Introduction

This is thee second volume in a series ov publications titled Thee Kali Circle. Thee Kali Circle is more than just a book. It also represents a philosophy ov balance. It is our desire as members ov thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth to balance ourselves and to grow by exploring our many aspects. Thee Kali Circle project specifically revolves around thee exploration ov Our feminine side.

This issue is "War". Thee use ov "War" has two origins. First, from thee Temple’s own vernacular, "War" is a word that plays a central role in our propaganda. It emerges over and over as a symbol ov our activity, e.g. "Nothing Short Ov A Total War." Members ov thee Temple practice thee art ov continuously changing and reevaluating thee beliefs and practices with which they were raised. Our questioning is an act ov war; thee battles are continuously fought within and soumtimes without. Thee second origin ov thee title "War" is from thee pages ov this book itself; thee appearance ov thee archetype ov thee Warrior.

In traditional mythology, there are three basic archetypes ov Woman: Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Recently, in popular literature, a newer archetype has reemerged, thee archetype ov Woman as Warrior. Thee Warrior has always existed but until recently she has taken back seat to Her safer and tamer colleagues. Thee archetype ov Warrior transcends traditional male/female roles; it is a state that each person may achieve. It is a state that each person must achieve on their path to thee balanced whole. Thee work ov thee Magician, male or female, is thee work ov thee Warrior. Thee war is thee fight for balance and, through achieving balance, one also achieves gnosis.

Thee articles and writings in this issue ov Thee Kali Circle are soum ov thee results ov this fight. Men and Women created this book to share their experiences on thee battlefields in hope that others will benefit from them. As thee submissions poured in, it became apparent that it was thee archetype ov Warrior that permeated thee book. Thee title "War" is our response to thee minds ov thee writers, which also reflect those ov our readers. Each reader is a participant in Thee Kali Circle, and should understand that it is our goal to look within and then search for thee balance.

Coyote=Kali

Samhain 1993

FROM MAIDEN TO MATRIARCH

She was very young and her mind was still free when her grandfather died. She didn't remember much about him. What little she did remember was vivid. She loved him, that was a certainty. The images which passed through her mind as she envisioned him in his Long Island backyard were mysterious to her. She didn't know why.

Months later, when her family would all load into their tomato-red Pinto, she would watch the air currents flapping the slack seat belt as the wind gushed in through the open window. She would think of her grandfather on these trips. She knew he was trying to contact her. She would concentrate very sharply on the flapping seat belt and say to herself, "Grandpa, if it's you, make the seat belt move right now." Sometimes it did. Sometimes it didn't. She knew anyway that her grandfather loved her and was trying to contact her.

I don't think I really understood about death when my grandfather died. I was four years old. My parents took me on a flight to New York, and when I walked into Grandma and Grandpa's room, I asked them, "Where's Grandpa's bed?" They told me he was dead. I never even knew that he had been sick. Even on the flight, nobody had told me why we were going to New York. If children do not understand death, perhaps it is because we do not let them experience it.

The comprehension of the death experience is one that involves many different levels of perception. As human beings, we experience different levels of reality at different times. A baby left alone in a room by its parent will cry because the presence of the parent is gone. Babies understand death. They experience fear, grief, and mourning each time their parent is not within their sight.

As children we experience the manifestation of the "Maiden." To the Maiden, everything is new and wondrous. She is pure and innocent. She is virginal in her thoughts as well as her actions. She is alive, truly, and can perhaps experience and interact with life more fully than a person with more life experience. This is due to the fact that at this point in a child's life, many of the limitations which will later be imposed on it's views of reality have not yet been implemented. This is not to say that children are pure; far from it.

From the day a baby is born, its entire world revolves around the perception and interpretation of it's experiences. This perception is identified and shaped by the parents' fundamental views of reality; a reality which is shaped by their own culture and life experience. They will determine in the child the differentiation between reality and fantasy.

The child's world is one in which creativity and imagination are typically encouraged. Because the fine lines of reality and fantasy have not yet been drawn fully by the parents and society, a child is open to many different types of experience. They are, perhaps, more able to experience reality beyond the three-dimensional reality that most people live in. Have we not seen the child playing with it's "invisible friend"? Have we not heard children tell stories of "when they were a soldier in the war"? These experiences, which as adults in the "Matriarch" stage of life, some of us try to cultivate and access, are inherent in us from birth. It is only in conditioning and desire for acceptance that we begin to close the pathways in order to live a life that is acceptable to these around us. The invisible friend of yesterday, we now call our "imaginary" friend. The stories we told of our past lives are now the workings of our creative imagination.

As the title of this publication implies, we live our lives in a circular pattern. We meet, or share information, in groups as we try to circulate our thoughts. As human beings we attempt to regain the knowledge and understanding that has always existed within us. We live our lives traveling around and around on our path, trying always to expand and break through "the circle."

Daena

MONITRICE

On January 5th, E was involved in assisting with thee delivery of my spiritual friend's baby. Thee baby was actually delivered by a midwife and, as a nursing student, E was asked and allowed to be a part ov this wonderful event. Thee expecting mother is named Libby. She had read articles on female support during labor and deliveryand found that thee female support person is known as the Monitrice or Doula. E was honored that E actually had a title!

E have assisted in labor and delivery before in thee hospital under supervision ov both male and female physicians, but the experience with the midwife was quite different.

First, thee Midwife did all prenatal care with Libby. She instructed Libby on how to care for herself and thee fetus through nutrition and exercise. She taught her how to prepare her nipples for breast-feeding by standing in a sunny window for 15 minutes a day. She taught her also about perinieum massages with vitamin E oil to decrease thee chance ov tearing or thee need for episiotomy intervention during delivery. Ov course, Lamaze was part ov thee preparation for thee labor and delivery. Many Women experience problems with hemorrhoids during their pregnancies; especially after "pushing" during delivery. Oatmeal! Thee answer! Libby did not have this problem. She ate oatmeal every morning and drank water all day long.

During labor, Libby's husband Jeff, my love, and myself coached her through. C7's job ended up being caring for Libby's anxious sister in the lobby. During labor, thee lights were soft and we had picked out music (Brian Eno, Pink Floyd, Kondole) to guide Libby through her contractions. This all began at 8:00 in thee morning. Thee goal was no intervention that was invasive. Thee research on Monitrices revealed that having another Female present lowered stress, pain, and thee need for invasive intervention (i.e., catheters, epidurals, etc.). E gave Libby all my NRG during thee long laboring day. Nurturing her by keeping her hydrated, cool sponge baths, lips moistened (they dry out while breathing so heavy), music playing, fanning, massaging, and rubbing kept me busy all day long. During thee transitional, or "active" stage ov labor, things got tough. This was her first baby and no one could prepare her for thee painful contractions during this stage. The Midwife and E helped Libby into thee jacuzzi twice. This is a wonderful non-evasive intervention which helps to lower pain and stimulate circulation. When transitional labor began (5 cm. dilation with contractions one minute and one minute apart), the Midwife did not leave Libby's side. She aided in positioning and working with thee contraction, for this is thee force to get thee baby out. Midwives don't fight this force, they work with it. This lowers laboring time. At one time, Libby had urinary retention. At this point most physicians would order a urinary catheter, but the Midwife took an ammonia popper and waved it about 1/2 inch away from her urethra. E turned on thee water to a drizzle, and within a minute she voided. This Midwife had all kinds of tricks up her sleeve!

When Libby was ready for delivery, her husband and E each grabbed one ov her legs under thee knee and pulled them up to her chest while simultaneously lifting her head so that her chin touched her chest. Thee pushing went on for 45 minutes. Thee Midwife encouraged Libby throughout the whole process. She told her that she was doing great and to continue to keep her focus. Soon, we were able to see thee baby's head and bright red hair. Thee only intervention that thee Midwife had to perform was a one degree episiotomy because the cord was around thee baby's head. Everything was alright; it was 6:50. A warm blanket was placed on Libby's chest and when thee baby came she was put on it. Jeff cut thee cord. It was a glorious moment; instant bonding. Libby came out ov thee trance she was in and kissed me and Jeff while thee nurse quickly cleaned up thee baby, still on Libby's chest. Nursing thee baby was next, only minutes after birth! This is not done in thee hospital normally. They named thee baby Beth- she is beautiful!

