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.

 

The Witch of Blacksprings

HEX

By Thomas Olde Heuvelt

 The only evil out there is not witches, vampires or other monsters. The worst kind of evil is generated from humans themselves. In the town of Black Spring there exists a witch and a curse. Or rather the ghost of a witch. A ghost that can become flesh and blood. The town curse is that once you decide to become a resident of that town that is it you are stuck there forever. Leaving the town for any period of time can lead to suicidal thoughts. These thoughts are fatal.

Katherine was a lone woman who lived out in the woods when Black Spring was a Dutch town. She had two children and one died. Then the dead child came back to life. Towns people freak out so they make her kills the child that was revived and she gets burned at the stake. For years she haunts the settlement. Eventually it becomes depopulated and another British town rises up in it’s place.  The British soldiers see her ghost and they get the bright idea to sew her lips and eyes shut. Eventually the British settlement fades and Black Spring pops up. Still haunted by the witch.

Leap into the modern day and the town of Black Spring is still dealing with the neighborhood witch. Hex is the in town organization tasked with handling the witch problem. Surveilance cameras are set up all over town. If she appears in the middle of no where local towns people make an effort to hide her so outsiders do no see. Under no circumstances are people to bother or try to interact with the witch. There is an app that is meant to track the appearances of the witch.

Messing with the witch is bad news . She causes death, destruction and all around mayhem. Back in 1961 the military wanted to cut the stitches of her eyes. That did not end well. Several people died. There are people in town who do not follow the rules laid down by Hex. You have Griselda who makes food sacrifices to the ghost. Several of the twon boys get it into their head that they want to mess with the witch.

A couple times they throw stones at her, injure her with sharp weapons and turn a dog onto her. This sets into motion a series of events that will lead to a fiery end. Get ready for chaos. The book is somewhat chilling but suffused with a certain bent of humor that makes what would be very scare to read a down right entertaining read. 

The real monsters are the towns people who tortured and killed the young Katherine. The ghost only comes back after it has been wronged. The ghost was also wronged by British colonists who sewed her mouth shut. But in reality Katherine is more humorous than dangerous. Mostly she shows up unexpectedly and people have to find a way to hide her. She is a comical nuisance.

Jaydon who is Griselda’s son of somewhat rebellious. He and a group of his friend are angry that they are stuck in this town for life thanks to a witch. The anger caused him to torture the ghost of the witch in a frightening way. Tyler tries to stop them. Jaydon still manages to sic Tyler’s dog on the ghost. Tylers dog dies. He gets punished as well. You would think because he tried to save her that  he would be saved. But good and bad pay alike.

Entrepreneurial Jeet Kune Do

The Bruce Lee Code

By Thomas Lee

 

Among the greatest of entrepreneurs certain name have a way of standing out. Steve Jobs, Bill Gate, Elon Musk and several others. One of the best known who had an entrepreneurial spirit was Bruce Lee. Now Bruce was an icon a hero that everyone looked up to. Know for his martial arts prowess and chiseled physique but little do people know that he was an entrepreneur. Bruce had big plans . He wanted to combine the east and the west and show everyone the good parts about Chinese culture. His way to do that involved show casing his Kung Fu skills. His original plan was to open up a string of kung fu schools. When Bruce found that he would reach more people with the cinema that is the route he took.  His role as Cato in the Green Hornet propelled him to fame and his character was the main item of the show. People liked Cato. After that role was finished Bruce did not have any roles. Being flexible and brave he went to Hong kong started his own production company and made several movies. Later he had a stronger bargaining . One could say that if he had plans on opening schools and then later he opened his own production company that he was pretty entrepreneurial.

When compared to someone like Steve Jobs he was an innovator. Bruce took what was there and made it simpler.  Easier to use. If anyone remembers using computer or technologies before Apple it was clunky and difficult. Now Apple products are one of the easiest to use and other tech companies have copied this approach. Bruce Lee also made things simpler. He hated forms and patterns and useless movement that cluttered up the martial arts. He wanted to make it more efficient and useful for  combat. Using Wing Chun as a basis he studied more fighting styles and he took what was useful and discarded the rest. He formulated his own martial art called JeeT Kune Do.

