It strikes me that, if ritual is "poetry in the realm of acts", then a large part of living a magical life is recognizing found poetry when one sees it. Sometimes that gets institutionalized -- found poetry published to others, to stretch the metaphor a bit. I am quite sure that in Japan, a waterfall like this would be the home of a Shinto shrine, and would see a steady stream of visitors. Read more
I share this so that you may know it, if when next you grieve (for that is the way of the world, you will grieve) you wonder at your own behavior. Brains are weird, and there is no right way to grieve. Read more
And our society is too much Aresian and too little Athenian. We are too ready to give in to the easy mindless rage that ends in defeat and humiliation for the aggressor and destruction for their victims, rather than the difficult, judicious, creative — but still valiant and strong — way of wisdom. Read more
Because getting something done at the last minute, is still getting it done. Read more
"Invoke often." This simple advice has been offered by Robert Anton Wilson and Aleister Crowley as a key magical practice. But we knew it instinctively as kids, as we hung posters on our walls — posters of musicians whose creativity we wished to call into our lives, or of sports heroes whose prowess we wished to invoke. Read more
With just a bit of license, I might say that to be a Baltimorean — as my ancestors have been for centuries — is to always be in-between worlds. Read more
"What should we do? We have to do SOMETHING!!!" we yell, in our pain and confusion. And I imagine Eris and Lao Tzu and Bodhidharma reaching down and patting our collective head. "Poor child", they murmur, "'doing SOMETHING' is exactly what brought you to this pass." Read more
Magicians seek to alter the consciousness, change the minds, of other people all the time. Be it a love spell or healing work or prosperity magic to attract more customers to our business, changing minds is our game. Minds do change. That is a fundamental principle of magic -- and it should inform our politics as well. Read more
So it pains me to say this, but it's true: beyond Earth orbit, space is for robots and not for humans -- at least for the next century or two, until we have solved the fundamental problems of living on the homeworld. Read more
My inspiration for this year was that the story of the Four Sights could make an fine opening ritual; the story of the Buddha touching the Earth and the Goddess of the Earth bearing him witness could be an excellent main ritual; and Mara trying to tempt Buddha to stay under the Bo Tree in bliss rather than returning to the world could be a suitable closing ritual. Read more
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