Home Sweet Home

Coming back from Emmendingen today, we took the alternate route through my favourite part of the Rhine Valley. Pity I didn't have my camera with me, it was utterly beautiful. The blue Vosges against the golden hues of the slowly setting sun on the one side, and the lush green hills of the old volcano on the other. The vast expanse of field and forest as far as the eye could see. There's something about this place so deeply imbedded in ancestral memory. Indeed this was homeland of my predecessors so many generations ago. Always such a deep reaching experience everytime I pass through these parts. This was also Goethe's favourite haunt. Sigh...I think I will come through here again in the fall, with my camera of course. Somewhere I have some pictures I took from the Haut-Koenigsburg overlooking these parts. I must find them and post them once I have a little more time to spare...

Catchwords and Trick Questions

"Are Pagans racist?" Heh, now just what are we getting at here? First of all, anyone with a brain knows that there is no such a thing as "race"...in fact homo sapiens sapiens is a species. There are no actual subspecies within that group, rather some 66,000 years ago we nearly faced extinction, though its not quite clear yet as to the cause. I suspect this person probably means "bigot" but I have yet to see where in the animal kingdom there isn't some form of bigotry or another. It's just one of those aspects of natural selection in this thing we call evolution. We each discriminate according to personal preference. It is what makes us individual, thus, increases the survivability of the species through differentiation. All things must change in order to continue. It's the first fundamental law of existence. While over the last 10,000 years or so, we've tried to master this through various hierarchial social structures, for all it's vanity of success it starts to take too much for granted- easily losing sight of that fundamental first law. It becomes stratified, tokenized, values buried under ever more layers of burocracy, until not even the head hauncho is really sure what it all amounts to...and all the while financial reports are issued, that doesn't necessarily say what the commodity was really valued at by the one who did the actual trading. Indeed, survival knows no limit to the means of achieving an end. That is the second fundamental law of existence.

A system easily undermined by corruption is one that cannot survive- so the humans make laws and institutions with more burocracy. Why? because chopping off people's hands only makes them useless as labourers. Of course the wardens gladly accept bribes, thus distributing the wealth to the black-mailers and hired assassins wherever silence cannot be bought. Institutions become empires of ever more secret authority over the masses. The demands on the labour force increase as any concern for their welfare decreases. Expendibles, lackies, primitives scarcely in any position to truly appreciate the superior wisdom of their peers? Yep, that's usually the kind of arrogance that results. Divisions between haves and have nots. Inevitably farmers, craftsmen and proprietors can no longer get the sustenance to meet the impossible demands. The powers that be decide its time to go forth and conquer. As the lackies "have nothing better to do" they send them to do their battle. If their side wins, slaves will make up for the workforce losses.

Suddenly the climate changes, bringing flood, famine and disease. There is dissent, rebellion, looting and civil war. It is a sign of the gods to overthrow the oppressors and return to a humble life of virtue...so they think. Witches and heretics are hunted down and executed for the noble cause...and so the empire arises again. I could go on but I'm sure most of you get the picture by now. As for the others, you can take your piety, fold it five ways and shove it where no light shines. No matter what you profess to call it, it's still a sham. Just another lame excuse wanton of everything for nothing, or should that be nithing? A process of eliminating everything down to that sublime singular of one-size-fits-all. Take away the forces of resistance and what do you have? A black hole.

Yes, the Plot Sickens

Oooer, what's this I've been hearing from the ugly rumour gallery? That same old preaching of virtue to whitewash the obvious pathological lies. Did you really think your peons are so naive that they wouldn't notice all that overwhelming hypocracy? Ah but like any aspiring civil burocrat, you naturally assume the status quo actually grants you special authority beyond all public reproach let alone accountability. Heh, I've dealt with quite enough of your kind on all levels to know the difference all too well. No surprise just how decadent that whole system has become...oh but of course that's always the fault of the "non-players" who refuse to conform to such obvious double standards. Just the same you'd believe any old lie your cronies feed you, than ever consider that they're just playing along for their own want of secret authority...and all the while they tried to play me, I threw in a few alternate gestalts- that given the way they tried to exploit these, certainly revealed your ulterior motives beyond any reasonable doubt. Needless to say, it proved quite a classic case study in mob psychology- or as I put it to your nemesis:

