An irregular hodgepodge of links beyond the library curated together from @OmniumGatherum at Hrmtc I∴O∴ and more … Omnium Gatherum for June 29, 2022.

Here’s a selection of notable things I’ve recently found that you may also be interested in checking out:

• Let me preface this by saying that Rowling can absolutely suck it. But, not for nothing, the Wizard Rock band nonpareil Harry and the Potters is celebrating 20 years with all their albums on Bandcamp currently PWYW, or $1/ea to add to your collection. Plus all their merch is 50% off, while it lasts
• We Organize to Change Everything: Fighting for Abortion Access and Reproductive Justice, eds Natalie Adler, Marian Jones, Jessie Kindig, Elizabeth Navarro, and Anne Rumberger—”An urgent collection on losing Roe v. Wade, struggling to provide abortion across the Americas, and how we can rebuild a fighting movement for reproductive justice.” Free ebook.
• “2022 Portland Horror Film Festival, June 29th – July 3rd at the Hollywood Theatre & Clinton St. Theater, or stream from home!”
• “Weiser Antiquarian Books Catalogue No. 272 Hermetica & Mysticism is now on-line.”
• “When a Baby Becomes a Person in the Asatru Religion“—”In modern Asatru we typically do the baby naming ritual at 5 days old. By then, the baby is already born, the baby already has breath, and has already had food and water. None of those things are the things that determine when a baby is accepted as part of the community and accorded personhood. It is having a name.”
• “Why I’m a Shameless Sophist“—”how does doing this for a living affect our relationship to philosophy?” “But in the meantime, two cheers for professionalization! It allows those of us who are not aristocrats or likely to be employed thereby to do this thing we love full time. And it has given me a healthier attitude to my work than I might have otherwise had.”
• “Thor, Odin, and the High Cost of Fundamentalism“—”How many of our modern problems are caused by people being raised to read religious texts literally? I think about this question often.”
• “How Jack Parsons and the Suicide Squad Created a ‘New Paradigm in Rocketry’“—”Jack Parsons and Caltech’s Frank Malina played key roles in launching JPL and the American rocketry program, but federal investigations dismantled their careers and robbed them of the credit they deserve.”
• “A tarot deck featuring an Indian drag artist combines two transcendental art forms“—Drawing parallels between the ambiguous natures of tarot and drag, Imphal-based drag artist Yaikhom Sushiel and model Namita Sunil creatively illustrate their spiritual expression
• “The Hieronymus Bosch Tarot“—”The Hieronymus Bosch Tarot is a breathtaking 78-card Tarot deck that utilizes artwork from 15th Century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch’s actual paintings.” “Bosch isn’t alive to tell us, so I carefully searched through all of his paintings to find clues and repeating esoteric symbols. This led to the creation of an entirely new paradigm in the Tarot, with radical changes not seen since Aleister Crowley’s Book of Thoth.”
• The Devil’s Dozen: Thirteen Craft Rites of The Old One, Expanded Edition by Gemma Gary. Now available in paperback.
• “Mormon No More“—”What does it mean to live authentically? And what does that mean if you’re a 30-something married Mormon mom who’s just discovered she’s gay and in love with her female friend…another Mormon mom?”
• Luda by Grant Morrison, due September 2022—”A drag queen initiates her protégée into the magical arts in this phantasmagoric epic, the first novel from the legendary comics writer and New York Times bestselling author.”
• Coven by Jennifer Dugan and Kit Seaton, due September 2022—”In this queer, paranormal YA graphic novel debut from the author of Some Girls Do and the illustrator of Wonder Woman: Warbringer, a young witch races to solve the grisly supernatural murders of her coven members before the killer strikes again.”
• “Essential Texts for Activist Witches“—”Basically, if you’re queer, trans, and/or have a uterus, the Far Right is coming for you. As a gay individual, I am nauseated AF at the moment. But I also practice Witchcraft, which is historically an instrument of the marginalized and oppressed. If you’re a Witch, you have access to that instrument as well. And now is the time to start wielding it.” Includes Aradia: Gospel of the Witches by Charles Godfrey Leland, Magic for the Resistance: Rituals and Spells for Change by Michael M Hughes, The New Aradia: A Witch’s Handbook to Magical Resistance by Laura Tempest Zakroff, and Revolutionary Witchcraft: A Guide to Magical Activism by Sarah Lyons.
• “METRONOMICON – Trailer“—”Приобрести артбук по вселенной METRONOMICON можно на Ozon:” Ozon (You can buy an artbook on the METRONOMICON universe on Ozon:)
• Gang Politics: Revolution, Repression, and Crime [Amazon] by Kristian Williams, introduction by Robert Evans—”Demystifying forces of the state, gangs, and revolutionary violence.”
• “8 (Supposedly) Cursed Books” About Cursed Objects: Strange but True Stories of the World’s Most Infamous Items by J W Ocker—”2. The Book of Soyga … We know about it only because it was once owned by John Dee”. Mentions The Queen’s Conjuror: The Life and Magic of Dr. Dee by Benjamin Woolley. This is, of course, Hermetic Library Figure John Dee. Also “3. The Book of Abramelin …owes its current notoriety to the 19th- and 20th-century magicians who made up the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. One of the Order’s founders, S.L.M. Mathers, created the book’s first English translation in the 1890s, working from a 1750 French version.” See Golden Dawn and Mathers. Also “The Book of Abramelin—or simply ‘the Abramelin’,’ as it’s known in the magic community—became a key text of modern occultism, supposedly helping to inspire Aleister Crowley’s system of ‘magick.'” I’m not sure I’ve heard anyone call it “the Abramelin” tbh, so not sure where that came from. But, there’s mention of Aleister Crowley and The Book of Abramelin and also search for “Abramelin“.
