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[To listen to the audio of this interview, visit here.] What is Enlightenment? Spring-Summer 2000 Interview by Craig Hamilton Born in 1950 and raised in a small town in northern Greece, it was clear from early on that Father Dionysios would not find his home in the world. Coming from a religious family with forefathers in the priesthood, at the age of seventeen he left home to pursue his passion for the spirit at the historic cliff-top monastery of Great Meteoron in central Greece. It was here that he met his spiritual father, the widely revered elder, Archimandrite Aimilianos, and became tonsured into the life of renunciation. When several years later the Greek tourist industry had all but taken over the entire ancient Meteora complex, Elder Aimilianos and his band of young monks relocated to a remote monastery on Mt. Athos and began, along with a handful of other new brotherhoods, to reinvigorate the waning ancient monastic haven with their zeal for the holy life. My first encounter with Archimandrite Dionysios came, perhaps ironically, via email. Ironic because, despite the decidedly modern means of his communication, upon receiving it, I felt as though I had been transported back in time a thousand years to an era when the art of writing epistles was a revered and studied form of spiritual discourse. "Mr. Hamilton, dear in the Lord," the letter began, "Rejoice in the Lord. It was a great honor to receive your email of 11 September, especially after the recommendation of our respected, common friend, in my case for a long time, the very wise Father Basil Pennington. Please forgive me, since from the day your email came until now I have been away . . . I will be in Greece, at the Sacred Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross . . . and will await you there to offer you hospitality for as long as you desire, where we can also discuss all the issues you mentioned to me in your letter." Having written the renowned Christian Orthodox elder to request both an interview for our magazine and advice on our upcoming pilgrimage to Mt. Athos, the legendary "Holy Mountain" at the heart of Orthodox monasticism, I was pleased to receive such a warm and generous response. After a long list of suggestions for my trip, the elder added a few more kind words of respect and appreciation, and concluded with the following: "My soul is in trembling for fear that you will not receive my answer in time." I had read in the Orthodox texts of the profound humility that emanates from many of the holy elders—men whose life of deep, contemplative prayer and asceticism is said to have removed from them even the smallest seeds of self-concern. But somehow, for all my searching in the scriptures, I had never expected to receive an email quite like this. As I began to type my reply, I had the undeniable sense, even across the fiber-optic pipeline, that the man I had encountered was not an ordinary human being. From the beginning of our research for this issue, the idea of speaking with an Orthodox elder about the ego had been an intriguing one. For although it is a tradition in which none of us could claim expertise, we were aware that when it comes to defining the enemy of the spiritual path, the Orthodox Christians are perhaps in a class by themselves. To this ancient mystical branch of Christianity, which split from the Catholic Church in 1054, the total purification of the human personality from egotism, selfishness and anything else that obstructs its capacity to reflect the light of God is and always has been the first and final aim of spiritual life. In sacred books with names like The Ladder of Divine Ascent and The Philokalia (literally "love of the beautiful and good"), Orthodox elders from as early as the third century write with passion and precision about the fullblooded "spiritual combat" the sincere aspirant must be willing to engage in if he or she is to have any hope of defeating the "demons" within that relentlessly attack with ever new and creative tactics. In one of countless such passages in The Philokalia, the fourth-century desert monk St. John Cassian writes, "[The ego] is difficult to fight against, because it has many forms and appears in all our activities . . . When it cannot seduce a man with extravagant clothes, it tries to tempt him by means of shabby ones. When it cannot flatter him with honor, it inflates him by causing him to endure what seems to be dishonor. When it cannot persuade him to feel proud of his display of eloquence, it entices him through silence into thinking he has achieved stillness. . . . In short, every task, every activity, gives this malicious demon a chance for battle." While the word "ego" itself only appears in more contemporary translations and commentaries, throughout even the most ancient Orthodox texts, there are countless references to the hazards of self-love, self-esteem and the "most sinister of demons"—pride. Considered by Christians to be the sin that not only brought Lucifer, God's highest angel, tumbling to a fiery fate but that also led Adam and Eve to be exiled from paradise on earth, pride is referred to variously as "the mother of all woes" and "the first offspring of the devil." It is also universally regarded as the most destructive and powerful adversary on the spiritual path. As St. John Cassian writes, "Just as a deadly plague destroys not just one member of the body, but the whole of it, so pride corrupts the whole soul, not just part of it. . . . when the vice of pride has become master of our wretched soul, it acts like some harsh tyrant who has gained control of a great city, and destroys it completely, razing it to its foundations." To combat the insidious ego so determined to undermine our spiritual progress from within, the monks and nuns of Christian Orthodoxy follow a strict regime of spiritual discipline, including silent contemplative prayer, spiritual study, group worship—and often extreme acts of asceticism. In the belief that a life of ongoing self-deprivation and suffering