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Circling Ways in Geomancy
In the relatively early days of my magical practice, I gathered and used a lot of things I found in the course of going on walks - bits of interestingly-shaped sticks, torn pages of books and newspapers, playing cards, scraps of fabric, that sort of thing. This seems a common enough phase for many magicians, learning to navigate their landscape and sense the subtle tides and shifts around them in those interactions. Walks around my neighbourhood, building my relationship with the spirits of place, or drifting through unfamiliar parts of town on extended augury expeditions; these rambles would lead me to find objects that seemed significant and magically useful. There was something so satisfying about finding meaning and use in things picked up off the ground; those discarded omens and overlooked materials of inner-city sorcery. For years I kept a stray white cue ball which I had found when on an extended Lunary wandering. Chalk-marked ivory globe uncannily out of place, plucked from the gutter of night, a delicate egg of veiled promise. One of my most used magical tools found in this manner was a simple set of brown seed beads strung as a necklace. I came across it while ambling along meditating on geomancy, the earth, and delineations of sacred space. Mulling over old pantheism-and/or-animism distinctions and where divining with spirits in space fit in, I found the beads lying on the floor: they were spread like a square. This demarcation of space, this establishment of a matrix of divinatory coherence, this cauldron from which new answers could be cooked up, made a lot of sense. The shape of the idea itself looped me in. I began using the strung seeds as a field upon which to throw my coins, dice, or whatever other means I was using to generate my geomantic figures. This is not to suggest I invented anything - this is simply how something was shown to me. As we shall see shortly, such a technique is far from unique to my practice. In the years since, that found cord has had a lot of play. A lot. Enough that, a month or so ago, I pulled it from its bag and saw it was - in exactly the way timeâs shadow sneaks up on you - suddenly looking all too raggedy. I resolved to build some new gear. In fact I had already made short beaded âloopsâ - too short to be considered necklaces - dedicated to particular senior spirits in my practice, and generally adorning their statuary and icons. I would occasionally employ these to charge the divining space with their authority, especially at auspicious hours and days at which the power of these Chiefly spirits waxed crowned. I would set them out, squaring the circle - forming the four sides of the natural âelementatedâ world from the celestial circle. These beaded circlets empowered the clarity and focus of my readings. I even found them useful for cohering the virtues of the figures I set for more sorcerous ends; combining the natural potencies of their gemstones with the operative spellcraft of displaying a figure inside them, as in the manner of image magic employing, say, Tarot cards. Rough chips of sanguine coral, the very blood of Medusa, as soldiers of scarlets and incarnadines surrounding a marked Puer in the eighth hour of Tuesday.
More broadly, this kind of altar-top circling has long been part of my practice, casting an orbit of materia magica around foci of influence and effect. The sprinkled rosemary around the purifying candle spell, the chalk around the spiritâs seal to trap or stabilise. Such circlets belt up firm foundation, spin loops to run perpetually, wind and bind. New cord and even knot magic utilities continue to reveal themselves. Even a rosary is but a garland of the threaded blooms of Love and Mystery, stirring in turns and spirals. Considering the Puckâs girdle about the world, however, I am especially interested in how spiritwork permeates these kinds of tools and techniques. So it was I decided to construct seven circlets, dedicated to the seven planetary Rulers so important to geomantic sorcery.Â
In more modern geomancies, diviners are often encouraged or instructed to invoke the Spirit of the planet most suitable for the question - matters of romance and sensuality on Friday, the day of Venus, for example - as part of the formal protocol of divining. Along with directing practitioners to begin their geomancy by tracing an Invoking Pentagram of Earth, Israel Regardieâs A Practical Guide to Geomantic Divination suggests the following:
âTo every planetary force in geomancy, there is attributed a Genius presiding over all matters covered by the definitions of that force⊠[Each genius has a] sigil, a traditional word that merely means a signature. This sigil should be very deliberately and carefully drawn in the centre of the Pentagram which has been traced. It should be visualized as clearly as possible, while vibrating his [sic] name several times, either vocally or mentally. This places the whole divinatory process under divine guidance, and opens up specific pathways to the Unconscious area which can act to provide an answer to the question.â [Regardie, 45.]
