A few words about The Hat....a Magical tool often overlooked

If anyone knows anything about me, It’s that I feel the Hat is a primary tool of Magic (and if you don’t, mark your page, and then close the book and look at the cover, are you back with us? good, let’s continue) in 3200 BC One of the first pictorial depictions of a hat appears in a Thebes tomb. A painting on the wall shows a man wearing a coolie straw hat. 1700 BCE - The Westcar Papyrus (now in the State Museum, East Berlin) records the earliest known performance of conjuring with a Hat.70 BC - A young Danish chieftain falls into a bog to be in near perfect condition along with his pieced leather and fur cap. This is one of the earliest physical representations of hats that has been found. Circa 40 CE - Simon Magus, aka Simon the Sorcerer and Simon of Gitta. Samaritan magician who has been referred to as the founder of post-Christian Gnosticism. He is said to have fallen to his death while levitating, or, more accurately, when he stopped levitating too soon. He was said to always have a Hat on the ground in front of him when levitating.50-818 AD - According to legend, St. Clement discovered felt when, as a wondering monk, he filled his sandals with carded wool to protect his feet. The moisture and pressure from walking compressed the fibers into a crude yet comfortable felt. Hatters in Ireland as well as a few other countries have celebrated him as the Patron Saint of Felt Hat Makers.1797 AD - John Hetherington stirs a riot in the streets and earn himself a £500 fine. What did he do, you ask? He wore a top Hat! It's great height and shiny silk luster incited terror and panic. And to Incite is the whole point of the Hat, from Top Hat to Miter ,Native Headdress to Shriner’s Fez, the Hat is used for both the conjure and those who attend to him or her, be they human or otherwise.

 

The Origins of the Brimless, conical hats that have long been associated with male wizards and magicians, comes from The "dunce cap," and the word "dunce" itself, comes from one man: John Duns Scotus, or "the Subtle Doctor," born in 1266 in Duns, Scotland. He was considered a master philosopher in the late middle ages, coining such oblique terms as "haecceitas" ---literally, "thisness." (use it in conversation with a spirit, I dare you.) He taught in Oxford, Cambridge and Paris, and founded the school of Scholastic thought called Scotism, whose followers were referred to as "Dunsmen." One incredulous tale told about him, shortly after he was made Abbot of Malmesbury his students stabbed him to death with their pens for "trying to get them to think." "the pen is mightier than the sword" comes to mind. He was a respected teacher until the 16th century, when his ideas were attacked by reformers and humanists as being sophist and needlessly complex. The Dunsmen (or Dunces) rallied against the attack (their name was by then already associated with "hair-splitting-ness" and specious reasoning), but all their struggle against the "new learning" only made their name synonymous with "idiot." The problem seems to be a tendency to favor extremely subtle and indirect reasoning that makes fellow Scholastic Thomas Aquinas seem accessible by comparison, and being subtle and indirect has plagued the world of magic ever since. What does this all have to do with the Wizard’s Hat?Well, one of the Ideas that Duns put forward was the wearing of conical hats to increase learning. He noted that wizards supposedly wore such things; an apex was considered a symbol of knowledge and the hats were thought to "funnel" knowledge to the wearer. As archaic as this may sound, it was, and still is, accepted fact in Taoist Magic and ritual Professor Jerry Alan Johnson textbook, Magical Tools and the Daoist Altar. Has this to say on the matter, “The priest's hat, covering his or her head, represents the spiritual anointing of Heaven. According to the first volume of Rules for the Use of the Ritual Robe of the Three Grottoes, written by Daoist Master Zhang Wanfu during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) for regulations concerning Daoist clothes and adornments, "A Daoist priest's hat is symbolic of contemplation. It is worn to remind the Daoist priest to contemplate on his or her spiritual body, and to cut off (or remove) all physical (mundane) desires. Once the hat is placed upon the disciple’s head, it allows him or her the ability to sincerely pacify the mind, and to attain the fruit of Daoism. Furthermore, the disciple of the Dao should contemplate on outer materials as not being personal possessions, this will assist him or her in cutting off all desires.” Wangfu had the right idea that the act of putting on the Hat is a reminder to the mind and spirit that all acts with the Hat on become spiritual, and by gaining the ability to pacify the Mind, the conjure can see and work with spirits and gods with much more skill and control.