I often wonder why some will say they despise something yet seem trapped in that strange paradox where they just can't seem to live without it. Were it not for WW, I would have pulled the pin right after seeing what a pigs ear that Hero charade tried to make of everything. It was plain to see who was all behind it, who they were trying to cover up for, and who they were trying to set up for what deluded premise of their own morbid fears. That in itself was grounds enough for me to realize that I was not dealing with a pagan interest group, rather, a bunch of playground psychotics from the armpit of industrial society trying to make a fashion statement out of their otherwise droll and utterly conventional domestic lives. People so indoctrinated with their supremist christian dogma, they've actually done little more than call it by another name. At that rate it wouldn't matter what we did or didn't do, they were clearly out to compromise us by virtue of anything that might justify their complicity. However, until MH got into the thick of it they didn't have the guts to say it, just sent us some vague email suggesting there was some kind of interforum conspiracy about...but I'm sure it was really all just a set up. The curious thing is Jan, everytime you went on one of your rampages, they pointed that finger at us. Now, why is that?...and why these rants only to go running back for more? Oh, I'm sure they only wish we'd conspire to get back on there, but the problem with that theory is they're so BORINGLY TEDIOUS we just don't have the time for it.

As for religious tolerance, it does not grant you some special right to demand piety towards your ideological convictions, no matter what your status quo. As long as you insist on crusading the "holier than thou", the angry undertones of rebellion should be of no surprise. Indeed we've seen that spectre all too often come in the guise of seeming political correctness. The question is, correct for whom and to what end?

Now having said that, I can think of better things to do elsewhere.

What Can Go Wrong With Your Path

1. You believe the Necronomicon is real and the evil Cthulhu is hiding under your kitchen sink.
2. You believe you've been hexed when the bus leaves without you.
3. You search your passport for secret signs of the Illuminati, the Rosicrucians, and the Brotherhood of the Great Pumpkin.
4. You wrap aluminum foil around your head so the aliens can't control your mind via satellite.
5. Whenever you are under stress, you fall into a trance and start raving in a lost language.
6. You keep greeting the postman with "Merry meet and blessed be".
7. You can't sleep at night because the ghost of the tenant before you keeps you awake with his parties and poker games.
8. Instead of getting an antivirus program, you perform a banishing ritual to drive out the negative energies.
9. Your cat is the reincarnation of Jean Paul Sartre and drives you crazy with the most depressing discussions on existentialism. To make matters worse, your canary is Albert Camus, and the two won't stop getting into an argument.
10. You are at a séance, and the medium says "this call will cost you $1.89 a minute".
11. You ask the driving instructor if you can do a class B flying license for a large besom.
12. The only ancestors who will have anything to do with you are Atilla the Hun and Elizabeth Bathory.
13. Ever since you've read the Book of Revelations, bad news only makes you ecstatic.
14. You are gripped by an ominous feeling upon discovering terrifying prophecies encrypted in the numbers of the local telephone directory.
15. After an NDE you carry a sword under your cloak and keep a watch out for other immortals.
16. Your telephone provider offers you a flatrate to Hell.
17. You think Eliphas Levi is the guy who invented your denims.
18. Your family has to chain you up and leave you a bowl of dogfood on a full moon.
19. You believe the spirit of Sleipnir is in your Fiat Panda.
20. You can read Alleister Crowley's handwriting because it's just like yours.
21. You're short with a massive beard, an affinity for red pointy hats, and can only sing "Hi-Ho".
22. At the video counter of a sex shop, you ask for the "Whore of Babylon".
23. On your first journey to the underworld you are stopped by a customs officer who asks for your visa, customs declaration, and how long you plan to stay.
24. You channel a Roman general named Cunillingus.
25. Your succubus is pregnant and suing you for child support.
26. You call on Dionysis and instead Frank Sinatra pitches up singing "New York, New York".
27. You buy a book on anatomy to look for your inner child.
28. You take out the central heating system and light a bonfire in the middle of the livingroom.

Probability Curves

Although I have excellent psychic ability, at some point, I thought I might apply it to card readings. I’m what you might call metaphysicist, as I like to apply scientific knowledge to the paranormal equation. Thus, tarot was an ideal experiment in reading local causality as translated from the various symbologies the cards turned up. I began with ordinary playing cards to get the feel of it, progressing to different tarot decks with different layouts. Although my readings were accurate they seemed too limited to the number of variables these decks could produce. Then a friend from Berlin introduced me to Thoth deck designed by Lady Frieda Harris of the OTO. Indeed their complex symbologies provided a whole multitude of aspects in a single reading. Once I got the feel these, I would do readings for friends or entertain the muse at parties, nothing I ever accepted money for, rather, for me the learning experience was my reward.

