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| February's Cold, Snow, Chaste, Hunger... Waiting Moon. Poised for the Quickening. Those buds are waiting too. |
We build up ritual, cultivating ceremony by degrees. Each full Moon offers another opportunity to piece together & perfect the formula.
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| Sigil of the Waiting or Poised Moon. |
The design we draw down, or devise, or perhaps it is a little of both. Making it manifest in the offering has become the next step. This Lunar round, no baking, just building. Lychee fruit layered with strawberries, showered with Rémy Martin, topped with daubs of heavy cream & sprinkled with organic raw sugar. Lad asks after the Snow & I have no ideas. I suggest we omit it. He places the strawberry leaf, "Here, the snowflake." Damn, he's good.
Some Moons we do our communing, we make the offering, as a tribe. Sometimes, it is just Moma or maybe some partial combination of that which makes up the "us." We are consistently inconsistent. This Moon, just Moma in the dark & strangely mild Night air, sheepishly working on embodiment through voice -- trying to sing like Mira Billotte before a sea of multiplexes & a cloudy sky. We offer what we intuit is fitting.
We honour Her through expression -- a best effort which is not perfection, but is perfectly honest.
Do not tell us to go read some human's book for instruction.
This is an exchange of gifts for which the only etiquette is Love.
Her gifts to us are many; some subtle motions, some overt visions. This night, we were blessed with a dreamscape. She composes, paints & dances with clouds. Silhouettes of trees, mountains & shadowy structures are Her embellishments. The sky is Her palette, collaborator & stage. This is Her expression, Her art -- an art She has perfected over 4.527 billion years.
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| February Moonscape, Dreamscape, Gift. |
14 comments:
Hi Moma, thought you might appreciate this that I was reading last night: Red Pine on the moon in the Tao te Ching: -
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GM-wv1S2D6cC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Btw/ if you ever feel up to writing more about your interest in thelema I'd be intrigued. I've never really got it and I'd be intereste din your take and how it fits together with the sciento-animism.
Best wishes, waxwing guy
Sorry the link didn't quite work. Scroll down to pages xi - xii
Waxwing Guy,
From the passage you linked: "Every month the moon effortlessly shows us that something comes from nothing." So much material in those paragraphs... Ooooh! Thank you! I'm taking that scrap-of-goodness & dragging it into the den for a good gnawing.
As for Thelema, that is a great question. I ask myself that question all the time -- most every day even. I am going to attempt a short answer which is going to be entirely improv & will likely just confound the subject rather than clarify. Probably.
I wrote something about gurus and whatnot about a year ago for an exercise for Dianne Sylvan's "Spiritual Nomads" class & in it I cited Crowley as highly influential throughout my life despite my frequent feelings of annoyance & repulsion towards portions of his work. Despite the eye rolling, I find that over & over, I revisit his writing & find it cogent & relevant. From whatever station in life, from whatever vantage point I consider the fundamentals of the Thelemic system, it is always cogent & relevant.
…& why wouldn't it be for a human creature who values liberty, freedom of thought, expression & the worth of all beings in this vast place?
One day, while asking myself the Thelema question, I found one (among many) answer: Every time I look at this blog to preview my posts during editing, I see the icon of Columbia. There is a reason She remains there even though the hullabaloo that placed Her there in the first place has subsided. There is a reason I leave Her there even after most other people have removed Her from their websites & blogs. She is there because freedom is so fundamental to my values & my overall belief system, that She must remain. Thelema remains in my life for the same basic reason, the principles of freedom at the core of Thelema always resonate, particularly the emphasis on freedom with discernment, intelligence & responsibility. Thelema is liberating. "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the Law, Love under Will."
Then, there is the emphasis on the value of being. "Every man & every woman is a star." Crowley probably was asserting this in an anthropocentric sort of way, but I am prone to extending it to ALL of us; from too tiny to see to too big to see, from corporeal to incorporeal. My animist's "illustration" of the universe puts those words in graphical form. We are all stars, all of us. The best thing we can do for ourselves, our world & all of those with whom we are in relationship, is to strive toward our purpose, our personal greatness (however humble) to live out our True Will.