And Excerpt from The GRIMORIUM CARCERIS.=Copyright 2015 Vincent Piazza

It was a time of Summer Demons,and Magic floods...A conversation with Lilith.

It was the time of Summer Demons,and Magic floods the pools of my heart and mind. Every stream poured into the river, which swelled in its turbid course. The banks receded so far from each other that it was impossible to tell a Luciferian from a Satanist,Witch from Magician.Then the Spirit of the Lake Pontchartrain laughed at my foolish blind eyes and all the satire of the earth was gathered within me. Down with the stream I journeyed east until I reached the ocean.There, looking eastwards and seeing no limit to its waves, My face changed,my heart broke,and Lilith laid her hand upon my fevered brow. And as I gazed over the expanse, I sighed and said to Lilith, “He who has heard but part of the truth thinks no one equal to himself. And such a one am I.”“She just kissed my cheek and stroked my hair.When formerly I heard people detracting from the Grand work of the Left Hand Path or underrating the heroism of the Way,I did not believe such would effect me,and my own path. But now that I have looked upon your inexhaustibility of fighting from left to right,Satan to Lucifer,Atheistic to Theistic--alas for me I have no dog in this fight, I shall forever be a laughing-stock to those of comprehensive LHP belief!"To which Lilith replied: “You cannot speak of ocean to a well-frog,--the creature of a narrower sphere. You cannot speak of ice to a summer insect,--the creature of a season. You cannot speak of Magic to a pedagogue: his scope is too restricted. But now that you have emerged from your narrow sphere and have seen the great work, you know your own insignificance,and I can speak to you of great principles.The branches of the Left and the Right--are they not to the universe but like puddles in a marsh? The Left Hand Path--is it not to the surrounding ocean like a man drowning on a piece of driftwood? Of all the myriad magical paths,Luciferianism is but one. And of all those who inhabit the Left Hand Path, live on the fruit of the black flame, and move about in the sinister way, an individual Practitioner is but one. Is not he, as compared with all creation, but as the tip of a hair upon a Beelzebub's Head?“Dimensions are limitless; time is endless. Conditions are not invariable; terms are not final. Thus, the wise Luciferian looks into space, and does not regard the small as too little, nor the great as too much; for he knows that
there is no limit to dimension. He looks back into the past, and does not grieve over what is far off, nor rejoice over what is near; for he knows that time is without end. He investigates fulness and decay, and does not rejoice if he succeeds, nor lament if he fails; for he knows that conditions are not invariable. The Left Hand Adapt who clearly apprehends the scheme of existence does not rejoice over life, nor repine at death; for he knows that terms are not final.”

If you adopt, as absolute, a standard of evenness and a criterion of what is right which is so only when convenient, your results will not be even or right.Those who trust to their senses become slaves to objective existences. Those alone who are guided by
their intuitions find the true standard. So far are the senses less reliable than the intuitions. Yet fools trust to their senses to know what is good for mankind, with alas but poor results.So live your life by the song of your gut,let that deep feeling guide your actions on the Left Hand Path,and always to thine own self be true.

Magical Tools: to use or not to use, that is the question

I truly have a love/hate relationship with Magical Tools and Implements of power, and take a rather middle of the ground view on the subject. Between the Old Guard view that you must use the right tools at the right time to get the correct results, and the Chaos Magicians postulation of “Here, let’s take a bit of black electrical tape and slap it on this dirty piece of window glass and what do you know, we have a Skrying mirror”.!

A very Insightful student of mine said something that sums up the way I see tools perfectly, “Just like when you learn the rules of the English language, you need to Learn them right the first time, then you can throw them out the window. “English Grammar rules exist so that we don’t sound like complete idiots when we write. The rules about Tools and correspondences exist for the same reason, but for the benefit of the spirits and your subjective will.

