to $12, depending on where you buy it. I believe that it is a worthy acquisition, and it is easy to read.

Anyway, now that I have happily learned about how well my new book is selling, I guess that brings up the question, am I becoming an evil BNP, BNM, BNW or a BNA? These are acronyms coined by Morgan Drake Eckstein in his blog that mean “Big Name Pagan”, “Big Name Magician”, “Big Name Witch” or “Big Name Author.” Of course, there are good members of this crowd, but also a lot of bad members. Considering my very modest success at book selling, or that I was turned down this year regarding four interesting possible lectures at Pantheacon, or that I am mostly pretty obscure according to the latest google search, I would have to say that I am still “small potatoes.” 

I don’t have the name recognition of a Donald Michael Kraig or a Lon Milo Duquette. In fact, I haven’t even figured out what I would like to teach classes about, or how to even locally market myself. A couple of years ago I had all of this completely worked out, but now those ideas don’t seem particularly relevant or interesting. I have been pretty busy with my regular day job, doing my usual reading and research, practicing occasional magical ordeals and battling with my health problems. There is nothing seriously physically wrong with me so far, but my sleeping disorder and the cataract surgery that I needed to have last November (to keep me from going blind in one eye) have really kicked my butt for most of the year. I hope to remedy all of these petty maladies and get back into working some more heavy magical workings, writing and researching, particularly now that winter is already returning to the northern tundra states. Maybe I will even figure out what I want to present to the public. Well, maybe.

It has been a year of changes, self-doubts and self-questioning for sure, and I don’t believe that I have reached an end to this internal inquiry. So, with all that weighing me down, I sincerely doubt that I will ever get a “big head” and start to believe my own PR. In fact, right now, I don’t even have any PR to promote to others let alone misguidedly believe in myself. This process of self-questioning, and the fact that I have too many close obnoxious friends who will happily tell me their scathing opinions about me if I start getting too big for my britches, will ensure that I remain fairly humble and knocked down-to-earth for years to come. 

There’s nothing like a big dose of reality to make anyone see their own flaws and follies if they are the least bit perceptive and open. The only way anyone could worship themselves and believe completely in their own PR is if they lived in a bubble that excluded any contrary opinions, perspectives, philosophies or comments. My friends and my lady have made certain that I am not allowed the indulgence of such a bubble, so I doubt that success or fame will change who I am, that is, if anything like that happens to me. I suspect that misbegotten fame in the pagan and occult communities has to be relentlessly sought at the expense of everything else, and I just don’t have the interest nor the inclination to be that way. I am more interested in openly sharing my ideas with other folks, even if they don’t believe in the same ideals or philosophies that I believe in.

As I manage to pull together future books and somehow, amidst all of the other things I am trying to do, get them into print, I think that I will be just too busy with life to bother with any kind of celebrity mind-set. So to answer the question, I doubt greatly if I will ever succumb to being an evil or even a good BNP, a BNW, a BNM or a BNA - it just isn’t in my blood to pursue this kind of facade. And that, I remark, is said through the disguise of my pen-name.

Frater Barrabbas    

Paganicon 2013 - March 15 - 17

The third annual Paganicon will be held in the Twin Cities this coming weekend. The guest speakers are Brandy Williams and Orion Foxwood. I consider both of these individuals to be quite excellent speakers and a real draw for this year’s convention. I am looking forward to catching at least one of their workshops.

I will be giving a short workshop called “Practical Qabalah in Brief” on Saturday, March 16, at 9:00 am. It will last for an hour. I will also be doing a book signing on Sunday, March 17, at 11:00 am. Unfortunately, I won’t have a lot of time to socialize, attend workshops or do some shopping at the vendor’s room, but at least I will have a little bit of time to do some of these things. Scheduling issues, and the fact that my girlfriend will be out of town most of that day will shorten the time that I can spend there. Last year I paid for a room at the hotel for two nights and got to spend a lot of time at the convention. This year, I will be traveling from home both days and I will have to miss out on the Saturday night ball. It will be good to see some friends that I haven’t seen in quite a few months, and to see if the Twin Cities are ready for a real serious examination of the Qabalah. I will also get see if my book “Magical Qabalah for Beginners” has any legs, since I will be bringing some books with me to sell at the workshop and the book signing.

It is now the ides of March, and there isn’t even a hint of spring yet, which is sort of like the picture above. There is some snow melting during the day, but the nights are bitter cold and the melted snow turns to ice. On Sunday it’s supposed to be cold again, with a high temperature of only 19 degrees F. As is typical up here in the frozen tundra, spring comes slowly, and March is still a winter month for the most part. While I seem to licked most of my physical ailments this winter and I have begun to exercise again, I can’t seem to shake the “blues” that I feel because of the cold and heartless winter endures without a sign of going away. Now all I need to do is to get back into my magick, and perhaps then I will once again experience the warmth of Spirit lighten my earthly burdens. (These things always come in cycles, and it is always important to persevere.)

Once the convention is over, I will write up a short article highlighting some of things that I saw and enjoyed. Until then, have a wonderful weekend and stay warm.

Frater Barrabbas

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Some of you might be wondering why I haven’t been posting articles to this blog with my usual frequency. Is it because I have run out of things to say? That would be amazing! Of course, I doubt if I will ever run out of things to say in regards to magick, witchcraft, paganism and the occult. However, physical problems, ailments and other maladies will interrupt the work of even the most zealous writer, and that is the case with me.

What I have been dealing with over the last month or so is a deficit of sleep. What is causing me to be unable to get the sleep that I need is purely of a respiratory nature. For some reason, when I lie down to go to sleep at night, my sinuses clog up and I am forced to breath through my mouth, I end up waking after only a few hours of sleep and the rest of the evening in spent in shallow sessions of sleeping and waking. During those periods of waking, I have to drink water to keep my mouth (and body) hydrated. My eyes and nose are dry, and my throat is sometimes a bit scratchy. I thought that I might have some kind of sinus infection or a low grade allergy, but during the day, all of the symptoms completely disappear. This pattern started in January and has since then slowly become worse until the lack of sleep made it hard for me to function normally.

Needless to say, my physical malady made work difficult, and I had to focus what little energy I had towards insuring that my level of output didn’t diminish. After my work day was complete, I felt like a zombie. Weekends gave me a little respite, but obviously, my sleep disorder was really interfering with my life. I certain didn’t have any energy or focus to do any extensive research or writing during the evening, and I certainly didn’t have any energy to do any magick. I had short periods where this malady would disappear and allow me to get a decent night’s sleep, but during the week, my deficit of sleep would pile up until I was quite exhausted by the time Friday rolled around.

Over the last few weeks this sleep malady was getting worse. I tried everything to mediate this situation, from using a vapor humidifier, neti pot, nasal sprays, mouth hydrators, and this regimen even included using powerful over-the-counter drugs. I found that some drugs cleared up my sinuses but left me quite groggy the following morning, and antihistamines (like Benadryl) had no affect whatsoever. Using the art of deduction to attempt to resolve my problem, I managed to eliminate the allergy and the sinus infection theories. Finally, in desperation, I decided to try the simple solution of wearing an adhesive nose brace with the product name of “Breath Right,” and much to my surprise, it worked quite well. I am happy to say that I am now getting the amount of sleep that I need - or so it would seem. I think that I might still have a minor sleep disorder, but at least my period of sleep is around what it was before this issue materialized.

