Talking About Ritual Magick - Third Anniversary - 2012

As the saying goes, time flies when you’re having too much damn fun, and once again, we have passed the August 2nd anniversary date, which is an important mile-stone for this blog. All I can say is that the year has gone by in what seems like a flash of lightening! Still, it was a really good year and there were some very interesting articles. The blog is now averaging around 670 subscriptions, has 272 followers and nearly 193,000 views since it began. I am also maintaining an average of around 8 to 9 articles a month, with a grand total of 341 posts (including this one).

Since quite a number of those posts represent somewhere around five or more pages, that’s quite a lot of information for you to read and examine at your leisure - and we are only three years old! I am really looking forward to the next year, but I am going to have to start figuring out what I want to write about and what new topics I can cover in a more strategic manner. I have covered most of the topics that I would like to write about, but I am sure that much more will be forthcoming. If you have any specific topics that you would like me to write about, just drop me a line into my handy email box. I typically respond within a day or two to those who write me. For topic article requests, that might take a bit longer to realize.

Also, don’t forget to check the subject index (Labels) for the blog, located on the lefthand side of the page, just under the favorite blog listing and web site links. I am usually pretty thorough about putting proper labels on all of my articles, so by clicking on one of them, you can find all of the articles associated with that label topic. I often use this mechanism myself to find articles that I want to link to for the purpose of establishing a reference foundation or linking to a previously written article that is relevant to the current one.  

Normally, for these anniversary articles I usually write about the year and what I have accomplished during that period. However, I would like to do something entirely different for this anniversary date. What I am proposing is to put together a list of links for all of the really good articles that have been posted since this blog started out, particularly those articles where I have actually experienced some real magical phenomena. Anyway, here is my list of all-time great articles, just for you in case you missed out on catching any of them when they first were posted.

Let me start out with the serial articles -

Abramelin Lunar Ordeal - A Complete Index Guide to Articles

Qabalah - A Complete Index Guide to Articles

Talismanic Portae Lucis Ordeal - List of article links -

There are eleven articles for this set, and I haven’t created an index for them yet, so here it is.

1. Introduction

2. Solar Talisman

3. Ides of March

4. Lunar Talisman

5. Saturn Talisman

6. Portae Lucis report

7. Mercury Talisman

8. Preparations

9. Portae Lucis Part 1

10. Portae Lucis Part 2

11. Aftermath

Some of the ten most popular or infamous articles on this blog -

1. Demon Lovers, Succubi and Incubi

2. Grimoire Armadel - Curious History and Use

3. Great Rite and Sexual Alchemy

4. Remembering Michael Bertiaux

5. Thoughts About the Qliphoth

6. Sex Magick Made Simple

7. Best of H. P. Lovecraft

8. Alex Sanders - A Pagan Magus

9. Non-Duality and the Qabalah

10. Jesus Christ - Myth, Legend or Historical Person?

So, that’s a wrap for this anniversary issue of the blog “Talking About Ritual Magick.” As we begin the fourth year of this blog, we will hopefully have many more interesting articles and concepts to float by you, my readers. One thing that I will note is that my ability to articulate often difficult and obscure points is getting much better, and this is due to the energy that I have put into the many articles appearing in this blog. My goal is become a much more accessible writer while still tackling some pretty difficult topics. That's a tall order, for sure.

Yet the real success story for this blog is to found in the many wonderful readers who link in every time I post a new article. I am grateful for your readership, which appears to be doubling every year. Hopefully this process will continue, and I will certainly do my best to make certain that there are interesting and compelling articles here every month.

Once again, thanks for all your support, comments and questions. You have made this a very rewarding experience for me, and I hope that I have given you some moments of inspiration as well.

Bright Blessings to you in the coming months (and I hope you had a happy Lugnasad) -

Frater Barrabbas

Talking About Ritual Magick - Second Anniversary 2011

Happy Anniversary for the Blog, its writer (me), and all you wonderful readers!

How time flies when you have your nose to the grindstone, as it were. I am now happy to announce that this blog has passed its second anniversary, and it has now been around for two whole years. This is quite a remarkable mile-stone for me, and there has been quite a few substantive and in-depth articles for you to peruse and examine, hopefully, at your leisure.

My ability to write appears to be getting better, and so is my ability to articulate and express my beliefs, which I might add, have also been changing over the last couple of years. If anything, I seem paradoxically less certain of myself and a lot more open to variations than where I was when I started. That would seem to represent a kind of progress or maturing occurring within me. Or it could just be that I am being worn down and getting fatigued by a constant process of erosion, where I am periodically and consistently beat across the head by my pundits until a certain amount of sensibleness temporarily overtakes me. Either I will become wise some day, or my head will be reduced to mere dry pulpy dust through the unrelenting process of having to mitigate my prejudices and restate my opinions. A blog opens you up to the public eye, and this can be a very humbling experience, especially when you go public with either a half-baked or incorrect idea. Yes, such mistakes are (hopefully) the stuff of amusement, and not annoyance, for many others. If I am not a good example, at least I may function as an object lesson for others to see and take warning.

The life of an occultist is never easy, since we have to, by definition, constantly refine and revise our beliefs and practices based upon a never ending stream of insights and revelations. Yet throughout all the struggles of a pagan spiritual life, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have found it a good thing to be forced to constantly hone my intellectual skills and challenge my ability to engage in critical thinking. There is no rest for those who are forever seeking spiritual truths, and thank the gods for that happy occurrence! I would rather be a lifetime seeker than to pretend to be someone who has all of the answers (and ignore the hard questions that can’t be answered).

