In Agrippa’s Renaissance worldview, light doesn’t work the way modern science tells us. Instead, divine light descends from beyond the fixed stars, trickling through each of the seven planets where celestial intelligences determine how this radiance is received and emitted. By the time this celestial light reaches us, it’s not visible light at all, but a divine radiance that enters the human soul through the imagination and projects outward from our eyes—like spiritual flashlights—before being received again, allowing us to see. ¹

A Culture of the Phantasmic

Renaissance culture was, as scholar Ioan Couliano noted, “a culture of the phantasmic” that had “developed to the utmost the human faculty of working actively upon and with phantasms” .³ When we scry using Agrippa’s framework, we’re not passive observers hoping for visions—we’re Renaissance magicians actively wielding the power of spiritual sight through the disciplined use of imagination.

That virgin was Diana Vaughan, perhaps the most fantastical character ever invented in the long history of anti-Masonic conspiracy theories. Created by Léo Taxil as part of his elaborate hoax, Vaughan’s story reads like a supernatural thriller decades ahead of its time. According to Taxil’s wild narrative, the Palladians immediately initiated her into the 5° of their order after Asmodeus’s proposal. Yet Vaughan proved to be no ordinary initiate—she refused to complete the ceremony when asked to stab a communion wafer, dismissing the ritual as childish and an insult to her liberal intelligence.¹

Despite her rebellion, Diana Vaughan allegedly received an array of miraculous powers that would make modern superheroes envious: levitation, bilocation, telekinesis, and the ability to break curses. When the Palladians finally presented her to Asmodeus in a massive underground cave in Kentucky, she performed her own miracle—walking across the surface of an underground lake to kiss the demon prince’s feet, causing him to vanish instantly.

The story only grows more outrageous from there. After her encounter with Asmodeus, Vaughan supposedly converted to Catholicism and began publishing exposés of the Palladian conspiracy in her “Memoirs of an ex-Palladist” starting in July 1895. In these memoirs, she claimed to have met Lucifer himself and achieved the highest degrees of Palladian initiation. As A.E. Waite colorfully described her supposed accomplishments, she had become “a Palladist of perfect initiation, comprehending the mysteries of the number 77, and doing reverence to the higher mystery of 666, Grand Mistress of the Temple, Grand Inspectress of the Palladium, and […] a sorceress and thaumaturge before whose daily performances the Black Sabbath turns white”.²

Superhero Origin Story

But Diana Vaughan’s origin story stretched back even further. According to Taxil, she descended from royal blood dating to the 17th-century Rosicrucian alchemist Thomas Vaughan. This genealogical claim connected the fictional Diana to a real historical figure, though the legends Taxil spun about Thomas Vaughan were entirely his own 19th-century invention. The choice of this particular ancestor was no accident—it linked Diana to the mysterious world of Rosicrucianism and, by extension, to the earliest days of speculative Freemasonry.

The Diana Vaughan hoax reveals how anti-Masonic fantasies often weave together real historical figures, genuine esoteric traditions, and pure fiction to create compelling narratives that blur the line between fact and fantasy. Understanding these connections requires careful study of both Masonic history and the broader Western esoteric tradition.

The legend grows even more fantastic. About two years later, Vaughan supposedly traveled to New England, where on a clear summer night, he encountered Venus-Astarte, a succubus goddess sleeping on a mystical bed. From their unholy union came a child, whose descendants would eventually produce the Palladian virgin, Diana Vaughan.¹

¹ Arthur Edward Waite, Devil-Worship In France or The Question of Lucifer (George Redway, 1896), 170–73.

² David Stevenson, The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland’s Century 1590-1710 (Cambridge University Press, 1988), 101–2.

³ Epistle to the Reader in Christian Rosencreutz, The Fame and Confession of the Fraternity of R.C., Commonly, of the Rosie Cross : with a Praeface Annexed Thereto, and a Short Declaration of Their Physicall Work, trans. Thomas Vaughan (London : Printed by J.M. for Giles Calvert, 1652).

⁴ Frances A. Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment (Barnes & Noble (1996), Hardcover, 269 pages, 1996), 208–12.

⁵ Henry Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, ed. and trans. Donald Tyson, ed. Donald Tyson, trans. James Freake, Llewellyn’s Sourcebook (Llewellyn Publications, 1994) xlvii-xlviii.

Andrew and I began doing these annual forecasts back in 2020, when we famously scratched our collective heads by failing to predict the pandemic. But it has gotten so much better since then! Beginning in 2021, we were joined by T. Susan Chang, who brought humor and cartomancy to our efforts.

Sure, maybe we are not always accurate, but we have a great time, and we know that you do, too! Without further ado, please enjoy the video version of the 2026 Forecast featuring Andrew B. Watt and T. Susan Chang.

We produced this video by livestreaming and sharing the link with our Patreon supporters and Discord servers. Jake from Cosmic Plumbing volunteered to produce the livestream, which made it a very easy process. Editing would have been pretty fast if my video editing laptop hadn’t been grumpy. But in the end, we got it done! Look for the audio-only version on the podcast feed, as well.

Make sure to visit Susie and Andrew on the web, too!

Earlier this year, I posted about sharing regular updates on YouTube to help with accountability. That was a failed experiment! I got a couple of videos shared, but I failed to account for how the regular Portland heat waves ruin my ability to get anything done. I need to just start accepting that I have to take the summer off!

Work on the Arbatel project has continued, and the following music video is kind of part of that. I am also still learning (slowly!) how to use DaVinci Resolve to edit video better. In this particular video, I used mostly stock footage, but wanted to try to use chroma key compositing (AKA green screen) and then I also wanted to focus on color correction.

More Updates Coming

I have a few updates coming, including the next episode of the Arbatel series, covering the third septenary. I currently have all the audio recorded, I just have to spend some time putting it together. In addition, be on the lookout for the latest in my forecast series with Andrew B. Watt and T. Susan Chang! If you are already a Patreon supporter, you can watch the video right now.

I will also be teaching more online and in-person classes starting in January, so watch out for those, too. Remember, if you want to stay up-to-date on everything I’m doing, sign up for the newsletter.

After some thought, I narrowed down the delays to two problems. First, crafting a highly produced podcast all on your own is too much work. Second, Arnemancy is just a one-human shop, which means that there is no external party to hold me accountable for stuff like that.

Getting Updates

I want you to feel like you are staying updated on my progress! One good way is to subscribe to the Arnemancy YouTube channel (I guess that is pretty obvious), but you should also subscribe to the Arnemancy Podcast. Heck, if you just want to be swamped with all the best Arnemancy juice, you may as well sign up for the newsletter, too!

Freemasonry and the Occult

Freemasons deny that their secret society has anything to do with the occult, but then why do so many famous occultists have Masonic connections? From the founders of the Golden Dawn, to Annie Besant, to Aleister Crowley, to many modern-day magicians and occultists, it seems like Freemasonry and Western esotericism walk hand-in-hand. Join me on January 26th in an exploration of Freemasonry’s occult connections, esoteric teachings, and magical rituals.

This class will be both online and in-person at Dark Star Magick in Portland, Oregon!

Unraveling the Arbatel

The Arbatel stands as a seminal work in the Western esoteric tradition, promising insights into natural magic, spiritual wisdom, and the conjuration of spirits. This class provides a breakdown of the Arbatel’s contents, ensuring that students appreciate both its historical context and application in contemporary occult practice.

The very first episode of the podcast was published in June 2019, a much simpler and more innocent time. Over the last five years, I have talked to magicians, scholars, astrologers, cartomancers, artists, authors, and more. Heck, I did a whole season about Agrippa’s Occult Philosophy, too! In that time, I have learned a lot about audio production. I started sharing my music and this year, created my first YouTube video. It has been a ride!

And now it’s time to celebrate!

Join me on Halloween!

Join me at 7pm on October 31st for a live podcast recording at Dark Star Magick, here in Portland, Oregon! I will be joined by special guest Eric Purdue to talk about Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy and how his new translation has changed the landscape of magic, astrology, and Western esotericism in general.

There are a limited number of in-person tickets for this event. Get your ticket here!

(Since it will be Halloween, you should definitely wear your costume if you have one!)

And it will be livestreamed!

Not in Portland? Don’t worry, the live podcast recording will also be livestreamed on YouTube! You can join us there, for free!

My Thanks

Thank you to all of my listeners over the years. I am delighted to have you along for the ride! It has been so much fun to meet you in person, on social media and Discord! And a special thanks to all of my Patreon supporters! Your support has really meant something special to me.

Regarding the live podcast event, I would like to pre-thank Steve of Dark Star Magick for hosting the event, Eric Purdue for agreeing very quickly to be my special guest, and my brother Nick Arneson for helping with audio and video.

I thought my first video should be something kind of fun, something that I could keep relatively short. In the end, I decided to try answering the question, “Why does divination work?” This is not a video about convincing skeptics that divination does work. Obviously, as a professional tarot reader, I’ve got some skin in the game of assuming that divination works. I am not denying that I am biased.

So divination works. But why? And how? Through over 30 years of Tarot experience, 10 years of blogging about Tarot, 5 years of running the Arnemancy podcast, and helping to moderate the Hermetic House of Life Discord, I have met dozens—if not hundreds—of diviners. They work with tarot, runes, geomancy, and astrology, along with other systems and techniques too numerous to list.

They all know divination works.

Is it because we all live in some giant interconnected clockwork mess? Some Aristotelian chain of cause-and-effect stretching back to a prime mover? Is it because a tyrannical god manipulates us all with invisible tendrils of fate?

Well, in this video, I decided to call up my friend Tres Henry of Cosmic Plumbing and ask him about divination and why it works. Please give the video a watch, and let me know what you think.

First offered at Dark Star Magick earlier this year, my class exploring historical techniques for sigil creation is now being offered online! From magic squares to magical alphabets to magical math, let the methods of pre-modern magicians come alive for you!

Learn how to create sigils using techniques from Renaissance magic. From magic squares to magical alphabets to magical math, the innovative approaches of Johannes Trithemius, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, and other Renaissance wizards can teach us much about creating our very own sigils. These methods predate Chaos Magic by centuries, and can be used to add an interesting and artistic touch to any modern magical practice.

As part of this class, we will walk through the entire method of creating unique sigils from an
astrological election, using both the Daimon Name Generator and Daimon Sigil Generator!

Note: This class is currently available on demand!

Enrollment

You can skip all of this and head straight to the Playfair key generator tool.

The Playfair Cipher

The Playfair cipher is a manual symmetric encryption technique—a hand cipher—that encrypts pairs of letters (digraphs) in a plaintext message. It is a fairly straightforward cipher and is very easy to learn and use, which makes it excellent if you are trying to protect messages from spies in a pre-digital-computer world.

This cipher dates back to 1854, and while it is fairly simple, it is much more complex and interesting than most of the ciphers used by Renaissance magicians. The Playfair cipher Wikipedia page contains excellent instructions for its use.

Using Playfair with Magic

We already have seen examples of pseudo-encryption and early steganography in Renaissance magical texts and techniques, so why not update those techniques with some real encryption? The Playfair cipher gives you the ability to take any text, transform it into a cipher key, and then use that cipher key to manipulate any other text. Basically, it gives a way to combine two texts to create something entirely new.

My experiments have included using the Orphic hymns to encrypt petitions to planetary spirits. You can try it yourself. For example, take Thomas Taylor’s translation of the hymn to Kronos, and put it through the cipher generator.

Etherial father, mighty Titan, hear, great fire of Gods and men, whom all revere:
Endu’d with various council, pure and strong, to whom perfection and decrease belong.
Consum’d by thee all forms that hourly die, by thee restor’d, their former place supply;
The world immense in everlasting chains, strong and ineffable thy pow’r contains
Father of vast eternity, divine, O mighty Kronos, various speech is thine:
Blossom of earth and of the starry skies, husband of Rhea, and Prometheus wife.
Obstetric Nature, venerable root, from which the various forms of being shoot;
No parts peculiar can thy pow’r enclose, diffus’d thro’ all, from which the world arose,
O, best of beings, of a subtle mind, propitious hear to holy pray’rs inclin’d;
The sacred rites benevolent attend, and grant a blameless life, a blessed end.

You end up with a key that looks like this:

You can then use that key with the Playfair cipher to transform petitions to Kronos into a ciphertext petition. That petition can then be used the same way you use any petition.

This technique has many other interesting applications, including receiving specific keys from tutelary spirits, crafting spirit names into talismans, and other fun techniques. I look forward to hearing about your own experiments using hand ciphers in magic!

Generate your own cipher keys!

Johannes Kepler is best known for developing the Laws of Planetary Motion. I have been fascinated by his story for years, and was amazed when I read about his mother’s witchcraft trial in Kitty Ferguson’s book, Tycho & Kepler. This sort of accusation was deadly. Out of 73,000 accusations of witchcraft in Europe, about 50,000 led to executions. There was a strange intersection between medieval superstition and the birth of modern science in the early modern period.

Here is the song I made, based on this bit of history.

Please enjoy!

My music still has a ways to go, but I hope you enjoy the song. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share this learning process with you, and hopefully seeing my rough starts will encourage more people to explore arts and crafts in their mystical journeys.

Renaissance magicians believed in pansophia, that one person could contain all the knowledge of the cosmos. They developed an Art of Memory designed to contain all of this information, based on their understanding of learning, imagination, and the occult properties of the soul. Why did the Art of Memory disappear, and how can rediscovering it help the modern magician pursue their occult studies?

More Information

I have written many blog posts and released many podcast episodes dealing with the Art of Memory. Find a list of them using this link.

I have been exploring the connection between music and Western esotericism, which happens to be a topic with a long and complicated history. Some of it is rooted in math, some in music theory, some in sacred geometry—I feel like I am still just dipping my toes into how they are related.

One of the major elements of this exploration has been resuming my relationship with the piano and keyboards, and exploring music through making music. This has been both frustrating and rewarding, but it is taking up enough of my time that I thought opening a Music category on the Arnemancy blog would be worthwhile. So here it is, and I present you with a song that I have shared on Soundcloud.

Please enjoy!

I hope you enjoy the song. I know it is not a masterpiece, and I have much left to learn, but I think it can be helpful to share the learning experience so that all of us can understand what it is like to learn, grow, and glimpse the mysteries of the universe in our craft and our art.

This class explores Henry Cornelius Agrippa’s theory of divine light as illustrated in Three Books of Occult Philosophy. We will examine divine light’s role in both interior and exterior perception, an essential foundation for understanding the practice of image magic. Agrippa’s theory builds upon the earlier theory of rays of celestial influence that connected the macrocosm to the microcosm, and echoes of this approach have made their way into even modern magical practice.

More Information

If you want to get some more background for this class, check out this episode from my series on Three Books of Occult Philosophy. You may also want to pick up your own copy of the best English translation of the book.

More Podcast Episodes are Coming

2023 saw the podcast moving at a slower tempo than usual. I am aiming to increase the episode output to two a month until summer. I have several interviews recorded, and more planned. My goal is to bring more of the enriching conversations that you all seem to enjoy.

In addition, I have been working hard with my friend Alexx to produce more episodes of Wiz Biz with Alexx and Erik, so make sure you check out that show! It’s more casual, but it’s also a lot of fun.

Thank You All!

As I say in every podcast episode, the Arnemancy project wouldn’t exist without all of you readers, listeners, seekers, and students! My life has been greatly enriched by this entire experience, and I am excited to be moving into Arnemancy’s 10th year with all of you.

Here’s to 2024!!

The featured image for this post is a photo taken by my friend Josh. Follow him on Instagram!

The forecast series has been such a blast to produce. Andrew and I started this project back in 2019, where we looked to the future and completely failed to predict the enormous scope of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then in 2020, just a week before the lockdowns started, I had the pleasure of meeting T. Susan Chang in person at the Northwest Tarot Symposium.

At the end of 2020, Andrew suggested that we invite Susie to join us to use Tarot to give a different perspective to our forecast. Thus began our proud and slightly chaotic tradition! The 2024 forecast is our fourth year working together to attempt to gaze an entire year into the future. I hope you enjoy listening to this series as much as we enjoy making it.

Grimoire.Social is part of BookWyrm, a social network for tracking your reading, talking about books, writing reviews, and discovering what to read next. Federation allows BookWyrm users to join small, trusted communities that can connect with one another, and with other ActivityPub services like Mastodon and Pleroma.

Why Grimoire.Social?

When I explored BookWyrm, I realized that I wanted a place just like it, but dedicated to the weird books that I wanted to find, read, and share. I realized that I had to create the space. I’ve done that, and now I want you to join me! Immerse yourself in a collection of spellbinding tomes, share your own annotations and insights, and connect with a vibrant community of fellow practitioners.

From ancient rituals to modern magick, Grimoire.Social is your gateway to occult book recommendations. Join us now and let your mystical adventure begin!

Oh yeah, and it’s free!

And once you join, find my profile there: @arnemancy@grimoire.social

I can’t wait to see you there!

Here are the key details you need to know:

• Free shipping is applied via the coupon code SHIP.
• There is no minimum order value to qualify for free shipping.
• The offer is valid for a limited time, so make sure to take advantage of it soon.
• This offer is only applicable to shipping in the United States.

Whether you’re shopping for yourself, looking for a unique gift, or simply browsing our collection, this is the perfect opportunity to snag your favorite items without worrying about the additional shipping cost.

Visit the Arnemancy shop now to check out our selection of books, decks, and online courses to take advantage of this exciting offer! We can’t wait to see what you choose.

Remember, free shipping is only available for a limited time, so don’t miss out!

If you are interested in finding other ways to support the Arnemancy project, please check out our support page.

Enjoy your math and enjoy your magic!

The Kaleidoscope’s Renaissance Inspiration

In A Treatise on the Kaleidoscope, Brewster credits a Neapolitan “Renaissance Man,” Giambattista della Porta, for inspiring the kaleidoscope. Porta, it seems, came up with an earlier, proto-version of the invention more than 250 years prior to Brewster’s patent. Brewster cites Porta’s most famous work Magia Naturalis, or Natural Magick, published in 1558, which includes detailed passages about experimental optics, lenses, visual devices, camera obscuras, and what Porta called, “Strange Glasses.”

Page through Porta’s Natural Magick, and one will find descriptions of devices and optic experiments which certainly seem to describe a kaleidoscope. In Porta’s Seventeenth Book of Natural Magick, the short chapters include titles such as “Merry Sports with Plain Looking-glasses,” “A Looking-glass Called a Theatrical Glass,” “Diverse Operations of Concave-glasses,” and “How Spectacles are Made.” Porta describes how a reader can make a certain type of theatrical looking-glass, “wherein more pictures will be represented of the same thing,” adding that, “I will show you one that is far more pleasant, and wonderful. For in the former, the images were seen no more then the glasses were in number. But in our glass, by the manifold and reciprocal dartings of the object and the glass, you may see far more, and almost infinite images.”

That multiplication of an object into “infinite images” is exactly the aim and purpose of a kaleidoscope. Similarly, Porta describes one experiment, in which: “If you set a candle in the middle, it will seem so to multiply by the images rebounding, that you shall not see so many stars in the sky, that you can never wonder enough at the order, symmetry, and prospect.”

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes Porta’s kaleidoscope-like devices as, “generators of marvels, with the objective of stirring spectators’ imaginations,” and, “The resulting images take on a form of existence that, like a phantasm, is halfway between ‘real’ and ‘imaginary.'”

What splendors and wonders would have been seen inside Porta’s workshop? Imagine, a fanciful Renaissance laboratory, chock-full of visual curiosities. The hermit in his lair, pondering the possibilities of the Philosopher’s Stone.

When the Muse Speaks but No One Listens

Porta’s Natural Magick described what many would call a kaleidoscope in 1558, more than 250 years before Brewster’s invention in 1816. One might ask, then, what took so long? Why weren’t Porta’s ideas developed earlier?

