banging my head against the wall for a while, as one does

This week I continued to work on new server Crocell, and decommissioned servers Abraxas and Furcas. I added the first chapter of St Irvyne, a Rosicrucian themed novel, by Figure Shelley and started adding The House of the Vampire by Figure Viereck. And, I’ve been working with someone on a cover for pretty PDF version of the recent zine issue, so there’s a sneak peek at the current draft WIP front and back.

Plus the usual weekly stuff like almanac, propaganda, meme, calendar, zine, updates, quotes, reviews, and more!

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

Crocell

Work from last week on consolidating servers continued. I was able to consolidate to Crocell everything from Abraxas and Furcas, after quite a bit of struggle. Then I decommissioned those latter two. That’s a big bit of the work to help economize. I’m not sure how much more I can do to reduce the bills, but I’ll continue to try to find ways to save more.

Whist migrating the main library website, I also did some major upgrades to the stack, so while things might look a little different on the site (some icons have change and so on) there’s actually a lot different under the hood now. I had tried a while ago to do some of these upgrades and couldn’t get them to work correctly, but I was able to revisit them again. This time I was able to get all the stuff I’d been needing to upgrade done. Huzzah!

I’m going to have to think hard about how and whether I can reasonably migrate away from the server Beleth, which serves several static websites and WordPress blogs, because I really, really, really, don’t want to have constant security-risk WordPress installs on the same server as the main library site. I’m still considering my options for that, but it was Furcas, which was the Internet radio server, which was the biggest question mark, and I didn’t even know if my intended migration path would even work the way I wanted it to or if I’d have to just simply give up and shut down RADIO @ HRMTC for a while, or forever (before it had even made a full year of giving it a go, coming up in April). Turns out the migration did work, after banging my head against the wall for a while, as one does, and seem to be still working. That’s good news for anyone of the few people listening and enjoying that!

So, however things go, for myself and everyone, I will continue, with the ongoing help of Patrons and Subscribers and supporters in other ways, to do the best I can with what I’ve got for as long as I am able!

Zine

I’ve been working on and off on making the “pretty PDF” version of the Perihelion 2023 issue of the Zine. That’s included working on a cover, which, somehow, I had not thought about before? I mean, it’s not like I didn’t know I’d need a cover … Anyhow, here’s a sneak peek at the work-in-progress potential front and back covers. The theme for these are Discordia & Concordia, only the Concordia back cover is as if told by Discordia, how she really feels about Concordia behind her back, maybe. Real Housewives of Mount Olympus, amirite?

There’s still some work to be done, but it’s getting there! The front cover is much closer to done than the back, but ther exists-ish. Also, there’s a literal shit ton of work to do getting the interior done. I mean … if anyone is a wizard with Affinity Publisher, and is willing and able to help, let me know!

But, I’m hoping that once this issue is done, I might also, over time, go back and do better versions of the previous issues as well.

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Random Sunday diorama. What’s going on here?

Almanac

Here’s upcoming calendar and astronomical events, plus the daily Thelemic Tephilah practice for the coming week, January 20–27.

Calendar

Follow Calendar on the web or RSS. And, if you have a current or upcoming event to share, add it to the Hermetic Library Calendar!

• Nothing. There’s nothing?! Yep. Welp. Okay. If you know something that should be here next year, let me know!

And, check out this upcoming event posted to the [Calendar blog](https://calendar.hrmtc.io/).

• The Undergroundlings live ritual at ⱪ R A ⱨ — Feb 5, 2023, The Hague, NL

Astronomical

• Comet C/2022 E3 is definitely now starting to become visible, with binoculars at first and more bright until its closest approach to earth ~Feb 1. Here’s an article to help you find it.
• New moon, January 21
• Venus and Saturn appear closer and closer reaching ½° from each other in the sky (K I S S I N G?), January 21–22

Thelemic Tephilah

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

• Thelemic Tephilah, January 20, Heru-Ra-Ha, Liber L., Cap. III, 25-29
• Thelemic Tephilah, January 21, Heru-Ra-Ha, Liber L., Cap. III, 30-33
• Thelemic Tephilah, January 22, Heru-Ra-Ha, Liber L., Cap. III, 34
• Thelemic Tephilah, January 23, Heru-Ra-Ha, Liber L., Cap. III, 35-37
• Thelemic Tephilah, January 24, Heru-Ra-Ha, Liber L., Cap. III, 38
• Thelemic Tephilah, January 25, Heru-Ra-Ha, Liber L., Cap. III, 39-40
• Thelemic Tephilah, January 26, Heru-Ra-Ha, Liber L., Cap. III, 41-42
• Thelemic Tephilah, January 27, Heru-Ra-Ha, Liber L., Cap. III, 43-45

Zine

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

I’ve slowed down posting to one item a week because I’m low on things. I more than filled the previous issue, but now I need more submissions for this current one.

• As unbidden gifts are to the Ass Naysaying is butt to his Goat from The Headflux Chronicles, Book 1, by Will Lorimer

Things to check out at Hermetic Library

• Updated the recently new page for Figure George Sylvester Viereck with Chapter I of The House of the Vampire, and updated George Sylvester Viereck in Hermeneuticon with a link back to the Figure page.
• Updated the page for Figure Percy Bysshe Shelley with Chapter I of St Irvyne
• Updated the Unicursal WELCOME WOMAN STAR Propaganda page with new image and downloadables, and some other fixes. Also fixed the navigation on a couple other propaganda pages.

And on the blog

• Lair of the Crystal Fang—Hermetic Library Fellow T Polyphilus reviews Lair of the Crystal Fang [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by S A Sidor, cover by Daniel Strange, part of the Arkham Horror series.
• A person in my position is liable to see Sherlock Homes in the most beefwitted policeman. I did not feel that I was advancing in the confidence of the Germans. I got no secrets worth reporting to London, and I was not at all sure whether the cut of my clothes had not outweighed the eloquence of my conversation. I thought I would do something more public. I wrote a long parody on the Declaration of Independence and applied it to Ireland.—Aleister Crowley, Confessions, Chapter 76 [Blog]
• Omnium Gatherum: 18jan2023—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! [Blog/Venus+]
• The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy—Hermetic Library Fellow T Polyphilus reviews The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Anne Conway, eds Taylor Corse, Allison P Coudert, part of the Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy series.
• Epicureanism asks us to temper our insatiable desires for more power, wealth and possessions. But it also releases us from superstition and challenges us to know the world through science; to look deeply into the secrets of nature. To investigate.–Luke Slattery, Reclaiming Epicurus [Amazon] [Blog]
• How Not to Play Chess—Hermetic Library Fellow T Polyphilus reviews How Not to Play Chess [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Eugene A Znosko-Borovsky, ed Fred Reinfeld, part of the Dover Chess series.
• The A∴A∴ possesses the secrets of success; it makes no secret of its knowledge, and if its secrets are not everywhere known and practised, it is because the abuses connected with the name of occult science disincline official investigators to examine the evidence at their disposal.—Aleister Crowley, One Star in Sight sub figurâ CDLXXXIX [Blog]
• If This Book Exists, You’re in the Wrong Universe—Hermetic Library Fellow T Polyphilus reviews If This Book Exists, You’re in the Wrong Universe [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Jason Pargin, “A John, Dave, and Amy Novel”, part 4 of the John Dies at the End series.

Also, elsewhere

• Anthology news, January 16 [Bandcamp/Followers]