Most of them have a good reason for being around; after all, the Pen and Parchment play a vital role in the Grimorium Verum, most Enochian feels just empty and wrong without a Skrying Stone or Mirror. However, that’s not to say that all rules about Magical tools are written in stone. In fact, some of them seem to be the work of books that tell you to buy this, that, and that skull over in the display case, so you better sprint on over to the Warlocks Closet and Emporium and spend your whole paycheck on all this cool stuff!

Most Tools of the Art are simply charged items, filled with Chi or the force of some entity that you have worked with, be it a wand, wax doll, sword or talisman. “The tool is not the tool - the tool is how you use it." Some wise old mage said in times past (or it could have been a cobbler, who knows?)How you direct your energy is what magic is all about, and is the true source of Occult powers. Skilled sorcerers are able to increase their internal power in order to successfully perform rituals, and since each charging of a Tool is a ritual in and of itself, your Chi is an integral part of Tool use.

It is well known that ghosts and entities are attracted to the brilliance of the lights shining from the altar and from the Magician’s own life force. Magical Tools, and every item that we come in contact with daily, are simply charged items. Everything that we manipulate with our hands picks up an impression, although some items from their material base can keep a charge longer and have a more permanent lasting effect.

Anything biological will work best in the magical arts, the once living cells take and keep a charge well, but we must fight against rot of course and their worth is only as good as the preservation techniques that are put into making them last. The next best material is metal. the seven planets of the ancients symbolized the seven primary metals used in magic; gold, silver, copper, iron, Mercury, tin, and lead respectively. The third category of material used in magical practice is stone. This includes glass, rubies, diamonds, and an assortment of precious and semi-precious stones. Artificial materials are not recommended for any magical work, but they do make great containers to block such energies from seeping and draining out of charged materials (Tupperware anyone?)Keeping them Wrapped in silk is the traditional route for the storage of most tools. The various esoteric symbols, colors and items in magical rituals serve to further conjurer’s intention. Likewise, the use of incense, music, and other materials are used to intensify the senses and empower the rite. Just a few thoughts from the Grimorium Carceris: Copyright 2015 Vincent Piazza

Lucferi dancing at the St John Eve Head washing ceremony...

I've just returned from the most important Voodoo holiday of the year in New Orleans with St. John’s Eve celebrations and rituals honoring the great Hoodoo Queen Marie Laveau. It is a longstanding tradition, Voodoo baptisms have been performed on the banks of Bayou St. John each year on St. John's Eve since Marie Laveau was the reigning Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. According to Alyne Pustanio, "Madame Laveau held a yearly rite on the night of St. John’s Feast, gathering at the shores of the bayou in New Orleans that bears his name. There, she and her devotees would worship the powerful Lwa (spirits) of their belief system with offerings and gifts to ensure a propitious year. The rites have more to do with pagan Midsummer celebrations than with the Church-sanctioned feast of St. John, but because these gatherings were held on his feast day, St. John the Baptist is forever associated with Voodoo—and Marie Laveau—in New Orleans" (Pustanio, 2012, p. 56)It was fantastically moving,I could feel the serpent dance up and down my spine as I moved to the beat of the drums.The houngan and mambo did an grand job of keeping the Loa happy,and the crowd controlled. Every loa is responsible for a particular aspect of life, with the dynamic and changing personalities of each loa reflecting the many possibilities inherent to the aspects of life over which they preside,and I could feel many in attendance.The cadence rose as each one of us made our way to leave an offering at the altar of Marie Laveau,born  in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, Thursday September 10th, 1801. She was the natural daughter of two free persons of color, both biracial, one of whom was Creole. The beautiful Marie Laveau,was the most famous and powerful Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. She was respected and feared by all.You could feel the reverence and respect wash over you in waves.As I stood there swaying to the chants and music,the calling of Papa Legba,I felt a welling sense of pride in being from this great city, and the honor invested in me to take part in a ritual that has gone on here since 1874.I made an offering of a home made doll and a pouch of tobacco ,as I felt it fitting to leave a part of my work at her feet(She was the first commercial Voodoo Queen and she specialized in romance and finance. She was a very astute business woman)I made my Appeals 3 times with full concentration,and then offered The Hat to her feet and let it drink in her presence.When the water came around for the head washing,it had gotten quite hot by that time,but the moment the liquid touched my brow,I could feel a cooling sensation travel through my entire body.I want to thank Island of Salvation Botanica and La Source Ancienne Ounfo for putting on a wonderful ritual,and letting this old son of New Orleans and Luciferian take part.             "On the eve of St. John
I must wander alone,
In thy bower, I may not be!"- Marie Glassion, nee Lavaux

