Is Nicolas Cage an Alchemist?

Nicolas Cage has been around for a long time, hasn't he?

For those of you who missed it, last week a photograph went up for auction on eBay. It was a photo that was found in an album of civil war era pictures (1870s), complete with an unusual number of death shots (whatever that means to a non-historian). It was the only photo that did not identify the person in the shot. But never fear---the eBay seller jack_mord knows who it is.

It is Nicolas Cage.

And how is this possible? How could a picture of Nicolas Cage exist in an album of civil war era pictures. Simple, according to jack_mord, Nicolas Cage is "some sort of walking undead/vampire, et cetera, who quickens/reinvents himself once every 75 years or so. 150 years from now, he might be a politician, the leader of a cult, or a talk show host.”

There are just a couple of problems with this vampire theory. One, the photo itself---ain't vampires supposed to be invisible to film? Two, Nicolas Cage has been out and about in the daytime---shouldn't he be a little crispy and deep fried after being exposed to sunlight?

So alas, Nicolas Cage is not a vampire.

But never fear, the Amazing Golden Dawn Newshound that I am knows the truth about this photo.

Nicolas Cage is an alchemist who has been kicking around since before the civil war.

My proof for this theory is the fact that a few years ago, Nicolas Cage admitted on a late night talk show that he was interested in 17th century German philosophy. We all know what that means---Nicolas Cage has been studying the Rosicrucians and their amazing life-extending alchemical techniques.

I guess that Nicolas Cage forgotten the first rule of being an immortal alchemist---do not allow any records to exist that proclaim your immortality. The Third Order is obviously upset---the photo with its million dollar asking price has been removed from the listings on eBay.

And Nicolas, if you are reading this, you are always welcome to sit in lodge with me.

Shopping for expensive books

Earlier today, I saw a posting on the public HOGD/A&O yahoo group that was basically an Ebay advertisement as well as providing bragging rights for David Griffin. It was about someone offering their copy of the Ritual Magic Manual up on Ebay; starting price a mere ninety-nine dollars (the curent bid is now $100). The seller mentioned that he thinks this is low compared to what others are listing it for.

And yes, I had to go look. Not that I am in the market for a copy...I own a copy already. My copy sits between a reprint of the first volume of the Equinox and a copy of the Blue Equinox; I am not sure how it ended up being placed on the shelf that way, but I do find that the placement appeals to my sense of humor.

Anyway, so I am looking at the other listings of this on Ebay. There are two (both by a different seller; I wonder how many copies they have): one starting at $600, and one at the "buy it now" price of $800.

The price of the book is only slightly cheaper on Amazon: the lowest are starting at $350 and move up into the $400s. And there are a couple copies that have a thousand dollar price tag.

Now everyone who has read my book review of the Ritual Magic Manual knows that I think that the book is perhaps worth the fifty dollars I paid for it, but it is sure not worth no thousand dollars. Even the hundred dollar mark is pushing the envelope in my opinion.

So what I am curious about is: Who is actually paying this amount for this book?

My current theory is that it is not actually occult students buying this book at these inflated rates...I could be wrong; we do get some fools ripe for fleecing by those who are willing to indulge in cult-like behavior. But I feel that it is more likely that it is investors that hope to unload the book on someone else down the line for even more outrageous rates.

(There is a third possibilty...but no one would actually do that would they? Only I am that evil, right?)

Nevertheless, I must admit that I admire this whole business. It is hard to convince people to pay more than ten dollars for an ordinary book, and here we have an out-of-print book going for hundreds of dollars. It reminds me of the stock market...but that may just be my black heart; remember---I do not think it is real occult students paying this book.

So if you are in the market for a copy of the Ritual Magic Manual, hop over to Ebay and check out the listing; you may actually get it cheaper than the Amazon price. I am going to be watching the auction all the while wondering who is actually profiting from this book. Heaven knows that author did not get that much loot from the original sale of the book.

Full disclosure: I am the elected officer of a Golden Dawn based lodge in Denver, Colorado. The opinions expressed do not represent the opinions of my fellow lodge members or the Secret Chiefs (aka the cats). Complaints can be filed with the Secret Chiefs; bribes of tuna will help to gain their prompt attention.

Angry email and comments will be read, but not necessarily approved or commented on. This includes poison ink letters from the author himself. The book review represents my opinion which I am allowed to have as a member of the media; I am not going to rewrite my book reviews just because they upset authors (and it is a long line of authors that hate my book reviews).

Followup---18 October 2009: The book got seven bids and sold for one hundred and fifty dollars, a far sight away from the prices that some are asking for. Maybe it is just the recession...

Trollish behavior

Over the last few days, I have been watching a troll on one of the Yahoo groups that I am a member of. I am positive that it was just a troll.

It started off when someone mentioned that someone was selling Ambramelin oil on eBay. Now, I am sure that the first post was merely a sales pitch, probably by the eBay seller themselves; but perhaps not, those of us in the esoteric community do tell others of our discoveries of decent priced material and tools.

One of the responses was that one should not buy oil from someone that they do not know, with a catty comment that "I suppose that you buy your magical tools also." And they signed it 93 (this whole story, sadly, is an example of the behavior that the worst of Thelema produces).

At this point, I got involved because yes, I have brought tools and oils from other people. I asked if he grew his own food, hoping that he would see the point that I was trying to make.

Yes, I forgot my father's advice of not arguing with drunks and fanatics. He never said anything about trolls, but I suspect that they fall under the fanatic category.

There was a couple of moments of quiet. Then the troll came back that they did grow all their food and meat, and that no real magician uses tools that other people made. He also made some comments about women only having one purpose---shades of Crowley.

And I dont need to describe the rest; experienced group members can fill in the rest of the blanks.

But it always worries me to see this type of behavior. What if a true Neophyte (someone who knew nothing about Golden Dawn, or Thelema, for that matter) saw this? What if this type of behavior was your first exposure to Our Tradition?

There were some that thought that my responses should have been more impolite, or at least not so subtle. But when I saw how they were signing their posts (93), I knew that indulging in anger would accomplish nothing. And I promptly suspected a troll to boot, someone whose true purpose of posting was to cause trouble.

Now, I know some fine Thelemics, who are very smart, very skilled at magic, and who seek to enlighten others. This person was not one of those. And I refused to stoop down to their level.

So that is my complaint of the day: I hate internet trolls.