Me and the JWs in the Morning, Pt. 2

I'm waiting for the bus, and the lady comes by with her pamphlets again. There were a lot of young people around, so she had hit pay dirt, they all took one.

I was combing my hair in the window, and then my eyes caught sight of a damp old Watchtower in the plants. In a stroke of genius, I turned around and handed it to her, saying, "Here, why don't you take this one back? It's all messed up." This was classic.

Of course, she didn't quite know how to react to this, so she stiffly took it back and said, "Thank you, I'll dispose of this properly."

Wallow, wallow in your shame, polluters of the earth!!! Thou hast promulgated thy unclean religion in the wrong place.

Kevin Smith, Thelemite???

Snoochie Boochies, I think Lunchbox knows something!

Go here, and then scroll down to the pic that says, "because she's my star."

Everyone's doing it...

That Wikipedia meme (get your minds out of the gutter!)

Go to Wikipedia.com and enter your date of birth (excluding the year). Post 3 events, 3 births, and 1 death.

Events:

• Roman Empire – Quinquatrus Minusculae held in honor of Minerva
• Roman Empire – seventh day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta
• 1920 - The United States Postal Service rules that children may not be sent via parcel post.

Births:

• 1865 - William Butler Yeats, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1939)
• 1884 - Gerald Gardner, British occultist (d. 1964) ---Hmmm...
• 1926 - Paul Lynde, American actor (d. 1982)
• 1969 - Rivers Cuomo--from Weezer (also very celibate.)
  

Death:

• 1987 - Geraldine Page, American actress (b. 1924)

In which I make a rather controversial assertion:

This video is evidence of the fact that the early seventies group, Uriah Heep practically invented the use of stepped harmonies in rock music. Before they came along, there was no one else doing it (neither Yes nor Queen was around when they started, the only other bands that came remotely close vocally were the Beach Boys and Buffalo Springfield.)

And for those of us interested in Aleister Crowley, an awesome piece from Media Underground (if you can get past the Colin Wilson innacuracies):

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

This is mainly in honor of the celebration of the three days of the writing of the Book of the Law, but also proof that I've been spending too much time on the 'puter. ;o)

When do the rats leave?

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/national/national.php?story=177338

Does anyone remember when the only thing holding the Republicans back from going for Clinton's jugular was Larry Flynt and what he dug up on them? One shudders at what he found on all of them.

And in the Maybe if We Stop Thinking About Them, They Will Go Away Department: YouTube has tons of Jethro Tull videos. I was going to put a direct link to them, but the computer went all floopy.

This is just scary

And I know I said that tv sucks, but what I really meant (of course) was that most tv sucks with the exception of Project Runway, or anywhere they are doing sewing or any kind of needlework.

Jay Mccarroll, are you out there in the blogosphere? The world needs your sunny smile to counteract the darkness that is Santino.

Up One Pair of Stairs, or, HermWorld needs a new castle ...

...at least a remodeling!

The other day an LJ friend linked to an article about Alan Moore which took the reader on a tour of the writer's home. I suspect it's quite a place, it has carved snakes on the door and colorfully painted walls (and, I understand, quite a lot of books all over everywhere--the man knows how to live!) Unfortunately, said article has reverted back to the pay to play version that some online newspapers think are wonderful, or I'd link back to it here.

Anywho, amongst the beautiful and lavish furnishings was included "...wooden panels on the wall detailing the alphabet of the angels, as transcribed by Elizabeth I's personal astrologer."

As I observed to Qadriya, most folks wouldn't find anything of interest in that descriptive element, they'd read it, and roll right along to the stuff about V for Vendetta (which I am also jonesing to see, btw.) Many of us know that this is a reference to the Enochian alphabet of John Dee.

As it happens, I am currently reading "The Queen's Conjurer" by Benjamin Woolley. Consider this a "taste" of that book, for someone I know that has this book on his Amazon Wishlist (I'd send ya the copy when I was done, but unfortunately it's a library book.): One of the things talked about is the Areopagus society, a literary group that included Dee, Sir Philip Sidney, and Edmund Spenser, whose work "The Faerie Queene" might have been describing Dee in this passage:

...whose walls
Were painted faire with memorable guests,
Of famous Wizards, and with picturals
Of Magistrates, of courts, of tribunals,
Of commonwealths, of states, of policy,
Of laws, of judgements, and of decretals;
All arts, all science, all Philosophy,
And all that in the world was aye thought wittily.
Of those that room was full, and them among
There sat a man of ripe and perfect age,
Who did them meditate all his life long,
That through continual practise and usage,
He now was grown right wise, and wondrous sage.
Great pleasure had those stranger knights, to see
His goodly reason, and grave personage,
That his disciples both desir'd to be.

