Lupercalia

OK, none of this valentine's day nonsense, this is what it's really about. the feast of the wolf - Lupercalia.

Info here.

'The young men laughed and girded themselves in the skin of the sacrificed goat. Much feasting followed. Finally, using strips of the goat skin, the young men ran, each leading a group of priests, around the base of the hills of Rome, around the ancient sacred boundary of the old city called the pomarium. During this run, the women of the city would vie for the opportunity to be scourged by the young men as they ran by, some baring their flesh to get the best results of the fertility blessing (you can see why the Christian church tried so hard to get this ritual banned, but it was so popular that it continued for quite some time under the new regime.)'

Sounds like a fun idea to me.

Gary Moore

We've lost another one. Too many, too soon.

I was lucky enough to see him live about 18 months ago. An unforgettable gig. His guitar playing could lift you, take you somewhere else. I sometimes think that great musicians are more in contact with true magickal energy than many who claim to practice spirituality.

Here's a couple of examples of Moore at his best:





A genius.

Chloe Des Lysses

What is it about some French women that they seem to possess an aura of erotic elegance . . .?



Click for bigger

More pics of the divine Chloe here. Enjoy. I did.

The Lark Ascending

Ralph Vaughn Williams. There's a composer who knew his magick.

The Lark Ascending has always lifted me out of anything I've been bogged down in. If there's such a thing as English mysticism, this is it.

I couldn't find a video of the whole piece, so here it is in two parts.





In the same vein, his Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis is wonderful.

R.I.P. Kenneth Grant

One of the most important figures in the development of Thelemic magick in the late 20th century has gone.

Look him up.

'The End. Unto them from whose eyes the veil of life hath fallen may there be granted the accomplishment of their true Wills; whether they will absorption in the Infinite, or to be united with their chosen and preferred, or to be in contemplation, or to be at peace, or to achieve the labour and heroism of incarnation on this planet or another, or in any Star, or aught else, unto them may there be granted the accomplishment of their wills; yea, the accomplishment of their wills. AUMGN. AUMGN. AUMGN.'

-AC: Liber XV