Cthulhu waits dreaming in his house at Rlyeh (RAEBNC Halloween Kitty)

A fun RAEBNC to drop into discussions is "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl."

It is fun to say. Say it with me, "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl." Again: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl!" And once more, "PH'NGLUI MGLW'NATH CTHULHU R'LYEH WGAH'NAGL!"

That was fun, wasn't it?

And it is a great answer to those wonderful questions that get asked in forums populated by know-it-all numpties.

Ex. What is the greatest secret of the Adept Minor Grade of golden Dawn? They don't want to hear that exposure to the Vault of the Adepts, as in actually standing inside the Vault and being initiated, is the greatest secret of the 5=6 Grade. Furthermore, they (the howling babble of numpties**, that is) dont' want to be lectured that the Adept Minor Grade is not actually a Golden Dawn Grade, but rather a Grade of the RR et AC (Roseae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis***). No, they don't want answers like that; if they did, they would not be numpties.

No, tell them that "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl*" is the greatest secret of the Adept Minor Grade. And if they ask you what it means, tell them that things like literal meaning, dogma and doctrine are prisons that restrict one's spiritual development and that the best way to understand Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl is through free-association.

For instance--Behold its true greatness unfolded: "Phone home nasty Gollum, leap up intensely. Magic glows like white nuggets against fiery hotness. Cats think humans use laser hosting utilities. Ravenous leeches yummily eat hot-dogs. Warlike Godzilla attack helicopters, next attack Graded losers. For Holiness touches aggressive great numpties.****"

[*Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl according to the fictional stories of the Cthulhu Mythos (created by H.P. Lovecraft and other fiction writers) roughly means "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." Despite what some believe, H.P. Lovecraft was not an occultist; that has not stopped some occultists from using stuff from the Mythos stories--after all, occultism is the original "If the shiny bits are not bolted down, I am taking them" profession.

**The proper term for a group of numpties is a Babble.

***RR et AC: Rose of ruby and cross of gold--the official name of the Second Order of the Hermetic Golden Dawn.

****This is obviously not the work of a numpty, for it still makes too much sense. Trust the numpties to come up with even better versions of "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl" for your amusement.]

Public Service Announcement: Do not let your cat sleep in the Vault of the Adepts.

Instead let your cat sleep in the mouth of Cthulhu.

The Magic Machine by Nick Farrell (book review)

One of the things that amuses me is the occasional outpouring of "secrets must be kept" when someone dares to publish something that is already well past its "keep secret until" date. Today, the source of my amusement was the debate on whether or not, Nick Farrell should have published pictures of the walls of the Vault of the Adepts.

My own position...well let's see...

Venus Vault Wall Study.

...I first published a set of Vault wall studies on this blog starting in June 2009, shortly after the Book of the Tomb was open-sourced by Nick Farrell. And I have kicked around actually doing some Vault wall merchandise...something that I may still do. After all, a quick image search on Google will yield dozens of hits, and there are some crass people already doing Rose Cross lamen merchandise (all seem to be using the same picture to boot). So I really think that secrecy on this particular subject has flown the coop. It is now time to start making sure that people are getting it right. Now that my position on secrecy and much of it still apllies to the Vault walls is out of the way, let's move on to reviewing the book in question.

As I have already said, secrecy has flown the coop on this one--it is time to make sure that people are getting it right. And this is what The Magic Machine--The Golden Dawn Vault in Colour by Nick Farrell is about, helping people get the vault colors right.

The most valuable piece of this book is the eight colored plates showing the general key to the background color of the Vault walls, and the individual planetary Vault walls. And while I prefer mixed pigments over pixels, I wish I would had this book earlier in my occult career when I was preparing to build a Vault of the Adepts.

(Before you ask, the project never got past the study stage, due to the sudden vacating of anyone who might have needed to be vaulted by the current lodge that I belong to...it was a strange summer that year.)

Comparing my first study and later ones (I have done several over the years) to the plates in The Magic Machine, I am comforted to see that I am in the general ballpark, not exactly the same colors as Farrell is using, but close enough when one accounts for the difference in methods used. It was also comforting to read that someone else stumbled upon the problem with the Vault's ceiling--something that drives me a little batty.

Now I imagine that some people in the Golden Dawn tradition will claim that he is wrong about how the colors are created. Of course, if he is wrong, then so am I--and I was initially working from the texts published by Regardie and some misc. unpublished notes from a modern Order, and not directly from the Book of the Tomb. Then again, I just shake my head about how the critics have done their own Vaults--it is like they are working from a completely different set of instructions that have nothing to do with any actual Golden Dawn material.