What this put me in mind of was something I heard attributed to Elphias Levi, that if someone was in prison, with no access to books, one could utilize the tarot, if one had a deck and knew how to read the cards, to learn everything there was to learn about everything, or something to that effect. Now, what I'm talking about with this entry doesn't necessarily have anything to do with tarot, it's more of an examination of how, when a few ideas get juxtaposed in my head, things start cookin'.

Another idea that fell into the pot was that I had read snippets of "The Faerie Queen" before, and it had had a profound affect on me. Another (seemingly) unimportant detail was that the segments of this work were found in a children's anthology called My Book House, which is shown here if you scroll down a ways--I am a proud owner of the Rainbow edition of this set, which is pictured in the top right of that grouping. I tried to take a pic of it, but my digital camera skills are still quite abysmal. Anyway, the titles of these books are quite evocative: Up One Pair of Stairs, Through Fairy Halls, From the Tower Window, etc.

So all of these ideas are swirling in my head this afternoon, houses, books, wisdom, scrying, etc. and something hits me: HermWorld needs a new castle! As some of you that have been playing the homegame know, HermWorld is a real place inside my head. Those of you that have been reading this far (you have my sympathy) will no doubt want to kill me when I tell you that since it's almost twelve and I gotta go to school, I gotta cut it short rather than expand on the ideas that are developing.

I know it has something to do with getting ahold of and reading a complete copy of The Faerie Queene, my Spirit Guide, and the Akashic Record, or something like that.

I <3 YouTube

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jg_9vSWKx3I

Stroking YouTubes hair, looking into YouTube's eyes...

Oh Peter!

Might even offer YouTube her cleavage, if YouTube stays being nice...

"Feel your body melt;
Mum to mud to mad to dad..."

Oh Peter!!!

---

tag: YouTube, Genesis

Ha Ha Ha America

Kinda funny, but also so true it's scary.

http://news.globalfreepress.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=toprated&cat=0&pos=0

GTD in My Den

I was cleanin' like a madwoman today. As a result I have an amazingly clean desk, with room for my new scanner, which I have not hooked up yet, but there may be interesting things along that frontier soon.

I evicted some of my Mom's leftover stuff from where it was taking up space in the drawers, and cleared out lots of room for my accounting textbooks and paper and a few books I am reading, so now the desk area in the den is going to be a really efficient place to Get Things Done, and a little plug for the David Allen book there, I put that in the drawer too--I still have to get going on that.

What I had going for sound during this was first NPR, and my usual sunday thing of Prarie Home Companion, and then City Arts and Lectures, where they had Fran Lebowitz, who I have decided is awesome--she actually spends eight hours a day reading! Then I listened to some podcasts, and I got caught up on all the ones at TCTC, so I am feeling mighty accomplished.

I also cleaned off the easy chair, and when I removed the cushion to vacuum underneath, I found enough cookie/cracker crumbs to season a plate of rice. I don't know why I went there, but I thought you guys would enjoy that mental image.

"Based upon your actions, you have forfeited your right to live among us in society."

Yes! Yes! Yes!

What I was hoping for two years ago, has finally come to pass.

I even payed the .99 cent fee to watch the bastard plead for his life--and it was worth it! Whining like a little baby--"Drugs were all over when I was growing up!" Yeah, it was that way for a lot of people growing up, but the funny thing about that, you can choose not to take them!

I guess the reason that this whole thing burned my onions so much was that I saw the footage of him grabbing her near the car wash, in the middle of the afternoon. Conducting himself like he had every right in the world to do what he was doing. I hope he drops the soap in the shower and gets broomhandle-fucked and made to head up a fucktrain of big-dicked men.

(Edit on 6/4/06: This was originally a LiveJournal post that started an interesting discussion. In the interest of giving opposing opinions equal air time, I will recreate the discussion here.)

Hravan: theres a candidate for a hollow point bullet and a man sized paper bag if ever I saw one

no point wasting collective resources keeping *that* alive...

Hermgirl: Plus, there is that whole aspect of his whining about his childhood in New York or whatever the problem was (like NY is a huge problem, I'd love living there.)

Ya know, some people have crappy childhoods, and when they get older, they leave it all behind! When you become a grownup, it's amazing what you can do when you leave the crap in the past where it belongs.