When I look at the last two months, I can see that between this sleep disorder and my regular job, most of my time was spent dealing with these two things and very little of anything else. My all-important periods of study have diminished somewhat as well as my ability to plan and execute magical workings. I had planned on getting completely engaged and immersed in my magical work during this time of high winter, but that never happened. My holiday vacation was interrupted with work related issues that had to be immediately resolved, and then afterwards, I began to have problems sleeping. It is my hope that now that both of these critical issues have been more or less resolved, that I can now begin to do what I had planned on doing two months previously. I managed to get some important accolades for my job related work and it even materialized into a sizable bonus and a modest salary increase. My lost time over the holidays will be compensated for as well, since I had asked and received 40 hours of comp-time, which I will be taking in the near future. So things are really improving for me, but I am not yet feeling happy or pleased with how things have worked out. Losing the ability to getting a good night’s sleep is a very serious issue, especially when one is in the midst of middle-age related changes.

One of the things that seems to be slightly depressing me is the harshness of the winter. I didn’t get to enjoy much of the brief period of summer up here because I was deeply entrenched in work, and now the severe winter weather has me feeling that I really missed out on all of the beautiful weather. I guess one thing that I should plan for in the future is to get away from the winter for a week or two. Many folks up here take winter vacations to tropical areas so they can re-charge their psychic batteries, and I see the wisdom of investing in that kind of trip. Yet at this time, I am unable to travel anywhere, since my girlfriend is gone five days a week, and I am the primary pet care giver while she is gone. We have three cats and one dog, and two of our pets require daily medication to alleviate their own age related maladies. Putting them both up at our favored pet boarding place is expensive, and our dog has some abandonment issues to deal with when his mistress is gone. I had planned on going to Pantheacon this February, but I couldn't find a schedule that would allow me to go and not have to board our pets. It just became a very expensive and complicated ordeal, so I decided to not attend, and I think that my decision was a wise one.

The lesson that I have learned yet again and that I have attempted to express in this article is that often times life itself has a way of intervening and interjecting itself into the elaborate planning and practice of occultism. I have found that my sleep disorder really threw a monkey wrench into my well laid plans, and my job responsibilities ate up a lot of my free time, even after the holidays. I am happy to say that things are just now settling down, so maybe, just maybe, I will get the time that I need to catch up on everything that had to take a back seat to my career and health. I am looking forward to finally getting to achieve all of those planned magical workings and research sessions that I use to write interesting articles and new books. Hopefully, I will still have some time to get these things done before the weather shifts and becomes once again warmer and milder. However, I can be assured that life up here in the northern Midwest tundra will see a continuation of severe winter weather, and it will likely continue until mid April or even beyond, which means that I still have time to complete much of that wonderful occult work.

So these are the pros and cons of living up here in the great white north. I will, like everyone else, have to adapt and deal with it. Winter will not last forever, although sometimes it sure feels like I am living in the Ice Age up here. No wonder my girlfriend Grace (who migrated here from the Southeast) is eager to move to a geographic location that has a milder winter. I have found myself in perfect agreement with her, and perhaps in time, we will find a new place to live where our lives aren't so dominated by the extremes of cold and hot.

BTW - Some interesting news. My book “Magical Qabalah for Beginners” is ranked at 227,551 on Amazon dot com, which is actually doing slightly better than a few of Lon Milo Duquette’s books, so I am quite pleased with how this new book is faring. My three volume series entitled “Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick” is being re-printed in an omnibus edition, where all three books will be included in one large volume. I don’t know what the cost will be, but I believe that it will at least be cheaper to purchase one large book instead of three slim books. My objective is make certain that the omnibus edition is at least as good as the previous three volumes, and so far, that seems to be happening. I will let you know when the new edition is available, in case you had demurred from purchasing the previous three separate volumes.

I am also planning on attending the local pagan convention in the Twin Cities called Paganicon. I have a class called the Practical Qabalah in Brief that I will be presenting on Saturday, March 16th, at 9 am in the morning. I will also have a book signing the next day, which is Sunday. I will give out more details about this event as it gets closer, but if you can plan to be in town (or already live here), then I would highly recommend that you come to this event. You can find the website for it here.

Frater Barrabbas

Symbols - Markers of the Spirit World

One of the most crucial elements to any kind of successful occult speculation is to understand the nature of occult symbology. Because most forms of occultism combine study with experiential based research and experimentation, an occultist quickly realizes that symbols aren't just window dressing or “eye candy.” While reading and studying expositions of various systems of symbology, the occultist must also pivot and take those same symbols and experience them as a form of reality within the inner planes of the mind and the spirit. This is done through the techniques of meditation, contemplation, and of course, ritual magick.

Perhaps the greatest insight that I have ever had was the axiom that true magic was found in that powerful and magical place between the mind and spirit where “Thought becomes form and form becomes thought.” What drives this process of spiritual and mental transmutation are occult and religious symbols. They are the veritable language that bridges the worlds of flesh, mind and spirit.

What I have stated before in previous articles about the Qabalah (and I make quite clear in my new book “Magical Qabalah for Beginners”) is that in order for that system to be truly realized, the occultist must make the many symbols, concepts and analogies become real and alive in his or her mind. This is also true of any other system, or occult meta-system or magical system: It must become a living system or it has no meaning or significance whatsoever. This is accomplished by performing very deep and periodic contemplation sessions on significant and key symbols of one’s specific occult tradition or adopted system. It would appear that performing this work on a regular basis will trigger all kinds of related phenomena, and ultimately make that system become a living tradition within the mind and spirit of the operator.

Why is this kind of contemplation so critically important, and what actually happens when one focuses on key or strategic occult symbols within one’s tradition? How does one transform a documented system into one that truly lives within the mind and soul? These are really important questions, and answering them will demonstrate how beginning students can advance themselves into a true adherent of an occult tradition. It is a methodology that is generally taught to students who seek training and initiation in a traditional occult organization, but for those who lack that kind of sodality, it can also be gained through hard work and a disciplined regimen of meditation and contemplation. However, an added dimension can be obtained through mental immersion and ritual work.

The first question that we need to answer is to explain exactly what a symbol is (as opposed to a sign) and how it acts as a sign post indicating the brief intrusion of a certain kind of hidden topology which would be called the linguistic “deep structure” residing wholly in the domain of spirit.  As the ocean’s waves sometimes subtly show by their behavior the contours of the ocean floor, so, too, do symbols show the outward and paradoxical nature of the structure of the spiritual reality. We cannot accurately describe with words or mentally contrived models the nature of the spiritual world since these are devices of the mind, which is greatly subordinate to the domain of spirit. We can only perceive that place of spirit through techniques and methods that overcome the natural obstacles and biases of the mind. These techniques are meditation, contemplation and ritual (or a combination of them), but the apperception of spirit can only occur when the rational mind is temporarily put aside or somehow shunted, allowing for the full realization of spirit by what Ken Wilbur has called the Eye of Spirit alone.

