Tag Archives | magic

The White Witch of Los Angeles

By Gabriel Roberts on March 23, 2014 in News 8

The following is from the new book, THE QUEST FOR GNOSIS, available now.

Some people come into your life who simply exude something so kind and generous, a glow of goodness, Maja is one of those people. A brilliant author, orator, radio host, mother and snappy dresser, Maja does it all with a soft and strong grace. I’ve had the pleasure of attending many of Maja’s Magic School sessions at the legendary Theosophical Society’s Besant Lodge and have learned a great deal from her insights. She delivers a message that confirms the presence of magic in the world, but pulls no punches when discussing the how’s and why’s of the world being so messed up. It is a privilege and an honor to have her grace the pages of this book and I think after you see our conversation, you will adore her as well.

GDR – Maja, what does the term Gnosis mean to you in the classical sense and what does it mean in the present practical sense?… Read the rest

A Chaos Conversation: An Interview With Peter J. Carroll

By Gabriel Roberts on March 21, 2014 in News 2

The following is from the new book, THE QUEST FOR GNOSIS, available now.

Peter J. Carroll is known as one of the founders of Chaos Magic, a modern interpretation of what magick is. His books have launched a wave of thought that integrate cutting edge science and the oldest methods of ecstatic states in a manner that leaves room for each person to make their own interpretation. His views on Neo-Panthiesm have greatly influenced my own views and I hold him in the highest esteem. Author and breakthrough thinker, Robert Anton Wilson has described Peter as, “The most original, and probably the most important, writer on Magick since Aleister Crowley.”. With that, I offer up our conversation as an important meditation on our quest for Gnosis.

GDR – If you were to attempt to give a cursory description of Magic to someone who knows little to nothing about it, what might you say?… Read the rest

Why Isn’t There a Popular Theory of Dark Mind in Psychology?

By Thad McKraken on February 4, 2014 in News 8

The more I’ve rocketed my personal microverse to the outer fringes with various Occult exploration techniques, the more I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re spiritually retarded as a species. And let me define what I mean by spirituality quite clearly here. Of the spirit. Dreams, visions, hallucinations, synchronicities, etc. The opposite of materialism essentially. Spirit. It’s right in the fucking word. All of our brains do this primal reality creating trick to a certain extent. And when I say that we’re spiritually retarded I’m not just using the term for insensitive comedic effect. I actually think it’s an apt metaphor. Those we derogatorily refer to as retarded are often defined by the more PC “developmentally disabled” and in a way, I think that’s what’s going on with us. On one hand we’ve developed the logical mathematic side of ourselves at a freakishly rapid clip, but on the other, we’re still starting wars based on interpretations of visions that supposedly happened thousands of years ago.… Read the rest

Consciousness: I Think Therefore I Am, Or Am I?

By empath23 on January 21, 2014 in News 10

Pic: Atchama (CC)

Let me just begin by stating that I was once one to subscribe to just about any belief system which claimed to have an esoteric model that could coincide with contemporary physical theory. However, as time has progressed and I grow gradually older and more skeptical, I’ve come to disregard nearly everything that mashes up buzzwords like “quantum” with any new age or occult idea. Where I once sought to justify my esoteric practices with at least some sort of reasonably functioning model of reality (perhaps due to my insecurity as a developing magician) I have come to realize that magick needs no apologetics to function within the world I exist in. While I see drawn out explanations for consciousness or paranormal occurrences such as the one seen in Peter Caroll’s “Apophenion” as useful to some who may have difficulty with the “suspension of disbelief” aspect of Chaos Magick, I feel that it detracts from the real core of the work, which to me is learning by experience.… Read the rest

WTF Is Gnosis?

By Gabriel Roberts on January 16, 2014 in News 0

I explain not just what gnosis is, but also why it is an important bridge between every single human. It’s a term that can appropriate and blend concepts from virtually any wisdom tradition including those with scientific materialist leanings.

Hipgnosis is a unique book that focuses on the term ‘gnosis’ and its modern applications. Classically, Gnosis is a feminine Greek noun, which means “knowledge”. It is often used for personal knowledge compared with intellectual knowledge. At first glance this may seem like a trivial term, but it is anything but! For a further explanation of the term and its application, please take a moment to read my recent article at Reality Sandwich, titled, Gnosis As A Bridge Between Us:

While some may only find gnosis in between the notes of a freeform jazz solo, others may only find it watching their child at play in a park. Others of us may find ourselves deep in the mystic mystery, outside of anything familiar, touching the divine and hoping to never put our feet back on the ground.

… Read the rest

WTF is Magick?

