Getting to the meat of this, aren't we? Or the…hmmm, most of the meat alternative names I know are brand names I shouldn't include. “Getting to the meat alternative of this, aren't we?”  just doesn't roll off my tongue as easily. “Now, to the sustenance” doesn't either. My poor editor…

We are going to do a combination of a symbol opening (like an active sigil) and a calling or petition. Not an evocation. We want the approval and help from the Guardian and the Land Spirit(s) facilitating this. Their cooperation will be invaluable because of this. With their help, this connection can be much stronger - a wider, stronger pipe for energy to flow through for the same amount of effort on our part.

We will be paying them for this. Not necessarily blood or similar. Much simpler, but some thought should be put into it. We will be using two symbols. One will be the OUT symbol that will charge the item. The other will be an IN symbol where the offerings will be presented and will flow to the entities helping with this transfer. Nature recycles everything. If we take energy out, we should offer energy in. For those that don't want to “owe” entities much or at all, like myself, this is a good way to balance out that cost sheet. 

We will open both symbols in the same manner as opening an active sigil. We need the open connection on both ends of it. We will call them through the OUT symbol. Opening both should be enough of a calling card, but it isn't quite as respectful as also speaking to them. They are providing us with a service of sorts, but are not under our direct control. We need a “favor” from them that we then pay for.

The words can and should be your own. Speak them with sincerity and remember that we're paying for this, too, so there's no need to grovel or prostrate yourself. 

“Spirits behind Symbol X, please hear my call. I am asking for you to do Y on my half. In return, I have brought you Z as an offering to help bring energies back to yourselves and that place. I thank you for your assistance.”

X - Fire, Water, Nature, Mountain, some location of power

Y - the action - linking, charging, renewing, binding

Z - the offering or offerings. An offering or two per action is a good rule of thumb.

As you can see, there isn't a lot of ceremony needed if you're using the pre-established symbols. If you feel resistance, then I would encourage you to investigate that. Maybe the offerings weren't liked, the item will clash with the charge or energies from that location, or those energies would clash with you. 

A general rule of thumb would be to cover the object when not in use and uncover it when you want to use it. If you establish this behavior as part of the intent, then it will follow them. It's important to realize that covering isn't the same as sealing it up, which is similar to a “bubble” shield that sort of corks the connection so it's there, but not putting energy out or taking it in. You would unseal it by visualizing the bubble being gone or removing it energetically.

Offerings don't have to be complex, fancy, or exotic. I've not had a land spirit reject a piece of waxed non-Organic fruit, a gingersnap cookie, or spiced tea from a blend. Sometimes the offering is something they would like, but sometimes it helps the land in your area and they are fine with that, too. The IN symbol will funnel the offering energies to them and they can determine what to do with those. I typically leave them overnight and then dispose of them in offering areas in my yard. In Maryland, those areas are out of the way for me, frequented by squirrels and other critters, and serve to lure the ants further away from the house in search of food. In Hawaii, this can be left most places, so long as it doesn't look like one is littering. The land will recycle it.

This does raise the question - how long should it be charged? I would let it go overnight for an initial linking of the item. I would then use a pendulum or similar method to determine if it is anchored heavily enough. What determines how much is “enough” will depend on the use case. Not very direct of an answer, I know. If this item is to act as a sort of beacon for those energies in your spaces, you will want a stronger link to reflect that. You will also want to make periodic offerings with the IN symbol or an object you've linked to the IN symbol in the same manner as this OUT object will radiate the energy into the space when activated. Active, uncovered (radiating) items will need to be recharged more frequently.

I hear the question of “Why not just use the symbols”? You absolutely can. Transferring the symbol from the book onto an item, even paper, is a linking, the same as an object. The more you put yourself into it (not just emotionally), the more substantial the initial linking. This doesn't mean that you have to pour your heart and soul into it. Emotion, concentration…these things aren't the link. The help substantiate it. Just like magic, when you get past the intermediate stage.