Maybe it’s revealing that Porta described his own hypothetical device as “childish,” seemingly disparaging what would have been the proto-kaleidoscope. Perhaps Porta’s idea never left the page because he did not see much use for something so “childish?” The use of that adjective, childish, reminds one of how Brewster fretted to distinguish his kaleidoscope as more than a mere child’s toy, taking pains in his treatise to explain the adult uses of this “philosophic tool.”

Or, perhaps we should also consider that Porta was, for a time, persecuted by the Catholic Inquisition. Natural Magick was banned, censored, and would have been considered esoteric or occult. For a time, Porta was as infamous as the likes of Bruno, Copernicus, and Galileo. But Porta escaped the Inquisition unscathed. Perhaps it was fear of the Inquisition that muzzled Porta, preventing a proto-kaleidoscope from being invented much earlier.

There are numerous examples from history of inventions that almost happened, or ideas which remained only rough sketches, scribbled notes, or the doodles of a dilettante, locked away for years until they were realized much later. Think of da Vinci’s draft concepts that resemble a modern helicopter or tank, or the Antikythera mechanism, a so-called ancient computer. Porta might have given the world a kaleidoscope two centuries earlier, but it wasn’t until Brewster read Porta’s book of magic, that the idea manifested into physical form.

The Embarrassing Member of the Family We Don’t Talk About

Like the title Natural Magick implies, Porta’s book was much more than a work about optics, toys, or visual tricks. While some might prefer to portray Porta as an early scientist, there is no mistaking that Porta was also a magician. Porta’s book features chapters on astrology, alchemy, occult philosophy, herbal poisons, sympathetic magic, and even a method proposing how one can “produce monsters.” Giambattista della Porta’s life and works certainly seem to illustrate a person who believed that his words and actions had a supernatural effect on the natural world around him. This is the sort of worldview that Crowley would later encapsulate when he defined magic as “the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will.”

So then, why would David Brewster, who was an esteemed and respectable man of science and a model of the “modern man” of the Enlightenment, cite a Renaissance magician’s spellbook six times in a treatise about the kaleidoscope?

Modern science has distanced itself from its less empirical past. It has shunned relations between alchemy-chemistry, astrology-astronomy; pushed away distant cousins; and marked a clear boundary between science and pseudo-science. But in Porta’s time, that boundary was less clear; Hermetic philosophers and proto-scientists would often hop back and forth between science and magic. Porta was, in this sense, cut from the same cloth as the likes of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Giordano Bruno, Marsilio Ficino, or Pico della Mirandola.

Even Isaac Newton, a champion for science credited with advancing our understanding of calculus and gravity, cultivated a secretive interest in alchemy and occult studies. In fact, a key biography about Newton, based on access to Newton’s personal letters and manuscripts, was authored by none other than David Brewster! Brewster had unique and privileged access to Newton’s nachlass, and he was well aware of Newton’s panache for the occult and alchemy, long before this was well-known among the public.

Brewster may have felt embarrassed for his hero, Newton, unable to reconcile the image of Newton the scientist, a man of reason, with an image of Newton the superstitious occultist or magician. Brewster lamented how “a mind of such power, and so nobly occupied with the abstractions of geometry” could also concern itself with the alchemical charlatanry “of a fool and a knave.”

It was many years before Newton’s occult studies came to public light. John Maynard Keynes, the economist who purchased Newton’s nachlass in the mid-20th century, became especially familiar with Newton’s private writings, prompting him to conclude that, “Newton was not the first of the age of reason, he was the last of the magicians.”

Secret Societies of Scholars

Why would the likes of Isaac Newton feel any need for secrecy, to hide his affinity for alchemy? Why should an intellectual like Porta be categorized as an occultist, inferring something hidden or secret? Besides fear of ridicule, a plain answer would be actual retribution. Survival, then, was a simple reason why some scholars and intellectuals were driven underground, their books passed around in secret. Accusations of witchcraft or sorcery could be met with severe penalties, including capital punishment, even through the 18th century.

Secret societies of scholars were not uncommon among some renaissance and early modern thinkers. Giambattista della Porta even founded one such group in Naples, Academia Secretorum Naturae, or the Academy of the Mysteries of Nature. The painter Hieronymus Bosch was a member of the Brotherhood of the Swan, which still exists today in the Netherlands. And in fact, the Royal Society, the preeminent science academy in the United Kingdom, has its origins in the Invisible College, a Rosicrusian order.

The Royal Society’s origin story is especially telling about the departure point between natural magic or proto-science on one hand, to modern science on the other. The Royal Society’s members have included Isaac Newton, and its contributions to science are illustrious. When the Royal Society officially formed in 1660, this was a time when modern science was still emerging from its proto-science past. It did not seem so strange that an organization for science should emerge from Rosicrucianism, a secretive movement known for studies in spirituality, mysticism, alchemy, and occult knowledge.

David Brewster was familiar with other secretive orders, too, as he was commissioned by the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1804 to write The History of Freemasonry. Brewster would have been well-acquainted with Masonry’s mythos and narrative: The value placed on the classical Seven Liberal Arts, the Trivium and Quadrivium; its veins of Pythagoreanism and Neoplatonism; and the origin story about the transition from operative to speculative Masonry, when stonemason guilds transitioned to welcoming aristocrats and men of letters. Masonry had its own critics over the years, and like Porta or other hermetics, the fraternity used secrecy as a shield against critics, “cowans and eavesdroppers.”

Detour through Harvard

The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments at the Harvard Science Center exhibits a few curious pieces which highlight the fact that spirituality and science were once not such polar opposites. These antiques from the history of science include models of the solar system, survey instruments, precise timepieces, and aids to navigation, like sextants and sundials. One might not expect tools of science to be adorned with symbols of spirituality, alchemy, astrology, and religion. Yet sure enough, here they are for history to see, a time when magical belief was not opposed to scientific exploration. See here, instruments adorned with astrological and zodiac symbols, Christian crosses, memento mori, and the Tetragrammaton.

Let There Be Light

Only recently, it seems, have esoteric or occult studies become more open or socially acceptable. People like Justin Sledge on the Esoterica YouTube channel have gone a long way in shedding light on areas of academia that were once considered to be less respectable. The Embassy of the Free Mind in Amsterdam preserves Hermetic texts in a modern version of the Library of Alexandria. And thousands of formerly occult texts are now found easily free online, on sites like The Internet Sacred Texts Archive. Is word “occult” still appropriate to describe areas of formerly secret knowledge that are now widely available, that have come out of the shadows and fully into the light?

Magic and science have danced together much closer in the past. Perhaps it is we who are naive to believe that our science is not magic. As Arthur C. Clarke put it, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

The Finite Perceives the Infinite

One wonders what Brewster and Porta saw with their own eyes, when they looked through their own looking-glass, to see wonders of shape and light. Although they would not have known the word fractal, fractal art is nonetheless what we see when we peer through a kaleidoscope today. Coined by the mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot in 1975, the word fractal is derived from the origin words for shattered or fractured, and this is exactly the effect of a kaleidoscope, when multiple lenses produce the visual effects of shattered glass or a fractured mirror. Fractals are analogized with infinity, forever changing and expanding. Likewise, in their own way, Brewster and Porta would also have been staring into the infinite future when they peered through the looking-glass; unaware, perhaps, that their tinkering and thinking would prognosticate concepts—fractals—that underlie math, technology, and our modern world.

True to the purpose of Brewster’s intentions, even today, the kaleidoscope beautifies and adorns the world in its own small, magical way. To Brewster, even this little toy was one of the “many works of the Divine artist” to whom “nothing is made in vain.”

How fascinating is it that something so small and finite as the eye perceives the infinite? Whether looking through a telescope, stargazers looking aloft toward the Heavens, or back here on Earth looking through a kaleidoscope at everyday items that are multiplied exponentially, mundane scenery at once appears fascinating and alive. Each turn of a kaleidoscope shows objects “reflected in an endless variety of patterns.”

References

• More Worlds than One, David Brewster: https://archive.org/details/moreworldsthano02brewgoog
• A Treatise on the Kaleidoscope, David Brewster: https://archive.org/details/b29295440/page/n13/mode/2up
• Natural Magick, Giambattista della Porta: https://archive.org/details/naturalmagickbyj00port/page/n5/mode/2up
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Porta: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/della-porta/#WorkMagi

Websites

• https://youtu.be/uxdGpXSTc0Q
• https://youtu.be/5qnYS8vN7Gk
• https://science.howstuffworks.com/kaleidoscope.htm
• https://capekaleidoscopes.com/
• https://www.jstor.org/stable/26559824
• https://www.nature.com/articles/509030a
• https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-companion-to-newton/preliminary-reassessment-of-newtons-alchemy/4A043063FF0DEA1073FD4D8B53944C02
• https://www.online-literature.com/victor_hugo/les_miserables/93/

Featured image by Dmitri Posudin from Pixabay

How a Toy’s Curious Origins Reflect the History of Magic and Proto-Science

A sexy, mind-blowing mobile device, so incredible that it may alter your perception of reality. The graphics are phenomenal, the colors are rich and vibrant, and the visuals look so real, you’d think you can reach out and touch them.

Is that how you would describe a kaleidoscope? Kaleidoscopes aren’t trending, they’re probably not topping many Christmas wishlists, and social media influencers aren’t glamorizing them. Compared with today’s boundless content and gadget options, a kaleidoscope may seem like a lame, bygone relic, or a forgotten toy from youth, used once then tossed aside. But when kaleidoscopes were first introduced to the public, they caused a stir, a sensation comparable to the same enthusiasm used in the description above.

The origin story of the kaleidoscope even meanders around magic, an eccentric mage who was persecuted by the Inquisition, and secret societies of scholars. A famed inventor, David Brewster, and an alchemist and tinkerer, Giambattista della Porta, each played a role in this tale. And in the history of the kaleidoscope, a curious time is revealed, when science and magic seemingly overlapped.

Through the Looking-Glass

Peer through a kaleidoscope and witness a tye-dye spiral of dazzling colors and shapes. See the outline of a mandala; this one resembles a snowflake, with bold contours defining the perimeter of the shape. Follow the line in detail, up-close, notice the abrupt angles, geometric formations, and patterned harmony. Upon each edge, the hexagonal crystalline structures sprout into new, tiny snowflakes. One multiplies and births a dozen more, morphing and expanding into snowflakes evermore. Consider the colors, notice that these are painted shapes—in hues of vibrant blue, bold red, luminous yellow—a prism’s rainbow that changes in color and shape with each twist and tumble.

Each new scene within the kaleidoscope is spectacular, but also fleeting. The eye is mesmerized by stunning visual effects and geometrics, as mirrors multiply mundane objects. Perhaps for these reasons, the kaleidoscope has long been a starting point for meditation and contemplation. “Reflections of the mind about reflections on mirrors,” you might say; or, “reflecting on a reflection.” In fact, an entire treatise was written by the inventor of the modern kaleidoscope, manifesting the hope that the device would serve to be much more than a mere toy, but something that we might call a “philosophic tool.”

It’s What’s on the Inside that Counts

Kaleidoscope types vary widely. They can be homemade or cheaply mass-produced from cardboard and plastic. Others are finely crafted artisanal pieces with multiple mirrors or eyepieces. A few even sell for thousands of dollars!

A common and inexpensive type of kaleidoscope is made with mirrors formed into a triangle. The mirrored triangle can be composed of either three or two mirrors. This is fitted inside a tube, often called a spyglass. Affixed on one end is an eyepiece, and at the opposite end is a wheel—the star of the show—containing colorful knickknacks or treasures. The teleidoscope, another type of kaleidoscope, dispenses with the wheel of knicknacks, and instead relies only on mirrors and optics to skew the view of the real-world.

Kaleidoscopic effects can be recreated easily, using only two small mirrors placed side-to-side with tape for a hinge. When an object is placed in front of the two mirrors, and the mirrors are folded in together, like closing a book, as the angle is narrowed, the object appears to multiply. At an angle of 60 degrees, the two mirrors produce six images.

The basic functions inside all kaleidoscopes are similar, and even the most rudimentary version can produce extraordinary visuals. What we often see inside the kaleidoscope is a visualized fractal or mandala, offering practically infinite combinations of images with each turn of the wheel. This fractal art is achieved by showcasing the object’s self-symmetry or “self-similarity,” through the triangle’s prism. In fact, the word fractal means fractured or shattered, and that same fractured or shattered effect is achieved through the kaleidoscope’s multiple mirrors.

Brewster’s Millions

David Brewster is credited as the inventor of the modern kaleidoscope in 1816. He was known for much more than this single toy. Brewster was already an established scientist and expert on optics; he discovered photoelasticity—the study of the visual stress points and contours in materials. He invented an updated stereoscope, and he wrote entries about optics for the prestigious Encyclopædia Britannica. While researching his biography on Isaac Newton, Brewster even had the rare opportunity to pore over Newton’s nachlass, a lifetime’s worth of notes and musings. In a time before Google or Wikipedia, Brewster was the go-to guy for questions on optics, telescopes, microscopes, and material science.

Brewster’s words did much to popularize science. He had a flair for the whimsical and poetic. In his book More Worlds Than One, he brought his understanding of optics into focus, sharing this with readers:

The telescope brought into view worlds as numerous as the drops of water which make up the ocean; the microscope brought into view a world in every drop of water. Infinity in one direction was balanced by infinity in the other.

Published in 1854, More Worlds Than One discussed the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and pondered the physical conditions that would be necessary to sustain it. In the century before the Drake Equation or the founding of SETI, before the term “science fiction” was coined, Brewster was already popularizing the idea that life beyond Earth was not only possible, but even highly probable. “Citizens of the spheres,” wrote Brewster, “may have his home in subterranean cities warmed by central fires, or in crystal caves cooled by ocean tides.”

Brewster was ahead of his time. A century before Einstein published his Theory of Relativity, Brewster noted the correlation between time and space, saying there was a “mutual relation of an atom of time and an atom of space.” He was aware that stargazing was like looking into the past, acknowledging that the light from a distant star may have travelled from a long-deceased celestial body. He surmised that other planets might be gaseous or liquid, and he was aware that larger planets like Jupiter exert a gravitational pull far stronger than Earth.

Brewster’s beliefs could not be pigeonholed or fit neatly into a box. Perhaps he struggled to balance belief and spirituality with reason and science, even describing his own astronomical ideas as bordering on the “blasphemous.”

On one hand, one could argue that Brewster was a champion for science over religion. In his 1841 book, The Martyrs of Science, he chronicled the lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and even mentioned Giordano Bruno, who was burned alive at the stake by the Inquisition. But on the other hand, Brewster wrote within a Christian modality; his religious worldview skewed his scientific findings, and he expressed the belief that science served to further the aims of religion. The study of astronomy, for example, should not supplant one’s belief in Deity, but rather supplement it. To Brewster, a better understanding of the stars and planets further illuminated one’s understanding of the Creator’s Heavens. And for all of his radical notions in More Worlds Than One, not once did Brewster describe “alien life” as it is popularly theorized today. Instead, his description of beings beyond Earth fall within a Christian milieu, suggesting that life on other planets must be souls of people yet to live or who have passed away, a Heavenly home or place for karmic recycling.

What’s more, Brewster was an ardent critic of the theory of evolution, writing a rebuttal titled, The Facts and Fancies of Mr. Darwin. But still, Brewster was certainly not what we would call today a Young Earth theorist; he was neither a fundamentalist nor a Biblical literalist who believed that the Earth was only 6,000 years old, and he certainly would not have been a fan of Ken Ham’s Creation Museum in Kentucky. He was adamant that the cosmos was at least millions of years old, and he had no qualm with the notion that our world was formed eons before people, taking longer than the six days of creation proposed in the Book of Genesis. Ironically, for all his opposition to Darwin’s theory, Brewster speculated in More Worlds Than One that extraterrestrial life would have to adapt and evolve to the conditions of other planets, writing that there would be “diversified modes of life […] new orders and species, new forms of life.” He anticipated that space would reveal new elements of chemistry, botany, and zoology. Brewster seemed to believe in evolution on other planets, but not on this one.

Share Your Toys

It should not be surprising, then, to learn that David Brewster had a lot to say when he introduced the world to his kaleidoscope in 1816. He was zealously hopeful that this would be more than a toy, but also a tool for philosophy that would improve humankind. In 1819, Brewster published A Treatise on the Kaleidoscope, a nearly 200-page instruction manual and love letter to his invention. Brewster coined the word kaleidoscope from Greek to mean, “an observation of beautiful forms.” His book assured readers that the device was valuable to “all the ornamental arts” by creating an “infinity of patterns.”

The release of the kaleidoscope caused a riotous sensation, one rivaling what later generations would see the day after Thanksgiving, fighting tooth-and-nail for an Xbox or Tickle-Me-Elmo. Brewster estimated that over 200,000 units sold within the first three months, spawning a multitude of cheap knock-offs and counterfeits. One commentator had this to say about the kaleidoscope’s uproar: “A universal mania for the instrument seized all classes, from the lowest to the highest, from the most ignorant to the most learned, and every person not only felt, but expressed the feeling, that a new pleasure had been added to their existence.”

The kaleidoscope eventually moved “from the streets into the parlors,” and it became a fixture of the middle class and leisure class. Higher-end models were sold on legged stands, better-suited for refined viewing. Even Victor Hugo satirized the kaleidoscope’s new place in society, writing in Les Miserables, “The date of the year 1823 was indicated, nevertheless, by two objects which were then fashionable in the bourgeois class: to wit, a kaleidoscope and a lamp of ribbed tin.”

Continue reading in part 2!

Featured image by Dmitri Posudin from Pixabay

Melissa is a witch, chef, storyteller, botanist, and co-owner at Catland Books. Their work deals with the healing power of myth, divination, and immersion in the natural world. They are a teacher at Catland Books and numerous other metaphysical spaces around the country, and the author of the magical cookbook, The Witch’s Feast: A Kitchen Grimoire.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy

In this episode, we discuss his new and upcoming books, including topics like the difference between normal old werewolf magic, and werewolf pack magic. We explore topics like animal spirits, comparing rituals, chasing squirrels, and Denny’s experience at The Starwood Festival.

It’s always a pleasure to talk to Denny, and I hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as I enjoyed recording it.

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Remember to check out our 2023 special deals!

In this episode, we will look at charts and cards for July through December of 2023. Andrew will be handling the astrology, Susie the Tarot, and I will be moderating to make sure things stay on track. If you would like to download a PDF with all of the astrological charts that Andrew used for this forecast, you can sign up to Andrew B. Watt’s Patreon or to the Arnemancy Patreon.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy ]]> https://arnemancy.com/articles/podcast/2023-forecast-with-t-susan-chang-and-andrew-b-watt-part-2/feed/ 0 13528 https://arnemancy.com/articles/podcast/2023-forecast-with-andrew-b-watt-and-t-susan-chang-part-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=2023-forecast-with-andrew-b-watt-and-t-susan-chang-part-1 https://arnemancy.com/articles/podcast/2023-forecast-with-andrew-b-watt-and-t-susan-chang-part-1/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://arnemancy.com/?p=13192 Read more »]]> Welcome to part one of the 2023 Forecast featuring Andrew B. Watt and T. Susan Chang. As in previous years, we will look at charts and cards for each month of the coming year. Andrew will be handling the astrology, Susie the Tarot, and I will be moderating to make sure things stay on track. Part one covers the year chart, and the months January through June.

In this episode, we learn that Venus is the Queen of the Year, and the card of the year is the Queen of Swords. What does that mean? You will have to listen to learn more!

If you would like to download a PDF with all of the astrological charts that Andrew used for this forecast, you can sign up to Andrew B. Watt’s Patreon or to the Arnemancy Patreon.

Note that because I’m going to be traveling and away from both the log cabin basement and my normal recording setup, part 2 of this forecast won’t be available until the end of the first week of January, 2023.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy

Note that you can currently listen to part 1 of the forecast on Patreon!

This online class will be on January 22, 2023. There are limited spots available, so reserve your place now!