It seems an uncontroversial consensus these days that the formal shaping of pentagrams and spirit seals of the Golden Dawnâs protocols for geomancy can be traced to John Heydon and his Theomagia. In this Temple of Wisdom (as it is not-so-humbly subtitled), when he is not quoting Agrippa whole-sale, Heydon expounds of his self-identified âRosiecrucian wayâ that operators âfirst used holy Deprications, Incantations with other Rites and observations provoking and alluring Ideaâs of this nature hereunto...â [Heydon, Theomagia (London, 1668), 2-3] Here are hints of geomancyâs âhigh ceremonialâ dimensions. Crucially however we should also note that Owen Davies has remarked that early modern village cunning-folk and local wizards, traditionally represented as the magic-users least interested in complex Neoplatonic orders and arrangements of angels, âwould certainly appreciate the detailed practical guide to astromantic and geomantic divination, and the diagrams showing the various signs and characters of the planets and their angelsâ. [Davies, Popular Magic (), 124]Â
The senior planetary Spirits of geomancy, contrasted by Agrippa with the more angelic planetary Intelligences, are referred to by Heydon et al as the âseven Rulers of the Earthâ. Without diving too deep into Heydonâs idiosyncratic cosmology, it is worth reiterating that Heydon hardly ever refers to the straight astrological grammar of geomancy, preferring to use the names of the spirits of those astrological principles: he does not talk about Saturn, but rather Zazel; he speaks of Malchidael not Aries. It is in his lists of correspondences attributed to these Rulers that we come across colour schemes for these spirits:
Zazel, Spirit of Saturn: âHe ruleth over the Lead, the Load-stone, the dross of all Mettals, as also the Dust and Rubbish of every thing... He Ruleth the Saphire stone, Lapis Lazul, all black ugly sheet stones, not polishable and of a sad ashy or black colourâŠâ
Hismael, Spirit of Jupiter: âthat which is most pleasant and delightful without extream Colours; he signifyeth Seagreen or blew, purple, Ash coloursâ
Barzabel, Spirit of Mars: âHe delighteth in Red colour, or yellow, fiery and shining like SaffronâŠ'
Sorath, Spirit of the Sun: âhe ruleth the Yellow, the colour of Gold, the Scarlet or the clear Red, and all reddish coloursâ
Kedemel, Spirit of Venus: âshe signifieth white, or milky colour, mixed with brown or a little greenâ
Taphthartharath, Spirit of Mercury: âMixed and new colours, the gray mixed with Sky colour, such as is on the neck of the Dove, and Pidgeon, Stock-Dove, and such fine Colours; also Lincy-Wooly colours, or⊠of many colours, mixedâŠâ
Chasmodai, Spirit of the Moon: âOf Colours, the White, or pale Yellow, White, pale Green, or a little of the Silver colourâ
Rather than simply tracing the sigils of these Spirits to centre and focus my readings, I was inspired to bead my own circlets in versions of these dedicated corresponding colours, including in the designs gemstones with virtues relevant to their planetary governances. Specifically, four stones for squaring that circle, for bringing to bear the four classical forces of the âelementatedâ natural world with which geomancy so deeply engages. These would be a tool for further drawing on the strength, force and authority of the Rulers to provide accurate information in my readings and precise affect in my rituals.Â
It was in speaking about these plans to my dear friend and TatĂĄ Quimbanda that I discovered this was in fact not a novel approach! Practitioners of Candomble and of Quimbanda have both long utilized the beaded necklaces of their traditions - ritual objects with deep significances - to mark a space for divining with shells. Elekes of Candomble, like those of Regla de Ocha and the guia de contas of Umbanda, represent a holy bond between devotee and the Orisha. Washed in sacred omiero, these beads are a sign of blessing as well as a mantle of commitment. The beads are normally worn around the throat, either diagonally or pendulously, and must encompass the heart and ideally down to the navel. This necklace connects the speaking voice and the core at the heart of us. A connection between what is ordinarily worn now on a table creates a necessary link between the Orishaâs mouths (the cowries) and your own. To divine is after all to give voice to the divine from the heart.
