Tea and biscuits with Mouni Sadhu

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Hi and welcome to the October 31st Tarot Blog Hop. This time around, our fearless wrangler, Arwen Lynch Poe, wanted us to talk about someone dead that we admired or disliked that ties into cartomancy.

My choice of such a figure is Mouni Sadhu, a student of the French Tarot system that was based on the work of Levi. One of the first advanced books on magic and the Tarot that I brought was written by him. I actually learned a lot from his book on Tarot.

Of course, when I say that, often I have someone ask if I have gone out of my mind.

Now, I do understand why people say that. For one thing, Sadhu (Mieczyslaw Demetriusz Sudowski) used the Levi system of ordering the Tarot. Most of my friends use the English system of Tarot that was created inside of the Hermetic Golden Dawn. The difference between the two systems is in how the Major Arcana are ordered. Levi placed the Magician at the beginning of the Major Arcana while Golden Dawn places the Fool at the beginning. When this ordering is combined with the Hebrew alphabet, you end up with completely different cards being associated with the elements, planets and zodiac signs.

(Please note that I think that it is useful to compare the two systems. Also note that it is not until the 18th century that the Hebrew and the Tarot had anything to do with one another.)

For another thing, Sadhu has some odd little equations of magic scattered throughout his book. Here is one:

"Equation No. 214: Knowledge (2) [High Priestess {Luna}] together with a clear perception of the principle of regeneration (20) [Last Judgment {Saturn}] undoubtedly makes an adept, who has the wisdom of the Major Arcana, a true Rosicrucian, like those original brothers hundreds of years ago. But how hard it is to conquer in full the FIRST element (2), and how difficult it is to believe, with a pure heart, as does a child (a necessary condition), in the SECOND (20), and apparently how torturing and strenuous is the task of neutralizing BOTH in one's true life."

Some people who read that will pull more from it than others. It makes odd sort of sense to me, but I can see where others would consider it complete nonsense.

When our wrangler first mentioned this subject, I found myself wondering what his natal chart (astrology) looked like. At first I thought that I was going to have to haul out my "no information available, but damn'it I have Tarot cards" spread to generate a chart for him.

(Basically, I lay out cards and use their GD astrological associations as a key to fill out the chart. I use an equal house system; and if I draw a planet card, I use the sign of its rulership as the position of the astrological data point that I am drawing for. Not the world's best way to do it, but when you have a headful of astrology--you use it.)

But when I did the Google, I discovered a noon natal chart for him.

Mouni Sadhu---polish mystic and magician,

I am not sure that I completely agree with the resulting rising sign, so I might later pull a card anyways to get a different possibility for it.

(And yes, occasionally when I have all the other data, I will pull a card to represent the rising sign. What do you expect from someone who writes Sun Sign astrology? Actual science?! Actual astrological technique?!)

Of course, there is also the debate of "if the rising is actually Scorpio, do I use Death (English) or Temperance (French) card to represent it?"

Well, at least this type of stuff keeps me off of the streets and out of trouble.

For those times that you simply do not know the data to plug in.

Thank you for reading my ramblings. As always during a Tarot Blog Hop, I encourage you to continue along to the next blogger in the chain (or the last one if you like to go in the opposite direction), and if you have any difficulties doing so (breaks in the chain), hop over to the Master List.

Happy Samhain.


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Have I mentioned that I love the math of astrology lately?

Have I mentioned that I love the math of astrology lately? How about the math of astronomy?

I didn't think so.

I am currently trying to calculate some figures for a chart that I want to include in my article about the Four Royal Stars.

Or not.

If not, I still need the numbers for another chart that I might include.

A chart that will probably hit the cutting room floor and not even make it to being actually submitted to the editor because the chart(s) will violate the principle of writing on an eighth grade level or below for your average advanced audience.

(That is the rule I learned writing for a college newspaper--I shit you not.)

How big of a violation am I thinking of committing?

Well,  the base measurement I am working with is 5028.796195 arc seconds. That is a fucking real number that says something to...well, I am sure that someone might understand it...though it might only be me.

I completely understand why people generally use the ball-park rule of one degree per seventy-two years for precession of the sphere of the fixed stars.

But...I am a damn Virgo. Need I say more?

And have I mentioned that I really only write for myself? I probably don't need to mention that, right?

I hope that the editor remembers that. And that he really could care less if I make readers cry. I can always hope that he is desparate for pages. There is probably a real measurement of that too if I look hard enourgh.

Math Cat says that I should wait a century to see if the numbers are actually right. 

Top Halloween costumes Denver 2015

According to Frightgeist, the top five Halloween costumes in Denver, Colorado for the 2015 season are:

#1 Star Wars

#2 Harley Quinn

#3 Witch

#4 Superhero

#5 Pirate

Fourth Western Mystery Conference cancellation followup (fund for ticket refunds)

As most of you know, last month Jeffrey Lee Contreras (S.O.M.A.--Society of Magical Artists) was forced to cancel the Fourth Western Mystery Conference. In the aftermath, several people asked if I knew how they might help Contreras deal with the debts that the Conference created.


A donation page has been set up on the S.O.M.A. website. You can donate $10 or $25 dollars, or multiplies of those amounts. *Here is the link to the donation page.*


For those who are curious, the current debts still not covered are:


Ticket refunds--$2550 (I understand that Contreras sent off three refunds yesterday).

Plane ticket reimbursements for the speakers--$540 (it might only be $402, but I understand that depends upon the good graces of an airline, so I am listing the higher amount).


Venue cost ($2500 deposit---gone) $1077 still owed unless the venue rents out the space for that weekend (if the venue does rent out the space, the venue might lower this amount).


Jeffrey Lee Contreras is asking for donations to help him issue the ticket refunds. Contreras plans on covering the rest out of his own pocket.


(And I must admit that I admire the fact that he plans on hosting future events [smaller and more frequent and less expensive]. I am not sure that I would be willing to stop forward again so soon after a bad economic implosion like this.)

Shooting up Star Wars

As an illustration of how bad I think the current gun happy society is in the United States, consider this:


I would love to go see Star Wars: The Force Awakens during its first screening.


But I don't want to be in such a target rich environment.


Yes, I am saying that the first screening of the movie will be a mass shooter's wet dream.


All eyes on the event? Yes. Fully packed theaters? Yes. Ability to deeply scar people? Yes. Over stretched security and theater staff? Yes.


Can you imagine a better event as far as a gun toting fame seeking murderous terrorist is concerned?

Custom-made pet urns

As most of my readers know, my wife is a ceramic artist (a potter) who does wheel thrown pottery. One of the items that she makes are pet cremation urns. She can make ceramic pet urns with paw prints for dogs, cats, and ferrets. She does have a size limitation (basically she can't make an urn for a godzilla sized dog). The most common customization request is for the pet's name to be on the urn.

If you are interested, you can check out her Etsy shop.

Handmade pet urn.

Ceramic pet urn.

Forty-three preventable gun deaths

Today, I heard that forty-three toddlers shot people last year. This is an outrage. We need to do what the NRA tells us is the ideal solution to this problems. Remember, only a good baby with a gun can stop a bad baby with a gun. We must arm all babies and we must do it now!




[Truth: At least, 43 toddlers shot someone with a gun this year. Typically, it is themselves. And all of these incidents get labeled as "accident." Read the article.]