Alex Sumner's Blog, page 52

This Is Not A Fairy Story: now available in print from Amazon

This Is Not A Fairy Story, by Alex Sumner. Artwork © the author, 2012

You are now able to buy my latest novel, This Is Not A Fairy Story,in print from Amazon, to wit:

America, India + the rest of the world;
The United Kingdom
Germany
France
Spain; and
Italy

Meanwhile, it’s already available as an ebook from Amazon (Kindle), Barnes & Noble (Nook) and other popular formats on Smashwords.

BTW I am selling a limited number of autographed copies personally, which I am happy to ship to anywhere in the world. Please use the Contact Alex page to get more details!

Filed under: Publications, Site Update, This Is Not A Fairy Story Tagged: amazon, Barnes & Noble, Deutschland, España, France, India, Italia, smashwords.com, usa

Babylonian Magick - Major eText find!

Reblogged from Ananael:

Greetings fellow Wizard-Priests!

.
Years and years ago, back in my early days of study into Biblical history and the Qabalah, I gathered a set of awesome texts concerning Babylonian magick and religion.  (Sadly I did not own them, but had checked them out from the local library – remember those?)  Before I dove head-first into the Solomonic grimoires, I quite regularly invoked the Annunaki (Gods) of Sumeria and Babylon. 

Read more… 456 more words

“The Magical Battle of Britain” by Dion Fortune, a review (vlog)

In which I review The Magical Battle of Britain by Dion Fortune, and give it five stars (nb: this was originally recorded for Amazon). What I like most about this book is that it reveals details of the practical methods of occultism which Dion used, which ultimately were inspired by an encounter with telepathy at the start of her magical career.

Filed under: Occult Tagged: Dad's Army, dion fortune, Gareth Knight, Golden Dawn, Spiritualism, telepathy, Theosophy, vlog, Youtube

Christ Consciousness

This is an experimental video project based upon an isochronic tone (i.e. “Christ Consciousness.”) The idea being that by repeated listening / viewing, this will entrain your brain into becoming accustomed to the intended mental state.

Isochronic Tones from: http://www.iso-tones.com

NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED

Filed under: Occult Tagged: gnosticism, Isochronic Tones, mysticism

Squatting In The UK: The Solution

These squatters are being made criminals…

You will become a criminal as of midnight tonight (31st August 2012) if you are squatting in a property in England. This is the result of a change in the law enacted by the current Coalition Government. Up to now, squatting per se has not actually been a criminal offence. The only crime for which you could have been convicted is if you had entered the property by Breaking & Entering. If however you had managed to enter peacefully, not only could you squat but also, if the actual owner of the property never took any legal action against you, you could even register legal title to the property on the basis of Adverse Possession – even upgrading this to Absolute Possession, if the owner somehow did not get round to pursuing you (admittedly a very rare occurence).

This, however, has now been knocked on the head by the Government. There is something very obviously immoral in the illegalisation of squatting – people are essentially being criminalised on account of their poverty. The only alternative to avoid criminality is to voluntarily become homeless: so in other words, there isn’t actually an alternative…

… Until now! For I, Alex Sumner, the World’s Greatest Expert On The Occult and sometime legal expert, have worked out a perfectly feasible and legal solution to the dilemma now faced by squatters. It is this:

Simply turn up at the Ecuadorean Embassy and claim political asylum. Then you will be given a free flat in Knightsbridge!

Yes indeed, according to this news report, Julian Assange is looking forward to at least six to twelve months living in the Ecuadorean Embassy. Presumably this is rent-free – being paid for by the people of Ecuador. So it strikes me that if the people of Ecuador are prepared to give free board and lodging to any old criminal, they must surely be willing to give it to those who have been criminalised undeservedly!

… at the same time that this criminal is becoming a legal squatter!

So, squatters, turn up at the Ecuador Embassy at Flat 3B, 3 Hans Crescent, London SW1X 0LS (nearest tube station: Knightsbridge) to claim your free accommodation today!

Filed under: Comment Tagged: BBC News, daily telegraph, Ecuador, Free Flat In Knightsbridge, Homeless, Julian Assange, Squatters, Squatting

Invoking Mercury for ebook marketing!

Hermes

You have the power, with self-publishing and ebook publishing, to pretty much choose the date for when your book comes out. What therefore do you do? Time it for the Summer market? Time it for the Christmas market? I recently asked myself this question when it came to selecting the date to announce my new Fantasy novel, This Is Not A Fairy Story. My solution, as it happened, consisted of selecting the precise date using Electional Astrology.

Electional Astrology, as I understand it, essentially consists of deciding in advance the ideal criteria for a desired day, and then searching for a date which matches that criteria. Fortunately, modern astrology software and even free services such as www.astro.comnowadays make this easy. In my case, I reasoned that because the planet Mercury is associated with business, communication and writing, the best day for the launch of my novel would that on which it would be ideal to invoke Mercury.