We not only discuss chaos magic, but Luxa’s musical endeavors, her work creating the Green Mushroom project and its associated hyphosigil, and also what the heck a hyphosigil is. Hint: it is not a hypersigil!

Please enjoy a little holiday chaos with Luxa Strata and the Arnemancy Podcast!

By the way, this episode includes both colorful language and some sexual content, so keep that in mind before letting your youngsters and impressionable family members listen.

Bonus: Make sure to check out my appearance on the Lux Occult Podcast, which is going to be available about the same time that this episode is released!

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McCalla Ann is a podcaster, student of Bridal Mysticism, and professional diviner. She runs SaturnVox, a multimedia occult education and divination platform based out of New Orleans.

I think you will find that what McCalla means by “intuitive” is more complex and nuanced than you might expect.

This episode is also the first part of a collaboration that this podcast is having with the SaturnVox podcast. On November 12th—my birthday!—McCalla will be releasing her interview with me on the SaturnVox podcast, where I will go into my model of Tarot divination using the art of memory. Be sure to check it out!

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Frater Robert received a B.A. (Hons) in Anthropology from the University of Melbourne and an M.A. in Museum Studies from University College London. His vast experience includes professionally managing the St Paul’s Institute (an ethics think tank run by St Paul’s Cathedral in London), working for the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace, and working for the Garden Museum (an independent museum devoted to the legacy of John Tradescant and the final resting place of Elias Ashmole).

He has been practicing Rosicrucianism for over 20 years and is an active member of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, the Order of the Rose and Cross, and A.E. Waite’s Fellowship of the Rosy Cross.

21st Century Rosicrucianism is now available from Lewis Masonic in the UK and Macoy Publishing in the USA.

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We have been all over Occult Philosophy, and explored everything from its historical context to its complex cosmology and fascinating theories on divine light. We will look at the influences that Occult Philosophy has had in the nearly 500 years since its original publication.

In all of the previous episodes, I have suggested chapters in Occult Philosophy that could be read to accompany your listening experience. But not this time! My guests and I will be mentioning quite a few books that have resulted from Agrippa’s influence, however, and I will make sure to list them in the show notes. They will make excellent additions to your winter reading list!

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If you would like to do some reading before listening to this episode, I think you can get a pretty good overview of Agrippa’s take on this topic by reading book 3, chapters 10 through 25. However, note that references to Cabala, the Hebrew language and alphabet, and Jewish mysticism crop up throughout book 3.

You can’t really deny that Kabbalah is one of the cornerstones of Western occultism. It crops up everywhere from Solomonic magic to Tarot to the Golden Dawn. If you’ve looked into it at all, you’ve probably come across the concept that Kabbalah is usually split into three main branches, differentiated in the way they are transliterated into English.

• Christian Cabala, spelled with a C, is our main topic in this episode.
• Hermetic Qabalah, spelled with a Q, is the variety used by modern ceremonial magicians.
• Jewish Kabbalah, spelled with a K, is the original strain of Jewish mysticism that the others pull from.

And always remember, if you want to catch up with the rest of the Agrippa series, you can visit the home page for the series.

This episode will cover a lot of material from across book 2 of Occult Philosophy. If you are looking for sections to read before listening to this episode, I would suggest starting with book 2, chapter 29, and reading through chapter 50. You’ll also want to read chapters 58 and 59, as I reference them specifically. However, after this episode, I believe you will want to spend some serious time studying all of book 2, especially going back over the parts about planets and spirits from earlier on.

As we will discover, both planetary and astrological magic cover a wide range of practices that occultists of all varieties are likely familiar with. You will find sigils, prayers, petitions, spirits, and hymns. In fact, this type of magic also leans heavily on occult correspondences, which can include metals, stones, crystals, herbs, foods, and animals.

And always remember, if you want to catch up with the rest of the Agrippa series, you can visit the home page for the series.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
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Michael Sanborn is a book designer and translator specializing in contemporary European esoterica. He participates in several esoteric traditions, including Neoplatonism, and Templarism. He is also a gnostic bishop and a member of Azoth Temple in Portland, Oregon.

Rémi Boyer has explored at length the world of the avant-garde, initiatory traditions, and philosophies of enlightenment. He works within the setting of the House of Surrealists in Cordes-sur-Ciel, for a new alliance between traditions, philosophies of awakening, and the artistic avant-garde. He is the author of some twenty specialized works, particularly on Western initiatory movements.

Letters to Friends of the Spirit, like the previous three translations of works by Rémi Boyer, is published through Rose Circle Publications, the imprint founded by noted esoteric author and translator Piers A. Vaughan.

We will be returning to Occult Philosophy next episode, so for now, please enjoy this bonus interview.

The art for this episode is a detail from O milagre das rosas by Lima de Freitas, acrylic on wood, 1987.

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• Spiritual trends have changed, in that “solo practitioners” and non-affiliated persons have set aside the traditional belief that spirituality can only be achieved within a group, such as at a mainstream church or temple.
• Dispersed “micro-minority” belief systems can connect in non-conventional ways, of course online via the internet, but also in real life (IRL) and in-person at shops like the ones discussed here.
• Spirituality or personal meaning can be found without a group. An individual, as a “solo practitioner,” is free to forge their own path.
• Certain spirituality shops or botánicas serve a function in the community that was once exclusive only to churches or organized religious centers.
• The question might be raised then: If spirituality is becoming more of an independent, solo experience, then should churches still receive the same benefits (and tax breaks) as in years past?

Going It Alone

For many, Spirituality or personal meaning is found outside of a traditional church or temple. The rise of the “Nones,” which includes people who identify as Non-Affiliated or Non-Religious, has been well-documented. Declining church numbers is part of a larger structural change—even social clubs and fraternities have also seen their numbers plummet as people choose different ways of engaging and socializing. Nones include those who say they are “spiritual but not religious,” those who are non-traditional in their beliefs, and those who simply prefer to be an independent Seeker, walking their own path independently, apart from a group.

Several New Religious Movements and spiritual systems on the periphery of the mainstream emphasize individuality more so than a group dynamic. For example, some Wiccan or magick systems meet in a group only irregularly, if at all, while many members might even identify as solo practitioners.

While Christianity has been the dominant belief system in the US for many centuries, even within the mainstream Christian context, there are many faithful who choose not to go to church, preferring instead to worship solo at home, independent of the group, through personal prayer or through their personal conduct.

Regardless of one’s beliefs, the coronavirus pandemic was a reminder that each of us has the power to direct our own spirituality, because when many churches were closed for months by public health order, the religious were left to connect with the Divine independently and without the comfort of the congregation, whether this was through prayer, study, or Zoom.

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A Safe Place for Minority Voices

Spirituality shops not only serve as a resource for individuals, but also function as a brick-and-mortar meeting place for minority religions and belief systems which don’t have an adequate congregation size to build their own house of worship. For example, somebody identifying with Palo or Yoruba will be hard-pressed to find a congregation or temple for either religion in most American towns, but they might, however, find books or sacred objects for both faiths at their local occult shop or botánica. In that sense, spirituality shops and botánicas are like de facto, multifaceted temples of the mind, a functioning meetinghouse for minority faith groups.

What does one find inside these shops? The products and wares can reflect diverse cultures and minority religions including folk beliefs, Santeria, Yoruba, Palo, indigenious religions, animism, paganism, Afro-Cuban syncretized systems, Wicca, witchcraft, and even the more familiar major religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Catholicism, and Christianity.

Additionally, one finds examples of alternate beliefs which may fall just outside of the umbrella of religion, depending on who you ask, including magic, mysticism, New Age, and divination systems such as astrology, runes, and tarot. Overall, one could say these shops offer an alternative to mainstream beliefs, sometimes blended or syncretized.

Inside Tres Niñas Blancas botánica in San Francisco.

“I’m Catholic,” says Luis Vasquez, the co-owner of Tres Niñas Blancas botánica. “To me, all religion is energy. The people who come here feel that energy from the shop, similar to a temple. This shop is not just a place to sell candles. Sometimes people just want to talk with somebody, in a safe place.” His shop’s diverse products demonstrate the unique syncretism of spirituality and religion, sometimes blending mainstream Christian or Catholic beliefs with ideas and practices from various cultures or religions.

Outside of these San Francisco examples, some shops have even clearly made the leap from commercial to spiritual. Some shops double as Santa Muerte churches in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, where the Templo Santa Muerte hosts a priest, podcast, and streams worship services.

This raises the question of what it means to be a religious organization, and demonstrates that some people come to shops like these for religious meaning that others find in a church. However, a church is sanctioned by the State with tax breaks and benefits, while a spirituality shop might be “othered”—labeled as magic, superstition, or “for entertainment purposes only,” just as certain fortune tellers are required to state in their advertisements. Imagine what clamor would arise if a mainstream evangelical church was required to advertise that their service was “for entertainment purposes only.” Yet, as a society, we clearly differentiate and segregate the two types of places.

Centers for Community

Spirituality shops can function as centers for their communities. Patrons do more here than simply buy or consume; they come to these shops to hang out, chat, cry, ask about their future or tell their secrets, share a meal and break bread. When people talk and learn from one another, they are exchanging ideas, building a narrative, nourishing relationships, or forging an anchor in the community.

Tres Niñas Blancas botánica visibly serves the marginalized and those on the periphery, including those from the migrant community and native Spanish-speakers, and members of the LGBTQ community. One NY Times article about the Santa Muerte movement suggests that members of the LGBTQ community in particular have found solace and identity with such non-traditional belief systems found at botánicas.

The botánica serves as more than a shop; it functions as a center of community. For example, the shop owners at Tres Niñas Blancas, Luis Vasquez and Mercredes Martinez, offer thoughtful blessings, limpias or cleansings, and annually on the Dia de los Muertos in November, they even hold a group rosary dedicated to the Santa Muerte. This prayer service certainly resembles a traditional religious experience: The faithful respectfully file in to the shop’s main room and sit upright at rows of chairs, in-line like church pews, the group prays aloud together, following the words of a rededicated rosary, and with incense and candles lit, the room is set for a mood of reverence and communion with the mystical.

“People here from other countries come to see the altar, to see the Saint, or to make an offering,” says Vasquez. His shop’s altars are reverently set apart from the products for sale, a line is delineated between the sacred and mundane. The large statues of the Santa Muerte are lovingly cared for like any other saint at a church, and especially on an occasion such as the Dia de los Muertos, when the statues are lavishly adorned with ornate gowns, the altars blanketed with fresh marigold blossoms.

The African Outlet is at Third Street & Quesada Ave in the Bayview. This neighborhood has historically been a predominately African-American community, and looking up and down Third Street, one sees the red, black, and green colors of the Pan-African flag proudly painted on dozens of lampposts. Inside The African Outlet, you can find a cornucopia of fetish statues and handmade religious relics from markets in West Africa. The shop owners, Judah Dwyer and Horgan Edet, met in 1987. Horgan is originally from Nigeria, and since the couple opened their first shop in San Francisco in 1989, they have brought much energy to their community. They have been longtime supporters of local dance and culture through their performance group, The African Outlet Experience, which has performed at the San Francisco Carnaval Parade, Juneteenth Parade, and celebrations of Black History Month and Kwanzaa.

The African Outlet in Bayview, California.

Dwyer sees her shop as a resource in the community, a peaceful place that “provides grounding, inspiration, and another perspective.” Neighbors stop by for a chat or to break bread together, sharing a meal, not necessarily to purchase something. “We have food, we laugh. People drop in and hang out, exchange knowledge,” she explains.

In another neighborhood of San Francisco, Cole Valley, The Sword and Rose is a self-described “occult shop.” Shop owner Patrick Micheal points out that while occult means “hidden from view,” he does not associate the word occult with “darkness.” Rather, he sees his shop as helping people on their own individual journey, to learn what was otherwise unknown about themselves. “We offer people an inner spiritual compass, to find the way and the path that feels right to themselves.”

The Sword and Rose is an occult shop in San Francisco.

Stepping inside the small shop at The Sword and Rose, one finds a unique sensory experience. The interior is blanketed with treasures and curiosities to indulge a wandering eye, the lighting is low, and incense and perfume permeate the air. The attendants prepare custom incense concoctions for each patron, consecrated to a specific deity or spirit, and listen intently to personal woes or worries. A tarot reader conducts readings in a corner. Through these rituals in the shop, people are also sharing their secrets and wishes while trying to manifest desires or goals. Relationships are kindled and people seem to find the solace or fortitude they seek. This serves the same place in the community that a temple or church might serve for others.

“We’ve said that The Sword and Rose is a temple first and a metaphysical shop second,” says Teena from The Sword and Rose team. “I don’t know if we’re big enough to be labeled a community center, but would for sure agree it is a spiritual one. We are big in presence. People from all over make sure to come visit us or connect to us, from long time customers and friends to new ones. Our connections reach far and wide.”

“The Idol Shop”

Why would spirituality shops feel any pushback or discrimination? After all, they offer some of the same benefits and services as a church or community center. The answer is that a mainstream Christian culture can decide what is legitimate religion, and relegate to the heap of superstition or quackery anything which it deems to be hooey or unsavory. The word “magic” (or “idolatry,” for that matter) has been used to “other” those with divergent views from one’s own, according to Dr. Justin Sledge. What one person labels sorcery or trickery, another might label a miracle, and vice versa.

“I’ve seen people who pass by our store, cross to the other side of the street, and make the sign of the cross,” said Judah Dwyer of The African Outlet. “If people are ignorant of our shop, they might call it a ‘voodoo shop.’ Their friends taunt them to come in, then when they do come in, they’re surprised.”

“Some people are ignorant, and say this is the Devil,” Luis Vasquez says in a similar experience at his botánica, where statues of the Santa Muerte are proudly displayed in the window facing the public sidewalk. Vasquez takes a respectful approach to critics, responding, “It’s okay, I respect that, and I take my time with people. God is the only person who will judge us.”

An especially insightful story about the sentiment of critics of these shops can be found in the Midrash, a mystical commentary on the Hebrew Bible. It is said that Abraham’s father Terah operated a so-called, “idol shop.” To the chagrin of Abraham, the eponymous father of the Abrahamic religions and monotheism, his pop was a proud polytheist, and he carved and sold idols and statues of deities to customers looking for a custom Creator.

Abraham took an axe to his father’s wares, and like a bull in a china shop, Abraham smashed up his father’s idols. When Terah confronted his son about what he had done, Abraham blamed one of the idol statues for the destruction. Terah scoffed and said that was impossible because the idols had no real power, which was the perfect “gotcha” moment for Abraham, who exclaimed that worshiping and praying to these idols was futile.

This story is perhaps a metaphor for the violence that established religions have been willing to unleash on the minority faiths that posed uneasy questions. That is to say, in the story of Abraham’s axe-wielding rage inside the idol shop, we see an historical analogy for how monotheism dealt a crushing blow to its polytheistic precedents, when, over the centuries, organized religion flexed its dominance over individuality and personal spirituality. One wonders about this story from the point of view of the idol shop’s owner and patrons; perhaps the place was actually a beloved center of the community, and provided tools for individual contemplation for solo practitioners. “History is written by the victors,” says the famous maxim, and perhaps likewise we’ll never know how many countless so-called “idol shops” which were smashed up or buried beneath a temple or church, swept away and forgotten.

Of One and Many

Austin Osman Spare created an entire religion for which he was the lone believer, the Zos Kia Cultus, and he made this in his room, complete with deities and rituals—a solo psychonaut travelling on his own astral plane. But despite creating a complex belief system with no other practitioners, Zos Kia Cultus might be better characterized as one man’s worldview, rather than a bona fide religion.

Must spirituality or religiosity even be put on a pedestal above philosophical inquiry and study? If an individual is well-read and well-versed in the words of Plato, Marcus Aurelius, or Schopenhauer, and they conduct their life in a disciplined and virtuous manner, but they don’t identify as religious or spiritual, and never go to church, then was this work all for naught? One would hope not. Sunday schools don’t often emphasize that religiosity and ethics are two different matters, and there are many examples of religious people who have committed heinous acts, or non-religious people who exemplify noble deeds.

The question can be raised then, why are churches and religious centers given tax breaks and benefits, under the assumption that their works enrich the community in some unique way?

Must we practice spirituality with a group for our beliefs to matter? According to some, “yes,” and there are numerous benefits to ditching the solo path for the road well-travelled.

A group may be stronger than the sum of its parts, and it has been suggested that a kind of “group magic” might bring about a secondary force, dynamic, or egregore. The Gospel of Matthew states that, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them,” as if group prayer conjures a secondary presence. The mystical book Tanya credits group prayer as being so powerful that, when a congregation gathers to pray, an angel passing above might be instantly nullified, as if hit by an energy beam. Groups offer a vibe not possible alone, groups offer an exchange of ideas, mentorship and guidance, and a sense of belonging and community.

“We’re not a faith center,” Judith Dwyer distinguishes The African Outlet from shops which blur the line between shop and church. “We’re not proponents of that approach. Organized religions have destroyed indigenous cultures.” Dwyer seems to extol the value of individuals and minority beliefs holding steadfast against the mainstream, against religions which historically have been, “conquerors.”

Solo practitioners, it seems, have the benefit of quietly finding their center at their own pace, in calm solitude and meditation. Without interference, the solo practitioner can focus on core values, and hone their skill or study. Even Jesus seemed to advocate for some solo time, saying of prayer, “when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.” Mysticism is most valuable when one has an individual connection to the Divine, something that can only be attained on a personal level, not necessarily within a crowded cathedral, but simply in the mind, according to William James in his opus The Varieties of Religious Experience.

But group dynamism and the label “church” is still so evasive and powerful, that even atheists, when working within the modality of a church-going culture, have founded atheist churches, both to make a point, and in a nod to a shifting spiritual landscape. The Harvard Divinity School even offers chaplaincies for those who identify as atheist, agnostic, or humanist. The Satanic Temple, which has made some notable public spectacles and lawsuits to advocate for the separation of church and state, is professedly non-theistic (and they say they don’t literally believe in their eponymous deity), but the group seems to see value in the label and legal status of being a “church.” What does this tell us about the power of the word “church,” when even non-religious people who might prefer to philosophize individually, find it necessary to congregate as a church?

Friends with Benefits

While churches and organized mainstream religions have seen falling attendance in recent decades, having lost touch with their flock, or not kept up with changing needs and trends, still though, they receive generous financial benefits and tax breaks not afforded to individual seekers or non-traditional spiritual centers like shops or botánicas.

The image of a humble church on a town square might elicit sympathy for shelter and tax breaks, and perhaps small congregations should receive legal protections. To be clear, many churches do pay some taxes, such as property tax, and the staff may pay personal income tax. And most non-profit organizations, including non-religious ones, have similar protections.

Yet, the church tax break has been famously exploited as a loophole. Dozens of sleazy televangelists zip around on private jets while asking their faithful for more handouts. Plenty of examples abound, so much so that one wonders if the tax exempt status of churches ought to be reconsidered. One especially wealthy church, fearing it would lose its tax exempt status, even went so far as to burglarize the IRS, cloak-and-dagger style. The Twitter hashtag #TaxTheChurches continues to bubble in popularity. Some churches have amassed considerable fortunes, so much so that a 2020 Wall Street Journal investigative report found that the Mormon church had stockpiled a 100-billion dollar nest egg. The problem has been so pervasive, in fact, that even a Republican Senator, Chuck Grassley, whose party has long been affiliated with the Religious Right, launched a Congressional investigation into the tax exempt benefits of wealthy churches.

Here we have examples of non-profits that are in fact clearly very profitable. And perhaps this blurred line shouldn’t come as a surprise, when even famous for-profits can’t turn a profit. AirBnB, Pinterest, and Uber might have high stock valuations, but that’s based on hype, because these companies don’t make a dime of profit. This accentuates the question, what does it even mean to be a non-profit that’s profitable, or a for-profit that’s not profitable? Perhaps these definitions and loopholes should be reconsidered altogether.