My experience with the Midwife and Libby was wonderful. E had asked thee Midwife, "What can E do to help thee most when it's time for Libby to go into labor?" and she had replied that E should get in touch with her spirituality. E told her we've done that for thee last four years! She said that was thee best thing one could do for another.

Kali 65

Mything Something?

 

It's not surprising that Joseph Campbell considers myth the only thing "worth writing about". The dualities and polarities found in myths such as Theseus and Minotaur (Man vs. Beast), and Tiresius the blind prophet (Male transformed into Female) can be metaphors for our biological structure and function (from our basic bodily symmetry to the functions ov the right and left brain) as well as a map ov our psyches - a psycocosm - when myth is applied to the astrological signs. Ultimately, the quests ov so many myths are akin to the goal ov "all systems go" where both sides ov the brain are working in harmony for total success; where the main characters ov our personal myths come to some agreement or other end.

Whether one puts any stock in astrology to help foresee the future is not important right now. By examining each sign, one can find a myth that may relate to one's own personal journey and increase one's awareness by looking at the pattern; the map. Aries' myth relates to Kali and Robin Hood, promoting change and the adventure ov attaining goals. Taurus' myth ov the Minotaur warns ov obsessions due to desires ov the beast. The mortal meets the divine in the myth ov Castor and Pollux, the Twins. (More duality.) The list goes on. In dreams we may experience myth, facing fears in the form ov a monster that we must confront, or ov a journey we must complete.

By comparing Greek goddesses and our female psyches, some insight about our personal myths and dualities can be gained. There are basically two types ov goddesses: autonomous, "virgin" (more on that x-tianized term later) goddesses like Artemis, Athena and Hestia; and more vulnerable, relationship goddesses like Hera, Demeter and Persephone. If one identifies more with one type ov goddess as opposed to integrating two different goddesses into one psyche, one may actually be "victimized" by a goddess and the archetype may turn into a stereotype - Hera, an insanely jealous, paranoid, and vengeful wife, or Artemis, "dykes on bikes" terrorism ov any male or non-following female. "Daddy's girl" is, ov course, Athena, Zeus' daughter. A dose ov Demeter, a mothering goddess, is a good balancing role for Athena to get out ov the eternal child role. An awareness ov these goddesses and their myths can aid in one's personal mythological journey and inner balance.

Does TOPY have its own myth? If one considers the goal ov becoming self-nurturing and intact as something to be sought while sigilizing through TOPY, then the myth ov the Virgin Goddess is appropriate. The original meaning ov the Latin word Virgo did NOT mean celibate. The pre-x-tian word meant intact, self contained. The Virgin Goddess Artemis was as nurturing as could be imagined, with her fifty breasts, yet also quite self-possessed. The Alchemist is also fitting, taking the crude æther and giving it shape, turning it to gold, through will. If one's goal is to share through networking, then Piscean myth ov following the melusine to the depths and returning alive with greater knowledge to share, is also a helpful myth.

Kali 64

 

Female Sexuality

"A woman has not made the separation between love and sexuality which a man has made."

Fact? Myth? Or just another generalization? Is woman's sexuality different from that of a man's?

"A woman needs to love the man she gives herself to or be loved by him."

Another generalization? I am sure that love would heighten a sexual experience for both the man and the woman, but I am also sure that a woman's sexuality is fundamentally different. To what extent are we aware of these differences, and how are they experienced and expressed in our own relationships?

If we take erotic writing, for example, often it is explicit to the point of being clinical. Sexual games are often expressed in the form of the hunt, the pursuit and the conquest. Does this excite a woman's sexuality? Women often express themselves in a more sensitive and sensual way than men, and maybe their physical anatomy reflects this. Women are sensitive to caresses. Their erogenous zones are spread all over their bodies. A woman's sensuality is rarely as direct or as immediate as a man's. Perhaps a woman's sexuality is better expressed in the Oriental tales of love games. Women need to use their charm and persuasion to create the atmosphere of eroticism of which they dream. The woman as the seducer!

Women need not only to express what they don't like, but more importantly, what they do like! We have to discover what moves, stirs and arouses us and also how to reach it. We want to attain maximum pleasure. We have to first look again at ourselves and at our potential for sensual delights. Our bodies have more than one or two apertures for penetration, for each curve and line can give pleasurable sensations. Only when we know ourselves, can we express our desires.

We have to dispense with any competitive urge or guilt before we can begin to discover ourselves. From then onwards, our discovery of sexuality is full of surprises and new expression. The experience of love and desire can mingle and fuse with our dreams and fantasies to reach it's highest potential.

Erotic fantasy is certainly a tool to excite the imagination. Fantasy stimulates the emotions and lifts sentiments beyond the mundane. It is a vehicle for liberation. Sexual roles are directly linked to the emotions and sentiments. Within every one of us, there is the potential to play out every kind of role that exists, and to live out every aspect of human emotion. We all tend to think of ourselves in the light of a certain character, and tend to exaggerate particular roles to the exclusion of others. We are nursing the potential of a multi-faceted personality.

Of course, there are as many different types of women as there are women themselves. Each can live out their fantasy; to be a virgin, whore, or priestess. Ultimately, each will become a goddess through worship of their selves.

Only when your emotions are experienced, purified, and consciously controlled can you engage in sex magick without fear or guilt. Through living out various roles and fantasies we resolve the conflicting dualities within ourselves, confront our fears and weaknesses, and above all, develop the capacity for creative innovation.

Kali 8

The Red Mistress

The Menstrual Period is the most powerful time for ritual. There is much chance for 'clear dreaming', even for those surrounding the menstruating woman. The second day, the blood is normally already clear red. This is the time for the menstrual ritual; with or without a partner.

When you are going to do the menstrual partner ritual, see that both parties are ready for it. Even when the outer taboo is taken away, there is a chance that by the act itself some inner thing may still restrain you from making the ritual through until the end. You need a room or temple, darkened, lit only by black and/or red candles, preferably a red carpet, primitive drummusic, womb-like. The woman remains totally passive in the beginning, deathlike, unemotional, waiting. The male priest has to perform full adoration. His behaviour or thought patterns will influence the female. The male gives honour to this face ov womanhood, and when the transformation ov the woman into her other self takes place, she will feel something very old - her animal self - and her passivity will transform into active self-confidence; the priestess in woman. All the force has to be gathered. The Red Mistress weaves the male offer-energy in Her web, shapes it, and gives life to the Magickal Child, or the uniting ov divided parts ov one Higher Self, or whatever aim you wish to use it for. When sperm, juice and blood are mixed together in the womb or chalice, each one takes a bit and devours it. The course ov the ritual determines the force ov the potion, and its results.

It will be clear that this ritual cannot be successfully performed unless the partners possess a certain level ov being, and have a degree ov 'unification', or are closely connected in some other way. Also, it is an advantage when the woman has already experienced manhood; how this is to be achieved, I cannot tell you in exact words. The experience is that one sees the male genitals as self-existing, a universe (genitals) on a universe (man), which possesses its own thinking. There is a kind ov wordless communication between woman and penis which is felt by the man watching it as an outsider. The art then is to separate yourself from your own female genitals and give them a life ov their own, whereafter you let both sexes meet without interference ov the persons themselves. The result is a deeper understanding ov the opposite sex, a healing ov the opposites within yourself.

