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marissapaul · 1 year

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12/23 day 8: Vodou

today i want to look at the legend of korra in thinking about the days' readings. i recently rewatched the show and i love how much we got to see of the spiritual world in it. the christian creation story was never super fascinating to me, but i love learning about other creation stories and modes of spirituality and the avatar universe is a great touchstone for that for me (i was also a rick riordan kid so you can see the common theme of my life's journey). in thinking about the show in relation to today's readings, i think that the show does a really good job of blending the spiritual and physical realms. there are times where korra loses the ability to bend the elements or can't enter the avatar state and it is because her energy is being blocked either physically or mentally but most often mentally. this is especially prevalent at the beginning of book four. we see her years long struggle with identity that results in real and tangible effects on her life. this is what i really love about the different spiritualities that we are studying in this class, tangibility and holistic healing. in many ways, book four of legend of korra is just an artistic exploration of what happens to your real world and your physical body when you do not take care of and be kind to your mind. korra is the most powerful human because of her intimate connection to the spirit world and because she can draw on the strength of the spirit world. but she is not all-powerful, and can lose that power or see it weakened. in book four we really see her have to grapple with her mentality. in book two she has to literally maintain the balance between the spirit and material worlds and she can only do that if she is in tune with each and with herself. i love the medium of animation. it allows for such beautiful explorations of real and tangible emotions and as we have seen, the avatar universe has really resonated with kids who don't always fit in growing up. (unlike james cameron's white savior avatar).

i love that vodu places an emphasis on intuition rather than rational intelligence. i have been trying to live this way for the past two years and it has led to a much happier and healthier outlook on life. i have learned to trust vibes a lot more and to listen to my body and the world around me. i eat when my body tells me i am hungry, and if my body feels unsafe around someone i honor that and set boundaries. this goes back to what i have talked about in previous posts where i am much more open to spirituality now. instead of overadjusting into science as my lens for understanding the world, i lean into what my body, mind, and the world around me are telling me. and i can only speak for myself, but this has made me vastly healthier.

i think that today's readings resonate with me because they were all borne of inbetweenness. inbetween free and enslaved. in between africa and a new world. inbetween indigineity and african tradition. inbetween indigineity/african tradition and european religious beliefs. inbetween the material and spiritual. growing up queer and autistic that inbetweenness really resonates with me. i can understand searching for a sense of belonging in a world that is cruel to you. of course not to the same level of enslaved Black and indigenous people, but i live under the same white supremacist system that seeks to homogenize and clearly demarcate. i think this is also why i have become so much happier embracing ambiguity. growing up with undiagnosed autism and being visibly queer, for so long i went in search of language to help me describe what i was feeling internally. and the language that i found was binary and incomplete. i found the term gay, but that wasn't right, i found the term trans, but that wasn't right, i found pronouns that more closely align with my gender identity, but those too weren't right. in the past two years i have come to embrace ambiguity and the understanding that terms and identifiers are never going to fully encapsulate the nuances of my lived experience. i use she/they pronouns publicly but neither of those terms fully encapsulates my gender identity. i use all sorts of gendered terms to refer to myself including some that are traditionally male. i heavily relate to stone butch lesbians, but not holistically because i love wearing dresses presenting more femme at times. these are all partial pieces of a puzzle that make up my entire being and so i have stopped searching for the exact right term to describe myself, and have instead started gathering an archive of words and media and art that help me outwardly present my inner self. and that is what i love about these creole religions. they lean into that ambiguity and are not only open to change, but welcome it. and thus learning about them has provided me with more of those puzzle pieces and terms through which i much understand and express my inner self.

i was happy to see us talk more about spiritual healing again today. the readings today laid things out very clearly, explaining that there has been a rise in non-traditional healing as a result of rising medical costs and an inability for modern medicine to heal in the way that these spiritualities are - especially in terms of psychiatric healing. more people are going in search of this holistic and tangible healing. i am writing from the positionality of someone who is able-bodied so my experience is of course heavily influenced by that, but having the resources to genuinely and lovingly take care of my mind has also made taking care of my physical body much easier. i do not find myself paralyzed for weeks by anxiety, literally unable to leave my bed anymore and that physical benefit to my life was only made possible through the immense mental and spiritual work that i have done. i can wake up and brush my teeth and shower regularly and work out without doing so in pursuit of some insane and unattainable body type, i can eat freely and whenever i am hungry. these worlds are so intimately intertwined and i think that that is exactly what makes these spiritual belief systems so powerful.

i also really loved how the readings speak to shortcomings of the contemporary church and how vodu and vodou tangibly address those shortcomings. these spiritualities are "continually evolving in response to the socio-economic milieu and the psychosocial needs of its practitioners" (p. 87 in Vodu of the Dominican Republic) evangelical christianity remains wedded to the myth of the american dream and to capitalism. and thus it can't really address the material woes of a hurting congregation because they do not believe in a fundamental reorganization of society so that it might benefit all humans rather than like fifteen absurdly wealthy men.

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i watched this documentary over the summer and found myself deeply hurt about my upbringing in the church in new ways. the documentary is focused on hillsong which is much more a corporation than a church. and it is hillsong who produced all that catchy contemporary christian music at the turn of the millenia. but they did so in pursuit of building an economic empire. hillsong recognized in the late 90s that people were growing disillusioned with the church (for all of the reasons laid out above) and so the church did shift. but it didn't shift to building itself out so that it might provide a place of tangible relief and healing for its congregation, it shifted to building a media empire built on trendy, secular-adjacent music in order to actively abuse its congregation who came in search of meaning and left with lighter wallets. i think that is evil.

we're now solidly into the course and i love how much the readings build on each other each day. i find myself coming back to the same topics but in new ways, with new language to describe my thoughts. i want to return now to the power of drumming. and i actually want to talk about mumble rap. i am a part of that weird generation of people from the late 90s that don't fully relate to millenials or gen z, but have borne witness to both. thus, i grew up inbetween the eras of lyrical and mumble rap (though this is a vast oversimplification of rap history) so i know people on both sides of the cultural/generational divide. the tired argument goes that mumble rap is not as legitimate as lyrical rap or that mumble rap doesn't take talent and that it's basically just a hard beat and a bunch of gibberish. that is of course, not all it is, but even if it was, is that bad? i say no. mumble rappers grew up on lyrical rap and draw inspiration from it and move the culture forward. but even if mumble rap is just a phenomenal beat, is that not music enough? is that not spiritual enough? in the context of this class i would posit that an incredible beat is absolutely enough to constitute a great song. i frequently listen to music in other languages that i don't understand, but vibes transcend languages. the vibrations of love far transcends even my ability to capture it in the english language. sometimes sounds and instrumentals are even the best way to transmit a vibe or certain energy.

i feel that way about mah's joint by jon bellion. in the documentary where he talks about what it was like to make this album, jon talks about how he didn't have the words to say all that he wanted to say on the topic of his grandmother's dementia so he just sung without words. the song is eight minutes long and the vast majority of it is instrumental and wordless singing and yet the song is so powerful. the back half of the song is just a sonic meditation on dementia and that's all it needed to be. i'll post the documentary below.

