Here’s a summary of activity for two weeks ending July, 2019.

Oh, wow. I just realized that I put June as the month on the last update, even though it was July. I don’t even know what, but that I’ve been so frazzled because of all the work being done. Still being done. It’s been almost a month now. I don’t see the end yet, and almost nothing that’s been started has been completed. Everything is in turmoil, but I’ve been getting work done on the site in the mornings before the contractors get here.

By the by, I’ll be making my list of all current Postal and Subscription Patrons for the next mailing soon! My schedule for that got all off as I’ve been flummoxed. But, I’ll be doing that list, and then plan on sending something out in the first few weeks of August to everyone.

Welp, I finished a bunch of new pages, and the contractors have arrived as I’ve been writing this. So, it begins again!

Don’t forget! I’ve posted the call for submissions to Magick, Music and Ritual 15, the anthology for 2019.

I’m obviously looking for audio tracks, but also cover artwork, and other bonus downloads! Will you participate this year? Know someone who might want to participate? Let them know about it and have them get in touch with me!

Still looking for help and others to join me in a working community around the library, of course.

Lots of new pages and work on old pages on the site, which is pretty much every week, really. You can always check the front page of the site which shows the most recent changes and new pages, or check out the Recent Changes special page for a full list.

Want to join me on this blog and create new art or writing for Hermetic Library? Pitch your Idea.

Help get some conversations started over on the BBS and in Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and subscribe on Bandcamp or become a Patron.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from these last few weeks

• The Occult Experience — Review
• Shut up! How can you be so bad at secret societies? You’re in two of them! — Quote
• The Occult and the Third Reich — Review
• One church was sufficient for all. They knew nothing about heresies and schisms but assembled together to hear a simple story simply told. — Quote
• The Nine Doors of Midgard — Review
• Sometimes the Gods used Henry. It seemed like a fair trade-off. He had been known to use them, too. — Quote
• Forged — Review
• She had just, through dwelling on the shite of modern life, taken her seat in the waiting room for death. She spat on the ground and swore under her breath. — Quote
• Mention My Name in Atlantis — Review
• ‘Where there’s a key,’ he said to himself, ‘there must be a lock nearby.’ — Quote
• Briar Rose & Spanking the Maid — Review
• Trust me, The Librarian’s no Willie Wonka. — Quote
• Black Helicopters — Review
• I looked to the back of my eyeballs as I tried to drift off in the waking darkness of my insomniac night, and then, it may seem crazy, but I popped out of my body as if on an elastic band. — Quote

Here’s a summary of activity for two weeks ending July 14, 2019.

I’m in the thick of house rehab now, so just a short and belated summary for these last two weeks. Everything is moved around, and under sheets to protect it from dust from the work being done. It’s been ongoing and will continue for some time. Except when the power is shut off, for a short period or all day one day this week, I am able to get a good chunk of work done in the early hours of the morning before the workers arrive, but then I have to retreat. The library cats are freaked out, but doing okay, all in all. The struggle is real, but the work on the library continues in spite of adversity!

Don’t forget! I’ve posted the call for submissions to Magick, Music and Ritual 15, the anthology for 2019.

I’m obviously looking for audio tracks, but also cover artwork, and other bonus downloads! Will you participate this year? Know someone who might want to participate? Let them know about it and have them get in touch with me!

Still looking for help and others to join me in a working community around the library, of course.

Lots of new pages and work on old pages on the site, which is pretty much every week, really. You can always check the front page of the site which shows the most recent changes and new pages, or check out the Recent Changes special page for a full list.

Want to join me on this blog and create new art or writing for Hermetic Library? Pitch your Idea.

Help get some conversations started over on the BBS and in Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and subscribe on Bandcamp or become a Patron.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from these last few weeks

• The Dark Labyrinth — Review
• In making love with yourself, dedicate your pleasure to the Spirit. At climax, place the image of deity at the crown center, and open yourself to the sense of presence. — Quote
• The Gospel of Philip — Review
• Odd Jobs: so called not because they were varied or petty but because they could only be collectively described as odd; Missions into a world of mysticism, the occult and sometimes even the horrific and nightmarish. A world beyond a war, beyond man and his understanding. — Quote
• The Wizard and the Witch — Review
• Echoing all that has been written on and in favor of women, I am only trying to say that in the mystical and initiatory world “they do exist” also. — Quote
• Omnium Gatherum: July 9, 2019
• Hermetic History — Erase It or Face It — Review
• In every dictatorship which is tottering, there is an urge towards destruction. Of self, if that only is possible. Of the world, if that is. — Quote
• Gates of Light / Sha’Are Orah — Review
• There is a ghost of a moral in the story of a sensual Caliph going to the bad, as represented by his final introduction to the Halls of Eblis. — Quote
• Paths of Wisdom — Review
• It’s like meeting yourself again and again, at the back of every dream, the author of every trip. We find each other and know each other over and over. — Quote
• Astrology and the Seventeenth Century Mind — Review
• Well, at some point, you almost just have to choose what you are going to believe or not believe. — Quote