Churches are obligated to remain non-political in order to keep their tax free status, but another line is crossed when many churches make bold political endorsements, both on the Left and Right. Many progressive churches are open about their political advocacy. And on the other end of the spectrum, in 2008, the Mormon church drew the ire of critics when they openly endorsed Prop 8 to stop gay marriage in California.

Is it possible that spirituality and religion can be pushed back to a place of individuality? Where groups pandering for converts are not given a monetary advantage over individuals or small shops? Is it fair that a group receives a break at all, when individual beliefs or micro-minority beliefs are left to flounder or sink without those same breaks and protections?

The Power of One

When we question what it means to be religious or spiritual, we find that spiritual beliefs can’t be fitted neatly in a box or affixed with a label, instead lines are blurred and contradictions are rampant. Entire temples or churches might be religious in name, but faithless in function, perhaps merely going through the motions on the major holidays. One could believe in spiritual concepts, such as reincarnation or astrology, without believing in an overarching deity. Spiritual matters then, like the rest of life, are messy and complicated.

Each of the major religions started from humble beginnings, each movement was catalyzed by individual prophets, and the many started from one. That is, mass movements and today’s established systems each started from a single point: from a single book, the words of a single prophet, or a single event, and then multiplied, expanding outward like a fractal. Likewise, the radical notion that individuals have the ability to read and make up their own mind, independent of clergy, empowered Martin Luther’s Reformation, and viralized the popularity of Gutenberg’s printing press. That same power to reform, reinvigorate, or create, is not confined to ancient history, but rather, fresh ideation and individual interpretation are renewed and available today and tomorrow.

Each person, then, would seem to have the power to be their own maggid, storyteller, leader, or prophet. We can each forge our own path, cherry pick from the great spiritual systems, haggle in the marketplace of ideas, and interpret or rearrange ideas as we see fit and as we wish. This process is the same as every other religion or prophet has done for thousands of years, whether or not they’re willing to acknowledge their messy history of cross-cultural mixing and appropriations. Call this an acknowledgment of the reality of spiritual anarchy.

More Reading

For an in-depth exploration of some of the themes in this essay, and for a history of botánicas in particular, check out Botánicas: Sacred Spaces of Healing and Devotion of Urban America, by Georgetown professor Joseph M. Murphy.

Tony Gilbert is a freelance writer in San Francisco, California. He is searching for a publisher for his manuscript novel titled “The Egregore,” about icons and botanicas in San Francisco’s Mission District. See the book’s preview here.

At this point in our exploration, we have developed a strong idea of Agrippa’s world and some of the basic premises of Occult Philosophy. We have looked at history, the nature of light and the cosmos, and the mathematical underpinnings of Renaissance magic. Now it is time to finally explore one of the strangest and most exciting elements in Occult Philosophy: spirits!

Discussion of spirits occurs throughout this enormous work, but if you want some reading to get into before listening to this episode, first re-read book 2, chapter 22, and then read book 2, chapters 55 through 57.

Daemons, daimones, angels, demons, and intelligences—these are all words that describe spirits. Sometimes they are various categories of spirits, other times they are words for “spirit” in another language. From time to time, even the gods are referred to as spirits. In this episode, we explore why that is, and maybe we even look at some ideas surrounding how you can communicate with them. I warned you that we hadn’t gotten to the strangest stuff yet!

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
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Why are courage and curiosity so important for this episode? Because we’re going to be talking about math. Math and magic. I have been looking forward to this episode for a long time, but I know that for a lot of people, the idea of reading about and learning about math is pretty miserable. When occultists discover how much Agrippa loved math, and how central math is to Agrippa’s Occult Philosophy, they sometimes seem pretty disappointed.

Much of book two of Occult Philosophy deals with numbers and mathematics. If you would like to really get an amazing head start on this episode, read books 2, chapters 1 through 23. However, if that is too much, I think you can be pretty well prepared for this episode by just reading book 2, chapters 1, 2, 21, 22, and 23.

Some of the math topics we will be talking about in this episode are the philosophical concept of number, the relationship between math and occult correspondences, magic squares, and sacred geometry. There is a lot of great material, and I hope you give it a listen even though math might seem like it’s a bummer!

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
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In this episode, we will be taking a look at some pretty big topics: divine light and the senses. These form a pretty important core for the vision of magic outlined in this book, and I did as best I could trying to cover these topics and make sense of them. However, they are tricky, so I encourage feedback and questions if you feel like the topic hasn’t been covered in enough depth.

To understand how Agrippa believed that the senses work, we have to begin by examining his ideas on light. For this, we take a trip through the Ptolemaic worldview, explore the imagination, and look at some really bizarre and outdated scientific concepts. But all is not lost! Come with me on a strange trip—no need to bring your own flashlight!

If you want to get a jump start on these topics, I would advise reading book one, chapters 49, 60, and 61.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
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In this episode, we will explore Agrippa’s definition of magic, both through his words and by examining it through a modern lens. Beginning with this episode, I will make a point to let you know precise chapters we will be discussing. This should give you the opportunity to read specific chapters in Occult Philosophy so you can be more informed of the topics we discuss in this episode.

Agrippa’s definition of magic can be found in book 1, chapter 2. In the 2021 Inner Traditions edition of Occult Philosophy, translated by Eric Purdue, this chapter begins on page 18. I would like to point out that we will almost never spend an entire episode discussing just one chapter, but since magic is at the core of our exploration of this book, we need to spend some time understanding exactly what we are talking about!

This series of episodes about Occult Philosophy will most likely last until Summer. My Patreon supporters will be receiving each episode a week before the rest of the world, along with bonus materials such as full interviews, a glimpse at works in progress, and the opportunity to suggest further topics for this Agrippa deep dive.

If you enjoy these episodes and want to help support their development, you can help out by sharing this podcast with a friend! Let your weird wizard buddies and witch pals know that we have embarked on this journey. And if you want to contribute monetarily, you can go to the Support page on this website and find a number of options.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
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You have probably heard how much I love this deck, and now is your chance to win one of your very own. So let’s do it!

Thanks to Eric Purdue’s long work on his translation of this book, we have a pretty good answer: plagiarism! Agrippa used material from over 200 sources to compile and assemble Occult Philosophy. In many cases, he simply lifted complete passages from some of these sources. However, in spite of the rampant plagiarism in the text, Agrippa was able to assemble quotes and passages from these sources—some of them quite mundane—to put forth an argument for his own definition of an occult philosophy that proved to be both remarkable and influential.

We will look at three of Agrippa’s sources:

1. Johannes Trithemius
2. Pliny the Elder
3. Johann Reuchlin

This series of episodes about Occult Philosophy will most likely last until Summer. My Patreon supporters will be receiving each episode a week before the rest of the world, along with bonus materials such as full interviews, a glimpse at works in progress, and the opportunity to suggest further topics for this Agrippa deep dive.

If you enjoy these episodes and want to help support their development, you can help out by sharing this podcast with a friend! Let your weird wizard buddies and witch pals know that we have embarked on this journey. And if you want to contribute monetarily, you can go to the Support page on this website and find a number of options.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

If we want to understand Occult Philosophy, we first need to take a look at the world in which Agrippa lived. This episode will begin by looking at the Holy Roman Empire, where Agrippa was born and spent most of his life, and then examine a few key historical topics that are relevant to Agrippa and Occult Philosophy, including:

• The Renaissance
• The Reformation
• Science and Philosophy

Finally, this episode will give a general overview of Three Books of Occult Philosophy and outline a general plan for this series of podcast episodes.

This series of episodes about Occult Philosophy will most likely last until Summer. My Patreon supporters will be receiving each episode a week before the rest of the world, along with bonus materials such as full interviews, a glimpse at works in progress, and the opportunity to suggest further topics for this Agrippa deep dive.

If you enjoy these episodes and want to help support their development, you can help out by sharing this podcast with a friend! Let your weird wizard buddies and witch pals know that we have embarked on this journey. And if you want to contribute monetarily, you can go to the Support page on this website and find a number of options.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

When reading tarot and oracle cards, context is everything. A well-designed spread can guide and focus a reading, leading to greater understanding and personal discovery. In this 3-week workshop led by Coleman Stevenson of The Dark Exact and Erik L. Arneson of Arnemancy, we’ll explore what makes a great spread, examine how card meanings shift based on position in different spreads, and practice various methods for constructing our own card layouts. Each participant will have an original spread tested by the class and will be invited to submit completed spreads from the workshop for publication in Volume Three of A Small Collection of Specialized Spreads.

No experience with creating spreads is necessary, but a working knowledge of card reading is strongly suggested. This class will NOT cover reading basics. Each participant will need a tarot deck of their choice for use during class sessions.

• Sundays, February 6, 13, & 20
• 4pm-6pm Pacific Time
• This is an online class offered via Zoom.

Want to learn more? Listen to my live interview with Coleman!

S01E09 The Dark Exact LIVE at Rose City Book Pub

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S01E09 The Dark Exact LIVE at Rose City Book Pub

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It’s really simpler to look at an example than to read increasingly complex descriptions of it. I mentioned above that I have difficulty with the Queen of Wands so I retrieved her for this exercise.

Now that it’s visible, I’ll outline a few strands of the web. The first I did was leopard. It splits immediately: leopard → cat and leopard → spots. One goes leopard → cat → boundaries → control / safety and the other goes leopard → spots → camouflage and it splits again into camouflage → protection, camouflage → hiding → trickery, and camouflage → hunting → predator → prey. I think these chains of meaning produce some useful ideas. The Queen of Wands is powerful and aggressive to some degree, since she’s a fire card, but there’s a useful placidity, a calmness waiting, that contrasts to the King/Knight of Wands, who goes for it and either succeeds or fails.¹

You can also see that I dove into the ideas Crowley expresses about the Queen. I had no idea, despite having read his book before, what the heck was on top of the Queen’s staff, so I looked it up. A cone, like a pinecone, which Crowley says relates to Bacchus. So I toss that into the web (it doesn’t have to all be things you come up with off the top of your head), and then go further: Bacchus → inebriation and Bacchus → loss of control. You can see I connected that to Pisces because that astrological sign is often associated with emotions, particularly emotional overflow.

This technique doesn’t just help you come up with a handful of ideas you didn’t know you already knew, or even just position information in relation to other information – though it does both of those things. It also forges connections between ideas, reinforcing them in your mind and helping you to both understand and remember the ideas. That’s the key, the best reason for doing this webbing stuff.

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Ideas as Things

If you think of an idea as a concrete thing for a second, just for the purpose of this exercise, then you’ve got big, heavy ideas that take up a lot of space and small, light ideas that are hard to find when you go looking. The more you add to an idea, that stronger it becomes. The more and more strands of web, the more layers on the single idea. So even if I don’t remember Queen of Wands → Pisces → emotion → loss of control → Baccus → cone → staff → wand → Queen of Wands every time I pull this card, the idea of loss of control has in some way been layered onto the Queen of Wands idea in my mind. Every time I add a node to the web I am strengthening the core idea in my mind. To use a different, simpler metaphor, every additional connection makes a difficult or hard to understand idea a little stickier, a little more likely to catch and be useful to you.

So, webbing is a simple enough technique. If nothing else, you will get a visual representation of what you know about your card. But that will, in turn, increase the knowledge itself, both in its presence in your mind and in the neurological links between different ideas in the network of your mind. And, finally, if you’re interested, grab a sheet of paper and do it! Embodying it with actual action helps to encode the information much more easily and actively. And it’s fun, which also helps! Get some colored pencils or something!

Further Reading

• T. Susan Chang’s work is a gold mine for associations that you can use as input for your webs.
• Thought Mapping / Webbing resources and more detailed how-to guide. Also includes resources like digital mapping tools and videos.
• Sketchnoting is a related skill that also builds on the ability to layer meaning and create connections between ideas using visual and spatial relationships.
• Here’s one more guide on sketchnoting.
• Reverend Erik has written about the Art of Memory, which uses similar systems to contextualize and relate information, directed at better recall.
• Mindmup.com is one free resource for mind mapping digitally
• Canva is another resource for digital mind mapping
• Memory and the “dual process” model for encoding and storing information.

The author, G. Conley, can be found in the following places: Patreon, WordPress, and Twitter.

Part two of the 2022 Forecast covers the months of July through December.

Two special notes for this episode:

• All of us are offering 20% off divination services through January 5th. To take advantage of this, use code BIGASTRO22 on our respective websites, which you can find in the list of links below.
• There is a PDF that goes along with this episode! You can get a copy by signing up for the Arnemancy Newsletter!

Oh yeah, and Happy New Year!!!!

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Part one of the 2022 Forecast covers the months of January through June.

Two special notes for this episode:

• All of us are offering 20% off divination services through January 5th. To take advantage of this, use code BIGASTRO22 on our respective websites, which you can find in the list of links below.
• There is a PDF that goes along with this episode! You can get a copy by signing up for the Arnemancy Newsletter!

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Gebofal is a 49-day ritual that works with complex tables found in the Liber Logaeth. Cliff explains how he worked with these tables, the mathematic structure of these tables, and the hierarchy of spirits that seem to be laid out in the Enochian heptarchy. This is complicated magic, and if this episode interests you at all, please be sure to check out Cliff’s blog for an in-depth look at his process.

Cliff has practiced ceremonial magic for about twenty years, and has been deeply involved in Enochian magic for about two years or so.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
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Then, suddenly, over the last two years, two new English translations have been published. In 2020, a translation by Paul Summers Young was published by Black Letter Press. Close on its heels, Eric Purdue’s translation was published by Inner Traditions in 2021. The modern occult world is now awash in fresh new translations of Agrippa’s seminal work.

Both of these lovely new editions cost around $200. This price tag means that most people won’t be very eager to purchase both, and since you are reading this, I assume you are trying to figure out which is the edition for you. Well, thanks to all of the lovely Arnemancy supporters out there, I was able to procure both of these new translations. This is my double Agrippa review.

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This review will also refer to Donald Tyson’s annotated edition of J.F.’s translation, first published by Llewellyn Publications in 1993. In addition to reviewing both new translations, over the course of 2022, I will be exploring some of the central themes of Agrippa on the Arnemancy podcast.

Paul Summers Young (Black Letter Press, 2020)

This gorgeous edition is printed in three volumes, plus a bonus fourth volume containing extracts of the 1565 Liber Quartus de Occulta Philosophia and additional writings by Agrippa. Printed in sextodecimo (16mo) size with a lovely cloth-bound hardcover with gilded embossed printing on the front and spine, it is easy to see that this is a high-quality binding. It is printed on 115g wood-free cream paper, and it smells amazing.¹

Paul Summers Young is no slouch when it comes to translating occult books. Many of his translations have previously been printed by Black Letter press, including Le Petit Albert, The Red Dragon, and The Black Pullet. He is certainly a well-known translator. After watching an interview with Mr. Young regarding his translation, I realized that he had a pretty good handle on the topic, so I felt confident about this purchase.

This edition feels delightful. It is a perfect size for reading, and the binding is nice and easy. You can hold it open with one hand, it is small enough to read anywhere, and the cover is sturdy enough that you can feel okay about carrying it in a bag—with special care. Given the ease of reading this edition, I devoured it when it arrived. Yes, this is the Agrippa that I read cover-to-cover.

Book III Chapter XXX highlights the layout of the Young translation.

However, there are a few problems with this translation that really need to be addressed. First, there are no footnotes. This baffling omission means that no matter what, the Young translation cannot be your only translation if you intend to use this as a working manual of the occult. In comparing the two translations, I randomly opened to Book I Chapter XX, where Eric Purdue translates the Latin hyæna as “hyena” while Young translates it as “civet cat”. This is fishy—it’s the same translation used in J.F., but one would think that a modern translator would at least make note of it. There is no footnote in Young, but there is in Purdue. This makes me lose confidence in the translation, and means that you will need to consult the Latin yourself if you ever have any questions. To work with this edition, you will need to also own either Tyson or Purdue. Unfortunately, Black Letter Press did not produce an edition that can be used without supplemental materials.

The second disappointment with this edition is that it omits all of the epistles in the front matter. The original Latin has beautiful letters between Agrippa and Johannes Trithemius, as well as dedicatory letters from Agrippa to his patrons. I was saddened to see that a translation of those letters was not included.

Circled in red, there is a layout error and maybe omitted text.

Finally, these books suffer from a poor editing job and a lack of proofreading, particularly as you get into the third book. While still readable, there are errors in Hebrew and some strange mistakes in text block layout in the third book. It is particularly saddening to see that these errors persisted into the second edition. It is almost as if Black Letter Press didn’t expect anybody to read that far.

This Hebrew error should have been easy to catch for any Hebrew proofreader. Note that it uses a final letter in the middle of a word.

These three problems were really a head scratcher for me. This translation is such a monumental effort, and the price tag on the books is so high, that it is baffling that these issues would be overlooked. However, the books do have excellent indices and they have an excellent form factor for reading anywhere.

Young’s Book IV bears special mention, as it includes material that was never part of De occulta philosophia. This volume’s real gem is a fresh translation of excerpts from De incertitudine et vanitate scientiarum atque artium declamatio invectiva, or The Vanity of Arts and Sciences. Fortunately, it is possible to buy Young’s Book IV individually.

The planetary tables and sigils in Book II are clear though the text is a little small.

Eric Purdue (Inner Traditions, 2021)

Before I pen this review, I must include a disclaimer. I know Eric Purdue. We met in 2019 at the Texts & Traditions Symposium in Seattle, and since then we have kept in touch via the Internet.

Purdue’s translation is printed as a three-volume octavo (8vo) with a nice slipcase. Each volume is cloth bound with a dust jacket. These are sturdy, well-made books, but in contrast to the Black Letter Press edition, they are much less a piece of bookbinding art than a pragmatic way to publish such an important work. The binding is high quality and the books open nicely and stay open. They feel good to handle. While the size of the books makes them more difficult to read casually, it also gives the numerous charts, tables, and illustrations a lot more room to unfold and be legible.

The Eric Purdue translation looks pretty good without its dust jacket.

As Foolish Fish noted in his video review, this edition’s dust jackets are pretty easily marked. But that’s to be expected: they are black paper! While I understand that many people buy these expensive occult books as collector’s items, I primarily buy them because I use them. I expect my books to get a lot of use. I also write notes and marginalia in my books,² which brings me to something that I absolutely love about the text block of Purdue’s translation: huge, wide, glorious margins! Throughout the book, there are already helpful topic glosses³ in the margins, but there is also plenty of space for taking notes.

Book III Chapter XXX is an excellent example of this edition’s layout.

It is obvious that Eric Purdue cared a great deal about his translation work. This edition is filled with footnotes that detail translation notes, Agrippa’s sources, clarification of difficult passages, and comparisons with J.F. This helps the reader have much more confidence in the quality of the translation. This is particularly important in Book II, The Celestial World, where Agrippa discusses rules for electional astrology. Purdue’s expertise and experience in this topic shines through in his footnotes, where he clarifies some muddy instructions from Agrippa, explains the reasoning behind his translations, and helps elucidate a very difficult topic. For the astrological magician, this edition is worth it for Book II alone.

Purdue’s efforts in tracking down Agrippa’s original sources is also commendable. Many have remarked in the past that Agrippa took much of his material from Pliny the Elder, the Picatrix, and other sources. However, until you see the effort that Purdue took in tracking down those sources, it is difficult to understand how much of De occulta philosophia was lifted from other authors. It is not only enlightening, but provides a great amount of additional reading material. Purdue includes an expansive bibliography and comprehensive index in Book III.

Finally, another mark in Purdue’s favor is the inclusion of new translation of the introductory epistles in all three volumes.

The planetary tables and sigils in Book II are nicely laid out and very legible.

Our conversation covers Denny’s background as an occultist and magician, and then we explore how the concept of werewolf magic came about, and how it was developed. We discuss the history of shapeshifting as well as the nature of its practice, including topics such as spirit vision, the “Double”, and other related concepts. Most importantly, Denny is a lively and engaging speaker, so we talk for a long time and only sometimes get off topic. I think you’ll be proud of us!