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my last very brief thought that hasn't fully developed yet is that the zombie apocalypse media trend of the early 2010s could have been so much more powerful/meaningful if they had leaned into their actual roots.

#Youtube #Spotify

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curlynye-blog · 2 years

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Horror and the Get-Out Aesthetic

While isolation in Get Out focused on escape, I find isolation at UCLA to be the absence of individuality, the loss of never being able to be the only one with an experience. Not just the experience of the general mankind, but the experience of African Americans. I can't stand in a room with few black people and a majority of white without being seen as a collective, not an individual. It's like my own personality, thoughts, ideas, and perspectives are crushed under my race. I can’t just be Nyomi, I just need to be that black girl. Just like how Chris, while having a great eye for photography, was still chosen because he was a black man. It burdens me, but beyond that, it isolates me from connecting with my nonblack peers without having my race as a filler answer or a checkbox they mark off when describing me to others. I feel alone because of the white supremacy that has made me isolated, afraid, and defensive. Isolation in regards to where letting go and being vulnerable seems like a pathway to an easy death. I am isolated to where I self-regulate my clothing, my hair, and the way I talk… unlike a white girl who can and will just roll out of bed and call that a fit. Isolated in a way where even our own black men are thriving more and more at the loyalty of black women and the expense of their bodies. When we will be free from this isolation, free from this box they place us in what they call invisible. Hearing Professor Due during a lecture I just can’t phantom how there is not just one category of black horror, but five common themes (fear of white supremacy, enslavement and subjugation, vodu/vodun, ancestors, and retribution). We have so many themes that when I wake up in the morning I question which theme or even themes will I experience today. I really and honestly want to blame everything on racism, that black person didn’t get the job, why? Because of racism of course. Moving on to Thursday's lecture I just want to talk about how fantastic the movie the US was even if we only talked about it briefly for really breaking the trend of white people being the predecessor and bringing this breath of freshness to the movie with the true perpetrator being ourselves, to the point where even standing up for what was taken from us points us as a victim, and that is the scariest part.

#horror #analyzation #jounral #thoughts

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blackspiritshake · 3 years

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#ATR #spiritual scammers

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didanawisgi · 5 years

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Written by Tony Kail

“The practices of African traditional religion manifested as a number of diverse spiritual cultures throughout the Caribbean. As Africans were taken as slaves from their homeland the indigenous healing and spiritual traditions of African religion stepped into the soil of the island of Hispaniola. The surviving spiritual practices of Africa could become seen in Haiti and the Dominican Republic in various forms. In Haiti the religion formed what we know as ‘Vodou’, a term from the Fon people of the region of Dahomey in West Africa that means ‘spirit’. The religion of Vodou focuses on the worship of spirits known as ‘Loa’ that rule over nature and humanity. Worship involves various magico-religious rituals, the creation of sacred shrines and interaction with deities.

As one looks at the religion of Haitian based Vodou they may see some familiar Masonic aesthetics. The square and compass, the use of the letter ‘G’ and various Masonic tools can be spotted among a number of the rituals and shrines of Vodu. As we look deeper into the culture, we can also see a number of practices and symbols found in Freemasonry.

History French rule of the island of Hispaniola established the colony of Saint Domingue from 1659 to 1804 in the area of what we now know as Haiti. Freemasonry was officially established in the colony as two lodges were established in 1749. In 1778 a Provincial Grand Lodge was also established under the direction of the Grand Orient of France.

Slaves were initially prohibited from lodges as they were required to be ‘free born’ however some free people of color were admitted into lodges where many obtained Masonic wisdom. Some traveled to France and became members of lodges. Freed slaves from Saint Domingue were recorded as members of the lodge in Bordeaux France. Upon their return to the island some members would establish lodges based on their familiarity and membership with the Craft.

Historian Sally McKee noted that “Scottish-Rite Freemasonry linked the colony of Saint Domingue and Bordeaux. The masonic lodges established in the French Caribbean were part of a transatlantic network, whose mother lodge was located in Bordeaux.” Stephen Morin, considered by some as the founder of the Scottish Rite established several Scottish Lodges in Saint Domingue as did Martinés de Pasqually, the founder of the esoteric order known as ‘Elus de Cohën’. Pasqually’s order combined angelic operations, ceremonial magic and Scottish Rite Freemasonry as a path to return man to his state before the Adamic fall. Morin was a member of the Bordeaux lodge and in Saint Domingue started a ‘Ecossais’ or ‘Scots Masters’ Lodge in the city of Le Cap Francais.

The impact of Freemasonry on the Vodou culture could be seen in the life of one of Haiti and Vodou’s most recognizable historical figures. Francois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture the leader of the Haitian Revolution was a former slave and believed by some historians to be a Freemason. However, many base his affiliation with the Craft based upon his use of a possible Masonic based signature he used when signing documents. One of the other leaders in the Haitian revolution Jean-Jacques Dessalines who later became Haiti’s ruler under the 1805 constitution was a well-known Freemason and had great influence on local Haitian culture. Masonic knowledge would also become disseminated in the practices of some of Africa’s secret societies that operated in secret on the island as well.

Reflections of the Craft Some of the subtle reflections from Freemasonry in Vodou are reflected in the use of cultural terms like ‘Grand Master’ a term used to describe God or ‘Grand Met Bondye’ the ‘good God’. Masonic practices including the use of passwords, gestures and handshakes can be seen in rituals and various initiations in the Vodou religion. One example of this can be seen as the priest known as the ‘Houngan’ greets fellow priests with a sacred handshake. This is elaborated on when competing priests meet together. Donald J. Cosentino, professor of English and World Arts and Cultures at UCLA observed that ‘When competing oungans meet at the beginning of ceremonies, they greet each other with elaborate Masonic handshakes”.