Here’s a summary of activity for two weeks ending June 30, 2019.

Lots of disruption around here lately as there’s been contractors working on necessary things. Fixing plumbing issues, mostly, right now. Though, yesterday, they did also knock off the top of the old disused chimney as well. So, lots of coming and going and banging and hullabaloo in the library bungalow. But, in spite of that, I’ve been able to continue working on things. Mostly my strategy has been that I get up really early, when it is quiet and less hot. I kinda do that anyway, but the “quiet and less hot” part is a particular bonus right now.

At some point, I’m going to have to, and it pains me to even think about this, pack up the entire library again so that I can move it out of the way for work on replacing ancient wiring, and on the walls and ceilings. I … feel like I had finally gotten to unpacking the library onto shelves just yesterday. But, not burning down like Notre Dame seems like a good thing devoutly to be wished.

I talked before about how I’d been thinking about, and ultimately decided on, closing the voice chat server. You can go back and read my thoughts about that, but I had decided to close it at the end of June. So, I did that. I close the server and put up a note that everyone should head over to Hrmtc Underground BBS instead.

Don’t forget! I’ve posted the call for submissions to Magick, Music and Ritual 15, the anthology for 2019.

I’m obviously looking for audio tracks, but also cover artwork, and other bonus downloads! Will you participate this year? Know someone who might want to participate? Let them know about it and have them get in touch with me!

Still looking for help and others to join me in a working community around the library, of course.

Lots of new pages and work on old pages on the site, which is pretty much every week, really. You can always check the front page of the site which shows the most recent changes and new pages, or check out the Recent Changes special page for a full list.

Want to join me on this blog and create new art or writing for Hermetic Library? Pitch your Idea.

Help get some conversations started over on the BBS and in Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and subscribe on Bandcamp or become a Patron.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from these last few weeks

• Byzantine Magic — Review
• As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport. Thunder again; words that proclaimed themselves true—truer somehow than truth itself. — Quote
• Music and the Occult — Review
• In magic—and in life—there is only the present moment, the now. You can’t measure time the way you measure the distance between two points. — Quote
• Western Mandalas of Transformation — Review
• I have been forced by extraordinary evidence to credit that which ran counter, diametrically, to all my theories. I have been made the dupe of a preternatural conspiracy. — Quote
• Alchemical Works — Review
• all symptoms are purposeful, whether they are positive or negative. — Quote
• Tetragrammaton — Review
• Is the progressive part of the world going to wait until the legally appointed guardians of the truth have found out the true value of the treasure in their possession? — Quote
• Music in Renaissance Magic — Review
• Knowest thou not that there is a belief in many parts of our native land that at particular seasons certain doomed men throw off the human shape and take that of ravenous wolves? — Quote
• Summoning Spirits — Review
• But, hey, this kind of thing’s going on in libraries everywhere, you know. More or less, that is. — Quote
• Omnium Gatherum: June 17, 2019

Here’s a summary of activity for two weeks ending June 16, 2019.

Over the last two weeks, I had family visit for a week (Hi, mom!). That was fun, and I ate out a lot, and, had a lot of good dark beer, around town and down in nearby Columbia.

But, as fun as that was, I also had contractors on site, looking at Hermetic Library World HQ … and, yeah. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and lots that should be done. Remember how Notre Dame went up in flames because of old wiring? Yeah, so, the library’s electrical is original, old, obsolete knob-and-tube wiring. Old wiring that is inefficient, ungrounded, and unsafe to be sure. There’s also work needed on the roof, a sewage leak, and structural issues. That’s just the stuff that needs to be done to be safe, up to code, and insurable.

