Author Archives: gnostrigrangel

December 6th: The Men Who Stare at Goats

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Hail, all!

This week, at the suggestion of our old pal Smelly Hermes, we vary our routine. We will be viewing a very odd film, depicting experiments in magic by the US military. No preparation is required; just bring your brain and eyes.

Hermafetes on the film:

In the 1970s, the U.S. Army funded several projects to determine once and for all “What is Real” in the spiritual realm and use it as a tool to ensure America’s supremacy. The Men Who Stare at Goats is a fictionalized account of this military misadventure, though the parts of the story that are made up and those which are real may surprise you.
I submit the following trailer for your viewing pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC2TzspJn5A
Supplementary Reading:
The First Earth Battalion Field Manual, penned by the real historical “psychic warrior” Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon, after the Army ignored the Colonel’s findings and he struck out on his own.

 

Reading for November 28th: Zenarchy

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This week we have a few morsels of Buddhist anarchism,  courtesy of Dysnomia. From Zenarchy by Kerry Thornley/Ho Chi Zen (you probably know him by his other other nom de plume) we’ll discuss “The Birth of Zenarchy” (pp. 16-34). Then take a look at Camden Benares’ Zen Without Zen Masters and just let yourself ramble thru its miniatures however you like. You might do a few of the “Meditations and Exercises” (pp. 98-123) and give us a taste of your experience, or just read the group a few of the fragments elsewhere in the book that you find funny, profound, or asinine. It’s all in there, I swear, dharma on the up and up… honest!

November 15th: A Necromancer’s Manual

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This week’s reading, suggested by our own local necromancer Skeue Euphemeo: Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century by Richard Kieckhefer.

Please read the introduction (pages 1-21).

Then, pick a branch of magic to specialize in for the evening!
Please read either:
* Illusionist Experiments “Banquets, Horses, and Castles,” (pages 42-68) or
* Psychological Experiments “Love, Favour, and Madness” (pages 69-95) or
* Divinatory Experiments “Learning Hidden & Future Things” (pages 96-125)

(If you’re feeling indecisive, the chart on page 38 gives you an overview of each of the main magical themes.)

October 25th: Agrippa

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Courtesy of Sorcerix Helios, we read a few carefully chosen selections from the monster tome, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy. The pages to be discussed: 44-57; 318-329; 426-433. These are the page numbers printed in the book, not the PDF program’s numbering.

Further optional reading – appendices by the editor Donald Tyson:

Appendix II: The Soul of the World, 713-718
Appendix III: The Elements, 719-727
Appendix V: Magic Squares, 733-751 
A word from Helios:
Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy represents the most complete accounting of European magical thought of his time. A titanic portion of the ancient wisdom which informed western occultism passed its influence to later occult movements through this text. Despite his refusal to cite his sources, errors in some of his tables, and the vagueness of his ramblings, this edition was painstakingly edited and annotated by occult scholar Donald Tyson. In fact, of the above 31 pages, only  8.5 are Agrippa’s, the rest being diagrams, figures, and cited annotations inserted by Tyson. Because the real substance of the text is thin but tough, I challenge readers to attempt the appendices by Tyson which supplement, contextualize, and more clearly explain the chapters I gave above.
I cannot overstate how foundational and helpful this text has been to my occult research and magical practice. Reading and practicing the procedures in this book was the first time I truly felt wizardly. I have never ceased using it as reference.