Surviving Prison Using High Magick

 High Magick

By Damien Echols

Damein Echols was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of three 8 year old boys in a Satanic ritual. For over twenty yers he languished in prison. Growing up in small town Arkansas , he had few options and parents who never saw beyond living from check to check. He had long hair an listened to heavy metal which made him an instant target. When he was accused of ritual murders he was not given a fair trial rather they wre just looking for way to lock him. In order to stay sane and ultimately get out out he relied on magick. As a youth he was drawn to magic and horror. He would go to the library and check out books.

In prison you do not have access to magical tools like athames or wands. One has to make do with the ultimate tool they have which is themselves. The author goes through the different kinds of magick. He spells out the difference between high and low magick, natural magic and ritual and non ritual magic. The focus of his work is box breathing. Box breathing has the practitioner work with breathing in to the count of four, holding the breath to the count of four, relesing he breath to the count of four and finally holding your breath again to the count of four.  This is a spiritual exercsise unto itself. It also forms the basis for several other meditations as well.  One aura strengthening exercise has the practitioner breath in energy and then exhale it out onto their aura, Another exercsie has the practitioner focus on different seasons during the different breathing cycles. there are lunar and solar meditations as well focusing on differnt solar and lunar phases in sync with breathing cycles.

the most important exercises he renders are the Lesser Pentagram banishing Ritual and the Middle pillar meditation. Both are based on ancient kabbalistic practices. Doing these alone for one year straight balances out the aura, cleans up the energy and can give one spiritual power similiar to being intitiated into the inner ring of the Golden Dawn. there are also some basic straight forward techniqes on raising enrgy and then programing it into a talisman or amulet.

The book is short an sweet and gets right to the point. While most book on Ceremonial Magick can be daunting this books strips it down to the bare bones so the practitioner can get working on it.

Becoming a Word Witch

 

The Magical Writing Grimoire

By Lisa Marie Basil

One of the most potent tools a witch has are his or her words.  Writing and more in particuar poetry or journaling can help one take control of their narrative and life. It lets you own your lifestory. The journal can be your quiet place , your respite from a crazy world. Most witches would want to use writing in order to help with manifestation but it is also helpful in healing from trauma and it can be helpful in moving through a difficult period in our life. It can help us acheive mindfulness. Writers use slogan, mantras and affirmations all the time as do witches but magical workers use sigils as well. The tools for the word witch are simple, your pen and paper, other tools are optional.afterall not all witches have access to expensive tools and that should never be a requirement.

What exactly are sigils? They were first popularized by Austin Osman Spare.  One could write out there intention for example "It is my well to become more productive" Every repeating letter is crossed out.  The remaining letters are fashioned into a design and the design could be burned or destroyed. It could also be turned into artwork an worn to attract more energy. Writing is also used to achieve mindfulness. This mindfulness is like being aware of everything that is happening in the moment. When your thought rise up your just going to recognize a thought and let them run their course. This enriches living and makes one more effective and more productive. Writing can also be used to help the disenfrachised. Especially with the internet an onlne forums our words can have a real strong impact and we can use that impact to create a loving environment or a bitter hateful one. We can support business of the under represented by not only frequenting their shop but also by writing very positive reviews fo the business.

Dream journaling is another effective use of writing. Constantly our dreams are trying to deliver us messages. Writing them down or making poems out of them can help us get the message an understand the meaning. Hypnos is the lord o dreams. He dwells with the poppies in the underworld. He can pull us into dreams aas they are liminal, between life and death. Things that are holy to hypnos are amethyst crystal, Valerian root, mugwort an stuff like stars an the moon. One can also write down a dream intention of what they want to dream about. There are other methods of divination.

Dreams and tarot card are not the only forms of divination out there. Bibliomancy is another form.  This means consulting a book and asking a question. You open the book to the age and line an your answer is right there. Of course you may need a little creativity. You can also put the book on it's spine and let it fall open to a given page. Another method I like is to place a card randomly in a book and se what comes up.

