This week, at the suggestion of Hermafetes con Harrow, we will be discussing the first three issues of Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles: Dead Beatles, Down and out in Heaven and Hell, and Down and Out in Heaven and Hell part 2. Please come prepared with a few questions for the group!
Author Archives: gnostrigrangel
February 8th: London Occulture
This Wednesday, we’ll discuss selections from the magical zine Rituals and Declarations, picked up by Our Flower Child Lydia on her recent trip to London.
February 1st: Liber 49
Dysnomia again. On Wednesday, we’ll take a look at Jack Parsons’ Babalon Working, recounted in Liber 49 – The Book of Babalon, which he considered the fourth chapter of the Book of the Law. We’ll just be discussing The Book of Babalon, stopping after the poem “The Birth of Babalon”. We’ll also read Peter Grey’s account of the working, “Strange suppers and spells diverse”.
“Come ye to the nuptials — come ye now!”
January 25th: The Temporary Autonomous Zone
Dysnomia here. On Wednesday we’ll consider Hakim Bey (Peter Lamborn Wilson)’s iconic and iconoclastic screed The Temporary Autonomous Zone. A classic amongst anarchists for several decades now, I think you’ll enjoy it as well.
January 18th: The Devil, by A Devil
This week, we’ll be reading an excerpt from a forthcoming book on the Tarot by our friend and fellow Bastard, Holy Magus Caspian. The chapter in question deals with the Devil card: The Devil, Really.
If you have feedback favorable or otherwise I believe he will be most interested. But we will also follow the paths of our own inquiries into the work and the card itself. Please come armed with a couple of questions for the group!
January 11th: The Magician: His Training and Work
This Wednesday, January 11th, at the suggestion of Sarah, we will further contemplate foundational magical skills by means of The Magician: His Training and Work by W. E. Butler. Please come prepared to discuss Chapters 7-9 (pages 61-79).
December 28: Modern Magick
This week, we will be discussing foundational skills described in the ubiquitous manual, Modern Magick, by Donald Michael Kraig.
Part A: Read the beginning of Lesson 2, pages 33-51. Take it for a spin if you feel inclined.
Part B: Browse the convenient Contents listings at the front of the book (pages 5-7 of the PDF) and pick out one other topic of interest from the extensive list. Read one more section of your choice and tell us about it!
For good or ill, this book has been one of the most prominent manifestations of some sort of mainstream consensus on how Western Ceremonial Magic can look. Its methods and perceptions have been a jumping-off-point for many of us. We can talk about that too – our various relationships with this book, and with the tradition.
December 21st: Stellas Daemonum
Dearly Beloved Bastards,
This Wednesday we will be discussing the dueling forewords, introduction, and first chapter of David Crowhurst’s Stellas Daemonum (the entirety of the attached PDF). This is another text recommended by AVDIERVNT, featuring cameos from Lon Milo DuQuette and Stephen Skinner.
December 14: The Beckoning Fair One
This week, we’ll be discussing Oliver Onions’ The Beckoning Fair One, pages 6-95. Please don’t be disconcerted by the page count; the font in this version is very large.
December 7th: The Satan Seller
This week, at the suggestion of Saint Shut-the-Fuck-up Friday, we will be discussing The Satan Seller by Mike Warnke, pages 26-57, 76, 155-156, 182-196, and Appendices (211-213).
OPTIONAL SUPPLEMENT: Their Holiness’ summary of the vital plot points. Also pages 58-78 from the book.
Their Holiness has these comments to offer upon the text:
Unlike memoirs that would debut later wherein the main characters were purportedly victims of a Satanic cult, Mike Warnke’s The Satan Seller describes his time as a Satanic High Priest. While the claims in this book could easily be debunked by anyone with the common sense the gods gave little green apples, the claims weren’t formally debunked for nearly twenty years, and the text helped provide an initial spark to what would become the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Join us for a discussion of occult supply chain management, multi-level marketing schemes that definitely don’t involve the Illuminati, and the very real repercussions of the depictions of very fake Satanism.