Even though the library and my office where I work on the library takes up about 50% of the house, I really hesitate to do something like setting up a separate fundraising campaign to help with the house. But, wow, help would be amazing. To be honest, I really wish I had more Patrons to support the work I do every day. It’s been a struggle. I haven’t ever gotten to the sustainability goal I set that would help me be able to keep going, but I’ve still kept going, even still. If you’ve considered supporting the work, please do. Become a Patron on Patreon or a Subscriber on Bandcamp. I could really use the support and encouragement.

To be honest, I also have been really needing new glasses as well. My current prescription and glasses are all almost 10 years old. I did get an eye exam, and I’m still able to get to 20-20 with correction; but I haven’t been able to afford the cost of new glasses. I don’t live in a state with medical support, and even when I did, glasses weren’t covered. I do wonder about that as a separate campaign, an “Occulus Reparo” fund, if you will. I wonder if people would be willing to help with a pair of everyday glasses and maybe a spare with a reading prescription.

I’ve also dreamed off and on, on occasion, about what I could do with a Cricut or Glowforge or 3D printer, making things for Patrons as part of Postal Exchange, like vinyl cut sigils, Enochian chess pieces, and more. That seems like something, and I wonder if people would be interested in a crowdfunding campaign related to that, with perks that I’d make with those things; but that I could use to continue to provide nifty things.

Ugh. So many things I feel I could do that are just out of reach right now. I’ll keep thinking about those ideas, as I continue to be focused on doing the ongoing daily work of the library, improving existing pages, adding new content, and sharing links to all these resources with people following the library online.

Yeah, these things have been on my mind this last two weeks. But, wait! There’s more! (It’s been a busy two weeks!)

Welp, I did decide that I’d go ahead and close the voice chat server at the end of June. I think and feel like I should focus on the BBS for the kind of community activity that’s split between the two now in one place instead. Also, always big in my mind, is that the BBS is run on open source software and is self-hosted, which means, generally, that it is more likely to be sustainable and less subject to the vagaries of platform changes. So, do be sure to check out the BBS!

I’m still considering whether to move the Zine and submissions process into a mailing list or two for Patrons. I still have some thinking about that to do, including how best to organize it and host it, and if it makes sense to add that to the work I do every day on the library. It seems like it would be nice to have that going, but I’m still contemplating the idea. I think I also have to be honest and say that I have a mailing list already which I’ve not used much, and didn’t end up finding a place in my work flow; most of the things that I think about doing with the existing list, I’m doing elsewhere; so, I need to be sure that if I implemented a new list that it had a reason to exist, a purpose, and that it fits with everything else in a well rounded and well crafted way.

Oh, right! I did also get a Postal Exchange mailing on its way to Patrons with that perk. And I’ve got some other things in mind for the next thing!

Don’t forget! I’ve posted the call for submissions to Magick, Music and Ritual 15, the anthology for 2019.

I’m obviously looking for audio tracks, but also cover artwork, and other bonus downloads! Will you participate this year? Know someone who might want to participate? Let them know about it and have them get in touch with me!

Whew. I’m sure I’ve forgotten things that happened, and that I should mention as well, but there it is.

Still looking for help and others to join me in a working community around the library, of course.

Lots of new pages and work on old pages on the site, which is pretty much every week, really. You can always check the front page of the site which shows the most recent changes and new pages, or check out the Recent Changes special page for a full list.

Want to join me on this blog and create new art or writing for Hermetic Library? Pitch your Idea.

Help get some conversations started over on the BBS and in Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and subscribe on Bandcamp or become a Patron.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from these last few weeks

• Access to Western Esotericism — Review
• You and I have both known him, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say it’s an experience we shan’t ever forget. And even when he and I met in the middle of China, with his mind a blank and his past a mystery, there was still that queer core of attractiveness in him. — Quote
• The Complete Golden Dawn Cipher Manuscript — Review
• Riches she possessed, but that which enriches them, the participation of affection, was wanting. All that they could purchase for her became indifferent to her, because that which they could not purchase, and which was more valuable than themselves, she had, for their sake, thrown away. She discovered, when it was too late, that she had mistaken the means for the end—that riches, rightly used, are instruments of happiness, but are not in themselves happiness. — Quote
• The Cube of Space — Review
• Sitting around all night in a dark apartment with the TV and computer screens providing all the ambient light is bound to affect your perception after a while. — Quote
• Omnium Gatherum: June 11, 2019
• Byways of Esoteric History — Review
• The passionate ecstasy that engendered his poetry was excited by the stark, pagan purity of his sensuality, which found its talismanic representation in the tower struck by lightning. — Quote
• Robert Fludd — Review
• I moved forward and out of my embracing surroundings, taking in a deep breath, knowing I was being admired by both good and evil. — Quote
• The Manual of Harmonics of Nicomachus the Pythagorean — Review
• I curse the engineer who thought this was a problem in need of a solution. — Quote
• Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition — Review

Here’s a summary of activity for two weeks ending June 2, 2019.

New servers continue to hum along. I’ve seen much increased performance across the site since the migration, and that’s fantastic. It really was getting bad there in a number of ways, and this new server is so much better! The stress and pain of moving seems to have been completely worth it.

A stack of The Essadi Emissary newsletter from the Mahmoud Memorial Itinerant Temple, currently in Thailand, arrived at the library, and I’ve got those ready to head out to Patrons with the Postal Exchange perk, as of the end of May, and will be sent via post this week.

This last week I also announced the call for submissions to Magick, Music and Ritual 15, the Hermetic Library Anthology Album for 2019. Every year, to be honest, feels special, and these are one of the highlights of my year; but, this year, is the 50th anniversary of my birth and the 10th year I’ve been Librarian of Hermetic Library. I feel like this issue of the anthology is really a celebration for me of all that’s happened to get to this point, all the hard work, all the setbacks, all the successes. It’s been, as they say, a long strange trip. I hope the journey with the library continues another 10 years!

I already had one submission, which arrived before the call posted, so I hope that bodes well for participation this year!

Another small milestone is the 5 year anniversary of Hrmtc Underground BBS. I talk about that and a little bit of shuffling of categories in a post to Meta. BBS still doesn’t have a critical mass necessary for a thriving community, but it does serve several purposes, not the least of which is as a discussion area for posts on the Hermetic Library blog.

The fact that the BBS has an ongoing purpose has had me thinking a bit more about the Chat server I’ve been running for a while. I’m thinking of closing that down. It isn’t really being used much and just doesn’t serve a purpose. I had fun ideas for the voice chat space that would have been self-sufficient reasons to exist but those never panned out. But, to be fair, there’s more activity there now, comparatively, than there has been. So, I’ve struggled over whether to give it more time.

Ultimately, I suppose it could continue as a space for chit chat, but pretty much anything that the chat server is doing right now can be done on the BBS. The only truly unique thing is the ability to do voice chat, which I’d always hoped would become a space for live conferences, presentations, interviews, classes, and soever. But, I’m coming to realise that just isn’t going to happen, as I tried in the past to facilitate and encourage in the past but haven’t tried to do again. I think I should focus on the BBS.

To be clear, I’m not concerned about popularity, but the purpose of the place to the overall mission of the library. I mean, let’s be honest: if popularity were my goal, then I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

So, I think, unless I’m convinced otherwise, I will be closing the chat server at the end of June and encouraging everyone there to head over to the BBS instead! The BBS is where it’s at! Long live the BBS!

Still looking for help and others to join me in a working community around the library, of course.

Lots of new pages and work on old pages on the site, which is pretty much every week, really. You can always check the front page of the site which shows the most recent changes and new pages, or check out the Recent Changes special page for a full list.

Want to join me on this blog and create new art or writing for Hermetic Library? Pitch your Idea.

Help get some conversations started over on the BBS and in Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and subscribe on Bandcamp or become a Patron.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from these last few weeks

• A Natural History of Hell — Review
• Hermetic Library album call for 2019 submissions
• The Last Days of Magic
• Finding the right expression is always a fight: The writer in him wages battle against the editor; one is bold, the other—doubtful. They struggle inside him for control of his pen; one—to write, the other—to cross out. — Quote
• Omnium Gatherum: May 30, 2019
• Tarot Tales — Review
• Staying with the Trouble
• King was never anti-American; he was always anti-injustice in America and anywhere else. Love of truth and love of country could go hand-in-hand. — Quote
• Blood in the Aether — Review
• Omnium Gatherum: May 27, 2019
• No one had ever managed an accurate count of the cats. — Quote
• The New Satanists — Review
• From the very existence of these books he learned one primary truth: that everything in the world was enveloped in great skeins of mystery into which one could bravely probe but which one could never fully untangle. — Quote
• Omnium Gatherum: May 23, 2019
• The New Satanists
• “Are you denying what I have said?” the Major asked. “You have a handful of facts, Major, and from them you have made ridiculous conclusions.”
• The Necronomicon Files — Review
• Omnium Gatherum: May 20, 2019