Writing can be used to craft your own rituals, poems to the gods etc. Writing can help release us from pain and abusive situations in the past. It helps us to let go. If you are an intuitive magic worker who is free spirited then this book is for you. Word smithing is a manifestation of free spirit as is dancing. Dancing puts us into ecstacy and connection with the gods. Use this book in good health.

Reflections of an Arab Jew

 

When We Were Arabs 

By Massoud Hayoun

Lately I have been reading memoirs about Jews who fled or left Arab countries with little more than their lives. Having fled the countries they lived in for many years these Jews left behind property, real esate and money. this story is a bit different. Massoud is a Jewish man of Middle Eastern descent. He describes himself as  Jewish Arab. Being Arab and being jewish are equal parts of his identity. He mostly tells teh story of his grandfather Oscar and his grandmother Dida. Oscar was Morrocan on his father's side and Egyptian on his mother's side. His Mother was Tunisian. Massoud culls his information from his grandfathers three Costco notebook and from a biography of his grandmother. He has fond memories of his Oscar tryin to teach him Arabic on Sunday's. Of listening to the classic arabic songsters and watching the old Egyptian cinema. Then there were the stories of their youth in those countries.

Remember that their growing up in an Arab country they were occupied by Ottoman powers, British and the French. In their countries they were considered Arab whether their religion was Judaism, Christianity or Islam. One never asked what faith you were as everyone was Arab back then. They would even go to each other's celebrations. their origin stories did not hearken back to Israel of the first and second temple period rather the stories carry back to what Middle Eastern region their family hailed from. The author discusses some possible convert origins for differnt Middle eastern jewish communities. Either way they were part and parcel of the countries they lived in.

things hen began to change with the coming o European powers. First it was he French and they came in and colonized Algeria and Tunis. their claim was to make things better for he natives but in fac they tended to look down on indigenous culture and their education system sought t inculcate that. The French imediately set up school system with the intention of cementing French culture and ways in the country's youth. Soon you had youth dressing and looking like the French an looking down on the ways of their elders. These yougsters knew French history but not the history of their own country. THe Jews were taught to be French and that they were unique to everyother Jewish community. The French saw the Jews as instruments for their own colonial designs. Classic divide and conquer. It would isolate the Jews from each other and their neighbors.

In the Arab countries the more like the colonizer you were the higher class you were. Europeans did not mix with the locals but lived in their own neighbohood.  Class was stratified. The Alliance Israelite schools taught a secular identity but one that also looked down on their middle eastern background. Their stress was that the Jews were a nation seperate from the others. This would pave the way for Zionism. The French schools also indoctrinated the youth against the British when they had control over Egypt. Often times Jews were seen as being connected with the occupying powers. If this would cause a division political Zionism would expand that breach even further.

Zionism in the author's opinion was aimed at divesting Arab land from the Palestinians. This angered many Arabs and caused many of the to turn against their Jewish neighbors. The Jews did not necesarily side with Zionism. Many of the wealthy sought to distance themselves from it. Mainly the poorer jewish Arabs were drawn to it. The author deplores some of the the tactics used by zionist agent to lure Jews to Palestine. He often called it human tafficking. Middle Eastern Jews were often used for menial labor jobs despite being well educated. Jobs the white Ashkenazi Jews would not do. The Zionist were deceptive. they wanted an Ashkenazi state with Middle Eastern Jews as a labor source.

Upon arrival to Palestine/Israel these Jewish Arabs who were well educated as much so as their Ashkenazi counterparts were given tin shacks and makeshift tents while the European jews were given houses or apartment right away. Many Jewish Arabs were sprayed wit DDt. While understandable to concentration camp victims not needed for Arab jews. the Zionist education system denigrated their arab background and made them look down on themselves. There was lots of violence against Arab Jews as well.

