The Spider and the Green Butterly

I recently picked up a copy of "The Spider and the Green Butterfly: Vodoun Crossroads of Power" by E.A Koetting and Baron DePrince from Eternal Ascent Publications.I have been very interested in Vodoun lately and trying to get my hands on any good books I can find. Being familiar with author E.A. Koetting's LHP work from his book "Works of Darkness", I was confident that I would find some good practical information on the practice of Vodou. The book did not disappoint in that aspect. Most of the books that I come across on vodou are usually just glorified hoodoo books with a few Veves (sigils of the vodoun Lwa spirits) thrown in for good measure.

The Spider Green Butterfly excels in the fact that is does provide practical information for tapping into the Vodoun current on a non-initiatory level with effective and powerful results. From consecration, altar setup, working with veves, and some formulas and powders that are not for the faint of heart, you get a good amount of information to get you started. The book also gives excellent background info on the history and practice of vodoun in Haiti. If you are looking for a primer on Haitian vodou this is a great start. Just know that it is far from being a complete system and the book makes it clear that this is in now way a substitute for true initiation into the current. It may also be argued that the info presented here is not necessarily traditional Haitian vodoun in the purest sense. There is no talk of setting up an ancestral altar, but there is talk of the Qlippoth and hints to the Tunnels of Set. It seems to me that the methods here are a mix of trad Hatian arts along with some inspiration from La Couleuvre Noire and the Voudon Gnostic system of Micheal Bertiaux. The book focuses heavily on the Darker more Left Hand path aspects of the vodoun system as a path of power, also it does not shy away from the use of animal sacrifice in ritual (and gives no substitutes) so this tome may not be for everyone.

The only gripe I may have with the book is the typical bravado that comes with works of a darker nature. You have the obligatory warnings of "Don't try this unless you are prepared to possibly pay with your sanity", ad nauseam . This is something I have come to expect and can look past. Granted these warnings are very necessary when dealing with the Lwa to my understanding. All in all this is a great book to get started in connecting with the current, but prepared to have much to discover with the help of the spirits, as well as in your own research.

Before you light that candle...

I spoke with a young man recently about the powers of the spirits of Goetia and the Forces of Darkness in general. He wanted to know why is that many grimoires and modern occult writers promise that you can have all of your desires by using the spirits? If it were true wouldn't everyone being evoking demons and living the good life? Well in my opinion most modern occult writers especially of the darker paradigms are in the business of selling books and need some eye catching quote on their dust jacket. Self promotion is the name of the game. It's also very possible that they are greater magicians than myself (they would probably agree) and thus have better results and are living the dream. The young man was seeking the usual money,women, and "power". One thing I feel someone new to sorcery should consider is that there are many in this world that have one or more of these things and do so without ever uttering a single incantation. So one would do well to research the practical real world methods that are used to achieve these goals and then back it up with magick if need be. Magick and especially evocation should not be an excuse for laziness in my opinion. If magick alone could make a person filthy rich I wouldn't be writing this blog right now. I would be in the club "making it rain" and thanking Belial!

Do work son! That is all..

Me and the Devil Blues

"Me and the Devil was walking side by side" Quote from the song "Me and the Devil Blues" By Robert Johnson.

I will try and make this post less ranty than it seems to be in my head right now. Today is my birthday which has become a personal de facto holiday in my life as it is for many other left hand pathers and Satanist. For me it is time a celebrate personal power, and the self in all it's glory. It is also a very reflective time where I take a good look at my current station in life. This brings me to a bit of a crossroads if you will and leaves me much to contemplate. This in turn got me thinking about the legendary Hoodoo ritual for gaining mastery in a skill by selling your soul to the"Devil" at a crossroads. This is a ritual that I have not performed yet, but being a Hoodoo conjurer I feel it's worth exploring. Popular Hoodoo belief is that this dark figure of the crossroads is not the devil but a manifestation of the Voudon Lwa Papa Legba who presides over the crossroads. But it is interesting that this black (literally black, no reference to African origins) figure could easily be compared to the black figure that presides over the witches sabbath which could be one reason why he has been compared to the devil.

Even though I consider myself Left Hand Path and have no problem identifying with a sinister current, I have often distanced myself from the Devil and Satan. Usually whenever I came across a ritual that included references to Satan or the Devil I would change to wording in some way. I have long considered myself close to the adversarial force but hesitated to use those particular epithets because I did not want my personal practice to delve into the realm of Christian characeture as some often do. However recently I have been opening up more to that manifestation of the adversarial current and respecting it as much more than a literary vice in a biblical narrative. Also a recent study of Andrew Chumbley's writings and a working with his Grimoire Qutub has got me thinking more about my connection with "..that old serpent called the Devil and Satan"(Revelations 12:9).

