Wrestling with my own mental health demons

One of my ongoing concerns with the occult community, and let’s be honest—the world in general, is what I can only view as an ongoing mental health crisis. I have joked on more than one occasion that one can hop onto any online occult forum and see more mental illness in an hour than your average mental health care professional sees in a week. I have also joked that the quickest way to be burned at the stake by other occultists is to suggest that meds are a viable option to treat some of the over-the-top behavior you see on such forums.

I am especially sensitive to the issue because of my own background. For years, I walked around being an untreated bi-polar with…well, let’s just say that the local community can provide a laundry list of other possible mental health issues that I might be suffering from—the most serious of which is that I have a tendency towards serial ax murdering. At least one person in my family also needed treatment—my dear mother was probably also bipolar with tendencies of serial ax murdering.

“Do you suffer from Bordenitis? Do you frequently sharpen hatchets? Do you get a crazed look in your eyes when you can’t handle the stupidity of other people anymore? Ask your health care professional about Anti-Liz. Side-effects can include, but are not limited to, overwhelming urge to eat the entire pan of brownies…”

I am happier while on meds. And I like to think that I am a nicer person when medicated…but I could be completely wrong about that one—even on meds, I have my intense moments. If nothing else, I am less prone to random ax murderings. Unfortunately, my meds are still not exactly right, due to the glacier speed that some health care systems operate (it took over an year from the time my regular doctor decided that maybe I should be on some meds to the issuing of the first prescription—the wheels of mental health care move extremely slow).

The fact that I am a better person on meds surprised me. During high school, my grades tanked. I went from being an A and B student to being a D and F student in the space of just a couple of months. What happened was that my father lost everything (car, house, etc.) in a business failure, and we were forced to move from Denver to Brush, Colorado. And my dear mother lost her mind.

Now, my mom was always a little crazy. But over the years, it got steadily worse. The loss of her house did not help any. The move to Brush corresponded to the start of what can only be politely described as child abuse. It is amazing how quick your grades can drop when you are forced to put babysitting your siblings above your homework, when violence is bestowed for any disobedience, and you are constantly called stupid and retarded for your failing grades.

The school district was concerned about my sudden drop in grades. They were worried that I might have suffered brain damage somehow. They had me tested. And I was not allowed to know what they were testing me for, nor were I told the results of the tests.

This lack of information on my end allowed my mother to con me into believing that the test results showed that I was completely and utterly insane. My mother told me that the only thing keeping me out of the nuthouse was her—therefore, I had to doubly please her. This is part was how she managed to turn turned me against the social worker that the school district assigned to deal with me.

One day, frustrated with my sudden hostility, the social worker asked me why I did not trust her, and I exploded, exclaiming how my mother told me that I was doomed to be locked away in a padded cell. At this point, the social worker told me the truth about what the tests revealed—they were IQ tests, and I was not crazy or retarded; I was gifted. But this threat that my mom used poisoned my attitude—from that point on, I refused to seek out any mental health care.

Over the years, I will admit that I grew steadily more unstable. Honestly, I am lucky that I have never actually knifed someone in a fit of uncontrollable rage. What finally broke my resistance to seeking out treatment was that another aspect of my mental illness almost killed me.

There is no one that knows me for longer than an hour, who does not know that I have self-destructive tendencies. But most do not catch onto the fact that my self-destructive tendencies include thoughts of suicide. A few years ago, I came awful close to taking my own life. Regular readers of this newsletter will remember a period a few years ago where my column did not appear for several months—well, I was under the influence of such a dark cloud that I was incapable of writing and was just one bad hour away from ending it all.

It is not something that I like to admit. And even today, I have those moments where this overwhelming cloud of darkness descends upon me, and I once again consider just stepping out of this body. I do my best to conceal this from my friends and loved ones.

So why am I talking about it today? Well, just ten days ago, my mother-in-law committed suicide. In her case, it was because of a tar ball of health issues, including chronic pain and lack of sleep (her doctor took away her sleeping pills over an year ago). She decided to end it all because she could just not handle the pain anymore. And as one might imagine that event has unleashed echoes of my own mental health issues.

I still wrestle with mental illness. And I know that I am not alone. I sincerely hope that someday that we as a society properly address the mental health care crisis that rots unseen in our society. And I hope that I live long enough to see it happen. Blessed be.

I am so counting this newsletter column towards my NovelRama word count.

Sympathy for Super Magician (death threats aplenty)

Every once in awhile, someone tells me that I should not be making jokes about the world's greatest living Adept and all-around-knows-everything-about-all-things-occult-sign-up-for-my-course-today and the bestest magical hero in the entire history of the world, the one and only David Griffin, proud Rosicrucian Imperator of HOGDOOROAO (or something like that--it is a really long name for an esoteric Order).

Often when I ask why, I get told:

"He gets death threats, and people are trying to kill him constantly, and you know that he must be working on the side of Light and good and evolving the human race because otherwise he won't be getting these threats, and people would not be trying to kill him!!!"

And my response tends to be--have you actually seen the death threats, or merely heard him claim that he is getting them? Have you actually been present during an assassination attempt, or merely heard him tell those tales?

Now if this cat was involved, I might believe it.

Let me be clear--this man claims to have gotten more death threats than the number of cats I own--and that is just one day's worth. And this has been going on for a decade at least--or so, he claims.

And while I understand how one might hate him, because he is such a charming man, so worthy of respect, so decent, so pure...

And I think that he is a proud fascist...

...who eagerly looks forward to killing those who disagree with him.

...I am not so sure that he is getting actual death threats.

In fact, I think that he might be the greatest writer of occult fiction alive today.

Or to be blunt, I think that he is making it all up.

