Alex Sumner's Blog, page 55
June 23, 2012
Chalice Well
Chalice Well, Glastonbury
Part one of my the account of my recent Solstice adventures consists of some photos I took on a visit to Chalice Well, in Glastonbury. It had been blowing an absolute hurricane on the Tor itself, so the light breezes at ground level made the gardens even more of a calming experience than usual.
Please see my profile on Facebook for the entire album (and why not add me as a friend whilst you’re at it!)
Filed under: Occult Tagged: Chalice Well, Glastonbury
June 20, 2012
Whatever is Lucid Dreamed on this night, will come to pass
Happy Summer Solstice everyone!
Or if you live down south, Happy Winter Solstice to you!
Or, if like the majority of the world’s population you live within the tropical region: Happy Hurricane Season!
Or, if you are Pat Zalewski, Happy Corpus Christi!
Having a look at Twitter today, I notice the following tweet doing the rounds: “Whatever is dreamed on this night, will come to pass.” Apparently this is a quote from William Shakespeare from “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.” * It occured to me: but those of us who can lucid dream have an unfair advantage! We have the power to decide the contents of our dreams both in advance and in-dream itself.
To read my guide to Lucid dreaming, click here.
* It’s not actually in the play at all, I checked.
Filed under: Comment Tagged: A Midsummer's Night Dream, lucid dreaming, Solstice, William Shakespeare
June 19, 2012
Cosmic Ordering Cheque!
Design © Alex Sumner 2012
Free blank cheque! Download, print out and write it out to yourself!
Please note that amounts are paid out in Pounds Sterling. To convert to your own currency, click here.
Filed under: Occult Tagged: cosmic ordering
June 18, 2012
Who Knows Where The Time Goes?
Time is running out. Everything’s coming to an end. I am not just talking about the end of life on earth in December 2012, I’m talking about the whole Universe!
Before you panic, however, you should bear in mind two things. Firstly I am referring to events which will take place billions of years after this planet has ceased to exist. Secondly this is all to do with a science story reported in the Daily Telegraph, so it is probably a load of bollocks anyway. No, apparently, an alternate theory of why the universe is expanding at an increasing rate has been put forward. “Dark matter” may not exist after all! Instead, the dimension of Time itself will apparently come to a stop.
This may not be so bad as it sounds. If the Secret Chief of the Golden Dawn can come through for us and grant us the power of time travel, we may yet be able to enjoy a Billy-Pilgrim
-like existence within the time we have, but applicable to the whole Universe as opposed to the life of just one individual.
Filed under: Comment Tagged: daily telegraph, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny
June 11, 2012
Happy Birthday, Rest In Peace
A couple of years ago, an astrologer I know gave a talk in which he demonstrated the natal chart and death chart of the same person. Lo and behold the planets in the latter made a whole load of transits (mainly conjunctions) with those in the former! Curiously though these conjunctions were not to my mind associated with death in particular – it was just, so this astrologer claimed, the fact that there were a lot of them.
I scoffed. “If there were anything to this,” I said, trying to do a reductio ad absurdum, “that would mean that there is an increased likelihood of dying on your birthday, because that is the one transit with your natal chart – the Solar Return – which happens to everyone every year!” How I laughed…
… Until today when I read this morning’s Daily Telegraph, in which there was an article entitled We are more likely to die on our birthday than any other day.
According to the article,
Researchers who studied more than two million people over 40 years found a rise in deaths from heart attacks, strokes, falls and suicides.
…
There was a 34.9 per cent rise in suicides, 28.5 per cent rise in accidental deaths not related to cars, and a 44 per cent rise in deaths from falls on birthdays.
However the article also adds, rather disingenously,
…[R]isk of birthday death rose as people got older.
Well no shit Sherlock! That couldn’t be anything to do with old age, could it? Even so, it is nice to see science actually backing up astrology for a change.
Filed under: Comment, Occult Tagged: Annals of Epidemiology, astrology, daily telegraph, University of Zurich
June 8, 2012
The Secret of ‘The Magus’ Revealed!
“Secret Chiefs” is a vexatious topic in the Occult. On the one hand some people claim that they – and only they – are in contact with them. For these people a Secret Chief becomes a badge of exclusivity, a members-only sign to provide a filip to their fragile egos. On the other hand there are people who deny that Secret Chiefs exist, precisely because they do not want people to feel excluded. Then again there are people who say: “Someone is only a Secret Chief if they conform to the rigid definition which I set.” Hence, when any given person fails to live up to their arbitrary criteria, they say: “That person cannot then be a Secret Chief.”
