The Way of the Shaman

It's a fascinating concept, that of the "medicine man" (or woman.)  You find the Shaman in every human culture from the beginning of time and there is so much commonality in their methods despite the variety of places on the globe: Australia, Africa, South America.

In "The Way of the Shaman", Michael Harner delves into this subject with authority and precision.  He, in fact, lived among the Jivaro and the Conibo of the Amazons and learned first hand among the shaman of those peoples.

Harner makes the important distinction between our normal everyday state of (what we call) reality, known as the Ordinary State of Consciousness (OSC) and the induced Shamanic State of Consciousness (SSC) and gives guidance on how to move between the two very different worlds.  In a method not unlike meditation, the shaman enters SSC for the purposes of healing and journeying to the so-called underworld.

The concept of one's spiritual animal is also explored, how to discover and commune with this important spirit.  Once these topics are mastered the neophyte shaman is instructed in the complex, detailed ways of healing, how to go about it and what not to do.

This book is an authoritative volume on the subject.  Thanks to the special witch who let me borrow her copy!

Flight 427

It hardly seems possible that it was almost 19 years ago.

I was an employee of USAir at the time and the airline had its worst disaster ever.  On September 8, 1994, Flight 427 from Chicago to Pittsburgh literally fell out of the sky while on approach to the Pittsburgh airport.  All 132 people on board perished.  Later it was determined that a design flaw in the rudder actuator was the probable cause of the crash, and likely the cause of other Boeing 737 incidents.

The location shown here is Sewickley Cemetery, about eight miles from the actual crash but the most logical place for the memorial since the site itself is private property.

It's a very peaceful place to reflect on what happened all those years ago and the souls that were lost.  I knew a number of the people on the flight as they were fellow employees.  Their names along with their fellow passengers and crew are immortalized there at the cemetery.

Having been through that sickening feeling, of empathy but helplessness, I can tell you it is not something you ever want to go through.  Still, visiting the memorial invites a sense of closure and peace.  Yes, even 19 years later it invites introspection and remembrance of a gut-wrenching time.

This part of the memorial stands in front of the main part, above.  I had to brush the March snow off the stone for it to be legible.

The location is off by itself to the right of the main cemetery, but instantly visible and inviting.  You will know it as soon as it appears in the distance.

It's a place of sacred reflection and one of peace.

That Cosmic Thing

Does anyone remember "Cosmic Thing" by the B-52's?  Well, that song was not the only "cosmic thing" from the '80's.

I came across a deck of used Cosmic Tarot cards in Eide's the other day.  What are the chances?  I was pulled in to the store for no reason other than that I had time to kill before a date.

It was quite fortuitous.  This was the deck used by the woman who first read me.  She let me look at the deck before the reading and I was struck by the artwork, which had a very ethereal feel to it.  The vivid pastels and realistic artwork are a tribute to artist Norbert Losche and the deck was quite popular at the time of its release.

I jumped at the opportunity to buy the deck for USD 5 (but counted them first to make sure they were all there).  I remembered the day of that reading, in a Chinese restaurant that's no longer there, and the accuracy of the reading she gave me.

Later as I examined the deck, the art once again took me back to that day and the sense of wonder and discovery that accompanied the reading.

The themes of the Tarot are omnipresent in our consciousness, regardless of our preferred deck.  They are timeless themes, accentuated by timely images.  In this case, cosmic images.

Sally Ride 1951-2012

I remember with pride the day in 1983 when Sally Ride rode aboard the space shuttle Challenger to become the first American woman in outer space.  In case you needed another reminder of how fragile life is, and how fast it passes us by, this groundbreaking woman passed away this week at the age of 61 from pancreatic cancer.

An intensely private person, even during her sickness, this brave woman revealed at the time of her death that she was gay.  Condolences to her partner and to all those who loved her.