As I have stated rather succinctly in the second chapter of my newest book, “Magical Qabalah for Beginners,” unlocking the secret of strategic occult symbols is the key to unlocking any occult system or tradition. I use the Qabalah as the focus for what I have written, but it could be applied to any occult system.

“A key concept here, and one that is probably the most important point of all, is that the Qabalah is not just a bunch of lists or an interesting looking glyph. The Qabalah encapsulates symbols, and these symbols are either religious or occultic in nature, or both. Symbols should not be confused with signs, which is a common mistake that we all make. Signs are representative; they are, in fact, simple place holders, like a stop sign or a railroad crossing sign. Symbols are dynamic living processes or functions, like the Wiccan Pentacle, the Christian Calvary Cross or the Jewish Hexagram called the Magen (Shield of) David.

Symbols are conscious markers for deep level psychic processes that are transcendental and transpersonal, and I might add, usually mysterious to most people. Focusing on symbols can give one access to deeper layers of meaning and collective significance. Sources of symbols are numinous, archaic and inexplicable. With these concepts in mind, we can say something about the collective symbolism of the Qabalah, which contains the symbology of all the religions of the world. The religious symbology of the Qabalah is a living, breathing aggregation of functions, almost like a living body itself.

To access the Qabalah, we need only to access the various symbols of the Qabalah, and we do that through the techniques of meditation, contemplation, path working and various forms of theurgy. This methodology of accessing the symbols of the Qabalah is called the practical Qabalah, and it makes the symbology come alive in our minds. Also, if we accept that the symbolism of the Qabalah is alive, then even organizing these symbols into groups or structures, like the Tree of Life, will have an unintended and powerful affect.”

If we could then imagine symbols as being a kind of signpost with a very long wooden post that reaches all the way to the very world of spirit from our mundane world, then we could understand that accessing them within the mind and through ritual will allow us to contact that other world. What this means is that these occult symbols are indeed very important, and that focusing on them is a critical part of the work of an occultist. Determining the array of symbols within a specific target tradition and then accessing them through meditation, contemplation and ritual will open up portals between worlds and suffuse the mind and body of the operator with the numinous powers and intelligences of the spirit world. This is the methodology that one would employ in order to make the symbology of an occult system alive and fully activated.

Additionally, the very names and attributes of Deities and Spirits are also hooks or indicators of potent spiritual processes active in both the mundane and spiritual worlds. Contacting these being through religious paeans, offerings, oblations and exhortations, or more general forms of focusing, summoning and generalized or specific invocations is a crucial part of this process of enlivening a spiritual tradition. It is highly important for an occultist to establish and develop an intimate relationship with those spiritual entities that are associated with a given tradition. Failure to develop a deep and powerful relationship with such spiritual beings would be considered a profound act of disrespect and cause the whole process of awakening a tradition to fail. This is also where I incorporate the practice of spiritual alignment, including the ritual of Godhead assumption. I believe that this is a key practice to activating a spiritual system.  

Occult symbols consist of religious symbology as well as other elements that aid in the definition of spiritual concepts that are beyond the ability of the mind to conceptualize. These are the various attributes that the occultist focuses upon and systematically activates so as to completely awaken and enliven his or her targeted tradition. These symbols can consist of (but are not limited by) the following list.

• Geometric religious symbols - such as the point, circle, equal lateral triangle, cross, pentagram, crescent moon, star, hexagram, ankh, septagram, vesica pisces, triskellion, stang (pole with horns), tetractys, Tree of Life, Sanscrit word for Aum, etc.

• Human body parts (given special significance) - eyes, hands, genitals, heart, mouth, solar plexus, tears, blood, etc.

• Essential religious nomenclature - such as the names of Gods, Goddesses, Demigods, Avatars, Angels, Daimons, ancestors, various earth-spirits, etc. These beings are usually associated with various attributes and qualities, and these, as well as their names, are used to contact them.

• Mundane human artifacts such as a key, mirror, musical instrument, cup or chalice, plate, spoon, string of beads, ring, specialized jewelry, article of clothing, mundane tool, etc.

• Common physical objects that are invested with significance, such as fire, certain trees, flowers, animals (totemic), various geographic features, rivers, lakes, hills, mountains, the sun, moon, eclipses, stars, clouds, night sky, rainbow, sun rays, storm clouds, lightening, etc. This list can also be augmented by human fashioned edifices, such as monuments, temples, churches, mosques, synagogues, funerary sites, terra-formed sacred sites, etc.

• Regimen of typical occult symbols - colors, incense, perfumes, gemstones, herbs, geometric signs and constructs (talismans, characters and sigils), metals, minerals, magical weapons or tools, sacred alphabets or ciphers, specialized glyphs, etc.

• Philosophical concepts (representing higher conscious functions) - love, union, compassion, blessing, sacredness, holiness, enlightenment, illumination, ecstasy, redemption, rebirth, etc. This includes all myths and analogies associated with a religious tradition. 

There are many more qualities and specialized attributes to consider, and I have listed here only the more important ones. An occultist should engage in an in-exhaustive search for all of the most important and strategic ones associated with his or her targeted tradition.  

One of the most important tasks that occultists undertake is to determine the nature and qualities of all of the important symbols associated with their tradition and to assemble and array them into various comparative lists, using some kind of unifying meta-system to achieve this end. In my specific situation, I use the Qabalah to organize the symbols that are important in my occult tradition. Also, by focusing on these symbols using the techniques of meditation, contemplation and ritual, a meta-system of some kind can be revealed if one is lacking. Revelations of such meta-system structures, usually in the form of a glyph of some kind, is often proof that the occultist is successfully enlivening his or her occult system.

The ultimate goal for an occultist is to make his or her spiritual tradition, including all of its symbology and its unifying meta-system, a living, functioning and fully activated being. I call this being the Greater Dweller Within, and it more often is either slumbering or dreaming in the typical person rather than being fully awake. (So, perhaps the most important concept here is that the Sleeper Must Awaken, to steal a concept from the Dune series.)

This overall occult task, once achieved, awakens one’s higher spiritual self and allows for an eventual but immanent union to occur between the conscious mind and the super-conscious spirit or higher self. The impact of awakening and enlivening a spiritual tradition is likely one of the key elements of achieving what magicians and occultists call the Great Work.

Frater Barrabbas

Magical Qabalah for Beginners

My book, Magical Qabalah for Beginners, is now available for order from most book stores, online order sites and the Llewellyn Worldwide publications website, located here. Since I just got my box of books from Llewellyn, I can assume that other suppliers will also have copies available too, or at least over the next two weeks. I have put quite a bit of time into this work, and it's selling for a very reasonable price. 

Although the title places this book within the “For Beginners” line, it is not merely for beginners, nor actually, is it a beginner’s book. I consider the Qabalah to be a pretty engaging topic for most beginners, so this book assumes a bit more than a complete beginners repertoire of knowing nothing about the occult. However, even someone who lacks an in-depth knowledge of the Qabalah and deep occultism should find this tome useful and insightful. I even managed to include some rather advanced topics in this work, so the advanced student will find something new and engaging while perusing this book.

Why did I write this book? What was the inspiration and purpose that sent me down a path that took two years to produce this published book? Aren't there already far too many books on the Qabalah currently in print? These are pretty compelling questions and if I am to promote this work, I should at least thoroughly respond to them.