Rituals during this period ov the woman are not unusual. A woman is then most sexually active, though this is most ov the time unconscious or repressed. (The main factor is, I think, the fear ov being disgusted or treated as something dirty. We are being made to believe that we are dirty and unclean at that moment but, in reality, this is unnatural for us.) The odour ov a menstruating woman works as an attraction to the male sex; it is still used by very clever courtesans, though there are very few in number left. Mark how you behave when you are in your new moon; enclose it in your diary. The more you open yourself for this power and let it be, the more you will recognise her possibilities. Make rituals around it with your own natural calendar and inner moons. Once one has experienced its power and has become one with it, one will look forward to its coming, and enjoy and love this process. You will become aware that each time at this period you possess a bulk ov innergy (energy) that can be shot off to whatever target aimed at. The power is the same as the one created by a group ritual.

Also, many woman are being sterilised nowadays. I have noticed some people in the magickal world are not always sure if this is advisable. But it really changes nothing ov the effect or power ov our magickal abilities; it is all a matter ov thinking-patterns. The egg that never arrives in the uterus falls in the abdominal cavity and is digested. This is purely selfmanuring. The forces are preserved instead ov being thrust out. One only has to assimilate it, and this is for some the main problem, I think.

K . E . E . M

Nilfhimr, Anti Zombi Tribe

 

Notes of a Professional Babylon

The art of sacred prostitution is not dead, though its forms and customs have changed.

The gates of its temples are known to businessmen and construction workers alike, and stand by quiet suburban houses as well as ghetto street corners.

The initiations that wait within for some, are as sudden and shaking as a whip crack or as subtle and lingering as faded perfume.

SHe waits, who is Whore, Teacher, Lover, Confessor, Father, Psychologist, Wife, Physical Therapist, Friend, Brother, and Witch. SHe waits in a place not far from where you are and if you seek hir along the darkened passageways of the unconscious, SHe waits also within.

Law and social pressure have censured hir for many reasons, perhaps the deepest being that SHe is Choronzon's mate. Hir sexual potency is the creative and destructive urge of Chaos. To be touched by hir is to enter Da'ath, to know that you Are/Not, and to be changed.

SHe is WoMan girt with a sword and destroys the hive structure of society so that we may be born as individuals and gods. The distractions of workaholism, consumerism, and duty-to-hive bleed off sexual energy and tie you into a game that hinders personal evolution. You begin to live for your work, your things, and your children, but not for yourself.

You have been told that the spiritual and the physical are separate. Your body is that of Babylon, and no part of you is but of hir. Decry this division of self from self. The body is the soul. Sex is god.

Those who put their trust only in the rational and its ability to analyze and divide with categories and words, those who fear chaos, the unconscious and irrational power that is the root of integration, those who envy the Tao (archtypically feminine) sexuality of Being, and those who would prohibit the oldest means of women's' economic and social independence so that SHe remain weak, will continue to argue on the side of law and "morality".

They will talk about the breakdown of the nuclear family structure (which history implies was never that strong or productive for individual evolution to begin with).

They will talk about pornography and crime (between which there is no proven link).

They will talk about the degradation of women (while degrading them by not respecting their rights to choose for themselves their sexual, artistic, and career choices).

They will talk about disease. Dis-ease is a thing that often comes from within. A child once hurt may become an adult afraid of touch and intimacy; out of touch with hir emotions and body, and feeling unworthy of pleasure. The physical manifestations of repressed emotion (stress that weakens the immune system) are many and their solution is not fear.

One of the solutions may be an above ground tantric priestcraft functioning in the world that does not have to hide what it is and can operate without fear of authorities on the part of both seekers and clergy.

True healing comes not just through the mind, but through the body as well. In fact, change can be effected more quickly working from the chemical level.

A sacred prostitute knows how to prod evolution through psychodrama (taking on the godform of the seekers' anima/animus to facilitate integration, re-enactment of a critical event or idea in the seekers' evolution that needs adjustment, using role playing to create a time/space situational boundary within which the seeker has permission to expose parts of hirself not normally exposed, so that eventually the seeker feels safe being intimate with others in the outside world as SHe is, without shame).

SHe also instructs from the physical level. The kalas of many mixed in hir womb are a strong potion for breaking down body armor so that new ways of feeling and thinking can emerge, they are also a way for all who come to hir to connect sexually/emotionally/energetically with each other through hir, and they are seed for hir own magickal children and evolution.

The strength of this potion requires that the vessel (prostitute) holding it be balanced within hirself or it may not flow freely among herself and others. If any part remains too long in the cup without being used properly, there is a danger of poison (dis-ease) not just to hirself, but also to those unbalanced enough to be drawn to a poison cup.

Especially in the case of a biologically female prostitute, the connection with yang energies is important, and SHe should have skill and comfort with using them!

While the prostitute remains in dynamic balance with hirself and others, SHe is a connection point, a mirror for divinity to view itself. Touch hir and you touch the dancing multiverse.

Because of this power is SHe reviled, and the term "whore" made derogatory. For those who fear union, SHe is seen as a succubus draining strength, and indeed those who will not drink of hir will be weakened. Starving people amidst the Feast!

But for others SHe is nurture, love, the source of vitality. Wordless SHe takes the message of the Great Work to all-proclaiming through touch that every One is a star.

By hir example SHe teaches openness. Through hir, those who fear touch can touch many and learn to love and rejoice in their strength. SHe stands now outside our society as a link between it and those who have left it in search of the Unknown, and SHe gives light on that journey into the abyss.

Raven Greywalker

 

Sexual Tantra, Ego Death, and the Great Mother

The ancient Tantric sex yoga that originated some 5000 years ago in the area know known as India was and is a goddess-oriented spiritual practice. One of the dilemmas experienced by Tantric practitioners in seeking to attain a full realization of themselves through sex is that the Goddess is Daughter, Lover, Mother, and Crone. The dilemma comes in on the basis that if the Goddess is my Lover (whether I am male or female), how can she also be my Mother? In other words, since when is it Kosher to have sex with my Mother?

Partners who approach sexual union or self-pleasuring at a superficial level may never experience this conflict. Why? Sexual acts are essentially rebirthings involving an acceleration of the breath, amplification of energy, and so forth. They are primarily about the womb and mother, about the experience of conception and birth; and secondarily about sexual pleasure, procreation and so on. Sex is then an opportunity for profound healing of psychological and emotional trauma that leads many of us into painful separation, anxiety, alienation, discouragement and so on. If you remain at the superficial level of pleasure seeking so that the attention is not sacrificed into a greater intensity that dissolves conventional self/other (subject/object) boundaries, then this power of sex, which is love and a form of cosmic consciousness, is not experienced. A person can have what most people would consider "great sex" for fifty years and never realize this possibility.

The fundamental relationship is between mother and child. According to Canadian lama, Namgyal Rinpoche and several prominent psychologists - including the father of the primal scream, Arthur Janov - at least 90% of our basic life patterns develop in the womb and birth trauma. However, even granting this as a fact, which for some may be quite a stretch, that still doesn't handle the emotion laden problem of how it can be okay to fuck Mommy or be fucked by her?

The resolution is found in understanding the true nature of the Great Mother which, ultimately, is also the true nature of your genetic mother. While your genetic mother certainly had her own separate "real" physical existence, for you she is stored in your mind as a set of images, as a mythical symbol. You do not have "her" in your head, you have your "experience of her". Once you have grown into an adult, you leave your genetic mother, who is not a physical person but a presence; a universal ocean of pure light, energy, love, power, and blessings. Therefore, when you call on your Mother in Tantric sex, when you make love to or with or as your Mother, you do so in a relationship to the cosmic, universal Mother. No sin, then, is committed. In fact, it is this cosmic Mother that was your Mother before you were born and will take care of you after you die. Your genetic mother is simply a specialized hologram of her, designed personally for you for your personal evolution and eventual return to the cosmic consciousness.