Besides the meat of the book, Farrell does give hints on how to use the pictures, general information about the Vault of the Adepts, and a nice set of planetary deity calls to key your work with the Vault walls to.

I recommend getting this book if you ever think that you might need to build a Vault or work with one.

Five out of five stars.

The Magic Machine--The Golden Dawn Vault in Colour is a limited edition hard-cover book available from Lulu. 

[Required FTC disclosure: This review was based on a low res electronic copy of the book given to the reviewer to ensure a timely review of the book.]

Between Light and Darkness

Are you going to evolve or not?

Welcome to the Tarot Blog Hop for Ostara 2013. If you are a hop reader, you might have just came from Joanna Ash's blog, or maybe you decided to start here considering that I am the cat herder for this particular Tarot Blog Hop. (The Master List for this Hop is the post that--in theory--went live just one minute before this post did...it is located here.) As for my regular readers, I encourage you to read some of the other posts in this blog hop...just because I suggested the idea behind this hop.

If you are reading this on March 20th 2013, today is the Vernal Equinox. (And if you not pretend that you are.) Today is the day where night and day are equal; and for the next few months, the day will be longer than the night...

...provided that you are in the Northern Hemisphere.

If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the nights that are getting longer.

The significance of today literally depends upon where you are standing, and how you are looking at it. The only thing that we can all agree upon is the fact that today, there is an equal amount of light (day) and darkness (night)--a pivotal moment in the Sun's dance between light and darkness.

(The reason that I am painfully aware of this is that I used to be the proctor for a bunch of Golden Dawn students in Australia--we can't even say that their pagan holidays are backwards from ours...it is more like a completely different set--much like the fact that Ancient Egypt had different seasons than we do in the North.)

So how does this relate to the Tarot?

About fifteen years ago, when I was doing the "take every class and workshop that is available at the local occult shop" cycle, I took a class from one of the local Tarot readers (Timothy). One of the things that he taught was that the Hope/Fear position of the Celtic Cross Spread should be laid out on its side. The position represents BOTH hopes and fears--and often, the same event was both a hope and a fear for the person who was getting the reading.

Example--a person wants a relationship, but fears the loss of freedom that comes with it. Another example--a person wants to become a successful business person, but fears that they will lose all their friends if they do succeed. Their greatest hope is also their greatest fear--it is probably this tendency that makes us human, and not angels.

Now, once you accept the idea that something can be ambiguous, a type of grey, rather than a straight-out white or black (good or evil), it opens up a bunch of possibilities for reading the cards...perhaps in an unacceptable can of worms manner if you really want there to be only one right answer to any question. Grok it enough, and you find yourself reading all cards in a neutral manner.

It also makes you look at some other things in a different light if you embrace the concept deeply enough. For instance, the whole concept of white and black magic fades into a strange type of grey. And one becomes very aware of the lemon-aid concept--when life hands you lemons, make lemon-aid. Some of my biggest defeats have turned out to be blessings in disguise, but only because I used them to grow. Mercury retrograde also becomes a source of amusement. It all depends upon how you look at things.

In light of that, I would like to share a Tarot spread with you--the "Dancing between Light and Darkness" spread. It is designed for those weird times where you are aware that you are in a grey, ambiguous situation, one which outcome will depend solely on how you decide to treat the situation--is it the end of the world? or is it a brand-new beginning?

It is a nine card spread, and I tend to lay out the middle row of cards first, left to right, before the final two cards (which I tend to add after reading the middle cards). The seven cards in the middle represent the energies of the seven classical planets, and the two final cards represent evolution and degeneration (increased spiritual development and descent into eventual extinction).

All seven of the planet cards are read both positively and negatively. This may seem strange for a couple of the cards. For instance, the Sun position looks on the surface to be completely positive...but being successful can cause stress (a loss of vitality) and limit your willingness to take future risks. Likewise, the Mars position initially may to be all negative, but occasionally you need to flush the garbage out of your life.

Those students who have studied the Vault of the Adepts of Golden Dawn (RR et AC) will see the pattern behind the spread, and possibly the deeper layers hidden in the spread.

Happy Equinox everyone! Remember to keep dancing.

For those who are continuing with the Blog Hop, the next stop is Christiana Gaudet's blog. And if there are any broken links, remember that you can find the Master List for this Hop here.

Thirty years of hard work (or Devil Kitty in a Box)

For all your hard work, we are proud to present you with Devil Kitty in a box.

As most people in Golden Dawn know, or you will as soon as you read the internet today, thirty years ago Israel Regardie consecrated the Vault of the Adepti that the Ciceros built. There is an official thanks to the Ciceros for all their hard work floating around the internet today; for instance, there is a copy of it on the official Bast Temple blog. Yes, I signed it, and I am proud of the fact that I signed it.

