Confessions of an American Witch

The other day, I made the mistake of looking at the Great Gherkin's website. To see if he was alive. Because he accounts for a significant amount of my pageviews on my old Gleamings from the Dawn blog. Is he (and his model wife) still selling what I was complaining that they were hawking back in the day? No, the video title was about a mind virus. It seems that the Great Gherkin is selling sci fi in the second era of Trump. Probably with Democrats as the alien invaders. I didn't watch the video.  That wasn't my problem with his page. The Great Gherkin will be the Great Gherkin. No, speaking as a teacher that wrote a piece for the Hermetic Golden Dawn Flying Roll commentary book, my issue is the idea that for less than three hundred US dollars, a student can get access to all lessons of every Grade of the HGD system, just so the Pickle can include GD membership as a bonus material to his current scam. How did I get into this book?!? That the understanding of the Golden Dawn ...

 Given our preference for it, I would like you imagine how our preferred text, the Papyrus of Ani, would have been constructed under, to reflect on the workshop.  The Forty-Two have their eyes on you. Various parts of the Book of Dead would have been copied out by scribes, such as myself, as we felt the urge on slow days between important jobs. You know the jobs with proper living clients. And future business prospects. Book of Dead was apprentice work. Or vacation work. I used to take "vacation days" in food service by cleaning. The worst of the gruk. In full view of the customers. It would take me at least ten minutes to clean up; everyone could see that . . . better that my employees did their jobs, right? Nevertheless. the Book of the Dead was piece work. Not done as a whole job. It was done a Spell at a time. Or rather a sheet at a time. Sheets that would be glued together. For instance, the widow of Ani came into the workshop. Was shown the sheets available, selected th...

By Name and Image are all powers awakened by the initiates of the Hermetic tradition.  My study book before I cut it up like fish bait. What this means once you scrape off the code is that by vibrating the proper name of a goddess and picturing its image on the magical planes, we can invoke that god's power.  For any set of gods . . . even the Forty-Two Assessors of the Negative Confession. The official instructions have always frustrated me as a Cold War Ronald Reagan "Russia has a Black Magick program magician . . . you can't prove that they didn't have one . . . is that the Hermetic Golden Dawn official instructions about the image of the Forty-Two is: "Various human and animal heads" And they give us absolutely no names to work with. Why is that? Me, the black magick using witch says that this is where all the coll smiting magick is hanging out. Names, we need Names and Images. Oh, wait, our dear brother Westcott gave us Names, but no real context; an unp...

In the official godform creation sheets provided to newly elected Hierophants worldwide, the Forty-Two Assessors of the Judgement are described as "Various Heads and Colors." A papyrus from the times of the Greek-Roman Egyptians . . . good times. Meanwhile, there is that prick who is using this as his source Image Papyrus. With Westcott's Names. Add in a modern translation, and a decent victim, off we go boom! How can you not love this papyrus? Damaged as it is. All dolled up. Maybe used in ritual once or twice.  All in good causes, we swear. Having declared a Mash-Up weekend, where would I get if I do exactly that:  NOM's 42 Judges' Names plus Images=xyz? What direction do we read in?  Osiris, the most important symbol of the setting, telling us to read Left to Right; so we will designate the Leftmost Assessor to be Number One.  And in this papyrus, he has a human-head. As he does in the Papyrus of Ani. Usekh-nemtet, you are good to go, as soon as we figure out t...

 Sad, that you missed the event, don't be. Here's the best bit. My artwork. Nice, right? How did I not end up in Egyptian art school? Yep, if anyone show up to my no-longer-advertised event, I make them aware of how easy, it is to make a power book--allowing one to post political messages all over. I am starting to memory some of this. Another bit that I have filed to memory. We are working from page two. Here'e page one. Sometimes, simpler is better in a Power Book. I am being loud . . . in my own garden. By names and images are all powers awakened and reawakened.