 If you want to make these symbols out of clay, wood, or similar, then by all means, do so. I tend to prefer unobtrusive things that get overlooked if I'm taking something out of my ritual area. It's a personal preference of mine, as I don't advertise that I practice to those not in the know. It's not uncommon for me to have secondary items that I can travel with. My blooded Pazuzu statue is the only item that identifies me as something more than some semi-spiritual traveler.

NOTE:  The IN lines on the first symbol from Wahiawa will spiral inwards a bit to show that. The OUT symbol will radiate out, without the spiral. This will potentially show a difference to help sort one from the other visually. How obvious it has to be, I don't know.

Or How to Achieve Divinity in the Bathroom. Regurgitation upon Toilet Training

If you are a heterosexual male or lesbian – using the hand, extend the first two fingers, retract the third finger and extend the little finger. The Thumb is sticking up. When you know how to use this Magickal tool you will be holding one of the mysteries of the Multiverse in your hand!

……………………………………………………..

I know that I hung on the wind tossed tree all of nights nine!

The Eye of Hoor is one of the gates and leads to the dark path of enlightenment.

The Snake can be awakened, the Rood being bedaubed.

None offered me bread

Caviar stains the teeth. Mandarin-meals are best.

Or handed me wine!

Of the Golden wine much has been written. Few drink long, deep and full of the nectar from this nourishing Rose wherein dwells blood and iron.

Spittle can avail, if hard sucked from the nose and deposited in another’s throat.

Wounded by spear, bespoken myself to Myself!

Cruel fingers lacquered in lust bring forth the tears that lead to understanding as wet-look lips and tongue sup the watery, lukewarm, fish porridge.

I looked below me, aloud I cried, caught the runes; caught them up wailing!

Inscrutable eyes, misperceived mercies, whips, zips, alligator-clips and desperate pleas arise as invocations.

Let him drink of the sacrament and let him communicate the same. This is the Holy Hexagram.

Thence to the earth fell again!

And in as much as I meet the blood-engorged challenge

I believe in the resurrection!

Hail Myself That I Seek To Be

                                               ……………………………………………………………

Only with the advent of the World Wide Web did extreme hardcore Bathroom Sex come into its own as a sub-genre to be taken seriously. Today such stars as Alexia Cage (and Her growing number of Friends) are enjoying careers that would have been inconceivable but a few short years ago.

Concomitantly, Restroom Magick continues to develop its own left hand path techniques in which the convenience serves as a representation of and chalice unto the Goddess.

The Regurgitations are a delicate reminder that the Temple of Our Faecal Dreams is tiled.

The Hávamál (verses 137-144) also gives instruction on left hand path initiation.

Old Uncle Al.

Thanks Astaroth for all your teachings and blessings.

Hail Duke Astaroth!

“Genius is composed of two sides; the active and the passive. The power to execute the Will is but blind force unless the Will be enlightened.” Aleister Crowley Magick Part III Chapter 18.

An individual’s divinatory skills may be accurate or elsewise. Not everyone can play the piano either and even if they can, there are styles as diverse as Mozart and Joplin. Nonetheless, most aspiring diviners destroy their innate ability before they even begin. This is extremely easy to do. Just purchase a book on divination!

Magick is a personal system, not a theology – although there are still some who think so. Therefore, there is little to be gained – at least initially – by learning someone else’s ideas, prejudices and practices. “The answers to one’s questions in divination are not conveyed directly but through the medium of a suitable series of symbols. These symbols must be interpreted by the diviner in terms of his problem.”

Aleister Crowley Magick Part III Chapter 18.

It begs the question as to why someone else’s interpretations deserve your attention. This is not to suggest that you re-invent the wheel – although some have tried. Those beginning in divination should at least initially work out their own understanding before programming someone else’s ideology into their head. After all, someone had to write the first Tarot or I Ching book and where did they obtain their arcane knowledge? From the same place you should!

Meditate long and broad and deep, O man, upon this Wheel, revolving it in thy mind!... Then, when thou know’st the Wheel of Destiny complete… thou art past through the Abyss.” Aleister Crowley Liber 333 Chapter 78

Experiment with your own methods of consulting your chosen divinatory system. Make notes in your Magickal Diary of divinations you have performed and their accuracy. Only at this point should you purchase other people’s books– because when you are being spoken to by a superior intelligence it's rude to ask someone else what is meant.