I think that some forms of fundamentalist Christianity actually inspire their followers to short-circuit their critical thinking skills in favor of accepting their religious doctrine without either doubt or questions. It’s the terrible folly of being a true believer, which is something I could never be.  I know myself all too well, and I could never function that way, and that’s probably why I became a pagan so many years ago. (I was the obnoxious kid who kept on asking all of those troublesome questions in Sunday school until being asked to leave permanently.) I guess you could say that I am doomed to only believe in what I have seen and experienced myself, and luckily, I have experienced the full spectrum of angels, demons, devils, gods, goddesses, earth spirits, ancestors and dead heros. Because I also know how to write, then I might share these thoughts, opinions and experiences with you, and then see what you might do with them.

From the blog statistics, I have around 450 individuals who are subscribing to my blog site, around 185 who are actual followers, and an approximate all-time total of 86,000 views since the blog was first started. A few of the articles have actually gone slightly viral, like the one on Michael Bertiaux, but mostly, I have seen a very modest and sizeable increase in my readership, which is very heartening. I hope that these favorable ratings continue to increase, and I will do all in my power to help make them so. 

So here we are, another year down, and a new one beginning. What are my plans for the next year of blog based articles? I am quickly approaching the 250 articles benchmark, and most of these articles are quite long and in-depth. I have been saying for the last few months that I need to scale back the length and depth of my articles, and that will be happening starting next month. The articles will be shorter and focused on a specific topic, which might make them more interesting to read for some. I have decided that I need to start putting some of my fervent writing into other venues, particularly non-fiction occult books, and even some occult, horror and supernatural fiction stories. I recently completed a seven week course on Forensic Sciences for Writers, and I intend on using that knowledge in the future, perhaps writing some occult detective stories, something that I have always been rather keen on doing. I am also starting my writing project for Llewellyn, so I will have less time to devote to this blog. This doesn’t mean that the blog will suffer, only that it will be more topical and each article will be considerably shorter.

Even though it is the middle of summer, and I am thoroughly enjoying these short months of sunshine and balmy weather, I am already making plans for this autumn and winter. I would like to share some of these ideas with you.

• Write up three manuscripts for three new books, especially the Llewellyn book project on the Qabbalah. These will be on-going and will require a great deal of time. I suspect that I will be working on these projects until next summer, but I might post an idea or section from the two projects that are entirely my own, like the Abramelin Lunar Ordeal or the book of Pagan Ritual Magick.
• Plan, develop and put together a weekend intensive on the Qabbalah, to be held at a local occult book store in Minneapolis (hopefully) sometime in the middle of November. I will let you know when this plan becomes immanent.
• Develop and perform Qabbalistic minimalist workings to test the five operations and five methodologies. This is a system of magick that I discovered when doing my intensive Qabbalah research. It is a system of magick that requires only a minimal of ritual and ceremonial regalia.
• Perform some theurgy - invoke both a few Goetic spirits and also a few of the corresponding ha-Shem angels. I am particularly interested in working with the ha-Shem angels, since I haven’t had the opportunity of really working much with them. I might also consider doing a few of the workings for a revised version of the Grimoire Armadel, if I have time.

There will be lots of things going on, and I will share some of it with you, my faithful readers. Thanks for all your support, comments and questions. You have made this a very rewarding experience for me, and I hope that I have given you some moments of inspiration as well.

Bright Blessings to you in the coming months -

Frater Barrabbas

One Year Anniversary for Talking About Ritual Magick

It’s August 1st - a wonderful time for this blog!

Talking about milestones, I have just passed one! It was a year ago that I started this blog to share with all of you my various thoughts, opinions and ideas about ritual magick and Western Occultism. It has been quite an amazing journey. I have produced 109 articles in all, and they weren’t short little commentaries either. They were actually rather long and full blown articles discussing what I felt was the most important issues of the day, at least in my own particular magickal work. Yes, I know that I am long winded. Yes, I know that I seem unable to say anything in twenty words or less. But I am thankful that you slogged through them to find the gems and the useful ideas that I put there, wittingly or not.

I want to thank all of my readers, near and far, for helping to make this blog successful. According to statistics there are now over two hundred individuals who have subscribed to this blog, and probably many more who examine it from time to time. I have also learned a lot in the process of posting my thoughts and opinions, and even occasionally, having them shoved back into my face. Yes, I have made mistakes and posted opinions that were either not well thought out or too opinionated, and you have responded to let me know that I erred. This allowed me to refine my beliefs and even change my mind about some of my so called cherished opinions.

While I have been busy writing blog articles, I have also been reading the blogs that others are producing as well - this has also taught me a great deal. So I am probably pretty well immersed now in the blogosphere, but I am sure that there are other and more interesting blogs out there for me to examine. If you know of one, then please, let me know about it so I can read, learn and grow as well.

A lot has happened in the last year or so, and I feel that I have done a lot of growing and learning new things about subjects that I had assumed I knew all there was to know. How silly of me! I agree that hubris is an ongoing mental weed that we need to periodically uproot in order to remain fresh and insightful.  I am grateful for all of the comments, emails and connections that have occurred, all of which gave something to think about and ponder.

Once again, thanks for staying tuned to this blog and helping me to experience the wonder of the internet and to be challenged as a writer and a practitioner of ritual magick. Have a happy August 1st, Lammas or Lugnasad, or whatever you want to call it (Leomas?), and have a drink symbolically with me as I celebrate the beginning of the second year! I promise that the new year will be filled with all sorts of interesting subjects, ideas, opinions, and even some humor.

If you have any ideas for topics to discuss here or want to see if you can stump me, then go ahead, ask me a question. I am open to whatever anyone wants me to write about, er.., well, within reason, of course.

Happy Lammas or Lugnasad!

Frater Barrabbas



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