Many identify the goddess Kali (Kali Ma, Mahakali) or a similar goddess (such as Vajrayogini in Tibetan Buddhism) to be the goddess of Tantric sex. She is described as wrathful, and images of Her include settings of terrible violence, especially to men. There is a contemporary poster of Kali from India that shows men, symbolizing the ignorance of ego and patriarchal domination, getting stabbed to death; their heads chopped off by topless women in grass skirts who then gather to dance wildly around giant blazing fires at midnight. Male body parts - heads, arms, and legs, all still bleeding - are strewn around like so many pebbles on a beach. The images are astonishing to modern sensibilities, yet the message is clear enough; Kali is the feminine force which ensures the female spiritual tradition which includes sacred sexuality. She is powerful enough - and quite willing - to utterly destroy any opposition including the delusion of conceptual/verbal separation from the primordial oneness source, whether this confusion occurs in a man or a woman.

Still, why does she have to be so wrathful, and how is it that such wrathfulness in intimately associated with the liberating effects of sexual energy? There are two aspects. First, when sexual energy is frustrated, it poisons the system. Anger develops, which is directed towards self and/or others. Second, the point is being made that a state of wildness or madness, in which the feminine principle is utterly elevated, must be achieved. In this mad delirium, the ego is dissolved. If liberating sexual activities are suppressed, then we end up with the kind of unhealthy, violent society that we live in now, which allows incredibly gross violence in movies and television, yet suppresses that visual portrayal of lovemaking. If erotic visual art was supported, then we would probably be able to develop a new erotic æsthetic that would supersede the negative aspects of pornography. Conventional pornography would still remain, but many would choose the more artistic alternative provided it was widely available and still a "turn on" ( and not just twisted self-therapy for disgruntled artists, as sex-positive Western art is rare... just try to find some for your bedroom!).

One other point we need to cover is the reality, indeed, the primacy, of pre-verbal experience. Some would call pre-verbal, "silence," but this denied its real truth, which is that silence is the potential out of which all sounds, including music and the sounds of nature, emerge. Speech, especially, and the sounds of lovemaking, emanate from this silence. This silence is continuous and always present. In one source, the cosmic Mother is described as "a luminous, golden, silent, glowing void, circular, like the shape of a spiral galaxy, only all-encompassing, the Source of the source." Whatever the means, when the human being discovers the movement towards emotional healing and life/spiritual wholeness accelerates at a profound rate.

Once Tantric sex is understood as union with the great Mother in her primordial moon and mode, then her grace quickly descends, bringing swift transformation and elevation to self-originating bliss and serenity not dependent on outer conditions (people, places, and things.) Thus, the cosmic womb Mother is the gateway, her yoni or vagina, is the door to oneness and total freedom. If you are not prepared to face death - ego death - as in the Kali pictures (whether you are male or female), then this level will not be opened up to you. If you are, then ecstasy beyond the mind is attained.

[NB: David Alan Ramsdale, M.A. is co-author of the best-selling book SEXUAL ENERGY ECSTASY: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO LOVEMAKING SECRETS OF THE EAST AND WEST (Bantam Books) available at your local bookstore or by ordering from Peak Skill, box 16010, San Diego CA 92176. If interested in his Tantric workshops, contact him at that address also. Please enclose a S.A.S.E when you write.]

Kiss The Sky: On Channeling Babalon

"The Brothers of A:. A:. are Women" - Aleister Crowley, The Book of Lies.

A NOTE ON GENDER AND SEXUALITY.

Though the terms "Scarlet Woman" and "Babalon" have traditionally referred to currents channeled exclusively by biological females, I find no compelling reason that this should be so, and believe that in our current state of psychological and spiritual evolution, our only limitations in what energies we are able to experience, explore, and embody are our own imaginations. Therefore, I have attempted to express the following ideas in gender-neutral terms. Where I have failed in this reflects only the limitations of my own imagination, and not the limitations of the human soul as it seeks itself. I hope that all readers, regardless of gender, will find here inspiration for their own creative paths.

THE PATH.

To walk the path of BABALON is to seek to allow oneself to experience existence as pure sensation, suspending value judgments of pleasure/pain, good/bad, attractive/repulsive by which we commonly limit and define our everyday human experience. To walk the path of BABALON is to seek to allow oneself to totally yield to sensations of pleasure and desire in encountering all facets of existence, without fear of dissolution of the "I". To walk the path of BABALON is to allow oneself the freedom of initiating passion - within others and within oneself.

Among the five faces of the goddess (Maiden-Nymph-Mother-Warrior-Crone), Babalon is Warrior. Babalon is that individual of power who is open and aware and in touch with hir magickal sexuality, yet is defined by no other individual, only by hir own Will to experience existence. S/he is that individual able to stand-in for the goddess in channeling the total unconditional love of the universe for all things in creation, regardless of perceived beauty or ugliness, attractiveness or repugnance, gender, age, or personal emotional reactions. Secure in hir self and in hir magickal power, one who walks the path of BABALON is free to be totally yielding to desire - the desires of others as well as hir own, yet retaining hir personal integrity, independence, and power.

Able to open hir heightened sensitivities to an awareness of existence as pure sensation, Babalon is the tantric adept with all the powers that this implies. Babalon functions as skryer, psychic medium, and oracular voice in the voicing of hir own dreamings of reality, and not those of another. As Warrior, one who walks the path of Babalon actively works for the positive transformation of culture and society in a role of leadership and through the application of courage, will, creativity, love, and above all, the Feminine Voice.

TECHNIQUES FOR ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER,

TECHNIQUES FOR ENCOUNTERING THE SELF.

a) "Take what they give." In each encounter in your daily life, take whatever the other gives you. If they are angry, accept that. If they are sad, let that pass into your consciousness. If they are sexually attracted to you, let that into your energy field as well. No matter what your personal reaction might normally be, whether fear, attraction, boredom, or repulsion, accept the individual before you without judgment. Absorb their energies into yourself through touching them lightly on the shoulder. Take their hand in yours and let essence flow from their eyes into your own. Radiate back to them both love and acceptance. Realize that this has nothing to do with your "personal" reactions, but is the channeling of Babalon as s/he touches the human sphere.

b) As an extension of the above, imagine having sex with everyone you encounter, whether attractive or not, whether old or young, regardless of gender, and ignoring traditional sexual taboos. Continue this practice until you are able to imagine such encounters without excitement, repulsion, guilt, shame, or fear. All such emotions having lost their power over you; you will have developed kindness and tolerance for others’ differences, for we love that best which is most like ourselves.

c) Dissolve ego-boundaries via the moment of "The Kiss." In that ineffable moment, the boundaries between oneself and the other blur. Prolong this moment until you feel an energy and awareness other than "yourself" move through you. Kiss a plant. Kiss an inanimate object such as a stone, a car, a pencil, your athame. Kiss an animal. Kiss another human being. In so doing, you will, for that moment of the kiss, merge your interior essences and learn something of the being of the other. Be warned that the other in turn will have taken away a part of you as well.

d) "Trading places." Using your imagination, stare into the eyes of another person until you have "become" that person, looking back at yourself who has thus become "the other". This can be very intense, even unsettling for both parties. When successful there is a flash of union with the other that is a flow of pure universal love, a reaching out and identification with them, as all love is union with that which we desire, that which we would absorb into ourselves. For the adventurous, try this with someone you don't like, or someone with whom you are angry.

e) "Mirror, mirror." Gaze at your reflection in a mirror until it is no longer familiar to you - until the face has become that of the other gazing back. Radiate kindness to that other in the mirror. Give it your acceptance. Let your love flow out to it and then return as it is again reflected back to you.

f) "Magickal Monogamy." When we seek the muse of inspiration via union with the other, we encounter this difficulty: The muse lies within us, not the other. No individual can therefore give us what we do not already possess within ourselves. Though, we may find in that first thrill of a new lover the spark which ignites the elusive inspiration which we seek - at least temporarily. Yet, if one persists in tantric practice with one given individual, there is a deepening of power as masks are shed. Rather than becoming familiar and boring, there is a point at which the lover becomes totally mysterious, totally OTHER - and thus a transcendent channel of creative magickal force.