This by itself told me that it ought to be during the “planetary hour” of Mercury. Fortunately, by sticking to Wednesday at sunrise, this would save me the bother of having to work out all the planetary hours! However: there is more to it than this. To find a more specific date in electional astrology, one works by the rule of thumb “always pay attention to the position of the Moon.” Hence, I reasoned, my ideal date should also be one between the New Moon and Full Moon – because the Waxing Moon is traditionally a time for increasing or attracting towards, just as the Waning Moon is a time for banishing. Also, it should be on a day when Mercury formed a harmonious angle to the Moon, such as a trine, sextile, or conjunction.

Furthermore, I reasoned, it ought not to be when Mercury is Retrograde – as this is traditionally a bad time for starting new ventures. Finally, it ought to be when Mercury forms harmonious angles to other key planets such as Jupiter and the Sun, and does not form inharmonious angles with any of the other planets.

By now I had come up with a very specific list of criteria. I proceeded to take a for the forthcoming twelve months, and strike through every Wednesday during waning-moons. Instantly I had reduced fifty-two possible dates to twenty-six. Checking the dates for when Mercury was retrograde eliminated approximately six-more dates. I also thought that if I were going to attach importance to Jupiter in my calculations, I ought to eliminate dates when Jupiter is retrograde as well. This basically removed all of from November 2012 to January 2013. Having now a list of approximately fourteen dates, I proceeded to use www.astro.com to check each one by one. All but seven dates I eliminated as being either obviously bad, or just unremarkable.

Dates for Invoking Mercury during the next twelve months

So here is the list which I finished with. You can if you want make use of this information yourself, if you feel like invoking Mercury, or making a talisman, or indeed releasing your own best-seller.

22 August 2012

Generally good, sun opposes neptune & chiron


26 September 2012

Grand trine with Mercury, Moon & Jupiter


13 February 2013

Mercury, Mars, Chiron stellium, all trine to Saturn.


10 April 2013
New Moon
Luna, Solar, Mercury, Venus Quadrivium! Sextile Jupiter but square Pluto


15 May 2013

Mars, sol, mercury, venus Quadrivium. Sextile moon, square Neptune.


22 May 2013

Mercury, Venus, Jupiter stellium, trine moon, sextile Uranus. Square Neptune.


19 June 2013

Sun & Jupiter conjunct, in grand trine with Saturn/Moon (conj) and Neptune. Mercury &Venus (conj) in a T with Uranus and Pluto.

But note: Thursday 20th June is a good day for invoking Jupiter!

Being an impatient fellow, I chose the first suitable date that was coming up: 22nd August 2012 (i.e. yesterday). I don’t think I’ll be ready with another full-length novel by 26th September, so that gives me plenty of time until next year.

Filed under: Occult, Publications, This Is Not A Fairy Story Tagged: astrology, Electional Astrology, Mercury, Thoth

Namaste, India!

People of India, rejoice! You are now able to enjoy Kindle books from Amazon.com! And, what do you know – the same day that Kindle books go on sale in India is the same day I have brought out my new Fantasy thriller, This Is Not A Fairy Story. Coincidence? I think not!!!

Om Tat Sat

Filed under: Publications, This Is Not A Fairy Story Tagged: amazon, ebook, fantasy, India, Kindle

New Fantasy Novel, “This Is Not A Fairy Story,” Launched Today!

Artwork © 2012, Alex Sumner

You are now able to enjoy my brand new novel, This Is Not A Fairy Story, a fantasy adventure featuring Guy Shepardson, “the Demon Detective.”From the back cover:

Modern day sorcerer (and rakish man about town) Guy Shepardson finds himself out of his depth – and out of this world – when he uses his powers to save a desperately ill girl. Instead he finds himself wandering through magical realms populated by monsters, dragons, cannibals, a seriously bemused Voodoo Loa – and a feisty Fae Warrior, who definitely does NOT want to be Guy’s damsel in distress!

But as Guy comes closer to his goal, he realises that the cost could be far greater than he ever imagined…

This book is available from the following websites:

Print

Lulu (Buy this or any of my other paperbacks before August 24th and get 15% off with coupon code PADDLE15)

Amazon: coming soon!

Ebooks
Kindle

USA & the rest of the world
United Kingdom
Deutschland
France
Espana
Italia

All other ebook formats (Nook, Kobo, Sony, Acrobat, iBooks, etc)

Smashwords (worldwide)

Autographed Print Editions…

… Are available by private arrangement! Send me a message via the Contact Alex page for more details.

