Glad’s Corner

Hey all! Occultist, theologian, magician, avid reader. Please enjoy your stay, and don’t be a stranger— feel free to send an ask!

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Glad's Book List

I wrote a post recently about my history (normally I'd link it but I don't want to be narcissistic), and realized that I've read a fair few occult books over the years. So here's the list; I'll keep updating it as I find more books in my various libraries and book stashes.

Quick note before getting into this list--not everything I've read will make it. Just the stuff I read and recommend others parse through. For example, I have intentionally omitted my studies in Kabbalah to discourage others from unintentionally appropriating.

But by "parse through", I truly mean that. My path has meandered through several schools of thought and wandered into appropriative territory at times (I constantly strive to correct any appropriation in my practice that gets brought to my attention). Maybe about 20% of each book makes it into my current path.

Eh, so it wasn't so quick of a note. Here's the list:

CEREMONIAL MAGIC 

Aleister Crowley, Book 4 

Chic and Sandra Cicero, Essential Golden Dawn 

Donald Kraig, Modern Magick 

Henry Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy 

Israel Regardie, The Golden Dawn 

Lon Milo DuQuette, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick 

Samuel Mathers, The Book of Abramelin 

Stephen Skinner and David Rankine, Key of Solomon 

CHAOS MAGIC 

Archtraitor Bluefluke, The Psychonaut Field Manual 

Jan Fries, Visual Magick 

Lon Milo DuQuette, Low Magick 

Peter Carroll, Liber Null & Psychonaut; Liber Kaos 

Phil Hine, Condensed Chaos; Prime Chaos 

Richard Metzger, Book of Lies 

Robert Wilson, Prometheus Rising 

CRYSTALS 

Cassandra Eason, The Complete Crystal Handbook 

Karen Frazier, An Introduction to Crystal Grids 

Robert Simmons and Naisha Ahsian, The Book of Stones 

Scott Cunningham, Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem, and Metal Magic 

Yulia van Doren, Crystals 

DIVINATION 

A.E. Waite, Pictorial Key to the Tarot 

Akron and Hajo Banzhaf, The Crowley Tarot

Brigit Esselmont, Everyday Tarot; The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Meanings 

Chic and Sandra Cicero, Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot 

Diana Paxson, Taking Up the Runes 

Lon Milo DuQuette, Understanding Crowley's Thoth Tarot 

Melissa Cynova, Kitchen Table Tarot 

Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom 

DREAMS 

Carl Jung, Dreams; The Red Book 

DRUIDRY 

Dana O'Driscoll, Sacred Actions 

John Greer, The Druidry Handbook; The Druid Magic Handbook 

Philip Carr-Gomm, The Druid Way 

Ross Nichols, The Book of Druidry 

HELLENISM 

David Mierzwicki, Hellenismos 

Hesiod, Theogeny 

Homer, Iliad; Odyssey 

John Opsopaus, The Oracles of Apollo 

LABRYS Community, Hellenic Polytheism 

Orpheus, The Orphic Hymns 

HERBS 

Nicholas Culpeper, Culpeper's Complete Herbal 

Scott Cunningham, Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs 

HERMETICISM 

Hermes Trismegistus, Corpus Hermeticum; The Emerald Tablet 

Three Initiates, The Kybalion 

GENERAL MAGIC 

Aleister Crowley, Magic in Theory and Practice 

Christopher Dell, The Occult, Witchcraft and Magic 

Manly Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages 

Owen Davies, Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic 

Rock Point Publishing, Spellcraft 

Sarah Lyons, How to Study Magic 

MEDITATION 

Diana Paxson, Trance Portation 

Stephen Bodian, Meditation for Dummies 

PAGANISM 

Herman Slater, A Book of Pagan Rituals 

Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon 

Ronald Hutton, Triumph of the Moon 

WICCA 

Doreen Valiente, Witchcraft for Tomorrow 

Gerald Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft; Witchcraft Today 

Janet and Stewart Farrar, A Witches' Bible 

Raymond Buckland, Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft; The Tree; Wicca for One 

Scott Cunningham, Wicca; Living Wicca 

Starhawk, The Spiral Dance 

Thea Sabin, Wicca for Beginners 

Thorn Mooney, Traditional Wicca 

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Mid-evening random thought while studying Biblical texts—Chavah (aka Eve) really gets the short end of the stick all over the place. She just can’t seem to catch a break, which is a damn shame.

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I usually avoid YouTube these days for a multitude of reasons, but recently I discovered a channel called ReligionForBreakfast. The host, Dr. Andrew Mark Henry, is a Ph.D. of Religious Studies from Boston University. He covers a wide range of topics on his channel, but I'm going to focus on just one today: "What is the Best Bible Translation?"

I won't give you a play by play; that would be redundant at best and insulting to his work at worst. Please just give the video a watch--it's about an hour but it's worth it.

Let's lay some groundwork: Dr. Henry focuses primarily on the Protestant Christian Bible, given that there are a proliferation of English translations. By contrast, the Roman Catholic Bible contains one official English translation. He also mentions the major English translation of the Hebrew Bible, the JPS Tanakh.

I was raised in a Protestant Christian family. Therefore, my comments here will mostly reflect my opinions on the Protestant Christian translations. I lack the proper context for the Roman Catholic and Hebrew Bibles, so I won't be commenting on them here.

Okay, with the preliminaries out of the way, let's get started.

It's extremely interesting that Dr. Henry doesn't discredit any of the major translations. Instead, he makes a distinction between translations designed for critical, scholarly Bible analysis and translations designed to impart doctrinal teachings. I'll call these translation camps "critical" and "denominational" here.