Uncleernie50: For someone i dont really know but only know online... I was still shocked to read this post. It should not surprise you that with my affinity for Phil Ochs i am adamantly anti-death penalty. (i.e. Paul Crump and Iron Lady) I too find myself concerned with the ideas of will, intention and motivation.. but i also attempt very hard to live in a world of no moral absolute. Every action from the first person perspective is justified to yourself. No matter how heinous it is to others.. A government has a right to prevent you from committing those acts.. but the moral judgement is the providence of individuals surrounding the action to have for themselves. Institutionalized morality leads to all sorts of dark paths.
Vengeance is not justice...

that being said... i'm sorry for proselytizing in your journal...

Hermgirl: No, that's ok. I can see how you would be surprised and shocked, seeing as I am politically lefty (I'm very pro-labor, for instance, anti-Bush, etc,) in the main.

However, I believe that morality is an individual thing, it cannot be legislated or compartmentalized. We may have laws, but I'm not sure there is such a thing as "institutionalized morality". Look at our president, I wouldn't call him a terribly moral individual, and I don't think he would ever become one, just by virtue of his being president.

As a Thelemite, I live by the words, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will." I believe in tempering my actions using my will and walking in love with all people.

Aleister Crowley wrote some very interesting things about the subject of will and morality, you might be interested in a little work called
Liber Oz, to find out what some Thelemites, including myself, believe.

My personal interpretation of those things, is that everyone has a choice about how they're going to conduct themselves in this world. If you rape an eleven year old girl and take about five minutes to squeeze the life out of her body (That's a long time, five minutes. Long enough to really think about what you're doing and maybe even change your mind), don't come whining to the rest of us about how we should spare your life for the sake of your daughters.

I also believe that just because a person has one thing they believe, it doesn't necessarily mean they have to walk in lock-step with something a person, or a group of people believe. I believe the war in Iraq is wrong, and that Bush and his cronies are war criminals, but that doesn't make me a pacifist (even though I like Phil Ochs too, btw). I don't want to see Roe v Wade overturned, but that doesn't mean I don't consider myself a pro-lifer. Heck, while I'm on the subject of Crowley, someone I consider a metaphysical genius, he was a guy that got enough poon to start his own poon store, but myself I'm as celibate as the day is long.

For me, it is all about choices. Every man and woman is a star. The choices we make are what send us into our respective orbits, into the galaxies of our making.

Uncleernie50: Im finding this really wierd... i agree with your philosophy 100% yet i still cant see how it aligns at all with a pro death penalty stance. If everyone conducts their lifes based on concious choice than isnt every choice justified from the first person perspective? To me the idea of choking the life out of someone is abhorant and something i would never do. To this person it wasnt abhorant and was something that he wanted to do. And while we have a right to feel personal disgust on the action... and we also have a right to prevent that action from being repeated by incarcerating him. Do we have the right to cast life and death judgements on an action he felt justified in doing?

Hermgirl: Liber OZ

"the law of
the strong:
this is our law
and the joy
of the world." AL. II. 2

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." --AL. I. 40

"thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay." --AL. I. 42-3

"Every man and every woman is a star." --AL. I. 3
There is no god but man.

1. Man has the right to live by his own law--
to live in the way that he wills to do:
to work as he will:
to play as he will:
to rest as he will:
to die when and how he will.
2. Man has the right to eat what he will:
to drink what he will:
to dwell where he will:
to move as he will on the face of the earth.
3. Man has the right to think what he will:
to speak what he will:
to write what he will:
to draw, paint, carve, etch, mould, build as he will:
to dress as he will.
4. Man has the right to love as he will:--
"take your fill and will of love as ye will,
when, where, and with whom ye will." --AL. I. 51
5. Man has the right to kill those who would thwart these rights.
"the slaves shall serve." --AL. II. 58

"Love is the law, love under will." --AL. I. 57

He was not behaving in accordance with his True Will. Love is the law--how is it loving to kill an eleven year old child? "Do that, and no other shall say nay."

And what about Carlie Brucia, and her right to live her life as she saw fit? Wasn't Smith casting a life & death judgement on her?

I hope you don't think I am trying to change your mind here, or castigate you because you believe differently from me. Just trying to help you understand my beliefs. I just realized what a raging harridan I sound like.

I don't know if I've ever revealed this to anyone here on the internets, but when I was a child, I was molested a few times. Ergo, I sort of take a jaundiced glee in seeing guys that do this sort of thing bite the big one.

