Gaga (and I don't mean the singer)

As a person of mature persuasion (or an old fart if you like) I'm not terribly up on contemporary pop music.
However my attention has been drawn to a recent Lady Gaga video, which has upset the Catholic League in the US. Now I apply a rough rule of thumb which says anything which outrages christian loonies has probably got something going for it. So I had a look at said video, and yes . . . it has it's moments. And I must admit that the tune is a somewhat engaging ditty which has parked itself in my head.

Judge for yourselves:

Quote

"It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before, to test your limits, to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

- Anais Nin

Pic of the day

This is nice . . . sorry I can't provide a source for it because I can't remember where the hell it came from.


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Rope

We've bought some bondage rope recently. I've always found rope bondage quite fun to look at:


(click for bigger) From Bondage Bunny . . . mmmm . . .Yummy

But it looked a bit complex to me, all those knots and things (OK, I'm lazy). However since we went to a fetish event and Mocuar got roped up by someone who really new what he was doing, she's been keen on the idea.

So, Noblesse Oblige and all that, I ordered some rope - it arrived yesterday and I've started looking at how to do it.

I shall keep you posted.

Colin Wilson

Just reading my way throughColin Wilson's recent book Super Consciousness and very good it is too. I've been reading his books for nearly 40 years now and he's undoubtedly been a huge influence on my thinking.

He writes a great deal about what he calls 'faculty X', 'the Peak Experience' or 'Super Consciousness'. The ability we have to see beyond the ordinary and trivial, those moments when we have flashes of insight that give life a sense of 'meaning'. His premise is that we can generate this insight as an act of will, it involves discipline and a certain amount of dedication, but it is possible. He explores this basic concept in a number of books and novels. In his novel The God Of The Labyrinth , for example, he writes about the idea of using sexuality as a means of raising consciousness. In other novels he uses a science fiction form to process the same idea. I find myself going back to his books repeatedly, I find they recharge my batteries . . .

So here's my basic Colin Wilson reading list:

The Occult
Mysteries
Dreaming To Some Purpose (His autobiography, excellent)
Super Consciousness (This might be a good one to start with, it lays out his essential ideas)

Novels:

The Mind Parasites
The Philosopher's Stone
The Space Vampires
The God Of The Labyrinth

He's also written books on Crowley and Gurdjieff which are worth reading.

A website about him here.

Quote

Why should you study and practice Magick? Because you can't help doing it, and you had better do it well than badly.

From Magick Without Tears

Couldn't agree more.

Assume the position

When I saw a link to a site called Sexual Witchcraft I thought 'With a name like that there must be something interesting on it.'

Sure enough:


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Life is full of these small delights if we are prepared to look for them . . .