For instance, look at the buildup to the latest death threat. In an act of principle, the man who encouraged talk of armed militias marching on Washington if Hillary Clinton won, has decided to protect a President who might have been put in office by Russian hackers poisoning the minds of voters, and who seems to be as unstable as my mother without meds---because a strong arm President is a good thing because of evil people trying to destroy the country, and because binding spells are black magic! And he did this by turning himself and his wife into lightning rod poppets.

And to endear himself to the magicians and witches doing the binding, he has told them that their political opinions do not matter (because Trump won...even if the Russians did poison the voter pool); and that anyone who disagrees with his political opinions that all Muslims and non-white immigrants should be arrested, jailed, and deported (even those who are citizens of the USA), that global warming is a hoax, and that America should not ever enter any treaties with any foreign governments, that Hillary Clinton and Obama should be arrested and shot, is a traitor to the United States.

Let me repeat that--if you disagree with his political views, then he considers you a traitor to the United States. 

And he looks forward to the "fascist death squads" who are going to kill the evil black magic using magicians and witches. He also looks forward to hanging these people like the traitors they are.

Welcome to Banana Republic South American Africa Stalin Era politics where speaking out against a politician makes you a traitor who is going to get shot by a death squad.

And the magical hero of the hour is the great and mighty David Griffin, proud fascist.

We know that he is a proud fascist because my latest crime is that I am an Antifa (which I had to look up to figure out what he was accusing me of)--something that sounds remarkably like saying someone is an enemy because they are against Nazis and Neo-Nazis, and other forms of strong arm governments.

And this great battle is happening on the astral plane with him guarding the Liberty Tree from those who might be using a binding spell as a way to get out a political message...because if you don't believe in the same wacky policies as he does, you are a traitor who does not deserve freedom of speech, or for that matter--life itself.

So watch: Magical Hero, Astral Liberty Tree, and Antifas.....and you get a death threat today from Astral Antifas--the strangest thing about is that the initials of which is A.A.....the same as an organization formed by a person that David Griffin considers the biggest traitor in the history of the occult.

I am sorry, but I think I see the fingerprints of a creative writer here.

If he is not outright lying and making up the death threat, then he at the very least was begging for an Astral Antifa to say, "Screw you!"

And this is a man who called a tire falling off the back of a truck an assassination attempt, despite the fact that anyone who worked near the shipping and construction industries could tell you that stuff falling off trucks driving down the road is a daily f**king occurrence.

He is also the man who insists that anyone who dares disagrees with him online is a paid troll working for the intelligence services involved in conspiracy...to destroy his Order.

Plus he purposely misread a joke a few years ago--a list of occultists-who-no-one-will-weep-over-when-they-die--as proof that the creators of the list were actually hiring assassins to bump him off.

So you think I should believe someone who keeps telling the same story over and over and over again that his life is in danger because he is the greatest occultist ever?

Well, let me buy you a hint. If someone really wanted him dead, there would be no threats; it would not be rigged to look like an accident; and it would not be done with magic. No, it was be a bomb or a rifle shot, and it would be over before he could blink.

No, what you are watching is nothing more than a string of fictitious conspiracy theories, peppered with evil black magic using traitorous liberals (oh, the horrors of liberals!!), and fake death threats from his imaginary enemies. And it is all about you giving him sympathy and applause for being such a great magician that the enemies of humanity must destroy him at all costs. Now go join his Order, and buy his course, and join his astral militia, and rub yourself all over as you get hot and steamy over being a foot solider in his great crusade to liberate you from the opinions of people who disagree with him.

Evil Antifa I am (Super magician might be a Fascist)

Let me see if I understand this correctly--I am an enemy because I am against Fascism. Why is Fascism a good thing?!? And why does this make me a worse person than the person who just implied that they are a Fascist (or at least, has no problem with their leaders being Fascists)? This sounds an awful lot like saying that someone is an enemy because they do not support Nazis and Neo-Nazis, and Stalin-era style Communism. And how the f**k is this person considered a better Rosicrucian than I am?

Seriously, he says that I am an Antifa...wait, what the hell is an Antifa?

I will admit that I had to look up the word--Antifa. Yes, that is right--I had no clue what he was saying about me...which is most of the time. Honestly, I avoid reading his stuff because it tends to make me wonder how this person has been elevated to the highest position in the Golden Dawn and the Western Mystery Traditions, including witchcraft and Wicca.

The short answer to that question is that he conned or self-appointed himself into high positions, misrepresented his contacts (puffing them up to be uber-secret-special-contacts), and used a free lawyer to try to destroy his competition. What he did--anyone could do--it just requires one to be a little bit of d**k***d.

And he claims to be able to speak for all of the Western Mystery Tradition. So just remember that He. Speaks. For. You. 

The insult of the week is Antifa.

And he says that I am an enemy of you and the entire world because I am an Antifa.

So basically, he believes that nations (and esoteric Orders and traditions, for that matter) should be ruled by ruthless people who crush their competition, can do whatever they want, and are in constant competition to destroy one another (in other words, he is all about the "winning" and does not care how much damage is done to other people and communities as long as his community is the Best and Greatest).

(No wonder he hates binding spells--how can people do whatever they like to, including all the nasty bad things, if they have restrictions imposed upon them?) 

Free trade agreements are bad. Efforts to stop global warming are bad. He was literally throwing his hands in the air, thanking Trump for making America great again. He believes that the United States is the greatest country in the world, and the rest of the world can go f**k itself.

I, on the other hand, am a global Rosicrucian--a lot of the problems I am seeing, in my opinion, require a global solution. And yes, that makes me your enemy.

Worried about other countries manufacturing your goods--encourage fair wages and working conditions in those foreign countries. Worried about refugees coming into your country--encourage better living conditions in those countries, and consider removing "strong arm" governments from having power there. Worried about climate change--well, it is going to require a global solution.

