Too dumb to woowoo

"The fool is not fool enough until he's also priggish" is an old Romanian saying.

Idk why dafuq I'm even bothering writing articles now that one of the pillars holding up the WMT has transcended beyond. But since my struggle in this lifetime is to make sense of mundane experiences from a certain point of view and master them, I'll move on (even reluctantly, and do my best to be my usual self).

Now that the whole US election thing is behind us, it seems like a good idea to bring to the forefront the most stupidest magical feat I've ever come across during my ten years of occult practice. I've seen a lot of dumb shit over time, but this must be the stupidest since it was the the sensational feat of one who expects to be considered an expert in more than one occult field. The individual in question has been involved in the occult for many more years than myself, which makes this even more laughable.

The day following the election a screenshot of a certain fb post was brought to my attention. Said post contained an individual's hopes for the upcoming election results. Since Nov 5 was on a Tuesday, and probably keeping in line with his own age old tradition of making offerings under Christmas lights to the appropriate planetary force of the day, the man also implied he'd rub a candle out to Mars for victory for his favorite candidate. I also think this falls in line with his usual virtue signaling and attention begging.

In memoriam: Mr. Samuel Scarborough

A few hours ago I suddenly received news Samuel Scarborough passed away... It left me shocked, then sad. I never thought I was going to write this article, at least not for a great many years.

I've had the pleasure of interacting with him over the past five years and even though we didn't talk often, when we did it went on and on. Even now I have no idea why someone like him ever accepted to engage into lengthy discussions with someone like myself. I told him upfront I'm someone who learned magix online, don't really care of lodge dogmas, and he figured out early on I can be a nutjob to say the least. To my surprise he didn't seem to mind my way of being.

He was there to answer my questions whenever I asked. He readily admitted he did not know all the (right) answers, but he did answer at length and in detail most of the time. From what I could tell he had Jupiter exalted in the ninth house and told him more than a few times he KNOWS A LOT. He always responded he doesn't know that much. But he knew way above average...

He may have been considered grumpy by some. That may be true. He did not come across as a poser, that's for sure. He was cut and dry so I'm sure many may have considered him a jerk. That may be true on a case by case basis, but to me he seemed like a genuine red blooded American I used to see in movies growing up. Those guys often came across as jerks as well, but they were the good guys regardless.

Mr. Scarborough was, to me, one such good guy. Not only did he go out of his way to explain the same things over and over again in public to anyone asking the same questions, but he also helped people in private to improve their magical work. His extensive occult knowledge and vast practical experience allowed him to provide much needed support to those in need, especially relating to traditional Golden Dawn material, in regards to both historical and practical data. He always provided solid answers in a straightforward way. 

His article on the Tree of Life was one of the very first I've read after I began walking on the occult path. Not only did it open the door for me to further improve my practice, but it allowed me to improve the image of creation as a whole I was struggling to create for myself at the time. I quoted that article in at least one of my books and his article on vibratory formula in one of them. I also made references to him in several books without actually mentioning his name.

I could've asked permission to mention him by name, but I was aware he wasn't the type to prefer to stand out especially in the occult crowd. Instead, he kept doing his thing without bringing too much attention onto himself. He took part in writing in The Light Extended Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5 and the upcoming sixth volume that will be published in his memory (as I've just been told). Just now I've been told he contributed to Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls and The Philosopher's Stone, as well as at least one old Hermetic Tablet volume I have yet to get my hands on the link (and I'll add the link or links if they're still available). Moreover, he did a lengthy work editing The Complete Flying Rolls of the Golden Dawn. I remember him telling me he was unable to chat too much because he was working hard on the rolls yet he still kept up the conversation as usual offering information and help if needed. To my shame I read none of the above (except for his two JWTM articles I mentioned), but from what I've been told they contain valuable information many who want to follow traditional Golden Dawn methods would find useful. I believe he also contributed to more projects I'm not aware of yet.

His soul is now free from our mundane concerns. He will be missed greatly and I find his passing a great loss for the occult community at least, but I find solace in the fact he is very well where he is.

May your soul rejoice in the beyond!