No, Dr. Henry remains mostly neutral on the subject of critical and denominational translations. He points out clearly that--except for the KJV--the big modern translations, regardless of camp, were written by biblical scholars using wide-ranging critical techniques.

While Dr. Henry's neutrality is admirable (and definitely from a more experienced place than my own), I elect to be a bit biased on this topic.

Let me be clear: I think that any translation whose authors willingly sacrifice critical, ecumenical interpretation in favor of one or a few denominations' doctrinal teachings is invalid. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, the ESV and NIV.

And now we reach the KJV. Dr. Henry points out in his video that this translation is based on a much older set of scriptures--primarily the Bishop's Bible--and was revised based on the commonly accepted scholarly standards of the day.

While Dr. Henry essentially defends the KJV's existence as "doing the best with what you have", he does point out that it is one of the weakest in terms of accuracy. Again, his choice to remain neutral is admirable--and likely more correct--but I will not do the same.

The KJV is my least favorite translation of the Christian Bible by--at the very least--a country mile. I could devote an entire post to how disastrous the KJV and its consequences have been to global society. However, I'll constrain myself to the following comments: not only was the translation itself politically motivated, but it was based on translations that were also politically motivated. Further, in the last 400 years, our understanding of--and access to--biblical texts has greatly increased, such that the KJV is now an outdated relic.

So, what does Dr. Henry recommend as far as scholarly analysis goes? The NRSV. This is the preferred translation among biblical scholars of the Christian Tradition, whether Protestant or Catholic (the NRSV has editions with the deuterocanon).

The NRSV was translated by a diverse committee of different faiths--even including Harry Orlinski, who was the editor-in-chief of the NJPS Torah. The committee strove for an academic translation that was faithful to the meaning of the text as it existed within historical context while retaining modern scholarly discussion and consensus.

This is my favorite translation of the Christian Bible as well. However, it's not without its own quirks. For example, the move to use gender inclusive language wherever inferred is admirable--for example, when using language for God, or when Paul writes to the members of various churches. But, in some cases the translators erred a bit, obscuring what would normally be a clearer turn of phrase in ancient Hebrew or Koine Greek. But in all honesty, I'd take a translation that erred on the side of inclusivity than exclusivity any day.

At the end of the day, translations of the Christian Bible necessarily must take into account a polyglot's view. Finding the most ancient sources of a biblical text is critical, but most of our contextualization and explanation of these texts happen after the fact, usually through the study of major thinkers.

In the Christian world, that would be people like Augustine, Aquinas, and others; though I would argue that Christians should also read Maimonides and Spinoza, among others, as the Jewish context cannot be lost when reading these texts or else the whole exercise becomes moot.

All of that is to say, I'm cranky over how the Hebrew Bible has been bastardized over the years. To a lesser extent I'm cranky over how the Christian Bible--namely the Christian New Testament--has also been shredded and bastardized to fit narrow, bigoted viewpoints.

But as an armchair scholar, I'm so glad there are people out there like Dr. Henry who make centuries of biblical analysis and teaching easier to digest. They help me overcome several hurdles that I would have absolutely tripped over in my research--even to the point of wanting to give up (trust me, I've been there once or twice with Augustine).

Thank you for reading. As always, stay safe and stay tuned. Blessings to you and yours~

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Some Scattered Thoughts on the Western Esoteric Tradition

Hello, all.

This is going to be one of those few posts that gets next to no editing; it's almost pure stream of consciousness.

I have no introduction today. The topic is the Western Esoteric Tradition, particularly the ceremonial traditions of the Golden Dawn, A.'.A.'. , and other contemporary orders.

Let's get started.

For every article that I publish here, there are two or three that I hold back. The reasons for this vary; mostly I just don't feel equipped enough to be authoritative on that subject yet.

I tell you this because I am currently writing two articles: one on the Lesser Rituals of the Pentagram and one on the Ritual of the Middle Pillar. And the deeper I dig, the more holes I find.

For reference, the LRP and MPR were the only daily rituals taught by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to students of the Outer Order. In other words, students of the Golden Dawn's Outer Order relied on these three rituals to impart most of the lessons they needed before moving on to advanced magics.

Here's where it goes wayside. These mainstays of the Western Esoteric Tradition purport to tap into ancient currents of magic from deep within our collective past. So I posed myself a question: where did these rituals come from?

The answer was both disappointing and intriguing. While sections of the rituals are based on older Jewish philosophy and mysticism, nearly all the rituals taught by the Golden Dawn were written by the founders of the order between 1886 and 1887.

That's right. These "ancient rituals" were invented almost entirely wholecloth, less than 150 years ago.

Okay, great. But that just opens a new question: where did Mathers, Westcott, and Woodman draw their inspiration from?

The Golden Dawn's original founding documents were called the Cipher Manuscripts. These allegedly came from members of the Soceitas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA), an order of Christian mystics who didn't form until 1867.

Digging a little deeper, I found something even more interesting.

Kabbalah was taken from the Jewish community sometime in the early Renaissance by (notably Christian) scholars like Mirandola and Kircher. They altered Kabbalah until it resembled something the Church would approve of--however tacitly.

This new "Christian Kabbalah" was the practice that appeared among Rosicrucian societies, forming the base lens against which other religious traditions were compared. This melting pot inside the Rosicrucian orders led to a massive expansion of Christian Kabbalah during the mid- to late-1800s, drawing primarily from Hermetism and Gnosticism. The resulting mutation became known as "Hermetic Kabbalah".

Hermetic Kabbalah was the practice that made its way into the Cipher Manuscripts, thereby cementing its role as the basis of the entire modern Western Esoteric Tradition as we know it today.