The pantheon of gods and goddesses in the Vodou religion is composed of a number of diverse spirits known as ‘Loa’. Teachings surrounding the Loa speak of many of the spirits as being Freemasons. The warrior Loa of iron known as Ogou and the Loa of the crossroads known as Legba are frequently referred to as Masons. Ogou is depicted and symbolized by the sword, a military symbol and a tool found in Masonic culture as well. Masonic symbolism abounds in the imagery of Masonic Loa Baron Samedi. Baron Samedi, Baron Kriminel and Baron La Kwa are spirts associated with the graveyard. The Baron wears a familiar top hat much like found in lodge regalia and is often depicted with familiar Masonic symbols of coffins, skeletons and various Masonic tools. Some images of the Barons are depicted wearing Masonic aprons. The Loa Agassu, Linglenso and Agau are also viewed as Masonic Loa.

Vévé are symbols traditionally used to call forth the Loa. Priests (Houngans) and priestesses (Mambos) create sacred diagrams from cornmeal and various powders to invoke the energies of specific deities. The square and compass is reflected in the Vévé of the Loa Ayizan and Véve of the spirits of the dead known as ‘Ghede’. In Vodou the square and compass also take on the meaning of symbolizing the male and feminine united together. One writer has pointed out that the Vévé for the Loa Ayizan Velekete not only appears very similar to the square and compass with its overlay of the letter ‘a’ and v’ but has a philosophical component that speaks to Masonic concepts as well. Ayizan Velekete is the protector of the temple and ritual purity and acts as the defender of morality. In the Craft the square and compass speaks to ideals of squaring our actions as we reach for purity and morality (Robinson 2013). The Masonic patron saint of John the Baptist also takes an important role in Haitian Vodou. Legendary Vodou priest and scholar Max Beavior claimed that John the Baptist taught Jesus the secrets of Vodou. His importance is also reflected in a traditional Vodou song. As St. John’s Day is a celebrated holiday in Masonic culture it is also celebrated in Haitian Vodou.

Legrace Benson in the work Nou La, We Here: Remembrance and Power in the Arts of Haitian Vodou speaks of how the Masonic ‘All Seeing Eye’ can be seen in some of the elaborate sequined flags (Drapos) used in Haitian Vodou. Benson claims the image came from Jesuits and Freemasons that came to Haiti. (One particular Vodou priestess I spoke to claims that Freemasonry introduced the Kabballah and the use of sigils to Vodou.) There are some historical accounts that speak of examples of esoteric imagery such as the tetragrammaton and all seeing eye found in the ritual décor of Vodou temples in Haiti.

Masonic tradition is believed to have affected the manner in which some Vodou ceremonies are conducted. Milo Rigaud in his book Secrets of Voodoo states “The older houngan requests the assistance of two other houngans — the oldest he can find-by virtue of the esoteric prescription that holds three masons together form a regular lodge”.

Secret Societies There are secret societies that exist in Haitian Vodou culture such as the Bizango and Sanpwèl societies. Masonic references abound in these cultures with the membership in both societies observing 33 ranks as in Scottish Rite Freemasonry.

Members of these societies utilize a number of forms of coded recognition. Anthropologist Wade Davis notes that many of the societies such as the Bizango society utilize a number of signs and signals upon entering and exiting ritual spaces and in greeting each other. There is an interesting use of symbolic ‘reversal’ in giving and receiving such signs. Ethnologist Andrew Aptar concludes that “Many reversals play in Masonic symbols and even handshakes, suggesting an appropriation of European or Creole signs of power and value through secondary coding.”

Temples The traditional Vodou temple is known as the Houmfort. The main ritual area where most ceremonies occur is known as the Peristyle and much like Masonic lodges has specific pieces of architecture that symbolize various spiritual principles.

Legrace Benson speaks of a Bizango ceremony where the All Seeing Eye of Providence is painted on the central pole (Poto Mitan) in the temple . She also documented the leader of a Sanpwèl society adorning his temple with photographs of himself in Masonic regalia as well as various lodge symbols. She also observed the leader wearing a white Masonic apron while creating a spiritual bath. Benson also observed wooden coffins used by many of the secret societies that are placed by sacred altars. The coffin is a symbol in Freemasonry used to represent death and resurrection.

As a Freemason and a student of African studies I am fascinated by the meeting of these two worlds. I am reminded that both traditions contain elements that are kept as secrets in order to preserve their wisdom. I am reminded that both traditions have survived years of persecution and demonization from those who live in fear and ignorance. Lastly, I am reminded that both traditions have maintained a sacred lineage that has provided community, guidance and fulfillment for thousands of initiates.”

Sources Avengers of the New World, Laurent Dubois, Belknap Press, 2004

Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti, Maya Deren, McPherson, 1983

Face of the Gods: Art and Altars of Africa and the African Americas, Robert F. Thompson, Museum for African Art, 1993

Freemasonry and Vodou, Journal of the Vodou, 2013

Hegel, Haiti and Universal History, Susan Buck Morss, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009

Institut de la Maison Impériale ď Haïti, http://www.imperialhaiti.fr/the-haitian-empire/freemasonry/

Morin’s Book Plate, Josef Wäges, The Plumbline: The Quarterly Bulletin of the Scottish Rite Research Society, Spring 2017, Volume 24, №1

On African Origin: Creolization and Connaissance in Haitian Vodou, Andrew Aptar, American Ethnologist, Vol. 29, №2 (May, 2002), pp. 233–260

Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodu, Donald J. Cosentino, University of California Museum, 1995

Secrets of Voodoo, Milo Rigaud, City Lights Publishers, 2001

The Exile’s Song: Edmond Dédé and the Unfinished Revolutions of the Atlantic World, Sally McKee, Yale University Press, 2017

The Plantation Machine: Atlantic Capitalism in French Saint Domingue and British Jamaica (The Early Modern Americas), Trevor Burnard, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018

Voodoo in Haiti, Alfred Métraux, Pantheon, 1989

#Haiti #vodun #houngan #Vodou #loa #mamba #freemasons #freemasonry #Lost Keys of Freemasonry #Haitian Vodou #Jean-Jacques Dessalines #Yoruba #mambo #Loa Ayizan #Ghede #Baron Samedi #Resources

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megahistorynut · 4 years

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#BehindTheTruth #WorkingWithGov.

Part 3:

{The following morning, I got dressed and had some breakfast. I was looking over the papers I had. Something caught my eyes, it was the letter I had gotten from my mother. It was the one that detailed my father's death and how she was hidden when it had happened. It has been three years now that he was killed but I had not known who had done it. I had thought it was a gang never in a million years. I read the letter twice but the part of who really did it I read that part at least three or four times now. I couldn’t believe what I had read, I picked up the phone to call my mother to hear it from her but she didn't answer when I called.