I will quite frank and state that this book project was not my first choice, since I would much rather write about magick, for obvious reasons. However, when I put this proposal together, I didn't think that it would be such a long and arduous process. What I didn't realize at the time was that some of my knowledge of the Qabalah was either out of date or poorly researched. I was amazed at how much urban myth I had within my mind, erroneously thinking that it passed for some variation of truth. In researching this book, I discovered that my previous studies of the Qabalah were neither comprehensive or exhaustive. I can at least say that my knowledge today is much more extensive than it was previously, and that I have come to a new understanding of the Qabalah. Yet as I took up the task of writing a new introductory book to the Qabalah, I decided that I wanted to write a book as good if not better than William G. Gray’s book “Ladder of Lights.” This was probably the most important book that I had ever read in my occult career, and I wanted to produce a more modern book that could even perhaps supplant it. Only time will tell whether or not I have produced a work as useful and effective as what Mr. Gray wrote so many years ago.

In approaching this book, I wanted to produce a new historical narrative about how the Qabalah evolved over time as well as divide the book into a theoretical section and a practical section, representing the two modes of research and speculation as well as practical application. I also wanted to present to my readers some specific practical exercises that they could use to empower and illuminate themselves. I also desired to assemble a syllabus that would aid anyone in ultimately mastering this topic. It is my earnest belief that I have accomplished all of these goals as well as making this abstruse subject accessible to any educated reader. For this reason, I believe that Magical Qabalah for Beginners is a comprehensive book that any occult student will find useful over the lifetime of their study and spiritual practices. I also think that a book that contains all of these things and more is worthy of anyone’s book shelf even though there are many available books on the Qabalah.

Although I have tried very hard to make certain that all of the knowledgeable elements of this work have been fully vetted and carefully researched, it is possible that there might something here or there that might not agree with what others have either read or even practice. I have not been able to produce a work of perfection, but I do believe that I have produced something that is mostly reliable and useful. I think that is probably as good as anyone can accomplish given the tight time frame for completing the manuscript and presenting it to Llewellyn.

Finally, I would like to say that working with Llewellyn Worldwide has been a really wonderful and rewarding experience. I have learned a lot in the process, and I can say that everyone that I have dealt with has been fair, open minded and helpful in the extreme. I would happily produce other projects for them, and in fact, I am presently doing so. I must say that they are a class act, from start to finish, and I would recommend them to any writer who has a good idea for an occult or pagan book project. If they accept your project, you won’t be disappointed by the final results. The book layout, cover art and internal artwork was, in my opinion, of a very high quality. I am very proud of the final results that is now available to the public to read and ponder.

If you purchase a copy of this book and you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send me an email via this blog, and I will attempt to respond to it in one of my future articles.

Bright Blessings for this upcoming holiday -

Frater Barrabbas

Changing Gears for the Holidays

Well, even though it is Thursday and my vacation was supposed to start on Monday, I am only today starting my vacation from work. Yes, that means that I was having to focus intently on solving some last minute problems with the project that I had been working on since March through yesterday. However, after a 30 minute phone conversation with my boss today, all of the outstanding issues have been resolved. I am now free to pivot from a mostly work related mind-set to one of being a free-soul able to indulge and engage with everything that was put on a back-burner, especially my article writing tasks for this blog. I have been remiss in posting regular articles because I have been putting in long days trying to solve problems at my job that are quite beyond my official technical role. I performed far above and beyond the call of duty, but we shall see what that gets me after the annual evaluations are completed in February.

More than anything, I need a bit of time to catch my breath, change from being the ardent professional to the experimental occultist and ritual magician. It is the kind of pivot that usually gives me a great deal of pleasure, but this time I just feel a bit worn out and exhausted. I really need some time to unwind and disengage from work-related issues. While I might briefly envy those magicians who don’t have a day job to interfere with their occult activities, on the other hand, I am happy that I don’t have a lot of worries about how to pay the bills, supply my larder with foodstuffs or put a roof over my head. My day job takes care of all of these basic concerns, but the price is that I sometimes will be quite busily engaged with work and not with any of my spiritual and magical activities. That will change starting today, but first I need to chill out, and most definitely, clean up my house and perform a lot of untended domestic tasks. My household needs a couple of days of cleaning and squaring away, so that’s what I will be doing over the next few days.

Additionally, my lady, Grace, is graduating tomorrow from her long three year slog at getting a master’s degree. I get to attend her graduation ceremony and see her in cap and gown, noting the moment when the cap tassel is switched from one side to the other indicating a successful completion to her scholastic endeavors. She then has six months of clinical training to undergo, and then she has to study for her board exams in the summer, so it won’t too long before she will have successfully transitioned herself to a new career. I am glad that I was able to help her in this endeavor.

So, there’s a lot going on right now, and that’s why it’s going to be a little while before I get back to producing the usual number of articles a month. One wonderful thing that has happened is that I got two initial copies of my book “Magical Qabalah for Beginners” and I have been looking over the finished and now published copy of this book with a great deal of joy and admiration. It took me nearly two years to get this book into print, but the final results are very much worth it. This is probably the very best book that I have ever written, and the editing was quite excellent as well. It is a very accessible book to readers at a high school level, but it also has enough interesting lore to make it a worth-while buy for knowledgeable students as well. Anyway, the book is now available on Amazon dot com, and it should be in book stores and also available from Llewellyn Worldwide directly in the next few weeks. While I would prefer that my readers order this book from Llewellyn or from their favorite bookstore, it is also available from online booksellers, too.

Next year I am planning some book signing/mini workshop ventures at two local book stores in the Twin Cities area. Other venues will also be added as time goes on. I am planning (so far) to attend Pantheacon next year, but all four of my workshop proposals were sadly rejected, for various reasons beyond my speculation. Supposedly, Pcon staff received vastly more proposals this year than at any time in the past, so that might explain why none of my classes were deemed of sufficient interest to be chosen for this coming year’s schedule. That would also mean that the number of attendees is also at a level beyond any that I have experienced previously. This will likely make it a very crowded convention that will challenge the staff and the hotel where it is to be held. We shall see if that is the case, and it might be a good reason not to attend this venue in the future. I suspect that Pcon may have gotten too large to be sustainable.

Anyway, that’s all I got to say at this time. I am looking forward to the holidays and I will post some articles during that period as well. Have a safe and great weekend, and if you can, go and see the first installment of the movie version of Tolkein’s the Hobbit.

Frater Barrabbas

Autumn Calends and Other Musings

Warm autumn days that made the scarlet and golden colors of falling leaves such a fantastic vista of warmth and earthiness are already past. Yesterday, we had our first snow fall, and although it didn’t stick to the ground, it is sign that winter is nigh at hand, once again. I had one day to take care of the yard and the grove, and it was so balmy that I almost took my shirt off. Now, the nights are freezing cold and it has been raining and sleeting the last couple of days. I have to believe that we are now entering into the narrow corridor that leads from autumn to winter, and it begins with what I call the autumn calends.