He will have none of this because all that matters is the short term Winning of the greatest country in the world, the United States of America. He does not care about the long term results and problems facing this world--because he is going to ascend into a glorious solar body while the rest of us drown in sorrows. He is checking out; he is not sticking around.

I, on the other hand, am coming back to this world. This world is my heaven and my underworld. I reincarnate. So the problems of today just grow into the problems of my future lives. Yes, you can embrace Heaven and skip away, or ascend in your glorious solar body with him, or make things so bad that the Messiah has to come to fix things. I don't have that option. Nor do I want it. I am a Wiccan, and my reward and punishment is to come back, to reincarnate in this world.

And because of that, I want things to improve here, on this world.

(I would also like to see mankind travel to and colonize other planets and solar systems, but that is a topic for another time.)

But that is wrong because...he says that it is wrong. And who are you to disobey your glorious leader? Go on goose-step with him into your glorious solar body evolution where you can watch and laugh as this planet drowns and humanity burns.

Remember that you have to hate Antifa because he might be a fascist.

(And even if I don't reincarnate--what type of person wants to keep the world in its current sad state of affairs? Or worse, is perfectly ok with making things worse? I believe that the term rhymes with E**l B*****d.)  

Super magician issues magical call to arms (lets hang those traitors)

David Griffin and his Witch Queen wife have issued a call for a magical militia to protect the freedoms that we enjoy in the United States.

Yes, that's right--you can join them and protect America freedom by meeting them at the astral Liberty Tree at midnight on July 25th.

Protect liberty for all unless...

You are a journalist--f**k you, you don't deserve freedom.

A Satanist--remember that Freedom of Religion bit in the Constitution? F**k you, you don't deserve freedom.

A witch who does not believe that the Threefold Law actually applies to you. F**k you for noticing that it is not a real karmic universal law and that you can do whatever you want to. Why are you not a slave to the rules that your witchy leaders put into the system to control you. F**k you for thinking that "harm none" applied to protecting people from a politician gone mad (and don't you dare read what the story actually says--because all witches forever and ever have honored the political rulers of the lands they live in--f**k you if you remember the teachings of Wicca and witchcraft differently than we do).

A daemonolator--f**k you for using demons for anything--and pay no attention to the lore of countless magicians and witches before you that said that demons could be used for something other than evil. (And f**k you if you seem to think that I once said that the qlippoth is the root of the Tree of Life, and that a magician had to learn to use those forces.) And f**k you if you remember that Christians turned your gods and goddesses into demons to destroy your freedom to worship the Old Gods.

Banks--f**k you for making us all wage slaves--we will get you m*****f***ers. 

Dislike Trump and what he is doing. F**k you, he is properly elected, and you don't deserve the freedom to express your dislike of him, especially if it takes the form of a binding ritual that those traitorous journalists are amused by.

Liberty for all, except these bad people!!!!

(And please ignore how we totally agreed that gun owners should march on Washington if Hillary Clinton won...because guns!! and militias!! and we are great leaders!!! Hillary deserved to be hanged because she was a liberal traitor just like you are. And we consider it act of treason if you voted for her, so f**k you.)

Yes, we will hang you someday like the traitors you are...because you are exercising freedoms that we believe you are using for evil purposes of enslaving humanity. Forget that you live in America and the Constitution says that you have a right to do these things. And don't you dare comment that once the government makes it illegal to perform black magic, that we will be burning on the stake right next to you--because we are patriots and you are traitors. How dare you exercise your freedoms without the express permission of the greatest Rosicrucian Imperator and Witch Queen to ever live.

Did we say f**k you? F**k you for pointing out our double standard on the issue of freedom. Just f**k you and your misuse of your freedoms!!!

Nice going--you scared my cat.

Why I support the ACA Obamacare (or Why do you want me dead)

For those who think that I make too big of a deal out of the GOP and Trump wanting to underdo the ACA (Obamacare): I am one of the people who goes back to not having health insurance because of a pre-existing condition where the only insurance I will be able to get will cost me more than I have ever made in the space of a year, with the deductable that is also more than I ever made in a year. So for me, it is automatic game over. But hey, it is what the American people voted for.

You have survived six months of Trump (someone hold his beer)

Congratulations America--you have survived the first six months of Trump. Only another forty-two months to go...unless 'Murica re-elects him--in which case, just another ninety months to go!!!

Keep binding the damn reality star!

Ignoring the fight over whether it is ok to have poor people dying in the gutter, and the constant chatter over how the Russians elected Trump, what has happened in the last six months?


Let's see...


Consumer and environmental protections have been weakened.


The Department of Education is perfectly ok with for-profit colleges defrauding students.


Trump is making tons of money by renting his properties to the government.


Trump has played a lot of golf.


The swamp of Washington has been restocked with gators of the exact type that Trump said Hillary would put in her administration.


Tax cuts for the rich are coming--I guarantee it.


There was fishing trip looking for three and a half million zombie voters, so that Trump could prove that he won the popular vote.


Trump has continued to whine about the Fake News actually reporting the actual words coming out of his mouth.


Trump is probably going to nuke the Middle East (probably an ally), North Korea and China before nuking all the NATO countries for non-payment of monies that are not actually owed to the USA.


The wall has suffered many design changes--I think is now going to be a solar wall with big windows, so you can see drug dealers catapulting meth into the country. In other words, Mexico is going to give Trump drugs to pay for the wall.


And Trump decided that climate change is a total hoax and that your grandma in Florida can breathe underwater.


Oh, and Twitter--oh those lovely five in the morning tweets.


So basically, we are living in a reality show and the final challenge will be "Are you willing to be a cannibal"?


And you thought that this was going to be fun?!?