I'm also reminded of the other brave women who served in NASA.  Who can forget Christa McAuliffe and Judith Resnick who perished aboard the Challenger explosion in 1986?  Lesser known perhaps are Kalpana Chawla and Laurel B. Clark who died in the Columbia re-entry in 2003.  A wiki page is dedicated to documenting all our brave women who served in outer space.

What an enduring legacy and an inspiration to girls, young women, and all of us.

The Original, and the Best

Bram Stoker wrote a masterpiece of horror in 1897 that remains not only a classic in its own right but has spawned a whole genre of vampiric stories.  His Dracula is a frightening, graphic tale of bloodlust, eternal life, and the battle of good vs. evil.

The Count made my summer reading list this year.  He did not disappoint.  For those that have never read the original, it is written in a style called epistolary, a series of diary and journal entries, personal Edison-machine recordings, newspaper accounts, and so forth.  The effect is disconcerting and revealing, since the characters may not come to the same conclusions at the same time.

This is a powerful story of gothic proportions.  Join the Harker's and their friends as they pursue the evil Count even to the ends of the earth in order to prevent Mina Harker's blood-infected metamorphosis.  There's nothing like the original, read it and see.

The Seventy-Two Spirits of the Goetia

Quite by random in my favorite independent book store, Eide's, I came across The Illustrated Goetia, co-authored by DuQuette and Hyatt, illustrated by D. P. Wilson.

It is a comprehensive manual for evoking the elemental spirits.  I first read about them in Arthur Waite's The Book of Black Magic, and that treatment was very scholarly but too deep for me at the time.  With this volume things become more accessible.  Part of the Lesser Key of Solomon, this rendition of the Goetia is very detailed in its descriptions of the spirits and their abilities.  All aspects of the ceremony and the invocations are detailed, and potential pitfalls are spelled out.

The seventy-two spirits corresponded to the decans of the zodiac, just one of many ways to associate the correct spirit with the matter at hand.  At 236 pages, no stone is left unturned, no subject taboo, nothing left to chance.  Even if you never invoke a single spirit, it's a great read and an invaluable guide to the world of King Solomon and the rich history of ceremonial and sex magick.  Highly recommended!

Clap for the Mothman

Imagine getting advance warnings about an impending disaster, by an overgrown moth.

That's what many claim happened in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1966 and 1967.  Sightings of a large winged creature and UFO's dominated the small rural town for over a year.  No one saw it as a warning, though.  At the time it was just strange stuff happening.

But in December of '67, the unthinkable happened.  The mighty Silver Bridge, connecting Point Pleasant to Kanauga, Ohio, collapsed, sending 46 holiday shoppers and commuters to their death in the icy Ohio River.  Immediately, the sightings and paranormal reports stopped.

The large winged creature that dominated the pre-collapse news was dubbed "The Mothman", later to be immortalized (immothized?) in the book "The Mothman Prophesies" by John Keel and the 2002 movie of the same name.

The Mothman was described as a large, dark man with glowing red eyes and a twenty-foot wingspan.  The most common interactions with humans happened while they were driving and a dark shadow followed them above as they drove.  Others claimed to see the Mothman in their yards and around an abandoned World War II munitions plant.

John Keel's book, in addition to describing the events of the mid-60's, puts forth the proposition that UFO's and sightings such as these do not originate from outer space; rather they are a product of the unseen, usually unperceived planes of existence that surround us.  In other words they are a product of inner, not outer space.

The Mothman is a legendary, historical figure that was reportedly seen before other disasters too, including earthquakes in Mexico and Alaska, and just before the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Clap for the Mothman!  He was just trying to warn us.

Rider-Waite Appreciation

From the beginning of this blog my work with the Tarot has always involved the Thoth deck.  Rightfully so; I'll never forget the day in the bookstore that the deck practically screamed my name until I picked it up and purchased it.

But recently I began to develop an appreciation for the classic Rider-Waite style designs, and with good reason.  Looking at it from the standpoint of the common consciousness, this art has been embedded in the spiritual world for a lot longer and by a lot more people.  This gives the deck extra gravitas; when people think of Tarot these are the images that most likely to come to mind.