My mother finally answers the phone and tells me she is outside of my door. I open the door and my mom Helena walks in. We sat and talked for hours about the letter I had and learned how my father was really killed. I couldn't believe that he was killed by a group of lesser whatever that is.

Later on that day I went to the Caldwell police station to file a report of the killing. Some of the police officers look at me as if I was crazy. I end up walking away from them till a man stops me to speak to me about what I was really doing to talk to these people. I learned his name is Mharcus and he will help me with my report. We left the station and headed to his place to talk, once we arrived we sat in his living room to talk.

I spent hours explaining to Mhacurs about what I knew about my father killing. Mhacrus looked at me as he was going to do something but stop. Mhacrus ends up offering me a job when I tell him all about the history stuff I know. I agree to his offer and work for him, it seemed like the best bet to work with him to get these people killed for what they did to my family.

After leaving Mhacrus place, the more likely one of his drivers took me home. My mother was still here when I told her about the job from this government agent. She was happy that I found someone to help her look into this. My mother and I spent hours on the information I had on vampires and what one of my colleagues had on them as well.

I had shown my mother the ancient symbol for the vampires, the Egyptian ankh. The look that my mother had told me something but I knew to not ask her till she was ready to tell me whatever it was on her own time. I knew that my mom knew what the symbol meant and I knew not to push her to tell me things. My mother was a symbology expert just as me and sometimes we work together. If this ankh was what my mother reminded me it could be, I still couldn't place this thing to them.

I wasn’t sure if this ankh was connected somehow to vampires. There had to be another way to prove this and I didn’t know how not yet anyway. The more I look at this ankh the more it looks like it was true. I went to my library to look for some books that I had gotten from my travels but these few books I had were written in some weird language which I still have not been able to figure out. I had even talked to my mother about them and she couldn't figure them out. I was thinking of either making a few copies and have one of my colleagues look them over to see if they knew of the language or not. I could tell it was old but whoever wrote it could use some kind of different way of writing.

I went over to my desk to see if I could remember where I had found these books. I was searching my papers when one of the papers caught my eye of ancient Babylonia that talked about one of its first demons that became a vampire. There was a legend of Lilith/Lilitu (and a type of spirit of the same name) originally arose from Sumer, where she was described as an infertile "beautiful maiden" and was believed to be a harlot and vampire who, after having chosen a lover, would never let him go. Lilitu (or the Lilitu spirits) was considered to be an anthropomorphic bird-footed, wind or night demon and was often described as a sexual predator who subsisted on the blood of babies and their mothers. Other Mesopotamian demons such as the Babylonian goddess Lamashtu, (Sumer's Dimme) and Gallu of the Uttuke group are mentioned as having vampiric natures.

Lamashtu is a historically older image that left a mark on the figure of Lilith. Many incantations invoke her as a malicious "Daughter of Heaven" or of Anu, and she is often depicted as a terrifying blood-sucking creature with a lion's head and the body of a donkey. Akin to Lilitu, Lamashtu primarily preyed on newborns and their mothers. She was said to watch pregnant women vigilantly, particularly when they went into labor.

Then there was more information in Ancient Greek mythology containing several precursors to modern vampires, though none were considered undead; these included the Empusa, Lamia, and striges (the strix of Ancient Roman mythology). Over time the first two terms became general words to describe witches and demons respectively. Empusa was the daughter of the goddess Hecate and was described as a demonic, bronze-footed creature. She feasted on blood by transforming into a young woman and seduced men as they slept before drinking their blood. Lamia was the daughter of King Belus and a secret lover of Zeus. However Zeus' wife Hera discovered this infidelity and killed all Lamia's offspring; Lamia swore vengeance and preyed on young children in their beds at night, sucking their blood.

Like Lamia, the striges feasted on children, but also preyed on adults. They were described as having the bodies of crows or birds in general, and were later incorporated into Roman mythology as strix, a kind of nocturnal bird that fed on human flesh and blood. The Romanian vampire breed named Strigoï has no direct relation to the Greek striges, but was derived from the Roman term strix, as is the name of the Albanian Shtriga and the Slavic Strzyga, though myths about these creatures are more similar to their Slavic equivalents. Greek vampiric entities are seen once again in Homer's epic Odyssey. In Homer's tale, the undead are too insubstantial to be heard by the living and cannot communicate with them without drinking blood first. In the epic, when Odysseus journeyed into Hades, he was made to sacrifice a black ram and a black ewe so that the shades there could drink its blood and communicate.

Then there was more in India, tales of vetalas, ghoul-like beings that inhabit corpses, are found in old Sanskrit folklore.The vetala is described as an undead creature who, like the bat associated with modern-day vampirism, hangs upside down on trees found on cremation grounds and cemeteries. Pishacha, the returned spirits of evil-doers or those who died insane, also bear vampiric attributes.

The Hebrew word "Alukah" (literal translation is "leech") is synonymous with vampirism or vampires, as is "Motetz Dam" (literally, "blood sucker").

Later vampire traditions appear among diaspora Jews in Central Europe, in particular the medieval interpretation of Lilith. In common with vampires, this version of Lilith was held to be able to transform herself into an animal, usually a cat, and charm her victims into believing that she is benevolent or irresistible.However, she and her daughters usually strangle rather than drain victims, and in the Kabbalah, she retains many attributes found in vampires. A late 17th- or early 18th-century Kabbalah document was found in one of the Ritman library's copies of Jean de Pauly's translation of the Zohar. The text contains two amulets, one for male (lazakhar), the other for female (lanekevah). The invocations on the amulets mention Adam, Eve, and Lilith, Chavah Rishonah and the angels—Sanoy, Sansinoy, Smangeluf, Shmari'el, and Hasdi'el. A few lines in Yiddish are shown as dialog between the prophet Elijah and Lilith, in which she has come with a host of demons to kill the mother, take her newborn and "to drink her blood, suck her bones and eat her flesh". She informs Elijah that she will lose power if someone uses her secret names, which she reveals at the end.

There was so many in Various regions of Africa have folkloric tales of beings with vampiric abilities: in West Africa the Ashanti people tell of the iron-toothed and tree-dwelling asanbosam, and the Ewe people of the adze, which can take the form of a firefly and hunts children. The Eastern Cape region of South Africa has the impundulu, which can take the form of a large taloned bird and can summon thunder and lightning, and the Betsileo people of Madagascar tell of the ramanga, an outlaw or living vampire who drinks the blood and eats the nail clippings of nobles.