So let's recap. Jewish mysticism was taken, altered, and expanded upon--most of which happened in the last 200 years. So not only is the Western Esoteric Tradition not ancient, it's not even accurate to its roots.

I can already hear the clamoring at my door.

"But Hermetic Kabbalah is an evolution, not appropriation!"

"Hermetic Kabbalah helps us uncover the prisca theologia!"

"But Hermetic Kabbalah is the truth!"

I'll tackle these one at a time:

An iteration on an appropriated concept is still appropriation.

The prisca theologia is a myth.

If you truly believed that, you'd recognize the bastardization and convert to Judaism, since 80% of the Western Esoteric Tradition is based on it.

So where does that leave us?

The Western Esoteric Tradition isn't ancient. It isn't even always accurate. Just look at the Golden Dawn's original stab at Enochian magic before we uncovered a cache of Dee and Kelley's documents. It's not even close.

But that doesn't mean we throw the baby out with the bathwater at all. It means that we have to be extra mindful of how the Western Esoteric Tradition is put together.

It means we buckle down and do the research. We seek out the people these religious traditions were appropriated from and listen to their expertise. If we are to advance the Western Esoteric Tradition, we have to be willing to meet the "means of magical production", as it were, on their own terms.

It's difficult, especially considering how much we'd have to extricate. But it's worth looking at the big strands of the Western Esoteric Tradition and following their paths through history. What you'll find is that a lot of it was morphed and mutated to fit some cultural understanding of the day, only to be rehashed again in the 1880s for the Golden Dawn.

Are there other expressions of the Western Esoteric Tradition that aren't so intertwined with Hermetic Kabbalah? Yeah, sure. Druidry, Wicca, many of the reconstructionist religions of the modern day...I could go on. Even many grimoire traditions don't really touch the subject, except for the Keys of Solomon.

But for those of us who are seasoned practitioners of ceremonial magic, to never be told of these things and then learn them on the back end makes a hard path to tread.

Personally, it's pushing me towards researching the major basis of the Western Esoteric Tradition: Jewish mysticism. But I'm learning that there is a lot to master of the Jewish religious tradition before you can begin to scratch the surface of understanding Kabbalah as it's meant to. So, I'm learning a lot about Judaism as a whole right now.

As an aside, the more I learn about Judaism, the more I learn I have in common with the religion from a surface scratch. Maybe it's the fact that the Western Esoteric Tradition is based on Judaism, or maybe it's just the way I view the world and am just now finding a community that feels the same.

This isn't an announcement of conversion or anything--that's a decision to heavily weigh, not to mention the years it takes to convert. But it has given me great pause.

Okay, wow. That was a lot of rambling. I think I'm going to just hit "post" before I go back through and start cutting out all the extraneous stuff and end up with "for sale: religious philosophy, never examined".

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I spent the entire weekend reading through the Sefaria website and mobile app recommended by @sagescented.

I can't thank you enough, friend, for the recommendation. I have already learned (and to be honest, un-learned) a lot about Judaism and I've only scratched the surface.

The thing I've latched onto the most are the prayers, particularly prayers of gratitude. I'm a huge fan of the Modeh Ani:

מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶֽיךָ מֶֽלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם שֶׁהֶחֱזַֽרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶֽך

"I give thanks to You living and everlasting Ruler for You have restored my soul with mercy. Great is Your faithfulness."

I won't get into the history of the prayer here (mostly because I can't do it justice), but the prayer came from this page on Sefaria's website if you're interested.

At any rate, this is exactly the resource I've been looking for. Thank you again, @sagescented <3

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Offerings, or: Rediscovering Connection

When it comes to this blog, I typically take far too much time making sure things look polished enough to post. I can be a little neurotic, chasing an image of the fully-realized magician. Most of these posts started out in a word processor with my opinion on top, and a bunch of links to websites and books on the bottom that build upon the idea one way or another. Often I even change my mind while researching.

Today's post is going to be different. Instead of researching and linking and explaining, I'm just going to illuminate something I don't typically go into detail about: my own practice.

It would be boring and counterintuitive to tell you my daily rituals or prayers--it would also reveal aspects of my tradition that I don't feel comfortable sharing. Instead, I'm going to talk about offerings. And I'm going to do it in more or less one draft.

Offerings can be a big thing; in many cultures, they often were city-wide. However, personal offerings to deities have also been common throughout history. Even today, countless posts exist on this very site with research and UPG about what to offer different deities. But the main crux of an offering isn't what it is, but what it is for.

To me, an offering can have a few different meanings behind it:

A pure gift to Deity

A request to Deity

An expression of thanks to Deity

In the colonized West, we often don't think about the cycle of Reciprocity--critical to several Indigenous American traditions (please read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer if you haven't already). The idea can be a little convoluted when explained improperly, but essentially it goes like this: someone initiates the gifting cycle with a gift. It can be material, but often isn't. It can be as simple as letting someone vent to you. This gift must be given with no expectation of return, otherwise it's not a true gift--it's a transaction. The person who received the gift provides a gift back in turn, again with no expectation, and so forth.

Again, in the colonized West we often think that starting the gifting cycle at all precludes that it will continue. For someone to break the gifting cycle would be a faux pas at best. But that's not the case. You give a gift out of friendship; the gifting cycle happens as a byproduct. It's not a contest to continually outdo the other person; quite the opposite, actually.

But I'm running off the rails here and I said I'd do this in one draft, so let's get back to the point. I tell you about the cycle of reciprocity between humans because it sets the backdrop of reciprocity between humans and Deity.