Solar election

I've selected this solar election for Mr. Farrell's neck of the woods, but you can make use of it as well by adjusting the chart to your location. The election is not that potent and I'm not inclined to making a talisman (and you'll see why at the end).

The Sun is only dignified by triplicity although it's stronger than it's been over the previous three and a half months or so. It's also culminating although you can perform the ritual while it's rising. Just watch out for the aspects the Moon is making at the time, especially if you live more to the east.

Ohnevel

Ohnevel is one of the angels of the Shemhamphorash and is said to "protect against accidents, maintain health and heal, dominate trade and businessmen, influence business". According to some sources he is attributed to the half-decan 10°-15° Taurus. 

I've worked with him in the past for business related stuff, with little to no success. Recently something came up and, since the chart was awful for other forces I would've worked with in such a case, I decided to work with him instead. This time I called on him for healing.

Soulmates, you say?

Over time I've been hearing of the term "soulmates" and its association with romantic relationships. The dictionary defines a soulmate as being "a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner" so we see it covering more than just romance. Friendship too involves feelings, especially love, but it's closer to the ideal concept of love than the more selfish, sexual attraction type of love people involved in a romantic relationship usually experience. Therefore, many modern astrologers' use of the term soulmates to define certain pairs of individuals based on whatever synastry and/or composite aspects they may share is shallow to say the least.

True, people can think about finding their soulmate when casting a Venus spell to bring their significant other. That doesn't mean, however, the person the spell would bring forth after successfully manifesting is actually their soulmate. Neither does it mean that any pretty astro aspects the two share make them soulmates. In the appropriate article in Asteria 2 I talk about compatability and although some astro aspects between people can be considered as alluding to the two meeting and sharing certain experiences as being fated, that too does not make them soulmates.

Hermetic Tablet 2024

After a lengthy hiatus Hermetic Tablet is back with more than a few authors having answered Mr. Farrell's call. This year's edition is filled with articles covering both practical and theoretical topics many interested and serious occultists will find helpful.

You can see from the table of contents many subjects have been addressed, from tantra to gamatria and from psychology to gamatria, these articles' applications can be manifold.

Hermetic Tablet once more

After some six years Mr. Farrell decided to release his Hermetic Tablet once more. This particular edition stands out because it also pays homage to the late Mike Magee and Jake Stratton-Kent, two people involved in specific occult fields well known for their knowledge of those particular areas.

Besides the articles written by the two occultists who now explore the vastness of the beyond, Mr. Farrell has gathered a plethora of authors to contribute to this year's edition. And then there's Señor Shaman and myself. Each author covers a different subject, from ancient magix to Kabbalah and from astrology to conjuring a demon, but the articles can be loosely grouped together in bunches by the occult areas whose different aspects each covers. Additionally, each author has an unique approach to the topic they're covering, unlike certain larger than life wannabes who regurgitated the same material as others in the past with the help of another's translation to come up with a book the length of one of these articles (or smaller) over the span of a few years (!!!).

The book will be published through Lord Manticore probably next week and I will post a detailed article to cover it when the time comes.

BML trasnit

A few months ago I spoke with a reader who was studying his chart and preparing for upcoming hard transits. He said Magick Pills for Hard Transits helped him a great deal a few years back, but since then he had little time to magically address these periodic events. This time though, he noticed a handful of potentially hazardous transits occurring in the near future and wanted to take the necessary precautions.

One of those transits was the Black Moon opposite itself in the man's chart. I recommended he study his natal BML more, both from this book on BML and online sources in order to understand its nature better. While the book does not cover the opposition transit, I helped the man get a general idea of what it may bring into his life considering his chart.

Book review: Mastering the Thirty Aires

This is the first Enochian label for this blog since I stopped doing that kind of work a few years back due to mundane reasons. But it's safe to say I'll start posting more on this topic once I begin working this system once more.

Mastering the Thirty Aires is Scott's final book of his Enochian trilogy, thus covering the whole system. Additionally, the man has covered Dee and Kelley's work to greath length, both for free on his blog and in the form of published books. I for one think he's done more than enough by covering the subject and speaking about it publically, as no other occultist I've encountered has so far had the decency of providing free ritual templates, let alone answering every question his readers ask him.