Hello! Is this any way to treat your Supreme Leader?

Are you an evil witch or magician having far too much fun and who is sick all the winning? Consider taking part in the global monthly waning crescent moon ritual to bind the actions of President Donald J. Trump.



For full text of Global Binding Ritual of Trump, click here. 



Dates for future Global Bind Donald J. Trump rituals 


2017


July 21; August 19; September 18; October 17; November 16; December 16



For a full list of future Bind Trump dates, click here.

A magical sigil being used by some to bind Trump.

Love fresh off the street experts (yes I said that)

In response to someone telling people how wonderful BOTA is (so clear, so precise) and how Golden Dawn is second fiddle, and then revealed that they did not know what the Kabbalistic Cross was, never performed the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram (earlier in the month we learned that they thought they knew the modern Big Name Experts and the modern history of Golden Dawn---but only based on the last three years), I said the following:


I always love those people who are GD experts who have not done a single ritual, a single spell, undergone a single GD initiation, nor read a single book on GD. I especially love it when people listen to them, and ignore totally what people with twenty-five years of GD experience say. The only way it gets better is when people start complaining that GD initiates don't answer questions. Why should we respond to questions when we get told over and over again that we do not understand the system that we have been working with for years and years? If anyone can walk off the street without even knowing the basics of the Golden Dawn system and expound upon it, why should us more experienced folks even bother attempting to answer questions.

No more custom pottery orders (Khari Wiccan Treasures)

Message from my wife, the potter:


So I am no longer accepting custom orders on my Etsy websites. If you already got your order in and spoke to me, you are fine.


I got swamped with orders and am working on those with about 4 weeks until teachers return to work.


Also, when I say that I am no longer accepting custom orders, this applies to individuals only. This does not include shops or wholesale, although that production will slow down significantly once I return to online classes on August 28th.

Coming soon (about two weeks) to the Wiccan Treasures Etsy shop (Morgan needs to do pictures after his next deadline).

Celtic Soul Pottery and Jewelry


Khari's Wiccan Treasures

Are you a Tarot blogger? Want to Hop with us? (Next topic: Respecting the Tarot)

Do you blog about the Tarot? Do you want to help build community among Tarot bloggers? If so, consider joining the Tarot Blog Hop.

Eight times a year (aligned with the eight Wiccan sabbats--but that is only because it was something that many of us Tarot bloggers knew, so it doesn't have to do anything with the sabbat the Hop lands on), a dozen or more Tarot readers, authors, and experts, blog about one of their favorite subjects--the Tarot.

The Tarot Blog Hop is in its fifth year.

What are the rules?


Members of the Tarot Blog Hop commit to doing two blog hops a year (out of the eight). They link to two neighbors, and create a link chain leading from one blog to another in a big circle. And most importantly, our posts are about a theme that a volunteer wrangler and cat herder came up with.


We organize the Tarot Blog Hop though a Facebook group (you must confirm that you blog about the Tarot before we let you join the group---because that's the purpose of the group).


What type of topics could you be blogging about?


Good question. The next Tarot Blog Hop is being wrangled by me (August 1, 2017), and here is the blogging prompt that I provided to the group:


Our theme for this Tarot Blog Hop is pretty broad--Respecting the divinatory arts, with an emphasis on Tarot.


When I was growing up, I spent some time with my Wiccan aunt. Many of the lessons I learned from her about the occult have affected me and the way I approach things. One of the lessons that I learned was to respect divination systems.


My first lesson in this was in relation to a Magic Eight Ball (as silly of a divination device as you can get). “Respect the Eight Ball, and it will give you accurate answers,” my aunt told me. Over the years, I have learned that she was right about this advice.


As a result, one of the things I teach is “Show respect to the divination systems you are using, even if they are silly systems.”


We all have rules, habits, customs that are our ways of showing respect to our divination tools--things that we do that seem to increase our connection (therefore, our accurancy) with our divination tools.


We also know things to avoid doing--things that seem to annoy our divination tools--things that end up with us saying, “Don’t do that--it upsets the cards.” For instance, my tools gets uppity when someone keeps rewording a question in an attempt to get the answer that they want to hear--snarky answers start to happen, and total silence descends if one does not get the hint that the cards have given all they intend to give you.


So your mission this Tarot Blog Hop is to discuss how you show respect to the Tarot (remember it is called the “Tarot Blog Hop”) and things that you have learned not to do. It can range from smudging the deck periodically to elaborate rituals like the Golden Dawn uses, from not using the cards until the dinner table is clean to well, whatever it is that you do. We all have stories about this subject--if you don’t, you would be the first reader I ever encountered that didn’t have stuff to say on this topic.


[Would you like to take part in the Tarot Blog Hop? If so, come join us on the Facebook group.]

Why the discussion ban on certain occultists (yes I said that on Facebook)

Yes, I said the following on Facebook (about why we don't spend more time warning people about certain dubious occult leaders):

*puts on his "responsible adult hat*

Mod speaking here: The question of why we don't spend more time warning people about certain occultists has came up.

Honestly, the mods hate discussing certain occultists. So do our more advanced experts.

Discussions about them sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

And their defenders (including their current group members) are not going to believe any warning that we issue in the first place. Warning a believer is like talking to a brick wall.

Basically, you have to be stung by the wasp, in order to know not to trust it. In other words, only a metric ton of bad experiences will convince an admirer of theirs that perhaps they should not be leading the parade. 

There is also the issue that certain occultists always demand their right to defend themselves--saying that we should lift the ban on them--and quite honestly they defend themselves by calling all of the rest of us names, and accusing us of belonging to vast non-existent occult conspiracies meant to destroy them and to enslave humanity.