Beginners primer of the art for fun and profit

Beginners primer of the art for fun and profit.

Beginners primer of the art for fun and profit

“The subconscious has a symbolic language that is truly a universal language, for it speaks with the vocabulary of the great vital constants, sexual instinct, feeling of death, physical notion of the enigma of space—these vital constants are universally echoed in every human. To understand an aesthetic picture, training in the appreciation is necessary, cultural and intellectual preparation. For Surrealism the only re requisite is a receptive and intuitive human being.” --Salvador Dali

Well hello aspiring conjurers, I would like to start this work with a discussion about the components of ritual and how any ritual that you come across can be broken down into four simple steps. We will also be talking about Salvador Dali’s “Paranoid Critical” method, because in prison or in any stressful situation or living condition this method seems to be the most efficient way to gain great progress in a conjurer’s practice of the Art Magick.
The four simple components that any ritual can be broken down into are:
1. the opening word
2. the circle or the sphere
3. the main body of work
4. the closing word
No that matter how simple or complex a ritual may be these components are universally followed in most if not all of contemporary Western occultism. This framework goes back to the earliest attempts of man to create ritual and to work with the gods and spirits of almost every culture since the dawn of time. Examples can be found in the early Sumerian and Babylonian writings, The Greek Magical Papyri (Latin Papyri Graecae Magicae, abbreviated PGM), as well as the Egyptian book of the dead, Tibetan Buddhist Tantric practice, and ancient Taoist Shamanic workings. Adam Falkenstein in his 1931 "Haupttypen der sumerischen Beschwörungen" was the first to observe and record four principal categories of Sumerian incantation. Falkenstein studied the late Udug-hul incantations to make these distinctions, and right away we can see a correlation to Ritual Magick as it is practiced today.
Type1. Legitimationstyp (Legitimation type)
Cunningham:"priestly legitimation" -Incantations in which a exorcist legitimates himself as a representative of a deity.

Type 2. Prohylaktischer
Cunningham: "Prophylactic-type incantation"(Prophylactic = protecting from disease or infection) *Note-Most Disease or sickness in Sumerian Magic was thought to be a Demon or Evil Spirit

Type 3. Marduk-Ea typ
Cunningham: “divine dialogues" -Incantations which contain the transfer of ritual instruction from a senior to a juior god,this transfer in effect re-enforces the corresponding actual ritual of the Exorcist

Type 4. Weihungtyp/Kultmittelbeschworung (.Ritual sealing Practices of the Exorcist)
Cunningham: "Consecration of divine purifiers"-These Incantations consecrate or seal items or places for example the Tamarisk or the Reed, which were seen as pure and able to bestow that purity upon the Exorcist. Places like the Ziggurat or Ritual chamber were seen as conduits between the divine and temporal worlds. This type of incantation might correctly be seen as pre-empting or post-cleaning a ritual procedure.
It is my belief, from the research that I’ve done, that the complex ritual form of Western magic today directly stems from the Babylonian and Sumerian ritual ideas of yesteryear. These four Sumerian types of invocation and incantation were singular rituals but with the addition of Greco-Roman, Egyptian, and Renaissance influences, ritual magic today is a fusion of the four types I have outlined above. . To quote Jake Stratton-Kent from his well-researched work, The Geosophia” The over emphasis on the Judao-Christian elements in the grimoires has long obscured the immense contribution of the Graco-Roman or Hellenistic world to Western magic. Ancient Jewish and Christian traditions were but parts of this world. “ Now some of you may say “but Vincent, what about the spell work without a circle! There are metric tons of work that use no circle at all, especially on the left hand path!” And I say fiddlesticks to such balderdash, the circle is almost always there in every ritual ever performed by man, woman, God or beast …

