“All I can suggest to the mystic and the theologian is that our gods have been too small; they fill the universe. And to the scientist all I can say is that the gods do exist; they are the eternal, connected, and aware Self experienced by all intelligent beings."
I, therefore, buried myself in the study of the High Cabala, and thought no more of the English adepts until one day, upon entering my lodging, I found a note with my address. This note contained the half of a card, cut in two, and upon which I recognised at once the character of Solomon's seal, and a very small bit of paper, upon which was written in pencil: "Tomorrow, at three o'clock, before Westminster Abbey, the other half of this card will be presented you". I went to this singular rendezvous. A carriage was standing at the place. I held in my hand, with seeming indifference, my half of the card; a servant approached, and opening the carriage door, made me a sign. In the carriage was a lady in black, whose bonnet was covered with a very thick veil; she beckoned to me to take a seat beside her, at the same time showing me the other half of the card which I had received. The footman closed the door, the carriage rolled away; and the lady having raised her veil I perceived a person whose eyes were sparkling and extremely piercing in expression. "Sir", said she to me, with a very strong English accent, "I know that the law of secrecy is very rigorous among adepts; a friend of Sir Bulwer Lytton, who has seen you, knows that experiments have been requested of you, and that you have refused to satisfy their curiosity. Perhaps you have not the necessary things: I wish to show you a complete magic cabinet; but I demand of you in advance the most inviolable secrecy. If you do not give this promise upon your honour I shall order the coachman to reconduct you to your house." I promised what was required, and I show my fidelity in mentioning neither the name, the quality, nor the residence of this lady, whom I soon recognised as an initiate, not precisely of the first degree, but of a very high one...
[T]he amulet of the heart ... was directed to be made in the form of the scarab at a very early date. We can trace the ideas which the Egyptians held about this insect as far back as the time of the building of the Pyramids, and there is no doubt that they represented beliefs which even at that early period were very old.
The Egyptian seems to have reasoned thus: since the physical heart is taken from the body before mummification, and the body has need of another to act as the source of life and movement in its new life, another must be put in its place. But a stone heart, whether made of lapis-lazuli or carnelian, is only a stone heart after all ...
But the scarab or beetle itself possesses remarkable powers, and if a figure of the scarab be made, and the proper words of power be written upon it, not only protection of the dead physical heart, but also new life and existence will be given to him to whose body it is attached...
The unseen power of God, made manifest under the form of the god Khepera, caused the sun to roll across the sky, and the act of rolling gave to the scarab its name kheper, i.e., "he who rolls." The sun contained the germs of all life, and as the insect's ball contained the germs of the young scarabs it was identified also with the sun as a creature which produced life in a special way.
Now, the god Khepera also represented inert but living matter, which was about to begin a course of existence, and at a very early period he was considered to be a god of the resurrection; and since the scarab was identified with him that insect became at once the symbol of the god and the type of the resurrection.
But the dead human body, from one aspect, contained the germ of life, that is to say, the germ of the spiritual body, which was called into being by means of the prayers that were recited and the ceremonies that were performed on the day of the funeral; from this point of view the insect's egg ball and the dead body were identical.
Have a "room of one's own"--a space in which to "breathe."
Find outcast communities and acquire outsider philosophies that support your belief in personal power.
Channel creative energy through some form of artistic expression.
Operate in a metaphoric universe in which you can transfer ideas from one realm to another.
Believe you can influence events (i.e., "create your own reality").
Name your most valued qualities as your own source of power (i.e., through a magical name).
Make choices: both affirm and set boundaries.
Face problems as creative challenges, allowing for paradox, to create "uniquely fitting situations."
Be self-conscious and self-reflecting, using astrology, tools of divination, and metaphysical models of existence.
Allow for inner diversity, and sidestep or return projections using methods of psychic protection.
Periodically center and renew your connection with Spirit through cyclic and seasonal rituals, initiations, and rites of passage.
Use will, imagination and desire (i.e., magick) to transcend the limits of normal experience.
Perhaps most poignant in the remarkable account of [the St. Etienne] apparition -- which spanned from 1664 until 1718 and will become known as "Laus" (pronounced lou, after the valley in which the visions occurred) -- are accounts describing the huge and perhaps unprecedented manifestations of delicious heavenly aromas known to mystical theologians as the "odor of sanctity."
The aroma, often recounted as a cross between lilies and roses -- but yet more delightful -- lasted for weeks at a time and covered large outdoor areas.
Noted one official, a judge named François Grimaud: "During the Easter Season of 1666, I smelled a very sweet fragrance for around seven minutes; I had never smelled anything like it in my life, and it gave me such deep satisfaction that I was enraptured." The odor continued beyond the seer's death and is still in evidence. According to one account, it was so powerful in the spring of 1690 that the Laus church was pervaded with the fragrance and "all the pilgrims attested to it."...
..."Strange as it may seem," noted Walsh, "[Benoîte, who witnessed the apparitions --] her most bitter enemies were priests. Some of these went so far as to cast her in prison; but, after fourteen days spent in fervent prayer and without tasting food, Benoîte was released, her persecutors then declaring their doubts unfounded."
One reason they may have released her: her cell filled with the odor of a heavenly perfume.
England, as drawn by inhabitants, circa 1360.From a Reuters review of A Rough Guide To England:
Gone, it seems, is the image of a genteel country awash with Englishmen politely tipping their bowler hats, groping through the London fog and being kinder to pets than kids...
...They are gently mocked as voracious consumers of celebrity chit-chat and "as a glance at the tabloid newspapers will confirm, England is a nation of overweight, binge-drinking reality TV addicts."
The book of spirits is not a grimoire, and not the workbook of a witch or magician – it is an empowered object of immense potency that has the potential to act independent of its maker, or even against his desire, if carelessly handled. Merely to open the book is to summon a spirit. Which spirit is summoned depends on which page is opened. There is no requirement for elaborate rituals in order to use the book. Indeed, the greatest ritual care must be taken to seal and ward the book so that it cannot cause spirits to manifest spontaneously.Read the rest of this article by Donald Tyson here.
Asked about skeptics who believe his marriage to Holmes is a public relations stunt, Cruise said, "That's laughable to me. I don't know what to say."
Winfrey asked about a book that she said "implied" Suri was not Cruise's child.
"I've had a lot of books written about me. When someone compares your daughter to Rosemary's baby — it's one thing to come after me. Say stuff about me," he said. "But when it comes to my family, my children, that's when I went, `This is off the chart.'"