is ideal, these black-robed celibate renunciates regularly forgo food, drink and sleep for long periods in order to purify themselves of "worldly passions" and come closer to God. In the Orthodox calendar, we would learn, half the days of the year are days of fasting! And upon reading a description of the rigorous daily monastic schedule still widely followed in orthodox monasteries, I was dumfounded to learn that the monks' routine of solitary prayer, work and worship, which begins at midnight, often doesn't end until ten or eleven the next evening. As I kept searching the schedule trying to figure out when they slept, I was informed by one father that it is, in fact, not uncommon for monks to consistently sleep only one or two hours per night. And then there are the real ascetics. . . . In cold, barren caves high on the slopes of Mt. Athos (a vast, rugged peninsula dedicated entirely to monasticism), hermits spend decades in solitary prayer, often subsisting on only "a little dry bread and water." In this ancient eremetic tradition, dating back to the first Desert Fathers who in the third century abandoned the world to live the solitary life, ascetic practices are at times taken to extremes of self-mortification rivaling the most austere yogis of India. In the course of our research, we read tales of contemporary monks who consider regular self-flagellation with a "passion stick" to be an effective means of subduing temptation, and others who spent years standing or kneeling in prayer on a high rock outcropping until they became crippled. And while reading story upon story of often brutal ascetic labors at times left me wondering whether the line between self-denial and self-torture might have occasionally gotten blurred, I nonetheless couldn't help but be both humbled and inspired by the lengths to which these men were willing to go in their pursuit of life's highest aim. For as we would be told again and again, the asceticism practiced by Orthodox Christians is not asceticism for its own sake but asceticism in pursuit of a very specific, divine end—the attainment of which has come to be known as "deification." In contrast to Western Christianity, which under the doctrine of original sin tends to emphasize humanity's inherent frailty and imperfection, Orthodox teachings maintain that it is not only possible—but essential—for human beings to become perfectly transformed, radiant expressions of the Divine. Citing the words and example of Jesus Christ who said, "Be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect," Orthodox monastics aspire to purify themselves of any trace of ego and in so doing become an immaculate vessel for the glory and workings of God in this world. For proof that this attainment is possible—an attainment considered to be the singular purpose of human life and the very lifeblood of all Orthodox aspiration—the Orthodox point always to one place: their two-thousand-year legacy of saints, a lineage of holy men and women unbroken since the time of the apostles. Indeed, in our own exploration of Orthodox mysticism for this issue, what had captured our collective imagination most powerfully was the conviction among so many of those we spoke with that there are in fact men and women alive today of the same spiritual caliber as the "God-bearing" masters of old whose lives embellish the scriptures. It was our enthusiasm to speak with such an individual that had generated our far-ranging search for illumined Orthodox elders, a search that eventually led us to Archimandrite Dionysios. Born and raised in a small town in northern Greece, it was clear from early on that Father Dionysios would not find his home in the world. Coming from a religious family with forefathers in the priesthood, at the age of seventeen he left home to pursue his passion for the spirit at the historic cliff-top monastery of Great Meteoron in central Greece. It was here that he met his spiritual father, the widely revered elder, Archimandrite Aimilianos, and became tonsured into the life of renunciation. When several years later the Greek tourist industry had all but taken over the entire ancient Meteora complex, Elder Aimilianos and his band of young monks relocated to a remote monastery on Mt. Athos and began, along with a handful of other new brotherhoods, to reinvigorate the waning ancient monastic haven with their zeal for the holy life. Father Dionysios was a bright light from the beginning, known for his unwavering devotion to his elder and for his spirit of selfless giving, shared with all who came to visit their monastery perched high above the Aegean Sea. It was this spirit of generosity and passion for the monastic life that would before long bring invitations from Europe and America and eventually lead him away from the "mountain of silence" he called his home to help guide others along their way. Since leaving Mt. Athos, Archimandrite Dionysios has served at a number of different posts in Greece, Europe and America, eventually spending several years as Abbot of Holy Cross Monastery in Jerusalem. Having recently returned to Greece, where he was given an island on which he will soon build a monastery to house his core group of monks, he is also overseeing a newly founded convent outside Athens, where about forty young nuns have gathered from many different parts of the world. It was there that I had the good fortune to spend a weekend with this radiant elder last fall, discussing both the Orthodox teachings on the ego and the glory and freedom that await those who make it their life's endeavor to live beyond its confines. WIE: What is the ego? ARCHIMANDRITE DIONYSIOS: When Satan, who was the first and highest angel, looked away from God and turned his attention to himself, there we had the first seed of ego. He took his spiritual eyes from the view of the Holy Trinity, the view of the Lord, and he looked at himself and started to think about himself. And he said, "I want to put my throne in the highest place, and to be like Him." That moment started the history, the reality and the existence