ORGASM MAGICKS.

Orgasm is energy. Voluntary rhythmic movements of body and breath build energy patterns, inducing deep primal responses in body and psyche. At the moment of orgasm the sense of personal "I" enlarges its boundaries, merging with the life stream of the universe. The mind and body glow with a thousand pin-pricks of dancing energy and light. Orgasm creates a gate into other dimensions where the ordinary person merely loses consciousness of self, falling happily asleep, but the tantric adept rides the stream of orgasmic discharge into astral worlds where s/he accesses creative realities where the power to will a thing is enough to make it so.

a) "Breathing Orgasm." In your temple or shrine room, establish a breathing rhythm. Visualize the life force around you as brilliant dancing points of light. Breathe this light into your body. Allow yourself to experience the surrounding ocean of vibrating energy in which we constantly swim, and from which we derive our being. As the breathing rhythm becomes established, you will move deeper and deeper into a meditative state; your consciousness will calm, becoming lucid and clear. Experiment with each of the following practices until there arise distinct physical sensations, which indicate success:

>Imagine that you are breathing in and out, not through your nose or mouth, but through the bones of your legs; breathe through the bones of your arms.

>Breathe through the top of your skull, continuing until your mind expands, opening to the universe.

>Breathe through the pores of your skin, until your body feels cleansed; entirely alive and open to sensation.

>Breathe energy up from the base of your spine to the top of your skull. Breathe energy back down from your head to the base of your spine; your body becoming charged with energy and light as you breathe the energy current up and down your spine.

>Breathe energy up and out through the top of your head, then down and around your body, appearing as the brilliant blue of your protective aura, growing into the bright blue of the circle that encloses you within your sacred space; a circle that becomes brighter, more vital with each breath.

>Breathe through the seven vital centers of the chakras each in turn, awakening them to vibrate with living light.

b) "Body Orgasm: Tree of Night Tantric Exercise." In communion with the Angel of your Higher Self, bring yourself to orgasm - without anxiety and without guilt. Record your visions.

>Orgasm through the base of the spine -- Malkuth. Here we experience the power of tantric energy exchange; the power of distilling the transforming elixir as the semiochemicals of the sexual kalas pour forth from the body, and the Silver Rain of Nuit drops down from the stars.

>Orgasm through the center below the navel -- The Knot of Brahma. Here we connect with personal power, experiencing the Ch'i as tentacles of light; radiating, reaching out to objects of attention and desire. We are able to "see" ourselves and other humans as glowing luminous eggs, interconnected nodes of light, vortices of sentience that pulse with the rhythm of life.

>Orgasm through the navel -- Yesod. Here we experience the power of fascination and enchantment, of imagination kindled by desire; the power to create illusions, to create our own universe -- be it heaven, or be it hell. Here we experience the "juiciness" of life, its richness, and the sensuousness inherent in all that flows: emotions, rivers, blood.

>Orgasm through the diaphragm -- Veil of Paroketh/Knot of Vishnu. Here we find the power of speech in silence; the power of invisibility; the power of the shroud. Here we find the ability to enter outer dimensions via the cosmological black hole of interstellar space, which is matter collapsed upon itself by the power of internal attraction.

>Orgasm through the compassionate heart -- Tiphareth/The Crossroads. Here we find power of invisibility, the power of entering another's body, heart, and mind. Here we experience the reality of Self as nothing more than an Ego-less Void.

>Orgasm through the throat area -- Knot of Shiva/Daath/Entrance to "Universe B" and the Tunnels of Set. Here we experience the power of the shaman, of shape-shifting, the power of conscious transmutation of the primal cell. Here we touch and experience the combined male-female / female-male existent as nascent possibility within our own body of light. Here too, we realize past-present-future as existent in the Now.

>Orgasm through the third eye -- twin-petalled Binah / Chokmah at the center of the brow. Here we experience power to enter the Dream Time; to leave the body at will. Here is power to externalize, objectify, and universalize our internal, subjective, highly personal conception of reality. Here too, is power to utter the "birth words" of Master of the Temple.

>Orgasm through the crown of the head -- Kether/thousand-petalled Sahasrara Chakra -- raising kundalini up the spine, allowing consciousness to pour out through the top of the skull into the exploding universe, the ever-expanding shower of stars. Here we experience the light and energy of the Stars above as source of inspiration and spiritual sustenance, the seeding of our race; and access the power of trans-dimensional, interstellar time-travel.

>Orgasm through every bodily pore. Here we experience the interconnecting points of singing light that cover the living flesh; feel the vibrating nadis of the subtle body, tiny pricklings of light that are the blessings of the kalas of the stars as they rain down from transplutonian dimensions. Here we experience the universe alive with whirling, pulsing many-colored stars. Here we find the power of calling the Great Old Ones, timeless travelers, the gods who are ever-returning, spiraling from past and future into an eternally unfolding now.

TANTRA OF EARTH AND SKY.

With arms upraised, breathe in sun, moon, and stars. Reaching up to them, let their energy flow through you. Experience their benediction as a prolonged kiss.

Placing hands upon the earth (if indoors, the floor, yet visualizing earth), send streaming orgasmic energy into the all-accepting body of the earth. Experience the blessing of Hir all-embracing love as a profound opening of the heart into stillness, silence, peace.

Linda Falorio

THEE RITES OV THEE SYCKLE

First phase ov ritual cycle one

3 Coyotes (C25, C131 & C236) gathered at sunset on a beach at thee Sound... three days after thee NEW Moon...when it is passing from new to crescent..that is a syckle...after thee Sun set we watched thee descent ov thee waxing Moon...we shared food...and drummed until darkness approached...we discussed thee rite Coyote 131 had planned for thee evening (an Evocation ov KALI which Coyote 77 had shared with him a few y-eras before)...with a sacrificial syckle double dorjes were carved into thee sand...clubs were passed about by Coyote 25 and we commenced a banishing ritual to ward off curses and "drunk jocks"...an arc ov protection was drawn in thee sand which with thee curve ov thee water created a creasent mirroring thee Moon...we stripped to modest shorts...and began to recite a mantra:

SA kalaTA praBHAgamaNa

(capitalized syllables should be held twice length ov others and "a" is pronounced "a" as in about, not "a" as in rain)

"SHE is darkness coming into light!"

(which just happens to have thee same number ov syllables)

we chanted this mantra and variations therefrom...and drummed while thee fire burned high...and then waned...contemplating our own female sexual energy...in what ever form...a lover...out Shakti...

we were asked to concentrate on something that we wished remove from our lives...then one by one as we Willed we each stepped into thee salt water ov thee Sound...letting HER waters wash us...then we were held aloft by our brothers and laid upon thee sand...letting HER soil ground us...our brothers blew upon us ...letting HER breathe blow upon us..."you have been recieved into KALI'S lap, tell thee Dark Mother your woes and SHE shall take them from you...SHE shall wash them away, SHE shall burn them away, SHE shall bury them and blow them away..."

we concluded with thanks bowing to our own Yonis (female genatalia,in thee form ov a mudra)...and a banishing rite consisting ov a serious tickle session...

Every Coyote & Every Kali is a Coyote AND a Kali!

a mad l-ov-e from an empty land

Coyote 131

 

Invoking Alien as Kali now referred to as Ky-Ain

So I came to thee point where knowing Kali in my mind was not enough. No more cerebral manifestations. I chose now to know her in my body, to manifest thee great dark power into my life. It began with a dream. I dreamt ov thee birth ov Alien. I ran through thee street ov a post-apocalyptic ruined city; a common magickal dream landscape for me. People were screaming as flames were burning all around. I came upon a face I knew from long ago, and within her there was a twisted pain caused by thee creature within her wanting to be set free. We both screamed. We screamed from thee inevitable and thee fear ov thee unknown. I ran far. But ov course, once thee Aliens are here there is absolutely no place to go. Finally, all worn out from panic and fear, I glanced down at myself and beheld thee first bulges ov thee creature forming in my chest. So thee inevitable came to pass. Kali was born forth within my dreams.

That which arrives in my dreams sometimes takes a long time to settle down and unpack into my life. And guess what... In real life you don't wake up.

I felt her slowly creeping into my thoughts. I understood thee latent energy she effected upon my life. First, I used her in a ritual that lasted over a three month period. I brought myself up from thee Child to thee old Crone and after this I was reborn. I found unexpected power within me, but I also discovered unexpected results. Kali is NOT a benevolent goddess and her mutated sister Ky-Ain is even less so. "Thee joke is on you, dear sister," I began to hear whispered in my ear on torpid nights. I lived suddenly in a remake ov "Thee Night ov thee Living Dead" but instead ov corpses, I received flowers. Nonetheless, I had no power to control thee flooding and chaos, and I knew it would lead to no good end, so one day I shouted STOP! And it did with thee faint echoing ov my Goddess laughing; maybe giggling.

Time to go back to thee altar, months later; recovering but still confused about thee results ov thee last enterprise. I re-erected thee altar to Ky-Ain, careful this time; nothing else, just thee essence ov her. Can I know this goddess that does not exist, but that I have mutated like a virus in a laboratory? Is she mine, or have I released a power that may eventually destroy me? I am bound to know. I am determined to complete what I have started. At least, if I actively work with her I am able to have imput and stay in touch. If I let thee lines ov communication fall, then she will wreak havoc that I will no knowledge ov until it is too late.

Thee altar sits in front ov me. "Oh great Goddess, what sacrifices do you desire so that I may retain your power? Is it thee salt water ov Cthulu, or thee blood ov man that which you need?" I give her both; it is better to have all bases covered when dealing with thee unknown. So now I stand in front ov thee altar ready to accept whatever mysterious force you shall give me when I conjure you, not from thee planes ov Enoch ov thee Tree ov thee Jewish mystical Kabbalah, but from thee unknown fear and desires locked in my own mind. I find myself screaming, "Oh great Goddess, what is this agony you've bestowed upon me? I am your faithful servant, thee only one so devoted to your presence. What is this agony? Is this thee way I pay you, not thee blood ov my body but thee blood ov my mind, when all I ever really wanted was bliss? Then she speaks again, "Oh little one, that is what you desire. Why did you not say so in thee first place?" And then I am reborn. I pass though thee streets ov a war zone making love as bombs drop around me. Then I see thee real truth in her agony. There can be no joy without pain. It is thee mind that created these worlds, just as my mind created thee goddess. I do not live after that in eternal joy, but I have reached an understanding. Ky-Ain has given me what I desired above all else, an understanding ov my world and thee power to control myself within it.

Kali 122

Woman as Warrior and Priestess

When the cultures of Northwest Europe were tamed by the church, traditional laws were replaced by the law of the church in such matters as marriage and the rights and status of Women. Under both the Celtic and Norse law, Women had rights of inheritance, even of kingdoms, rights to community property in the case of divorce as well as the return of their own dowry intact, the right to initiate divorce on the same footing as men, and the right to divide the custody of children, taking the younger while the husband took the older. If the mother was of higher rank than the father, a child might take her name rather than his.

One of the perpetually recurring motifs in old European literature is the land of the Amazons, of Women warriors, self-willed and self-ruled, who lived apart from Men. The oldest accounts are Greek in origin, found in Homer and the various forms of the legend of the Argonauts.

It is not until we enter the world of Northern Europe, the Celts, and the Teutons; however, that we begin to sight the reality, for it is only in Northern Europe that reliable historical record catches up with legend, affording some degree of certainty.

The figure of the Queen, the Royal Woman, who, as both ruler in her own right and as a great warrior leading her people to battle, is almost a truism of Celtic literature; she is also a figure for whom there is an abundance of historical evidence. In the 10th century, the succession of the kingdom of the Picts in Scotland passed in the female line, from a King to his sister’s son.

There are those who believe that in any but the most immediate past, Women have been weak, cowed, submissive, feeble creatures, wilting violets. Let me contrast with that sweet passiveness, that oh-so-pre-Raphaelite self-enfeeblement, the reality of Celtic Womanhood at different periods.

Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes (who judging by their name probably worshipped a form of the Goddess Brigid), caused a revolt among her people when she put away her husband in favor of his armor bearer; the fact that there was a revolt shows that the action was unpopular, but the fact that she could do it at all, especially after the conquest by the definitely patriarchal Romans, demonstrates where sovereignty lay among the Brigantes. In addition, when Caractacus had been defeated by the Romans, it was to Cartimandua and not to her husband that he applied for refuge.

Just to the North of the Brigantes lived the Iceni, wise queen Boudicca or Boadicea is certainly the most famous figure in early British history. Her tragic story is aptly and accurately recounted in Rosemary Sutcliff’s novel Song for a Dark Queen. Suffice it here to say that she was queen in her own right, and when the Romans tried to disregard her place, publicly flogging her and raping her daughters in front of the tribe, the result was in an insurrection by all the Northern tribes that swept within an ace of driving the Romans out of Britain.

Allow me to quote Dio Cassius’s description of Boudicca on the eve of battle: "In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was powerful; a great mass of tawny hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden torc; and she wore a tunis of various colors over which a think mantle was fastened with a brooch..."

Ammianus Marcellinus describes the Gaullish Women of his day, 354-357 C.E., as follows: "...his wife , far more powerful than he, and with flashing eyes, especially when, swelling out her neck and gnashing her teeth, she brandishes her enormous snow-white arms and proceeds to let fly punches and kicks, just like catapults delivering volleys from their twisted cords."

Similarly in Wales, we read of "the majestic Lady Gwellian, mother of the Lord Rhys," that "in 1136 she lead her own army against the Normans at Kidwelly in Dyfed, seeing one of her sons killed, seeing another taken prisoner, before going down fighting herself, to be remembered still by the name of the battleground, Maes Gwenllian (Gwenllian’s field)."

It is such Women as this who formed the mobs of furious women characteristic of the history of Scotland, who for example, on 17 January 1689 dragged a curate, Mr. Milne, from Glasgow Cathedral, tore off his clothes, and "used him in such an indecent manner as not fit to be named: but it cost him his life."

Similarly, in St. Giles Church, on 23 July 1637, the Bishop of Edinburgh was attacked by a mob of women who threw a "creepy stool" at him, were driven out by force, and attempted to seize the Bishop when he left the church; the bishop was saved in the nick of time by the Earl of Roxburgh.

In 1652, a meeting of the Synod of Perth was broken up by a mob of 120 women with clubs, who beat the ministers severely, compelled the Synod clerk to resign, and took all their baggage and 12 horses as well.

Hardly shrinking violets, these.

Turning the clock back a millennium or more, and our eye a few miles West, we come to the Ireland described in the Red Branch Cycle, the Ireland of that great Queen Medb of Connaught, who herself commands her army, both planning strategy and leading it personally into battle, negotiates with her enemy the great Cu Chullain, and openly sleeps with men other than her husband King Ailil.

In the Tain, she is described as follows: "There came to me then a woman, tall, beautiful, pale and longfaced. She had flowing, golden-yellow hair. She wore a crimson, hooded cloak with a golden brooch over her breast. A straight spear blazed in her hand."

Her adversary Cu Chullain himself went to Scotland to be trained in arms by the great warrior-queen Scathach, who is likely none other that the Norse warrior Goddess Skadi, who contrasted a non-patrilocal marriage with the God Njord.

Cu Chullain also shares his legend with the Scottish warrior-queen Aoife, mother of his only son.