Highlighting this narrow boundary between autumn and winter is the celebration of Samhain, or Halloween, as it is popularly known. This has always been my favorite time of the year, although up here in the northern Midwest it can be quite cold and even frigid. Long time residents have regaled me with stories of snow-covered Halloween nights, so I have those legends to give me a sober reflection on living so far north that it can snow on Halloween. Still, there was so much that I wanted to do during the warm months and most of it had to be deferred. Hopefully, such impositions will not occur during the next year.

The massive project that I have been slaving away for my mundane job has finally come to an end, although I didn’t install the last few pieces until nearly the middle of this week. These last couple of days I have been on a forced vacation - my boss told me to take some well earned time off. As of Wednesday, I had just completed every task on my working list, which was a list that seemed at times never to dwindle much and had new tasks constantly assigned to it. Then, before I knew it, I just finished the last set of scripting work and the pause nearly took my breath away.

You can't imagine how difficult it is taking an old antiquated data warehouse system and porting onto a completely new environment, including a new O/S and storage foundation. The old server was split into new application and database servers, but the old application software, most of which is already way out of date, was moved into the new environment instead of being upgraded and rebuilt. Needless to say, I got everything to work just as it does on the old server environment - a feat not be lightly scoffed at.

It had been six months of constant work, including weekends. I am glad that I will finally get my life back and be able to have a social life and all that entails. It seems like it's been a very long period where I was stuck at my desk looking wistfully at the world outside my window. I blew the whole summer working and I didn't get to enjoy very much of it, but now, at least I will be able to enjoy the end of autumn. So, the autumn calends is becoming for me a time when I will actually resurface and become, as it were, socially reborn. I also have around three weeks in December to look forward to, enjoying a long period of paid vacation and relaxation. It has been well earned, and I have to take it or lose it in the coming year. The holidays will be quite enjoyable this year, even though the days and nights will be cold and seemingly lifeless outside.

Autumn calends also means politics, particularly during the four year presidential election cycle. I have been something of a political junky reading over the various election poles when time has permitted me to do so. While it might be possible for Mitt Romney to be elected president of the U.S., it seems rather remote when examining the battle-ground states’ poles. I am hoping that Obama gets reelected, since although he is not a great president in my estimation, he is at least a good president. I can trust that he will do mostly as he says he will do, even though I might disagree with some of his decisions. There is something comforting about knowing that a politician has some foundational principles that drive him or her. I don’t feel that way about Mitt Romney at all, and in fact, I see him as a rich arrogant plutocrat opportunist who will say just about anything or take all sides of a policy argument to get elected. He pretended to be severely conservative during the primaries, and now he is pretending to be a moderate.

However, such a weak and unprincipled man would likely do as his party directs him to do, and their positions are starkly ultra-conservative. I just don’t trust him and I loath everything that he stands for, so there is no mystery about whom I will be voting for on November 6th. I hope that Obama manages to put his opposition down hard so that I don’t ever again have to hear Mitt Romney’s outrageous lies or see his simpering and condescending smiles. That would be a pleasant Solstice present indeed! I am reminded of what “Humble Bellows” in the 50's movie “The Crimson Pirate” said to his captain, whom he had just “sold” to the authorities for a barrel of rum: “And there’ll be no more of thee and thy pirate capers.” One can only hope for such a happy outcome.

My forthcoming book (Magical Qabalah for Beginners) is proceeding through the final editing phases, having gone through the production editor, copy editor, and now a second and final copy editor. As I have said previously, the manuscript layout is scheduled to be sent to the printers later next week. I have had the pleasure of looking over that layout in a PDF file, and I have seen all of the diagrams, tables and illustrations that the staff artist at Llewellyn has produced for this book. The editing has made my wordy and somewhat cumbersome prose into a very readable and accessible text, so I am looking forward to finally seeing this work in printed form. The book is being sold at a modest price ($15.99) and I believe that I have at least produced what I consider to be a potential classic amongst the books written about the Qabalah. We shall see if the public at large agrees with my assessment. While it is a book written for beginners, there is enough new material to make it worthwhile for a more advanced student to purchase it. I might be able to actually see my first imprint perhaps as early as December, but the scheduled release date is mid January, 2013. You can find a link for this book on the Llewellyn Worldwide website here.


Another task that I have recently completed is the talismanic working that I began in February for my own version of the Portae Lucis working. I had to generate four four-fold talismanic elemental talismans for the planets of the ancients of Sun, Moon, Saturn and Mercury. In August, I continued this work and generated four-fold talismanic elemental talismans for the planets Venus and Jupiter. Then, last night, I generated the final four-fold talismanic elemental talisman for Mars. The iron metallic talisman for Mars is presently undergoing its three day period of incubation, so on Monday morning I will have all seven of these metallic talismans fully charged and activated.

During the working that I performed last night, I experienced a fair amount of resistance to completing this working. I felt a certain amount of lethargy and inertia dragging me down, and I had to overcome these feelings and sentiments in order to do the work. The ritual work seemed to weigh me down, and going through it was, at least initially, uninspiring and plodding. I had put off the magical Mass until the last day, so I had to perform an abbreviated version of that rite in order to properly consecrate the talisman and associated sigils before invoking the planetary intelligence and associated Enochian seniors. I stumbled through that rite and managed to complete everything, although it all seemed to be taking a long time to complete.

The actual invocation of the Olympian Spirit and subsequent Talismanic Elements seemed oddly arduous and difficult. I had to increase my resonant bodily energy and focus my will to get through this rite, as if the resistance to doing it would stop me in my tracks if I succumbed . I drew upon all of my resources and set my will to complete this working, even though the ritual execution was uneven and rough in a few places. I was amazed at these occurrences, since I have performed this working at least six other times in the last several months.

Still, I persevered and managed to get through it, but afterwards I felt completely exhausted by the ordeal. I may have started the working at 9:45 pm to lock in the hour of Jupiter, and then completed the working around 11:10, but it seemed like I had been working magic for hours. I found this whole process to be strange and remarkable, but I guess that Mars had one last hoop for me to jump through, and it was merely by the power of my will and my magical discipline that I managed to push the whole process to a successful completion. Whew! I am glad that I managed to complete this working, and I am surprised at the resistance that I encountered. All of these difficulties that I experienced could be considered as being related to Mars, and what I needed to complete was also very much in the domain of that planet.

My future plans for using all seven of these metallic planetary talismans is to perform a ritual known in the Order as the Septagramic Vortex Gate ritual, and to use each of these talismans to empower the seven points of this rite. I will then endeavor to incorporate them and this rite into another working for the talismanic Portae Lucis for the Winter Solstice. Even though Jean Dubius has stated that this rite is best performed when the light is at its greatest amplitude, as it is during the Summer Solstice, I have decided to try it during the Winter Solstice.

Since I have already performed this working for the previous Summer Solstice, I believe that it will continue to echo and reverberate for the following Winter and future Summer Solstices as well. I was told as much at the climax of that working in June, and although the light will be at its lowest point in December, it may also allow an opening and a gateway to greater spiritual realization. This is how I had interpreted what I was told during the last working of the Portae Lucis, so I will attempt to experience the opposite polarity, the Portae Tenebrae, or Gate of Darkness. Where the gate of light emanated its blessings and grace to me in the Summer, the gate of darkness will beckon me to enter into that spiritual domain of Saturn as Binah. I am looking forward to experiencing that just around the Winter Solstice.