Liber Spiritus: my take on this:

Judge: "You have been found guilty."

*guards take him out back and promptly shoot him*

justice served - case closed.

Leswamp: Blow his brains out and charge his fmily for the bullet.

My morning, on two and a half hours sleep:

So I'm thinkin', no problem, I'll go down the hill to the ATM and stick my $$$ in the bank before I catch the bus to school. Of course, I get down there, and all the regular ATMs are taken, and the clock is ticking on the bus's ETA, so I think, no problem, just go over to the drive up ATM (bad idea.) I then proceed to not read the flashing notice that it is out of order, and try shoving my card in the appropriate, though woefully unresponsive, orifice. Another bad idea.

Then I go over to the bus stop, to wait for the appropriate transportation. One of these ladies with the Watchtower that does their gig at bus stops comes over and starts chatting. I have no energy to resist, so I figure I'll try saying something really bizarre to her, even if she doesn't get it, just for my own shits & giggles.

Sure enough, she sizes me up, and, figuring me for a high school student (it must be the giant backpack) she tries to show me some article about kids who cut , "and once they start doing it, they develop a habit of doing it that is hard to break."

"One might say they're addicted to pain." Biggest bizarro smile I can manage, hoping this is fraught with meaning.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I could see myself being this mean:

hermgirl's lame-ass excuse to break up: "I just realized that you're ugly" 'What is your lame-ass excuse to break up?' at QuizGalaxy.com

But they would probably have done something really heinous.

Another really important thing, seriously:

Dick Cheney SHOT SOMEBODY! Ok, can we just investigate him, or something? Just, do it really carefully, seriously.

You simply need this in your life:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/bruce_dickinson/

Why? Because when he plays Silver Machine by Hawkwind (which he does, like, every time!) it makes me imagine myself in a silver lame outfit wearing a giant cowboy hat and shaking my boo-tay wildly! In fact it's a good thing that I'm in the room by myself when this happens, because I generally hump things violently when I hear that song, so it might be dangerous for anyone caught in the same room with me.

Man, I drank alcohol this week, (something called a Twisted Plisko, a Peruvian drink, I'm told.) I looked at Hentai porn a little while ago (it's all agent139's fault!) I leave the house tomorrow, so it could be quite dangerous for anyone or anything crossing my path.

Thank the Gods for good vocational school teachers!

So I'm at Regional Occupational Program, taking a class in Computerized Accounting, and my teacher just did a thing where she showed all kinds of websites about doing your taxes and getting academic discounts on software and stuff since we're in school. And I found all kinds of cool places with articles about govt benefits and the board of labor (last year I had to sick the BOL on a rotten employer who refused to pay me what she owed me) and stuff. So I think I'm going to add a lot of these to my daily web reading and get educated.

Here they are in case anyone's interested:

http://www.servicelocator.org/

http://www.govbenefits.gov/

http://www.irs.gov/

http://www.nolopress.com/

http://www.dol.gov/

Crossposted like a mofo.

Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine...

Just some stream of consciousness thoughts.

Bill Clinton's words on Coretta Scott King: Something about how she believed in the promise in the Book of Isaiah, and that maybe we should too...

On the Majority Report on Air America: a study that says Americans are extremely dependent on sleeping pills...

I think, "What has gone wrong with the American Experiment?"

The road to Hermworld lies open, Her towers shining in the distance...

***********************************************************************************

A couple weeks ago, I'm cleaning the kitchen like a bastard. I'm emptying old stuff out of the fridge--I found condiments in there from before 9/11!!!

So, naturally, the father isn't happy with this, and we have a shouting match over it. In the middle of it, he says something to the effect of, "You wouldn't last ten minutes in the Marine Corps. You'd get your ass kicked. Then what would you do?"

I wrinkle my nose at him and smile. "Remember what they said in that movie we watched the other night?" We had watched Animal House. "We have a saying: Don't get mad, get even."

He thinks this is funny, then a little more screaming, then I yell at him to get in the fuckin' front room and watch football. He does.

A little later I go in the front room and he is in his chair looking very small, and he (begrudgingly) says, "Thanks for cleaning the fridge out."

***********************************************************************************

This morning at around 3:20, I was trying to get back to sleep for another hour and a half, and I started thinking about the Loma Prieta Earthquake (which was back in '89.) Well, ok, I was thinking about the guy I was in love with back then, then I started thinking about what I was doing when the earthquake hit: I was writing a poem about God (this was back in the Christian days.) Not a very good poem, more like a song-poem (song-poems are always things you think are great when you're writing them, then you read them later and they kind of suck.)