Remember we said that reciprocity start by someone giving a gift to another. This implies the question: who gave the first gift? Humans, or Deity? Depends on who you ask, but since I said I'd talk about my practice today, I'll give my answer: Deity gave us the first gift. We live, and we live among an infinitely complex web of other lives, also gifts. And to go one step further, Deity also gifted us with our True Will and the faculties to realize it.

However, we received these gifts with no expectation of return. It is up to us whether we wish to continue the gifting cycle.

How do we do such a thing? The short, Crowleyan answer would be to live each moment with devotion and dedication to the True Will. But it's more practical than that, and offerings are a great way to start the gifting cycle with your own deities.

Every morning that I have a coffee at home (read: most mornings), it's a ritualistic process. I make it from a French press, and I always make two cups' worth. Once the coffee has bloomed and steeped to taste, I offer the first full cup to Deity in a dedicated cup. I say a prayer while doing so. This is typical of my style of material offerings--often something that is close to my heart, made mindfully, and naturally disposed of when finished. I don't tend to go for votive offerings for a variety of reasons.

In terms of immaterial offerings that I give to Deity, I offer my time on most Saturdays at the local homeless program in the name of Deity. I don't evangelize--like I said, I don't like talking about my personal practice very often (and it's dangerous to do so in that situation anyway)--but I am a listening ear and a stable presence for them whenever I can be. This is typical of my immaterial offerings--something I cannot get back, like time.

As far as reasons for offering go, I usually stick to the first and third bullets above. I don't like requesting things from Deity by way of offerings, as it feels very transactional and sterile. But I do give my offerings from a place of gratitude, so bullets 1 and 3 sometimes blend together a little for me. I know that Deity gives blessings freely, but it's still nice to be thanked from time to time, right? So I like to give thanks in return, especially when it's something important.

It's important to remember that the particulars of what you give are less salient to the topic of offerings than most think. Offerings should be given from the heart, with the receiver in mind. They should be mindful, but not necessarily extravagant.

If you want to start the cycle of reciprocity with your deities, start with something simple that you can do on a regular basis. It doesn't have to be a sacrifice, either; just a gift of some kind. And remember: if you receive something from your deity, it is not solely because of your gift, and you are not expected to continue the cycle in perpetuity.

Give and know that gifts are given without expectation of return. They are given freely and from a place of love, respect, and cherishing.

Okay, I know I got off the rails once or twice there, but thank you for reading this far. Please let me know what your thoughts are on offerings!

As always, stay safe and stay tuned. Blessings in perpetuity upon you and yours~

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Lately I often think about that quote from I Think You Should Leave:

“My life is nothing I thought it would be and everything I was worried it would become because for fifty seconds I thought there were monsters on the world.”

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On Holy Days

The topic of holy days is a varied and sometimes contentious one. There are certain days that tend to be more common than others in the magical community, but that makes them far from ubiquitous.

The aim of this post isn’t to name every holy day—nor is it to suggest that the holy days named in this post are the correct ones. Instead, I’ll use the Thelemic calendar as my base, then name a couple ways you can introduce custom holy days to your calendar.

Let’s get started.

The Thelemic Calendar at a Glance

The Thelemic calendar is a complicated one, especially for newcomers. Let’s forgo the dating mechanic for a moment and just focus on the explanations of the holidays:

“36. There are rituals of the elements and feasts of the times. 37. A feast for the first night of the Prophet and his Bride! 38. A feast for the three days of the writing of the Book of the Law. 39. A feast for Tahuti and the child of the Prophet—secret, O Prophet! 40. A feast for the Supreme Ritual, and a feast for the Equinox of the Gods. 41. A feast for fire and a feast for water; a feast for life and a greater feast for death! 42. A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture! 43. A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost delight!” —Aleister Crowley, Liber AL vel Legis

Let’s generalize and demystify this a little bit:

36. The Solstices and Equinoxes 37. August 12th 38. April 8th–10th 39. August 6th 40. March 20th and the Vernal Equinox 41. Puberty Rites, Birth Rites, Death Rites 42. Daily Gratitude 43. Nightly Gratitude

Of this list, several of these are distinct to Thelema. However, the Solstices, Equinoxes, Puberty Rites, Birth Rites, and Death Rites are all common to mystical and magical traditions. I’d like to add a couple more, leading to a full list of holy days as such:

Birth Rites, done once but creating an Anniversary of Birth Holy Day

Puberty Rites, done once

Initiation, thus leading to an Anniversary of Initiation Holy Day (this date either changes with each subsequent initiation, or stays the same as your very first initiation)

Vernal Equinox, done yearly

Summer Solstice, done yearly

Autumnal Equinox, done yearly

Winter Solstice, done yearly

Handfasting (Optional), creating an Anniversary of Love Holy Day

Death Rites, done once

From my perspective, this is the minimum number of Holy Days required (except Handfasting) for a full-fledged tradition. However, in doing the research for this post, I had colleagues disagree. One provided their own Holy Days list:

Initiation

Vernal Equinox

Beltane

Summer Solstice

Lughnasadh

Autumnal Equinox

Samhain

Winter Solstice

Imbolc

Handfasting (Optional)

Death Rites

Still another sent me a dizzying calendar of saints’ days, saying that they tend to pick the saints’ days that they need during that month to celebrate—but they always celebrate at least once a month. In addition, they celebrate the following:

Advent

Christmas

Ash Wednesday

Lent

Good Friday

Easter

Much less structured; no less valid.

Generating Your Own Holy Days

Okay, so we’ve gone over the general gloss of Holy Days, but how do we identify new ones for our own traditions?

The answer is highly subjective. Generally, you want to look for milestones in your life and in the cycles of nature around you. If you’re not keen on the traditional Wheel of the Year (in either its four- or eight-spoked forms), there are several other ways to track the seasons across the year.