Autumn is a time when I organize my research and study regimen and plan on acquiring new materials for future book projects. I am already engaged with this work, and I hope to share some of the things that I am learning as I go through this process. There’s too much to relate here at this time, but in the coming months, I hope to put some of my ideas and insights into articles that I can post on my blog. There are quite a few new topics that are crowding my to-do list, so you can expect some very interesting and in-depth articles to be posted in the next six months or so. Once we get snowed in up here, then folks tend to retreat indoors, and winter is usually a time when I think and reflect about the past. And there is much to think and reflect about this winter.

Happy Samhain, Halloween, and All Souls Day - be safe and enjoy the Calends of Autumn!

Frater Barrabbas

Harvest Moon Musings

(Harvest Moon comes a week and a day after the Autumn Equinox.)

Autumn has come to the Minnesota tundra, perhaps a bit early because it got so dry up here in the late summer. Trees began to sporadically turn their leaves to autumn colors because of the lack of moisture, as if they gave up on trying to grow anymore this year. Now that the Autumn Equinox has passed, one can be certain that autumn is now officially here. Hard frosts are now occurring frequently, and the short growing season is now over. Autumn is probably one of my favorite times of the year, and represents, for me, the flowering of projects begun after the previous Winter Solstice. This year is no different for me, but it seemed like summer was all too short this time, and I had very little time to just step outside and enjoy the fruitfulness of nature.

My mundane job is still very busy, and with little chance of a letup until the end of the year. I doubt that I will have much time or freedom to escape the grind of work that has the typical feature now of flowing past the boundaries of the weekend, interfering with any plans that I might have had. I seldom seem to be able to get out of house and go into town for any kind of social activity or to see my friends. I suspect that my friends probably think that I have disappeared or perhaps grown cold with indifference - that, of course, is not true! Between my mundane job and my other few writing tasks, there is little time for doing anything else but just work. With the coming of autumn, I am finding myself growing restless, perhaps even experiencing a bit of stir-crazy need to get away from my pressing responsibilities for a little while. I guess that this intense work-a-thon should be considered, in part, a blessing. It is far better to be too engaged with work than having the insecurity of looking for a job and worrying about paying the bills.

I do have some news about the book that I wrote and is being published by Llewellyn Worldwide, “Magical Qabalah for Beginners.” I have just completed the first editing cycle and answered a number of questions posed to me from the production editor. I also had to answer some questions about capitalization, and tackle my habit of being inconsistent with that particular writing skill. There were a couple of minor issues with the diagrams, but otherwise, I got to see how the manuscript looks in regards to the type-face and layout. I am pleased with the results so far, and the book layout looks really professional. My only concern is that the size of the book and type-face of the text makes some of the paragraphs look longer than they actually are. A larger book size and a slightly smaller type-font size would probably make the paragraphs on the pages look smaller and more concise.

All in all, I have found the experience of dealing with Llewellyn to be very positive. I also managed to assemble around six book blurbs from other authors and occult leaders that will appear on the back of the book. I was pleased with their comments and very grateful for them to take the time to read over the unedited manuscript. Even though this book is one of the “for beginners” series, it has new and interesting information that even the advanced student will find useful. I wrote this book in such a manner so that I managed to cover some topics that haven’t really been covered in a basic book on the Qabalah. It is also one of the most accessible books that I have written, so I am learning to write more clearly and with far less assumptions about the knowledge and education of the reader. 

The book is scheduled to go to the printer on November 1, and I should probably get to see an actual printing of the book a few weeks after that. I may very well have the final printed book in my hands sometime in December. The book is scheduled to be unveiled to the public in January, so I should probably start scheduling and assembling a mini-workshop for book signings at the local book stores. I am starting to assemble material for a three day intensive workshop for a comprehensive introduction to the Qabalah. Having the book available for attendees was something that I felt would be quite important before I went ahead and put together all of the material that I would need for an intensive weekend course on the Qabalah.

Before I assemble this class and try to teach the techniques of the practical Qabalah, I would like to immerse myself in performing a complete set of path workings and intensive trance-based immersions into the structure and symbology of that system. It has been quite some time since I have done this work, and I need to re-acquaint myself with the Qabalah in a very intimate manner. I also want to work with the simple exercises that I devised for my book and fully vet them for myself. I think that it would be a requirement for me to have these exercises fully memorized and nearly automatic if I am going to teach a class and demonstrate them for a group of students. I also have learned some things about how an intensive path working can be used to investigate the Qabalistic dimensions that border the Sephiroth and Pathways. Since I am of the opinion that the angular vectors of the Pathways would represent the locus where the Enochian Aethyrs would be found, incorporating them into a more advanced kind of Enochian path working would be something interesting with which to experiment during the long cold winters.

As for my plans to work any magical ordeals during this period, that will have to be determined later this autumn. I am planning on completing the four-fold talismanic elemental planetary work that I began early this year. I had generated metallic talismans for the Sun, Moon, Saturn and Mercury for my own version of the Portae Lucis ordeal, but in August, I charged the additional planetary talismans for Venus and Jupiter. In October (specifically, October 25), I will be charging the last of the seven four-fold talismanic elementals for the planet Mars. I will then have all seven metallic talismans, one for each planet. fully charged and ready for use. I am planning on putting them into a septagramic array and see how they function together. It should be quite interesting, and I am looking forward to the experience.

I would like to fully test the ritual that I wrote to evoke and engage the spirits of the Theurgia-Goetia, and I would like to experiment with some invocations of the ha-Shem angels and the Goetic demons. I wrote rituals that can be used outside of the normal focus on the angelic ruler of the astrological decans, and I would like to fully test them, and also perform some invocations of these powerful spirits.

Winters in the tundra are quite long, and it does preclude much in the way of outdoor activity, unless of course one is into winter sports, such as snowmobiles, skiing and ice-skating. After December and the holidays, winter then becomes a long drawn out endurance contest, lasting another 14 weeks. Not only that, but the sun sets pretty early during that time, especially around the Winter solstice, when it becomes dark around 4:30 pm. There is an upside to the fact that I had to work a lot during the summer, and that is I will have quite a surplus of vacation time to take in December. I am planning on letting the year run down during the last three weeks of the year being mostly disengaged from my job.  

I am intending on being quite socially active, and as an added bonus my girlfriend will be off from school and she will have completed the last semester of actual class-work for her master’s degree. We will be able to spend some real quality time together, and that will make the oncoming winter much more bearable. I am hoping to be able to go out and eat, drink, be merry with friends, and also do some really cool magical experimentation. It will be a time of carefree joy, parties and happiness, even though the land will be dormant and likely covered with snow. As an added bonus, I will probably receive copies of my book, Magical Qabalah for Beginners, which I can sell or give away as presents to friends and those who helped me successfully complete this book project. It will be a very memorable time, at least that is my hope and anticipation for the callends time that is soon coming to us all.

Frater Barrabbas

Portae Lucis Report and Other Matters

It’s been over a week since I last posted an article to this blog, and I must say that I have been very busy with my job, not to mention completing the final revisions for my book and doing many other things that seem to fill my day to overflowing. Luckily, things are starting to wind down somewhat, and I can start catching up with my articles. I have quite a few planned for the next month or so, but I just haven’t had any time to write them up. So it will take a few days before I can get some of these new articles completed.