By Gabriel Roberts on January 13, 2014 in News 36

Pic: Talisman (PD)

In an attempt to not sound absolutely crazy to anyone who might see me mention magick, I’d like to bring some illumination of what magick is. This may prove to be a challenge because the term itself is a moving goalpost of sorts. To some, magick means a man on a stage sawing a woman in half as an act of illusion. Ironically, this can also be seen as a metaphor for our own subjective predilections toward illusion in all aspects of our life.

In order to explain this correctly, I must try to get you to set aside what you think you might know about actual magic and allow yourself to hear me for what I’m saying unencumbered by preset notions.

The Buddhist might say that everything is Maya (illusion) and the ancient Gnostic might say the same, but with the twist that this material construct is a kind of incubator for us to occupy ourselves why Archons feed on our thoughts and feelings without our knowing it (think, people being batteries for the machines to live off of like in the film series, The Matrix). Whether these ideas are true, or not the metaphor that they produce is indeed powerful. In many different ways, these concepts can be seen as true.… Read the rest

Announcing The Hipgnostic Trialogues.

By Gabriel Roberts on January 11, 2014 in News 2

In support of my 3rd book, Hipgnosis and the Dr. Aaron Cheak’s book, Alchemical Traditions, we are embarking on an ambitious tour across North America and Europe. We are building this tour through our friends and connections in cyberspace in a kind of social experiment where we make all of our internet friends our real life ones.

The tour is called Hipgnostic Trialogues and will feature myself, Dr. Aaron Cheak and David Metcalfe as we discuss Gnosis in the modern context. Since both of our works are collaborative works that feature many Disinfo writers as well as scientists, magicians, television hosts and researchers, we will have a different guest MC for every tour stop.

Richard Gordon: ‘Genesis of the Gods’

By Richard Gordon on January 5, 2014 in News 22

411px-The_magic_circle,_by_John_William_Waterhouse

Pic: ‘The Magic Circle’ by John William Waterhouse (PD)

In magick the circle has been generally accepted as being the universal symbol of protection, in ritual work it should not be seen as being a two dimensional disc but rather as a sphere of energy that totally encompasses the practitioner. This sacred space can then be safely utilized as a portal between our world and the mysterious other worldly realms of the gods.

The worship of gods and idols has been well documented throughout history and is evident within the belief structure of nearly every culture, but if asked the question, “From where and why did the pantheon of familiar idolized gods we know so well today arise?” most would be lost towards proposing a plausible answer, in fact I myself have been involved in many such empty ended raucous debates.Then several months ago whilst I was having an in depth chat on the subject of ritual healing, a chance remark by one of the people involved opened up a new avenue of thinking that may perhaps go a long way towards revealing the truth of the matter.… Read the rest

Magick, Aliens, and Skydiving: an In-Depth Interview with PuZuZu Ba’al

By Lee Camp on December 5, 2013 in News 18

Today I’m interviewing PuZuZu Ba’al, and we are mostly going to be talking about his website “spellsandmagic.com” along with his experiences with alien life. To kick things off, other than Spells And Magic, do you want to talk a bit about yourself and your hobbies?

Myself now or… well to summarize it all up I was a little military brat and lived in quite a few different states and visited a few different countries in Europe. Started out in a mainstream religion; indoctrinated into the same mainstream religious stuff that most people are at a young age. Started into the occult probably around 16 or 17. My hobbies and stuff as far as now would be skydiving because when my dad was dying at the age of 50 (cancer, induced by Agent Orange) he told me, “Why don’t you do anything adventurous?” So I got into skydiving. I love it because it makes me feel like I have more of an appreciation for life when I do it.… Read the rest

Ancient Magician’s Curse Tablet Discovered In Jerusalem

By JacobSloan on October 29, 2013 in News 1

curse tablet Via Live Science, what used to occur before people hired attorneys:

A lead curse tablet, dating back around 1,700 years and likely written by a magician, has been discovered in a collapsed Roman mansion in Jerusalem, archaeologists report.

The text is written in Greek and, in it a woman named Kyrilla invokes the names of six gods to cast a curse on a man named Iennys, apparently over a legal case.

Kyrilla asks the gods to ensure that “he in no way oppose, so that he say or perform nothing adverse to Kyrilla … but rather that Iennys, whom the womb bore, be subject to her…”

To obtain her goal Kyrilla combined elements from four religions. Of six gods invoked, four of them are Greek (Hermes, Persephone, Pluto and Hecate), one is Babylonian (Ereschigal) and one, Abrasax, is Gnostic. Additionally, the text contains magic words such as “Iaoth” that have a Hebrew/Judaism origin.

… Read the rest

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