of ego—which is not in fact a reality, but the refusal of reality. Ego is the flower that comes out from the death of love. When we kill love, the result is the ego. WIE: What is the character of the ego? How does it manifest within a human being? AD: When we don't trust. Ego is born when we don't trust others. When we're afraid of others, when we need guns against others, then we need to have an ego because we are in the wrong way of life. We think only of ourselves, and we see only our ego. But when we see each other, when we trust each other, there is no need for ego, no reason for ego, no possibility for ego. WIE: So in the way you're speaking about it then, ego is the insistence on our separation, our independence? AD: Yes, on our solitude. Our need to be alone, to have our own way of thinking that satisfies us and preserves our personality in the wrong way. WIE: Putting ourselves first and foremost? AD: Yes. And Christ said, "The last is the first." Because when you want to be the last and you choose the last seat, only then may you call the others friends of yours. WIE: The ego, this sense of self-importance you've been speaking about, is often described in The Philokalia and other writings of the Christian mystics as the primary enemy with which the spiritual aspirant must wrestle in their quest for union with God. Why is the ego considered to be such a formidable adversary on the path? AD: It is such a powerful enemy because it is the enemy within us. We are enemies to ourselves, like Adam and Eve in paradise. Of course, the snake talked to Eve. But she could have avoided him. The snake said to her, "The Lord lied to you," but if she would have trusted the Lord, she would not have started to talk to the snake. And Adam, too, lost his communication with the Lord and stayed with his ego. And the two egos worked together, Adam and Eve. The real enemy is the ego. It is the enemy because it is against love. When I look at myself, I don't love others. When I want to occupy for myself what is yours, I become the killer of my brother, like Cain killed Abel. When I want to satisfy myself, this satisfaction is gained through sacrificing the freedom of the other. Then my ego becomes my lord, my god, and there is no stronger temptation than this. Because to us, this ego may seem like a diamond. It has a shine like gold. But whatever is shining is not gold. The ego is just like a fire without light, a fire without warmth, a fire without life. It seems that it has many sides and many possibilities—but what is this possibility? What is ego? Only the means by which I protect myself as if I were in a battle, as if every other person is my enemy, and the only thing I care about is winning the victory. WIE: It has been said by some of the greatest spiritual luminaries that when one takes up the spiritual path in earnest, one often comes face-to-face with the ego in a way that one never could have imagined previously. In describing their encounters with the ego, many saints have characterized it as an almost diabolical force within that does not want the spiritual life, that does not want God, but that wants to do everything it can to obstruct our illumination, to undermine our firm resolve to stay on the path. AD: Saint Paul writes beautifully about this event, this struggle inside the human heart. He says, "There is another law inside me telling me to refuse the will of God, to do things against Him, to refuse the grace. It tries to keep me in my past, in my old life, to take me far away from the Lord, to prevent me from following the Lord." This is why I said that the biggest problem in mankind is in each person, not outside of him. For this we need spiritual fathers. For this we need spiritual doctors. We need surgery; we need an operation; we need something to be cut in our heart. We don't understand that this enemy that we have inside us is not our self; it's not our personality. It's only a temptation. This is the seed of the problem of the ego. We unite our personality, which is a priceless event, with our faults. We confuse our personality with our sin; we marry these two things, and we have a wrong impression of what we are. We don't know what we are, and we need someone to show us who we are; we need someone to open our eyes so that we can at least see our darkness. There's a mystic, the greatest of the mystics, Saint Gregory Palamas. For thirty years, he was praying only this prayer: "Enlighten my darkness. Enlighten my darkness." He did not name the Lord because he did not feel worthy to name him. He did not address it to anyone, but he said this prayer day and night, more than he was breathing. Because all he knew in himself was his darkness. And he was talking to someone—to whom else?—to Christ, who said, "I am the Light." But he said only, "Enlighten my darkness." WIE: Show me my faults? AD: Or come to my darkness and burn it. Make fire in it and make light in it. The greatest thing we can do in our lives is to discover that by ourselves we are nothing. We are darkness. We are dust. WIE: The ego is often characterized in the spiritual literature as a cunning and opportunistic adversary, capable of turning any situation to its advantage in its attempt to obstruct our spiritual progress. What do you feel is the most important quality within the individual that can help us to win the fight against the clever and ever-changing ego? Dionysios: Repentance. Recognizing our mistakes and our sins, this is the highest thing that we can do. And not to recognize our sins in order to succeed at something else, but just to see the truth about ourselves. Saint Isaac, the great mystic of the Church, says that one who accepts, who understands, who recognizes his sin in front of the Lord, in reality, he is the highest. He is greater than one who has gained all the world, who feeds all the people, who makes miracles, who resurrects the dead. This man, the first one, is bigger because he can never fall down. He has a stability, a level, a place where he can talk to the Lord. He has a place where he can invite