The Loogaroo is an example of how a vampire belief can result from a combination of beliefs, a mixture of French and African Vodu or voodoo. The term Loogaroo possibly comes from the French loup-garou (meaning 'werewolf') and is common in the culture of Mauritius. However, the stories of the Loogaroo are widespread through the Caribbean Islands and Louisiana in the United States.[80] During the late 18th and 19th centuries, there was a widespread belief in vampires in parts of New England, particularly in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut. There are many documented cases of families disinterring loved ones and removing their hearts in the belief that the deceased was a vampire who was responsible for sickness and death in the family, although the term "vampire" was never actually used to describe the deceased.

The deadly disease tuberculosis, or "consumption" as it was known at the time, was believed to be caused by nightly visitations on the part of a dead family member who had died of consumption themselves. The most famous, and most recently recorded, case of suspected vampirism is that of nineteen-year-old Mercy Brown, who died in Exeter, Rhode Island in 1892. Her father, assisted by the family physician, removed her from her tomb two months after her death and her heart was cut out and burnt to ashes.

Legends of female vampire-like beings who can detach parts of their upper body occur in the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia. There are two main vampire-like creatures in the Philippines: the Tagalog Mandurugo ("blood-sucker") and the Visayan manananggal ("self-segmenter"). The mandurugo is a variety of the aswang that takes the form of an attractive girl by day, and develops wings and a long, hollow, thread-like tongue by night. They use an elongated proboscis-like tongue to suck fetuses off pregnant women. They also prefer to eat entrails (specifically the heart and the liver) and the phlegm of sick people. The manananggal is described as being an older, beautiful woman capable of severing its upper torso in order to fly into the night with huge bat-like wings and prey on unsuspecting, sleeping pregnant women in their homes. The tongue is used to suck up blood from a sleeping victim.

I had so many books on vampires that I picked up on my travels around the world, on my last trip I was in Alexandria, Egypt. I went to the great library of Alexandria well now it is called the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which functions as a modern library and cultural center, commemorating the original Library of Alexandrina. When I was there that was where I found a lot of the books that I was able to bring home with me just as long as I would send them back home. That was till I had a talk to the president of Egypt about my research I was doing on the books and that I would be using some of the books in my classroom. I would also teach a class of ancient Egyptian mythology to any of the students from Egypt. That is how I have these books, well some of them. The mysterious books that I did find were not in Egypt's great library but in two libraries one in London and one in Italy. The more I learned of this town, I learned that it had a mix of many cultures, from other countries.

I came out of my thoughts when my phone ping with a text message, it was from Mhacrus that he was asking me to come to the police station. I texted him back asking him what it was really about? I waited for his response, which was that there was some strange symbol that he wanted me to help explain what it is and what it means. I told him that I was coming in to see it and see if I can help him.

