Thanks

Today was interesting. I got all pissed at Lon for singing a song, I got all pissy with my friends over it, and then I went to a birthday party for my daughter at an indoor swim club. It was 25 degrees outside. The pool was 90 degrees. Freaking wonderful. I had to get in with her, at least one parent must and it was my duty. Lovely.

I relaxed a lot. Me and twenty of my 7-year-old daughter's closest friends. They swam and played, I sat and soaked. So. Good. Mmm. Loved it. Highly recommend it to all my parent friends. Birthday party at the kids' swim club in the winter. With pizza.

Anyway, when I got home I read some more comments, read my own rant about it, and then listened again to the song. Frankly, I'm ashamed of myself. One of these days, I'll learn to shut up when I get pissed off.

In the mean time, thanks, for those who understood or didn't, who agreed or didn't. I learned a lot about myself today. I'm totally keeping all my Lon Milo DuQuette stuff. As POS said, "I do not dismiss a man for a single fault. There would be no one left."

Pissed, but I get it.

This morning, I woke up and saw the post Jason made about Lon DuQuette's "If we believed" youtube video.As a Christian, I'm deeply offended. As a magician, I'm sorely disappointed. As a man, I'm incredibly pissed off.

But I get it. I understand why people like Lon have such a deep hatred for all things "Christian." They're spiritually retarded. They can't help it. They see all the evils men have done in the name of Christianity, and ignoring the fact that man has done exactly the same in the name of pagan gods for millenia, they blame the belief system.

Sure, that would be the same as saying all Sufis are terrorists, all Runar folk are nazis, all Thelemites are woman-beating heroin addicts. But they don't care. They're so wrapped up in their disfunction that they can't see it. Maybe some priest or pastor molested them or something. I don't know. Whatever it is, I'm sick of it, disgusted by it, and generally displeased. Grow up already.

I'm getting rid of all my Lon Milo DuQuette stuff in protest of his public airing of hate-filled intolerance, his wanton attack on a belief system that is, if you really look at Thelema, the core of his own system. I forgive him, but I will not support him or any other person who perpetuates the inter-religious warfare that fuels ignorance and pushes people further apart.

I think it was Kenneth Grant who was walking beside Crowley one day and accosted a priest. Crowley berrated him, and was mortified when Grant took his writings seriously and actually attacked some guy in the street because of his beliefs. Crowely knew better.

Intolerant bigotry has no place in a magician's world view. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Paganism, and Zoroastrianism have all played active roles in forming the system of magic we use. Attacking one is retarded.

Yahoo...

Yahoo needs to start propitiating the spirits of Mercury already. They've got terrible communications problems.

Yahoo execs: I suggest the virgin daughter of your CEO offered to the Kraken.

(Yes, I am looking forward to the release of Clash of the Titans, why do you ask?)

Because I'm an American, that's Why!

A title like that could be applied to any number of topics, and some of them could be really fun.

But for now I'm talking about religion. Have you noticed I'm a Christian, but the things I believe would have gotten me burned as a heretic in the age of the grimoires I cherish so much?  I mean honestly, my ass would be on the stake faster than a witch's because I believe my Christianity is the real deal, and it happens to clash somewhat with popular hermeneutics, theology, and doctrine from any of the Renaissance (and modern) self-proclaimed keepers of the faith.

I figured it was because I'm smarter than most people, but shockingly, I was wrong. Come to find out, it's popular to be like me, looking at God first, then picking and choosing aspects of how God manifests himself in different cultures that resonate most with my own experiences. According to this article, nearly a third of us Americans are hip enough to mix and match from the belief buffet to come up with something that aligns with what we actually experience.

There's a danger of only picking the things you want to be true, and ignoring the things that are inconvenient. Americans aren't well known for taking on uncomfortable realities, after all. The Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement's popularity here is a good example. They teach all happiness and bliss if you chant their mantra, but they don't teach that the path to the happiness and bliss goes through the stages of pain many of the people in the Supernatural Assistance class are going through as I type. When the troubles that arise with initiation come, many people drop TM like a hot potato. A few even SUED TM for failing to deliver the promised benefits of mantra-chanting.

Whatever. TANSTAAFL.

But anyway, I'm NORMAL. I believe a lot of freaky stuff from different cultures, but so do a lot of other people. America's a melting pot for religions, and we're pretty famous for taking things and making something individual out of it. It's kind of weird that I consider myself a traditionalist, since most of what I do is adapted. But I suppose there's room for cognitive dissonance too.

Reminder

Tomorrow is the day I do a ritual to help the jobless. I spent the summer unemployed, and I'm digging my way out, and it fucking sucks. I'd like to do my part to help anyone in a similar situation. Unemployment is right around 10%, and I heard the "real" value is closer to 17% on NPR last night. That's almost 2 out of every 10 people you know.

I've had two people ask to be mentioned in the rite. Either you don't think it's going to help, or everyone who reads my blog is employed and is only friends with employed people. I know it's not going to hurt to be mentioned, Bune's really good at getting people jobs that pay a decent amount. I landed this job two weeks after conjuring Bune.

Email me your name or anyone you know who needs the help, it's totally free.