“Symbols are easy to come by; any system can be used – the difficulty lies in forging the magic link…It should become a basis for lateral thinking (or intuitive guesswork) rather than as a final answer to be mechanically interpreted.” Liber Null (Liber LUX Divination) Peter J. Carroll

The divinations of the Officer, the Digger, the Statesman and the Whore differ. They ask questions according to their expectations. Not so the Magus!

Considerations

1. Whichever divinatory system you decide upon can be approached in any number of ways. If you were to ask a surgeon, a nurse and the patient about a surgical operation that was about to be performed you would get three distinct sorts of replies. All would be concerned with the same event, but all would bring to the description their own perspective. The same is true of divination. You can use your system as an interesting amusement at parties or you can consult the oracle as a King or Queen seeking wise counsel. Either way will yield the appropriate results!

2. The Tarot is a system most appropriate for spiritual matters. It has a long timeline upon which to advise. The I Ching is more constrained and practical in its approach to questions. Although both the Tarot and the I Ching can be consulted for any manner of inquiry and although both will yield accurate results, the former can often do so from on high, while the latter answers with clarity more attuned to the mundane.

3. An analogy of the difficulty that faces Intelligences called upon to answer divinatory inquiries is that of Professors who agree to give a one-hour lecture and answer questions, only to discover their audience are infants. The Professors will do as best they can, but their audience will not understand much.

4. I knew a guy who fashioned for himself three wooden cubes and a black velvet draw-string bag. Upon the seventeen sides he carved and painted symbols with his own blood. Then he finished them with bee’s wax. The Symbols where: ?, !,  ., …, “” ,+, -,x,÷,Yes. No

5. There are many different divinatory lay outs for Tarot cards and Runes. As most sheeple are comfortable within the parameters of the herd they do as they are told. As an individualist, the practitioner of the Left-Hand path is mandated to develop their own systems. This can include divining for a single card to advise upon the coming day or the inverted pentagram spread where a Tarot card or Rune is positioned at each apex of the pentagram.

                                                                 4              5

                                                        3                              2

                                                                        1

Work out your own meanings for the inverted pentagram and the relationships between each card, rune, etc.

The Septenary System

                                                                       7

                                                                6             5

                                                                       4

                                                              2                 3

                                                                       1.

1.Unconscious Factors

2.-3. The Past (the unconscious becoming more conscious)

4. The Present

5.-6. The Immediate Future and Beyond

7. The Outcome

1,2,5: Are negative Elements/ Energies

1,3,6: Are Positive Elements/ Energies

1,4,7: What needs to be done to bring The Outcome into reality, or prevent it from arising.

I knew a magician who used whatever small change he could lay his hands on. He was a sage of the Tao and I Ching!

Active Taro

The cards represent energies, inter alia. If You can find a deck that you wish to work with as talisman then go for it. Even an inexpensive, lightly used second-hand deck could be used.

I don't use plastic. For me plastic just doesn't allow the energy to pass through. Maybe you will be different in that regard. Anyway, take the second-hand cards from their box, wrap in aluminium foil and bury for at least twenty-four hours in your backyard, park or similar. Doesn't work if the soil is contained, as in a flower pot or window-box. Unearth and charge by way of dedication and sacrifice - the setting apart and thereby making sacred.

As the cards represent energies you can tailor-make the energies you wish in your life by selecting a card or cards and placing these between those cheap picture frames made of two pieces of flat glass (or plastic if you can work with it) and help together by metal clips. There are various sizes. Then charge your Taro talisman by whatever method you use. When finished with the operation just dismantle frame, store cards and create another Taro talisman.

DON'T use the cards you divine with as talisman. If you do you'll screw up their energies. You'll start picking cards not because you were meant to but because these cards were charged.