Denny, also known as Aion 131 and Hermeticusnath, is a Seattle writer, artist and university instructor whose extensive global travels and esoteric studies informed the backbone to numerous published books. Involved for decades with many esoteric traditions, the author has published works on alternative religions, Hermetic magic, Taoism, animism, Shinto, and Tantra. His published books include Global Ritualism, The Tao of Birth Days, Your Guardian Angel and You, Clean Sweep, The Book of the Horned One, Naga Magick, Dancing With Spirits, and Werewolf Magick.

If you are interested in helping protect wildlife, especially with gray wolf restoration, please consider a donation to Defenders of Wildlife.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
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I will be using a Tarot spread made specifically for interviewing Tarot decks. When some Tarot people get a new deck, one of the first things they do is an interview spread. This spread can supposedly help a reader forge a deeper connection with their divination tools. However, this might not be a very old tradition. The earliest example of one of these spreads that I was able to find on the Internet is from the Æclectic Tarot forum, in a 2010 post from a user called FireRaven.

I have found a number of other spreads in various Tarot blogs and on other websites, but all of them seem to be derivative of the spread originally created by FireRaven.

Here are the six basic questions from this spread:

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic?
2. What are your strengths as a deck?
3. What are your limits as a deck?
4. What do you bring to the table? What are you here to teach me?
5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you?
6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy

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Our discussion covers a lot of ground, but we focus on how group work can help enhance mystical and magical progress. We look at techniques ranging from Rosicrucianism to mystical Christianity to Freemasonry, including a few stopovers with old favorites like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Kabbalah. Chuck has a lot of wisdom to share, and I believe that his words and wisdom can offer a great deal of guidance to everybody, not just Freemasons.

As a disclaimer, I am the editor of The Contemplative Lodge. I have also known Chuck for over 20 years, and consider him an important teacher in my esoteric and occult work. My ongoing friendship with Chuck has only heightened my respect for his work. It is my belief that you, dear listener, can also learn a great deal from what he has to say.

Join Kevin Carlow and Reverend Erik on Friday, October 29th, at 6pm Pacific for a look at some spooky Halloween cocktails!

Curiously Flavored Ingredients

Let us begin with angelica, a member of the same family as both carrots and hemlock. Its earthy-sweet flavor adds a bottom note to many gins, and also provides a major flavor of the medicinal-tasting bartender favorites such as Fernet Branca and Chartreuse. It is long-held to have digestive properties, but just don’t go hunting for it yourself in the woods or you might end up with more than a tummy ache. In The Drunken Botanist, herbalist and author Amy Stewart suspects that the mysterious liqueur Strega (“witch” in Italian), known for its saffron content, has a good deal of angelica in it. Strega’s yellow color and bitter-sweet flavor (as well as its witchy name) make it an intriguing choice for spell work.

Speaking of saffron, it has many strange properties. Likely a mutant that was never meant to thrive, this delicate crocus is sterile and cannot reproduce by seed. It can only propagate with human help, which has been given gladly for millenia in return for its flavor and color. It has three sets of chromosomes, adding to the inherent strangeness of this magical spice. It’s a key flavor in such things as Old Raj Gin. There is a little saffron hiding in Benedictine and many other monkish delights as well. The saffron robes of Buddhist monks hint at the metaphysical attributes of this flower.

Myrrh is an ancient resin extracted from trees of the genus Commiphora. It has been valued for centuries and referenced in such works as the Bible and “Monty Python’s Life of Brian.” The resin is often used in certain church incenses, as well as Fernet Branca and other intense liqueurs. Myrrh has been added to wine since Roman times, and there is a good chance it is also in your favorite bitters. Stewart says myrrh wine was offered by the Romans to people being crucified. With its melancholic black color and heavy myrrh flavors, Fernet would be a perfect beverage for a Saturnine working. I have used it as a poured libation for symbolizing the shedding of dark energies.

Also referenced in “The Life of Brian,” but consumed much more often than myrrh these days, is juniper. This member of the cypress family has been used since ancient days for stomach, liver, and kidney ailments. It contains many terpenes and other aromatic molecules, such as a-pinene and myrcene. Some of you may be familiar with the latter in the flavor of your favorite beers and cannabis products. It’s the most important—and frankly the only absolutely necessary—flavoring in gin. Oh, also it may have been referred to as “eye of newt” in classic potions. So sorry to all the blind newts out there—I guess it was a misunderstanding. If you do run across a need for “eye of newt” for some reason, you would have history on your side if you substituted juniper berries.

Angostura bitters derives most of its intensity from the alpine plant gentian and not from the angostura bark that may not even be an ingredient. Want a straight shot of gentian’s floral and earthy punch? Try the French apertif Suze, either on the rocks or with soda, and perhaps a slice of lemon. I feel like Suze has a lot of solar energy, it has a vibrant yellow hue and it’s absolutely invigorating with soda and lemon. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon. You can also try Suze in a white negroni.

White Negroni

• 1¼ oz of your favorite gin
• 1 oz white vermouth (not dry vermouth but its slightly sweeter sibling)
• ¾ oz of gentian liqueur, such as Suze

Stir, serve up with a twist of lemon.

Stop Hating Licorice

As for all of you who hate the flavor of licorice, what you really don’t like is an organic compound called anethole. This isn’t just found in licorice, but also in such ancient holy herbs as fennel and hyssop. The maenads, fierce wild-women followers of Dionysus, carried a staff called a thyrsus, made of a giant stalk of fennel, as they revelled in the wild places. Feel free to make some for your next bacchanalia, or just enjoy a nice pastis on a sunny afternoon and revel in its complex flavors. Mix your absinthe or pastis with some cold water and a little sugar to create the cloudy louche, of course.

Speaking of absinthe, I think it’s only fair to end this tiny piece of the botanical puzzle with the notorious wormwood. Humans have been using this intense species of artemisia since ancient Egypt for its antimicrobial properties and killing parasites. The Chinese were adding it to wine just as long ago—an early precursor to modern vermouth! By the way, that’s where we get the name for vermouth. It comes from a French pronunciation of the German name for wormwood—it all comes full circle, doesn’t it? It’s also good for such spookily named cocktails as the Corpse Reviver #2 and the infamous Hemmingway invention, Death in the Afternoon—which you should enjoy very carefully.

Death in the Afternoon

• 1 oz absinthe
• 4 oz sparkling wine

Start with the absinthe in a cocktail glass, slowly add the wine, and consume at your own discretion.

Are you interested in some spooky cocktails for Halloween? Check out my column in the Coachella Valley Independent!

Kevin Carlow is an occultist, writer, and bartender. In fact, he has been a bartender and writer for most of his adult life. Having worked in nearly every position in the service industry at some point, he is currently a bartender at Seymour’s. His non-cocktail writing can be found, ironically, at crypticcocktails.com.

Heather is Professor of Art in Digital Media at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and creator of the Familiar Shapes podcast and short film. She is also an occultist, initiate of Gardnerian Wicca, and author of the forthcoming zine by Theurgical Studies Press, “The Piedmont Path: A Witchcraft Oracle of Contemporary North Carolina”.

Perhaps the element of this episode that delighted me the most is that it has been a continuation of conversations I have been having with other tech-savvy occultists like Tres Henry, Nick Chapel, Lailokens Awen, and others. There is so much to be exploring in this particular field, and we all benefit from having people like Heather blazing a trail.

Cat and I discuss the personal daimon, a tutelary spirit with a long and varied history. Some associate it with the holy guardian angel, some with a protector spirit, but Cat has found that the personal daimon is perhaps more strongly connected with guiding us toward our destiny than anything else. She discusses methods of both contacting and working with your daimon, the daimon’s astrological associations, and other related topics.

Many listeners will be familiar with various aspects of this topic already. Socrates, for instance, is famous for having a daimon that spoke to him. Many of us have experimented with the techniques of the Book of Abramelin or the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Even the various helper spirit rituals of the Greek Magical Papyri might be related to this topic.

Cat’s work with the personal daimon has led to a book! If you are interested in this book, check out the Kickstarter campaign and lend your support! The campaign runs through October 31, 2021.

Links

Liz and I discuss a number of Tarot-related topics, including questions about intuition in Tarot, the importance of memorization in Tarot, and the ethics of Tarot reading. It was a delight having her as a guest and I think this episode will give you, the listener, plenty to think about and consider in the world of cartomancy.

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There, I first met Ernesto Sanchez, working yet welcoming to this lookie-loo. I was awestruck to discover a whimsical display of shimmering shrines, custom-made altars (or “spirit houses,” as he prefers to say), smiling moon faces, contemplative masks, towering angels, and several examples of the silent and watchful Eye of Providence.

“My art is not for everyone,” Sanchez points out. Clay heads are spiked with nails, ceramic faces are missing one eye, and free-floating, life-like eyeballs are embedded in plaster.

What strikes me overall about Sanchez’s art is that, like his Emergence of Spirit shrine, his transmorphic figures appear purposefully vague, non-denominational, and open to interpretation. Clearly there is a spiritual element to Sanchez’s work, yet the artist seems unconcerned with pushing any particular dogma. Rather, his art is ready to be imprinted with the spirit and viewpoint of the viewer. For example, a feminine statue need not be the Virgin of Guadalupe, a cross is not inherently Christian, and an angel might be the spiritual protector from any one of many interchangeable faiths.

The meaning of each symbol, if there is any, will change from person to person. So, if a specific “goddess” is seen in a particular piece, that spirit might only be visible to the individual, vivified by the deeply personal perceptions and beliefs of the beholder.

Perhaps this is the ideal spiritual art for “Nones,” the unaffiliated, solo practitioners, and the “spiritual but not religious.” This art depicts deconstructed symbols, minimalist icons for the fluid faith described by William James, or an object to focus belief when it is the belief itself that matters more than the system of belief, as suggested by Austin Osman Spare and Peter Carroll.

In self-directed spirituality, one makes their own meaning, or, as Walter Leslie Wilmshurst put it, “Thy seeking is the cause of thy finding.” Søren Kierkegaard suggested, “what matters is to find a purpose… to find a truth which is truth for me.”

“The art is a portal for people’s own sense of self-discovery,” says Sanchez. He describes his work as “spiritually infused, mystically influenced, heart-based art.” And if Sanchez is the shaman on the path of self-discovery, then this echoes the words of Joséphin Péladan, who said, “Artist, you are a priest.”

But what about those eyes?

Eyes are prominent in the art of Ernesto Sanchez: free-standing, realistic eyes; and faces missing one eye. Sanchez emphasizes that the eye is imbued with spiritual symbolism. Indeed the eye has inspired notions of the Eye of Providence, the Third Eye, and the old saying “the eyes are the window to the soul.” The Hebrew letter Ayin (ע) literally means eye, with Kabbalistic implications of a “pre-Creation Creator.” Wilmshurst wrote, “So small a thing as the eye can behold the expanse of the heavens and the finite mind can contemplate infinitude.”

However, to Ernesto Sanchez, the eye also has a personal meaning. As an adult, Sanchez lost vision in one eye. His artistic vision was influenced by partial blindness, and perhaps his art helped him to heal. “I found that some believe that the loss of sight can lead to enhanced creativity,” states Sanchez. “Blindness or missing eyes are symbolic of the potential transformation of one form of consciousness—one form of seeing—into another, broader one.”

Transformation is often the goal of art. Ernesto Sanchez says that he “births” each new art piece, and describes the artistic process as “alchemy.” Perhaps it is alchemy when blank white canvas is painted a bold color, formless clay is sculpted, or mundane material is transformed into a sacred symbol. Each item is morphed into something new entirely, enhanced. And it is hoped that the viewer and artist are also changed, metamorphosed into something different than before.

Inside the artist’s studio.

Tony Gilbert is a freelance writer in San Francisco, California. He is searching for a publisher for his manuscript novel titled, “The Egregore,” about icons and botanicas in San Francisco’s Mission District. See the book’s preview at the link here: https://egregore.art/

Join your host, Reverend Erik—that’s me!—on an exploration of your favorite topics, including Tarot, magic, the occult, and the history of Western Esotericism. This season, we welcome a bunch of new guests alongside some of your favorite returning visitors. We will be exploring modern applications of technology in magic. We will also take a close look at the works of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa.

You can find the Arnemancy Podcast at arnemancy.com, as well as wherever you find the rest of your podcasts: iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts—and now also on YouTube! Subscribe today at arnemancy.com/subscribe so you’ll be ready when season three’s episodes are released!

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If you are interested in taking this class, you will want to take one of my previous classes in the series. They are available on-demand here!

Sigil Craft

There are several tried-and-true ways of making sigils:

• You can write an intention, remove the vowels and duplicates, then combine the consonants into a glyph;
• You can map your intention to a planetary square or a sigil wheel;
• You can create an elaborate composite of iconographic symbols.

There are other ways too: hidden ways, ways yet to be dreamed of. The key to crafting a sigil is to understand what your intention is, and how you can abstract it into something else, with or without language.

That something else is other, but in doing the magical association—in charging the sigil or focusing and meditating on its image and meaning, you make that sigil into its intention. It is itself, but it is also other. It exists in the spaces between.

To borrow a phrase from my friend Nick Chapel: magic is a performative act of communication; we are doing things with our words, as opposed to simply communicating ideas. In the work of creating a sigil, we are performing this act of communication abstracted from those words, but doing things with it nonetheless.

But sigil craft requires patience. It requires you to focus on that meaning enough to teach it to your subconscious, and then it requires you to let go, and allow the other to take over. Spirit, Universe, your higher self, your personal daemon or familiar. Any way you spin it, sigil craft requires you to step out of the way, and relinquish your newborn art into the world without. You can burn it, or draw it into wax and melt it. You can mail it to a friend, or give it to a homeless person. You can carve it on a tree in a distant city, or draw it into the clouds with your finger. You can let it go.

In doing this, it becomes, within. In practicing this abstraction, this association, this attention, and this patience in letting go, the sigil takes on a life of its own, and it begins to accomplish whatever intention you have imbued into it. It becomes the Word it is meant to be, not the words it was made from. In doing this, its power becomes part of your life, part of the world around you. This is the magic inherent in the art.

Exploring the Art

Sigil craft is an art because there is no exact science behind it. It is an art because it demands dedication, and love, and sympathy. It is an art because it cannot be understood in quite the same way by two different people, and yet it touches their hearts equally—or perhaps not equally, but evenly.

You can use sigils to bring your magic to life, to affect your will and change your world, or to change yourself. You can pick up a pencil and a piece of paper and get started making these impossible and ineffable signs that mean so much more than they seem to on the surface.

You can confuse and confound those who do not know, and you can teach and inspire those who wish to know. You can utilize the art of sigil craft in your own practice in any number of ways, impossible to enumerate, impossible to define in legislation or regulation.

Your art is your own, and so too are your sigils. Don’t let anybody tell you that you are doing it wrong, but listen closely when someone tells you how they do it, because it could inspire you, or teach you something new.

Go forth and transform the world with your art of sigil craft.

Taylor Bell is a tarot reader at Magus Books in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He writes for his blog at greenlionpublishing.com and is the host of the Green Lion Podcast, a biweekly podcast centering around Philosophy and the Strange. Taylor is also the creator of the Sigil Arcanum Tarot, a deck of Tarot cards built around the idea of abstracting the Thoth Tarot into sigils.

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Astute readers will note that I missed a few decans in the 2021 Decan Walk. I will have to revisit them next year! In the meantime, my Patreon subscribers get access to all of my Decan Walk articles in full. I believe it will be helpful to share with my audience and supporters the nature of my experience – successes, failures, and everything else! If you are not yet a Patreon supporter and would like to get the full Decan Walk experience, you can sign up at this link.

Mucha was a Czech painter, illustrator and artist who lived in Paris during the Art Nouveau period. His distinctive style is recognized today as being among the defining works of that period, and is probably best known for his posters promoting stage actress Sara Bernhardt. However, Mucha was also a Moravian Christian and Freemason, and his esoteric interests and mystical pursuits enfused the artwork of his incredible masterpiece, Le Pater.

This is such an important piece of esoteric artwork that I agreed to produce this bonus episode to help Thomas get the word out about his Kickstarter to produce a paperback version of his book on Le Pater.

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge.
You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.
You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

Kahlil Gibran

One of the joys of the Tarot is its paranoia. Each deck promises to be a book containing the universe in all its detail—the physical and the metaphysical: that which is, was, will be, could be, isn’t, and wasn’t—as long as you know how to read it. And as the deck connects to everything, so everything connects back to the deck; thus the world becomes a conspiracy of meaning.

I say this by way of a caveat. Nothing I’m about to say is definitive, or even wholly justified, but rather a record of trying to follow a thread, and then getting tangled in other threads, until the little web of etiologies and etymologies is strong enough to lift the searcher off the ground. And in the spirit of a kind of paranoia, I intend to find my way by going too far.

Enter the Dragon

While St. George’s flag appears on the Judgement card, the saint does not. Rather, we get an angel blowing a trumpet to announce the resurrection of the dead. The Bible isn’t clear on who this angel is, but Milton and a few centuries of Christian tradition say it’s Gabriel.⁹ This event is described in Revelation, which doesn’t have St. George in it either. But Revelation does have something to bring us back to St. George: a dragon.

The dragon appears in Book 12, menacing a woman and her child:

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.¹⁰

As with the angel, this woman is not explicitly identified—it might be the pattern or role that matters more than the individual—but various thinkers have pointed to various details about her as indicating that she is none other than the Virgin Mary. A theologian no less mainstream than Pope John Paul II made the case for linking this woman both to the Virgin Mary and to Eve, “the woman” in God’s speech to the serpent—”And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel”—all the way back in Genesis:

In this way, she who as the one “full of grace” was brought into the mystery of Christ in order to be his Mother and thus the Holy Mother of God, through the Church remains in that mystery as “the woman” spoken of by the Book of Genesis (3:15) at the beginning and by the Apocalypse (12:1) at the end of the history of salvation.¹¹

While this enmity doesn’t express itself in the Woman of the Apocalypse slaying the dragon directly in Revelation, the enmity has seemed to be enough for that line to get a little blurry for some. For example, in An Exorcist Explains the Demonic: The Antics of Satan and His Army of Fallen Angels (a book that is frankly more fun than it has any right to be), Fr. Gabriele Amorth tells us to always invoke Mary when doing an exorcism because:

The enmity between Mary and Satan—proclaimed solemnly by God in the first book of Genesis (Gen. 1:3–15) and manifest in the eschatological struggle with the dragon— makes her the number-one enemy of the demon. She will be the one to crush his head at the end of time.

Statue of Virgin Mary in the transept of the cathedral of Strasbourg, France. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Indeed, this fuzziness is not just a 20th-century phenomenon. An 1859 statue of Mary with a halo of 12 stars in the Strasbourg Cathedral shows her calmly standing on a serpent, and a 1734 statue by Bernardo de Legegardo, called “The Woman of the Apocalypse” and the “Dancing Madonna,” shows Mary with both feet planted on a serpent, riding it across a wave like a demonic surfboard. And while Peter Paul Rubens’s 1623/1624 painting “The Virgin as the Woman of the Apocalypse” shows Mary standing on a serpent while the angel Michael slays a separate dragon nearby, Miguel Cabrera’s 1760 painting “Virgin of the Apocalypse” (which Linda B. Hall points out is likely based on Rubens’s painting¹²) combines these actions, showing Mary standing on one of the dragon’s heads while another looks up to see Michael descending upon it with a sword.