So significant was the place of women in warfare in the Gælic world that a law, the Law of St. Adamnan, was made in C.E. 697, forbidding the employment of women in any kind of military operation and imposing ferocious penalties on any who permit a violation.

As might be expected, cultures in which women had such a prominent social and political role were not lacking in priestesses or women’s cults. Much of what follows may be found in A Midsummer Eve’s Dream by Alec Derwent Hope (The Viking Press, 1970), a remarkable and almost unobtainable look at pagan survivals in Scotland into the 19th Century.

Strabo, the Roman geographer, quotes the earlier Greek Poseidonius as follows: "There is a small island not very far out to sea, situated off the shore of the Liger (Loiere) River; and the island is inhabited by women of the Samnitae, and they are possessed by Dionysos and make this God propitious by appeasing him with mystic initiations as well as other sacred performances, and no man sets foot on the island, although the women themselves, sailing from it have intercourse with the men and then return once again. And he (Poseidonius) says it is a custom of theirs once a year to unroof the temple and roof it again on the same day before sunset, each women bringing her load to add to the roof; but the woman whose load falls out of her arms is rent to pieces by the rest and they carry the pieces around the temple with the cry of Ev-ah and do not cease until their frenzy ceases."

Certainly the divinity in question was not Dionysos, but some Celtic divinity whose rites put Poseidonius in mind of the sacred frenzy of the Bacchantes.

Pomponius Mela, in the 1st Century C.E., wrote: "Sena in the Britannic Sea, off the Osismic shore [Pont du Roz] is the oracle of a Gaullish divinity whose priestesses, nine in number, are said to be sacred on account of their perpetual virginity. They are called Gallicenae and people think them endowed with extraordinary powers, able to rouse storms of wind and sea by chanting spells, and to be able to change themselves into animals at will, to be able to heal diseases which are elsewhere considered incurable and to know and foretell things to come. But they do not use these powers for any except those who have sailed on purpose to consult them."

Geoffrey of Monmouth, who wrote in the 12th Century, furnished a description of the Island of Avalon (the Apple-land), taken from a Sixth Century Welsh poet he refers to as Telgesinus, and who is probably Taliesin: "There nine sisters rule with kindly sway those who come to them from all parts of the world. She who is first among them is the more learned in the art of healing and excels her sisters in superlative beauty; Morgan is her name and she teaches the virtues of all herbs useful in restoring enfeebled bodies. To her also is known the art of changing shape and of cleaving through the air like Daedalus with newly-formed wings."

Hope points out the Eigg in the Hebrides was formerly called Eillan nan Banmore, Island of the Great Women, and cites accounts that in the 7th century it was ruled by a queen who ordered the massacre of St. Donnan and his company of monks who had tried to settle on her island; in some accounts actually attempting to build their monastery on consecrated pasturage. It is noteworthy that the Queen had to import men, described as pirates and sea-robbers, to extirpate the intrusive monks, suggesting that she herself had no male subjects, that the island in fact was a sacred women’s retreat, and that the monk had merited death simply by setting foot on its shores.

Also in the Hebrides is Eillan nan Ban, the Woman’s Island, off the coast of Iona. Other islands with related names include Lady Isle near Ayr, Maiden Island near Oban, and Inchcailloch, the Island of the Hag, in Loch Lomond.

An interesting survival of these cults may be seen in the famous convent of St. Brigid at Kildare, which seems to have taken over not only the cult site but the cult of the Goddess Brigid, and which was described in detail in 1188 by Giraldus Cambrensis as consisting of a group of 19 nuns (for which Hope suggests we read either as 9, or more likely 18, with Brigid herself as the 19th), who tended the Goddess’s perpetual fire. According to Giraldus, the sacred site was "surrounded by hedge of stakes and brushwood and a circle within which no male may enter...In this neighborhood there are some very beautiful meadows in which no plough is ever suffered to turn a furrow." He also cites a belief that divine vengeance will follow any man rash enough to violate the sacred precinct, and provides two graphic instances of such vengeance as having happened within then-recent years. He also mentions as Brigid’s bird a centuries old falcon, which was said to perch on the round tower.

It is likely that the great Cistercian abbey on Inishail (the Island of Rest) was a similar continuation of a pagan cult, since it is neighbor to Inis Fraoch, where Fraoch is said to have completed his quest for the Dragon-guarded rowan berries.

As to whether any of these women’s cults (or any of the many others we have not touched on here for lack of space) involved lesbianism: well, our sources are silent, but given the well known proclivities of Celtic men and the evident fact that in Pagan times the Celts had apparently yet to discover sexual guilt in any form, the answer is "Probably. Why not?"

Gabriel Carrillo

 

Confrontation with the Shadow

As there is no light without shadow, so we are compelled to recognize that there is a hidden dark element to our human natures which refuses to be evaded. Our world of today is suffering from an all pervasive schism wherein we find ourselves increasingly alienated and disconnected from our primal roots in Mother Earth. As a consequence of the exaggerated emphasis of the dogmatic Christian and post-Cartesian ethic upon goodness, purity, and generally the day time realm of sensible activities and rational mind structures, to the exclusion of its opposite poles - there has arisen a profound need to counterbalance this rigidly divided universe.

Thus, many contemporary witches and magicians are determined to explore the nocturnal, irrational, Dream-Time consciousness in order to integrate those other essential facets of their being. They attempt to reach such states through the practice of ceremonial rites and, in their Magick Circle, to enter the door to another dimension; that which is mysteriously interwoven with the ordinary reality. Shamanic traditions refer to similar procedures. Also, for the Celts there was no separation from this invisible 'otherworld' where all things were connected by the universal laws of correspondence.

What is particularly indicative of this 'darkness' in the popular mythology is the 'superstitious' fear of the so-called 'Devil'. Nowadays, most of the more enlightened witches are aware that this is none other than the horned god of fertility, known by various names - Cernunnos, Pan, and Dionysus of the old pagan religions. That notorious image which the Christians (of the established church) have conveniently invented in order to project upon it all that is considered 'evil' and contrary to the will of 'God'; this fallen part of the divinity has also been designated as Lucifer, that rebel angel who is actually the light-bringer. Bearing a special affinity with the planet Venus; (s)he it is whose sacred mission is to bring the glory of the stars into the hearts of Wo-men.

Occult teachers Rudolf Steiner and Edouard Shure have spoken about the necessary reconciliation of these two cosmic principles - Christ and Lucifer. To maintain one without the other leads to a dangerous imbalance. Our souls' task is to combine both of these energies if we are to develop to the essence of wisdom and understanding. An especially relevant function of this Luciferic intelligence is to shatter constricting taboos and to challenge our stagnant customs beyond their prescribed limits; in true iconoclastic style, to encourage an expression of all those bodily instincts which are usually condemned and incarcerated in the guilt and shame syndrome of social convention. In ancient Greece the deep truth was clearly grasped that society must provide a safety valve; an officially sanctioned outlet whereby all those impulses which are denied can be diverted into more liberating channels. An admirably healthy arrangement which should be introduced once again in the new age, if the seeds are now sown at a propitious moment! So this 'devil' declares, "And it harm none, do what thou wilt." Seduced by that wise serpent to taste the forbidden fruit and commit the ultimate sin of lust, we thereby attain to the revelation of love and knowledge.

Who is the dreaded beast which terrifies us in our wildest fantasies? What dire monster lurks behind the mask of civilized politeness and timid hypocritical pretensions? It is none other than our secret shadow-selves which have been for centuries stifled and enchained but have, nonetheless, not lost their fascinating power to haunt the imaginations of Wo-men. Whether we choose to acknowledge its presence or not, our dark shadow-self continues to exert its wild influence, causing chaos and panick - the pipes of Pan. Its suppression has produced an interminable amount of destructive behavior which can be witnessed by the collective outbreaks of insanity manifesting in the shape of cruel wars and oppression throughout the annals of recorded history. Human beings have always required a scapegoat upon which to unleash their accumulated negativity, fear, and envy - a stigmatized 'alien' who is responsible for all the abominable trouble in the world - Jews, Blacks, Communists. Most typical of all scapegoats being the lord Satan himself who is the personification of those divine natural appetites residing in the heart of each and every one of us. In this context, one could refer to numerous corroborative examples from the literature of psychology and esotericism (i.e. the works of Carl Jung, Starhawk, and Ursula LeGuin), which have also investigated this curious phenomenon in various guises.