#WorkingWithGov

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kemetic-dreams · 3 years

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There is a saying, from the Africans in Haiti “You European go to church and speak about God, We dance in the Temple and become God.”-African Proverb Music and dance were highly valued in ancient Egyptian culture, but they were more important than is generally thought: they were integral to creation and communion with the gods and, further, were the human response to the gift of life and all the experiences of the human condition. Dancers were not relegated only to temples, however, and provided a popular form of entertainment throughout Egypt. Dancing was associated equally with the elevation of religious devotion and human sexuality and earthly pleasures. In Egyptian theology, sex was simply another aspect of life and had no taint of ‘sin’ attached to it. This same paradigm was observed in fashion for both male and female dancers. Women often wore little clothing or sheer dresses, robes, and skirts. In the African worldview, dance is a conduit of individual and community healing. African conceptualizations of illness and health integrate social, spiritual, physical and mental realms, all of which are impacted by trauma. The Vodou drumming rituals call upon abstract ancestral spirits, called Loas (or Lwas), for their aid, instruction, special powers and strengths as embodiment of certain principles or characteristics. While certain aspects of this religion may share the same roots, it is completely contrary to the stereotype of black magic, witch doctors, pins in dolls, and zombies portrayed by New Orleans style Voodoo (a variation of the name). The Vodou drumming rituals call upon abstract ancestral spirits, called Loas (or Lwas), for their aid, instruction, special powers and strengths as embodiment of certain principles or characteristics. While certain aspects of this religion may share the same roots, it is completely contrary to the stereotype of black magic, witch doctors, pins in dolls, and zombies portrayed by New Orleans style Voodoo (a variation of the name). There are so many subtleties and complexities in Haitian drumming, particularly in its relation to the rites and rituals of Vodou, that an overview of this kind cannot truly describe them in any detail. For instance, many of the rhythms have variations, each with their own subtitles, each assisting different loa. A good example of this is found in the Mahi rhythm - Mahi Darielle, Mahi Japeté and Mahi Deté are all variations of Mahi Simp (from the French Simple). However, some discussion of forms and techniques involved is essential. An extremely important aspect of the performance of this music is the Kasé (from the French Casser, to break). The kasé is a break from the main cycle of the rhythm into a kind of alter-ego rhythm, usually instigated by the maman drum. In some cases, all the drums respond to the kasé with their respective changes, but often it is only the maman who will change, or at least the change in the segon is more subtle. Some kasé patterns stray quite far from the main rhythm, some create a counter pulse to it and others still remain fairly rooted in the pulse. Every rhythm has a kasé, and every kasé has its own way to enter and exit from the main line. Dancers also change their steps to follow the kasé. The kasé is typically played to assist with aspects of the Vodou ritual, such as pouring libations before the drums. Sometimes these are cued by the officiating priests, sometimes by the maman player himself. However, the most dramatic use of the kasé is to facilitate spiritual possession. If the maman player recognizes the physical signs at the inception of a possession of one of the servants or dancers, he will play a heated kasé to entice the loa and may keep up the intense drumming of the kasé until the chwal in question is fully possessed. The drums of Vodou employ techniques completely unique to the style. One of the most dramatic and difficult techniques to master is called the Siyé (from the French essuyer, to wipe). With this technique the drummer (usually a segon player) wipes the drum from the edge to the centre using the tips of his index finger, often with the thumb behind for support. As the finger rubs across the drumhead, a moaning sound is produced. The technique is employed as an embellishment on congas and is often referred to as a “Moose Call”. While the tone is very tricky to learn, it is even harder to do in the rapid succession which is required for some rhythms. Vodou rites are done to call upon spirits, called Loas (or Lwas), for their aid, instruction, special powers and strengths. Loas are ancestral spirits who have become abstracted through the generations to become embodiments of certain principles or characteristics. A great feast is often prepared to entice the Loas to attend. Practitioners of the religion wear white clothes and are assisted by Ougan and Manbo (male and female Vodou priests, respectively) to become “possessed” by the loas. Through singing, dancing, and particularly the music of the drums, spirits come to “ride” their mortal hosts. The analogy of someone riding, and thereby controlling, a horse is given as an explanation of this phenomenon. The word Chwal (from the French cheval) is used to describe one who is “being ridden”. Spirits impart wisdom and direction through their chwals for the servants of the faith. The loas are divided up into several nanchons (from the French nations), families of spirits from the same ethnic group and/or serving a similar function. The most prominent nanchons are Rada, Nago, Djouba, Petwo (also written Petro), Kongo, Ibo, and Gède. Traditionally each one of these nanchons would have had particular rites, rhythms and adherents. They even would have had their own drums that were unique to that nanchon to call upon its loas. These drum sets are known as batterie (from the French for “set of drums”). Today, due to economic constrictions and social and geographic changes, the drums from the Rada batterie are the most common, with the Petwo drums also extant. Below is an overview of the several nanchons, the qualities and origins of their laws, and the rhythms and dances associated with their rites. Rada - The loas of this nanchon are strong, but benevolent, balanced in their treatment of their servants. These are the most revered spirits, and many Vodou rituals begin with adulations for them. They originate from the Fon people of Dahomey (present day Benin). In Fact, the word Vodou comes from the Fon word for “God”. There are many loas in this group. To name a few: Papa Legba – Guardian of the Crossroads; Marassa – twin spirits who represent childhood; Dambala – the serpent spirit who represents energy and life; Ezili Freda – spirit of love and femininity; Lasirèn – mistress of the sea and music. Rhythm and dance styles played for the Rada nanchon include: Yanvalou, Parigol, Zepol, Mahi, Fla Voudou and Daomé. Nago - The loas of this nanchon represent power. Its members embody attributes of warriors and leaders. They originate from the Yoruba people of south-western Nigeria and are closely associated with Ogun (sometimes written Ogou), the Yoruba Blacksmith-God. The loas in this group have names starting with Ogun, like Ogun Fèray and Ogun Badagri. As such, they are represented by steel and fire. The Nago rites are replete with military imagery. These spirits give masculine, fatherly council and support. The rhythm and dance style associated with these rites is also called Nago. Djouba - The loas of this nanchon are connected to cultivation and farming. They personify peasants, both in appearance and manner. It is surmised that this nanchon comes from the island of Martinique. The principal loa for this group is Azaka. The rhythms and dance styles associated with this nanchon are Djouba (Matinik) and Abitan. Petwo - The loas of this nanchon are aggressive, demanding, quick and protective. The origins of this nanchon are unclear, but many believe them to be the spirits of the original slaves and Haiti’s indigenous people (The Taino – almost completely wiped out after European contact), a sort of “home-grown” family of spirits. These spirits were called upon during the slave revolts beginning in 1791 which ultimately led to the defeat of Napoleons troops in 1803 and independence in 1804. The name might be derived from a slave priest of mixed African and Spanish Blood name Don Pedro who was one of the rebellion’s leaders. One of the loas in this nanchon bears his name (Jean Petwo). Another, Ezili Danto - sister to Ezili Freda in the Rada nanchon - is a spirit of love, but with a penchant for violence or revenge. The rhythm and dance styles associate with Petwo include Petwo, Makiya, Bumba, Makanda, and Kita. Kongo - The loas of this nanchon are ancestors of the Bantu people of the Congo river basin. These spirits are gracious, and enjoy song and dance. In fact, music played for the Kongo nanchon is unique in that it is also popular in secular settings. In vodou worship houses called tanp (from the French temple) dolls representing these spirits are displayed adorned in brightly coloured clothing. Sprits include Kongo Zando and Rwa Wangol. The rhythm and dance style associated with this nanchon goes by the same name. Ibo – The loas of this nanchon are from the Ibo people in south-eastern Nigeria. Their chief attributes are pride, to the point of arrogance, and are difficult to satisfy. These spirits preside over sacred items called Kanari, clay pots in which the soul of the initiate is said to reside during ritual possession. The best known loa of this group is Ibo Lélé (the chatterer). The rhythm and dance style associated with this nanchon also goes by the same name. Gède - The loas of this nanchon are the spirits eroticism and death. More accurately they control the cycle of death and life. They are represented by figures in black with white faces. They are also tricksters. The most famous loa of this nanchon is Baron Samedi. He is macabre, obscene and lives in cemeteries. Other loas include Gède Nibo, Baron Lakwa and Gède Zarien. The Vodou ceremony almost always ends with the rites for Gède nanchon. The rhythm and dance style associated with this nanchon is called Banda. While these seven nanchons all have their distinct attributes, in a more general way the nanchons are divided into two branches, each of which takes its name from one of the nanchons within it. While there is no consensus on this point, it can generally be argued that the Rada branch includes Rada, Nago and Djouba, and the Petwo branch includes Petwo, Kongo, Ibo and Gède. Some people place Djouba under the Petwo Branch, and some others consider the Kongo branch its own entity. For the purposes of drumming, we will use the two-branch differentiation, as rhythms most rhythms being played in non traditional contexts today use either the Rada or Petro batterie. The Rada batterie and The Petwo batterie display as much contrast as the loas of the nanchon branches for which they play. The table below will illustrate some of the differences When slave owners forced their Catholic beliefs and saints on them, slaves continued their worship in secret, linking each saint to an African deity and praying to them. “The slave owners wanted to suppress the religion because they were afraid of the supernatural,” said Carrol F. Coates, a professor of French and comparative literature at the State University of New York in Binghamton who translates Haitian books into English. “They feared to some extent that the spirits could actually have an impact in their world.”

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connectingthediaspora · 5 years

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Mama Tchamba is a “voodoo cult” dedicated to the memory of slavery. Africans in the south, including Ewes, Aja, Mina, and Akan, enslaved many northerners during the African Diaspora and beyond. Tchamba is a geographical region and the name of a central-northern ethnic group in Togo. As kola nuts, cowry shells, and other commodities flowed north, slaves flowed south. These amefleflewo (bought people) married into Ewe lineages and helped to make to make them prosper. These slaves often died violent and premature deaths (vumeku) and thus their spirits are unappeased and continue to affect the lives of Ewe and Mina adepts today. Through possession, sacrifice, and reconciliation, the Ewes seek to honor and remember these spirits, in order to create stability in the present. When the northern slave spirits come on the heads of Ewe adepts, they speak northern tongues, request northern food and beverages, and more—thus, making the past present by remembering past injustices, and making for a more humane and whole person. Filmed in 2001 by Dr. Eric Montgomery Recommended Reading: Sacred Slaves: Tchamba Vodu in Southern Togo Dr. Eric Montgomery and Dr. Christian Vannier Journal of Africana Religions, January 2016, Penn State Press Johns Hopkins Press Our mission at CultureRealm is to utilize anthropology and filmmaking to facilitate an inclusive and culturally informed world.