I am very grateful for his help, assistance and guidance. When it comes to Enochian, I want to point out I've began working with the Heptarchy solely by using his blog as a source and he's been more than willing to help me along even by answering all my retarded questions. Other authors, especially those who consider themselves experts on this subject as well, would point people to their books as a simple, piss off answer. But not Scott!

About results

Time and again I've addressed magical results, lack of, or what stands against achieving them. People will come across that in various articles on this blog, as well as in Words and Asteria 2.

This article will tackle the matter from another angle. Namely, what next? What I mean is, what to do after one perceives results of their magical work, either substantial or otherwise.

Lots of people, both practitioners and (especially) clients have a tendency of thinking magical results should be permanent. They're not. The first reason for this is that any magical energy directed towards manifesting a certain scenario will have stopped doing so after the successful outcome has presented itself. This is in case said force was instructed to do so by the magician, but even if it that's not the case any energy set into motion will fizzle out eventually.

Hunger games

I've uploaded quite a few articles over time in which I alluded to all sorts of creepy crawlies within the occult community. These varmins can be categorized into two sides.

One side consists of self-righteous, self-important, self-proclaimed expects whose condescending attitude towards those who want to learn and virtue signaling towards anyone they consider a threat are off the charts. The other is represented by two bit wannabes who flock together so their insignificant shouts become more audible. Lastly, there are those in between, who often show traits of and lean towards both sides in order to appease everyone, but who usually engage in both friendly and unfriendly interactions with them to suit their and their higher ups' needs. This third category is often the pool that feeds the lackeys surrounding both sides.

Regardless of side, their common denominator is an overwhelmingly palpable voracity for notoriety. Ultimately, this translates into income generated from occult activities.

Mercury in domicile and exalted

This election is best to be used for Mercury workings having a less than beneficial intent and I'll explain why shortly. There will be a few Mercury elections good for beneficial purposes during this transit, but I think I have yet posted a specific article covering an election that can be used for nastiness.

I'm sure quite a few people know Mercury is both in domicile and exalted in Virgo and this is what's happening these days. I assume not many know Mercury elections can be tricky, due to its constant close proximity to the Sun. Given Mercury will be under sunbeams, this election is not perfect, but Mercury overpowers the Sun a great deal nonetheless.

Black Moon in action

The following is a case study I've been allowed to make public by one of my readers. She read Asteria and was intrigued by what she came across on BML in there. Further personal study on the subject made her conclude certain problems she constantly experienced were being caused by her natal BML and certain hard aspects it is involved in.

She contacted me at some point, we discussed the matter and she agreed to begin work on solving the problem by addressing its causes through magical means. I cautioned her it can prove to be a lengthy and, at least at times, arduous process that can have her experience a roller-coaster ride of emotions as well as macrocosmic struggles for a while, but she was determined to deal with it once and for all. We settled on an approach based gradual increase in intensity so that she wouldn't become overwhelming quickly by any probable unpleasant experiences she'd need to go through to reach the core of the issue and fix it.

I won't be going into her experiences relating to her magical work on herself, nor the work itself. Instead, I will offer one of her revelations relating to how BML's influences have affected her life. Both of us consider it necessary for others to have at least an idea of how this energy works even if in others' cases it can very well manifest differently. Nevertheless, the way these influences manifest individually is not important, but the mechanism is, since recognizing it should help a great deal in understanding this energy more.

More on transits

This is the second article I've dedicated solely to transits. In the initial one I addressed how they work, while this one will cover more specific details. More exactly, it will cover beneficial transits that manifest subpar.

To begin with, Jupiter and Venus are known for a long time as Benefics. The former is known as the Greater Benefic and the latter as the Lesser. The reasons for this are unimportant to this article. Suffice to say Jupiter has a greater and more lasting beneficial influence than Venus and their transit speeds should point this out even if I wasn't referring to transit speeds when I mentioned said reasons.