• “A belief in meritocracy is not only false: it’s bad for you.” About Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy by Robert H Frank—”From New York Times bestselling author and economics columnist Robert Frank, a compelling book that explains why the rich underestimate the importance of luck in their success, why that hurts everyone, and what we can do about it.”
• “Thinking Like a Scientist Will Make You Happier. Physicist Jim Al-Khalili explains how to get out from under the cloud of misinformation.” About The Joy of Science by Jim Al-Khalili.
• “‘We all keep the same kinds of secrets’: An expert on what our secrets mean and why we carry them. Salon talks to the author of ‘The Secret Life of Secrets’ about what we’re all hiding from each other, and why.” About The Secret Life of Secrets: How Our Inner Worlds Shape Well-Being, Relationships, and Who We Are by Michael Slepian.
• “A Wheel of Small Gods & The Oracle of Decans, Poems by Brian Wilkins, Art by Brennen Reece, Reservations open on July 1 2022, at 2 p.m. PDT”—”In A Wheel of Small Gods, Brian Wilkins and Brennen Reece offer a guide to reintroducing ritual healing by engaging with the 36 decan spirits of the Egyptian zodiac.” “We created The Oracle of Decans—amulets, a deck of divination, and icons for your altar—as a portable temple.”
• The Devil’s Dozen: Thirteen Craft Rites of The Old One, Expanded Edition by Gemma Gary. Now available in paperback.
• “Do Birds Dream About Their Own Birdsong?.” From When Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness by David M. Peña-Guzmán—”A spellbinding look at the philosophical and moral implications of animal dreaming.”
• Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism-and What Comes Next by Bradley Onishi, due January 2023—”Onishi pulls back the curtain on a subculture that birthed a movement and has taken a dangerous turn.”
• “Urine-derived Stem Cells May Prove Therapeutic for Kidney Failure“—”In the urine-derived stem cell treated model, researchers saw a protective effect on the nephrons – the individual working units of the kidney – and reduced scaring and inflammatory response which significantly improved kidney function.”
• “NASA’s The Color of Space Documentary Celebrates Black Space Explorers.” Also watch “The Color of Space (Official NASA Trailer).”
• “Giant Bacteria Found in Guadeloupe Mangroves Challenge Traditional Concepts. Though visible to the naked eye, microscopy reveals unexpected complexity.” “It’s 5,000 times bigger than most bacteria. To put it into context, it would be like a human encountering another human as tall as Mount Everest”
• “Teeth from royal cattle herds of Ur shed light on ancient life – study“—”The study provided groundbreaking insights into the economy, health and diet of ancient Mesopotamia during a period of urbanization as cities and states began to crop up across the region.”
• “Cities of the future may be built with algae-grown limestone“—”Global cement production accounts for 7% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in large part through the burning of quarried limestone. Now, a CU Boulder-led research team has figured out a way to make cement production carbon neutral—and even carbon negative—by pulling carbon dioxide out of the air with the help of microalgae.”
• “Fossil-finding ants amass huge haul of ancient creatures. Paleontologists have just discovered 10 new species of ancient mammal thanks to the tiny mound-building insects.”
• “Amazon has a plan to make Alexa mimic anyone’s voice“—”Amazon.com Inc wants to give customers the chance to make Alexa, the company’s voice assistant, sound just like their grandmother — or anyone else.” Tweet—”I imagine some of you are looking at this and rolling your eyes like “Ian’s on his bullshit again about something harmless” but I want to highlight one problem among many for you to consider: at no point does incorporating someone’s voice as your Alexa require their consent.” Tweet—”What stage of capitalism is waking up to your dead mother’s voice informing you there’s an Amazon flash sale on the erectile dysfunction medication your toaster overheard you muttering about needing?”
• “Open-source language AI challenges big tech’s models. BLOOM aims to address the biases that machine-learning systems inherit from the texts they train on.”
• “AOC on Roe: Democrats Can’t Just Fundraise Off the Decision, They Have to Act. ‘We simply cannot make promises, hector people to vote, and then refuse to use our full power when they do.'”
• “Synagogue Sues Florida, Saying Abortion Restrictions Violate Religious Freedoms. A South Florida congregation said that under Jewish law, abortion “is required if necessary to protect the health, mental or physical well-being” of a pregnant woman.”
• “‘Roe Is on the Ballot,’ Biden Says. President decries Supreme Court’s reversal of abortion rights and urges voters to act.” Saying the quiet part out loud: they wanted to preserve it as a voting issue, and that’s why nothing’s been done in 50 years to codify RvW all this time. Actually doing something wouldn’t provide a motivation lever to get people to the pools or opportunity for urgent fundraising. How’s that working out for you, for everyone, really?
• “The Complete Talisman Collection Game Bundle. Delve into the legendary board game digitally. Discover nigh-endless adventure in the classic fantasy board game Talisman! This complete collection features the officially licensed digital PC edition of the iconic original, the solo-play focused Origins, plus every digital expansion, character DLC, and add-on available.” Bundle with 7 days to go …
• Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes—”Kato goes back to his apartment above the cafe after finishing up work for the day. When he is about to play his guitar, Kato himself suddenly appears on his TV screen and begins speaking. ‘I’m the future me. Two minutes in the future.'” Truly, you might think the premise would wear off quickly, but the whole thing is engaging. Plus, stay watching for the behind the scenes mixed in with the credits.
• “Evil SCOTUS“—”I SUMMON THEE, BEELZEBUB… THE DARK LORD OF TWO-POINT CONVERSIONS AND ONSIDE KICKS… RISE!…”

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