Saturday Signal: sifting the signal from the noise of the Internet’s occultural cacophony.

Big news of a personal nature: last Friday I quit my job. I gave notice until the 25th, but after that I’m a free agent. Very exciting.

In the last Saturday Signal, I noted that Titan might make a nice vacation spot someday. It turns out visitors may find themselves interacting with the locals,  alien methane-based lifeforms. There’s still that little problem of it being utterly uninhabitable by humans, of course, but still: neat-o.

On to the linkage, also largely travel-themed:

• The Lovecraft News Network posted in “Lovecraft and National Geographic” advises that the National Geographic has created a travel guide of places featured in Lovecraft’s stories, written by Edoardo Molinelli. Check out places featured in “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Miskatonic University, and other relevant New England sites. Travel information, photos of historical sites and weather information available. What a cool idea.

• “Spare Places“,  a video uploaded by squareye, is a psychogeographical guide to Austin Osman Spare’s London. The camera is shaky and kind of washed out, but it gives an idea of Spare’s London, with context and quotes from other writers. Video found in the comments section to a post on Rune Soup by V.V.F. Click here for Part Two.

• Khephra offers thoughts on the eschaton, in “What is the eschaton and why does it need hastening?” on Sophrosyne Radical. Dude may not always respect chaotes, but I still think he’s secretly one on the inside.

I read my first Hermann Hesse in December, and I’ve been dipping in to his other works over the past few months. I haven’t yet picked up Siddhartha or Steppenwolf, the two for which he is perhaps most famous. I’m saving them.

He’s one of those authors I read and think where have you been all my life? I would have adored them more had I read them as a teenager I think, but they’re still great now.

At the moment I’m reading The Journey to the East, in which the narrator describes a remarkable ’round the world trip with an unnamed secret society called here the League. Each member has a specific goal in joining the League, each different, but united in a search for beauty, truth and meaning. Regarding their destination the narrator explains:

…our goal was not only the East, or rather the East was not only a country and something geographical, but it was the home and youth of the soul, it was everywhere and nowhere, it was the union of all times.

Now that’s magick.

As always, if you come across anything nifty, please share it in the comments, or if you use delicious tag it “plutonica” and we’ll take a look. Thanks!

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Over at Rune Soup Gordon introduced a book game with the following guidelines:

How would you introduce someone to magic using only books? He or she has a month in a lake house and will read whatever you tell them in the exact order that you tell them to. Not even any peeking at other books on the list.

It’s a good game, for the full list of rules and to participate, click here. You can see Gordon’s picks here. I offered my response in the comments section, but I thought I’d share it here too, with a little more about why I chose these books in particular.

My aim was a little different than Gordon’s, I took the game as a chance to create a new magickian from a complete skeptic, not to create a mini-Psyche – that would have been a different list altogether. Perhaps a project for another day.

Without further ado, here’s my list: Continue reading »

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A new and revised edition of Dave Lee‘s Chaotopia!: Sorcery and Ecstasy in the Fifth Aeon has been released by Mandrake of Oxford in a new expanded edition.

Lee has also launched a new blog, also titled Chaotopia!. At the moment it seems to house a few reviews; it’ll be interesting to see the direction it takes.

While we’re on the subject, chaos magick seems to be undergoing (another) revival at the moment. Phil Hine’s Prime Chaos: Adventures in Chaos Magic is also out in a new revised and expanded edition from Original Falcon. A review will be forthcoming.

Jason Miller’s posted a call-out to chaotes over on Strategic Sorcery. Chaos magick – and chaotes – have changed quite a bit since the current’s inception. Continue reading »

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The votes are in, and April’s Esoteric Book Club selection is S.S.O.T.B.M.E., written by Lionel Snell as Ramsey Dukes. The full title is Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians Exposed – I love his sensational titles, they have almost nothing to do with the books themselves (see also BLAST Your Way To Megabuck$ with my SECRET Sex-Power Formula – another book about philosophy).

It’s an excellent book, one I’ve already read several times, and one I recommend highly. I’m thrilled that it was chosen, I think it will make for excellent discussion in April.

The only reason I didn’t include it in my list of “Top 5 Books on Chaos Magick” was because S.S.O.T.B.M.E. predated it, but it will be interesting to trace its influence through to today.

April’s forum is open and ready if anyone wants to get started a little early, otherwise I’ll post a reminder closer to the date.

Hope you’ll join us!

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Catalogue Seven was released today from Fulgur, featuring works of art by several of their authors and illustrators.

Most notably it contains several drawings and illustrations by Austin Osman Spare, including the one pictured left, titled there as “Three Men in a Cavern”.

Also included are “hand-decorated diabolical objects” by Barry William Hale, whose Legion 49was put out by Fulgur last year. By this they mean  Jack Daniels and rum bottles decorated with sigils and atwork and, well, I’ll use Hale’s description:

The Sigillick Conjuration of Beelzebub is incorporated into the walls of these Seven unique Talismanic Bottles sporting a variegated panapoly of magical signs and symbols sacred to the Lord of the Flies.

One of my favourite modern occult aritsts is also featured, Orryelle Defenstrate-Bascule, with images from his Conjunctio, also published by Fulgur.

I’m more than a little in love with the pencil drawing of Isis, especially after getting the chance to see Orryelle’s Ganeshe in his glory at Treadwell’s last fall.

Even if, like me, you can’t afford any of them, it’s definitely worth a look.

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