Tag Archives: summary

Summary for two weeks ending Jan 13th, 2019

Here’s a summary of activity for two weeks ending January 13th, 2019.

There’s been a lot of recent escalation of ongoing tumult in social media services. Most notably, Google+ is shutting down, earlier than previously announced, and the API that allows external processes to post is shutting down even earlier. Tumblr has crumbled under to Apple’s removal of their app, which conveniently provided cover for the new ownership to crack down on content in general. Further, Flickr has recently changed ownership, and has announced new limits on basic accounts. With this in mind, I have stepped away from all of these services as places where I actively participate on behalf of the library.

I’ve also continued, over the years, to step away from being active on Facebook, which was a primary place I was active with posts about the library in early days; mostly because I have not, won’t, and never will pay to reach the audience who follow the page, even if I had the money to pay exorbitant and extortionate fees to reach those who are already fans of the page, and thus I rarely reach more than a increasingly vanishingly tiny fraction of those followers. I fear there will come a time when Facebook-owned Instagram, which I recently added to the mix, also begins implementing a similarly punishingly awful algorithm which submarines any and all posts when not being paid to promote them. But, for now, at least, Instagram has been a nice addition to the mix, and there’s been good engagement there.

For the most part, Twitter has been the social media account I have steadily used, but even there, of late, I have slowly been stepping back from being engaged actively. I miss it the most, but for every pleasant engagement I’ve had there have been a tumble of far too many negative and hateful encounters. More than anywhere else, though closely followed by Facebook, Twitter has been the place that has caused me to have extremely reduced levels of willingness to engage with awful or negative people on social media and to have a presumption of suspicion about engagements until they are proven pleasant that isn’t conducive to community or overall engagement.

All in all, I continue to engage through certain social media, but it is not any longer a primary focus for me, either personally or on behalf of the library. I miss the promise of it, but I don’t miss the actuality. The current state of affairs with social media all seems so disappointing to me at the moment.

As a reminder, I consider all social media to be supplemental to the site itself, places where I engage in the world on behalf of the library site. Certainly, the site itself is always at hermetic.com and I consider the site, and the library blog and BBS, the primary presence for the library online.

I’m happy for any and all positive and constructive engagement with the material at the library, and plan to continue to reach out in various places with reminders about the library. I’ll always link from the main library site to any active social media accounts or projects, so be sure to check there for that if there’s ever any question about where I’m currently active.

There’s recently been some encouraging increase in engagement over on the Discord-based voice and text chat service. Unfortunately, Discord is a centrally-managed service, much like the others, which is just as vulnerable to platform changes at the direction of corporate interests over those of users. But, it’s something that exists and is available.

Personally, I would much prefer people to become engaged and active over on the BBS, which is built on a self-hosted installation of Discourse, and thus is an independent place for Hermetic Library related activity, just as the blog and site itself are self-hosted. There are currently not enough active users for the BBS to be a self-sustaining place for community and conversation, but it continues to provide a place for certain things I feel are important enough to keep it going; primarily it is the commenting system for posts the blog. So while not currently an active place for users, it does have an ongoing and sufficient reason to exist.

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 Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar, subscribe on Bandcamp, or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from this last week

Popular posts on social media

Summary for the year 2018

Here’s a summary of Hermetic Library activity for the year 2018.

Every year there’s so much going on, I’m sure I’m going to miss some things. Consider going through all past summaries for more details about what was going on each week of last year. However, here’s some important things that come to my mind immediately.

Personally there was a lot going on for me. The place I had been living was sold. I moved across the country, with everything and cats, in almost an exact reverse of the historical Oregon Trail. I had my computer die, and went through a 4+ month ordeal of trying to get it fixed. And, all the sundry trials and tribulations one goes through …

The biggest project for 2017 was the switch from static, hand-coded HTML to the new wiki engine. I’ve made a lot of progress in 2018 on more of this, but I’m still working on it. Both old and new pages are constantly being worked on, and I think the library is already better than ever with this change. I knew that the transition was going to be a huge project, and require a lot of work; but, I honestly didn’t realize just how big and how much. I’m glad I did it, and there’s so many things that are better than they were, for me working on the site and for visitors trying to find things and navigate the site; but there’s still work to do. I feel so much gratitude for the support of my ongoing Patrons for making all this work on the library possible.