I do very much appreciate the art of Pamela Colman Smith and her simple yet rich designs, along with the symbols embodied in the classic deck.  In particular the trumps Death, the World, and the High Priestess stand out as wonderful examples of the Tarot art.

DTB, one year later

One year ago, I told you about the Devil's Toy Box, a device I created from six squares of glass mirror, formed to create a cube with all six of the reflective surfaces pointed inward.

At the time I felt a tremendous pull toward building this device; I was fascinated by it and went forward with purchasing some materials and building it.  The urge to do so was very strong for me.  I did so despite many admonitions I had heard that the device can be a portal for all sorts of spirits, friendly and otherwise, to manifest themselves through this device.  In this regard its use is considered risky, much like an Ouija board.

I should have listened to the warnings.

A close family member became very ill the very day I completed its construction.  This is someone who had never had a serious illness before.  When I realized the connection a few days later, I destroyed the DTB, boxed up the pieces and threw it away.  The family member immediately improved and recovered completely.  Further validation came the day after it was destroyed, in the form of a positive development.

Stay on the positive side of everything, and remember that warnings against certain occult devices are usually the end result of someone else's misfortune.  Heed those warnings.

I also choose my projects more wisely these days.

Massachusetts Wiccans 45, Tebow Christians 10

The witches of Massachusetts scored a decisive victory over the christians of Denver. Well, it has to be true! I read it on Fox News!

I don't profess to know the secrets of the creator, but I am betting that s/he is not concerned about who wins a fake war on 100 yards of fake grass between American Football teams from Boston and Denver. Then again...I guess you never know!

All I can say is, thank the gods that Tebow-mania is done for six months.

Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think.

Thus sang Prince Buster in 1963.

While you're still in the pink.

Double rainbow

My car was parked right near the end of the rainbow...no lie. No pot of gold but a beautiful scene.

Ears to our World

This is the time of year when those of us who can afford it, consider contributing to charities that might be meaningful in the sense that they help in our local community, like a food bank or United Way.

Others may think more nationally and give to a charity that is near and dear to their hearts; say, the ASPCA if you are an animal lover.

For a while I have been following and contributing to a charity that thinks globally about what we can do to improve lives everywhere. The non-profit is called Ears to our World. It distributes self-powered (wind-up) shortwave radio receivers to impoverished and information-hungry people everywhere, allowing them to listen to long-distance news and information programs from broadcasters around the world, in their own language. In the developed world we take this kind of access to information for granted, but in many parts of the globe this kind of access is simply not available.

ETOW was started by Thomas Witherspoon and was initially funded with a huge contribution of radio receivers by the manufacturer, Eton corporation. The foundation carries on today with contributions from all over the world, sending radios to schools and communities in Africa, Asia, South America and Central America. ETOW was there in earthquake-stricken Haiti and Chile, and provides receivers to education foundations all throughout Africa and Asia as well.

It's a beautiful, efficient, elegant idea. Each receiver will probably touch at least 20 lives by allowing locals to hear British Broadcasting, the Voice of America, and many other shortwave outlets who broadcast in local languages to their target audiences. Being self-powered, the radios are not dependent on batteries or AC mains power, neither of which are available in most of the areas they serve.

ETOW recognizes that we are all one global village, and that no one should be deprived of the ability to get news and information from all corners of the village. I salute ETOW for the fine work they do, and wish all TBoT readers a very happy and safe holiday season.

MBU Warr - 1 Year Report from Thomas Witherspoon on Vimeo.

My Serial Life

It crept up on me, a little at a time. I almost didn't notice how it was taking over my life. With each passing day I became more and more dependent on it. If it were to crash or disappear tomorrow, my entire life would be in disarray.

"It" is the ubiquitous USB port. In case you didn't already know, it stands for Universal Serial Bus (serial just means one bit of data at a time). It's like the new AC wall socket of the 21st century even though it's been around for almost twenty years.