But I think that the Ciceros deserve something more for their long service to the Golden Dawn community. Therefore, I am pleased to present them with a picture of Devil Kitty in a box. I would present them with the actual cat, but Devil Kitty bites. My lady lodge members think it might be rude to actually gift them with a semi-feral cat (the first cat that my wife and I rescued after buying our house). There is also the little fact that Devil Kitty only gets along with me and my god-daughter.

So the Ciceros are going to have to settle for a picture of Devil Kitty as a reward for all their hard work. I hope that they understand. And if not, they are free to come to Denver and pick up Devil Kitty, who will positively love them to death. Did I mention that she bites?!

Debating what model scale to use

Vault of the Adepts Sun Wall color study 2000 MDE.

When I did my color study of the coloring of the Vault of the Adepts back in 2000, I kicked around making a scale model of the Vault of the Adepts. Blame it on my days of playing table top wargames (remember FASA?) & Dungeons and Dragons. Or on the fact that I used to build model kits when I was a kid.

Periodically, I revisit the idea. A couple of weeks ago (or was it a month or two?), someone shared a link to a paper model (insert tab Y into slot Y) of the Rosicrucian Vault as described in some of the older RC material. And once again, I got the urge to make a scale model of the Golden Dawn version (RC et AC) of the Vault.

I would not be the first one to do so. A few years ago, I know that someone did one for a Golden Dawn conference (I have seen some of the pictures of the model). And let's be honest, I won't be the last person to do so.

Given my strong urge to do so, I think that I am going to add it to my list of things to do once the semester is over. I am going to need something to break up the paying work (yes, more dating site adcopy). And I can always use the model for studying the movements of the Adept rituals.

So the big question becomes what scale to use. Should I do it index card size? Or maybe 1:12 scale (an inch to a foot)? Or maybe 1:24 (half an inch to a foot)?

Both the index card size and the 1:12 scales would be okay for just myself. But the 1:24 would be better if I decide to assemble it into a small ebook to share with the rest of the universe.

Decisions, decisions.

Vault as an example of extended GD color scales



Vault of the Adept color study Venus Wall 2000 MDE.

Some of my readers may be curious about how I realized that the Golden Dawn color scales could be extended in the fashion that I mentioned in last night's post. The answer is pure experience.

In 2000, during the opening days of Bast Temple/BIORC (as we were busy reinventing ourselves from the previous group, the EOEW), I had cause to turn my eyes back to my Golden Dawn studies after taking several years off to deal with the EOEW. One of the studies that I did involved the Vault of the Adepts (the ritual chamber that is necessary for Second Order operations).

At the time, I was restricted to the published Regardie material and the oh-so few notes that I have taken during my time in the IIOGD. So it was from Westcott's lectures about the Vault that I discovered the thread about the idea of mixing color in various sub-sets; the Vault itself can be classified as a specialized sub-set.

Oh, I had also gotten a crash course in the basics of color theory---it happened over a pizza.

After completing my first color study of the Vault, on index cards (the above picture is from that particular round of study), a little voice in the back of my head asked, "Why stop there? Why not continue to extend the use of the color scales further?" So in 2004, when I found myself needing a very exact set of targeting foci, I simply resumed that line of work to create a more specialized sub-set of colors for my own magical purposes.

(I have done several studies of the Vault coloring since the first one---I am about to start a new one as soon as the current college semester is over.)

Of course, one can argue that what I did was merely put together something from a dead bunch of papers. I like to think otherwise, for I belong to that division of the esoteric traditions that believes that published material allows the great Adepts of previous ages to instruct the students of the current age. In my mind, Westcott (thanks to Regardie) spoke to me across the ages and pointed me in the right direction.

Now, all this work I did took place before I saw a complete version of the Book of the Tomb. I was also ignorant of the Westcott Enochian Tablets. Both of which I have looked at with some interest, for I am always curious to see how different my work is from other students of the tradition. Doing this work before learning of such things just proves to me that there is a natural progression to the work that we do in Golden Dawn. This belief is based on pure experience.

Combining Astrology Symbols (sort of a Tarot Deck Review)

How the energies of Mercury may manifest in the sign of Leo.

One of the big things that the Picatrix talks about is images of the various zodiac signs and planets, and combining these images to create more complicated symbols. This idea is not new. In fact, you can figure it out from Agrippa. In addition, the Vault of the Adepts can be viewed as a complex astrological image.