In 1986 I flew back to Fort Erie as the word was my Gran was dying. In fact, while I was there she paid me a visit in my sleep and we exchanged our farewells. The wake at my uncle Ray’s place afterwords turned into one hell of a bash, so my aunt told me to get my cards, and dragged me down to the rec room where she had gathered all her woman friends. They were all so keen I didn’t know for the life of me where to start..until one particular woman piped up with “do mine” and the room suddenly went quiet. As I thought “oh, what’s this all about then”, my aunt intervened with “yes, do hers”. I looked around the room to see what the rest had to say to this, but they agreed with the most curious grins plastered across their faces. Needless to say, when I laid out the cards, the reason was plain to see. I tried to be discreet in divulging what I saw, then took my aunt aside to remark, “lemme guess, she’s the neighbourhood nymphomaniac, right?” My aunt grinned from ear to ear as she snickered “you betcha, and you have no idea how much you read there is just so damn true in every detail”. Heh, I’m sure my gran was smiling too, as she was a well versed master of divination herself, so I guess I was actually keeping with tradition that night.

All went well with this venture until years later I gave a demo to a new acquaintance who was aspiring to be a professional fortune teller. I could sense rivalry there, so I kept it simple. She wanted to form a coven, but I have a real aversion to the popular esoterica being sold in the women’s section of bookshops, if you know what I mean. Not only that, but her and her entourage of women friends were all divorcees who put too much faith in the institution of marriage to make up for poor judgement- hence witchcraft for a vengeance over men. Erm, thanks but no thanks. Still she persisted, pitching up at odd times to put me to the test, so I played lame, and she soon lost interest. Then months later one of her (by this time) ex-friends pitched up with a whole epic on the evil this woman allegedly brought into her life. As far as I was concerned these were just further examples of poor judgement, as I am by no means superstitious, let alone god-fearing- rather it always takes two to tango into the no-zone of stupid mistakes. I tried to explain these things to her, but some people only hear what they want to hear. She offered to read my cards and as they involved an old gypsy tarot yet unfamiliar to me I obliged, offering a reading from my thoth deck in exchange. Unfortunately the reading she gave made little sense, nor did it enlighten me to the workings of it much. The reading I did for her however, turned out to be a bombshell. She had been living with her common law mate 6 years, trying to restore their house from the 1750s to its former glory, but this was going nowhere. His promise of marriage, as it turned out, was not to her, but a young blond floozie expecting his child. I was barely able to conclude the reading, when she shot out the door like a bolt. She phoned me later, to confirm she found the shocking evidence at a friend’s printshop, namely the invitations to his wedding with this mystery woman. She had introduced me to this guy before, so its not like I didn’t have my suspicions- rather, what confounded me was how she could let herself be exploited by the jerk so long, because its not as if these affairs hadn’t been ongoing. Mind you, she was just as duplistic and inclined to favour others of this nature of wanton friendship. In essense, they were all their own worst enemies living in a dream of the rebellious youth they never had through early marriage. Again, no matter how I tried to distance myself she kept trying to crash into my life with her dubious schemes to draw me into her crowd. Naturally, when it finally dawned on her that I wasn’t buying it, she began to see me as her nemesis, responsible for whatever turns of alleged bad karma in her life. As was her usual retaliation on such premises, she conspired to abusively crash in on me with her friends. Unfortunately for her, I can smell this sort of thing in making from miles away, so I threw a psychic wrench into it. Needless to say, they were heading up the A5 to my house when the engine dropped onto the highway. No injuries, but the comedy of errors that ensued were bizarre enough, that I received a perplexed call from her mobile. Much of what she said was at best incoherent, but when she finally stopped for breath, I responded with “heh, what were you expecting? It’s not like I don’t know what you’re up to.” Needless to say, that was the last I heard from her- and by all accounts she left the region soon thereafter, abandoning all ties with these friends. As for tarot readings, there were just too many fools expecting it to compensate their lack of responsible judgement- so I wrapped up all my cards and stashed them away where I have suitably forgotten their whereabouts.

The Pepper Curse

I can't say I've ever done any spells, and have too much of a respect for the laws of polarity in sincere relationships. However, I have on occasion, seen the need for the odd curse when some coercive nasty or stalker tries to get on my case. I found I have a real lokean talent for cursing cars and causing general mayhem. The first time I did this, it was perfectly banale. I danced deosil around the car in the parking lot three times, shaking a pepper shaker and chanting utter nonsense. I made sure the culprit got a glimpse of me from his office window. Before he could give it any attention, his phone rang and in the moment's distraction, I was suddenly gone. Later that day, when he finished work and prepared to drive home, there was no ignition, no lights- rather, complete electrical failure. Having a colleague jumper cable it failed also. The wheels were locked, so it had to be towed away on a flatbed. The final verdict from the garage was scrapyard. After that, every time he tried to follow me on foot, it was pure chaos. He would either collide with something or trip or get diverted by people wanting to discuss something. Eventually he realized he was up against too many things beyond his control and gave up the persuit.