I went through a typical day to see all the ways in which a USB device of one kind or another touches my life.

• The alarm goes off on my phone, whose battery received its charge via a USB cable attached to my PC.
• I check my email. Not being crazy about the touchpad on my notebook computer, and being half-asleep anyway, I use a mouse plugged into one of the notebook's three USB ports. Three are not enough, by the way.
• I hop in the car to tackle another day of work. The sweet music soothing the savage beast of a driver is being served via mp3 by an 8 Gb memory stick plugged into my Ford's USB port, right between the two cigarette lighters (two?)
• My PC at work has every USB port occupied. It serves my keyboard, mouse, another phone charger (I talk a lot), and a charger for my wireless headset.
• At lunch time I do a little reading on my Nook, whose many PDF-formatted books were transferred to it by a USB cable.
• I print out a presentation for a co-worker, on a USB attached printer.
  
• Later I go out for a run. My GPS/fitness watch records my mileage and pace, which gets transferred to my PC later over the watch's USB port (a pain by the way to get it attached to the watch properly).
• I decide to hack a little hardware on a microprocessor board called an Arduino. I write code on my PC and it gets transferred to the Arduino board by means of...of course.
• My car's GPS doesn't have the latest road closings around here, so to navigate rationally, I download the updated data to the device through that little black cable, with the silver rectangular end.

And on it goes. Not to mention the various memory sticks I have to swap files with my kids or co-workers.

It became so popular for a very good reason: it provides a simple way to transfer both power and data in one connector. Functionality like that almost assures its success and widespread adoption.

Once upon a time, PC's used to have printer ports and RS-232 ports. Not any more. If you work in hardware technology and need a compatible RS-232 device interface you have to buy a special adapter that plugs in to...you guessed it.

So that's how it is. The USB has become our lifeline to everything that touches us. Now if we could only find a way to keep me from always trying to plug it in UPSIDE DOWN.

Pepper Spray Cop becomes "objet d'art"

From Dvorak's blog:

http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2011/11/22/pepper-spray-cop-art-goes-viral/

Happy Nigel Tufnel day - 11/11/11

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

The Freaky Flashed Faces Effect

Researchers in Australia have (maybe) uncovered an amazing optical illusion in the way we perceive faces. The following example will show you what this is all about. Keep in mind these are ALL normal, average faces. They are simply lined up together at eye level.

What is the Flashed Face Distortion Effect? from The University of Queensland on Vimeo.

So can it be possible that our worst nightmares are actually the result of optical illusion and visual indirection? This is pretty compelling. Read about the research here.

New at Technoccult

Technoccult usually has some pretty good articles. I direct your attention to a couple of recent ones:

Witch Style hits Diesel Stores. Interesting fashions.

Wired interviews Vegan Black Metal chef. With a couple of youtube's.

Home

This image of Earth (on the left) and the moon (on the right) was taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft on Aug. 26, 2011, when the spacecraft was about 6 million miles (9.66 million kilometers) away. It was taken by the spacecraft's onboard camera, JunoCam. The solar-powered Juno spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Aug. 5 to begin a five-year journey to Jupiter. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

An amazing view that captures the frailty and insignificance of man and his planet. Everything we hold dear, all of man's domain and his earthen home is in the little dot on the left.

Just beautiful.

Scrying 101

Having saved this gorgeous piece of crystal from the dustbin (yes, someone was going to throw it out), I felt a strong attachment to this heavy four-inch (10 cm) diameter beauty and to begin to meditate using it.

I usually recline and subdue the lights, focusing and turning the crystal in my hand until a particular pattern of reflection catches my eye, then I hold it steady while allowing my mind to go blank. My eyes feed the softly lit reflections directly to my mind. Usually this means holding the crystal in such a way that I am looking at its edge, and focusing on the surfaces right above and below it.