Not only did Bruce study martial arts and exercise routines but he was learning about eastern and western philosophy. He also studied camera angles and script writing.  A good entrepreneur is always curious and learning new things because when you start your own business you must do everything yourself.  If Bruce wanted to realize his vision of introducing kung fu and his philosophy to world he would have to do more than just act. Bruce had to write his own scripts, choreograph fight scenes and learn the basic of production.

Hollywood back in Bruce’s time was very racist. Chinese or Asian actors had limited roles.  Often times when certain characters were Asian in a movie they would often cast a white person to that role. Bruce himself was paid the price of a stuntman for his role as Cato in the Green Hornet. He had fewer spoken lines then his Caucasian counter parts. Bruce knew this racism was wrong but he had and enlightened outlook on it. It was wrong but he understood their reluctance and said that if an American came to Hong Kong he might experience the same thing. This impacted Bruce in a lot of ways. First off he taught Kung Fu to all nationalities something that the Chinese masters frowned upon at first. The second is that he reflected that sense of discrimination in his films. The Chinese Connection showed how Chinese and dogs were not allowed in a park. In Enter the Dragon you have an African American being pushed around by cops. Finally Bruce was like water. He was flexible. He knew America was a closed market so he went to Honk kong.

No nuggets here just the gist. Gonna have to read the book and pull out the nuggets yourself.

When Fire Says Be Like Water. Shannon Lee Renders the Teaching o Bruce Lee

 Be Water My Friend.

Be like water was one of Bruce Lee’s most famous teachings. However, Bruce Lee himself was in many ways like fire. He was burning with intensity and desire. To be himself he had to make his mark an he pursued it relentlessly. As a youth he was hot tempered and often found himself getting into scraps. To be the best he sometimes sought to always out do his opponent. It would cause his Wing Chun sifu to kick him out for a week so he could cool off and improve his ways.

Bruce took a boat and went out into the Honk Kong Sea. It was there that he punched and grasped a the water. From that point on he made a stunning realization. No matter how he grabbed at the water or punched at it , the water remained the same. Water was formless and adaptable. Being formless it could assume any form. Being adaptable if the river was on it’s way to the sea and an obstacle was placed in it’s path it would either go aound, move it away or go over it. Water is free to do that.

Shannon lost her father at a very young age. It impacted her greatly. Her brother Brandon died in the 90’s making a film called the crow. The grief was overwhelming and from her father’s words, martial arts training and therapy she was able to work though it. The book elucidates Bruce’s way, applying the concept of jeet Kune Do to everyday life.

What might be more amazing is that Bruce Lee was not only a martial artist and an actor but more importantly he was a philosopher who learned from everything. What is surprising is that he read several self help books and made use of such tools as affirmations, suggestions and making symbols of his growth periods.

Affirmations can be simple as I am a generous person. Of course Bruce had his own and he wrote them down in places to help remind himself of them. He believed in cultivating the mind and he subconscious. He made a symbol of a grave stone. It symbolized the death of rigid thinking and becoming a free thinker. He did not believe in being bound by a tradition or listening blindly to a master of sorts. He believed you should do your own research. He believed in learning from everything in order to be the best martial artist.

 

After a fight in Long Beach at 1964 Karate tournament Bruce Lee defeated a challenger. He should have been elated. Yet he was distraught. He found that he was out of breath and did like a million things wrong. He worked on them. He incorporated breath work, cross training, weights. In his martial arts adding to his Wing Chun he incorporated boxing moves, fencing moves and different forms of footwork.

While not a praticing Buddhist or taosist he learned from those philosophies as well. Bruce lee had an ultimate dream and like all successful people he realized it by never giving up. He approached it with enthusiasm and being like water when he experienced a set back he just kept on going and he went around the obstacle.

Too much to share in this book for a petty review. Buy the book you will be glad you did.