Similarly, the guias of Quimbanda de Raiz are washed in sorcerous amaçi and worn to foreground pacts and commitments made and to offer protection. Along with beads worn in devotion, they are also used to ensure Orisha and Exu and Pomba Gira can communicate efficiently. The guia imperial of Quimbanda is in fact required for reading shells when reading away from oneâs assentamentos. My godfather describes this in terms of how it keeps the link to the spirits one has seated and works with: a temporary field of settlement allowing all Kingdoms to come through. A further innovation of these Afro-Diasporic techniques of demarcating ritual space for divination with sacred beads includes not only various different necklaces for different gods or spirits, but of constructing one large loop containing sections for each power, force, Orisha or Kingdom, such as the guia imperial pictured below.Â
Candomble and Umbanda-influenced practices also hold important lessons to bear in mind when comparing such so-called New World practices with the specifically planetary aspects of geomantic divination and sorcery. Earlier African significances of sevenfold divisions and heptarchies - for seven is a potent crossroads number - were later glossed through Theosophic lenses as chiefly concerning the seven classical planets. As highlighted by articles such as this, on the âFundamentos de Jogo de BĂșziosâ, this gloss can be seen in the approach to things like days of the week in such practices.
I am far from the first geomancer to cast into a corded or even beaded circlet. It is a shared technological response to the operation of geomancy, a co-impulse of many different craftsfolk of the divinatory art. Such living full-blooded traditional practices are unique instantiations of resonant approaches to patterning the geomantic crafts of ritual and truth-telling. Noting the use of circlets in this manner should not be taken as any attempt to flatline different traditions and cultures but celebrate their songs and harmonies in sharper context.
Conducting geomantic divination using these talismans dedicated to the Seven Rulers of the Earth, emblazoned in their heraldic colours and bearing stones of empowering virtue, has already focused my readings, has brought planetary virtues of both stability and dynamism to bear. They have begun to assist my understanding of the unique natures of these Spirits as more than cookie-cutter planetary entities. These geomantic circlets have also certainly improved the scope and precision of various operations of geomantic sorcery. I share these thoughts, accounts, and experiences at a somewhat nascent stage of working the tools: I am excited to share them and their techniques to encourage and compare experiments and extrapolations.Â
Working these planetary talismans of the Seven Rulers has certainly furthered my interest in exploring use of circling ways beyond the classic 9-ft magic circles of protection and conjuration. It has also given me valuable perspectives on broader historical instances of circling in the European grimoire traditions of magic. Evidence from one of the earliest manuscripts of the Grimorium Verum grimoire-family, the Clavicula Salomonis De Secretis, details several sorcerous operations involving encircling tools of magical operation: âUt Pluat' (To Make It Rain) one must place a glass of sea water and a heliotrope stone in a circle inscribed; âUt Fulguretâ (To Make Lightning) a lamp is placed at the centre of a specially scribed circle; and an operation to âConcubitu Potiendumâ (âFor Love Making/Couplingâ) features a diagram of the circle, to be inscribed in a red ochre chalk, on top of an altar.
Another operation of the Grimorium Verum with strong circling implications, To Open Anything that is Shut or Locked, demonstrates some pertinent squaring dimensions as well as avenues for potential spiritwork. The experiment instructs the operator to make a circle around a lodestone then âwithin the circle make a square and at all the angles put the sigil of Serguthaâ. If we take this to be Surgat, recent developments in joined-up thinking about grimoire devils inform us that this spirit is also identified with Annobath⊠who just happens to âteacheth the knowledge of necromancy, geomancy, and chiromancyâ, amongst other things. We come full squared circle.Â
The use of a bloodstone to mark the earth in the Grand Grimoire offers inspiration for experimenting with lapidary lore for our geomantic tools, both in terms of beading or these more direct gemstone styli. Nor should we be hidebound to strict repetition: bloodstone is a powerful ally, but it is not our only poison. When constructing the geomantic circlet for work with Hismael and Jupiterian currents, virtues and spirits (and, thus, for Thursdays especially), for instance, I divined that the inclusion of four amethyst beads for the circletâs âcornersâ would inform and galvanise my work with the grand Spirit of the Greater Benefic.Â
I have already signaled from social media accounts the availability of these planetary talismans for purchase. Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you are interested in working with these tools; I am happy to work with clients to tailor bespoke consecratory treatments. They are currently priced at $44 apiece, or $231 for the full set of seven. I am currently experimenting with various forms of additional consecration - involving homebrew planetary oils, asperging waters and fumigation blends - so that price may climb as I develop these talismans further and the process of construction and empowerment becomes more complex and potent.