For example, you could add the Lunar New Year as part of your Holy Days. You could also add the day you first achieved Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, or some similar milestone in which your life was irrevocably changed. Even secular days, like Groundhog Day, can be added.

Let’s add some extra days just for completion’s sake. Let’s say you also celebrate the Blue Moon and various other astrological phenomena, like eclipses. You can note those down as special days of power—though they’re not yearly, they’re no less Holy Days.

Conclusion

Overall, creating a calendar becomes a mixture of Holy Days in your tradition, seasonal or natural observances, and milestone celebrations. Putting it together is fairly easy—adhering to it is another matter entirely. That’s why I recommend a small calendar first, based in your chosen tradition. That gets you used to cyclical Holy Days from a magical perspective. Then, you can expand naturally as events arise and become important to your practice.

Thank you for reading. As always, stay safe and stay tuned. Blessings~

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That feeling when you get all excited to write about what you learned about magic circles but in doing research you find a three part post you already did on circles and it was way better than whatever you had cooking

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On Tarot Reading Methods

Recently, I’ve seen some posts regarding how tarot “should” be read—especially for beginners. I want to clear the air: I find such posts reductive and limiting. There is no wrong answer for reading tarot. Some prefer larger spreads to read patterns and trends; other prefer smaller spreads to be more intimate with each card.

While this blog typically covers forging your own path from an intermediate to advanced standpoint, it’s worth revisiting the basics with a trained eye from time to time. So, this post will examine two competing approaches towards tarot: the card based and pattern based methods.

Before anything else, I want to say one more thing. These approaches form two ends of a spectrum. When beginners start reading tarot, they typically pick one of two camps. After some time, though, readers should move towards the center of the spectrum until they find their particular balance.

Therefore, this post does not claim that one is better than the other—it is simply a comparison of methods. Choosing one happens at your discretion.

One last note before we get started: this commentary applies primarily to the following tarot decks and their major derivatives:

Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot

Thoth Tarot

Hermetic Tarot

Builders of the Adytum Tarot

Rider Waite Smith Tarot

Decks such as The Wildwood Tarot, which are based on their own system of correspondences, should have at least a surface level interpretation of them in the accompanying handbook. From there, you can apply some of this commentary—but primarily I’ll be speaking from within my tradition in this post.

Okay, with all that out of the way, let’s get started.

Card Based Reading

In this method, the querent asks their question, then looks at each card in isolation before comparing the picture as a whole. Many who do this believe that each card’s depth offers a full answer on its own. This can be a convincing argument, given how many associations a single card can have:

Visual description

Motifs

General interpretation

Specific interpretation (consciousness, relationships, etc.)

Associated archetypes

Numbers

Correlations to other divination systems

Astrological correspondences

Deities and mythologies

Honored days

Stones, herbs, and natural phenomena

And so forth.

Of course, the drawback is that it is easy to get lost in all the interpretations and leave with more questions than answers. However deep you reach, there are still deeper layers. For example, Scorpio’s appearance in the Death card of the Thoth tarot comes with a slew of its own correspondences, which have their own correspondences, and so forth. As a result, those who begin with the card based method tend to favor smaller card spreads, such as single daily pulls and three-card spreads.

Pattern Based Method

Querents in this method ask their question, then rely on the relationship of the cards as a whole as opposed to the deeper meanings of each individual card. Proponents tend to argue that tarot is a fluid act with a flow to it, and as such nothing can be read in a vacuum. This can also be a convincing argument, as it encourages readers to see the forest through the trees for a more complete textual analysis.

However, in focusing on comparison between cards, you can lose some of the deeper meaning. For example, unless multiple cards have astrological symbolism (e.g. Death’s Scorpio and Lust’s Leo), it’s easy to forgo the astrological correspondences of any single card. Thus, deeper layers of connection can go undiscovered. As a result, those who begin with the pattern based method tend to favor larger spreads, such as three-card daily pulls and variations of the Celtic Cross.

Comparing the Two Methods

As previously stated, starting with either of the methods is a matter of personal preference, so long as it doesn’t limit you. Note that three-card spreads are popular among both methods; try reading the same three-card spread with both methods and see which you like more.

Let’s take a look at an example: a three-card spread could be composed of a Body card, Mind card, and Spirit card. Each one explains a facet of the Self that we should be aware of for the proceeding week. Using the Thoth tarot, we get the following:

Body: VIII – Adjustment

Mind: XIV – Art

Spirit: 0 – The Fool

In the single card method, we look at how Adjustment affects our Body, how Art affects our Mind, and how The Fool affects our Spirit. We may find commonalities as a byproduct, but in essence the single question “what do I need to be aware of” has yielded three distinct answers.

We flip through our favorite interpretation book (in my case, The Crowley Tarot by Akron and Hajo Banzhaf) and find all the deep symbolism in each answer. For brevity’s sake, let’s summarize:

Body: take better care of the body through disciplined nutrition, exercise, and sleep.

Mind: find balance of the mind by facing cognitive dissonance and overcoming it.

Spirit: approach life with a sense of newness and openness.

Should we use the pattern based method, we look at all three cards at once. We examine colors, common imagery, even numerical similarity—nothing is off the table. A quick glance at our favorite interpretation book gives us the surface meanings, but beyond that we rely entirely on the imagery present. For brevity’s sake, let’s summarize here as well:

The Self needs a balance of openness and discipline to fully find peace. Where the Body revels in patterns and structure, the Spirit revels in freedom. In the Mind these come together and cause stress. To overcome it, allow both their space.