The deck to use is one with the requisite symbolism which when charged will attach the energy or energies sought. Lee Bursten's & Antonella Platano's 'Gay Tarot' doesn't cut it for me. Maybe if I were gay it'd be a different story. 'The Baroque Bohemian Cats' Tarot' is also pretty bad – as is the 'Granny Jones Australian Tarot'. What these decks lack is the symbolism required to attract energies – whether from the deep subconscious or externally.

The other element is that you must have a feeling for, an affinity with the art and symbolism of the deck you're using. The Golden Dawn gave birth to the Rider-Waite and Thoth decks. Two different decks: similar energies. These designs have stood the test of time. Nonetheless, if you don't like the particular deck, it'll be next to impossible for you to use that deck as talisman. No connection.

A number of Magicians use runes to divine and to create Magick via rune-binds and carved rune script. A number of left-hand path groups employ runes both passively and actively.

Hardly anyone uses Taro as active Magick. Why is that?

How are we going to do this? Well, if you can't feel the link, then my suggestion is a pendulum or some other quick method of determination. You don't need some 15 card tarot spread for a “yes, no, or maybe” type of response. You could also ask for signs in your dreams, but only if you trust dreams. 

If it says (or you feel) it isn't enough, repeat the process and see if that strengthens it. My several year gate was done with less than 5 minutes of daily work over an entire month, but the energetic backup anchors for each item varied with one needing it three times, another twice, and the third only once. There were several servitors that fed the gate, too, while it was open. My graveyard anchors took less than a few minutes to set up. If it needs to be done more than once, then do it. Better to get it right than for the whole thing to fall flat and have to be done all over again from scratch with a lot of wasted time in between.

Verify the link is open and then move to strengthen it, especially by use.

Item is singular here, because we're only depositing our anchor in the location. Our linked item will be in our ritual space or similar to allow for access to that energy. We need the anchor item at the location of power (or peace or similar) to funnel that energy to us. I've already spoken of using an object that will blend in if we want to remain unnoticed. A good idea with magical asshats about with too much free time.

I know I've said it already in this tome, but kindly use natural or degradable materials, if you can. We're working with more natural entities here and it would be an affront to them to suggest otherwise. We likely won't need something to last greater than 30 years. A rock is a good middle ground for this. Take a picture of your anchor and if you want to renew it or show someone else, then they can pick it up from the picture or ask an entity to make a quick connection that can then renew the old one. 

I'm not a tree hugger. I don't devote my free time to cleaning up every scrap of trash I see and I will choose a plastic bag to put my muddy hiking sandals in. But my anchors are energetic, natural shells and stones, and sometimes wood or metal when I work with those spirits of the land and those types of energies. That seems to work out pretty well for me and should for others, too. 

“Those who regard this ritual as a mere device to invoke and banish spirits, are unworthy to possess it.” Aleister Crowley (Footnote to ‘Palace of the World’)

With the possible exception of wine, cigars and coffee, more shit has been written and believed concerning Banishing Rituals than almost anything else. “Therefore the kings of the earth shall be Kings for ever: the slaves shall serve.” Liber Al 2:58.

Banishing

The purpose of any Banishing ritual is two-fold: primarily, to isolate the Magician from mundane consciousness and to a lesser extent, to clear and re-enforce the atmosphere chosen for Magickal work. Both purposes are inter-related and indivisible. Properly performed, Banishings allow the Magician to more rapidly gain Magickal concentration (a la Pavlov’s dog) and to better resist unforeseen and unpleasant consequences which usually manifest in pedestrian consciousness but have their genesis in the rarefied atmosphere of Magickal working. A Banishing or Invoking ritual – like all Magick – works both on your individual (internal) world and on the mundane (external) world.

Many practitioners recommend a Magickal weapon to assist in Banishing and Invoking. Your Wand, your Dagger (Sword or Knife) or your magickal ring can work just fine, for in banishing (or invoking) a Magickal weapon is good, but not mandatory advice! The first and second finger held like a gun can work just as well and are always to hand!