Furthermore, certain occultists' idea of fairness is that no one is allowed to criticize them on any level while they are free to badmouth and insult anyone that they want. Plus, they will insist that we ban everyone that disagrees with any of their ideas or statements. In addition, they insist on posting various conspiracy theories that make us all look insane. Quite frankly, they have their own Facebook groups to do that type of stuff in--we do not need to add to the pollution level of this group.

All this adds up to a big ball of flaming wax that the mods, and the more knowledgeable members of the Golden Dawn community, want nothing to do with.

And that is why the mods only allow the very rare post about certain occultists. Yes, we would like to warn you about them, but we trust that you know how to use Google and can find our public warnings that litter the internet.

Thank you for understanding.

The more you know, the more you think that For-Profit Orders are bad.

This was posted on the following Facebook groups:

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (not to be confused with DG's trademarked to Sunday group)

Golden Dawn members (group and self-initiates)

Sanctuary of Mau (self-initiation into the Golden Dawn tradition)

Chaos magicians say VERB Trump and his magical defender

This has been a "I know better than read anything about the bestest ever Golden Dawn leader, ascension coach, and super sexy David Griffin" type of week--and yes, the writing has suffered for it. Yes, I wasted more hours than I am willing to admit to, watching the flaming dumpster fire that erupted after a bit of fair and balanced news reporting on how the valiant and most pure patriotic defender of American freedom, David Griffin, was laying down his life to protect the 45th and final President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

(I know that it was fair reporting because Griffin, himself, said it was fair and balanced.)

This blog proudly supported by MasterWitch--apply today.

I am not sure exactly where the dumpster fire started. Maybe it was on Watchers of the Dawn. Or maybe it was in Griffin's own comment section. Or maybe it was when people on Facebook said, "Your wife did what? Are both of you sociopaths? Why would you think that it was a good idea to tell us that your [fruit] [verb+ed] your [vegetable]?!?"

Whenever it started, there was plenty of angry commenters.

On one side was those who admire--like--nay, love, that sexy man that lost the popular vote by three and a half million, President Donald J. Trump. Included in this group were those people who think that David Griffin is the greatest occult teacher and leader of all time--because Griffin told them that if you love America, you have to side with his political opinions. 

On the other side were the animal lovers who would sacrifice their own lives for their pets, those who think that President Trump cares about nothing except his ego and funneling millions of government dollars into his family business, and those who think that Griffin might be mentally ill.

So we tossing out the Constitution, so that you and buddies can burn witches...

Ok, maybe Griffin is not mentally ill, but he is still the same [relative] of [canine] that we all learned to know and love during the twenty years of "If I, David Griffin, cannot turn the Golden Dawn into my exclusive cash cow, then I will burn its reputation to the ground, so that no one can have it after I die" tactics.

The first sign I saw that Griffin was going to use this situation to bludgeon his enemies was when he made the following comment to the witches and magicians who seek to BIND (not kill) President Trump, so that Trump does the least amount of harm possible to...well, everyone he considers a loser (basically everyone who makes less than a hundred million a year--which includes 99.99% of the people who voted for him):

"It is really astonishing to me how those out of work, overweight, bottom feeders cowering behind their computers in their daddy's basements, really thought that they could magically attack the American people, depose a President, and destroy democracy in America unopposed.

"Really?!?!

"And you didn't think that there were any Magicians better than your sorry asses who love and defend this country? Think again scumbags!

"If this little Civil War YOU IDIOTS have been magically starting for months actually does go HOT--well--let's just say that there will be nowhere left for you to hide."

[And brace yourself, here's the most disturbing part...]

"We will find you no matter what pit you try to crawl into. We will drag you out of your daddy's basement and into a court of law to be tried by a jury of your peers to be hanged by the neck until dead as the traitors you are."

Ever look at someone and think, "Why has no one hit you with a shovel yet?"

At this point, I realized a horrible truth--David Griffin wants to kill witches and magicians who disagree with his political positions.

Forget Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of Religion--if you disagree with Griffin's position of "Trump can do whatever he wants because he is the bloody President," then you are a traitor, and deserve to die.

Please note that the real crime here is that you are a LIBERAL. This is the same man that talked about how gun owners were going to descend upon Washington D.C. and forcibly remove Hillary Clinton from office--and he APPROVED of deposing a President if it turned out to be Hillary Clinton.

He can try to clothe it all he wants as PRINCIPLE--the truth of the matter is that he believes that liberals are all traitors--and he wants to see liberals removed from having the political franchise (no more liberals voting, no more liberals in journalism, no more liberals holding political office).

It is hard to respect a man who has double standards like this.

(It should be noted that I don't see the Magical Resistance trying to start a civil war--for pete's sake--it is a BINDING spell to LIMIT HARM!)

Let me tell you a joke--David Griffin walks into an Order...

Turns out that wasn't the best part.

After watching angry and cynic comments pile up against him, Griffin declared that Nick Farrell, current owner of Watcher of the Dawn, had to be an intelligence agent (a f***ing spy!) because he wasn't censoring the negative comments that people were making about Griffin.

And he went on and on about this for over fifty comments--it was like the good old days of the Golden Dawn flame wars.

For those who did not experience the wonderfulness of Griffin during the flame wars, the game was played like this.

First, Griffin claims to be the most wonderful and understanding person in the world. Plus as an added bonus, he is the most advanced magician and witch to ever walk the face of the Earth. You should be so lucky to have Griffin as your friend and teacher.

Then he plays nice with one of his critics (or business rivals---because like it or not, Griffin wants to make money doing Golden Dawn). When the critic is dumb enough to say, "Nice day, isn't it?" or something else equally non-offensive, Griffin then proceeds to insult and accuse them of selling people into slavery on the behalf of a plot by black magicians hellbent on enslaving humanity, and attacking him--humanity's best hope for spiritual ascension and enlightenment.