Either method will net the same broad strokes; the difference is the road taken to get there.

Finding Balance Between the Two

So far, we’ve discussed the merits and drawbacks of each method. We also looked at a sample reading and how to apply each method. That’s all well and good, but how do we find a balance between the two?

The answer is that it depends on your preferences and access to the wider world of correspondences beyond those in your interpretation book. Typically, the answer also depends on the context of the reading as well. I sometimes use a modified spread from The Psychonaut’s Field Manual by Archtraitor Bluefluke. It looks like this:

The core of the question

What could help

What could hinder

The catalyst to the situation

Possible Outcome 1

Possible Outcome 2

Possible Outcome 3

Cards 1-4 use the pattern based method. This allows me to see the trajectory of the situation and how the different factors interact with each other. However, cards 5-7 use the card based method. This is because each outcome is distinct, so to view them concurrently makes little sense.

The main point is to find a balance that works for you. The sheer amount of correspondences for the tarot is so vast that you can play to your strengths. In keeping with the theme of the post, if you’re an astrologer, you can leverage your knowledge of astrological correspondences.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading. I want to stress one more time that neither method is superior to the other. Both are equally valid; both are equally necessary to a full-fledged reading. Finding your particular balance is going to take time and practice, but it’s well worth it.

Until next time, stay safe and stay tuned. Blessed be.

[gladstones-corner]

I rarely do this, but it’s important.

I offer no hope, for I have but little myself.

I only offer my companionship to those of us affected, and my wrath to those who caused this.

Stay safe.

[gladstones-corner]

A Brief Announcment

Hail, all. At this time, I am taking a hiatus from my Druidic studies and practice with the AODA.

This is a personal decision while I figure out how I stand with respect to the Order.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. This will not affect my posting habits or subject matter.

Stay safe, stay tuned. Blessed be~

[gladstones-corner]

The Four Tenets of Magic

You have likely seen at least one list of magical tenets--you probably have a couple written down somewhere already. However, none are so brief, yet so comprehensive and clear, as Éliphas Lévi’s four tenets from Transcendental Magic:

"To attain the SANCTUM REGNUM, in other words, the knowledge and power of the Magi, there are four indispensable conditions - an intelligence illuminated by study, an intrepidity which nothing can check, a will which cannot be broken, and a prudence which nothing can corrupt and nothing intoxicate. TO KNOW, TO DARE, TO WILL, TO KEEP SILENCE - such are the four words of the Magus, inscribed upon the four symbolical forms of the sphinx" (Lévi, 1896, 3).

Despite the opinions of some, we need not add extras. We need not alter the wording or order of any tenet. Lévi explains them well in the quote above, summarized in that immortal maxim. These tenets underlie any level of magical practice. As such, we will visit the practical application of each tenet here.

To Know

As a novice, your primary goal with this tenet is to learn the basics of your tradition, whether that be via teacher or literature. The idea is to build a strong foundation upon which you can grow. However, this type of knowing is one-dimensional. It is primarily book-learning--critical, but incomplete.

As an intermediate, you have the requisite knowledge and experience to begin tailoring your practice. Here, you begin the advanced coursework in your tradition. Your field of research will expand as you study other traditions' methods of performing similar magics. Here, your knowledge becomes a hybrid of theoretical and experiential learning.

Adepts and beyond are well into the advanced coursework of their traditions. At this stage, you have successfully adapted or invented rituals and practices that fit your philosophy. At this stage, you are ready to seriously study other traditions of magic.

To Dare

At the novice level, daring is simple: you have not yet attempted a consistent magical practice, and now you are going to do so. In this stage, the act of daring is more of an act of trust--trust in yourself and in the greater whole.

At the intermediate level, this tenet means having the strength to stretch yourself beyond the basics of magic. In this stage, you have a regular practice that is likely by-the-book. Now it's time to trust yourself to make the first alterations to your rituals. It's also time to flesh out why you personally believe in your tradition's philosophy.

Once you reach adepthood and beyond, daring becomes another trust exercise. Here, you begin writing rituals whole cloth, naming holy days beyond your tradition's standards, and so on. Generally, you strike out on your own.

To Will

This is one of the most misunderstood tenets of magic, and part of that is because of Lévi himself. Magicians tend to conflate this tenet with having lots of sheer willpower, which overrides other wills and subjects the universe to its bidding. That is not the case.

Across levels, the general application of this tenet is the same: resonate your will with others in the Aethers by using correspondences and auspicious timings so that your request is carried further and with more power.

John Michael Greer sums it up best in his Druid Magic Handbook. To use his example, say you desire to reach the center of a lake. To use raw willpower is to simply swim out there unaided. You might make it, but chances are you'll be exhausted and might not make it back. You can use a boat and oars, which are akin to correspondences; you can also add a rudder and sails, which are akin to preparing for auspicious timing. Altogether, you hook your will to greater wills, putting in your own part of the work to achieve your goal. This is successful magic.

To Keep Silence

I'll be honest. I'm not great at this one; I don't think many are. That isn't necessarily a bad thing when you're among other magicians. It's when you're out in the greater world that you must be most careful. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

As a novice, keeping silent about your coursework is paramount. You are not ready at this stage for the wills of others to interfere with yours. As such, discussing theory and practice is fine with other magicians. However, from non-magicians your work must be kept secret.

As an intermediate, you have a more complete understanding of the full experience of the novice and can better share your experiences with them. This is critical to your growth, as you know the material best when you are ready to teach it to others. But remember: you are not ready to teach anything beyond the basics, and only to novices. They do not need to be taught personalizations just yet.

