Hammer and Chisel

One of the things that can be said about occultism is the tendency of many to write about it in an extremely dense manner, so wordy that one needs a hammer and chisel to figure out what they are going on about. This may or may not be a bad thing depending upon what your purposes are. If your purpose is to figure out what the writer is going on about, it is a bad thing; if you are trying to conceal something, then it is a good thing.

I was reminded of this today when a new writer got added to my “What is this writer prattling on about” list. I tried to figure out what they were talking about, but gave up after a few minutes and several articles. If I want to work at chiseling meaning out of something dense and convoluted, I have pretty of university homework to do.

Basically, if it takes you forever to get to your point, or if it is concealed under layers of nonsense, I wander off and start doing something else. I suspect that the same is true of many readers.

So why do people write about the occult, and magic, in such a manner? My current theory is that they are trying to conceal how much ignorance they have about the subject; they figure if they imitate the classical writers on the subject (or academic writers) that no one will notice that they have not a clue. Or that they are trying to attract a following that associates that style of writing with knowledge and scholarship.

Personally, I just find it easier to admit that I don’t know everything. It saves time and effort for both me and my readers.

Idea behind the October Open Full Moon ritual

The original idea behind doing an Open Full Moon was that it would help give the lodge greater exposure in the local pagan/wiccan community. Unfortunately, even greater public exposure will not increase the local lodge membership unless we can give people a reason to want to join.

Hence, I plan on talking about how there are several Golden Dawn techniques that can be used in a wiccan setting. Such as the Purification and Consecration by Water and Fire, the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, and the Middle Pillar ritual. I might mention the use of godforms, and how several keys of Gardnerian Wicca came from Golden Dawn though the route of OTO (Thelema and Aliester Crowley). Or maybe not, depends upon the audience.

Hopefully, it will spark some interest. If nothing else, it makes Alia happy that I am doing a ritual (OFM).

[Updated--June 21, 2013: Link to lodge site changed to current official site.]