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

Last this week we had a guest post by Beth Winegarner – author, journalist and sociologist who is working on a guidebook for parents about teen culture, and a longtime Internet friend of mine – on the subject of occult profiling, and the harm it can cause.

Profiling is something we may not consciously reflect on, but it impacts how we live and what we do. For instance, I (rather obviously) use a pseudonym for most of my writing on esoteric subjects because I’m concerned about the impact it may have on my career in the world of finance. I don’t want that to be the case, but I understand that when I write about things like demons, Satanism, magick, and whatnot the average person isn’t going to be sympathetic to these subjects, and will likely have a negative view of them and, consequently, of me.

This is on the flip side, but if you didn’t get a chance to read it last week, check out “Occult Profiling: Where it comes from and why it’s worth fighting” now and please do share your thoughts and experiences.

Expanding our reception outside the confines of the blog, we find the following signals:

• Mercurius Politicus shows off a 1641 pamphlet with a handy “Protestant identification chart” illustrating several different types. Seems reasonably appropriate as the Christians are celebrating death at Spring, and I always get confused by which branch does which. They all worship Jesus, don’t they?

• Gyllene Gryningen has a post on “The Freemasonic origins of the Golden Dawn” with photographs and illustrations to elucidate various points.

• Dean Wilson writes about “Magical Literalism” in his blog Mishkan ha-Echad, specifically in regards to claims of invisibility. One might argue that the whole lot could be argued poetically, rather than absolutely. Where are the lines drawn, and why?

That’s it for this week, kids.

Found something fab? 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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Saturday Signal: Signal: sifting the signal from the noise of the Internet’s occultural cacophony.

In the realm of the planetary spheres my vote this week must go to Mars for the most gorgeous landscape. Check out these Martian dunes on BoingBoing. Absolutely stunning.

• Rob, in Another Nickel in the Machine, writes about the early career of occult writer Colin Wilson in “Hampstead Heath and the Rise and Fall of the author Colin Wilson“. It’s a wonderfully photo-rich piece. (Who knew Wilson was such a looker in his youth?)

• Chas Clifton, in his blog Letters from Hardscrabble Creek, wrote an interesting post recently considering whether or not contemporary Pagans could be considered indigenous. His answer is no, and his reasons make sense. The comments section breaks it down further, asking some interesting questions.

• Nicole Pasulka interviewed Peter Ross for TheMorningNews.org. Ross took a series of photographs of “William Burroughs’s Stuff“, “a selection of weird, touching, and often unexpected possessions found in Burroughs’s windowless New York City apartment, preserved since his death in 1997.” It’s an odd collection.

• In Magic of the Ordinary, Peregrin has written an excellent post titled “Golden Dawn Blogs and Tradition” that covers more than it implies. Peregrin’s summary of the commentary surrounding one’s Holy Guardian Angel, for example, is spot on. Check it out.

• LAShTAL.com has the latest catalogue from Starfire, Kenneth Grant‘s publishing house. Check it out for titles which have recently been issued, and what’s coming later in 2010. Several reprints, but some new material too, including a compilation of two grimoires by Austin Osman Spare.

I’m trying out delicious.com, a social bookmarking tool. It looks a little more complicated than the last time I logged in – they seem to have added a ton of new features in the past year.

This is to replace the 902834029834 some odd tabs I currently leave open in Firefox for compiling these Saturday Signal posts, but this little laptop, she cannae take it anymore. So, I’m experimenting once again with delicious. (There’s even a Firefox add-on for it.)

One of the great things about it is that you can tag your bookmarks and share them with other people. So, for example, if you tag a site “plutonica” I will be notified. Why is that so nifty? Because it makes it really easy to share cool sites.

If you use delicious, and you want to highlight something cool that you think should be included in Saturday Signal, tag it “plutonica” and I’ll add it. It’s an experiment. Let’s see how it works.

For those who are interested in stalking my path across the web, or, you know, simply getting the first crack at what may find its way into the Saturday Signal, my account there is, of course, plutopsyche.

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Saturday Signal: attempting to sift signal from the noise of the Internet’s occultural cacophony.

In our first Saturday Signal Beth asked “how our “fun day” (Saturday) got named after the least fun god/planet of the week”.  Last week we looked at one possible reason, and Gesigewigus commented on how the planetary hours align nicely with the days of the week: Continue reading »

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Enochian Vision Magick: An Introduction and Practical Guide to the Magick of Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley, by Lon Milo DuQuette
Weiser Books, 9781578633821, 261 pp. (incl. appendices, notes, bibliography and index), 2008

Lon Milo DuQUette is the author of more than a dozen books on esoteric subjects, and has served as the OTO’s United States Deputy Grand Master since 1994 This is his second book on Enochian magick, his first being Enochian World of Aleister Crowley: Enochian Sex Magick co-written with the late Christopher Hyatt.

Enochian Vision Magick opens with Continue reading »

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The Internet is wonderful; so many interesting things to read, watch and play with, but, let’s face it, there’s also a lot of crap, and sometimes it can be difficult to find the shiny bits.

To combat this, I hereby introduce Saturday Signal, Plutonica.net‘s attempt to sift signal from the noise of the Internet’s occultural cacophony.

Saturday Signal will offer up Continue reading »

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