Beyond this, at the intermediate level you should still not discuss your coursework with non-magicians. At this stage of your magical learning, you are strong but not yet ready to be public facing with your path. You must solidify your philosophy and practice first.

In adepthood and beyond, you are ready to teach others. But this does not mean you need to share everything with them. Your experience is valid, not absolute. And remember that you yourself are always learning--especially as you dive into other traditions.

You are also ready to be fully public-facing with your tradition. Your confidence and experience allow you to be a strong voice and advocate for magicians everywhere.

Conclusion

Those are the four tenets at a surface-level scratch. I know my opinions here can be a little stuffy--especially regarding my belief that you should stick to one tradition throughout your novice studies, dip into traditions as needed during the intermediate studies, and only branch out seriously once you've reached adepthood. I'll write another post on why I think that's the case, but that's less relevant to the main thread here.

Please feel free to reach out with your own thoughts and opinions regarding these tenets--magic is an ever-evolving tradition and it's only by sharing our knowledge and experience that we advance the field of magical study.

Thank you for reading. As always, stay safe and stay tuned. Blessings~

[gladstones-corner]

On Baneful Magics

I'm going to kick the hornet's nest again today.

Many magicians hold to an ethical code whose basis is some variation of "harm none". Many, like me, do not. I believe that if we all lived by our True Will, there would be no need for baneful magics. However, reality paints a different story. Thus, persons may need to protect themselves or retaliate against someone who has done them harm. These are valid uses of baneful magics.

Despite this belief, I do not condone using baneful magics as a standard response to situations. There are several qualifications I feel must be met before I will perform such an action:

Harm: any harm is valid, though it should be above the level of annoyance unless it is a persistent annoyance over a long enough period.

Proportionality: the desired outcome of the magics must be in proportion to the harm done.

Damage: the magician takes care to not cause collateral damage; note that this does not include emotional fallout from the desired outcome.

Sacrifice: the beneficiary (on whose behalf the magician casts) must be willing to sacrifice something proportionate to their desired outcome.

If these four conditions are met, I reserve the right to perform baneful magics at my discretion.

Speaking of which, most baneful magics fall within three categories: jinxes, hexes, and curses. Jinxes are at the lowest step of the ladder. They generally inflict discomfort rather than pain--often cast in passing when reacting to an inconvenience. For this reason, the sacrifice needed is usually small. However, the harm done with a jinx is rarely worth the time or effort.

Curses, on the other hand, sit at the top of the ladder. They are often premeditated and inflict great pain upon the target. These last until a specified time (often indefinitely) and require great preparation and sacrifice. These should be reserved for the gravest transgressions, as the energy and commitment required is absolute. As Peter J. Carroll once said in Liber Null, "the protagonist who is psychologically unprepared to do these things physically will not accomplish them psychically." (Carroll, 2022, 107). In other words, to lay a death curse you must be capable of murder yourself. Something to reflect on, anyway.

Hexes sit in the middle. They typically last until the target has learned a desired lesson or otherwise changed their ways significantly. Because hexes are contingent upon this outcome, they are usually proportionate to the harm done by default. Because they are also in the middle of the pack, so to speak, they tend to have a palatable sacrifice to outcome ratio. All of these factors make hexes easier to stomach for beneficiaries or magicians who may bristle at the thought of using baneful magics.

At the end of the day, what matters are intentionality and mindfulness. Slinging baneful magics for every inconvenience is not only a waste of resources, it also sets up an environment that disrupts Natural Law. Natural Law favors balance, which happens when persons act according to their True Will. The more baneful magics you engage in, the less you are following your True Will--or so the theory goes. All I can say is that in my experience, this has been the case.

I have been a "kill the mosquito with a cannon" kind of guy in the past. It's a lot of effort, and it generated an aura of misfortune around me. Much of what I was putting out into the Aethers was reflecting back into my energies, causing a vicious feedback loop. It wasn't until I got a little older that I realized what was happening. I introduced the above code of ethics into my use of baneful magics, and over time things cleared up.

I'm not going to pretend that it's all my gain, to have things cleared up. I had a lot of help from the gods to gain some sense of normalcy. It was they who led me through the fog of my own magics and helped me clear it up. This isn't to say you can't do it on your own, but I couldn't, and the gods made all the difference there.

Okay, I digressed a little. Let's recap: baneful magics are powerful and dangerous. Using them requires some mindfulness and restraint. That's all I really wanted to say.

Thank you for reading. As always, stay safe and stay tuned. Blessings~

[gladstones-corner]

On the Power Bag

I've mentioned this before, but I want to dive in deeper today. Before we do, however, I need to get a couple things out of the way regarding my qualifications to speak on this topic.

About Glad

First, as many of you know I am a member of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA). At my current degree, the Order introduces a tool called the Crane Bag. I am not authorized to disclose certain details, but for more information please consult the public AODA article on the subject. What I can say is that the Crane Bag is one expression of a cross-cultural phenomenon.

I know that some will bristle at the idea of a "non-indigenous" culture using such a tool, but there is technically a mythological precedent for it (check page 4 here) among Celtic practitioners--of which the AODA is strongly influenced by.

Secondly, I am biracial. One of my parents is Mexican, the other Germanic. While the latter cultures generally do not carry such a bag, several cultures within the United Mexican States do. They are called many things (Medicine Bag, Sacred Bundle, etc.), but again are cultural expressions of a cross-cultural phenomenon.

I will admit that just because I am Mexican-American does not entitle me to speak as an expert on the Sacred Bundle. I am not a curandero, and thus do not have the training nor the authority to speak about the particulars of such a tool. However, my heritage has made me familiar with the tool, at least to the extent that I can speak about its prevalence in Latin America.