#togo #African Diaspora #african religion #african spirtuality

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hedgewitchgarden · 4 years

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"'You must stop your Satanic idol-worship,' 'You devil worshipper,' 'You will go to Hell.' These are all common derogatory comments I have received as a third-generation practitioner of Vodu, an ancient West African spiritual and herbal practice, mostly by Christians that preached their faith on me. At first, I used to react harshly to them which normally ended in both parties arguing, sometimes even ending in insults. As I grew older, I realized that most people who hold such views have little knowledge about African history or spiritual traditions. In this article, I will shed light on some reasons why African spiritual and herbal traditions like Vodu have historically been and continue to be stigmatized and associated with Satan or the devil." - Sena Voncujovi, "Why African Spirituality Became Associated With Satan"

Image description: A character from Disney's THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG in a top hat and holding a pin is preparing to stick the pin into a doll.

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abtoddler · 4 years

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I went to lay down an hour ago, but i was working on a post for my projects. I have to post it here as the reason I was able to do this safely in the early years, and only through the support of big brother and daddy, and all my roomies and friends from across the years.

Thank you all, and i need help to explore futher this project.

Hiya all!!

Ive just come out of a wonderful training weekend with one of my apprentices and it was a wonderful success. I would like to scale the possible amount of people and have looked at the presskit for the handlery in san diego, and with the launch of the book pact, which describes the community goals, and each of the other 6 books to accompany it as the rainbow library.

I have to say that I’m trying to figure out a reasonable valuation for my projects. I would love feedback from anyone if you see an area I’ve been missing:

The first week im planning for people to study is a rough exploration of each of the 14 books I will have written by the time the school is accepting students. Each week of a 3 month course has been started to be blocked out with a week to cover the most useful parts of each of the books; including the content pages, what the function of it is for, and all of it tied back into social responsibility that will be handled through the Academy of Sorcery, which is a 501 that ive set up to become the “training ground” for dialog, application, and testing for community works, innovative business development networks, and working with other businesses to establish remote training or provide people a place where they can learn any of the requirements of the businesses in order to be trained staff of those businesses/ or able to begin their own businesses. Repeating this model to get folks trained up in each of the various trades and other such things. The sorcery division of the Academy is my background. However, the application of it that I have to shake up the status quo is strategically done in order to work on the much larger issues of the development that people of the generations lack. Specifically those folks who are hungry for work, and will absorb training via their motivation to become their own forces to be reckoned with.

I am not building this alone, my head master is selected amongst one next generation of elder leadership in the African traditions of Vodu, Palo, Santeria, and Qimbisa. He is, one of my close friends who has been at the head of testing and integrating my methods with his, in order to increase the efficacy of the work which comes from the community. I seek to replicate this process for experienced workers, and folks in these kinds of communities.

This method of immersive work, and personal development is what I am doing through the connections of those Spirits, to concepts which services the needs of those forces to regain communion with the living. The Books I have written, come at the tail of the construction of a community services organization never took off the ground which I would very much like to restore: if people are willing.

In the book Empires, which I am currently drafting, I would like to take the opportunity to create a dialog with others here, business owners, mentorship possibility for anyone who would be willing to help me build this.

The model is Not for you to train in my methods or way of doing things which may be counter to your path as everyones religion is their own. My choices and the type of work I am trying to develop by testing this in those isolated communities which are not generally accessible to the public has proven itself. I am looking for folks i can work with who would be willing to help me work out the details for the leadership forward using the Academy as a model to explore development of trades, crafts, and businesses.

This model is for, coming together as individuals whose shared drive, goals, and projects can move us forward as a people. We share this earth with so many kinds of people, so many types of life. We are each on a variety of paths forward. If you would like to work together to figure out how, to come together.

How your businesses and trainings can fit into this coexisting community, so that together your trainings, your explorations, and your experiences can help those who need something to tangibly serve their own desires. But in a way where there is integrity, and community development and in many cases redevelopment of infrastructure which has been severely damaged by abuses from “leadership” mismanagement.

My hope is to stir the conversation so that those who are interested in joining together so that we can all work together to help those who have a need, so that each of our stories can find their way to those who need them. To

Market this not just as the material of the Rainbow library, but as a network joined by the aims of the library, and the academy to serve as my record of this attempt. I have been working on this since I was in high school. Trying to find solutions to the lacking of training that others and myself didn’t have to prepare us for the world.

The background in doing this came when My life fell to shit shortly after a bunch of horrible things led me to try and run away in the most creative of ways. I did steal a boat. So technically as a pirate, my entire life since has been through traveling across this country working my way through the various subcultures. My employment has been in the adult retail sector frankly because when I went to be promoted to assistant manager of pier 1, their corporate office fired me.

I was working 2 jobs at the time, there unloading the trucks 2 times a week at 530 am with a few others. At the same time I was working for a woman and her daughter who pretty much hired me on the spot. Working my way up to doing every odd job on my days off of the shop in order to earn overtime. Which was what led me into what kicked off my first book series, The Codex Arcanum, volume 1 & 2. These were designed to be training guides for a company whose first goal was to provide folks: religious non denominational offerings to community members so that they could begin to become independent and set their intentions on their studies and their businesses which they sought to grow into whatever their interests were in.

I had at the time two friends Julie and Fatima, who helped me draft out the entirity of the Orders of the Templi Nox corporation. It was to be a sales venue, and training space for the categories of spiritual development in the Order of the Night. The medicines/health: of the order of the Day. With the order of the twilight being business development. We set up each layer, the business plan will be included in Empires. This thing was to big for me to do alone, but after 3 years drafting, and working it. They each stepped away to their various activities. In their period of removal from this, I wrote the Grimoire of Arts, 2011/12, which is my best selling book at one time was #1 in two categories on amazon.

Since then there are 4 unpublished grimoires which are the basis for my personal methods of completing a system of sorcery which combines the material from cuniform tablets described in the ancient Greek Manuscripts and papyri examples from 3000 years back, with material from the judaic texts of the 1300s in sources like the Sefer Ha-lavanah, or the book of the moon, and other renaissance writers whose works have only recently been translated by folks in the last 30 years. With examples from texts on astrology, and esoteric thought from the late 1700s through to the modern day. I have set up a working system of operations whose focus is not specifically on the religious orders, but the social anthropology and the need for the return of a holistic community model that cultivates the needed elements within communities.