As has been pointed out elsewhere, there is good evidence that Macgregor Mathers believed the Archangel Raphael was the Secret Chief of the Golden Dawn. To my mind this is entirely plausible: after all, what would you expect with a name like “Golden Dawn?” Also, the idea that Mathers received his teachings as a result of a series of clairvoyant operations involving the Archangel of Tiphereth would be congruent with the views of those who believe that Secret Chiefs are not living adepts.
So basically, the whole argument boils down to those who assert the existence of the Secret Chiefs out of sheer hubris, and those who deny them because they do not want to admit that any other person knows more about the occult than they do. Which itself is another kind of hubris. What I see very little of, unfortunately, is people willing to accept the possibility of Secret Chiefs out of a genuinely humble attitude of actually wanting to learn something.
But I digress.
The Magus, by Alex Sumner © 2009
I would like today to tell you a story of a certain person to whom I shall refer simply as “R,” and who was the real-life basis for the character of “The Magus” from my trilogy of books of the same name. R was, quite simply, the most likely candidate for a “Secret Chief” whom I have had the honour of meeting.
I first met R in 2009, although I had heard of him by reputation in certain English esoteric circles for several years before that. R was a kindly old gentleman in his eighties. He had been a Freemason for around sixty years, and had in his time joined a number of esoteric organisations both related and unrelated to Masonry and had achieved the equivalent of “grand rank” in all of them. However his true spiritual home was a rather obscure and exclusive order organised on generally esoteric Christian lines, based inGlastonbury, of which he eventually became the head. This order works a sophisticated system of Qabalistic Theurgy: moreover, as the head of the order, R had an important role to play as the intermediary between the Human and Angelic realms.
I say “spiritual home” because he used the teachings he had learnt here to colour how he interacted with all the other organisations of which he was a member.
R once told me a little of his background. It was obvious that he was an expert on Astrology and the Qabalah. In fact, as he explained, his studies had been such that he had been looking forward to the coming Age of Aquarius long before such a term ever became fashionable.
When it came to Freemasonry, he had been initially frustrated on first joining: his enquiries as to the deeper meaning of the symbolism of the Craft were usually met with responses like “Because it is written!” or “Because it’s always been done like that!” or even “Don’t worry yourself about that.” Bear in mind that this was around sixty years ago: from my own observations of Freemasonry almost all lodges are still like that today! R had more luck however when he joined the Masonic Study Circle, and he started coming into contact with those more esoterically minded.
By the time I came to knew him, he firmly believed that when Masonic ritual is delivered without any sense of meaning or importance – which unfortunately is how 99% of Freemasons do deliver it – it is useless. However, when it is delivered with decorum, and an appreciation of the principles involved, then that by itself serves to attract the positive influence of higher spiritual beings. Or in other words, if only Freemasonry were treated like a spiritual practice, it would become one!
So anyway: whilst outwardly a kindly old man, R was in fact the equivalent of a senior adept in just about everything. Everyone who knew him and to whom I spoke generally agreed that if any human being could be a Secret Chief, R certainly qualified.
But then, however, I uncovered the proof!
The last time I met R was several months ago, when he came to visit my own lodge. I knew that he was closely acquainted, via this same esoteric Christian organisation, with a couple of the people there, so I naively assumed that he had just turned up to wish them well. “Ah, no,” one of them said, in a mysterious tone, “it was a bit more than that…”
He said no more until a few weeks later, when we were at a lodge of instruction, that the details of why R had visited us were revealed. The crafty old so-and-so had been checking us out on the astral plane as we performed our ritual! He later took his trusted acquaintance aside and said something along the lines of “My boy, that was generally good, however I have some suggestions for you to make sure that ‘them upstairs,’” (which was how he referred to Angelic presences) “don’t get accidentally put off in the future.” His contact then relayed the various pieces of advice to us. I had to admit that the teaching was of the very highest quality.
But then – the realisation struck me. R had, all along, been using his position as head of this Glastonbury-based order to establish a network of contacts, getting them into positions of influence in a whole load of other esoteric orders. He then used this network to promote the values of this esoteric Christian order within those other orders!