Inquiries, commissions and any other questions or comments can be directed to [email protected]
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DARING DO AND THE COMPASS OF DISCORD : Chapter #7 : MLP Fan Fiction : WORK IN PROGRESS
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DARING DO AND THE COMPASS OF DISCORD
by
De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)
15333 words Presently written The story is incomplete
THIS A WORK IN PROGRESS
Because this is a Work In Progress, new writing or changes to older text will be indicated by BOLDFACE TYPE.
© 2017 by Glen Ten-Eyck
Writing begun 01/24/17
All rights reserved. Â This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.
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Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users
Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. Â They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact. Â They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.
All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.
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For those wishing to read the story from the beginning, it starts HERE.
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Chapter 7 Â Voyage to Kuduspar
The reality was slightly different. Â As Amber pointed out over a complex game of cards and dice which Morail was winning, âWhen ships have adventurous voyages, bad things have been happening! Â We want a nice, quiet voyage. Â
âWe will be making for Kuduspar, on the north coast of the Eland Republic. Â We are not going all the way to Degrate, on the Forgotten River, in the Zebra Confederation.â
Daring Do discarded. Â Both Amber and Withers rolled dice. Â Withers picked up the card and added it to the layout in front of him. Â Morail promptly laid her entire hand across his layout and, grinning, raked in the chips from the pot!
As Daring Do watched Morail in bemusement, she offered, âThe way that you play this would convince anypony that you are a Diamond Dog, for sure. Â You have to grow up playing this game to be as good as you are, and only Diamond Dogs do that.â
Morail grinned. Â â<I am a Diamond Dog! Â I was raised as much by the Ruby Drift as I was on the farm. Â Only blood separates us. Â I earned that Drift Supervisor and Mining Explosives Expert certification!>â
Amber grinned too. Â She dealt the next hand. Â Dice rolled and cards were laid down, picked up or added to growing layouts in front of each player.
Leaning on the railing and watching sea and sky as the Malachite sliced through the waves was another pastime. Â Out on the open sea there were few birds but they did occasionally see one.
Pointing with excitement, Morail exclaimed, âLook at the size of the wings on that one! Â What is it called, Doctor Do?â
Smiling at Morail's excitement, Daring Do replied, âThat is called an albatross. Â Some sailors claim that they never land, except to nest and raise their young. Â They do dive for fish to eat. Â Whether they land for anything else, you would need to ask somepony besides me. Â I have only seen them flying or on the water.â
Morail was almost bouncing with her present freedom. Â âAmber has released me from studying the ship's operations for the next two days!â
Interested, Daring Do and Withers asked her, âWhat does she have you studying, Morail? Â Can you tell us?â
Smiling, she replied, âSome of it, anyway. Â I have been learning modern fire control systems! These bigger guns and being on a ship make it all really tricky!
âBesides that, she has me studying the theory of modern Mage/Tech ship engines. Â I really can't tell you much about them. Â The history of them is fun, though. Â The Mage/Tech interface and first engines were invented by the Equestrian Rom, of all beings! Â They used them to power prostheses for their sick or injured Horses so that they could still pull their caravans!â
Withers nodded. Â âI can easily believe that, Morail. Â They invented the modern Magic Net too. Rather their foals did, so that they could stay in touch when bands were far apart. Â Old Marchhare claims that they used it to, and I quote, Plot against their elders, end quote. Â When their elders found out about it, they used it too, but made sure that the youngsters had a private part of it so that they could still plot and scheme!â
Daring Do chuckled, âThat sounds so like the Rom! Â They say that the young have to get away with things. Â It builds character.â
The Malachite made her way from the Eastern Sea, south, just past the Equator, into the Stonewall Strait. Â The land fell away north to the continent of Epona. Â To the south, the land was the northern coast of the continent of Sorica, home, among other nations, of the Zebra Confederation. Â Separating the two continents was the Medial Sea, leading on through the Poniesian Isles to the Great Western Ocean.
The days of the voyage passed without incident until they raised the lighthouse of Kuduspar in the Eland Republic. Â A swift, lightly armored patrol vessel flying the Zebra Confederation banner tried to intercept them. Â It had a small 50 mm cannon in a forward turret and fired a warning shot across their bows.