As for the revisions to my manuscript and forth-coming Llewellyn book “Magical Qabalah for Beginners,” I just completed the last changes and considerations for the revision task. The manuscript will be soon transmitted to the production team and begin to be formatted and laid out for printing. There’s nothing for me to do at the moment, which is a relief, since the revision process took me a lot longer than I thought it would. What I need to do now is to find other authors who would like to examine the manuscript and write up a recommendation for it. I have some ideas, but if any of my readers are published authors and would like to spend some time going over the manuscript, just send me a private email. The publishing date is still scheduled for March 2013.

The Talismanic Portae Lucis working is now at the point where I have generated the three four-fold elemental talismans of Saturn, the Sun and the Moon. (I am enclosing a picture of what they look like, just so you know that I am not promoting a fiction.) Producing these three talismans has been an arduous process, to say the least. Now that the temperatures are warming up and the days are getting longer, I am feeling a certain amount of anticipation, as the date of the final working is approaching. On the last day of May, I will generate the talisman that is representative of myself and my magick, and that will be a four-fold elemental talisman of Mercury. I will also seek to perform a full invocation of the Demigod, Hermes Thoth, who I have chosen to act as my sponsor for this working. Dates for the final Portae Lucis are presently scheduled to occur between June 17th and the 19th. Some of the work will be done in my outdoor grove, and some of it will be performed within my temple. Having the flexibility to be able to work both indoors and outdoors is one of the benefits of having a house in the country. I will need to prepare the grove, since I haven’t had any time to do this task. It has also been raining nearly every other day, so the weather hasn’t been cooperating either.

Anyway, I am on target and within my appointed schedule to bring this working to a final and powerful climax. So I am eagerly looking forward to seeing the final elements of this working completed and the vista of a straight path from Yesod to Binah open up and reveal itself to me. I will produce edited versions of my journal entries for all of these workings, so that I might share with you mostly everything that happens, and verify that a talismanic version of this working is both valid and capable of producing the desired effects.

Frater Barrabbas

A Very Busy Spring

Looking at the calender, I am shocked by the fact that here it is nearly the end of April and I am deeply engaged with work, work and more work. I guess there’s no rest for the wicked, even though I haven’t even had any time to be wicked. The balmy days of March have become the nearly frigid days of April calends, even despite the flowers and leaves coming out early. It represents the peculiarity of the weather this far to the north. However, Beltain is coming, and following that, the celebration of May Day in the Twin Cities. This includes the madcap left-wing workers’ parade and the Heart of the Beast outdoor presentation. This year it will all take place on May 6, so perhaps the weather will have warmed up somewhat to make the occasion more enjoyable.

May Day is also when I must complete and turn in the revisions and resubmit my manuscript for the upcoming Llewellyn book “Magical Qabalah for Beginners.” I have added more text to certain strategic chapters to help make it more self explanatory and comprehensive, and I have also applied some of the new insights that I had when assembling my two classes on the Qabalah. Once I submit the manuscript with revisions, then it will be subjected to the more rigorous process of editing, where the manuscript will be refined, perfected and prepared for publication. The date when this book will be available is still Spring 2013, so I will inform you about the up-coming milestones, once they are achieved. Hopefully, I  will have a more definitive printing date in the near future.

***

There has been quite a bit of hubbub on the Golden Dawn blogosphere, which seems to be typical of what has been occurring there as of late. The HOGD and A+O organizations are fighting a furious battle against obviously regressive reconstructive forces, which have been characterized by them as the McGoldenDawn. It brings to my mind the image of a kind of demented Ronald McGoldenDawn mindlessly and happily plugging his wares, along with the whole cohort of cartoon-like characters representing the varieties of fast-food occultism. We have been warned about this temptingly easy and cheap meal. It may temporarily fill you up, but in the long run, it will kill you with all sorts of industrial level diseases and malnutrition. I think that is a useful analogy about the current state of affairs. The additional revelation that the organization of SRIA (Societas Rosicruciana In Anglia, or the Soc Rose) is the godfather-like puppet master behind this conspiracy seems to make complete sense to me. Although, it also seems like a pathetically contrived conspiracy, since such a push against the A+O is doomed to failure. Also, those who are behind it don’t seem to be very intelligent or gifted.

However, I think that the overall motivating factor for individuals to attack the A+O is because they are terribly jealous and filled with a deadly envy. This is due to the fact that the A+O organization has a wealth of new materials that have never been published or revealed to the public, and they also have the trust and care of the secret chiefs. Thus they are blessed in a manner that no other Golden Dawn group has been blessed in the last century. So if David Griffin wishes to be overly dramatic, comical and passionate about the defense of his organization, then he has every right to be that way. Not being in his shoes, I don’t really know how I would react if I were in a similar situation. So to judge him harshly as some have done is to do the entire Golden Dawn a great disservice. (Just imagine yourself in his place, and ask yourself what would you do to protect the honor and integrity of the A+O?)

Just to give you an idea of how bankrupt certain reconstructionist groups have become, all you need to do is to compare them to myself and the humble little organization that I am helping to run. The Order of the Gnostic Star has a handful of members and a great wealth of ritual and liturgical lore. Most of this lore was designed and developed in directions and from sources that are not to be found in books or any other materials. In the library of the Order are a series of unique ritual systems consisting of hundreds of rituals and liturgical rites. Every year, more materials are being added to this foundation. How is that occurring?

First of all, the whole basis to our work is completely experiential, and the focus is mostly theurgic ordeals. We work our ritual magick to converse with spirits and aspects of Godhead within our spiritual hierarchy, and thereby discover new connections, new insights and new techniques. This new material is used to develop new lore, which in turn helps those who are using it to discover new insights. This process is self-feeding, producing a cycle of creativity that seems to be boundless. We obviously have some very dynamic inner plane connections that are powerfully active, making our tiny organization one that has a constantly evolving and growing foundation of lore.

Therefore, we are happy to keep our noses in our own business, and for the time being, seem to need nothing outside of that work to sustain us. Since we are gifted with this potent egregoric connection, we don’t spend any time grousing about other groups or declaring that this group or that is fraudulent. In fact, I am quite happy and satisfied with the progress that our own work is following, and I have discovered that it is often quite all-consuming. I don’t have time to be jealous of anyone else’s work, and I feel that someone like David Griffin is to be honored for what he is doing in regards to the lore of the A+O.

Since I have access to David, he does tell me some of the things that he is doing (or at least as much as he can considering that I am not under the Rose, as it were), and I don’t feel envious, jealous or spiteful. I am hoping that all of David’s work is a smashing success, since that will benefit many occultists and initiates following the Western Mystery tradition. He certainly doesn’t seem to be doing it to magnify or edify himself, so that makes him different than some of the other GD leaders whose opinions and diatribes I find myself constantly bombarded with whenever I search the internet. All of this reminds me of the way that Republican pundits declared that they wanted the newly elected president of the U.S. to fail, just because he wasn’t the leader of their party. If the president of our country is a failure, then we all suffer accordingly. I think that the same analogy can be used in examining how a number of pundits in the Golden Dawn community seek to vilify and disparage David Griffin and the A+O. Instead, we should wish him and his organization well, since it can only benefit everyone if he is successful.