At any rate, one is to expect Jupiter and Venus transits in relation to their natal chart to bring quite a few pleasant and desired outcomes. This should be expected if the two transiting planets are involved in harmonious aspects with contents of the natal chart. Moreover, areas of the natal house any of the two transit at any time should be improved and the native should benefit a great deal in those areas.

Open for elections

Jupiter exalted and culminating, waxing Moon applying to trine

I've been thinking about this for a while now and so far I avoided coming forth with it because I felt my often busy schedule will distract me from the task. But I've made up my mind and decided to go through with it.

I'm open to calculate astrological elections for magical use for the following forces:

1. Zodiac signs

2. Zodiac decans 

3. Fixed stars 

4. Planets

5. Elements

6. Lunar mansions

Mars the protector

Some time ago I took advantage of a good Martian election and made a few Mars talismans. The purpose was that each of the talismans would protect its wearer against, aggression, violence, assault, etc. I then gave a talisman to each of the few muggle acquaintances I know who know what I'm into and agreed to wear those talismans on their person.

I know certain people would say Mars is solely good for attacking, but that's just narrow-mindedness. Being a god of war and fighting, among other things, Mars is good for both offence and defense since they're both aspects of fighting regardless of whether the fighting takes place between two people or very large groups of individuals. So take note, all ye self-proclaimed expects!

Anyhow, for some time nothing happened, which is good. I mean, if you're wearing a protection talisman and nothing bad happens to you in regards to being assaulted and such, you can consider it a coincidence. But I'm sure there are cases where you could've been lead down a path of circumstances that would've lead to you being physically attacked, yet wearing the talisman prevented you from going down that path to begin with.

Yet some priests work for the people

...and not for others' interests, as is the case around here (and I suspect elsewhere as well).

The guy with the cross in his hands in the above photo is Teodosie, the Archbishop of Tomis, Dobrogea region, Romania. For more than a few years now he's been targeted by the authorities (both state and church) and media around here because he doesn't want to fall in line with the local church and their antics.

Despite having been ridiculed publically time and again for his nature of saying what's on his mind and doing whay he thinks is right in accordance to the gospel, from both a religious and mundane perspective, the man went ahead to do his duty. As such, he recently performed a religious sermon to call on rain. The sermon was done on the feast of Saint Elijah, who in local tradition is celebrated on July 20 and is said to bring rain. Being in mid hot and dry season and given a lot of farm land around here lacks (proper) irrigation, his gesture is to be applauded. Instead, he received even more ridicule and criticism from the press and public.

Checklist for Therapies and Styles of Magic

What follows is a translation of Señor Shaman's article I considered important to share.

"Checklist for Therapies and Styles of Magic

One of the significant challenges faced by someone learning Magic is assessing whether the system (or style, tradition, or technique) is good or not. This is equally true for any spiritual technique. The lack of experience or reference points in many schools makes it difficult to understand if something is truly of quality.
Additionally, for whatever reason, those who instruct or are defined as experts in these techniques often do not share critical information or directly evade questions on critical issues.

Multiple paths can be taken to evaluate the quality of a magical technique or school. For now, I will only consider three elements of consistency, namely:

•  Self-consistency or consistency with itself.

•  Consistency with natural laws.

•  Theory-practice consistency or alignment with promised results.

Hail! Storm!

Following the previous resounding success, I was contacted by Iustin just now who sent me a live video of the current weather in downtown Bucharest. Not only was it raining cats and dogs, a hailstorm just appeared out of nowhere. You can see a screenshot of his video above. A few minutes later a downpour also began in the area I was at the time, closer to the periphery.

Both myself and Iustin have tackled the weather magically a few weeks ago in order to fight the summer heat and drought here. Considering the weather reports said nothing of rain for a considerable time, this unexpected event is a huge finger to the forecasters. It's not the first time I've shown them the finger and it's not going to be the last. 

Har!

Whether you're afraid of global warning or just want to deal with local weather issues, you can try the rituals linked above for yourself (then let me know how it went).

Sign of hard relationships

The Magick of Astrorelationships deals with healing mundane relationships, whether romantic or otherwise, through magical means.