But this apocalyptic image of a woman recapitulating Mary as mother and Eve as foe of serpents isn’t the only nod to prefiguration we might find in the Last Judgement and thus in the Judgement card. The angel Gabriel calling the bodies and souls of mankind to be born from the earth that they may be seen and examined for their judgement is in a way prefigured by the Annunciation (typically celebrated around the vernal equinox), when that same angel told Mary she would give birth to God incarnate, another announcement of a body to be ensouled and made miraculously manifest. Indeed, Mary is not the only person in this complex of figures through which God becomes manifest, finite, and singular to us. Ann Storey argues that the Woman of the Apocalypse allowed women such as Hildegard von Bingen and Elisabeth of Schönau to describe direct manifestations of the divine that were feminine.¹³

This is a nerdy episode. We build up a metaphor between computer programming, divination, and magic. We dive into the notion of randomness and how it is connected to free will and determinism, a topic also at the heart of my chat with Allen Drake. We discuss a number of other esoteric topics, but take some time to also discuss boats. Get ready to learn about rigging and masts and other sailor terms like that.

We also talk about the Captain’s two pieces of software, Urania and Georatio. The former is astrological software geared toward magicians, and the second is a geomancy tool.

I am also joined in this episode by guest co-host Matt Anthony, who you will doubtlessly recall as one of my co-hosts from My Alchemical Bromance. If you want to see what else Matt has been up to, check out his YouTube channel, Mattatarian!

This episode marks several important milestones:

1. It is my first episode recorded on a boat!
2. It is my first in-person recording in a long time. My last was with Alexx Bollen in October 2020.
3. It is the last episode of season two! The podcast will return with season three in September.

One of the cards that has always fascinated me and found its way into my awareness is the Magician. Not only is it the first building block in Tarot, but it is also a well of symbolic and initiatic teachings.

In this article, I will lead you on a deeper dive into one aspect of this card, especially in its relationship with the four elements of matter, the Platonic solids—more specifically, the Dodecahedron. First, let us begin by taking a look at the beauty and importance of sacred geometry.

Sacred geometry and divine patterns: understanding the language of the Universe

All life is based on a divine, timeless, and eternal intricate design. These patterns show us how growth, life, evolution, death, and transformation occur. Sacred geometry uses those mathematical patterns and translates them into geometrical shapes that our human minds can comprehend.

Ancient traditions from all around the world have been aware of these signatures for thousands of years. One of these forms is the Fruit of Life symbol, which is bound by the five Platonic solids, who, when combined, make up the core of creation itself.

The combination of the five Platonic solids with themselves and with each other give rise to endless complexities, which anyone who is to give a likely account of reality must survey.

Plato, Timaeus

According to Plato’s cosmology as outlined in his dialog Timaeus, the Universe is made of five polyhedrons, or regular solids. These polyhedrons are: a cube, a tetrahedron, an octahedron, a dodecahedron, and an icosahedron. I know, I know… what a bunch of unpronounceable words! Don’t worry: all you need to remember is that these three-dimensional shapes are known as Platonic solids.

Although the Platonic solids are named after Plato, they have been around for much longer. In a nutshell, they represent the five elements that constitute the fabric of creation.

A Deeper Look into the Five Elements of Matter

Each Platonic solid comprises one of the classical elements, but each is also a concept and energetic blueprint. The “demiurge”, aka the “designer” or “engineer” of the Universe according to the Platonic philosophy, constructed the classical elements based on the Platonic solids: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Aether.

The five Platonic solids.

• Tetrahedron (four sides): Fire
• Icosahedron (twenty sides): Water
• Octahedron (eight sides): Air
• Cube (six sides): Earth
• Dodecahedron (twelve sides): Aether

Aether, the fifth element, is also called Spirit or Space. It is the Cosmos: an all-inclusive, unifying and bending energy that encompasses all the other four, and represents life force at its purest, most ethereal form.

The Dodecahedron: Its Meaning, Symbolism and Esoteric Arkanum

There still remained a fifth construction, which the god used for embroidering the constellations on the whole heaven.

Plato, Timaeus

The dodecahedron, or twelve-sided solid, has been surrounded with mystery for ages. At its core, the dodecahedron represents a translunary substance, Spirit, union and the link between physical reality and pure divinity.

Think of it as a cosmic glue that allows us to bridge between a Soul and a body, between an object and its energetic frequency, a place and its collective memory. It might seem invisible, uncatchable, impossible to describe, but the fifth element is ever present. It is only seen by those willing to believe that there is much more to reality than what meets the eyes.

Now, let’s take a deeper look at the solid itself. Symbolically, the dodecahedron represents how unity can be divided into distinct vibrations: 20 intersections, 30 edges and 12 pentagonal faces.

These twelve pentagonal faces hold an incredibly strong symbolic meaning. They represent a visual representation of the twelve steps of the ladder of life that Spirit climbs, up and down, in a constant subtle symphony. They’re also related to one of my favorite systems: astrology.

The dodecahedron’s pentagonal faces are in the image of the twelve signs of the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.

For ancient Greeks (and modern mystics too), the twelve Zodiac signs were sacred. Cyclic, different, yet feeding off of each other and always remaining the same, these “12 gods” are the archetypal forces and modes of manifestation that we undergo as the seasons and the procession of the equinoxes occur.

The reason why the sky is divided into 12, and why the dodecahedron has twelve pentagonal faces is no accident. The number 12 is regarded as sacred by many traditions and cultures across the globe.

Considered a divine number by Pythagoras, 12 represents the supreme metaphor of Oneness: completion and perfection. Because of this, all throughout history, this number has played a key role in numerous mathematical, allegorical and metaphorical stories and systems.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of some of these occurrences:

• The 12 months of the year, as well as the 12 hours of the day and the 12 hours of the night
• The 12 disciples of Jesus, the 12 gates of heaven and the 12 tribes of Israel in Biblical traditions
• The 12 Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian legend
• The 12 gods in Babylonian mythology and the 12 Olympians of Ancient Greece
• The 12 legal imams after the prophet Muhammad’s death in Islam
• The 12 sons of Odin in Norse mythology
• The 12 stages of life in Buddhism
• The 12 fruits of the tree of life in the Book of Revelations

Fatima-Zahra, founder of Living Simplyy, is a Holistic Astrologer, Modern Mystic and Spiritual Mentor with the desire to guide people to the sacred remembrance of their divine nature. You can follow her on her website livingsimplyy.com or her YouTube and Instagram accounts.

This guest article was made possible by the Arnemancy Patreon supporters. Want to help? Join us!

Did wizards just make all of this up? Alexander and I talk about the modern renaissance of grimoire magic and what he’s learned from all of the amazing magicians, researchers, scholars, and translators he has talked to. Is there technology to trace? How much of it is innovation? I have been waiting for so long to have this conversation, and Alexander’s insights are fascinating.

In exploring this subject, we will discuss many of your favorite grimoires, well-known magicians both modern and historical, and a number of popular techniques. We discuss ritual implements, the history of such implements, and along the way we reveal that Alexander’s mind is a vast and impressive encyclopedia of magical goodies.

We also talk a lot about the nature of spirits. What are they? Why can we talk to them? How can we do it better? Why does it work in so many different ways? We ask these questions and then we absolutely try to answer them!

As a bonus at the end of the episode, Alexander and I share our pro tips on organizing podcast playlists. How can you spare your brain? Well, listen to the end and find out.

Anyhow, you can tell from the description, I suppose, that the episode had to be a long one. It also had to be a long one because this is an interview with Alexander Eth!! Enjoy!

Are you enjoying the Decan Walk series? Do you want to read more? My Patreon subscribers get access to all of my Decan Walk articles in full. I believe it will be helpful to share with my audience and supporters the nature of my experience – successes, failures, and everything else! If you are not yet a Patreon supporter and would like to get the full Decan Walk experience, you can sign up at this link.

The remainder of this post is viewable to my Patreon supporters here.

Are you enjoying the Decan Walk series? Do you want to read more? My Patreon subscribers get access to all of my Decan Walk articles in full. I believe it will be helpful to share with my audience and supporters the nature of my experience – successes, failures, and everything else! If you are not yet a Patreon supporter and would like to get the full Decan Walk experience, you can sign up at this link.

The Eight of Swords

Well, I warned you last time that the Swords are not the most cheerful of cards. How could they be? They are all about pointy things that are crafted specifically to hurt people.

When you approach the Rider-Waite-Smith version of this card just on face value, it’s bleak. The landscape is marshy and barren. The sky is grey and colorless, and off in the distance is a craggy mountain topped by a castle that seems distant and uncaring. The main character is bound and hoodwinked and surrounded by eight swords, which are presumably sharp.

This card had me in a quagmire of writer’s block for a while. I couldn’t think of anything clever to say about it. I read the entry for the Eight of Swords in Coleman Stevenson’s Dark Exact Tarot Guide, which provided me with a burst of inspiration, but even that fizzled. It wasn’t until I pulled the card from the Rota Tarot deck and really took a look that it hit me: it’s the Hod trap!

I don’t believe I’ve ever written about it before, but there is a concept in Hermetic Qabalah that each of the sefirot has an aspect that acts as a challenge that you must conquer before properly assimilating that sefirah and moving up the Tree of Life. Hod is the sefirah of intellect, logic, memory, and knowledge – a good match for the Swords. The Eights are all associated with Hod, which makes the Eight of Swords a particularly hairy card when interpreted through the lens of Hermetic Qabalah. I have often mused that the challenge of this sefirah, which I call the Hod trap, is to be so bound up in the mind, so bound up in intricacies and trying to be smart, that you can’t move forward.

Once I realized this, I realized what I wanted to say about this card. It is indeed about being bound up in thought. It is not necessarily a card of self doubt. The dangers this card warns of could be quite real. The problem is that you can never have enough information to navigate those dangers. The Eight of Swords whispers to you constantly that maybe one more piece of information will be the bit that shows you the safe passage through all threats and perils. But it will never come. That’s the trap of this card, what you need to avoid.

The rest of this article is exclusively available to my Patreon supporters here.

If his name seems familiar, it may be because he is the author of the well-known 2013 paper, “The Kybalion’s New Clothes: An Early 20th Century Text’s Dubious Association with Hermeticism,” which served as important source material for both Sam Block and me when writing our articles about the Kybalion. However, like the rest of us, Nicholas Chapel is not here to discuss the Kybalion; we are here to talk about real occultism.

In this episode, we discuss the parallels between hacking and magic in several contexts. First, we look at the nature of hacking, malware, and information security from a magical context. Then, we dive into information in the occult, and how Trithemius, Agrippa, and other early modern magicians used cryptography and steganography in their work.

Each month, Third Eye Sundays welcomes a rotating panel of intuitive professionals (tarot and oracle readers, psychics, energy workers, etc.) as well as other creatives, counselors, and wisefolk to answer YOUR urgent questions live on Zoom!

Coleman is the author of three collections of poems: Light Sleeper, Breakfast, and The Accidental Rarefication of Pattern #5609, several books about the Tarot including The Dark Exact Tarot Guide, and a book of essays on creativity accompanying the card game Metaphysik. Her writing has appeared in a variety of publications such as Seattle Review, Mid-American Review, Louisiana Literature, tarot.com, and the anthology Motionless from the Iron Bridge.

The powerful images of the Tarot are a perfect accompaniment to the Art of Memory. This class teaches how to use the Art of Memory in conjunction with the Major Arcana of the Tarot in multiple ways. You will learn how to use the memory seals of Giordano Bruno to memorize the Major Arcana and their occult correspondences. You will also learn how to use the Major Arcana to create a memory seal of your very own.

This class is excellent for both beginning and intermediate students of Tarot. Beginners will learn new techniques for memorizing and internalizing the rich meanings of the Major Arcana. Intermediate and advanced Tarot readers will learn techniques allowing them to enrich their knowledge of these cards through correspondences and image magic.

This class will be held on Monday, June 28th, 2021 at 6:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time. Enrollment is based on a sliding scale from $10 to $25. If you can’t make it, sign up for the Arnemancy newsletter to be notified when it is available for watch-on-demand later. Click here to enroll or use the form below!

If you want to catch up on Tarot classes, make sure to check out Tarot and the Art of Memory: The Minor Arcana, now available as an on-demand video!

Are you enjoying the Decan Walk series? Do you want to read more? My Patreon subscribers get access to all of my Decan Walk articles in full. I believe it will be helpful to share with my audience and supporters the nature of my experience – successes, failures, and everything else! If you are not yet a Patreon supporter and would like to get the full Decan Walk experience, you can sign up at this link.

The Seven of Pentacles

Here at the end of Taurus, our first earth sign, we come across another very earthy card. Of course, all of the Pentacles are cards of elemental Earth, but here we see it spelled out very plainly. The man in this card is a gardener or a farmer, and he has been working the earth. His plants stand before him, overflowing with sweet, sweet pentacles. However, he doesn’t look as though he is having a great time. He looks bored or exhausted. Apparently this card is hard work.

Sevens are cards about obstacles. When you are lucky, the obstacles are things to be confronted and overcome easily. Sometimes the obstacles exist in your mind or heart. But the Pentacles are never that abstract. This card is about an obstacle in the material world. Unfortunately, it is not an obstacle that can be pushed aside. The material world is not just about matter and space; it is also about time. This card speaks of hard work over time. It is about perseverance, endurance, and toil.

I don’t usually look at this card in a really negative manner, though. I usually read it as a card that promises, “You shall reap what you sow.” Hard work brings benefits and rewards. The cards around it could offer different messages, though, such as a warning that you will need to work hard even if failure awaits you. This is one of those aspects of the sevens; they present the obstacles or warn about roadblocks, but they do not tell you what awaits beyond them.

This card is also about getting your hands dirty. The work needs to be yours. Just as the farmer must pick up the spade and work until he is exhausted, so must you take a hands-on approach to your own obstacles. While this might seem like an annoyance, it also means that the fruits of your labor will be the result of your own efforts and endeavors. The machine is being powered by your own blood and sweat. It fits well with the nature of the suit of Pentacles.

Taurus III: Saturn and Venus

We are wrapping up Taurus, but here in the physical world, at least in my part of the world, it is still a very earthy time. Working in the soil doesn’t really get to stop, I suppose.

The rest of this article is available exclusively to my Patreon supporters here.

Election Timing

The decan talismans are described in Book 2, Chapter 11 of the Latin Picatrix. This chapter, near the end, gives us specific instructions on picking an election time.

Interestingly the Greer and Warnock translation of this passage differs from the Atrell and Porreca translation. In Greer and Warnock we have:

When you make any of the images of the faces described above, make them in a material appropriate to the planet that rules the face; then the work will be as we have said – that is, if you make the image when the corresponding planet is present in that face, then the work will be perfect and it will manifest in the world. If it happens that the Sun is rising in the hour of the planet or combines its force with it in a way that you desire, the work will be stable and strong.

The same sentence in the Atrell and Porreca translation reads:

When you craft any of the images with the faces mentioned above, do it with the material suited to the planet that rules the face. Then, if the image was made with that face’s planet, that process will be complete and manifest in the world. If perchance the Sun were in the ascendant in the hour of that planet or it had another desirable combination with him, then its effect would be more stable and stronger

So we learn that our decan talisman will be “perfect” or “complete” (most ideal) when the planet is in the decan it rules and the Sun is on the ascendant in the hour of that planet. This suggests dawn workings on the day of the planet in question. Additionally, the Moon and the particular planet should be placed in a way that supports the specific purpose of your talisman: afflicted for malefic works and well aspected for benefic.

And while this is the best case scenario, elections may need to be done with less than ideal astrological weather. In my opinion, the next best option would be to have the planet in a place of strength while still adhering to the day and hour of the planet. In this case I think it would be best to treat the decan like a fixed star election, having the decan on the ascendant or the midheaven at the time of the working with the Moon in an aspect that supports the working.

Making The Image

In the spirit of full transparency, you should know that when I made the images for the Picatrix Decans card deck, I paid little attention to the astrological weather at the time. Nor was the actual printing of the cards set to an elected time. For many reasons the prospect of doing so was difficult to nearly impossible.

Still, the Picatrix tells us to “make” the image at the elected time. The most straight forward thing to do would be to make a new talisman in an appropriate material at the appropriate time. If you have my Picatrix Decans cards or look forward to getting them, however, they are technically already made.

How can we make something that is already made? I have a few suggestions. The first is to reprint the image from an electronic version at the elected time. Depending on the level of technology at one’s disposal this may or may not be an easy prospect. The next idea is the one I consider the second best to creating the talisman from scratch at the elected time and that is to write or draw on the card itself. The surface of the Picatrix Decans cards readily takes ink from a ball point pen or a Sharpie marker and the color of the ink can be chosen to correspond with the planet in question. Appropriate markings would be outlines of the principle elements in the picture, words of intent, spirit names, and sigils — similar to hoodoo-style card magic. The drawback of this method is that the card is permanently marked.

My third suggestion is to use an oil infused with plants or items with the appropriate planetary correspondences. The card can be anointed with the oil, which can be drawn into a sigil or a word with a brush or one’s finger. You should keep in mind, however, that the oil can easily transfer to other surfaces and could turn into a bit of a mess. Some kind of envelope or pouch to hold it after ritual might be a good idea, especially if one intends to carry it around. The advantage of this method is that the card itself is not damaged and therefore could be “decommissioned” and then reconsecrated for another purpose later.

Suffumigation

Talisman consecration in the Picatrix demands suffumigation of the object at the time of its empowerment. That is, the talisman must be passed through the rising smoke of incense while saying words and prayers and employing visualization.

Ultimately the decan talismans are planetary talismans and so an incense appropriate to the particular planet is indicated. I would go one step further, however, and modify the incense to reflect the element of the sign. In this way an incense for Aries I, Mars in a fire sign, would be slightly different from Scorpio I, Mars in a water sign. The Picatrix gives many formulas for incenses.

Ritual Outline

Gather the necessary ritual items, which may vary depending on your personal practice. At the minimum, this should include incense and incense burner (a thurible or censer), at least one candle which is either white or of a color corresponding to the planet in question, the object that is to be the talisman, and any implements needed to “make” or mark the talisman.

Note that this ritual will require you to own a copy of the Picatrix. Since the English translations of the Picatrix are copyrighted, we cannot reproduce most of the exact wording for the ritual here.

At the elected time, facing east:

1. Prepare yourself and the space as per your practice.
2. Bless the candle and light it. Bless the charcoal and light it.
3. Recite the Invocation of Perfect Nature (Picatrix, Book 3, Chapter 6).
4. Remain facing east and speak the following names while visualizing light as specified:
   • “Meegius” envision a light before you
   • “Betzahuach”, envision a light behind you
   • “Vacdez”, a light to your right
   • “Neufiniguidez”, a light to your left
5. Finally, say: “Spirits of Perfect Nature, watch over and guide me in this operation.”
6. Put the incense on the coals.
7. Invoke the spirits of the planets from the Latin Picatrix Book 3, Chapter 9. As each is invoked envision them in their place; above, below, right, left, front, behind, within (motion) and without (uniting).
8. Recite the prayer to the particular planet from the Latin Picatrix, Book 3, Chapter 7. Include the angel of the planet.
9. Make your talisman or mark the talisman card with appropriate words, sigils, and drawings while stating your petition.
10. Pass the talisman through the smoke of the incense while calling on the planet to fulfill your request. Envision any gures in the image as animated or alive and moving. Envision the planetary spirits of the directions blessing and/or entering your talisman. Envision the object glowing with the power of the particular planet.
11. Thank the planet, its angel, and its directional spirits.
12. Let the incense burn out. Snuff the candle without blowing it out.
13. Close your space as per your tradition.

Later, when placing the talisman, invoke the planet, its angel, and its spirits and repeat the petition. It is also a good idea to periodically make offerings to the planet and remind them of your talisman.

This is, of course, the bare minimum ritual outline and with a little creativity a rite can be made more elaborate and specific depending on one’s needs and style.

Decommissioning a Talisman

A talisman can be decommissioned or disempowered once its purpose has been fulfilled or if one needs its influence to abate and cease. To disempower a talisman it needs to be at hand. Therefore if it is something that has, for example, been hidden it needs to be retrieved.