This year, I released Magic, Music and Ritual 14, the 2018 issue from the Hermetic Library Anthology Project. The newest release joins all the others, and they’re all great! Check them all out, and check out the anthology profiles for the artists who participate.

Magick Music and Ritual 14 The Hermetic Library Anthology Album 2018

Last year, I created a process to pitch ideas for submissions to the blog and the library. This hasn’t been as active as I had hoped. The only submission to make it through the process this last year was The Unknown Soror. There was only one in 2017 as well, but I’d hoped that there would be more. With the generous support from Patrons of the library, I did increase the available honorarium already, and this year I’ll be increasing that again to further encourage submissions.

I did have the opportunity to have a conversation with musician Jesse Heikkinen, who then went on to become an artist on the 2018 anthology. Perhaps there will be more conversations with others in this next year?

Hermetic Library has actively pursued its mission of archiving, engaging and encouraging the living Western Esoteric Tradition, Hermeticism, and Aleister Crowley’s Thelema for 20 years. Thanks to each and every Funding and Patron supporter of my work and the library for making the Hermetic Library possible for everyone, that mission continues!

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 Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar, subscribe on Bandcamp, or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Top 50 posts on the blog last year

Top 50 sections at the library

Top 50 pages at the library

Top 50 posts on the BBS

Summary for the week ending Dec 30th, 2018

Here’s a summary of activity for the week ending December 30th, 2018.

It’s a new year on the Gregorian calendar! I wish well and weal to you and yours! And, please join me in a toast to another great, bigger, and better year for the library!

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 Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar, subscribe on Bandcamp, or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from this last week

Summary for the week ending Dec 23rd, 2018

Here’s a summary of activity for the week ending December 23rd, 2018.

I wish well and weal to you and yours for this winter season for whatever festivities you enjoy and rituals you celebrate and into the new Gregorian year!

Also, check out this cool thing! The Librarian’s mother sent this gift for the library: an actual card catalog!

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 Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from this last week

Summary for the week ending Dec 16th, 2018

Here’s a summary of activity for the week ending December 16th, 2018.

Got another round of envelopes out to ongoing Patrons with Postal Exchange and Publication Subscription perks. This one is a random selection of things I’ve found whilst unpacking after moving. I kept finding things in little caches that I’d saved for Postal Exchange, and put them in a pile as I found them. I got a bit distracted by flurries of snow and the flurry activity around releasing this year’s anthology, but finally got things sorted and in the post. Now it’s time to start thinking about what to do for the next one!

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 Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from this last week

Summary for two weeks ending Dec 9th, 2018

Here’s a summary of activity for two weeks ending December 9th, 2018.

I’ve released Magick, Music and Ritual 14, the Hermetic Library Anthology Album for 2018! This album is now available for immediate digital download, and also as gratis downloads for Patrons on Patreon and Subscribers on Bandcamp.

Magick Music and Ritual 14 The Hermetic Library Anthology Album 2018

I’m amused at how much of a surprise it was for me that I’ve been super busy getting everything ready before and after the release of another anthology. This time I almost missed releasing it on Dec 3rd because I kept thinking I had a couple more days. Luckily, I had just finished getting everything ready on Bandcamp in time, so I could just flip the switch when I realized it was the planned day of release. But, then I still had to do a bunch of stuff with artist profiles on the library site and scheduled posts for everything on the blog. I mean: I’m surprised by it every year! But, it’s awesome to release another anthology and is always a highlight of the year for me to do and share with everyone.

In other news, there’s been some social media shake-ups. Apparently Google+ had another data leak, and with be shut down 4 months earlier than had been announced after the previous leak was belatedly revealed. Also, over on Tumblr there’s been a big kerfuffle when they implemented sudden and draconian and poorly-targeted censorship, likely triggered after Apple removed them from the walled-garden app store. Either way, I’m minded to remind everyone: you are welcome to join the Discord for text and voice chat or Discourse for BBS. But, certainly, the Hermetic Library site itself is always online and I consider that, and perhaps also the library blog, the primary presence of the library online. However, there will be authoritative links to any social media accounts or other projects I run for the library on the main site.