Sometimes I will get a glimpse of someone's face that I recognize. Often I see what I could consider a symbol, a metaphor for something else. Lines on a highway, for instance, that may portend a trip of some sort, or other representative images.

It's generally very calming to scry with this crystal, sometimes frustrating, sometimes evocative, but always instructive.

Before Stonehenge, before the Pyramids

...there was Gobekli Tepe.

This recent archaeological discovery is now the earliest evidence of man's spiritual observances and quest for religious meaning. Try 12,000 years ago...earlier than anything else we have found of man's ability to build such structures.

This site in south-central Turkey is noted for its large, T-shaped stone pillars that were excavated miles away and brought to this site. The pillars likely held up large roofs, but are also remarkable for their depiction of animals and stylized symbols in shallow relief on the pillars' surfaces.

No one yet knows about the society that built this complex, or how the workers were treated. This is an ongoing exploration that, as yet, has produced more questions than answers.

I can do nothing more than share these amazing views.

Moundsville, WV

For a small city in the northern panhandle of West Virginia, Moundsville has two unusual features that are certainly fodder for those interested in hauntings, spirituality and the unexplained.

First is the giant burial mound from which the town got its name. Traced back well over two thousand years, this sacred ground is where the native settlers of this region buried their dead along with artifacts relating to the deceased. Burial mounds used to cover this entire region of the Alleghenies; this is one of the few survivors. Atop the mound is a monument with the four cardinal directions in stone.

A museum at the base of the mound details the people of that age, how they may have looked and their lifestyle. Interestingly they had a writing technique very similar to the inscriptions on runes that date back to Scandinavia, but not quite the same. While touring the grounds I tried to sense the presences of some of the spirits, but to no avail.

Then right across the street from the mound and museum, is the old West Virginia State Penitentiary. Quite frankly, the place gave me the űber-creeps, and I didn't even cross the street to see it. I took one cell phone photo from the mound parking lot!

It's easy to see why I felt the willies here. This place has been featured on many of those "haunted places" shows on TV. The prison was still occupied by inmates when I first set eyes on it in 1981 but has since been closed. Riots and jailbreaks were commonplace here and the place had a reputation for cruelty, especially considering "old Sparky", the electric chair in which many of the condemned breathed their last.

The architecture is gothic and its size extends about the area of sixteen city blocks. Tours are given here daily. Might be nice to do that sometime when I'm feeling more...defended.

It's amazing to find two such dissimilar yet related places literally across the street from each other.


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Michael Jackson's ghost?

Did the CNN crew filming in Neverland in the aftermath of Michael Jackson's death inadvertently film his ghost? Judge for yourself. Looks like a shadow to me but doesn't look like there was anyone around to make the shadow. And doesn't the...whatever it is...look somewhat like MJ's profile? At 1:58 of this video.



Oh well, it's interesting to speculate. Now if that apparition started moonwalking...

Tarot designs at the Warhol Museum

Pop art icon Andy Warhol grew up in Pittsburgh, but left there in the middle of the industrial 20th Century for the artistic oasis that is New York. Pittsburgh had the last laugh in 1994 as it opened the Andy Warhol Museum, obtaining much of the artist's works from his foundation, for display there.

Occasionally the Museum will host displays by modern artists in keeping with a theme related to Warhol in some way. It was with great interest that I came this week to see Contemporary Magic: A Tarot Deck Art Project going on now. There is an old black and white video of a young female doing a reading for the musical group The Velvet Underground, which Warhol produced in the '60's. There is also a Rider-Waite deck on display from that time period.

But the card interpretations by these artists are the real star of this exhibit. Witness a couple of eyebrow-raisers: Batman as the Hierophant, Freddie Krueger as the Seven of Swords, Karl Lagerfeld as the King of Wands, and an upside-down Andy himself as, of course, the Hanged Man.

Not enough? See fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood driving a golf cart as the Chariot. See an amazingly disturbing line drawing of a woman in a compromising position as the Empress.