Ideally one calls upon the planet and its spirits to tell them the talisman is no longer needed. This should be accompanied by incense appropriate to the planet. Traces of the previous intent should be obliterated. If the object is permanently marked or is constructed in such a way as to be for only one purpose, it should be destroyed and disposed of. Burning, burying, or casting into a large body of water are all traditional. If the talisman is not permanently marked it should be cleansed. Washing with blessed or owing water is traditional as is burying for a time and then retrieving it.

Timing the decommissioning of a talisman at a New Moon is advised.

J Swofford is an artist, magician, and astrologer living and working in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. You can find more of his work at The Moonlit Hermit and his Etsy shop.

This guest article was made possible by the Arnemancy Patreon supporters. Want to help? Join us!

Are you enjoying the Decan Walk series? Do you want to read more? My Patreon subscribers get access to all of my Decan Walk articles in full. I believe it will be helpful to share with my audience and supporters the nature of my experience – successes, failures, and everything else! If you are not yet a Patreon supporter and would like to get the full Decan Walk experience, you can sign up at this link.

The Six of Pentacles

This card follows on the heels of the Five of Pentacles, where the main characters seemed to be in pretty serious trouble. My first thought on seeing the Six of Pentacles in the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot is that perhaps the beggars are the same characters. They struggled through the snowy landscape in the previous card, only to emerge and find charity from a merchant or judge of some sort.

But let’s take another look at that merchant. Why is he carrying scales? The scales are a symbol of justice, so what could that mean in this card? Justice is one of the four cardinal virtues, and like the rest of them, it is a difficult one to interpret briefly. One aspect of justice is the belief that everybody should get their due without distinction. We should all feel like we live in a just and upright world.

While perhaps the merchant is trying to bring Justice or balance to the world, his motives might be something else completely. As I have said in the past, all sixes are cards of love. We can see this in The Lovers of the Major Arcana, but also in every six in the Minor Arcana. Since the suit of Pentacles deals with the material world, what is a better way of showing love than sharing material goods? In this card, the Merchant shares coins. But the Six of Pentacles can be about sharing anything physical and material, from money to a place to sleep to a nourishing meal.

In this sense, I usually interpret the Six of Pentacles as a card of Charity, one of the Theological Virtues and a virtue that in its purest form represents a sense of universal love and benevolence. But maybe Charity works well with Justice. All of us are owed our portion of universal love, just as all of us owe universal love to each other. The balance could be a symbol of universal love and Charity as evidenced by sharing resources, materials, and food with those around you.

We should also look at the Major Arcana associated with this card, which we can find by examining the astrological aspects: Taurus and the Moon. In the Major Arcana, these are represented by the Hierophant and the High Priestess, two related cards that play on opposites of each other. They both are about secrets and mysteries, but while one unlocks the gate, the other conceals secrets. T. Susan Chang writes about these cards, “The difference between the High Priestess and the Hierophant can be summed up in two words: esoteric and exoteric.”[^1]

The Second Face of Taurus

Moving into the Second Face of Taurus still feels like the vibrant, living part of Spring. I visited some friends in their massive backyard garden and received new plants and winter vegetables. I have cucumbers and a tomato plant growing on my front porch, now. Petals have fallen from many trees, leaving new buds and growth. This emphasis on the earthly aspect of Taurus – for we should keep in mind that Taurus is the sign of fixed earth – shows in the symbolism around the Decan.

The rest of this article is available to my Patreon supporters here.

When we were planning this episode, Ryhan characterized planetary astrological talismans as “special event” magical operations. Finding a good election for the planets is difficult, time consuming, and relatively rare. The fixed stars and lunar mansions, however, are very quick and easy to elect for, and lend themselves better to more immediate thaumaturgical needs.

This diagram shows the fixed stars, lunar mansions, and signs of the zodiac. It was created by Ryhan Butler himself!

After listening to this episode, make sure to explore the wealth of instructional material that Ryhan provides on his website, Medieval Astrology Guide, and check out his YouTube channel for regular updates on upcoming elections.

Links

• Medieval Astrology Guide
• Ryhan’s YouTube channel
• @RyhanButler on Twitter
• Ryhan’s Patreon page

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

As a reminder, my Patreon subscribers get a more in-depth look into my Decan Walk experience. I believe it will be helpful to share with my audience and supporters the nature of my experience – successes, failures, and everything else! If you are not yet a Patreon supporter and would like to get the full Decan Walk experience, you can sign up at this link.

The Five of Pentacles

Each Decan is also associated with a Tarot card, and the card here is the Five of Pentacles. This is a notably shocking card, because in the Rider Waite Smith deck, the characters in this card are not having a good time. One is on crutches, the other struggling. They appear to be beggars or paupers, definitely down on their luck. And they are walking through heavy snow in front of a stained glass window that gives the impression of a church.

The church itself is lit from within. It would appear welcoming if there was a door, but instead our beggars are trudging along through the snow outside the building. Have they been refused entry? Does the church only offer temporary shelter? Why aren’t they inside where it is warm?

Fives are cards of renewed motion after the stasis or pause offered by the Fours. They don’t always indicate difficulty, but the renewed motion in the Pentacles suit does indicate that something in the material world is moving again, and it is apparently not easy. Something in the material world has failed. Perhaps money has run out, perhaps a change in location is necessary. Maybe our paupers are on the move because they finally had to face a material hardship that they were either unwilling or unable to face.

Unfortunately, life is filled with obstacles and challenges that we have to face and cannot run away from. This card is about that. The Five of Pentacles says that it’s time to stop dodging a problem in the material world. You can no longer avoid the hardship you’ve been trying to get away from. In fact, there is a message in this card that lets you know that the way to face this hardship is to go through it. You must have the long, cold journey through the snow. There is no stopping at the warm and inviting sanctuary, even if it would have you.

The First Face of Taurus

This Decan is ruled by Mercury, a planet associated with communication and moving very quickly. But Taurus is ruled by Venus, so perhaps there is something in this Decan about emotional communication. There are, of course, images associated with this card.

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Emily tells us all about the history of Lenormand, and together we explore key differences and similarities between it and Tarot. This is an excellent opportunity to dive into the rich diversity of the field of cartomancy. Each system has its strengths and uses, giving both the diviner and querent new insights into questions and situations.

If you are a Tarot reader, you will be happy to know that Emily specializes in cracking our minds open and pouring in new Lenormand knowledge. In fact, I learned about Emily during her lecture at the Northwest Tarot Symposium 2020, which is what inspired me to invite her on the podcast.

Links

• Emily Rose Divination
• Emily’s Free Lenormand Mini Course
• Instagram: @emilyrosedivination
• Facebook Page: Emily Rose Divination

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

2021 has brought an interesting April to Portland, Oregon. There has not been enough rainfall. The temperature has been quite high, and during this Decan in particular it has been hot and dry. It makes me worry about this summer. Will we face wildfires as bad as last year’s?

As a reminder, my Patreon subscribers get a more in-depth look into my Decan Walk experience. I believe it will be helpful to share with my audience and supporters the nature of my experience – successes, failures, and everything else! If you are not yet a Patreon supporter and would like to get the full Decan Walk experience, you can sign up at this link.

The Four of Wands

This card is so comfortable, especially following on the heels of the explosive confusion of the Three of Wands. In the Waite-Smith version of the card, the four wands are propping up decoration, perhaps for some sort of celebration. It’s easy to interpret this celebration as some kind of wedding; the two figures framed by the wands wear leafy crowns and appear to be celebrating together. However, they hold aloft three bouquets and aren’t even touching. Their colors don’t seem to indicate a wedding, either. What is happening in this card?

Fours are cards of relative stability after the expansive growth of the Threes. In the active elements like Fire and Air, these cards can be welcome places of rest. Here, we are presented with a card that is filled with emotion even as no big changes are happening. Perhaps this is a place where the querent feels happy, where things are secure, where a marriage of opposites produces something stable and long-lasting. The dynamic, ever-changing fire of the Wands stands still for a period.

The Decan for this card is ruled by Venus, and the sign for the decan is ruled by Mars. These planets are the equivalents of the Greek deities Aphrodite and Ares. Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty and love, while Ares is the god of war. These two had a troubling relationship. In the image for this card, we see a swarthy, smaller figure in a reddish brown cloak, next to a taller, fair figure in blue and white. Could they represent the tumultuous union of these two deities? If so, they are a warning that the stability of the Four of Wands is temporary. Change is still coming.

While working with this card, I meditated on the Four of Wands from the Dracxiodos Tarot. Here, I realized that the four wands were not just there to hold up a canopy of greenery – they were a gate. But where does that gate lead? Again, the suit of Wands is not a suit of sitting still. We are pulled onward into further change. Nothing remains the same, but sometimes you do get to take advantage of a rest stop.

The Third Face of Aries

A restless man, holding in his hands a gold bracelet, wearing red clothing, who wishes to do good, but is not able to do it.¹

The image for this card is striking, and unlike the image in the Second Face of Aries, the Picatrix and Agrippa mostly agree.

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I couldn’t remember when the kitchen debates occurred. I couldn’t remember who was the leader of the Soviet Union, either. So I had to punt. I said, “Well, let’s see. The kitchen debates occurred between Nixon and the Soviet leader… but I don’t think that Nixon was president, and he was elected in 1968. So the debate had to have occurred when he was vice-president to Eisenhower, and Eisenhower was president from 1953 to 1961… and in the Soviet Union, Gorbachev was preceded by Andropov, and there was another guy in there but he only lasted a year, and Andropov replaced Brezhnev, and Brezhnev replaced Khrushchev, and he succeeded Stalin’s successor who only lasted a year, as well. So it was Khrushchev, and it was probably 1958 or 1959.”

I was right. We looked it up later: the kitchen debate occurred on July 24, 1959 between Richard M. Nixon (as vice-president to Dwight D. Eisenhower) and Nikita Khrushchev in Sokolniki Park in Moscow.

My opponents simply stared at me. In Trivial Pursuit, the expectation is that you either know the answer or you don’t. You don’t put together two lists of leaders and wrangle your way to the solution by a process of elimination like that. “That was … magical,” said one opponent, as I finished my answer.

Modern education assumes that the answer is always as close as the phone in your pocket or the computer on your desk. To the medieval, Renaissance, or early Enlightenment-era mind, though, the answer might be as far away as a monastery several counties (or countries) over, and an inconveniently long walk away. To travel to your answer wasn’t so useful as being able to place yourself in space or time on your own.

For these reasons (and not just winning Trivial Pursuit), it is useful for an occultist or memory artist not simply to memorize the sigils and names and abilities of various daemons and angels, but also to cultivate knowledge of real-world events, and to be able to quickly place them in time.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to memorize U.S. Presidents. The most senior officer of the US government has changed every four or eight years (with only a few assassinations along the way) since 1789, which creates a useful time-keeping device for the last two hundred thirty-two years. The continuity of that cycle is incredibly useful for when you can’t track specific events by year — you can narrow an event down to a simple four- or eight-year window even when your phone has a dead battery (or when you’re in the middle of a cutthroat game of Trivial Pursuit with your partner’s family, and winning makes you look good).

Learning the Memory Technique

For the purposes of memorizing the presidents using palace of memory techniques, it’s useful to imagine a U-shaped hallway, with each president’s portrait and name plate and years arranged along the outside edge of the U. To date, there have been forty-six presidents, which means that there will be fifteen on each of the three legs of the trip. This also means that Abraham Lincoln as the sixteenth US President will be just after the first bend in the hallway, and Herbert Hoover, as the thirty-first president, will be just after the second bend in the hallway. Since Abraham Lincoln presides over the US Civil War, and Hoover’s administration witnessed the start of the Great Depression, these help anchor the keystones of US history, as well — the American Revolution is at the start of the hall; the Civil War is at the first curve; the Great Depression and World War II define the second curve; and the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars define the other end of the hall.

The second thing that you can do, to cultivate memory of image, is go to Wikipedia and download all of the portraits of the US Presidents into a slide-show program on your computer. Duplicate the slide show, and make one the practice slides, with all the names and dates listed. Make the other the test, with no names or dates, and use it to confirm your progress. Most of the US presidents have distinctive facial features, hairdos, and weird stances that will assist you in memorizing them — Martin Van Buren particularly comes to mind when I think “weird hair.”

The occultist should notice that the more thoroughly they have this list memorized, the more easily events since 1789 get ‘slotted in’ to a chronology. You’ll find yourself thinking things like, “Oh, the British witchcraft law was repealed in 1959… Eisenhower was president. Oh, Aleister Crowley was born in 1875… Ulysses S. Grant was the president… and Harry S. Truman was president when Crowley died.” You’ll find that, over time, these sorts of conversations in your head help you weave a clearer context and content around your investigations of magic, occultism, and spirituality — and give you a clearer picture of politics, economics, and scientific development. All of these will help you become a more effective adviser, thinker and investigator, whether or not your phone is a dead in your pocket.

Andrew B. Watt is an astrologer, artist, designer, artist, writer, speaking coach, and philosopher in western Massachusetts. You can find him at his website, Wanderings in the Labyrinth.

This guest article was made possible by the Arnemancy Patreon supporters. Want to help? Join us!

As a reminder, my Patreon subscribers get a more in-depth look into my Decan Walk experience. I believe it will be helpful to share with my audience and supporters the nature of my experience – successes, failures, and everything else! If you are not yet a Patreon supporter and would like to get the full Decan Walk experience, you can sign up at this link.

The Three of Wands

Contemplating this card during this Decan has been tricky for me. I know what the card means to me, but that wasn’t the challenge I faced. I contemplated the meaning of three-ness, its connection to the sefirah of Binah, its meaning as a vehicle of growth and generation. But I started to get swept away and overwhelmed with the number of associations and correspondences that one can encounter by looking at the Decans.

In fact, it wasn’t until I sat down to write this that I really realized that the overwhelming rush of expansion is part of the experience of this card. The Three of Wands is about looking outward, getting bigger, and expanding horizons. In the grand story of the Minor Arcana, this card is the first explosive burst of creation, after the creator becomes aware of itself but before anything truly comes into being as a result of that awareness. Though the Waite-Smith image of the card doesn’t reveal itself, there is chaos here – raw potential, unformed and eager, reaching for the horizon.

Some of this is present in the card’s image. The main character looks outward, just like in the Two of Wands, but they are not contemplative as much as they are commanding. Their fleet of ships sails away, toward the horizon and new discover. There is a possibility that the main character is a conqueror, since their right arm appears to be armored.

None of the threes are particularly stable cards. They all indicate change, with various degrees of control and purpose. This card is about a burning desire for more. Maybe it signifies greed to some extent, but to me it is about ideas taking hold, perhaps assuming a life of their own, and spreading into the world like wildfire or a conquering army.

The growth of the Three of Wands cannot last forever, though, as we will see as the Decan Walk progresses.

The Second Face of Aries

Agrippa and the Picatrix have very different things to say about the image associated with the Second Face of Aries. I’m just going to quote from T. Susan Chang’s Tarot Correspondences: Ancient Secrets for Everyday Readers, since it’s easier than having a dozen grimoires on my desk.

Here is the Picatrix image:

A woman dressed in green clothes, lacking one leg.

And Agrippa:

A woman, outwardly clothed with a red garment, and under it a white, spreading abroad over her feet.¹

If you would like to read more, it is available through Patreon!

Learn how to use the fabled Art of Memory to memorize the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. This class introduces a method that once memorized, adapts quickly and easily to any standard Tarot deck. Learn how to use Giordano Bruno’s powerful seals to memorize the meanings of the Minor Arcana, including the court cards.

I’ve been writing and speaking about the Art of Memory for years, and if you have been following the blog or podcast, you have heard a short overview of my technique. This class will go more in-depth, discussing the theory behind using the Art of Memory for Tarot memorization and how this can influence your cartomancy practice.

This class will be held on Sunday, April 25th, 2021 at 10:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time. Enrollment is based on a sliding scale from $10 to $25. If you can’t make it, sign up for the Arnemancy newsletter to be notified when it is available for watch-on-demand later. Click here to enroll or use the form below!

Tres Henry is a magician, software engineer, and tinkerer who has worked in the tech industry for over twenty years. He is now bringing all of that nerd power to bear by creating digital tools for magicians. Two that you may have heard of are the astrology software Urania and online geomantic tool Georatio.

Links

• Hall of Doors (Tres’s website)
• Urania
• Georatio
• Taking Magical Notes
• Tarot and the Art of Memory: The Minor Arcana

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
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However, I am also giving my Patreon subscribers an inside look into my Decan Walk experience. Since this is my first foray into one of these year-long explorations, it’s not responsible for me to claim that I can lead anybody through it. However, I am a practitioner with many years of experience and I believe it will be helpful to share with my audience and supporters the nature of my experience – successes, failures, and everything else! If you are not yet a Patreon supporter and would like to get the full Decan Walk experience, you can sign up at this link.

Most of what I will share about this experience will be my insight into the connection between the Decans and the 36 Minor Arcana of the Tarot with which they are associated.

This is the first segment of the Decan Walk, Aries I. It covers the first ten degrees of Aries, is ruled by the planet Mars, and is associated with the Two of Wands.

The Two of Wands

Wands are the suit of elemental Fire, and as such they deal with the most abstract, energetic, and creative force in the Tarot. These cards are about imagination, creativity, and beginning. Fire is an active element, and like real fire it can have a destructive side. This card, however, holds pure potential.

If we look at all of the 36 Minor Arcana associated with the Decans as one story, this is the beginning. In the Two of Wands, the motive force behind pure creation has reflected upon itself and has created a second from nothing. With two, you can generate a third, and all of creation – the entire story of creation – cascades out of it.

In the Waite-Smith card, a man holds a globe in his hand and looks out over a vast landscape. He thinks about expansion and creation. The globe in his hand represents the final form of creation that we will eventually reach at the end of the suit of Pentacles. It is interesting that these cards are far away in terms of Tarot, but only about six months away in terms of the Decan Walk itself. But let’s not jump too far ahead!

While this card doesn’t necessarily indicate action, it is definitely the coiled spring of the Minor Arcana. From here, all potential springs and can either be realized or wasted. I have always seen this character as an ambitious merchant more than a conqueror, and as a merchant he appears ready to take a risk. Ahead of him is opportunity, and he is about to burst forth to carry out his plans. Will he succeed? This card isn’t about that – it is about the power and will to act.

The plans being pondered by the man in the Two of Wands will quickly begin to be realized. There is a rocky road ahead, with both successes and failures, obstacles and triumphs.

If you would like to read more about this Decan, you can find the rest on my Patreon page!

Since 2014, Joshua Proto has created over 100 astrological talismans according to traditional sources like the Picatrix, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, and the oral teachings of select Tibetan and Newar Buddhist Tantras. Josh frequently helps clients find talismanic and ritual solutions to a variety of astrological and magical problems through his website and offers training and workshops around practicing astrological magic.

Links

• Stellar Talismans website
• Follow Josh on Twitter!
• Follow Josh on Instagram!
• Send Josh an email!

Josh also says, “Send me an email with the subject ‘Planetary magic’ and you’ll get a special gift once what I’m planning at planetarymagic.com goes live!”

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Patreon Special Offer

If you are interesting in joining along on this journey, I encourage you to become a supporter on Patreon so you can get access to exclusive articles and podcast episodes! And to sweeten the pot, if you join at the Neophyte level or above before March 30th (when the Sun moves into the second decan of Aries), you will get a hand-written letter or card from me, along with some sweet Arnemancy stickers!¹

Take advantage of this special offer and become a supporter of Arnemancy on Patreon today!

What is a Decan Walk?

Every ten days, the Sun enters a new 10° arc of the sky, known in astrological terms as a decan. Each decan is associated with one of the classical planets, magical images, and a number of Tarot cards. A decan walk is a year-long exploration of each of the 36 decans, one every ten days. It is an undertaking that requires discipline while also teaching you a lot about Tarot and astrology.