There are other scraps & bits of meaningfulness, like I am sure that Crowley's work attracts me at some basic level because it is in large part the taproot of Wicca & Wicca of course was the one of the initial stepping stones on this walk I walk. I also like magical theory/practice & Crowley is an obvious source of knowledge & inspiration. I find that I am most attracted to his explorations in Eastern Mysticism, meditation, magickal systems, his works with manifesting the Old Gods & various modes of personal transformation, also the ideas about the everything & the nothing. Ok, I also like his wit, even if he is often using it to be an asshole.
But, I still grapple with the seeming incongruity of it all, enough to make appointments with "the O.T.O. guys" (also A∴A∴) in an attempt to wrap my brain around it. (Not that I think I have acquired gobs of clarity by meeting with them.) Basically, I think I have absorbed *portions* of the Thelemic system -- more of the philosophical & practical than the religious (proper) -- like the good little syncretist that I am. Thelema doesn't work for me as a formal religion per se, for a glut of reasons which I will not elaborate upon here (I have considered writing about from time to time. The short version, however is that the specific rites & deities of the O.T.O. & the EGC really don't speak to me & in the end, Crowley didn't seem to spend much time OUTSIDE, or if he did, it didn't compel him to write about it-- that's a deal breaker.) Truth be told, I do not think it would ever work for me 100%, or even to any majority percent for reasons cited & more, but something about it still turns my crank
Oh! There is SO much more to say about this, but there is a wee one barking at my heels (a deadline too!). So chew on that & I will too.
Thank for asking. ;)
Thanks for taking the time to reply Moma. I'm pretty heavily influenced by Sartre and Nietzsche so I can appreciate the freedom thing. It's a big deal for me too. This creates tensions for me as my path has mainly be influenced by Eastern religion which tends to prioritise the group and contextual environment over the individual and any notions of personal integrity or authenticity. One reason I enjoy the work of Ursula le Guin (who I suspect you like too?), is that her life and writing manifest quite a convincing balance or blend of these different perspectives.
If I'm honest, apart from the freedom thing, I couldn't pick up why Crowley / Thelema might be worth another look - but then it is clearly very personal to you, and it is not your job to sell it to the curious! I also bear in mind that there is, in my view, such a thing as exoteric mysticism or magic - which is to say a path or 'key' which has been forged by others that one can then apply to one's own life without knowing exactly what it is, or how it works, yet it still opens doors.
Anyway thanks again, I'll keep an open mind. Best wishes,
Waxwing Guy
"Her gifts to us are many; some subtle motions, some overt visions. "This night, we were blessed with a dreamscape. She composes, paints & dances with clouds. Silhouettes of trees, mountains & shadowy structures are Her embellishments. The sky is Her palette, collaborator & stage. This is Her expression, Her art -- an art She has perfected over 4.527 billion years."
This is poetry. Love it!
Please check out this project and consider submitting something. I think you could make a powerful contribution:
http://greensubmissions.com/154/osculum-infame-transgressive-rites-and-rituals/index.php
Sir Waxwing,
More relevant bits tossed at you in no particular order:
There is a member of our "Scarlet Woman Salon," the Thelemic study group I attend who is also quite heavily influenced by Nietzsche (but not so much Sartre) who also has strong leanings towards Stoicism & Norse Heathenry. He somehow can fit Thelema into that sack of fun. Another member is a Hellenic polytheist of the Dionysian sort, strongly shaped by feminist thought, Dianic Wicca & some Kemetic polytheism. She too, somehow fits Thelema into her bag of goodies. Another member is what I would characterize as a "ravenously omnivorous eclectic Pagan-type." She digs the Thelema in ways I find confusing... My point here is that I think what you said about Thelema being "personal" is about the most accurate description of anyone's relationship to it as you can get. Kind of makes sense since it is entirely about the self, until it isn't.