To quote Jake Stratton-Kent once more” In short a circle is not an obsolete symbol of a superstitious fear of spirits, but an intentionally created ritual space for various Purposes. It is not always required for all kinds of ritual work, but neither is it of no value, quite the contrary. Making sacred space is among the most primal of rituals, such intentional actions are as worthy of the term Psychoactive as any substance.” For want of a better term you may call it the aura, the bioelectrical field, the second skin, the Hara or the tan tien … Whatever you choose to call it this force that you admit from the center of your being is the circle that all magicians cast at each ritual. Be it from your mind’s eye, your forefinger or the ritual sword and dagger, we use the life force to protect ourselves in most if not all ritual workings. In fact without it you would die, or be soon at the threshold of death’s door…… But I wandered too far, too soon....... An excerpt from the GRIMORIUM CARCERIS Copyright 2015 Vincent Piazza

The Art of imitating fiction in occultism,and occultism in fiction.Aka.That's how they do it in the movies!

Twenty-first century fiction has taken quite a magical turn. The top-grossing films of today feature wizards, hobbits, vampires,werewolves and even our old buddy Batman. Fantasy series of the Magical bent have been crazy successful both on the bestseller lists at home and abroad. You can't throw a dead cat without hitting a witch on television these days.And this is bleeding back into the Occult world as well,a Loop of culture that is feeding itself in ways that we will feel for many generations to come.And it's not just books and movies,World of Warcraft has over a million players each day, from all over the world casting spells and summoning demons. Oscar Wilde once wrote  "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life"and this is far more true now then ever before,and I think it is a wonderful advancement.When Superman becomes a Archetype (and I believe he already has)magicians and witches will invoke him for his power,strength,and might,Evoke him to save cats from trees and old ladies from muggers.


The Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung, in Symbols of Transformation, distinguishes between “two kinds
of thinking”: “directed thinking” and “fantasy thinking.” Directed thinking is logical, linear, consciously driven—the mode of scientific rationality. Fantasy thinking is deassociative, nonlinear, unconsciously driven—the mode of dreams. Jung argues that both of these forms of thinking are valuable and necessary, but that modernity has skewed the balance between the two. As he put it, “We have become rich in knowledge, but poor in wisdom. The centre of gravity of our interest has switched over to the materialistic side, whereas the ancients preferred a mode of thought nearer to the
fantastic type.” This is Magical thinking at it's finest deassociative, nonlinear, unconsciously driven. Or as A.Spare put it 

“Darken your room, shut the door, empty your mind. Yet you are still in
great company - the Numen and your Genius with all their media, and your
host of elementals and ghosts of your dead loves — are there! They need no light by which to see, no words to speak, no motive to enact except through your own purely formed desire.”
― Austin Osman Spare, The Logomachy of Zos 

Contemporary fantasy,reclaims myth in its own right; it explicitly embraces Magical
thinking, without recourse to scientific reason. The relative prestige and prominence of
the SF genre in the twentieth century reflects an era which felt compelled to recast mythic
fantasy thinking in the garb of rationality. The twenty-first century Magician,Left Hand Path or Right,have started to take steps that suggest this disavowal is increasingly unnecessary, and that the popular culture of our era can now embrace the value of magic without shame,and work with any spirit they choose...even Batman! 

 (See Taylor Ellwood and his work with pop culture magic for a much more in-depth view on this subject) 

Sources :Austin Osman Spare, The Logomachy of Zos,

The Magical Turn in Postmodern Culture - SCMS 2013 by Ted Friedman

 

Copyright 2015 Vincent Piazza