A decan walk can take different forms, depending on what you focus on and how you approach the topic. I will be looking primarily at the 36 magical images of the Picatrix as outlined in J’s cards, as well as using this opportunity to explore the deep and intricate symbolism in the Dracxiodos Tarot by Greg Traw.

What Form will This Take?

The first day that the Sun moves into each decan, I will post some initial thoughts to Patreon so that members over there can discuss and ponder and ask questions. By the last day of the decan, I will have something posted publicly on the Arnemancy blog, as well as something posted privately for my Patreon supporters.

I anticipate the exact form of the decan walk will evolve over time, but the posting pattern should remain the same.

Does this sound interesting to you?

Join me on Patreon!

T. Susan Chang bought her first tarot deck at a Barnes & Noble in New York, where she moonlighted as a reader while working in academic publishing. After leaving the city, she took her practice underground for many years, re-surfacing in 2015 and taking up the systematic study of esoteric correspondences in tarot.

• Along with deck creator Mel Meleen, Susie hosts the Fortune’s Wheelhouse esoteric tarot podcast, which explores imagery and symbolism in the Rider-Waite-Smith and Thoth decks.
• She is the creator of the Arcana Case® for tarot decks, which can be found on her Etsy page, along with her line of esoteric perfumes.
• She reads tarot in person at the Inspirit Crystal shop in Northampton, Massachusetts
• Her online Tarot course, “The Living Tarot,” course can be found on her website.

When not engaged in tarot-adjacent activity, she teaches writing at Smith College, and writes occasionally about food and cookbooks. She lives in western New England with her husband, two children, and a variable number of chickens.

Also make sure to check out all the other times Susie has appeared on the podcast!

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Barrett led a life filled with interesting characters and dangerous adventures. He was an alchemist who experimented with hydrogen ballooning. He studied under Ebenezer Sibly, the 18th century astrologer famous for casting the natal chart for the United States of America. Barrett also attempted a translation of George von Welling’s massive tome, Opus Mago-cabbalisticum et Theosophicum.

Barrett’s legacy is also impressive. He influenced Eliphas Levi and Edward Bulwer-Lytton, thus becoming a major contributor to the 19th century occult revival. In addition, a talisman drawn directly from The Magus was carried by none other than Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter-Day Saints (you know, the Mormons).

I have a feeling that you will love this episode of the podcast. Mr. Priddle’s enthusiasm in exploring Francis Barrett’s life, work, and influence is infectuous. Barrett is an historical character worth examining, and I think you will agree that his work is worth a closer look.

Links

• “More Cunning than Folk: An analysis of Francis Barrett’s The Magus as indicative of a transitional period of English magic,” by R.A. Priddle
• R.A. Priddle on Udemy – make sure to check out his course, “Foundations in the Study of Magic”!
• The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer by Francis Barrett
• “The Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals” by Pseudo-Trithemius (also be sure to check out Sam Block’s excellent ebook on this text.)
• Ebenezer Sibly and the Natal Chart of the United States
• Georg von Welling
• Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
• Pietro d’Abano

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy

Listen on Podcrypt

For each of these readings, I gather whichever deck of cards I’m using for the day, and sit down at my reading table with a print-out of your question. I perform these readings just like you are here sitting with me. However, since you will not be sitting here with me, I take a lot of notes. I sit with this process for a while, which gives me some time to mull over the cards.

After all of the note taking, I take a few photos of the Tarot cards. Next, I return to my computer, type up a document, and send everything to you!

What’s in the Email?

Each email contains the following:

1. A write-up of the Tarot reading
2. A photograph of the Tarot reading
3. A nicely formatted PDF document with the photograph and write-up for your records

If you would like to read a sample Tarot reading, download a PDF using the button below. Hint: there is a special bonus for you in the PDF!

Misha Magdalene is a multiclassed, multi-geek, multiqueer witch and sorcerer with a degree in gender studies and a slightly odd sense of humor. Their first book, Outside the Charmed Circle: Exploring Gender and Sexuality in Magical Practice, was published by Llewellyn in January 2020. They’re an initiate of multiple lines of traditional witchcraft, including Anderson Feri and Gardnerian Wicca, and have also been known to dabble recklessly in both modern ceremonial magic and grimoiric goetia. They live on occupied Duwamish territory in the Pacific Northwest with their polymath partner and two adorably destructive black kittens.

Links

• Misha’s website
• Misha’s former Patheos blog
• Their former appearance on the podcast
• The Key of Solomon

In this episode, we discuss Marsilio Ficino, and in particular Dan’s translation of Ficino’s De Christiana Religione, On the Christian Religion. We discuss many topics and themes in Ficino’s life, including the highest goal of mankind, the immortality of the soul, the nature of reason, the supercelestial world, and the question of whether or not there even was a Platonic academy in Florence. We also attempt to make some sense of the tangled historical events unfolding around Ficino’s life.

The Intermission and Beyond

We ran into a really bad recording problem in this episode. About 25 minutes in or so, Dan’s Canadian internet connection gave out on us! We had to pick up the conversation the next day. I filled in the gap with a reading from De Christiana Religione that Dan was kind enough to provide.

The background music during Dan’s reading is “But We Shall All Be Changed” by Matt Anthony. Thank you, Matt!

In part two, Dan and I begin by talking about Aristotle and Plato and their reception in Medeival and Renaissance Europe, but then we get a few tangents, and then we spend time with our favorite mad monk, Savonarola!

Notes and Things to Look Up

• Maimonedes
• Averroes (AKA Ibn Rushd)
• Marsilio Ficino
• Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (also see my conversation with Ted Hand about Pico)
• Girolamo Savonarola
• Pietro’s Pizza

Links

• The Modern Hermeticist
• Dan’s YouTube channel
• Dan on My Alchemical Bromance

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Marginalia in the Buffalo copy of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, what Dr. Russell describes as a “DVD menu”.

James also leads us through an exploration of several of the commentators of early editions of the HP, including two alchemists, a botanist, and Pope Alexander VII. This conversation opens up so many new avenues that make this remarkable book worth exploring and enjoying.

When James first approached me, he mentioned The Book that Nobody Read by Owen Gingerich. Gingerich attempts to trace the influence of Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus using marginalia. I was also a fan of Gingerich’s book, so I knew right away we would have plenty to talk about. Please enjoy this episode and don’t be afraid to write in your books!

Links

• Dr. Russell’s dissertation, `Many Other Things Worthy of Knowledge and Memory’: The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and its Annotators, 1499-1700
• Dr. Russell is on Twitter!
• Thrift Store Book History on YouTube (it’s just a placeholder for now!)
• The rest of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili episodes

Citations and Resources

Here is a list of sources that Dr. Russell used in preparing his notes for the interview.

Primary Sources

• Le Tableau des riches Inventions…dans le songe de Poliphile (Paris: Guillemot, 1600).
  This is the openly alchemical 1600 edition of the HP
• D’Espagnet, Jean, Enchiridion Physicae Restitutae (Paris: Widow N. de Sercy, 1642, 3rd edn).
• Nazari, Giovan Battista, Della tramutatione metallica sogni tre (Brescia: Pietro Maria Marchetti, 1599). English translation: Three Dreams on the Transmutation of Metals, trans. Doug Skinner (Glasgow: Magnum Opus Hermeticum Sourceworks, 2002).
  A very HP-like alchemical allegory
• Quintilian, Institutio oratoria, ed. and trans. H.E.Butler (London: Heinemann, 1963).  

On Marginalia:

• Barney, Stephen A., Annotation and Its Texts (Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press, 1991). 
• Jackson, Heather J., Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books (Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 2005)
• Jardine, Lisa and Anthony Grafton, ‘“Studied for Action”: How Gabriel Harvey Read His Livy’, Past & Present 129 (1990), pp. 30-78.  
• Sherman, William H., Used Books: Marking Readers in Renaissance England (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007).  

Other Secondary Sources

• Doody, Aude, Pliny’s Encyclopedia: The Reception of the Naturalis historia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).   
• Eco, Umberto, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, trans. Geoffrey Brock (London: Vintage Books, 2005).  
• Fierz-David, Linda, The Dream of Poliphilo: The Soul in Love (Dallas, TX: Spring Publications, 1987).
  A Jungian reading of Poliphilus and Polia as Animus/Anima
• Freud, Sigmund, The Interpretation of Dreams (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999)  
• Heckscher, William S., ‘Bernini’s Elephant and Obelisk’, Art Bulletin 29 (1947), pp. 155-82
• Jung, Carl, Psychology and Alchemy (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1953) 
• Kenny, N., The Palace of Secrets: Béroalde de Verville and Renaissance Conceptions of Knowledge (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991).
  On the author of the 1600 alchemical edition of the HP
• Painter, George D. The Hypnerotomachia Poliphilo of 1499: An introduction on the Dream, the Dreamer, the Artist, and the Printer (London: Eugrammia Press, 1963).
  An introduction to the HP which highlights the pagan nature of the text
• Poe, Edgar Allan, ‘Marginalia’ in James A. Harrison, ed., The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe Vol. XVI, (New York: AMS, 1965) pp. 1-178.
• Priki, Efthymia, ‘Elucidating and Enigmatizing: the Reception of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in the Early Modern Period and in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries’, eSharp 14 (2009), pp. 62-90 http://www.gla.ac.uk/esharp Accessed 21/08/2011.
• Rhizopoulou, On the botanical content of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili https://doi.org/10.1080/23818107.2016.1166070

On Aldus Manutius and the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

• Barolini, Helen, Aldus and his Dream Book (New York: Italica Press, 1992).
• Casella, Maria Teresa, and Giovanni Pozzi, Francesco Colonna. Biografia e opere. Vol. I Biografia (M.T. Casella), Vol. II Opere (G. Pozzi) (Padua: Antenore, 1959).
• Cruz, Esteban Alejandro, Re-Discovering Antiquity through the Dreams of Poliphilus (Oxford: Trafford, 2006). 
• Fogliati, Silvia and David Dutto, Il Giardino di Polifilo: ricostruzione virtuale dalla Hypnerotomachia Poliphili di Francesco Colonna stampata a Venezia nel 1499 da Aldo Manuzio (Milan: Franco Maria Ricci, 2002).
  This is the 3D reconstruction of the HP

Since this class will involve extra one-on-one teaching to help with the math and difficult concepts, enrollment is very limited! You will want to sign up early to reserve your spot. Also, until January 31st, you can use code EARLYWEB to get 30% off!

2020 was a rotting radioactive carcass, belching toxic fumes out of a larger burning radioactive carcass, and when Andrew and I did our forecast last year, we were far too optimistic, even when the cards and charts showed us some scary stuff. This time, hopefully we are all more realistic.

Note that there are two special treats for you accompanying this episode:

• All of us are offering a 20% discount on readings through January 5th with the code BIGFLUSH-20 and you can find links to all of our divination offerings below.
• There is a PDF document with charts and cards that goes along with this episode and part 2. You can get access to it by becoming a Patreon supporter of the Arnemancy Podcast, the Fortune’s Wheelhouse Podcast, or Andrew B. Watt.

T. Susan Chang

T. Susan Chang bought her first tarot deck at a Barnes & Noble in New York, where she moonlighted as a reader while working in academic publishing. After leaving the city, she took her practice underground for many years, re-surfacing in 2015 and taking up the systematic study of esoteric correspondences in tarot.

• Along with deck creator Mel Meleen, Susie hosts the Fortune’s Wheelhouse esoteric tarot podcast, which explores imagery and symbolism in the Rider-Waite-Smith and Thoth decks.
• She is the creator of the Arcana Case® for tarot decks, which can be found on her Etsy page, along with her line of esoteric perfumes.
• She reads tarot in person at the Inspirit Crystal shop in Northampton, Massachusetts
• Her online Tarot course, “The Living Tarot,” course can be found on her website.

Her interest in tarot is wide-ranging and passionate, and has included:

• Setting up 78 Spotify playlists for those interested in card-appropriate music
• memorizing astrological correspondences for the minor arcana while swimming laps
• writing tarot haiku and spells
• maintaining a sprawling Card-of-the-Day-tracking database (complete with elemental, astrological, and kabbalistical frequency and percentage pie charts).

She attempts to learn Hebrew approximately once every 15 months and has been known to spontaneously arrange her pancakes into a Tree of Life formation.

When not engaged in tarot-adjacent activity, she teaches writing at Smith College, and writes occasionally about food and cookbooks. She lives in western New England with her husband, two children, and a variable number of chickens.

Andrew B. Watt

Andrew Watt is an astrologer, poet and artist living in western Massachusetts. He works in textiles, wood and words to produce objects for practical magic and mysterious practicality, and seeks the honest wisdom found in the life of an artisan.

• Main website
• An Astrological Almanac for 2021
• Patreon account
• Amazon author page
• Etsy website
• Twitter handle
• Tumblr handle

Other Links

• 2020 Forecast Part 1
• 2020 Forecast Part 2
• A Small Collection of Specialized Spreads, Volume Two
• Get a Tarot reading by email from Reverend Erik
• Get a video Tarot reading from Reverend Erik

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

2020 was a rolling pile of crap, set aflame in a giant dumpster painted like a TARDIS, and when Andrew and I did our forecast last year, we were far too optimistic, even when the cards and charts showed us some scary stuff. This time, hopefully we are all more realistic.

Part 1 of the Forecast covers the first half of 2021, from January to June.

Note that there are two special take-aways from this episode:

• All of us are offering a 20% discount on readings through January 5th with the code BIGFLUSH-20 and you can find links to all of our divination offerings below.
• There is a PDF document with charts and cards that goes along with this episode and part 2. You can get access to it by becoming a Patreon supporter of the Arnemancy Podcast, the Fortune’s Wheelhouse Podcast, or Andrew B. Watt.

Andrew B. Watt

Andrew Watt is an astrologer, poet and artist living in western Massachusetts. He works in textiles, wood and words to produce objects for practical magic and mysterious practicality, and seeks the honest wisdom found in the life of an artisan.

• Main website
• An Astrological Almanac for 2021
• Patreon account
• Amazon author page
• Etsy website
• Twitter handle
• Tumblr handle

T. Susan Chang

T. Susan Chang bought her first tarot deck at a Barnes & Noble in New York, where she moonlighted as a reader while working in academic publishing. After leaving the city, she took her practice underground for many years, re-surfacing in 2015 and taking up the systematic study of esoteric correspondences in tarot.

• Along with deck creator Mel Meleen, Susie hosts the Fortune’s Wheelhouse esoteric tarot podcast, which explores imagery and symbolism in the Rider-Waite-Smith and Thoth decks.
• She is the creator of the Arcana Case® for tarot decks, which can be found on her Etsy page, along with her line of esoteric perfumes.
• She reads tarot in person at the Inspirit Crystal shop in Northampton, Massachusetts
• Her online Tarot course, “The Living Tarot,” can be found on her website.

Her interest in tarot is wide-ranging and passionate, and has included:

• Setting up 78 Spotify playlists for those interested in card-appropriate music
• memorizing astrological correspondences for the minor arcana while swimming laps
• writing tarot haiku and spells
• maintaining a sprawling Card-of-the-Day-tracking database (complete with elemental, astrological, and kabbalistical frequency and percentage pie charts).

She attempts to learn Hebrew approximately once every 15 months and has been known to spontaneously arrange her pancakes into a Tree of Life formation.

When not engaged in tarot-adjacent activity, she teaches writing at Smith College, and writes occasionally about food and cookbooks. She lives in western New England with her husband, two children, and a variable number of chickens.

Other Links

• 2020 Forecast Part 1
• 2020 Forecast Part 2
• A Small Collection of Specialized Spreads, Volume Two
• Get a Tarot reading by email from Reverend Erik
• Get a video Tarot reading from Reverend Erik

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

The first segment of this episode will give you instructions on preparing your ritual space and explaining the ritual. Relevant parts of those instructions are included below just in case you want to get a jump start on things before listening to the episode.

The second segment is the ritual itself. I look forward to hearing feedback about this episode. Please send me reports of your results with this new and unusual experiment!

Preparing Your Abaton

To prepare for your dream incubation, you will want the following items available.

1. Pen and paper next to your bed and within easy reach of your sleeping area.
2. A bed with fresh bedding.
3. Frankincense incense or essential oil in a diffuser
4. Flickering LED candles (because you can’t leave real candles burning!)
5. An image of Asklepios or the rod of Asklepios.
6. Food and drink as an offering to the god.

Incubation Ritual Steps

These steps are explained in the podcast and are typed out here to make things easier for you.

1. Change your bedding and clean your sleeping area.
2. Hang the image of Asklepios or his rod over the head of your bed.
3. Write your healing wish on a piece of paper, and put that paper under your pillow.
4. Light the frankincense and LED candles.
5. Take a ritual shower or bath with the intent of cleansing yourself to enter the dream abaton.
6. Enter your sleeping area reverently.
7. Perform your usual ritual opening; if you do not have one, at least offer a prayer to the Most High.
8. Get into bed and listen to the rest of the podcast.

My Gratitude

This is a very different sort of episode and it stretched my skills and got me to work in new ways. I couldn’t have done it without the help of these fine folks:

• T. Susan Chang
• Matt Anthony (also follow him on Instagram!)
• Hermanubis Lodge of the Hermetic Federation
• My wonderful Patreon supporters

Sources

• Orphic hymn №66 to Asklepios
• Orphic hymn №85 to the Divinity of Dreams (Oneiroi)
• Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) VII. 628-42 and VII. 664-85
• Description of Greece by Pausanias

Links

• Who is Asclepius?
• Asklepios on the Theoi Project

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

From the seals of the Goetic spirits to the magical artwork of Austin Osman Spare, sigils are a cornerstone of magical work. They have been part of the Western esoteric tradition since its very roots. The art of working with sigils has continued to evolve and develop over time. At its core, a sigil is the perfect method to put the creativity and imagination of the practitioner to work quickly and effectively.

In this class, we will cover:

• Chaos magic sigils
• Planetary sigils with magic squares
• Sigils with Aiq Bekar and magical alphabets
• Different methods to charge a sigil
• Advanced sigil techniques (e.g. servitors and image magic)

[scheduling site=”https://arnemancy.as.me/?appointmentType=category:Classes”]

New Material

Since the first iteration of Introduction to Sigils at the beginning of 2020, I have learned more about sigils, more about teaching, and had some incredible conversations with students and fellow magicians. This has resulted in some new material! This new iteration of the class will include more examples to help YOU get started with sigils in your own practice.

New Recording

At the beginning of the year, when I was first recording classes, I had a very poor internet connection. This class will give me the opportunity to get a fresh new recording, better and improved! Even if you can’t make the class, watch for an announcement that the new class recording is available in the Arnemancy Shop.

Sign up to the Arnemancy Newsletter to stay informed!

We begin this episode with a discussion about the nature of the Corpus Hermeticum and the Hermetica in general, and then we get into Sam’s project. We talk about his inspiration, the challenges of the translation, and what he learned through the experience. We discuss stories of creation in the Hermetica, how we use Hermetic concepts in our practices, and how to learn this stuff.

This conversation ranges from the relaxed to the serious, from the frivolous to the deeply thoughtful. I am releasing it the week of Thanksgiving in the United States in the hopes that our conversation will add something special to everybody’s lazy holiday.

Links

• Sam’s translation and commentary on Corpus Hermeticum III
• The Digital Ambler
• @polyphanes on Twitter
• Sam’s Etsy shop
• Sam’s writing on the Heart Sutra
• Copenhaver’s Hermetica
• Salaman’s Way of Hermes
• My blog post about Corpus Hermeticum XIII
• Sam Block on Geomancy and the PGM (back on My Alchemical Bromance)
• Hermetic House of Life Discord

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Rafa’s story is fascinating, and involves adventures and travels with a Taoist doctor of Chinese medicine. We discuss psychedelics, spiritual dimensions, meditation, surrender, and how our ego tends to get in the way.

Links

• Rafa’s podcast on YouTube
• Rafa’s music on Bandcamp
• @atmanrafa on Instagram
• Reverend Erik’s guest appearance on Mystic Times

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt