There were many beautiful, powerful, intense moments at PantheaCon, and I bring you one that gave me a holy-wow-laugh. The Universe has as excellent sense of humor. And there is some amazing magic possible when we surrender to laughter as a means of recognizing the Divine.
So, there I was, sitting in the CAYA Common Room (we were in 672) on Sunday night with several members of my Coven, and we were talking story about the day- what had happened, what we had seen, songs that had been sung, lessons learned. I was recalling the power and presence of the Thoth Hermes Mercury Rite presented by Sam Webster and the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn. It has to be one of the most powerful rituals I have ever attended. Members of CAYA formed a large part of the chorus for that ritual, and enjoyed our work with OSOGD on this rite very much. They give good Temple.
Not everyone had been able to make it to the ritual, so in my report I sang them this beautiful song Sam wrote:
Had Re Nu Abrahadabra
Hermes Pantos Apolytos
To you and all your host we offer
Form, sound, smell, taste, touch...
the whole of space.
Father's Milk and Mother's Blood,
the fruit of existence.
Come and enjoy.
I concluded and there was silence for a few seconds-- this is a powerful wisdom song and we could all feel that. Then, everyone burst out in praise- oh, that's really a good one, very beautiful, wow that's amazing, etc.
I said, "You know, magicians are very interesting to me. They do and say all sorts of things that I find fascinating and magnetic." Everyone agreed- yes, yes, very deep, wise, and mysterious, these magicians. General respect shown round the room for this. An attractive part of magicians' je ne sais quoi.
I then said, "For example, I had no idea that Abrahadabra was a Real Thing until I started learning about magicians. But it's actually a very big deal. And they do these hand gestures. It all has a very dramatic effect the way it comes together. I mean, imagine how powerful it must feel to have a special way to point your finger and say Abrahadabra in a big voice. It's pretty intense." And I mimed the action, pointing my finger at the door and saying the word. Everyone agreed, yes, yes, that is really pretty awesome. Very interesting. Good tech, big effect, very cool-looking, etc.
Just then, a woman walked in the door, carrying a stick and wearing a hat with a rounded brim, and a cape. "Hello," she said. "I hope you don't mind, I heard your beautiful singing and thought I'd pop in. I'm your neighbor from down the hall. I'm The Beast, you might say. I'm in room 666."
!!!
So, there I was, sitting in the CAYA Common Room (we were in 672) on Sunday night with several members of my Coven, and we were talking story about the day- what had happened, what we had seen, songs that had been sung, lessons learned. I was recalling the power and presence of the Thoth Hermes Mercury Rite presented by Sam Webster and the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn. It has to be one of the most powerful rituals I have ever attended. Members of CAYA formed a large part of the chorus for that ritual, and enjoyed our work with OSOGD on this rite very much. They give good Temple.
Not everyone had been able to make it to the ritual, so in my report I sang them this beautiful song Sam wrote:
Had Re Nu Abrahadabra
Hermes Pantos Apolytos
To you and all your host we offer
Form, sound, smell, taste, touch...
the whole of space.
Father's Milk and Mother's Blood,
the fruit of existence.
Come and enjoy.
I concluded and there was silence for a few seconds-- this is a powerful wisdom song and we could all feel that. Then, everyone burst out in praise- oh, that's really a good one, very beautiful, wow that's amazing, etc.
I said, "You know, magicians are very interesting to me. They do and say all sorts of things that I find fascinating and magnetic." Everyone agreed- yes, yes, very deep, wise, and mysterious, these magicians. General respect shown round the room for this. An attractive part of magicians' je ne sais quoi.
I then said, "For example, I had no idea that Abrahadabra was a Real Thing until I started learning about magicians. But it's actually a very big deal. And they do these hand gestures. It all has a very dramatic effect the way it comes together. I mean, imagine how powerful it must feel to have a special way to point your finger and say Abrahadabra in a big voice. It's pretty intense." And I mimed the action, pointing my finger at the door and saying the word. Everyone agreed, yes, yes, that is really pretty awesome. Very interesting. Good tech, big effect, very cool-looking, etc.
Just then, a woman walked in the door, carrying a stick and wearing a hat with a rounded brim, and a cape. "Hello," she said. "I hope you don't mind, I heard your beautiful singing and thought I'd pop in. I'm your neighbor from down the hall. I'm The Beast, you might say. I'm in room 666."
!!!
The bit about hand gestures reminds me -- we did an interesting thing in the Aphrodite workshop on Monday, creating space using 7 directions, with hand gestures and chanting vowel sounds. You may have seen this before? But if not, I'd love to show it to you sometime.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you a similar story of an invocation of Thoth/Hermes/Mercury, in which Sam played a major role...
ReplyDeleteIt was Halloween at the old Thelema Lodge-OTO in Oakland, way back in the 20th century. We were performing an Invocation of Hermes, and Sam was pronouncing the Call. One of the epithets he used was (I'm paraphrasing here) "he who knocks upon the door, and must be answered" and at that *exact* second...
There was a loud knock on the door.
Everybody in the templespace froze. Sam went silent. There was a bit of nervous, stifled laughter. Someone said, "um, there's someone at the door, what do we do?" and I said,
"I think we have to answer it!"
It was a couple of befuddled strangers that no one knew. It turned out they were looking for a Halloween party nearby, but were unsure of the address, and knocked on the door of the house seeing that there seemed to be a "party" going on inside. They were quickly redirected and sent on their way, and someone commented that we were given the chance to dispense "guidance to someone on their path," which is what Hemres is supposed to do, even though in this case it was a trivial matter.
We picked up where we left off, with considerable amusement, thinking we had been indeed tricked by the Trickster God.
Herm does have a sense of humor.
This is so funny! At times I was wrastling with a beast of my own at PantheaCon, lol but for different reasons :)
ReplyDeleteAt PantheaCon, hand gestures also came for me. At The Circle of Bones, Hyperion used hand gestures to call/open/raise The Great Crossroads. It looked like he was unlocking the veil itself with his bare hands at each of the 4 directions (plus down, up, inner and outer). I felt The Great Crossroad within my body "sparkle" inside of me when he did this. I can't stop thinking of that ritual... it's still humming in my own bones. LOVE. Looking forward to consciously practice using my bare hands as energy tools.
It was even funnier, I thought, when you were telling me this story on Monday, and I mentioned my friend and the "mark of the beast" and such during Lupercalia, and then he also appeared rather magically the next moment! That's some good magic right there! ;)
ReplyDeleteMy e-mail is not functioning right now for some reason, so I thought I'd make an initial contact with you via these means. I am trying to get a trip down to the Bay Area together for late March/early April, and thought I'd try and offer a few workshops and such, perhaps at The Sacred Well. So, I have a few questions on that: first, what do you charge for use of your space? Or, do you take a percentage of what is earned for paid workshops? And, what is your schedule like at this point? Hopefully, my e-mail will be functional again soon, and we can speak about this further, or I can even give you a ring on the phone at some point in the near future on these matters as well. And, I shall get you some poetry soon for Goddesses Without Borders as well! Hope all is well with you in the meantime!
Much love and many blessings,
P. Suf. Viri. Lup.
PSuf- I'd love to help you find the perfect space for a workshop. My shop is busy and bustling, good for some types of classes but not for others. Happy to negotiate with you to make sure your needs are met financially by the arrangement in my space if you like it. Or, alternately, if there is a quiet space needed, I can help you find one that rents at about $20 per hour and is comfy. Best bet is to call my shop on a Tues or Weds and we can chat 510-444-9355. Can't wait to see you again! Also, looking forward to your GWB submissions! Yay!
Delete