I found this memor enlightening. The colonialism divorce the Arab  Jews from their Arab identity both on the European front and the Zionist front. It shows you that no one in this conflict is entirely clean. Yet i cannot agree with him calling Israel occupied Palestine, nor do i think that a two state solution is still viable. While he focused on the wrongs of Zionism I feel that he left out the injustices suffered by Jews in Arab land over the years. It was second class citizenship. Prior to those golden years life could be harsh for Jews in Arab lands. Many Jews were displaced from Arab countries an left behind land, money and property and I wonder if they will get it back. I doubt it. The Palestinians have responded to Israeli peace overtures with rockets and suicide bombers. 

Yet on the other hand Jewish Arabs who find the terms Mizrachi and Sephardic misleading and degrading have not had a good time in Israel. Mizrachi means east but east of where. Morroco is not east of Poland and the term Sephardic denotes Jews who were exiled from Spain. two terms that do not apply the Jewish Arabs. Jewish Arabs are subject to harrasment due to their skin color. The Yemenite Jews ad their babies stolen fro them. Israel was not so good to them either.

The Mesopotamian Origins of Hebrew Myth

 

The Ark Before Noah

By Irving Finkel

We are all familiar with the story of Noah’s Ark. The world sins so God decides to punish the world with a huge flood that covers the world. Noah is the only righteous person and so God spares Noah and his family by instructing them to build an ark and take a bunch of animals to save them as well.  There are some contradictions to the story for example in one instance god tells Noah to take a pair of animals on the ark. In another he is told to take 7 pairs of clean animals and a pair of unclean animals. Kind of strange if it all came from God. In fact, I did not but rather was based on an older tale, a Mesopotamian tale or myth.

In the Sumerian version of things Noah is called Utnapishtim and he was sort of like a king albeit a righteous one. The people on the planet are far too noisy so the gods decide wipe them out with a flood. Utnapishtim survives. This tale is included in the epic of Gilgamesh. In other Babylonian version and Assyrian versions, the hero is called Atrahasis. There are different versions of the story going around as is with all stories and they can change with each telling.

How did this tale with changed names enter itself into the Old Testament. Assuming that there was a huge flood or at least a flood that impacted that region it was well known to the Sumerians. Abraham the first Hebrew or Jew was from Mesopotamia. A big debate as to whether he was Aramean or Sumerian. He might have learned the flood story from his Sumerian upbringing.

Another theory is that when the Judeans were brought into exile, they were totally shell shocked by being conquered then bought to a more advanced culture. They were assimilated into the Babylonian culture. The Ancient Mesopotamians invented cuneiform writing and it was a special honor to be inducted into a scribal school. Many Judean were inducted. It was from there that they learned the flood myth. Since their mythology might have been lacking some elements, they borrowed and made it their own. There are other elements like the Assyrian king Sargon who was born of a priestess and then cast into the river in a small basket. Sound familiar? Remember Moses going on to Mount Sinai and getting the ten commandments well Hammurabi went up to a Mountain and received the law from the sun god Shamash.

There is a question as to what the water vessel used looked like. Looking at Mesopotamian society and how it is placed on the river it can be expected that they had to get around somewhat by boat and they had to experience periodic flooding. There are two types of craft. One is a round craft made of reed and bitumen and it is water proof. Some versions of the story have it as a craft with one level and another has it as a craft with multiple levels. The other version is a boat like structure that Noah used.

There has been some speculation as to where the ark landed. In the Bible we have been trained to think that the Ark landed on Mount Ararat. In fact the original legend says they landed in the mountain of Urartu. Uartu was a kingdom to the North of Mesopotamia. But there are other legends that place the mountain elsewhere. Assyrian legend which held sway briefly believed that the mountain was Mount Nizar which is in Assyrian territory and part of the Zagros Mountains. Islamic tradition and Nestorian tradition placed it on Mount judi Dar. It held sway for the longest but now everyone settle on Ararat.