Also at the Warhol at this time is an exhibit called The Word of God(ess), a display of the art of Chitra Ganesh, art that is very Indian and also quite provocative, that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The latest attack on the United States

Christian Fundamentalists continue to spread their divisive rhetoric. Thanks to Anne at "The Gods are Bored" for sharing this latest group of nutters; we all need to protect ourselves and our country with spiritual self-defense.

The group is called DC40, and it is their intention to engage in "spiritual warfare" (their term!) to take over the heart and soul of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, which they arrogantly rename the "District of Christ". Have a look at this, if you can stomach it:



As the video blatantly describes, they plan on 51 days of prayer black magic to advance their idea of a country that is Christian to the exclusion and marginalization of everyone who is not so.

This is an occult attack on tolerance and diversity, nothing less. I urge you to spread the word about this latest attack on freedom of worship. Use psychic self-defense to protect yourself, your community, and your country from this hatred.

PS. Does the announcer in this video sound like a certain former President from Texas? Intentional? Count on it.

I get Nookie!

Film at 11!

The availability of the Occult Underground site, as mentioned in the last post, and the free downloads of occult texts both there and at the Gutenberg site, convinced me that I should get an e-reader.

I am so glad I did. This Nook is great, even if it isn't the latest/greatest color version (so I got this one cheap.) I have been filling it up with downloaded books from these sites and others and it is a pleasure to use and read. My first book is "Psychic Self-Defense" by Dion Fortune, and it's great to pull out and read anytime, at lunch, on the bus, or before bed.

This is the way to go. I love holding a book in my hand but how else can you get hundreds of volumes in a portable package like this? I've got 45 downloaded so far and that only uses 4% of capacity.

Each book has its own bookmark, and you can password-protect the Nook to keep prying eyes away from your material.

It will be a great reading summer around here.

E-books from Occult Underground

What a great resource this is for anyone wishing to read classic occult texts!

http://www.occult-underground.com/ebooks/

On one site you will find PDF's of all manner of esoteric subjects that you can load into your Nook or Kindle. Books by Blavatsky, Crowley, Levi (pictured), Regardie and others will keep you reading for, literally, years.

Congratulations to the webmaster of Occult Underground for making these public-domain texts available.

Book review: EsoTerra, the Journal of Extreme Culture

This book is a great compendium of articles that first appeared in the Los Angeles-based publication by the same name. I love it. It's an eclectic journal of pop culture, occult topics, sexual deviation, music, art, prose, and philosophy.

This book is not for the faint of heart. The topics here are raw and reflect a lot of the steamy underside of society and culture. Interviews with HR Giger, Marilyn Manson, Charles Nemo, Genesis P-Orridge, Alan Moore, and countless others grace the pages of this collection. Editor and magazine founder Chad Hensley does a great job selecting the best pieces of this pivotal journal, capturing the '90's and early 2000's west coast subculture.

Bravo for EsoTerra, I am enjoying it immensely. If extreme culture sounds like your cup of tea, look no further for hours and hours of great reading.

Yesterday's Concrete

I've been seeing sights like this a lot lately. Been seeing places that used to have a concrete parking lot, where people used to park. Now the buildings are gone, or closed and neglected, and grass grows back in the cracks of the concrete, trying to reclaim its past.


I get strange vibrations when seeing places like this. Vibrations of people from twenty or more years ago that came to a vibrant place to shop, or visit a doctor, or have a meal, or whatever. I look at the breaking gray slabs and feel who must have walked over that area with a sense of purpose and destination.

There is a shopping mall in Ohio that is completely abandoned, with huge parking lots that look just like this as far as the eye can see. Was there no better use to put this land to? A place for kids to ride bikes or young people to learn to drive (in a structured way)? Couldn't an abandoned building be put to use as a homeless shelter, children's play area or senior's center?

This is the dark side of capitalism. When something has outlived its means to generate an "acceptable" profit margin, and you can't sell it for the price you want, just abandon it, default on the loan and taxes, and write it off.