I personally come to view the Devil as a very real spiritual entity worthy of respect, but one that does not desire or wish to be worshiped. I am personally inspired by the personal character that this entity has presented in it's various manifestations and my goal is to exhibit those same qualities. To me Satan has become one of the world's biggest celebrities. People tend to have three different reactions to celebrity. Most are indifferent or could care less. Some choose to worship, adore and live vicariously through there pantheon of celebrities. A rare few become inspired enough to take that example and become a celebrity in there own right. I have chosen the latter. It's the difference between playing guitar hero, or actually learning to play an instrument and rocking . Modern pop culture and society in general tends to project (that's right it's about to get all Jungian up in this piece) a great deal onto it's celebrities, Satan included. Sure they get a great deal of our unwanted or unclaimed crap and blame hurled on them and are held up as the cause of human problems, but on the other hand a great deal of our sense of power, sexuality, charisma, and creativity are given to them as well. These are qualities that we all can possess in one form or another, but many chose to give it away to a figure that they feel represents a more ideal form of the archetype better suited to embody those energies. Why not make yourself better suitedand keep that power self contained and put to better use?

So thus my relationship with the Devil is one of inspiration, self examination and improvement. I seek to learn from and then surpass the teacher. So thus when it comes time to stand at the crossroads and make my call it will be with respect and in silence prepared to invoke, learn, reclaim, and Become. Me and the Devil will walk side by side until he has nothing left to teach me.

Ave Satanas!
Frater A:.D:.
October, 07, 2009

Full Context Martial Arts

Train.

Initiate.

Transform.

Contents Flammable or My Goetic adventure

So I have been busy doing a little Goetic working. I am not prepared to to disclose which spirit at this time, but I would like to discuss the method and some of what happened during the ritual.

I was inspired by spirit pot operation done by Fr. Rufus Opus where he created a palo mayombe like spirit pot to work with the Goetic entity Bune. This appealed to my as it came close to the flavor that I wanted to capture with my own workings. I always want to approach the beings with respect and honor. So I decided to make a pot in honor of the spirit that I wanted to learn from. I got a great brass pot from ebay and polished it up. For the basis of the inside of the pot I gathered some dirt from a place that is signifigant to the working, added some Solomon's seal root, High John the Conqueror, Frankincense (the spirit is a king and so this was added for solar aspects), three large quartz crystals, and the sigil of the Demon on golden paper. I also created an altar cloth for the spirit and painted it's sigil in 18k gold leaf paint on the fabric.

I set up the altar on a waist height square table with the altar cloth, the pot and two taper candles placed in black pillar shaped holders to the left and right of the pot. I thought it would be good to do some meditation on the sigil to draw the spirit closer and to connect with it prior to doing the full conjuration. My philosophy behind this is simple, how happy would you be with someone that ask to borrow something important the first time you two meet? So I spent a few nights doing these meditations. I decided to do the full conjuration on Sunday morning @ 6:05 am (sunrise). I rarely work by planetary hours so this was enough significance for me. Sat night I decided to make two incense blends, one for me to burn on my altar and working space, and the other to burn in the triangle as a basis for the spirit to manifest. For my altar incense I just mixed some Acacia flower with frankincense for heightened spiritual perception. For the spirit is used Dark Copal, Aloes Wood, and Frankincense again for the solar aspect, I also added some salt peter to this blend.

Sunday morning I was ready for the working and had the temple all set up. I did the usual opening of the temple and all that jazz and then began the conjuration after lighting the incense in the triangle. After the preliminary words of conjuration I continued to gaze at the sigil and vibrate the spirit's name. After several minutes I thought I saw a spark in the cauldron where I was burning the incense and charcoal. Thought nothing of it and continued chanting, when.....All of a sudden there was flames in the cauldron at the point when the chanting intensified. I quickly got up and used a dagger to moved the charcoal around a bit and smothered the fire, and for some reason added more incense. My first though was "well at least I don't have Abramelin oil in my eyes" (see "My Life with the Spirits" by Lon Milo Duquette). I sat back down in my chair and resumed chanting. Again after a few minutes once the chanting intensified the cauldron was suddenly filled with flames which fortunately did not spill out of the pot. This time I had to douse the fire with water. I said my apologies to the spirit this time and agreed to try the evocation later that evening.