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 Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from this last week

Summary for the week ending Nov 25th, 2018

Here’s a summary of activity for the week ending November 25th, 2018.

My new computer arrived. And, then I spent the next several days getting it set up. That ended up involving two OS re-installs, two backup restores, and a memory upgrade install that had to be uninstalled and that I need to RMA. Seriously, folks, Murphy is my co-pilot. But, I am, actually, for real, currently using my new desktop. After months, I’m back up, running, and starting to catching up!

Still working on the upcoming anthology, which releases in a few weeks. I’ve been listening to the current playlist, and I’ve not made any new changes the last couple listens! I’ve also got a cover and an alternate ready to go. I still need to draft up the artist profiles and all that, for Bandcamp, blog, and the library site itself. But, things are progressing steadily. Though I feel crunched for time, I’m pretty sure everything will be sorted for release as planned.

With the arrival of the computer, and everything I’ve had to do to get it up and running; and, a winter storm blizzarding through the state, I’ve not gotten the next Postal Exchange to the Post Office yet. I’m going to try to get that out this week, but it might not happen until next week.

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 Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from this last week

Some popular stuff on social media

Summary for two weeks ending Nov 18th, 2018

Here’s a summary of activity for the week ending November 18th, 2018.

It’s been two weeks. Most of what I’ve been doing has been behind the scenes this time around.

First off, if you’ve been following along with the saga of trying to get my computer repaired … well, I still don’t have a desktop. Nope. It’s just a whole, long, and ridiculous saga that I really should write up and post, probably over on my more geeky Odd Order blog. It’s just nuts that this warrantee repair has been such an ordeal, and taken months and months. But, here’s the thing, and the reason I went on another overnight, long-distance trip last week, even though it wasn’t to pick up a repaired machine: I should be getting an entirely new machine, under new warranty, at some point soon. When? I don’t know. Is it on the way? I don’t know. But, someday, I guess, they’ll decide to ship it to me. Yeah. I’m so looking forward to getting a desktop machine again!

One of the things that I’ve been working on is the upcoming anthology release for 2018! Over the last two weeks, I’ve gotten a first draft of a cogent playlist sorted out, and I’m listening to it over and over again to make sure it makes sense to me; and I’ve got some work on the cover, with a guest artist. I think the whole thing is coming together, and, I suppose, that’s darned good because it releases in just a couple weeks! Oh! Excited? I am!

If you support active creators on Patreon this week, you’ve probably gotten a bunch of “Thank you” notes! It’s a thing that Patreon is doing. They’re encouraging creators to thank their Patrons. Well, if you follow me on any of the Hermetic Library social media accounts, you’ll know that I post every month a big thank you to all of the ongoing supporters of the library, and try to let people know they should also be thankful, for the help keeping the library going and growing. But, this is something that can hardly be said enough. So, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Hermetic supporter thank you

But, moreover, I want to thank all supporters and Patrons of anyone, anywhere, who support people doing their labors of love or answering the call to their vocation! Will you join me in this act of gratitude?

If you don’t currently support anyone, I encourage you to consider doing so. Find some creatives, whether that’s on Patreon or elsewhere, doing work you appreciate and give your ongoing support to them. Even $1 a month is awesome. In fact, consider making a pledge to reserve $10 a month to support 10 creators for $1 each!

You might not realize this, but, for creators, having many supporters making small pledges is actually more secure and stable than having just a few with a couple large pledges. That way as things come up, and situations change, there’s a much more stable base of income to support the creative work.

So, I encourage you to consider, if you are able, this affirmative action in the world, a kind of ongoing creative revolution: find 10 new people to give your ongoing support with $1/mo each, especially during this season when new and extra support is usually so much needed and appreciated.

Hermetic Library the 10 dollar revolution

But, either way, let’s all join together in this overall act of gratitude and mutual support for ongoing supporters everywhere!

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 Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from this last week

Summary for the week ending Nov 4th, 2018

Here’s a summary of activity for the week ending November 4th, 2018.