I would have been outraged – were it not for the fact that I actually enjoyed the snippets of secret teaching that he was disseminating in this clandestine manner. Far from using his influence to aggrandise himself, R was deliberately attempting to promote what he honestly believed were true spiritual values.
Excited by my discovery, I went to see another of my esoteric acquaintances, who also knew R well. “Funnily enough,” he said after I had explained my theory, “many years ago I once suggested that R might be a Secret Chief as well. But I was told: ‘He can’t be a Secret Chief – he’s not dead!’“
The idea that being deceased was a necessary qualification for being a Secret Chief struck me as quite bizarre. Unfortunately, however, that final barrier was recently removed when R temporarily paused all his spiritual activities for which a physical body was necessary.
I firmly believe that great Adepts do not simply “die” at the end of their physical existence, but move to a region of the astral plane from which they can continue to influence their followers still on Earth. Hence, although R is no longer with us, he will almost certainly continue to exert his influence – which let’s face it, means on most of English esotericism – for a long time to come.
Filed under: Occult, The Magus Tagged: Obituary
June 2, 2012
The Solar Venus Transit of 2012
In which I vlog about the Sun / Venus transit which is taking place on June 5th / 6th 2012, and present a Graeco Egyptian Invocation of Aphrodite, which I previously featured on my website.
Filed under: Comment Tagged: Aphrodite, June 5th 2012, June 6th 2012, Sun, transit, Venus, vlog, Youtube
May 24, 2012
World Tarot Day
Today is World Tarot Day, and so I thought I (as a Tarot reader myself) would contribute by reviewing my own favourite Tarot decks.
Golden Dawn – Robert Wang
Golden Dawn Deck – artwork by Robert Wang
The Golden Dawn was my entry into occultism generally, and consequently the Tarot as well. Hence Robert Wang’s Golden Dawn Tarot
was the first deck I ever bought: it was the one on which I learnt. The trumps struck me as the most impressive, although I confess I thought the art-work was a bit ordinary. Nevertheless this is still my default deck today, the one which I most use for doing readings. I have to admit though that if I were buying a Golden Dawn deck for the first time today, I would probably get Tabatha Cicero’s version
instead, mainly because the art-work is livelier.
Crowley-Thoth
Crowley-Thoth deck. Designed by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.
Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot deck is one of a number of decks which I keep at home mainly for the sake of comparison. One has to remember that for 19 years from 1969 until 1988, this was the closest thing to a Golden Dawn type deck that was publicly available. In many ways this would be an ideal deck, due to its bold artwork courtesy of Lady Frieda Harris and its wealth of symbolism which is all authentic … from a Thelemic point of view. Essentially Crowley took the GD symbolism, right down to the particular colours appropriate to each card – and augmented it with ideas derived from his own visionary work, e.g The Book of the Law and The Vision and The Voice. Hence, whilst it is mostly GD-ish, and undoubtedly superb for actual Thelemites, a GD purist would need to be wary of this. (Incidentally, a good book to read about this deck is Lon Milo Duquette’s Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot
).
Golden Dawn Enochian Skrying Tarot
Golden Dawn Enochian Skrying Tarot
This is not really a Tarot deck per se, more a Cartomancy deck. It is not based upon the traditional Tarot format at all: instead, each card represents a portion of the Enochian Watchtowers and the Tablet of Union. Meanwhile, the reverse of each card instead of having a uniform backing has elemental symbolism (corresponding to the Enochian associations on the obverse side) which can be used in skrying. The meanings of the individual cards take a bit of getting used to, although there is a logic to the general scheme which is based on GD teachings.
This has given me an idea – about how an Adept might incorporate this into ceremonial magick. When performing a divination with this deck, typically there will be one card which points to the solution of a given problem. Because each card represents a portion of the Enochian Watchtowers, the “solution-card” will therefore represent a particular Enochian angel – a being who can be evoked by constructing a magical ceremony with the appropriate symbolism.
Rider Waite
Rider Waite – designed by A E Waite, illustrated by Pamela Coleman Smith
Given that the Rider Waite deck is the world’s most popular version, I suppose that I could hardly call myself a tarot connoisseur unless I actually had a copy. Undoubtedly Pamela Coleman-Smith’s artwork must be a big reason for its popularity – especially the fact that each of the Minor Arcana is individually illustrated.
