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Monday, September 30, 2013

Grimoires then and now (31-HP Day 1)

In the olden days
Grimoires were jealously guarded
Hidden among other tomes of lore.
Barbarous names
Strange god names
Binds of demons
Wings of angels
All recorded and written down
For the use of the Master of the Mysteries.
Expounded upon in detail
By master to apprentice
Under the seal of secrecy.
Fears of the noose and fiery stake
Kept them rare as dragon's teeth.

Yesteryear
Grimoires were little known
Translated by great occultists.
Astrological lore
Kabbalistic mysteries
Pagan beliefs
All smothered with a layer of Christ.
Reserved for those worthy ones
With eyes to see and ears to hear.
Paid for, bartered for
Hand-copied, mimeographed,
Photocopied, bound and filed.
Mythic histories and secret chiefs
Kept them as rare as Masonic handshakes.

Today and maybe tomorrow
Grimoires are knee-deep
Debated and dissected by the herd.
Fraudulent authors
Blinded symbols
Heretic beliefs
Pagan survivals
Open to all, argued by all.
Those outside the pale
Prejudge texts and adepts alike.
Scanned and pixelized
Rivers of free information.
Everyone's a master and no one's a neophyte
Keeps the grimoires unused as common sense.
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7 comments:

  1. JaneSeptember 30, 2013 at 9:55 PM

    Interesting

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sherrie St. CyrSeptember 30, 2013 at 10:04 PM

    Welcome to the challenge!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Morgan Drake EcksteinSeptember 30, 2013 at 10:17 PM

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownSeptember 30, 2013 at 10:23 PM

    Wonderful prose, loved it !

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownSeptember 30, 2013 at 10:31 PM

    I shall be reading your posts on all things occult with interest (under the bedclothes!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Educ8rSeptember 30, 2013 at 11:37 PM

    I adore your breakdown of the Grimoire through time. It is spot on. Well written. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownOctober 1, 2013 at 12:14 AM

    Well, now I will be up a while longer with the lights on; this was very dark.
    Very effective use of words.
    Welcome to the challenge.

    ReplyDelete

All comments on posts older than fourteen days are moderated--unless there is an outbreak of trolls selling their own brand of spammy goodness, in which case, I will go back to moderating all comments. Remember my cats do not like being petted by smelly trolls or eating spam--and they are the ones that I have to please. Meow!