I *do* like LeGuin, although I have neglected to read everything & it has been a very long time since I did. Perhaps I will revisit her work once I send the kids away to college, ha! I also was very preoccupied with existential writing as a teenager, but Sartre was lost on me. Instead, I greedily devoured Hesse & Camus.
Is Thelema worth a second look for you? For anyone? Eh, maybe. Maybe not. Honestly, I have never tried to sell Crowley or Thelema to anyone, ever.
Oh, except his book "Diary of a Drug Fiend" (novel) which I have read multiple times at different stages of my life & despite its various shortcomings, I have loved it every time. Why? I love the journey & what it says about Love & Will. Most of all, I love that Love & Will triumph together in the end. Perhaps it's just the fluffy bunny in me.
I have noticed that most of the Crowley writings I particularly like are not very popular with anyone else. So, maybe I am tapping into some kind of obscure weirdness -- pretty typical of my spiritual trajectory overall.
THIS:
"I also bear in mind that there is, in my view, such a thing as exoteric mysticism or magic - which is to say a path or 'key' which has been forged by others that one can then apply to one's own life without knowing exactly what it is, or how it works, yet it still opens doors."
YES.
Now, off to prance through the dreamworld. Or something.
Thank you! I take that as a great compliment having read & relished some of your own works myself.
Chas Clifton had made an announcement about Osculum Infame a few months back & while I was really excited & intrigued by the concept, somehow I felt I did not belong. I tend to feel that way very often. After checking the call for submissions again & considering the meaning of transgression in its purest sense, I suspect that part of the reason I feel like I "do not belong" is because I am transgressive. I may not travel to the astral to sacrifice unicorns or spend weeks working rodeo sex magick, but put me in a room with a group of pagans & chances are good, very good, that I will be an oddball... I mean transgressor.
I am flattered that you feel I could offer something to the project. We shall see what whisperings come my way, to be sent that way.
Outstanding! Hope you don't mind, I added you to my public blogroll. I really enjoy what you write, and I think people of all persuasions could benefit from a taste of your perspective.
*sigh*
Dear Naomi,
It is selfish for me to say this, but this is terrible news. I respect your need to focus inward, to tend to other parts of you life & I wish you well on this new journey, however, I confess that I wish you wouldn't. That is of course, my own interests speaking. I loved waking up to your new photos, new visions, new images, new perspectives. No words. It was so good for me. Sometimes we get the most from our opposites. In certain ways, you are my opposite -- saying so much with out ever touching the keyboard. I also loved the conundrum because it had a rhythm & congruency that could only be perceived after spending time with it, it formed a bigger picture, a larger system as it grew.
No need to apologize -- you do what you need to do. I understand making sacrifices to tend to priorities. The blogosphere will be here if & when you decide to return. I will be here anytime you need me. My email is up there on the "Who is Moma" page. Write anytime.
I will be missing you very much. You say I taught you... you taught me too. I cannot explain or express all the ideas & inspiration you offered me over the past year, just with a simple picture as captured through your eyes. Thank you.
May your journey be all that you need.
Dear, don't worry.. i was a little upset when i wrote that.. not about you.. you were there, i just kind of unloaded on you, so sorry about that. i'm still following you, anonymously.. i will follow you somewhere i have a blog now, i'm posting about Fukuoka san, just really the same things i had for him on the old blog. i hope to post weekly instead of every day, just really slow down and give myself a long break.. not expecting followers, just something i do for me. hugs to you
oops, i should follow you on my Natural farming blog, not this one, i'm going to have this private.. this is just a practice blog. i just happened to be here, you see how i screw myself up. ha ha, doesn't make a lick of sense. anyway, i will follow you from there. maybe someday i can develop again, and will put on nature pics, but it'll be a while. i'll be "here" working on my pics over at picasa, regardless, i am addicted to the web, the internets, the computer, and so on.. i'm really trying to break free of it, somewhat, but here i am. ;/ but i'm glad i met you! ha ha.. carry on, dear
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