Last week, and the next two are likely to be a bit quiet, but there’s actually a bunch going on. I was going to just post a note that I’d skip a summary this week, but then I thought of a bunch of things that I’ve been doing to talk about. So, not so much activity on the blog, and so on, but there’s actually a bunch to talk about even still.

First, in the ongoing saga of my computer, I finally heard news after a week in the shop. They had not done any repairs. Apparently one of the parts is on backorder until some time, at least, in December. So, I could wait for that, which would add at least another couple months to the time I’ve been without a working desktop. Or, they finally decided to offer, a kind of replacement. Instead of a full replacement, they are willing to apply the entire repair bill as a kind of trade-in credit for a new machine. Looks like I’ll be heading in to the shop again next week to see about that option, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be heading home with a new machine, under new warranty, for about half off; which, let’s be clear, is still not cheap, and certainly not a warranty-covered repair solution at no additional cost. Anyhow, the saga continues.

I’m mostly over the flu I picked up last trip, just in time for another trip. Huzzah!

I’m working on the upcoming anthology, which is due to release in less than a month. Oh, wow. Time flies! I’ve got some cover ideas submitted by a new artist, and I’ve got the playlist to sort through. But, everything should be ready in time! The anthologies are a highlight of my year, and it’s a lot of fun to put them together and then share them with everyone. I’m looking forward to releasing this next anthology into the wild for you all.

I’m also working on a new interview with a musician who’s been influenced by esotericism, and I’m not sure when that will be ready; but, I’ll post that as soon as it is done. The way I do the interviews, is that I send some initial questions, and when I get answers, I add additional questions; repeating that process until there’s what feels like a complete interview. I’ve been doing new interviews pretty much monthly over on Rigaroga’s Odd Order with some people in the streaming community, but haven’t done an interview for the library in a while. So, I’m excited to share this one when it is done.

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 Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from this last week

Some top posts on social media

Summary for the week ending Oct 28, 2018

Here’s a summary of activity for the week ending October 28th, 2018.

I spent the week, and have continued, fighting with a flu I picked up whilst on my travels to try and fix my computer the previous week, which is still in the shop getting major surgery. I knew I was screwed when I overheard my transit driver for one leg of the trip talking with another passenger about recovering from two weeks of flu. I pretty much knew at that point I’d be bringing home an illness as a souvenir. And, I did. I started getting an itchy throat in the first days after, and I’ve been increasingly under the weather since. I may be finally starting to recover more than not? I hope. Anyhow, I spent most of the last week feeling awful, and nursing myself. I might even be well by the time I have to do the whole trip again to pick up whatever Frankenstein’s Monster my machine is becoming, once the butchers have finished their ministrations.

On the bright side, I had the new release of “Part 1” of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina to watch. If you’ve followed along for long enough, you’ll remember that I’ve read the Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comics, as I’ve mentioned them, variously, and on the blog starting around 2014. So, I was prepared and have been looking forward to that. I mentioned in one place that I haven’t been as excited for what’s to come, after watching some teasers and trailers, since the taurobolium scene in Rome s01e01. But, it was both more and different that I expected. Quite enjoyable. Not absolutely perfect, but darned good and better than I’d hoped in so many ways. Better than the shit representation and twisted inspired-by-history in some recent disappointing and, for me, unwatchable, shows. *cough* Strange Angel *cough* This Chilling Adventures of Sabrina show, rather, seemed to me just right as a mix of great production and acting through creepy and campy narrative with significant representation.

This week I published a guest post, a successful submission supported by all the ongoing Patrons of Hermetic Library, that you should check out. The Unknown Soror by Heather Schubert, an essay identifying Soror Fiat Yod, correspondent with Aleister Crowley in Magick Without Tears, as Anne Maria Macky née Hawkins. I understand that this essay will also appear in an upcoming issue of The Daughters of Babalon, an anthology of works by a broad range of modern writers and artists that captures the rich and multifaceted aspects of the feminine current of Thelema. Consider checking out that anthology, but you can see this essay here at Hermetic Library first!

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 Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from this last week

Some top posts on social media