 

Filed under: Publications, This Is Not A Fairy Story Tagged: acrobat, amazon, EPUB, fantasy, Kindle, Kobo, lulu.com, Nook, Occult Fiction, pdf, Print, smashwords.com

The Alex Sumner Vlog: Irvine Welsh vs The Booker Prize

In which I comment on Trainspotting-author Irvine Welsh’s attack on the Booker Prize for being “highly imperialist-orientated” and anti-Scottish. Helpful as ever, Alex suggests a solution to Mr Welsh! My new novel: “This Is Not A Fairy Story” is generally available from Wednesday 22nd August 2012.

Filed under: Comment, This Is Not A Fairy Story Tagged: Booker Prize, humour, Irvine Welsh, Literature, The Acid House, Trainspotting

What The Stars Have in Store for … Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin

What with three members of Pussy Riot being jailed in Russia, I thought it would be a good time to bring my powers of Astrology to bear on what will happen to Vladimir Putin, and guess what! His fate is writ in the heavens!

Background: Vladimir Putin

Putin, born 7th October 1952 in St Petersburg (or Leningrad as it was) has a Stellium i.e. a three-way conjunction prominently in his birth chart: Sun, Mercury and Saturn are all in Libra. This is actually a Quadrivium, if you include Neptune as well.

Unfortunately, right at this moment, both Saturn and Mars are in conjunction in Libra, which means that both these planets are transiting this Stellium – hence now is a time for major upsets in Putin’s life. So for example his second Saturn return – which marks the transition from maturity into old age – is taking place at a time when he is finding it a tough time to get his ideas across and present himself in a favourable light (Saturn – Mercury transit) which ironically is what is most important to him right now (Saturn – Sun transit). However, the influence of Mars transiting this Stellium means that he wants to battle every problem he comes up against. Although he’s facing all these difficulties, he wants to throw a lot of energy into solving them nonetheless.

Horary question: “What will happen to Vladimir Putin?”

This being the case, after having made a note of his transits, I went on to make a Horary divination, based upon the question “What will happen to Vladimir Putin?” The time, date and place for the question was today, 18th August 2012, 1048 British Summer Time (0948 GMT), Essex, UK. In the diagram below the stars and planets relating the Horary question itself are in the outer ring, whilst Putin’s natal chart is in the inner ring for comparison.

Outer ring (red): the stars for 18th August 2012
Inner ring (blue): Vladimir Putin’s natal chart (7th October 1952, St Petersburg)

The position of Luna (outer ring, in red) indicates the circumstances of the origin of the question. This is square to Jupiter, the planet of Rulers, suggesting that (surprise, surprise) the responsibilities of statesmanship have pushed Putin into his current troubles. This is in a succedent house and a mutable sign: and given that it is nine degrees past the Sun, this would indicate Putin’s current problems relate to something which happened just over nine years ago (29th – 30th March 2003). In other words, the Pussy Riot incident is only the most recent manifestation of a situation which has been many years in the making. Checking back on Wikipedia would suggest that the most important thing that Putin was involved in round about that time was the Chechnya situation: a new constitution was enacted in Chechnya on 22nd March 2003 by a pro-Moscow government which would give Chechnya limited autonomy whilst remaining most definitely under Russian (Putin’s) hegemony. However, before one says that Putin’s problems were caused by this or that, one should also note that Luna is opposed by Neptune, the planet of illusions, implying that the full details of Putin’s real predicament is being concealed from the public at large – and from the world’s media.

Putin himself is represented by the descendant, the Lord of which is Mars. As noted earlier, this is conjunct Saturn. I uncovered this quote regarding Saturn / Mars conjunctions:

“Generally you feel that endings and beginnings are the pits. When you see the end coming you resist, and when you feel some new idea about to take hold, you resist. Your life of resistance prevents you from the rate of progress you deserve, and you need to lighten up.”

If this does not describe Putin’s relation to the Presidency, nothing does! He stubbornly clings on to power because he is afraid to lose it, but ironically it will only be by retiring that Putin will achieve his full potential as a human being.

As regards the end of the matter, this is shown by the fourth house. In regards to the question itself, this is Capricorn whose ruler is Saturn, the planet of endings! Saturn has already been mentioned above, in regards to his transits: I would therefore predict that Putin is doomed to be permanently affected by his current problems – his negative public image, his worry about what other people think about him, his advance into old age – and is not going to recover from them. This being conjunct Mars suggests that the only possible solution is to retire gracefully, to avoid a personal calamity through stubbornly clinging on to power.

Alternatively one could argue that the fourth house in relation to Putin himself (who is represented by the descendant) is Cancer, ruled by the Moon, indicating that Putin is going to be continually harassed by the problems of statesmanship for as long as he choses to remain President.

Filed under: Comment Tagged: astrology, Pussy Riot, Russia, Vladimir Putin