(The comment that I just said about the Vault of the Adepts is approved by my Secret Chiefs and not yours, so don't you dare talk about it. Of course, given the fact that the Picatrix is considered Black Magic, one can only presume that the same applies to the works of Agrippa, who may have been using the Picatrix as a source. I wonder if the Vault of the Adepts is Black Magic also.)

Now, astrologers use the idea of blending astrological energies all the time; it is how they read charts. And magicians working with astrological energies use the concept all the time to do magic.

One of the tools I use for helping me think about such things is the Symbolon deck by Peter Orban, Ingrid Zinnel, and Thea Weller. It is a deck of 78 cards (but not a Tarot deck), consisting of 12 cards representing the zodiac signs and their planetary rulers, and 66 cards combining the basic imagery of the 12 basic images into more complicated images.

For instance, let's say that I am trying to understand how the energies of Mercury manifest in the zodiac sign of Leo---my natal Mercury is located in Leo, by the way.

Mercury, and its ruled sign of Gemini, is represented in the Symbolon deck by The Mediator, a winged messenger carrying a scroll.

The Sun, and its sign of Leo, is represented by The Ego, a king enthroned on a lion-headed throne (a symbol that most of Golden Dawn members will associate more with Aries).

The combined energies of Leo and Mercury can be seen in The Actor, which depicts a stage with the Mediator in the background while the Ego walks across the stage, in front of an audience, holding the unfurled scroll.

Hmmm, I see no way that could actually apply to me, a humble blogger---I must have decided to use the wrong card.

(Review Time)

I have owned my Symbolon deck for several years (more than a decade). I am not sure that it is even still in production---but with eBay does it really matter? I do not use it for readings, well, not card readings. The way I use it is exactly what I was talking about in the first part of this blog post; I use it to suggest to me ways that astrological energies might be manifesting when combined in various modes. It is basically, for me, a way to attempt to grok the parts of an astrology chart that I am struggling with.

(And no, I do not struggle with my Mercury in Leo; it is my Moon in Scorpio that causes all the problems.)

Impressionism and the GD color scales

King Over the Water by Nick Farrell.

The Book of the Concourse of the Watchtowers by Sandra Tabatha Cicero.

The other day, I was reminded that there are some soon-to-be-released books that are on my shopping list (well, after I managed to crawl out of the monetary hole that I have fallen into). Both Nick Farrell and Sandra Tabatha Cicero posted possible covers for their respective books (I say "possible" because I know how things change at the last moment in publishing).

Looking at the covers, I realized something---our required color scale work in Adept Minor (5=6) was not possible previous to 1841. Or at least, not in the form and style that we do it today.

Don't believe me? Think about how you did your color scale studies. Were there tubes of paint involved? If there were tubes of paint involved, then you are using a post 1841 method. Or did you use watercolors of straight from the pans of a box? In which case, your method of study could not have developed before 1832. The idea of using watercolors from a box only dates to 1766; before that point, watercolors were sold in lumps that had to be hand-grated before using.

The ability to do color studies while sitting in your living room is a product of the Victorian Age. Before the improvements to watercolor paints by Henry Newton and William Winsor in 1832, only professional artists worked with paints. Amateurs did not start to paint until Newton & Winsor developed the methods of creating watercolor paints that could be used directly from the box. Queen Victoria helped lead a national passion for amateur painting.

Paint tubes were invented by an America, John Goffe Rand, in 1841. Rand's invention was a technological leap for the artworld. Rand would tell his son that without his invention that "There would have been no Cezanne, no Monet, no Sisley or Pissaro; nothing of what the journalists were later to call Impressionism." I would go one step further and say that there would be no required color scale work in Adept Minor if he hadn't invented the paint tube.

Please remember that I am not saying that color was not important in magic previous to the Victorian Age (Agrippa is enourgh proof of the importance of color in magical work among our magical ancestors). What I am saying is that the creation of color scales studies and flashing tablets were much harder before that point, and were unlikely to have been an important part of the esoteric lesson plan---at least among amateur artists.

Westcott mentions that there is an older color scale that were used in the ancient Vault of the Adepts. Exactly what this older color scale looked like is hard to say for sure; the Adept Major ritual doesn't develop the idea enourgh to get a clear look at it without some knowledge of art history. There are also alchemical formulas that are actually about making pigments. So while there is definitely color scales involved in the older magical systems, they were placed much higher in the estoteric Grade system.

