Dana Varahi

One of the driving forces in my life is the philosophy of abstract, “out of the box” thinking, and lately that has focused on the recent technological jump in the form of 3-D printing and its potential use in the creation of a 3 dimensional sigil.

Naturally, what interests me is whether a 3-D sigil would actually perform more measurable work than a standard 2-D sigil? My instinctual logic posits that it should. Take for example the 3-D printed representation of a sound file (in the image above) that can be played back using an app by Reify.

Consider a complex desire with multiple nuances and/or caveats that, if 2-D encoded, might grow into a sprawling drawing that would be difficult to internalize and send into the unconscious. But encoded in 3 dimensions it would surely allow for a more texturally intricate information architecture, containing multiple layers of potential data.

The software may not have appeared on the scene yet, but programs akin to a 3-D Adobe Illustrator do exist. Combined with some experimentation on the part of those within the community with the flair and access to the printing tech, a 3-D Symbolic Language can be developed. If so, we might be looking at a new chapter in practical Chaos Magick work.

One of the protocols in my sigil work has always been to consider how a thing can manifest and plan out the sigil accordingly. When imagining a 3-D sigil for (let’s say) a new job to come your way, detailed information on, for example, possible avenues of manifestation, or multiple opportunity time-frames can be included, thus increasing your chances of success. Even if modifications to the time spent creating and internalizing that sigil would have to be made to allow for the higher volume of data to be taken inside of us, the potential pay off would likely be well worth it.

Magick is like steam-heating the wood of the universe, to bend it ever so gently to our will. With 3-D printed sigils we could be bending the universe on multiple levels with ever more complex data to be fired beyond the psychic censor and into the unconsciousness.

~ MR

Taking care of them has a strong spiritual meaning for us. Sparrows were associated with household spirits and we definitely feel this way about them. Can there be a greater sign of appreciation from them than choosing our garden for their chicks!

This is supposed to happen the first time Persephone is back to the Underworld….so I went and made a sequel for a comic that hasn’t even happened yet. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey….

Did I regret anything? No. No I don’t. 

He kidnapped her

Against her will

Thanks fo her father after her father raped her

She starved herself to get out of his place

Life and Death, the balance between them and the changes they cause, and the origin and meaning of the seasons cycle, on the other hand, are the real points. 

Thanks for also persisting in the idea of Persephone as a passive figure. Kidnapped, raped, silenced, with no saying or power over anything (except for maybe starved herself because there are so many different versions of this myth that it’s difficult to keep track of them, did you know that apparently there is a version where she and Hades plot together?)

Thanks for also forgetting that she’s a goddess on her own and becomes Queen and Hades’ equal and actually they’re most stable marriages in the myths. 

The confusion comes from “Zeus” which is almost a title for a supreme god (think of the way “Caesar” was used). So you have Heavenly Zeus and Infernal Zeus, and they are not the same god but rather the supreme ruler of the sky and underworld, respectively. Likewise Persephone became known as “Infernal Hera” and this naming scheme persisted well into the Roman Empire, where Pluto and Proserpina are referred to as “Infernal Juno” and “Jupiter of Dis” in Book 6 of the Aeneid as well as on many grave monuments and in spells.

Moreover, gods don’t need to eat. Persephone refusing to eat was her refusing to become a part of the Underworld, not her attempting to starve herself. The gods are defined as being deathless, and in Ancient Greek “deathless” is synonymous with “god”. (Cf. Theogony, Works and Days, any of the Homeric Hymns, etc.) The Homeric Hymn to Demeter is really clear about this. (HH 2 370-4, 393-403.)

The marriage of Persephone and Hades is actually the most loving and consensual union among the Olympian deities. Hades first offers a dowry designed specifically to please Persephone (HH 2 10-14.), then carries her off and keeps her as a guest of honour in his house. (HH 2 341-345) Persephone is referred to as αἰδοίῃ παρακοίτι - his reverent wife. “Reverent” here refers to a respect for one’s duty, and the similarity between the pronunciation of αἰδοῖος an “Hades” is deliberate and intended to show how well-matched they are. Persephone misses her mother, yes, but is not overly upset about her marriage to Hades. Even Anchises expresses more regret over his union with Aphrodite. (HH 5 185-190.) Finally, as a proper parent, Demeter is rewarded for giving up her daughter, and offers a gift to the other gods in turn. (HH 2 441-495.)

Some interesting dream work and synchronicities happening on the Thunderbirds and Red Kites thread over on kiamagic.com

[Picture: Anasyromenos statuette, ancient Roman in origin. Artist unknown.]

Aphroditus was a deity whose worship originated in Cyprus - specifically the city of Amathus - and eventually spread to Athens. Often described as a ‘male’ Aphrodite or Venus, the deity is actually supposed to be a fusion of both male and female, in a capacity that produced new divine power.

Statues in the pose above - άνασυρόμενος (anasyromenos) - are copying a gesture said to have apotropaic qualities, which deflected misfortune and could bestow good luck.

Macrobius, a writer in 5th century Rome, spoke of Aphroditus’ worship in his book, the Saturnalia:

There’s also a statue of Venus on Cyprus, that’s bearded, shaped and dressed like a woman, with scepter and male genitals, and they conceive her as both male and female. Aristophanes calls her Aphroditus, and Laevius says: Worshiping, then, the nurturing god Venus, whether she is male or female, just as the Moon is a nurturing goddess. In his Atthis Philochorus, too, states that she is the Moon and that men sacrifice to her in women’s dress, women in men’s, because she is held to be both male and female.

"When I was young there were beatniks. Hippies. Punks. Gangsters. Now you’re a hacktivist. Which I would probably be if I was 20. Shuttin’ down MasterCard. But there’s no look to that lifestyle! Besides just wearing a bad outfit with bad posture. Has WikiLeaks caused a look? No! I’m mad about that. If your kid comes out of the bedroom and says he just shut down the government, it seems to me he should at least have an outfit for that."

And it has another advantage to. Look what the spectacle did to the Hippies. Look what it did to the Punks. The Goths. The Rockers. The Bikers. The Rappers. And what it has done to pretty much any subculture that adopted some kind of ‘style’.

Banned TED Talk: Nick Hanauer “Rich people don’t create jobs”

Published on May 17, 2012