To prove that you are not a servant of evil, you must do him a small favor, like admitting that you are the servant of an evil conspiracy to destroy both Griffin and humanity, or giving him complete control of something that you own (like an entire website). Oh, you will still own it, but he will decide what you can do with it. Basically, you have to undermine his critics, crush all negative comments about him, acknowledge him as your superior, and generally kiss his a**.

Having seen this power play more than once, I have drawn some conclusions:

1) Griffin might be delusional, either though mental illness or a drug induced sanity blowout.
2) Griffin has no clue how non-brainwashed people act and respond.
3) Griffin only cares about his wallet and feeding his ego.
4) If I wanted to put up with nonsense like this, I would go visit my mother.

Oh man! Someone thought of the same nasty trick that I did.

But it gets better.

When I read the original post that Farrell reported on, I noticed that amidst the patriotic "I was born before the Vietnam war ended" good solider laying down his life to protect the only chance that 'Murica has to be great again, was the revelation that Griffin and his wife turned themselves into lightning rods, so that the First Family could live free of any restriction and continue to abuse America for their own monetary and egotistical gain.

And the first thought though my mind was: "Hey, that means that I could target both Trump and Griffin at the same time."

Yes, I know--that was an evil thought. After all, they are both so well loved. It is not like anyone would think that they are both rude and self-serving.

Unless they are evil chaos magicians, that is.

Lo and behold, some chaos magicians actually (all on their own, no prompting) came up with the same idea. So this month, around the date of the next Trump Global Binding Ritual (July 21st), you will see pictures not only of Trump being struck by a Blasted Tower sigil, you will also see pictures of Griffin being sigiled up as a lightning rod. These pictures are sure to be obscene because of how chaos magicians typically choose to charge their sigils (if you don't know--don't google it--remain an innocent virgin, unviolated by chaos magic). 

And for me, it is not that I have anything against Griffin and Trump, outside of their need to have no one challenge their fragile egos and atomic vacuum powered wallets--it is more of the principle that if you don't play nice with others, if you are ok with harming others (because they are not good conservatives, or they not "winners!"), that if you look forward tossing out parts of the Constitution, and then killing witches and magicians because they do not believe in the same stuff you do, then you need to be bound so that you can't do any more harm.    

Let the lightning rods do their work to protect someone who might be even worse than Nixon.

Are you an evil witch or magician who thinks that Trump, and his loyal magical defender, like hurting people in the name of puffing up their egos and bank accounts? Consider taking part in the global monthly waning crescent moon ritual to bind the actions of President Donald J. Trump.

For full text of Global Binding Ritual of Trump, click here. 

Dates for future Global Bind Donald J. Trump rituals 

[Asterisked * dates are slightly moved from the last quarter crescent moon to occur on significant dates.]

2017

July 21; August 19; September 18; October 17; November 16; December 16

For a full list of future Bind Trump dates, click here.

A magical sigil being used by some to bind Trump.

Double standard on binding spells (yes, I said that)

A comment I made about Griffin deciding to become a lightning rod to protect President Trump, and the loss of a dog by someone who should have known better than venture out in hundred plus weather for a nature hike:

This so-called “communist leaning” magician and witch can’t help but notice that all the global binding and liberation rituals that Griffin has done over the years have been perfectly ok, but once we started picking on his choice for President, global binding rituals became the tool of assassination and black enslaver magic. I do feel sorry for the dog–if it would have been me, I would have died out in the desert along with my dog–but then again, I am an evil tree-hugging communist witch. By the way, more people voted for Hillary, so I am not so sure that the will of the American people is to be abused by Trump, who only cares about his ego and funneling government money into his businesses. If we actually go by the standard that the President can do whatever he wants, then no one should have gotten upset by what Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon did–but we did–and we all know how Griffin feels about the Clintons. In some weird alternate timeline, the greatest Golden Dawn leader ever is busy running a monthly binding spell to prevent Hillary Clinton from doing more damage to the American people.

[Curious about brought this comment on? You can read the article on Watchers of the Dawn that reported on this incident. And you can read the script to this totally evil spell that the greatest Golden Dawn wizard and his Witch Queen wife consider the greatest act of black magic since Dion Fortune's Order protected Britain from the Nazis.] 

This blog is ten years old (wave your hands in the air like you don't care)

This blog is ten years old as of today--can you believe it? That's a hundred and twenty months, or 3653 days of my random rants being on public display.

Over the last ten years, I have published 1410 blog posts, annoyed several people, been accused of being a member of a conspiracy comprised of dark magicians hell-bent on destroying the reputation of the most gifted and enlightened occultist ever (because we must continue to enslave humanity), pimped my ebooks,  and shared a godzillion cat pictures--all in the name of fighting of boredom and having a soapbox to yell at people from.

My posts get 319 views on average, and I have about 3749 views a month. And yes, I realize that every other occult blogger in the world has a bigger audience than I do; that's not going to change because I refuse to tell people how spiritually advanced they are, refuse to buy up tons of internet domains all feeding into my blog, and generally find advertising my own stuff a complete and utter bore.

Imagine that I said something witty about cats and money controlling the world.

So what have I learned over the last ten years? Here are ten things I learned...

# 1: I like cats better than I like certain people. And cats are as good of teachers as anyone else's Secret Chief. Every blog post that I write includes me saying, "Don't walk across the keyboard" at some point.

# 2: Stockpile your "nuclear troll" posts. There are a dozen posts that I have written, but have never published because they consist of me saying that the Imperial Pickle is the nastiest occultist I know (though Buddha Night does give them a run for their money). But never fear--if they annoy me, my finger might slip and "accidentally" hit the Publish button.