A common problem is that practitioners rarely spend the time required to even rudimentarily use the Pentagram ritual, let alone develop it. To properly use the invoking or banishing pentagrams takes more time than may first be apparent. One method of assisting in proper tracing is to keep your eyes on your left hand as its fingers (or the weapon it manoeuvres) traces the pentagrams. You should strive to see the pentagrams as and after these have been traced – eventually you will.

Perhaps the best method of developing your banishing/invoking ritual is to image you are doing it in front of a large crowd of people. You need to impress them as much as yourself and the more you practice the more you will learn.

Al.

Ps. Hope this helps.

This de-stressing exercise is simple but requires commitment. If you feel more comfortable by doing so, take off your shoes. Lay flat on a rug, mat or carpeted floor. Do not use a pillow or a mattress. The object of this exercise is to get your body to conform to the flatness of the surface you are laying on not to have that surface conform to you.

Start by taking a deep breath and expelling that breath as a sigh. The secret is to sigh like everyone and everything that you love in your life has just been taken away from you. Sigh like it could not get any worse. Sign three consecutive times and then commence to relax your toes. After you have relaxed your toes, relax your feet. Continue to relax your body all the way to the top of your head.

By the time you get to relax your knees you may find that your feet are no longer relaxed. This is not a failure on your part. It is natural. Simply sigh and start again at the toes.

As you work your way from the feet to the head and discover that a previously relaxed part of your body has tensed up again you must give a deep sigh before recommencing. This exercise should be continued for at least fifteen minutes and may require several sessions before you start to obtain results. It can be effectively used to induce deep sleep. As you maintain your regime you will find that within a few days your sleeping patterns, comprehension and energy levels improve. You will also notice a diminished level of nervous energy in your everyday life.

A ‘Pavlov’s Dog’ side effect of this practice is that you can induce a state of deep relaxation at any time you need, simply by sighing. I was once caught in abysmal traffic and in desperation and while not thinking I let out an involuntary sigh and experienced deep relaxation instantaneously, to the point where I had to be careful not to fall asleep in the traffic.

Al.

"But Behavior - Behavior always exposes reality eventually." The friend that says they care when they somehow don't have time over weeks (and aren't in a high priority job). The excuses, the shallow, fake responses...

No...I don't think so. I'm not a tool that one can grasp and forget when the job is done.

That's not friendship. In any way. It's ironic. They've complained about shallow relationships in the past.

Fine.

But I'm not powerless. I KNOW the "using" wasn't that way until recently. We've been friends for years and this is what happens when there's a shiny new thing for weeks on end?

You're maintaining your scheduled appointments. You have spent plenty of time sightseeing, going to cafes, gone shopping for several days...but there's no 5-10 minutes for supposedly deep friends? You left Germany and the rest of us with it.

Except it isn't. You go to social media platforms we shied away from for privacy reasons. But only for me and that's where the silence has been for months. I can see you've been online. I have noted.

Eventually, I came to the conclusion that this isn't a "location" shift. I was simply disregarded as my role wasn't needed anymore. I didn't know it, hadn't for years, but I was the Great Distraction from an unhappy relationship. It wasn't obvious until the relationship ended and I was...abandoned.

There were 5-6 RED FLAGS for human trafficking in the situation and the only person I cared about was casting me aside as an afterthought. That hasn't changed. 

Strung along while the initial adjustment period happened. The response fake and hollow. Forced as an obligation.

Plenty of those I've helped have vanished and there was a largely clear-cut reason or several for such. Abandoning me after 6 years over...what? You ex-husband even said I was nothing but a good friend. 

This will be answered. Friends leave all the time. Good friends, too. "I care deeply for you" friends leaving me with messages of normalcy while ignoring posts and leaving generic, idiotic posts is not what friends do.

So, I stood up for myself and said that you had time (true) for a good friend (supposedly true) in the 5-10 minute range. We used to "talk" 3,4,5+ times with substantial messages. You left for Egypt and can't squeeze one substantial one a week? You're unemployed and have the same time as when you were in Germany. It's pretty clear that there isn't room for old friends in a new life. 

You will be treated as I was. And those agreements you made and broke...that I smoothed over with my relationships...are now back on with interest. By their request and the removal of my protection. But you'll see that soon enough.