 Just in case, I wasn't clear in some of my previous posts, while the Wiccan Open Full Moons that we were hosting have been cancelled, the Golden Dawn study is still on. Isis always plays three games at the same time; it's not cheating. Yes, the remote and (if anyone shows up) local Denver study of the Papyrus of Ani as Source Code for Hermetic Golden Dawn is still happening. I did not cancel my project. Just Khari's. After all, she's the one that's investing in Dragonfest as if it's going to lead to new members. It won't. If it does, then she deserves to be elected Hierophant.  Sadly, my nearly thirty years of experience in the Denver's Wiccan event community tells me that Dragonfest people only do Dragonfest--nothing else.  They only have time and energy for Dragonfest.  And there are organizational meetings all year round, so it's an all year commitment. No, we just lost Khari as the next Hierophant. Hence, if I attract members who want to elect m...

 Occasionally, I practice biblomancy because I have books--and chaos in my blood. May Odin take you, Brother Ozzy. "The soul is grander than its creations. However profound its works written, or beautiful the pictures  printed; however  stately the structures erected, or life-like the statues chiseled, the soul is grander than them all. The soul of Dante, or Shakespeare, or Milton, was sublimer than their poems. The soul of an Angelo was nobler than St. Peter's: that of Mozart diviner than his music." From the essay, The Soul: Its Value --Rev. William Hutton. Then I learned that Brother Ozzy is dead, sad . . . he might be my rebel soundtrack. The other quote was from much dreaded Confederate Albert Pike. "The Rose  was anciently sacred to Aurora and the Sun. It is a symbol of the Dawn , of the resurrection of the Light and the renewal of life, and therefore the dawn of the first day, and more particularly of the resurrection: and the Cross and Rose together are there...

Attention all students: Posted in the page section is the book list for the Fall 2025 Golden Dawn Remote and Local  Study Group . We meet once a month, starting in September. Look for a James Wasserman edition of the Book of the Dead. For those can, either in person here in Denver, or in astral form, starting September 6, 2025, I will be starting an once an month study involving books, going out in the studio, and performing a ritual, etc. Therefore, I will "heavy lodge study" on Full Moon Saturday  until the end of 2025. Whether I go past that point will depend on how much material that I have discovered, or response, or some other measurement.  I doubt Khari will be a real factor. She says there a desire to study, but she's banking on Dragonfest . . . and Dragonfest people get sucked into that Commitment Black Hole.  No, Walnut Community Church is now a cover just in case I make money as a esoteric teacher, nothing more . . . it's not to exist because I needed a sp...

"Attention personal of International Lunar Police Force District House Thirteen, your boss says that the following is a moon map from the 1990s, possibly Dragon Magazine ." Here is a crime scene photo . . . thanks Homer. "Win a date with Homer Milton Dante, the cuddliest astromarine on the moon by solving what this moon map originally looked like before some gamer, a RPGer cut it apart." Looks like it was originally four printed pages . . . if it was a magazine . . . fair bet. Whether it was Dragon  is the question. Between the comic book store, later that Barnes and Noble's newsstand, I brought a lot of non-D&D (Dragons and Dungeons) magazines. Science fiction.  Some Doctor Who   related, so this could be from that strange world.  Or not from a legit press at all, but some artifact from the Small Press/ Amateur Press world. It could be something from one of those old gaming APAs (Amateur Press Associations). But given the print quality, I am guessing legiti...

Here is the suggested opening reading list for those taking part in the upcoming study program for both Outer and Inner Order of Bast Temple Fall 2025 Golden Dawn course. The Egyptian Book of the Dead--or Coming Into the Light. Our preferred edition is the 1890 facsimile edition . . . the secret RC Mathers version. Consider this book as a correspondence course for Outer Order members. If we have to consult one of the Hermetic rituals, here is our Holy Bible of GD texts. But let us not forget our origin story . . . our real birth story . . . down to the studs. The Holy Cipher--could you read a secret love message sent to you? No? Bad GDer! Your classmate Anubis says that he is not going to do any of the reading. Yeah, some people have memorized this like a Wiccan magical script--horrors!!! It is a good news, bad news situation.  What do you want to hear first? Good news? Or bad? Well, given that they are the same . . . . on Day C, it was with great sadness that Past Hierophant Morga...