It seems I had put too much saltpeter in the incense. In the mortar it looked like a lot of incense so I added a little extra saltpeter. To fix the problem I added a little extra aloes wood powder and it burned just fine. I redid the conjuration at about 10pm with non problems. The spirit agreed to inhabit the pot and continue to work with me. I look forward to being under the demon's tutelage and not setting my altar room on fire.

Poor Pagan Syndrome

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I do spell work and Tarot readings for clients from time to time. Yesterday I was at a little gathering arranged through meetup.com and ran into an old female acquaintance that I don't particularly care for. She considers herself an expert Tarot reader. When I mentioned that I do readings for money she proceeded to berate me in front of this crowd saying that was "bullshit", and that "any reader that is really talented does not charge". I believe that if you are good at something never do it for free. Now although I haven't seen this person face to face in a while, I had seen her picture attached to a collection jar in two locations. She has a chronic illness of some sort and needed money for a surgery or procedure. She is willing to let some asinine self imposed morality impede her from collecting much needed money for a service that she provides. This is a symptom of something that I and few friends refer to a "poor pagan syndrome". Poor pagan syndrome refers to the type of new agers and pagans that seem to think that somehow their rejection of (or lack of) money somehow makes them morally and spiritually superior to everyone else. It's a coping mechanism I suppose. This type of thinking is the reason I have yet to see a shop in my area that caters to that demographic stay open for more than 2 years tops. When your demo is notorious for being light on funds, they aren't the ones to provide goods or services to.

I don't understand why anyone would want to adopt or continue to cling to any morality that inhibits progress of any kind. Why shoot yourself in the foot constantly? This is part of the reason why I embrace the concept of working with "the shadow" or any archetypes associated with darkness. The more one confronts and reclaims the parts of themselves relegated to the shadow self (usually due to societal constraints and ideals), the more power one recovers. As you reclaim more of your shadow self, you tend to break free from the bonds and false morality and taboos. This puts more tools at your disposal for achieving goals. In the end it's about self empowerment.

I do want to address the reason why I charge for my services. Not that my actions need defending in the least. I feel that what I do is very much in the tradition of the tribal shaman or witch doctor. These once important roles figures in a community never wanted for any of the necessities. All of their essentials would be provided in exchange for their knowledge and wisdom. In some cases clients or members of the community would present the worker with other things of value for barter. In today's society what people really seem to value above most things is the dollar, thus it is offered in exchange for my services and I gratefully accept it. I would be willing to barter for other things but no one has ever asked. Plus I'm good at what I do (and modest to boot) and wouldn't dream of doing it for free. Do the Loa work for free? How about the Goetic Spirits? Of course not, and neither do I.

The Cabal Fang

On to more positive news.

I mentioned a few posts back that I underwent an initiation in an martial art. Well the Martial art is called Cabal Fang. It's a martial art based on Western combat (boxing, wrestling, and basic kicking) and spiritual philosophy with a heavy emphasis on physical fitness. The system is set up to practiced on an individual basis or in groups known as orders. It's a very interesting and ground breaking system in it's own right. I have been training with the First Elder and founder of the art and helping to develop techniques. The website for Cabal Fang is now live www.cabalfang.com . The manual for Cabal Fang martial arts is available for free on the site. Please check it out if you are interested in physical fitness, the occult, or practical methods if self defense. If you are anywhere near Richmond, VA the Order Of Seven Hills , the first sanctioned and active order of Cabal Fang is training now and would be honored to have you.

Ahhh bloody hell!!!

I have been sitting here for a good 30 minutes trying to think of what to blog about. I was going to go on about the purpose and benefits of an initiatory path. Possibly muse on the personalities we chose to project on a daily basis. But the more I stared at the screen the clearer it became that my mind is not clear enough to focus on on subject long enough to write at length.

Right now I am not a happy person. I don't know if I would go so far as to say I am depressed. I am just very unsatisfied with my current station in life. As a "sorcerer" it should just be a matter of picking my targets and creating change. The only problem is that I feel there is so much to change and so much work to be done it's hard to know where to start. It's had me quite a funk for now. It's like being back to spell casting 101. Power is useless without direction, and action, I know this. I just can't seem to find my new direction. I feel scattered in a lot of ways.

About initiation for a second. I recently underwent my first initiation in an occult/martial arts system that I have been training in for a few months (more info on that will be available soon). Strong spiritual experiences for me have always had two effects on me, they leave me with lots of questions, and for some time I am very open and emotional. I don't usually do emotional. It's like someone gave Spock a hit of E and started playing the Smiths.

Ok so I don't really have anything to talk about. I'm out!