One of the things that Nick and I have disagreed over (publically on the internet if you want to go looking---I can't remember what Golden Dawn forum it was on) is the importance of Moina Mathers in the creation of the modern Vault of the Adepts and the modern color scales. My logic tends to be: if I needed a crash course in color theory to understand the color scales and its development into the Vault, then an artist had to be involved. My best bet is Moina Mathers, who was trained as an artist. Nick says that Samuel (MacGregor) Mathers and Westcott could be the ones that brought it in---I am not sure if he was implying that the color scales were built up by a previous esoteric group prior to their founding of the Golden Dawn or if it was invented by them (Nick will reply in the comment section about that one).

One thing that would be helpful to determine which one of us is right would be knowledge about whether Westcott or Samuel Mathers were amateur artists before meeting Moina. If they only started working with the complicated color scales after meeting Moina, then I am inclined to continue crediting Moina---after all, she is the one that was responsible for painting the first RR et AC Vault of the Adepts. I am hoping that one or both of these upcoming books reveals some evidence that would make the answer to this question clearer. Knowing the source authority would clear up some questions that I have about the color scales...beyond how much credit to give to Moina.

But while I am unsure about the source authority for our color scale work, I am positive that it is definitely an esoteric development of the Victorian Age. Before that date, the color scales were much simplier, and applied in a different manner when it came to magical workings. This fact affects a lot of stuff that we do and study today---a cascade effect---including the Tarot and the making of magical talismans.

And just in case, you are wondering, the modern Victorian Age color scales is something that I am not willing to abandon, no matter how wrong they are according to the older esoteric material. I may not be good at alchemy, but I am a fair hand with a paintbrush. For maximum outrage, just remember I use the modern color scales with the Elder Futhark (the Norse Runes).

Laughing at the Unlikely

There are times that I am rude---as in I cannot help but laugh out loud at some people. There is also the urge to mock them, or at least say the first thing that crosses my mind.

I had one of those moments today. I was reading the messages from one of the Golden Dawn yahoo forums. There is a discussion about diagrams going on.

One of the participants is someone that I have classified as a borderline troll...they are very much into proving that they are always right, and that they have greater understanding of Golden Dawn than the rest of us do. This one likes to twist definitions to the point that you can drive a semi-truck though the argument and not hit the broad side of wrong.

But today was absolutely precious. One of the people who responded to this person said that he had obviously never been in a Vault.

And the troll replied, "One does not need to be inside a Vault. Unless one does not know how to create a vault in one's own mind."

After I got done wiping soda off of my monitor, I told my wife why I was laughing so hard. She also suspects that he is a pure troll. She has seen the work I have done with our local Vault project...she is the one in the background saying that we cannot use that color because it is just ugly.

Now, I am not saying that it is impossible to create a Vault in one's own mind. I am saying that it is unlikely. And if this person is capable of doing it, I have to ask why they are slumming among us mere mortals.

I have done some work at building up a mental construct of the Vault of the Adepts. And I have came to the conclusion that few people are going to attempt to get past the visualization of a single generic wall. It is just easier to actually build a physical Vault in my less than humble opinion.

So for this person to imply that they have created a mental construct of the Vault of the Adepts means one of two things: either they are a troll or they are Third Order slumming with the unworthy. I know which square I placing my bet in.

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Twelve) Vault Wall Masterkey

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is the masterkey for the coloring of the Vault Walls. Original is drawn in color pencil on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Eleven) Luna Wall

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is the Luna (Moon) Wall of the Vault. Original is drawn in color pencil on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Ten) Saturn Wall

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is the Saturn Wall of the Vault. Original is drawn in color pencil on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Nine) Floor of Vault

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is the floor of the Vault. Original is drawn in color pencil on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Eight) Jupiter Wall

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is the Jupiter Wall of the Vault. Original is drawn in color pencil on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Seven) Side of Pastos

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is one of the sides of the Pastos which contains the image of the founder of the RC Brotherhood. Original is drawn in color pencil on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Six) Mars Wall

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is the Mars Wall of the Vault. Original is drawn in color pencil on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Five) Solar Wall

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is the Solar (Sun) Wall of the Vault. Original is drawn in color pencil on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Four) Thoth

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is the godform of Thoth. He may not be part of the traditional study done at this stage of the Adept Minor work; but he is in the same set of notes as the rest of the color scale and Vault study, so I am including him here. Original is drawn in color pencil on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Three) Mercury Wall

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is the Mercury Wall of the Vault. Original is drawn in color pencil on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).

Color and Vault study 2000 (Part Two) Vault Ceiling

This is part of a study of the color scales and the Vault of the Adepts that was done in 2000. It was not the world's best study, nor is it the best scan on earth. This is the ceiling of the Vault of the Adepts. Original is drawn in gold metallic ink on the back of a large index card, and is part of my personal baseline (however wrong that is).