Well, I’ll keep telling myself that’s okay, anyway!

With the insanity going on on birdsite of late, a lot of people have been newly making their way to the ‘verse, as an alternate lifeboat or just simply moving for real kit and kaboodle, and a lot of those directly on some Mastodon instance. Followers of the main library profile at Hrmtc I∴O∴ has definitely been increasing, all the way to over 175 this morning. Hey, it’s slow, for sure, but it’s something! And, every follower means that the reach of Hermetic Library extends to whatever instance they are on, so potentially tons of other people not following are also seeing things too. I mean, people seeing things I post is a wild improvement over no one seeing anything, right?!

This week’s generative art experiment is text and seal prompts for Ipos in Goetia, and text and image hint for The Universe tarot card as if by Sarah Paxton Ball Dodson. I’ve got a bunch of 4-up grids here linked to the threads on the library’s social if you want to see them all, being individually posted until done. I try out a new rendering engine version that MidJourney is testing. I also go a little meta thinking about what kind of -mancy all this might be.

Plus a new shelfie, almanac, propaganda, a meme, zine, updates, quotes, reviews, and more!

And, as always, I worked on various other things on website, blog, and more … Enjoy!

Followers in the ‘verse

Over on the main library account in the ‘verse, I’ve passed 93 …

then 111 …

124 …

156 …

and, over night, 175!

It’s still way slower than growth on any of the other platforms went, but that’s okay. Well, I’ll keep telling myself that’s okay, anyway!

Shelfie

Here’s a shelfie of one bookshelf in the reading room! Recognize anything? Yeah, there’s obscured second rows here and elsewhere, I’m afraid. I have too many?!

Here's a rather old now picture of the Hermetic Library Reading Room with more shelving showing.

MidJourney & DALL-E

I generated art based on text description and seal image prompts from Goetia this week for Ipos.

(22.) Ipos.—The Twenty-second Spirit is Ipos. He is an Earl, and a Mighty Prince, and eppeareth in the form of an Angel with a Lion’s Head, and a Goose’s Foot, and Hare’s Tail. He knoweth all things Past, Present and to Come. He maketh men witty and bold. He governeth 36 Legions of Spirits. His Seal is this, which thou shalt wear, etc.

Starting the thread on Tuesday, I’m working through the results. Here’s 4up grids of the low resolution versions that I got using a combo of text description and seal image, from which I upscaled images to post.

And here a set using only the seal image as a prompt.

I also found out this week that there's a new MidJourney rendering engine available for testing, so here's a 4up grid where I tried using the exact same Ipos text prompt alone and got very different results!

And here’s a grid of results from just the text description using DALL-E.

Then, for the Thursday tarot thread, I started posting upscaled results for The Universe card as if by Sarah Paxton Ball Dodson.

Find out more about Sarah Paxton Ball Dodson and for the image prompt I tried using her The Morning Stars.

Here’s the grids from MidJourney using a mix of text description with and without the image prompt.

And here’s a 4up grid with results using just the text description with MidJourney’s in-testing new rendering engine.

And, a set of results using just the text description with DALL-E.

And, with that I’ve created entries in Hermeneuticon for Ipos and The Universe.

Now, one more thing: I come to a question that came up for me this week. What kind of -mancy is this that I’m doing here anyway? It’s kinda bibliomancy, because I’m starting with the text descriptions. It’s kinda like iconomancy, because I’m finding meaning from the images. It’s kinda like scrying. It’s kinda like Enochian vision magick.

My mind keeps wanting to call this project iconomancy, maybe in part because I miss my old Iconomancy tumblog, but that's not right, is it? Kinda like scrying, in a way, this generating images just to see what happens, based on an esoteric query.

What method of divination is this, do you think?

Yes, I hear you. It’s also generally a kind of technomancy. I don't disagree, but I think "technomancy" feels like it is a broader category. But I also think there's a more specific term, or should be, for using image generation tool based on an esoteric query to see what comes up. That's why I keep coming back to iconomancy, except that I usually think of the image coming first there, and then interpreted, instead of generating an image based on an interpretation.

However, the first person that suggests "cybermancy" gets unsubscribed from this newsletter. j/k (or am I?). But, I've got a Blockbuster card around here somewhere for you. Rent The Lawnmower Man. I have less of an allergy to "techno-" than I do "cyber-", apparently.

E Goetia?

And therein I make myself think of it as a kind techno version of automatic drawing. I don't think there's a generally accepted 'mancy' for automatic drawing, at least not one that comes to mind. There's Surrealist "automatism" … and out pops technoautoiconomancy or something. Blarg. If that's it, no, nope, back to technomancy!

Technomantic iconomancy?

Bibliomantic technomancy?

I also put this to MidJourney’s new rendering engine a couple ways.

Almanac

Here’s upcoming calendar and astronomical events, plus the daily Thelemic Tephilah practice for the coming week, November 11–November 18.

Calendar

Follow Calendar on the web, email, rss, and in the ‘verse. And, if you have a current or upcoming event to share, add it to the Hermetic Library Calendar!

