II-16 Yule 2008

“In my most recent article for Reality Sandwich, Magic: It’s More Than Just Finding Parking Spaces, I discussed the stigmas or problem issues that surround the use of the word ‘magic’ and the subculture of the occult, and I pointed out that until these stigmas are dealt with decisively, magic will never be rehabilitated. One commenter pointed out that it might be easier to say, ‘willful intentionality,’ instead of saying, ‘magic,’ …” Read more…

“The Otherkin community is a fascinating collection of individuals, all of whom feel as if they are differently souled. Although in human form, Otherkin believe that the essence of who and what they are originated elsewhere and can most often be associated with mythical beings, such as elves or faeries, dragons or gryphons. I was first introduced to …” Read more…

“A recurring fixture in the folklore of northern Europe is the fairy godmother. This mysterious woman appears by magic to attend the birth or Christening of an infant, often a child who is seemingly of no special importance. She may be alone, or accompanied by other women. She comes uninvited either to bless or curse the child, displays various magical abilities, and then just as mysteriously departs, perhaps to reappear at some distant future date, or perhaps never to be …” Read more…

“A few weeks after I finished my battery of rituals, managers at the company I work for called large groups of people together in various parts of our facilities across the country. These groups were told about opportunities for buyouts and early retirement. The company wanted to reduce its head count. I listened to these presentations, but the buyout terms were not at all attractive to me, and I did not, at the time, qualify for the early retirement option. …” Read more…

“Earlier, I made the point that there’s a difference between what is (for want of a better word) real and what we can actually describe. This is an idea which many find a little troubling. It’s not a new idea. Plato’s Cave model is a couple of thousand years old at this point; the acceptance that reality cannot be fully described is a basic in Taoism, which is at least twice as old. The modern riff on this, usually called Post-Modernism, has been around long enough in modern society to …’” Read more…

“My name is Jesse Lindsay. I am a freelance artist currently living in Portland, Oregon after hitchhiking around the U.S. for 6 years. I refer to my work as “alchemical surrealism.” Most of my art is derived from dreams and studies into alchemical ritual, psychology, and various aspects of the occult. To me, everything is a way of expressing reality in different forms, creating methods that allow each of us to understand. …” Check it out…

“It is physically impossible to travel through time, until such time as a time machine is created. From that point, theoretically, someone from the future of that time machine could travel back as far as the creation of that time machine, wherever it is anchored in the past. The dinosaurs were the first to figure …” Read more…

“It was not the worst hangover Melissa had ever had, but it was bad enough. She was grateful her parents were out as she stumbled and retched her way through the morning. By the time they came home shortly before noon, she was recovered enough to pretend she hadn’t avoided alcohol poisoning by a bare margin. After a shower she tried calling Luanne; the phone rang and rang without answer, Melissa eschewing leaving a message in …” Read more…

“Each issue, Gerald del Campo offers up his unique take on ten esoteric terms – some you’re familiar with, and others he’s created. …” See the selection …

“Recently, my husband Taylor and I moved to a new home. This, of course, meant uprooting everything, packing it into boxes, bins and bags, and trucking it across town (thankfully the day before Snowpocalypse 2008 hit the Pacific Northwest!). After about a week of recovery, I had the time and energy to reconstruct my ritual/artwork area. In the old place, Taylor and I shared the finished attic of our two-floor apartment as sacred space. …”Read more…

“I first encountered Franz Bardon’s works approximately five years ago, and was amazed I hadn’t read or explored his concepts earlier. It likely didn’t help that until recently his works were out of print or printed only in German. In 2001, Merkur Publishing translated all of Bardon’s works and re-published them in the U.S. Franz Bardon lived approximately forty years and was a stage magician as well as a hermeticist. He died in 1958 from pancreatitis …” Read more…

“When I first became interested in paganism back in the mid-1990s, the very first divination set I worked with was the elder futhark of runes. I had a photocopy of a few pages with rune meanings out of a book that I suspect may have been from Ralph Blum’s questionable writings. While runes have never been a central focus in my practice and I no longer utilize them, I do have somewhat of a nostalgic soft spot for them. I am quite pleased with …” Read more…

“This is another one of those ‘Why is this important to pagans, anyway?’ books. At first glance, it would seem that a balancing act between Catholicism, agnosticism, and strict scientific interpretations of reality would be of little interest to your average neopagan. This is exactly the kind of book that I like to bring to my readers’ attention, however. It’s full of interesting little surprises, and I got quite a bit out of it as far as brain food goes. …” Read more…

“There are numerous introductory texts on neoshamanism out there; most have the usual material – what is shamanism, how to journey, what are the three worlds, how to find a power animal, etc. Evelyn Rysdyk offers up her own interpretation of these ideas in her book, Modern Shamanic Living. What sets her book apart from others …” Read more…

“This is my first review of a Bibliotheca Alexandrina title; I’ve been anxiously awaiting my chance to dig into the promising line of books that this small press has been producing in the past year. I’ve been familiar with Diotima’s work through essays, but this is the first book of hers I’ve been able to give a good read. BA is one of a tiny handful (I think a total of two, if I’m not mistaken) of small presses that have specialized in producing nonfiction works specifically …” Read more…

“I had a number of reasons for being really excited about reading this book. One, I am a geek. While I’m a bit of a latecomer to comic book geekery in specific, I’ve done a good bit of catching up. Two, I’m also a sometimes-practitioner of pop culture magic (a concept that my husband, who wrote a practical guide on it, introduced me to). There’s really not much about the intersection of occultism and pop culture out there …” Read more…