Throughout time I've investigated a considerable number of relationships, including my own, and reached more than a few conclusions. Some of them can be found in both Asteria 1 and 2 in some form or another. Others I've kept to myself and would only share in close circles if needed. But I'm going to share one such conclusion I've noticed in more than one unhappy couple.

What I'm about to say involves the study of both partners' natal charts in parallel in regards to daily transits over each one and how they apply to each of the two natives. While a gruesome symastry will probably result in a horrible relationship experience sooner or later, transits do affect this a great deal, as implied in Shaman's article on karma in Asteria 2.

But anyway, here's the gist.

Venus still combust

As I've mentioned in this article, Venus was cazimi at 14° Gemini. Afterwards it became combust again, though slowly distancing itself from the Sun.

Since the two heavenly bodies have very similar transit speeds, with Venus being slightly faster, the latter was combust for a considerable time. The combustion will end on July 7, but Venus will still be weaker until it gains enough distance. Even so, it will soon enter Virgo afterwards, a sign where it is very weak.

My recommendation would be to be careful with any rituals and spells involving Venus' forces during the above-mentioned period, especially during its Virgo transit. Do not buy or make Venus talismans for beneficial purposes during this lengthy time!

Another sixteenth mansion talisman

This is now the third article about the sixteenth lunar mansion. I keep posting lunar mansions elections whenever I come across them because they cam be hard to come across. Or, whenever you come across them you're likely to wait for a while before actually getting to take advantage of the timing.

This past weekend was splendid in this respect, as I've come across too awesome elections for both the sixteenth mansion and Spica, both in the same day. The mansion elections was with the Moon rising and Spica had the Moon culminating.

I made three of each and kept one of each to myself while giving one of each to two others. Funny thing is that one of those two received a local 50 the next day from a complete stranger who asked her to use that money to buy something to eat and drink to honor his dead parents. In my case there was increased customer activity. I have yet to learn what the third recipient of the talismans experienced so far. 

Open the flood gates

This year the summer heat struck in force earlier than before. I usually do some woowoo for tweaking local summer weather in May, but this year I've been busy last month (smiting fools). 

I had no choice but to do it last week. The results were quick and formidable, as you can see in this link - run translation. 

Be truthful to your woowoo person!

This past weekend I met a local woowooist for the second time in person. I had met Frater Iustin for the first time the previous weekend. Both times we've alcoholized ourselves a bit and talked a lot about woowoo, something I enjoyed a great deal since it's practically the first time I've been able to talk face to face with another practitioner. He's a great guy and I think you'll find his Resurse Hermetice blog very insightful when it comes to various occult themes, but you'd have to run a translation. You'll also find the link to the right of the page.

Among the many occult related topics we discussed, we found a lot to chat about in regards to magical services and anything related to them. We whole-heartedly agreed upon a mandatory condition customers must accept and comply to, namely telling the truth.

More on the temple

Another concern I've encountered in online occult discussions concerns the lighting within the temple.

The very first book I read about magical practice is Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki's Ritual Magic Workbook. And yes, I do read at times, especially during my early years of practice, even though I hate doing it. Anyway, I was but a noob at the time and I found that book to be outstanding. Nowadays I only find it ok, but nonetheless a good source for general beginners work, especially for those who want to walk the path of self initiation. While I'm sure they will find and use more solid material for that purpose in time, I consider this book to be a great start.

The author does a good job detailing on temple requirements for various rites and rituals, including seasonal workings. If I remember correctly, since I haven't read it in almost ten ten years, it also speaks of temple lighting. I can't quite remember that part so I will refrain from presenting false information, but you're free to look it up for yourself if you so choose.

Full of life!

My rose bush underwent a magnificent recovery and is now in full blossom! Some flowers have begun to wither though, since I guess the bees have done their work before I was able to take the picture.

But nevertheless, this is a significant success for me in a magical field I'm still a novice. I've done a couple more experiments with growing plants using magical means, but without success. I put that on my gardening abilities rather than my magical ones, as well as the fact this rose was planted a few years back whereas I wanted to grow plants from seeds.