But you can't write off people's pasts, people's memories and the reasons they came here in the first place. They live on though the location decays.

Metaphysical Graffiti

There are a couple of random things I would like to express to you readers.

• What happens when curses you put on people come true? This has happened to a woman psychic I know. One curse wished death upon a convicted sex offender with a personal connection, and that death happened six months later. The other wished for the financial ruin of a malicious person, who subsequently was forced into an undesired retirement. (One other curse for financial ruin has not come true--yet.) Don't misunderstand, I think it was incredibly selfish of this psychic to initiate those curses, and I was quite skeptical last year when she told me she had placed them. Now, I look at what happened in amazement (and I stay on her good side).

• I really wanted to reach out to someone who has passed, a relative who I respected and admired deeply. In his physical life he was very reclusive and, due to circumstances in his childhood, did not interact much with family. Well, no big surprise, he is the same on the other side. He does not wish to reach back. I guess I understand, and again perhaps it is selfish of me. If my readers can find a moment to implore E. to open up, I will not judge him or anything he has done in the past. Thanks.

• I don't make predictions but this one feels so strong I'm going to express it anyway. I sense a period of global calm and prosperity approaching. This is in direct opposition to many of the doomsday forecasts about a worldwide financial meltdown. It simply will not happen. The next six to eight years will be a period of relative peace and prosperity. The exception however will be the weather; we can do nothing about the effects of global warming which are coming home to roost now. The atmosphere holds more moisture due to the rising temperature, weather is going to continue its violent ways, and we are going to have to adapt. But adapt we will.

Peace and love to all on this Memorial Day (US). Stay open to the energy around you.

The Blasted Tower

Is there any more dramatic symbol in the Tarot than the Tower?

Atu XVI is the forecaster of sudden, drastic upheaval. It makes me think about all the destruction in Missouri from tornadoes this year. The concept of the Tower is based on the Bible's tale of the tower of Babel and how destruction befell it and the wicked within it. And in our own time, who can forget the "drastic upheaval" when our towers in New York were blasted?

For those individuals for whom the Tower has symbolically collapsed, no consolation can satisfy, no explanation can rectify. Many in my sphere including some of you dear bloggers are undergoing that collapse and it's frightening.

The important concept as it relates to the blasted Tower, is what becomes of the ruins. Do we wallow and pity ourselves while moping in the rubble? Or do we build anew from the foundation? Do we take our lessons learned, catalog them, understand the concepts, and design a new Tower for ourselves? One that will serve as our true emotional home going forward?

"Whatever does not kill you, makes you stronger." May I paraphrase that and say that true strength and perseverance comes from what you do after the Tower collapses.

The Magick of one DJ and 250,000 Music Fans

July of 2002. Sixty thousand were expected for the show, but 250,000 showed up. Remind you of another big music festival?

I've watched videos from that event, such as this one, many times. For some reason there's a special vibe, a resonance, about the playfulness and innocence seen here. This video is just one of many to see on YouTube from this event, but is a wonderful representative.

Were you there at Brighton Beach? Tell us how it really was.

The cosmic consequences of the DTB

Take a good look at the two photos inside the Devil's Toy Box I built. I say this because those photos are all that remain of it.

I destroyed the box last Sunday night. The very day I built it, five days earlier on Tuesday, misfortune befell my family, though I did not learn of it until Saturday. A day of reflection (sorry, pun unintended) convinced me it should be destroyed, despite my fascination with it. So destroy it I did, and it was a difficult decision because I had spent a few hours getting it right and it was near perfect in its geometry.

Destroying the box brought me--within minutes--complete validation that its destruction was the right course.

Be careful in everything you do; there are no coincidences.

Another photo inside the Room full of Mirrors

No noises heard from this yet, but I'll bet they're not far off. Flash disabled, shutter on timer, a little light coming in from the top.

Think about living in this!

Click on the image for a larger version.

Cell phone inside the Devil's Toy Box

Kind of appropriate, don't you think?