Thus, our shadow-self should not be regarded as an enemy. We must consciously work with it and strive to integrate those potentially harmful forces into a more harmoniously balanced perspective. To confront that intangible fear and thereby to transform it, by a miraculous alchemical process, into the radiant gold of our deepest selves.

This is indeed the work of love; to heal the split - to discover that real beauty we must accept and embrace the beast within us.

Ruby Tuesday

 

 

[Coyote 131]

 

3 rites ov KALI worship:

___

in a graveyard...offer to that DARK MOTHER...a pubic hair

pulled out by thee ROOT...which is still wet with thee OV

...& SHE will grant thee TRUE DESIRE!

|OM NAMO MAKALYAI HUM||

"OM Homage to thee...DARK MOTHER. HUM!"

---

or:

worship her Peaceful Aspect...

set up a shrine to KALI...to feminine sex-magickal Energy...

to thee DARK MOTHER...to SHE, who destroys thee OLD and who gives birth

to thee NEW...to SHE, who creates out ov TIME...yet exists outside ov TIME

...to thee MOTHER who eats her own young...to SHE who is Every WOMAN...

who is thee MOTHER=LOVER=SISTER=DAUGHTER ov Every MAN...to that DARKNESS

from which we all CAME and to which we shall all GO...

...set up an altar...in a secure place which will not be disturbed...it need

not be big...[in a basement, closet or outside in an isolated spot is ideal]

sprinkle a handful ov dirt obatined from a fresh grave......upon it place

an image ov KALI...either one that you find or make...and it may be

a symbolic one...a red triangle with thee point down, a noose, an empty

bowl, a flower, or anything with which one identifies as a YONI [female

genitalia]...a stout candle [red=blood, white=OV, black=night]...an incense

burner...and sacrificial bowl[s] [if your KALI has manifested as a bowl

feel free to pour your offerings directly into her mouth <yoni>]...all ov

these can be household items...preferably ones that you have used yourself...

obtain a garland of prayer beads...one ov your own making is best...with 23

beads...thee beads may be mani beads [those little skulls from nepal] or

flowers...for KALI there is no distinction between a garland ov severed heads

and a garland ov flowers...

keep this shrine covered with a black clothe when one is not using it...

& on nights other than that ov thee NEW MOON...one may wish to Evoke HER...

by simply taking 23 minutes to chant this mantra once for each pray...

OM NAMO KALYAI HUM "OM Homage to thee...Dark Mother HUM!"

repeating as often as necessary...

but on thee Night ov thee NEW MOON is thee time for thee High Puja [worship]

light thee candle...

OM NAMO KALYAI HUM "OM Homage to thee...Dark Mother HUM!" 23xs

write upon a piece ov paper one's TRUE DESIRE...place it upon thee Altar...

<<<recite mantra 23xs>>>

take a cutting ov your hair and burn it as incense in thee incense burner...

<<<recite mantra 23xs>>>

offer wine [any red juice will suffice]

<<<recite mantra 23xs>>>

offer milk [ghee, yogurt, or soymilk will suffice]

<<<recite mantra 23xs>>>

offer honey [any sweet will suffice]

<<<recite mantra 23xs>>>

offer blood pouring it into thee wine [menstrual blood is preferable]

<<<recite mantra 23xs>>>

offer OV pouring [placing] it into thee milk

[one may use one or three bowls as one Wills,

what is of import is thee identification

ov thee WHITE with thee RED]

<<<recite mantra 23xs>>>

[thee offerings may be given in any order...seperated by mantra meditation]

light thee piece ov paper with thee DESIRE written upon it...

burn it in thee incense burner...sprinkling the ashes over thee liquids

hence to offered...invite KALI to eat...

OM MA KALI BALAYO BHUJY0 HUM

"OM O MOTHER ov thee DARKNESS, enjoy thee gifts HUM"

<<<recite mantra 23xs>>>

thank KALI

OM NAMO MAKALYAI HUM

"OM Praise Be to thee...Dark Mother HUM!"

<<<recite mantra 23xs>>>

bid HER to depart [for/from now/here]

OM MA KALI GAMYO HUM

"OM Depart, Mother ov TimE, Depart HUM!"

<<<recite mantra 23XS>>>

enjoy thee leftovers left by thee GODDESS...drink to your TRUE DESIRE

[if more than just one's own bodily fluids were used in this Puja...

it is important to realize thee RISK of HIV and other infections...

and so, one may prefer to anoint oneself with these leftovers upon thee

skin which is free ov open wounds]

|OM NAMO KALYAI HUM|| ["OM, HOMAGE TO THEE...DARK MOTHER, HUM!"] x23

---

or:

worship HER Wrathful Aspect...

this is an Aghori Tantra rite...a technique ov Empowerment through disgust...

choose an occasion in which one may be left undisturbed...during thee NEW MOON

...a weekend solo campout is ideal...but one may choose to simply lock

oneself in a room, closet, attic or basement...upon waking in the morning

ov thee appointed day...go about your normal routine...but do no personal

hygine...do not bathe, shave,wash your hands, comb your hair nor brush your

teeth...try to avoid having a bowel movement...save this pleasure until later

...at sunset go alone to your retreat...without a light, naked except for your

garland ov prayer beads [see above]...and a sacrifical bowl or two...

[while E suggest one night ov this AGHORI PUJA...thee description

this was taken from suggested doing this Puja nightly for a week

around thee NEW MOON...and it was for very pratical benefits...

so that thee individual might have financial success

in his business...nothing as esoteric as liberation]

I.

hold your garland in one hand and chant

while your other hand lightly caress the area between your anus & genitals...

thee ROOT ov BEing...

chant AH 23x23

then, lightly caress your genitals...thee Source ov L-if-E...

chant HUM 23x23

then, lightly caress your belly button...thee Connection to thee MOTHER...

chant OM 23x23

then, lightly caress your solarplex...thee seat ov thee heart...

wherein SHE dances...

chant HRIM 23x23

[for 23 entire rosaries for each syllable]

II.

then, touch your left eye chanting...COME, DARK MOTHER[MAKALI], COME!

then, touch your right eye chanting..." " " "

then, touch your left ear chanting... " " " "

then, touch your right ear chanting..." " " "

then, touch your nose chanting... " " " "

then, touch your mouth chanting... " " " "

then, touch your genitals chanting... " " " "

then, touch your anus chanting... " " " "

[for 23 entire rosaries for each Evocation]

III.

offer to HER your golden exilir [urine] and your inner most darkness [shit]

enjoy thee leftovers

[since there is a serious possibility ov contracting

parasites from eating and drinking your own excrement]

simply annointing yourself with these will suffice...

[repeat any ov these sections all ov thee Night...

and SHE [or one ov HER dakinis] WILL COME with a gift...]

BUT DO NOT SLEEP, for if SHE comes while you are lax

HER Wrath will be immense!

in thee morning, clean thee space and bathe...and live life as one REborn...

___

 

of course, for those inclined one may wish to do a banishing ritual for

one's own Psychick benefit...these 3 Rites are not for everyone...

one may perform one or all ov them in any order...

but document any manifestations, visitations, visions, dreams, etc.,

as well as where/when these rites are performed...

each involves a certain amount ov Tabu breaking...

which will show one's limits and how to transcend them...

MA BHAIH.

coyote 131

23iv1993