Workings of Boticario

My associates over at Boticario Mágico have their own magical products which can be found by accessing THIS LINK. It will be permanently available to the left of the page.

Inside you'll find an interesting and useful series of spiritual exercises, magical workings including a Mercury talisman ritual, as well as a free mini class.

Upon request from potential customers or those who have already bought one or more products, the material will be translated into English.

Tricky Mercury cazimi in Gemini

Next month Mercury will be cazimi in Gemini. This particular configuration would be extremely auspicious for magical work, especially talismans. 

However, things are not as pleasant in the heavens at that time, thus hindering any mercurial energies from manifesting whatever people desire of them. As you can see in the chart, my location does not permit having Mercury rising or culminating while cazimi. If you live in another time zone it's possible that configuration will be available for you. If not, know that any mercurial energies you may employ in a magical working at the time, although very powerful, would probably be less likely to manifest your exact desire due to their location in a certain house at the time.

Basic necromancy class

Someone I know for a long time has launched a class on necromancy, The way to Hades: Basic pagan necromancy. For reasons having to do with their privacy, they've decided to publish it on my account. This class covers the basics in necromancy and hopefully the author will produce one containing more advanced techniques, since I'm sure the many years of experience under their belt easily allow it.

Nevertheless, this class should not be overlooked, especially by people unfamiliar to or new in this field. Moreover, there are very few sources covering this ground, let alone ones that go beyond generalities. While the class does present general notions, it does not linger over them and instead rapidly gets into the nitty-gritty of practical work.

Practice contains very important steps someone must go through in order to end up working with spirits of the dead. One must know that by following these steps they will not only end up benefitting from underworldly help, but they will do so in a safe manner. Besides gods and their minions, he or she will get to improve their life by working directly with both ancestors and spirits of other deceased people.

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.

Why, you ask...

Today I received an email from someone's I've never been in touch with asking me why I charge "so much" for my services, implying it's too much and basically accusing me of taking advantage of people. This left me speechless for a moment and when I snapped out of it I considered it unnecessary to reply. But I will reply here.

I've been actively involved in the occult for almost ten years now. During this whole time I've encountered many occult service providers, each charging their own prices for their particular services. Every so often I encountered people charging different prices for different types of spells. The reason for this eludes me to this day, since I charge the same price for any demand, regardless of whether it concerns love, money, health, curses and so on. At one time I used to charge an additional $10 to my usual amount for performing Enochian rituals, but later I decided to perform them solely for myself.

Temple

Over the years I've encountered more than a few discussions about the space one uses when conducting magical operations. More than a few beginners frighten over the fact they don't have a place to use solely as a temple, in the actual sense of the word. They consider this a liability and worry over the fact his would hinder their work, as in their results would be weaker.

Moreover, there are many out there who stress over the importance of a temple space. Often, these people happen to be in the business of crafting and selling magical implements, from something as complex as Golden Dawn temple pillars to something as mundane as candle holders one can find at garage sales. With their profit in mind, it seems obvious such people keep spamming the alleged importance of having as pristine a temple decor as possible, with every imaginable paraphernalia on the side.

In reality, this is not a must! While having a specially dedicated room as a magical temple would be ideal, most people cannot afford it due to obvious financial and social reasons. Therefore, a ritual space is required for undergoing magical practice. This space can be anywhere on the property or in nature, whether it be a kitchen, attic, back yard, the local woods and so on. So long as it allows the person relative peace and quiet for the duration of the work, it should do.

Casting in the past?

More than once have I come across people discussing the possibility of spells affecting past events. So far I don't think it's probable although at the same time I'm being open minded about it.

But at he same time I've come across scenarios where a certain situation required a certain spell and things started moving in the direction the person wanted even before they've done the spell. Then, once the spell was performed things started working even smoother for the person in regards to that scenario and its circumstances.

Quite recently I've been contacted by someone dear telling me their home had been under the influence of nefarious energies for a while. Things were off and odd and a particular object seemed to be the center of those energies. Since Mars was strong at the time, I quickly cooked up a simple but effective Martian working for the person and provided them with the exact ritual time that would increase its efficiency.