This work has taken me 20 years to contemplate and put everything I have ever done into focus for testing these concepts. There is more than money on the line with this type of project, it requires that good folks who are hungry for the day to come where the word doesn’t suck. Every job I have taken, every friend that I have made, the people in my life who are my family come from seeking this path forward.

The foundation for Empires, is the people. So this is where I am, asking for help. Who is willing to help, not with what spirituality does to the individual. That is their road to walk, but rather what a holistic approach to redesigning a social platform, a business community, educational resources, skills training, and mentorship to provide better communities where we can bring back the days when we knew our neighbors. Where good people who take in strays like myself and teach and provide jobs to those who the “many” do not want.

I have been stuck in a chronic pain condition for the better part of 7 years, my ability to grow this concept has been limited. I need help for community development. As writers, thinkers, speakers, and community relationships are not my strong suit due to my health issues/physical limitations. I am trying to find creative ways to bring my work to market, which is the work of helping provide a place where folks can study and learn.

Of those ideas:

If you offer a course for training people, you are welcome to get set up on theacademyofsorcery.com website. So that folks who can have a need for that training you provide so they can reach out to you as our kin in operations. While providing a short paragraph and a link on your page providing a return link to the academy providing possible interests with the means to connect with us, and my friends who are setting this up with me. We are coming from all corners of the country: Maine, Florida, Kansas, Washington, Oklahoma, California.

My apprentice who was here in California has graciously introduced his daughter to the project because she has a farm in Wisconsin that grows food for the homeless vets. While her partner has a background in coding which will be a paid royalty to him if he takes on building the app, which will allow folks to search for everything I have written, everything that is business related, as well as the purpose of the academy: Training videos from those leaders who wish to onboard with me in this process.

Where folks will pay the masters of the field, those folks who run businesses like the Philosophers Stone mineral store here in Ocean Beach, providing video lessons which will become available to purchase on the Academys training pages.

This opens up the employee that was volunteered by the shop owner, to a network he can build relationships with, the shop owner who will be able to cater to the unique needs of my community works/and any collector for her curated collection of rare minerals and the properties they represent.

We are all in a place where we have much to offer, but I am working on the tangible expressions of these by using my Academy for training, development and the donation of time that is required for brainstorming ideas, experimenting with them, and working together with many resources that come from knowing trades, friends in import/export, contacts in other countries for manufacturing, and other business owners. As well as ways to contribute to the education and cultivation of people who become our employees. Training them in all operations of our respective trades.

My service is to produce and cultivate sorcery for those who seek it. My desire is to have as many folks on board with this as possible.

The final book of my rainbow library of Sorcery is Hand: the ways of many. This post, as well as the works and histories of everyone who is going to help with this idea, to figure out ways we can all come together. Many are the hands which make light the work.

I am looking to finish my project, and would love feedback, or help to pull this off. Pact, represents the community requirments, that if people apply any concept they are required to fulfill some social development and provide some exchange for their learning. This is mostly as a hook to try and drive creative thought.

Emergence, is the second of the series providing the spellcraft and rituals that I have used to do my aforementioned projects, and how they function for focusing the paths of life ahead.

Breaking Clay, is the book of personal development, the changes I have had to go through, and experiences which result from inviting energies into my life that are reflected in direct manifestation aligned with the texts from so long ago. People do not change, its the “theme” of work that has always been. They want to love their partners, they want justice for slights against them, they want violence against those who have sought injury to them. I have worked for clients for years with all sorts of issues.

The Unencumbered represents evocation and method for interaction with these ancient representations in ways which are tested from client works, or by those folks like Keith, which are Initiated into places I have no right to be apart of, aside from my tenacity to stamp out fraud, corruption, and abuses in those communities by those unscrupulous fuckers who abuse women, the ancestors, and provide antiquated antisocial hatred which serves no purpose when used relentlessly against folks who cannot change things like their way to love, or the color of their skin, or the parents they were born to, or the lack of opportunity due to conditions outside of their control. People should hate this, with a fire that will finally restore peace, because by eliminating the systems of hate, through the necessity of the drive that comes from this internal revulsion to corruption, that is when things begin to change for the better.

Hand, i have talked about; all of the gates, threshold spell craft and ritual bring aligned in similar ways to those of a reiki master is to the spirit of Mt. Fuji, we can use these to change ourselves. These are the methods I have used create this project in full. These are what has allowed me to work directly with those folks whose paths are clad in oaths which remain unbroken, of those most private sacred secrets, but yet shared with me through my seeking the many to help with this project.

The 6th book is the Empires; where this concept I have written about today shares with the world these ideas.

The thaumaturgic Art;7th is the entire method for each of my 2 week courses for introduction to the method, the break down of the 12 categories of magic, and who is helping me in the school’s division, and how each day of the 3 month course will be taught, totaling 72 lessons which I have used across my life and this country seeking a way to establish this model of training so others can replicate it, and the reasons behjnd each lesson, each month, and each day of those 3 years in the academy itself.

The 3 volumes of the Thaumaturgic Craft including the exact methods and reasons why I have created this entire system. Which is only going to be available to those folks who would become my Teachers, offering their services under the Academy as instructors. Not for the propagation of the method, but for their interpretation and application. Which they must demonstrate, and with Keith, as the Headmaster who had himself replicated this process integration of method while I was crafting these notes. These will be for instructors only.

So, now its come to it, when I look to you for help. You each have projects, you each have special interests and we all can work together, and create a path forward which embodies the trust, and care that responsibilities are shared by everyone to make better the world then we have found it. I am not satisfied with how this world has been left by those who are in the drivers seat. I believe that a change is required.

How we seek peace, how we seek community and the freedoms to explore ourselves fully with those who wish to do the same. These are what my academy is for.

Please help with feedback, and if you have seen something which I have left out of my models. I would love to work with everyone who would be willing to help me. Any help is much appreciated.

I have made wonderful friends who are my brothers and sisters in art, friends and family who I do business with, and most importantly this is my attempt to drive the functional and realistic goals of my businesses, my community responsibilities and provide education and a safe environment where people can explore their own desires freely.

Thank you for your time in reading this, and any help is much welcomed. Only together can this be pulled off in ways which I cannot fathom. Please help me bring clarity and unity of intent to those who seek this way as an option.

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