This song-poem sounded in my head like a snarky Ian Hunter lyric, or maybe a misanthropic, Roger Waters from Pink Floyd "Jesus is great but the rest of humanity sucks!" kind of lyric.

I think when I was a Christian, there was a part of me that wanted to effect a kind of Roger Waters misanthropy, and that little part of me will always be kind of bitter because I didn't achieve it.

You Might Be a Fatwa Target If...

You might be a fatwa target if:

• You were spotted hanging out with Salman Rushdie during the Nineties (this list of folks includes Bono, different people are gonna feel different ways about that one.)
• Despite the advice of the local Mullah, you opt to take in that nice young Christian missionary couple for the weekend...
• They find that Osama dart board you've been playing with in the rumpus room.
• Three words: Mohammed mud flaps.

"Our daughters' daughters will adore us, and they'll sing in grateful chorus..."

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the passing of Betty Friedan, author of the Feminine Mystique, founder of the National Organization for Women:

"Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The real enemy is women's denigration of themselves."

"When she stopped conforming to the conventional picture of femininity she finally began to enjoy being a woman."

" The feminine mystique has succeeded in burying millions of American women alive. "

Also on the list of great gals when the role is called up yonder: Coretta Scott King, who married a handsome young theologian...

And lastly, who can forget Granpa Al from the Munsters, who said: "Herman! Herman, please! How many times do I have to tell you not to pound stakes while I'm around? You know it gives me heartburn!"

Friday Night Tarot Hoedown

Tarot In the News: From Vineland, New Jersey--Invasion suspect is collared. It seems there is no end to the connection between Tarot and shady characters, I wonder why?

Practices: Scientific Illuminism, or Something! Well, I've adapted this daily practice to Tarot, rather than gaming dice, utilizing only the Ace through Tens of the Minor Arcana. One of the tools I've used for interpreting the results is "Godwin's Cabalistic Encyclopedia". Been doing this for about a month now, and I've gotta say, I feel like I'm getting cabalistically in tune with my cards. I also recommend getting comfortable with your one to ten cards--it seems that much emphasis is placed on the Majors and the court cards, when the pips are certainly as important tarotistically, and also the numbers one to ten extremely important if you're getting to know the qabalah. I think I owe someone a quarter.

Podcasting: Through the Gate into Tarot is the name of a guided imagery, nlp sort of meditational hypnosis podcast, done by a guy named Brian David Phillips, a hypnosis expert, with several different "hypnocasts" that seem worth looking into.

I have done the meditation and will share my results and impressions with you now, note that this is not a divinatory interpretation, but more of a free-flowing, meditational experience.

The idea is to draw three cards that form the basis for your meditational imagery:

1. The Mentor card--a guide to the experience. I drew the Eight of Swords.
2. The Context or Grounding card. I drew the Wheel of Fortune.
3. The Catalyst card--what puts the Mentor and Context in motion. I drew the Three of Cups.

I saw the Mentor as a sort of Jacob Marley figure--the imagery of the 8 of swords really going along with this, with the figure swathed in some kind of winding sheet-looking tape.

I turned over the Wheel of Fortune. Expect the unexpected! Ok.

The Catalyst card was rightfully named, because I truly didn't feel this meditation experience really taking off til I turned it over to discover the ladies of the Three of Cups dancing away. I noticed that in the Rider Waite Smith deck, the woman in the 8 of swords seems to be wearing the same frock as one of the women in the 3 of cups--surely this is no accident!

As I allowed the two cards to frame the Context of the Wheel, I saw in my minds eye a party like that of the 3 of cups, one of the centerpieces of which was a large Maypole, with people dancing, creating a giant wheel in the middle of the festivities, and had a feeling of the turning earth and the changing seasons that a Maypole signifies.

There were also other, smaller wheels at this party. I saw a table, with folks in lovely RenWear standing around drinking and talking, watching a roulette wheel spin. I even heard Tina Turner shouting, "Bust a deal, face the Wheel!" I saw one of those kind of wheels.

Throughout, I was reminded of my Guide and my Catalyst. The eight of swords woman was there in a corner, silently conveying (it is hard for me to imagine her as speaking) that the power to overcome any bondage is within us, and that our participation in the "Party" of Life is what determines our Fortune.