# 3: Peace is over-rated. And those who believe that you should never read another person's blog, and post your own response declaring them a wheelbarrow short of a garden shed, have no idea how the blogosphere actually works. The blogosphere is just one big argument, flowing from one blog to another.

# 4: Never use white text on a black background. I was one of the first Golden Dawn bloggers to do this (if not the very first) for symbolic reasons. And honestly, if I could go back in time, I would not do it again. Why don't I change it? Because I would have to manually fix all 1410 blog posts--I tried fixing it a couple of times, and ended up with white text on a white background.

# 5: A picture in every blog post is nice for link sharing purposes. I don't follow this rule as religiously as I should.

# 6: You can't please everyone, but you can easily piss everyone off. Every blog post I have written has been misread by someone.

# 7: Hiving off topics into other specialty blogs does not work for me--because I do not have the patience to build up another blog. That's why I talk about anything I want to on this blog, even if it has nothing to do with magic and witchcraft.

# 8: Everyone knows more than I do...because they have told me so. This includes the guy at the doughnut shop, who has never opened up an occult book in his entire life.

# 9: I am the class clown, the court jester, the Forest Gump of occultism. Or so I have been told repeatedly. In other words, people think that their opinions, beliefs, and practices are better than mine (absolutely correct, like Ten Commandment level of correctness)---and they really, really do not like people treating the subject of the occult with anything less than 200% seriousness. In other words, they think that I tell too many jokes.

# 10: I still like blogging, so I going to ignore all of your requests for me to quit blogging. Obviously, blogging is one of my guilty pleasures because everyone knows that occult blogging does not pay.

Just some of my stats for this blog--and yes, I know that your blog stats are better than mine.

My most disliked video (Happy Fourth of July 'Merica)

Last year on the Fourth of July, I filmed a bit about binding the evil Donald Trump. The video came about because I was already talking about how this man was going to be a Presidential train wreck--please remember that I was one of the few bloggers that thought that he was going to be elected--and had already starting kicking around the idea that the only way that we could avoid him from doing major harm was a binding spell (or some very loud protests and the other parts of the government telling him, NO!!!).

This was the subject of several conversations, with each one becoming more silly from my end because I thought that it would be a marvelous bit of witty and entertaining political satire. One of my friends offered to film it....probably so I would shut up about the idea.

So on the Fourth of July last year, I did the most American thing that you can do--complain about a politician that I hated. On film. And then I posted it on YouTube because my wife won't let me keep a printing press in the living room. Welcome to the modern Liberty Tree.

I know that some are horrified that I choose a modern social media platform to make jokes about politics. Many of the horrified applaud President Trump use of Twitter to post jokes about how he would like to slam news reporters to the ground. Can you say Double Standard? I knew you could.

It is ok for "conservatives" to say whatever they want, but heaven a liberal speaks their mind.

After we filmed the bit, I posted it...because I could (freedom of speech and the freedom of the press!). A few crickets watched it. A couple of humans down-thumbed it and left what I assume was supposed to be witty comments. Then we all forgot it because it was obviously political satire written and performed by a Wiccan in Golden Dawn.

Even after Trump won, proving a prediction that I made two Presidential election cycles before true, I assumed that the Bind Trump bit would remain unwatched forever. And then Trump the President started to act exactly like Trump the Reality TV Star, something else I predicted.

At a certain point, some witches and magicians came up with the idea of binding Trump. I was so not involved--despite the video evidence--mainly because I was too busy huddling in a corner with one of my cats waiting for the first flash of nuclear weapons being launched. (If Trump is not the President that nukes us all back to the Stone Age, then America's first female President, Sarah Palin will--either way, we are all going to glow in the dark.)

I was at the local occult store when a friend walked up and asked me if I heard about the global binding ritual that was being planned. I said, no--they sent me a link.

The very next day, someone blogged about the ritual (not me!)--and suddenly, my forgotten comedy bit was resurrected on YouTube, complete with more dislikes and negative comments.

Now, there are some who feel that I should listen to the negative comments and take my video down...I assume that they are Trump fans who can't handle the idea that someone may actually loathe their favorite politician. Instead, it amuses me to realize that this comedic bit is my most disliked (thumbed down) video on YouTube.

How disliked?

Well, for a video that only accounts for less than a tenth of my views (8% if you are curious), fourth most watched (thanks to those looking for videos about the global binding ritual), third in overall watch time, and my eighth best earner, it is amazing that it accounts for almost fifty percent of my overall dislikes on YouTube.

And it is not just Americans who dislike it, citizens from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Latvia, and Norway also dislike it. Norway? Really, Norway? What do you know--I am an internationally disliked political comedian.

But never fear USA--you are still number one in disliking it.

You know you have a hit when your level of dislikes is this disproportional to the number of views. 

Now, I know that there are some critics of mine who believe that I should not be this amused by dislikes and negative comments. These critics forget that I wanted to be a newspaper columnist in the humor/political section. Dislikes and poison ink letters are just part of the trade. Of course, I assume that the real reason that they dislike the video is that Trump talk of getting rid of all the colored people, having all the poor people die from the lack of healthcare, and all those sweet, sweet tax breaks for the filthy rich, gives them a woody--it is either that or they rolled a critical IQ failure.

If you are not a member of the one percenters [1%], and you still think that the Trump's presidency is going to improve your life, you need to get checked out for brain damage. Either that, or you are a bigot who is turned on by his and your own bigotry. Nothing that his administration has done bodes well for the poor of any color, including white people. So you can rage all you like about me being unfair to Trump, and I am not going to change my mind any more than you are going to.

And now for your viewing displeasure, my most disliked video. Keep the negative comments coming!


Are you an evil witch or magician who thinks that Trump is going to turn us all into radioactive clouds of orange cheeto dust? Consider taking part in the global monthly waning crescent moon ritual to bind the actions of President Donald J. Trump.