The Mythic Tarot
The Mythic Tarot
I decided to get hold of this after seeing a fellow Tarot reader use this. What I find most appealing is that the creators of this deck have based the artwork on Greek mythology. Hence: the suit of Cups is the story of Cupid and Psyche; Wands is the story of Jason and the Argonauts; whilst the characters in the Major Arcana are identified as Greek gods and goddesses. This is a visually appealing deck because, like the Rider Waite one, all 78 cards are fully illustrated. Also it is refreshing to see a deck which goes with an original idea for a change which comes off successfully.
Builders of the Adytum
The BOTA deck.
Of all the Tarot decks which are available, the ones that particularly interest me are those created by Occultists – as opposed to the many which appear to be novelty decks, or created by people with only a superficial understanding of the subject. Hence my reason for being drawn to not only the Golden Dawn, but also the Crowley Thoth, Rider Waite, etc decks. I suppose it was thus inevitable that I would seek out the Builders of the Adytum, given that it was designed by not only an occultist but by an actual Tarot scholar, Paul Foster Case. The thing about the BOTA deck is that it comes uncoloured: the point being that as a student learns about the Tarot, they use their own knowledge of the esoteric associations of colour to colour it in themselves. Unfortunately I discovered that the BOTA deck is very hard to come by on Amazon – with one going for over £100.
So I cheated.
The unfortunate fact, I am ashamed to say, is that a full set of scans of the entire BOTA deck is available via bit-torrent and certain P2P clients. So whilst I have never purchased a BOTA deck, I am nevertheless using my Adobe Photoshop skills to illustrate it anyway. 
The Black Tarot
The Black Tarot – illustrated by Luis Royo
This is something of a curiosity which came into my possession, and of which I have not made use since acquiring it. The trumps feature a lot of lurid artwork – dragons, monsters, scantily-clad buxom women, etc – which only vaguely references traditional tarot imagery. Meanwhile the accompanying booklet puts a Vama-marga Tantric spin on interpretation of the cards.
I first acquired this when a dear friend of mine was getting rid of her spare tarot decks, so I just happened to pick this up. Ironically, the same friend later received a present – another copy of the Black Tarot. Hmm seems to me this must be more than coincidence – perhaps the universe is trying to tell her something???
Filed under: Occult Tagged: 25th May 2012, A E Waite, Aleister Crowley, Black Tarot, BOTA, Builders of the Adytum, chic cicero, Crowley Thoth, Enochian, Golden Dawn, Golden Dawn Enochian Skrying Tarot, Lady Frieda Harris, Lon Milo Duquette, Mythic Tarot, Pamela Coleman Smith, Paul Foster Case, Rider Waite, Robert Wang, tabatha cicero, Tarot, World Tarot Day
Hecate: More Cognitive Dissonance
Line-drawing of a recently re-discovered Defixion or curse tablet.
A slow day on Planet Sumner today, which is why I was forced into reading the Daily Mail, where lo and behold, I uncover a story about an ancient “Defixion” or “curse tablet.” There have been defixiones before but this is particularly interesting because it was recently re-discovered after having been lost for a hundred years.
The Defixion in question seems to be a binding spell against an unfortunate chap called Psellus. Intriguingly, a feminine goddess appears to be invoked: the Italian scientist interviewed tentatively suggests that it might be Hecate.
Hecate
Now I can think of one good reason why it might not be so: the female figure depicted on the Defixion has none of the known traditional symbolism. However, the Fluffy-Bunny Brigade have taken to the comments section denying that it is Hecate, because they can’t believe that she would ever curse anybody.
Sigh. It doesn’t take five minutes to come up with the most sympathetic description of Hecate from ancient times, namely Hesiod’s Theogony:
Whom she will she greatly aids and advances: she sits by worshipful kings in judgement, and in the assembly whom she will is distinguished among the people. And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she will.
It ought not to take a genius to realise that if Hecate is gracious enough to grant victory in “the battle that destroys men,” to her faithful followers, it is not beyond her scruples to see their enemies defeated, i.e. destroyed.
So, whether or not the female figure on the Defixion is question is Hecate, would she realistically have been willing to curse someone anyway? In the right circumstances yes she would – because two thousand years before the invention of fluffy-bunnyism and political correctness, that is how ancient people viewed the gods and goddesses.
Filed under: Comment Tagged: Daily Mail, Fluffy bunnies, Hecate
