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To: alt.magick,alt.magick.tyagi From: catherine yronwodeSubject: Re: Randolph's Methods (was: Re: Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor) Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 19:43:21 GMT Gnome d Plume wrote: > > catherine yronwode wrote: > > > > [...] i have no trouble with "kitchen witchcraft" -- and do not see > > its adjuncts (menstrual blood, urine, sexual fluids) as a > > "gimmick," but as an essential element. In fact, my prejudices turn > > in the opposite direction -- calling the mixture of semen and > > vaginal fluid a "fluid condenser" as Bardon did or an "elixer" or > > "amrita" as the alchemically- and Hindu-influenced Crowley did > > seems sort of high-fallutin' and prissy to me. But then, i'm just > > an old dirt-hippie. > > Wait a minute! Randolph apparently invented the terms "fluid > condenser", "volts" and other psuedo-scientific jargon to make his > system appear sophisticated. Crowley simply borrowed classical, > medieval and eastern terminology as it suited him.**** Sure, but that was kinda my point -- if you are working with a woman's menstrual blood or a man's semen, why not just SAY SO? Randolph was trying to be "sophisticated," but he is pretty easy to read, anyway. By the way, one doesn't need to be hob-nobing with the upper crust to attempt such "sophistication" of terminology: Some of my favourite examples of "sophisticated" delicacy appear in Harry M. Hyatt's 1930s interviews with 1600 African-American root-workers. The number of nice-sounding euphemisms for urine that they come up with in that book is astounding. And i have a whole web page on the so-called "Girdle of Isis" -- an ancient Egyptian amulet that few archaeologists can bring themselves to name either in Egyptian (because the Egyptian word is "tit") or by direct translation (because it's "the menstrual pad of Isis"). A real dillemma for the "sophisticated," that one! > ****It gets goofy and flakey at both ends of the spectrum. I find > Crowley's practical "magick" to be pretentious, convoluted and > frankly dull--although I enjoy his poetry and his philosophical > writings (up to a point). Me too, but i actually have the most fun with his writings searching for textual evidence of his racism, sexism, drug addiction, and impotence. I'd like to write a parody of the way the supermarket tabloids would have handled his life. > An expensive library does not a magician make -- but > conversely, some fry-brained loser getting stoned and rubbing crushed > spider guts in his armpits is not going to get it done either. ROFLMAO! And as far as i'm concerned, Crowley crucifying that frog ain't far behind on the ol' laugh-o-meter. > To me Magick is an art form, and I judge it, cross-culturally, on > that standard. If kitchen witchcraft (or African Ju-ju) is done with > style, grace, inspirational elegance, and cultural integrity then > I'll respect it, and perhaps even learn from it ---but if not, I have > little use for it. Fair enough. I think that to appreciate the style and grace of folk magic generally, you first need to understand the cultural integrity whereby spell-craft inheres to its parent society -- and that requires that you become a participant-observer anthropologist, in a sense, rather than a book-buyer who decides that, say, Sicilian Stregheria is going to be the "flavour of the month" and, conveniently, Llewellyn has just published a book about it. > I think a difference between you and me might be > that some of my students (customers if you insist) are actually > smarter and better educated than I am. In your case, if they are > smarter and better educated than you are (and we both know that you > are quite intelligent and well-educated) I suspect they're probably > slumming.***** Wow. That's harsh. I certainly do NOT agree. Sure, both of us are smart and well-educated, and some of my sustomers are country folks from Georgia who never went to college, but i also have customers who are doctors, lawyers, business executives, and the like -- certainly not people who are out "slumming" -- and, whether you like it our not (or, more likely, whether you KNOW about it or not), they continue to work traditional forms of hoodoo magic, especially for love and monetary success and to keep off enemies. They do this because the knowledge was passed along in their families and the work is concsidered efficacious. The persistence of traditional folk magic is often viewed in a racist way ("Those people just won't give up their superstitions, no matter how much money we give to the United Negro College Fund") or as an excuse to engage in socio-economic disparagement of "immigrants" ("Those people are so 'Old Country' that they put a lemon over their door -- and look at the way they dress!). But as multiculturalism becomes the dominant paradigm in American society, more people are coming to see traditional magic -- along with traditional cooking and traditional holidays -- as precious examples of the indomitable spirit that imbues each culture with its own distinctive character. > > > But the DNA in the fluid condenser on an old Randolphian > > > magick mirror was a good thought (End of semen....!)**** > > > > Hehehe. That was a good'n. > > > > Seriously, though, using such a fluid consender in a ritual of > > necromantic invocation was what i had in mind. Don't you agree > > that it would be fabulous to call forth the spirit of Randolph? > > *He'd* at least see the humour in it, mediumistic Spiritualist > > that he was! > > > You should re-read Lovecraft's *The Case of Charles Dexter Ward*, > then look up the actual operation in *The Grimorie of Armadel*. You crack me up, Poke! That's a good'n too! cat yronwode Hoodoo in Theory and Practice -- http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html Lucky Mojo Curio Co. http://www.luckymojo.com/luckymojocatalogue.html Send e-mail with your street address to catalogue@luckymojo.com and receive our free 32 page catalogue of hoodoo supplies and amulets
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