For full text of Global Binding Ritual of Trump, click here. 

Dates for future Global Bind Donald J. Trump rituals 

2017

July 21; August 19; September 18; October 17; November 16; December 16

For a full list of future Bind Trump dates, click here.

A magical sigil being used by some to bind Trump.

July Open Full Moon ritual blurb (new location for Hearthstone)

On July 7 2017, the July Open Full Moon ritual “Story time in Ancient Egypt” will be presented by Hearthstone’s board member, Morgan Drake Eckstein. With the help of volunteers, Morgan will tell us three stories set in Ancient Egypt, as well as talking about some interesting facts about the Egyptian civilization. Come join us as we sail down the Nile.

Reminder that this OFM ritual is happening at Hearthstone Community Church's new location:

Althea Center
1400 Williams St., Denver, CO 80218

Hearthstone will be meeting at the Althea Center for the reminder of 2017.

As usual, the doors will open at 7:00 p.m., with announcements starting at 7:30 p.m., and the ritual starting thereafter. Free to attend, but we recommend that you chip in a couple of dollars when the Church passes the hat to help offset the rental cost.

Smashwords July ebook sale (50% off select books)

It is time for Smashwords biannual ebook sale.

The following of my books are available on Smashwords for a discount during the sale (July 1 to July 31).

Rite of the Magical Images of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year--A Golden Dawn Inspired Ritual (50% off--$1.50 USD): A ritual that was originally presented as an Open Full Moon ritual in Denver for the Hearthstone Community Church community, which was the first public showing of a set of eight magical images for the Wiccan sabbats.

Witchy Rants (50% off--$1.50 USD): An omnibus collection of the first four years of articles that I wrote for the Hearthstone Community Church newsletter. Highlights include insights on how occult and pagan leaders should act, how much astrology a witch should know, and why Golden Dawn studies matter to Wiccans.

Golden Dawn Rituals Volume One: Neophyte Ritual--Three Officer Version (75% off--$1.50 USD): A modified version of the Golden Dawn Neophyte (0=0) ritual for lodges who have a difficult time assembling the full set of eleven officers that traditional Golden Dawn ritual requires. This version divides the speeches and actions of the traditional officers among only three officers (Hegemon, Hiereus, and Hierophant), allowing a lodge that has an officer shortage to still accomplish the most important job of a Golden Dawn lodge--performing the actual lodge rituals to initiate members into the tradition.

Shakespeare's Monkey (50% off--$0.99 USD): A collection of short stories and poems written during my time at the Community College of Denver. My favorite of the collection is Eye of the Storm, a story about how a stolen laptop leads to madness, and threatens to unleash a long forgotten eldritch force upon the world.

Five Reasons Why Magic Fails (50% off--$1.50 USD): An extended essay talking about some of the reasons that magic spells fail to manifest results in the physical world, and how the inaction of the magician can result in a spell fizzling out.

In addition, back issues of the Denver Witch Quarterly are on sale (50% off--$1.50 each):

DWQ (Beltane/Lithna 2017)--Occult Writers and Payment & Witches Bind Trump: In this issue, we discuss whether occult writers should be allowed to make a profit from their writing, or if they should be required to give all their occult writing away for free to benefit the occult community. We also take a look at the global binding spell of President Donald J. Trump, and whether it is ethical. Contributors include myself (Morgan Drake Eckstein), Shea Herlihy-Abba, Scott Michael Stenwick, Jame Bull, Jonathan Barlow Gee, Lee Anderson, moon Gazer, A. J. Hallows, and Misha Sparks.

DWQ (Imbolc/Ostara 2017)--Wealth and the Lucky Witch: In this issue, we explore money, wealth, luck, and prosperity, and the magic necessary to obtain such. Plus editorials, poetry and fiction by A. J. Hallows, Broom Hill Crow, Erin Lale, and Shea Herlihy-Abba.

DWQ (Samhain/Yule 2016)--To Curse, Or Not to Curse (The Big Cursing Issue): In this issue, we explored the techniques and ethics of cursing and hexing. From the mass hexing of convicted rapist, swimmer Brock Turner, to the global bindings of ISIL, to revenge spells--cursing, hexing, and bindings are part of the toolbox of magicians and witches worldwide. Are public hexings merely exercising one's First Amendment rights? Or are curses actually effective enough to restrict the actions of individuals and organizations? Also included in this issue: Heavenly Watchers--using the Four Royal Stars (Aldebaran, Regulus, Antares, and Fomahault) and Sirius in astrology and magic.

Also available: Denver Witch Quarterly (Prospectus)--A Modest Magical Magazine Proposal (100% off--FREE!): In this first issue of the DWQ, I talked about my involvement with the small press Wiccan and pagan magazines of the 1990s, which inspired the creation of the Quarterly. I also provided information about the business practices, editing and payment policies of the Denver Witch Quarterly for potential contributors.

Besides these fine books, there is also a satiric piece on the Necronomicon: Light Out of Darkness--Lux E Tenebris (Thelema and the Necronomicon) at a 75% discount ($1.25 USD) by Gaius Corbin published by Salt Mine Publications (my own "publishing house"). Building upon the Simon (Avon) Necronomicon, this book claims that Aleister Crowley and the Golden Dawn had access to a more complete set of the fifty names of Marduk (actually fifty-one names) than the famed Lovecraftian authority, Simon Knight, did. If it was true, it would cast the early days of the famed esoteric Order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, in a completely different light. Fortunately, we know that the Necronomicon is not a real book, and that all who believe in it are just fools and lunatics--and that no one in the Golden Dawn tradition has ever worked with the Cthulhu Mythos--and any evidence to the contrary should be burned at the next lodge BBQ's book-burning party and orgy.