The Zebra ship demanded, âYou must divert to the port of Degrate to have all of your cargo and goods evaluated and taxed. Â Any beings aboard who do not have Zebra Confederation travel documents must pay a fine and have proper documents issued before they can be permitted to travel further!â
Amber returned, âNils Downitall does not own the Medial Sea! Â We are going to Kuduspar and you will need to learn to swim if you try to stop us!â
Morail was operating the fire control board. Â The Malachite's forward turret of 125 mm guns swung to bear on the Zebra ship. Â Morail was wearing the headpiece and speaking softly through it to the ship's turrets. Â Each of the three guns of the forward turret shifted their aim a little.
The captain of the Zebra Confederation apparently failed to notice, or he was following a script! Â He demanded, âApparently our warning shot was not enough! Prepare to be boarded and all of your cargo seized!â
Amber's paw dropped in a slicing motion! Â Morail tapped her fire control board. Â The forward turret's guns blazed with flame and smoke! Â The ship shuddered under the recoil of the heavy shells blasting out to the opposing vessel!
Almost instantly, the small turret of the Zebra patrol ship erupted! Â A huge hole from an exploding shell tore apart the forward superstructure, just under the flying bridge! Â The third shell made a hole in the side of the boat, just below the smokestack! Â A sudden roaring wash of mixed steam and smoke back out the hole and bursting up out the stack told of the end of the patrol vessel's engines.
Amber sent back by Magic Net, âApparently, OUR warning shot was enough! Â You were warned that are going into Kuduspar. Â You have only three choices.
âFirst, you may abandon ship and we will sink the hulk.
âSecond, we can tow your vessel into Kuduspar. Â By staying aboard, you retain a claim to the ship after paying us for the tow.
âThirdly, you may abandon ship and we will claim the wreck as a prize of combat. Â
âWe will pick up your survivors in either abandonment scenario.â
Sourly, the captain of the damaged Zebra vessel decided, âWe will take your tow to Kuduspar. How will you get the tow line to us?â
Amber answered, âWe have a pegasus traveling with us as a passenger. Â She will deliver you a light line to pull over a hawser for the tow.â
Soon Daring Do was bridging the gap between the two vessels trailing a light heaving line to the now wrecked Zebra Patrol boat. Â She dropped the line across the bows and left the rest to the crew of the boat.
In short order, the convoy of ship and hulk was back underway, headed into Kuduspar.
At the harbor entrance, the Malachite was taken by a harbor pilot and the wreck was taken under tow by a tug.
(To Be Continued)
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#DARING DO AND THE COMPASS OF DISCORD#Chapter 7#MLP Fan Fiction#Daring Do#WORK IN PROGRESS#written by De Writer
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TEEN HAS INSPIRING MESSAGE OF HOPE
âIâM writing this so that others in a similar postion might be helped by reading it⊠I was emotionally and sexually abused since a very early age. â My trust in people was shattered and I was brainwashed into thinking Iâm ugly, worthless and a good-for-nothhing.â Thatâs what abuse can do to an innocent person and this letter from a teenager struggling to cope explains those feelings with greatâŠ
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#" My trust in people was shattered and I was brainwashed into thinking I&039;m ugly#"But I do know there is a light at the end of the tunnel#"I am healing very#"I am learning to chip away at my shell and that is leading to a new confidence#"I am no stunner#"I built a shell around myself to protect myself#"I don&039;t know why I have been emotionally and sexually abused#"I have a few close and wonderful friends - without them I would be lost#"I want other people to know that I have discovered there can be a safe refuge#"I&039;m lucky because I can express these feelings in poetry#"I&039;M writing this so that others in a similar postion might be helped by reading it... I was emotionally and sexually abused since#"It is only through expert counselling that I have started to explore my dark and scarred side#"My scars will never heal#"The person who sexually abused me#"This man has wounded me and rubbed salt in the wounds#"Yet I was so emotionally shattered that I couldn&039;t even trust them#(Hopeful Teenager)#blue-eyed#But because I&039;ve been told I&039;m ugly since I was three#but I am determined not to let him beat me#but I am healing#but I can see it#But I now understand I am not the one who&039;s ugly#but if I give up he&039;ll never have to face up to what he has done#but that&039;s negative thinking#I am a 5&039;7"#I am the one who was abused#I don&039;t know why my family is in tatters because my parents hate each other and my brother has a drink problem#I have been constantly beaten down by other people and brainwashed into thinking I&039;m ugly and that I&039;m some sort of freak#I have nothing to apologise for
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