• Feast of Osiris, November 13, Isis Grieves the Loss of Osiris
• Greater Feast of John Balance, Jhonn Balance, Geoffrey Nigel Laurence Rushton, died November 13, 2004 at London, England
• Greater Feast of Jacob Boehme, died November 17, 1624 at Görlitz, Germany
• First Initiation of Aleister Crowley, November 18, 1898 at London, England
• Greater Feast of Adam Weishaupt, died November 18, 1830 at Gotha, Germany

And, check out this upcoming events posted to the Calendar blog.

• Truth & Myths — Nov 7–18, 2022, London, UK
• Yeats Impact on Irish Folklore A Critical Look at Yeats Material — Dec 11, 2022, Online
• Victor Neuburg, Magical Writer – Dec 8, 2022, London, UK and online

Astronomical

• Possible showing of Taurids meteor shower, Nov 11–12
• Moon at apogee, Nov 14
• Third quarter moon, Nov 16
• Leonids meteor shower, Nov 17–18

Thelemic Tephilah

Follow Thelemic Tephilah on the web, rss, and in the ‘verse.

• Thelemic Tephilah, November 11, Nuit, Liber L., Cap. I, 1-2
• Thelemic Tephilah, November 12, Nuit, Liber L., Cap. I, 3-4
• Thelemic Tephilah, November 13, Nuit, Liber L., Cap. I, 5-6
• Thelemic Tephilah, November 14, Nuit, Liber L., Cap. I, 7-9
• Thelemic Tephilah, November 15, Nuit, Liber L., Cap. I, 10-11
• Thelemic Tephilah, November 16, Nuit, Liber L., Cap. I, 12-14
• Thelemic Tephilah, November 17, Nuit, Liber L., Cap. I, 15-17
• Thelemic Tephilah, November 18, Nuit, Liber L., Cap. I, 18-19

Zine

Follow Zine on the web, email, rss, and in the ‘verse. And, if you something you’ve created to share, send it in to the Hermetic Library Zine!

• In the middle they meet Α not knowing Ω Beginning nor End from The Headflux Chronicles, Book 1, by Will Lorimer
• Everything is connected by Ashley Costello
• Urban Renewal Group by Jan Shaw

Things to check out at Hermetic Library

• Added new tales for the month from Jürgen Hubert, inlcuding The Rejected Cake, Caraway Bread, The Hollowed-Out Bread.
• Updated the Unicursal TAKE YOUR FILL OF LOVE Propaganda page.
• Updated the pages for Liber Astarté vel Liber Berylli sub figura CLXXV and Liber CLVIII The Soldier and The Hunchback ! and ? in the Technical Books of Aleister Crowley.
• Updated THE TRAINING OF THE MIND in The Equinox I v.

And on the blog

• The Brotherhood of Satan—Hermetic Library Fellow T Polyphilus reviews The Brotherhood of Satan [Amazon, Amazon Video, Abebooks, Local Library] by L Q Jones.
• I am not so foolish as to think that my doctrine can ever gain the ear of the world. I expect that ten centuries hence the “nominal Crowleians” will be as pestilent and numerous a body as the “nominal Christians” are to-day; for (at present) I have been able to devise no mechanism for excluding them.—Aleister Crowley, Liber CLVIII The Soldier and The Hunchback ! and ? [Blog]
• Omnium Gatherum: 9nov2022—An irregular hodgepodge of links beyond the library curated together from @OmniumGatherum at Hrmtc I∴O∴ and more. Until this post becomes public in a year, to view this content on the blog, you must be a member of Hermetic Library’s Patreon. However, you can follow the raw feed (drink directly from the firehose!) by heading to @OmniumGatherum at Hrmtc I∴O∴ and participate with likes, boosts, and comments to help curate the best stuff for everyone!
• Unearthing Seeds of Fire—Hermetic Library Fellow T Polyphilus reviews Unearthing Seeds of Fire: The Idea of Highlander [Amazon, Bookshop, Local Library] by Frank Adams with Myles Horton.
• Moreover, “a secret lodge is then created”—the Lodge of the Philadelphes—who decide to turn their backs on esoteric folly and commit themselves, in a Masonic setting, to the happiness of man—Terry Melanson, Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Bavarian Order of the Illuminati [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] [Blog]
• Apocalypse of the Alien God—Hermetic Library Fellow T Polyphilus reviews Apocalypse of the Alien God: Platonism and the Exile of Sethian Gnosticism [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Dylan M. Burns, part of the Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion series.
• He was crying in despair. Then he spoke aloud, to himself, in English. “Who are you?” he said. “And where do you belong?” His own body stared back at him; but he could not recognize it as his own. It was alien, and frightening.—Walter Tevis, The Man Who Fell to Earth [Amazon, Local Library] [Blog]
• Welcome to Lovecraft—Hermetic Library Fellow T Polyphlius reviews Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, & al., introduction by Robert Crais, book 1 of the Locke & Key series.