Churchy antics

"Bless me, father, for I have sinned."

I won't make a separate label for rants, let alone for specific rant subjects. Take this rant as it is because it may be informative to some.

Today is Palm Sunday based on the Orthodox calendar, meaning next Sunday is Easter. People around here seem cool with that. Many are contempt or even rejoice because they can hang out and have fun at bbqs with friends and family and whatnot.

None are aware why this particular timing is wrong based on a calendar constructed based on human dogma alone. Most are oblivious to anything anymore, anyway, besides their immediate needs, so who cares?

But anyway, the Orthodox Church has decreed who knows how long ago, because I won't bother researching, that Easter is to be celebrated on the first Sunday after the so called New Moon in Aries. This may mean nothing to laymen, but this has both an astronomical and an astrological cause behind it, at least in my view. But I think my view was proven correct upon my back and forth with an Orthodox priest on the subject a few years back.

Helios rite

The following rite is aimed for bringing out the truth in a situation, but it can also be for clarity or enlightenment. Dispelling darkness or ignorance can also be the intents behind it and by darkness one can understand impurity and foul spirits as well.

Ritual requirements should be easily attained. Besides the altar lamp, a golden (or yellow) candle should be enough. The ever so pagan Mr. Farrell would tell you to write "Helios", your name (or that of the target) and intent on the candle and if I were to go witchy, I'd tell you to etch them vertically from top to bottom, then anoint the candle from top to bottom with sunflower oil. Anyway, some frankincense would also be nice. A photo of the god would make a good addition (in case a statue is unavailable). A golden or yellow altar cloth would be the icing on the cake for this simple arrangement.

If you're casting on another, have their link next to or underneath the colored candle.

Jupiter cazimi

May 18 will see the last decent Jupiter election for a long while. The jolly planet will be cazimi at 28° Taurus. Jupiter has no dignity in that degree of the bull's sign, but being cazimi will give its juju a great boost.

Then, until way into 2025 its energies will be inadequate to work with for beneficial matters. It will enter Gemini, one of its signs of exile, where it will also retrograde. In Asteria we offered a specific example of working with Jupiter in Gemini, but I would absolutely not make Jupiter talismans for beneficial purposes during this particular transit.

Therefore, if you want to perform any ritual for beneficial purposes involving Jupiter, includong my Jupiter working for money, then I recommend you do it solely on that day. I've already talked one too many times about combustion so no need to offer further details or tag any more articles. Asteria also covers these topics in detail.

Mars conjunct Saturn in Pisces

Recently I've been getting inquiries from people regarding Mars conjunct Saturn in Pisces. The exact conjunction will occur within a few days, on April 10 or 11 more exactly, depending on timezone. 

As we discussed in Asteria, the energy buildup will begin just as the two planets are in orb, meaning some days prior to their exact conjunction. They will reach their peak during the exact conjunction and the separating aspect will see the development of events that had been shapen by the energy buildup.

Against, but still according to

"When 'the above' says 'no': Reasons spells go bust" is an article that's given me quite the headache back when I was writing for Asteria 2. The reason for this is that even though I had a glimpse of the essence of what I was fucking my brains out to explain in words, I couldn't quite put my finger on it and so the image that usually forms in my mind on such occasions was fuzzy. 

Luckily, I appealed to Raziel to help me make sense of that fuzzy image and, because he's such a great guy, he came through big time. When all was done I was very pleased with how the article turned out. Little did I know at the time that somewhere in an old work laid the piece of information that would've made me have an instant epiphany had I came across it while struggling with the article. But I'm uncultured so I had no idea of what that book contained haha.

Until recently! Book III of Liber Astronomiae has a small yet very interesting chapter, Chapter IX. Thanks to my reader Nacho who's got the Spanish translation I came across this two paragraph chapter. In itself, it is quite insignificant and merely discusses things any astrology enthusiast can observe by studying the charts. Its title, however, and one of the phrases it contains represent the very essence of my article.

Power & Energy

Power and energy are very important in magical works. This applies to both the micro and macrocosm. The more power is put behind a working, the better its chances of success. Likewise, the more energy is brought into a working, the better.

As an example from the real world, a WW2 Tiger tank was a formidable weapon. If it had sufficient fuel it could provide devastating results. If fuel was low or non-existent, its efficiency dropped significantly (even in defensive battles). 

Another example comes to mind from Anime, more exactly the Bleach series. The main character of the series is one Ichigo Kurosaki, a teen who ended up fighting the good spiritual fight. I remember other characters of the series speaking of him as having a great spiritual power, meaning he was innately powerful. However, when he was involved in longer lasting battles with powerful opponents his spiritual energy would start to drop at some point because of his immense efforts. The same occurred in the case of his opponents.

April Fool's Trickster

Mercury's first retrograde station of the year will take place on April 1. The Trickster God will indulge us with his shenanigans for (at least) 25 days starting with April Fool's day.

Besides the event generating both personal and social issues throughout this time frame, as well as before and after for a while, it will be completely improper for beneficent magical work involving this planetary force. 

We explained retrogrades in general, as well as Mercury retrograde in particular in Asteria.