One last note: to be as non-appropriative and account for as many cultures as possible, I will be referring to the general tool as the Power Bag. I will disclose no details about any real Power Bags I know of.

Okay, let's get started.

What is the Power Bag?

The Power Bag is a bag or bundle that contains objects sacred to its owner, who typically keeps its contents private. There are varying beliefs as to why they're private, but I don't need to preach to other magicians about the Levi's Fourth Tenet: to keep silence.

The Bag itself can be of any size, and indeed has been most reasonable sizes throughout history. It is traditionally made of hide or leather, though in the modern day any natural material may be used. In the case of large Power Bags, the wrap itself often serves as the pad upon which the contents sit when in use.

As for the contents, they can be any sacred objects within the magician's working life. This can of course mean physical tools, like a blade or rune set. However, it also includes objects of power, such as incenses, offerings, or amulets. Note that these objects have spirits of their own, and thus are not simply disposable. The magician must build a relationship with their sacred objects and mindfully decide the next stop on their journey when they are finished working with the magician.

What Goes Into a Power Bag?

Let’s take a brief look at some examples of the Power Bag by reintroducing our hypothetical magicians Sam, Kelley, and Nick (from my article on working together). They each carry a Power Bag, but because they have different foci, their contents are different.

Sam is an avid hiker. They often find themselves on the trail. As a result, their Power Bag contains a knife, lighter, paracord, and other survival gear. It also contains a journal of leaf and spore prints, along with photographs of things discovered on the trail. Finally, it holds their wand and vessel, allowing them to perform their version of the Great Rite outdoors.

Kelley is less of a hiker and more of an artist. Therefore, their bag contains some notebooks, pens, pencils, and other art supplies. They also carry incense, a burner, and small deity statues they sculpted for offerings. Kelley’s bag also holds their wand, which they use as an all-purpose magical focus.

Finally, Nick is a divination specialist. As a result, their bag contains witch-stones, a tarot deck, runes, and a casting cloth. It also holds a journal and pen for keeping a divination log. And as usual for this group, Nick’s bag carries their wand—but they also keep travel sizes of the blade, vessel, and disc to complete the elemental ritual set.

Making Your Own Power Bag

Hopefully this has given you a solid idea about what the Power Bag truly is, at least from a practical standpoint. But don’t give into the temptation of getting a large backpack, stuffing it with every magical item you own, and lugging it everywhere. Recall that the objects in the bag should be significant to your daily life. Start with what you already carry.

Do you have a purse? Perhaps you carry a satchel to work? Already you have the beginnings of your Power Bag. Some people like to keep their bag separate; others don’t mind mixing them all together with mundane items. I do a little of both, depending on the situation—but I digress.

Ask yourself what you can carry that would benefit you without being burdensome. Does your shrine have a spare crystal that calls to you? Maybe you have some loose tobacco or coffee that you want to scatter as offerings to the local nature spirits? Think small.

That said, I have some suggestions for items that are common to Power Bags. Items from the natural world are nearly always present—a few crystals, some seeds, nuts, or leaves, even some fur or feathers (legally and ethically obtained, of course). I am a traditional magician; I believe that you at least need a wand and vessel. Though I find the Great Rite a bit too heteronormative for my tastes, the wand is a ubiquitous magical focus and the vessel holds everything from offerings to consumables.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the important thing is that your Power Bag reflects your practice. Its contents should be portable, or at least wieldable enough to take with you daily. You should use them for meditation and magic, giving power to them when you can and drawing power from them as needed. Giving power to the items doesn’t always have to be an active thing—sleeping with the Power Bag nearby, keeping it with you, and using the items inside all charge them and imprint your magical signature upon them. In time, the Power Bag becomes a microcosm of your practice.

As always, thank you for reading. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Blessings~

[gladstones-corner]

What is your favorite natural phenomenon?

Hey there! Sorry this took so long to answer, I started a new job and it's been a little hectic with the transition.

This is a good question!

I think it's that moment right before it storms. The temperature drops; the trees look different; above all, the first rumblings of thunder on the horizon. They remind me of Thor.

I hope you're well!

[gladstones-corner]

On Rest

Hail, everyone.

I took an unexpected hiatus from blogging for nearly a month - actually, a little over a month according to my blog's activity. I apologize for not giving a heads up.

I won't bore you with the details of my personal life, but suffice to say it's been almost more than I can handle on its own; so, I took a backseat from my passions to bury myself in work.

Bad idea. Caused burnout.

So, today's article is going to be about rest.

One of the key tenets of magic is balance. Balance includes periods of activity and rest in your life. The simplest and most regular versions of this are our circadian rhythms. However, cycles present themselves in all aspects of life, and most last longer than a day. Rest is no different.

Most of you are likely familiar with Spoon Theory. If not, the simplest explanation is that a neurotypical person has - let's say - ten spoons to spend in a twenty-four hour period. Magically speaking, let's say you have the same. A morning ritual is one spoon. Fixing your wards is another - so on, and so forth.

A good night's rest will restore most of your spoons, but those spoons still need to be washed and dried. In other words, they need time away from their regular use to recompose themselves.

This means that to rest means to enter a restorative state. Our bodies relax, our minds entertain wild fancies, and our spirits roam free across the Otherworld. We need this time, just as every cycle needs its complementary opposite.

All of that is to say: rest regularly and well, if you can, and you'll find yourself facing burnout (requiring A Long Rest™) less often. Remember to keep your rest cycles balanced with mindful activity; recognize the signs of fatigue early and learn to meet them where they are rather than beat them into submission (as I tried to).

In all things, balance is key.

Thank you for reading. Stay tuned, stay safe. Blessed be~