David is very busy doing his work, which I might add is quite massive, and he has to interrupt that work to respond to the inanity and mendaciousness of those who are fighting against him and his organization. I can only wonder how much more he could accomplish if everyone just focused on their own work instead of seeking to glorify themselves as they attempt to uproot and demolish the very overall organization that they are supposed to be building and defending. They obviously have too much time on their hands, and they also seem to have a paucity of new lore and breakthrough insights. They are running on empty, since the Regardie Golden Dawn material is nearly exhausted in its capacity to enlighten or help determine self-mastery. Anyway, it all seems very simple to me, but then again, I have no stakes in the war of egos, but would see great merit in whatever new groundbreaking materials would become available to those of us who are initiates. I suspect that the one group who will truly amaze and astonish the western occult world in the near future will be the A+O, and not the overly glorified stooges of the McGoldenDawn franchises.

***

Very recently I saw a comment on one of my older blog articles about Michael Bertiaux. Incredibly, Allen Greenfield, who was the author of that comment, has whined that I have defamed his very fine reputation with rumors of his supposedly infamous initiatory relationship with that man. While I personally don’t know what transpired between Allen and Michael, I did hear quite a lot of salacious speculation from individuals who had inside knowledge of that affair. I can only report what I heard and also what I knew then about Bertiaux.

Michael never freely gave away any of his magickal secrets, lore and lineages. He always made someone pay a price of some kind for what he had to offer. Typically, it was some kind of gratuitous exchange, and it could be as supposedly harmless as giving him a picture of yourself and perhaps other personal possessions. (Although what he claimed to do with that picture and those personal possessions would trouble even a hardened magickal operator.)  Michael claimed that he sought some kind of compensation from his students as a natural part of his teachings, and that he could and would function like a psychic vampire if given the opportunity. He has even stated this fact in his written work (referring to some victim students as “human batteries”), so it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone if he did behave that way.

I happen to know one individual who was able to get consecrated by Michael Bertiaux and not have to give more of himself than what would be required just to be initiated. That person was my esteemed brother Lugh, who told me that he had to threaten Michael with physical harm in order to get him to behave himself. All I know is that if I had wanted Michael Bertiaux’s consecration and magickal lore, I would have had to give myself to him, body and soul. (Michael certainly made that clear to me and said as much.) That was the bargain, and I found it much too steep, while others eagerly sought what he had to give at any cost.

Of course, all of this happened thirty-four years ago, and at a time when Michael was in his prime. No one stays the same, and I am sure that Michael Bertiaux is very likely different today than he was back then. However, I have no interest in ever finding out, since I don’t need to bolster my episcopal lineage by tying it to him. I also have found very little useful material in his book, the “Gnostic Voudoun Workbook,” and the little material he gifted me before I cut ties with him. Keep in mind that I had to fend off Michael’s advances, and that he also behaved this way with my teacher, Bill Schoebelen, and anyone else who sought his knowledge and power in those times.

So I found Allen Greenfield’s claims of defamation to be quite ridiculous. How can I defame someone whose own spiritual and magickal corruption has become a monumental barrier to being anything other than a pathetic excuse for a human being. Allen, who was an honored seventh degree initiate of the O.T.O. and an inspector general, was kicked out of this esteemed organization because he publically claimed that the Outer Head of the Order was a fraud. 

I have had a number of encounters with Allen Greenfield over the last few decades, and I can say for a fact that everyone of them was quite negative, if not completely distasteful. I have described a few of those encounters in one of my previous blog articles, so you may remember me talking about him when spinning the tale about my past history. I might be a bit less disdainful of Allen if he hadn’t also sought to corrupt and negatively manipulate the local bodies of the O.T.O. in Atlanta. The sad fact is that there were two local bodies that were forcibly closed in the Atlanta area in the last couple of decades, and they can be pretty much attributed to the nefarious influences of Allen Greenfield. Perhaps now that the O.T.O. has kicked Allen out of their organization, the local bodies of the O.T.O. in Atlanta might actually be successful, but only if they keep him far away.

Perhaps it’s not ironic that I have met some really stellar individuals who are initiates in the O.T.O. over the long period of my occult career. Lon Milo Duquette is a brilliant and kindly gentleman, and Scott Stenwick is one of the foremost occultists and magicians that I have ever met. I went through the first four degrees of the O.T.O. and I have found that organization to be sound, successful and benevolently challenging. Many of the magicians that I have met who are initiates in the O.T.O. represent the cutting edge of magickal knowledge and expertise. I am proud to have been a member of that organization, and as an initiate, I would keep their confidences and implicitly respect those who are deemed their leaders. I have had other callings in the last few years, and allowed my membership to lapse after I had achieved the third degree, since by that time I had begun to follow an altogether different path than the O.T.O..

However, even though I follow a different path today, I still respect the tenets and practices of the O.T.O. and I consider the writings of Aleister Crowley to be one of the greater sources of my occult studies and researches. I don’t consider myself an exclusive Thelemite, but I have found a life-long respect for that philosophy. Still, I think that Allen Greenfield has shown himself to be completely unworthy of that organization in every way, and I believe that they had good reason to expel him with extreme prejudice. So how could I possibly besmirch someone who has made it a lifelong career to be a complete jackass to everyone around him?

***

Some other interesting things to share with you, my readers, has to do with the recently translated Gospel of Judas. When the National Geographic came out with their translation, I didn’t jump on the band wagon and attempt to realize what that newly found codex actually means to us today. I admit, though, that I find the Gnostics of antiquity interesting and fascinating. So when another new Coptic codex comes along, I usually end up reading it. This time, back in 2007, I was involved in other things and didn’t get a chance to see the National Geographic special that painted a startling new image of the disciple who supposedly betrayed Jesus. It wasn’t until recently that I downloaded that special via Netflix, and I found its theme to be quite interesting.

Judas Iscariot has been vilified over the centuries as a greedy and selfish opportunist who exemplified the Jewish persona in the eyes of faithful Christians. Judas had become the excuse and euphemism for antisemitism, but with this new gospel, he was seen instead as the close confident of the messiah who was convinced by Jesus himself to betray him. Of course, this seemed a bit too good to be true, and as it turned out, a new and more careful translation has shown the opposite to be true.

The Gospel of Judas was written by Sethians, and it was a sinister literary tool crafted to discredit the apostolic succession of the twelve disciples, and so completely overturn the ascendancy of the emerging Catholic Christianity. I found this interesting bit of information in a book written by Dr. April DeConick, entitled “The Thirteenth Apostle.” This book is quite excellent, since it also gives the reader a thorough insight into the Sethian Gnostic tradition. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Gnosticism. The Sethians freely mixed the Judeo-Christian religious system with an applied occultism and magick, which makes it appropriate and relevant today, more than 1,800 years later. You can find this book on Amazon dot com, at this link.

In the future, I will write a more thorough article on this book. Right now, I need to get back into my manuscript and finish up all of my work. I also have another magickal working that will be performed on April 30, so there will be some more interesting data on the ongoing Portae Lucis working that I am seeking to accomplish just before the Summer Solstice.

Frater Barrabbas