the Lord with his tears, with his repentance, with the understanding that he has done wrong. And straightaway he becomes clear. The light comes from him. He becomes a spiritual doctor, a teacher or father, because he’s not afraid to recognize sins. It is not a problem for him to say, “Excuse me, it was my fault.” This is the key to escape from all the drops of the devil. WIE: Would it be accurate to characterize this quality you’re describing—this willingness to face oneself honestly—as humility? Dionysios: Not humility. Humility is the result. It would be better to say “wisdom.” We press ourselves to be humble. But to recognize my faults—what does that have to do with humility? I have to be humble in order to recognize my faults? No. I have to see them. It’s an emergency. It’s my way to exist for the next second. How can I exist with my faults for one second? In front of whom? In front of myself—how can I be with my faults, with my sins? I have to say, “I did it!” Dostoyevsky expresses this so beautifully in Crime and Punishment. The main character, Raskolnikov, kills someone, and almost immediately he understands what he did. He doesn’t recognize it by himself, but with the help of the strict hard words of a prostitute, Sonya, who says to him, “Look what you did.” She guides him to go into the middle of the plaza, in front of all the people, to say what he did. And he does it. He confesses. He says that otherwise he could not exist, that he would have to commit more and more and more crimes. And he accepts the sentence of the court to go for at least twenty years to the hardest prison. And he goes, and there he feels the medicine of his heart. And he takes this medicine. We have problems in life because we don’t want to accept or recognize our sins. And this is the key. What else do we have to offer to each other? Gold, money, lust, food? Long life? No. Only to recognize our sins and straightaway we have a new world. WIE: You seem to be speaking about a kind of deep conscience that stirs when we face ourselves. Dionysios: It’s love. Love is more than conscience. Conscience is something that says to you, “You do this, you do this, you do this.” It’s like we’re under our own personal court. But love is something much more. Love makes us ready to pay for the sins of others. It’s a much higher step. Not only to recognize our sins but also to be able to pay for sins for which we are not responsible, as Christ did. This is love. WIE: The writings of the Christian fathers speak of the goal of the spiritual journey as a transfiguration of the human being into an entirely different order of human existence—one in which the ego is killed and we are, in a sense, reborn. What does it mean for the ego to die? And in what sense are we reborn? Dionysios: The Lord calls us to transform. He wants to give us our reality, our real self, which we have lost. And in spiritual life, especially in the monastic life, this ego really can transform, just as when the disciples, having followed Christ to the top of Mount Tabor, witnessed his body transformed into light. Many fathers used to explain that the transfiguration didn’t actually happen to the body of Christ but to the eyes of his students. Because at that moment, their eyes transformed and they could see what Christ had always been—shining, full of light. Through their humility, through following Christ, they were brought to the top of this mountain to enjoy this reality. And every one of us can receive this blessing. Our nature can be transformed. This transfiguration is our real progress, our real growth. It’s not a matter of using our spiritual life in Christ to become better, to become more clever, to know more things, to have more friends, to influence others, to have authority and power, to have money, good health, a good name, and a good face. It’s only a matter of what’s inside our heart. The important thing is that in daily practice there cannot be any seed of ego in the field of our heart. Because when temptation comes, it can destroy the quality of life and of the relationships between people. The Lord taught us to be awake all the time and to pray to him, to say, “Protect us and don’t let us enter into temptation.” Through this protection from temptation, we can come to see very clearly into our hearts. And by following the simplest, normal life, we can purify ourselves, our spirit and our mind. It’s very easy after that for the Holy Spirit to come. It’s like in the Eucharist, we are ready all together in the church with the bread and the wine. We pray, and the Holy Spirit comes and makes the bread and the wine into the body and blood of Christ. In the same way, we can purify ourselves, and the Holy Spirit comes and transforms us in all the ways we have read about in books and brings us many more experiences that all the books of the world cannot contain. WIE: In the Orthodox tradition there has been a long-standing lineage of illumined spiritual fathers, great individuals who have demonstrated with their own lives the possibility of destroying the ego and discovering a new life in God. What are the marks of one who has won the spiritual battle? How does the expression of the personality change in one who has truly gone beyond the ego? Dionysios: He’s ready for everything always. He never is or says or feels that he’s tired. He has joy. He’s always ready to give. He exists only for others. He’s ready to serve everybody. He does not judge anybody, including the deepest sinner. He’s there as a child, but as a child of a king. Who can touch the son of a king? Who can touch a newborn lion knowing that the mother lion is nearby? Being this way, you’re like a small lamb among the wolves, but you’re not afraid. You’re there offering, receiving everybody, loving, serving, praying for everybody and being ready to die in each moment, and in that, you’re totally and completely free. All these are fruits of love because we become the source of love. So is a man without ego. This is the transformation. It’s like we are a wild old tree and we need something to come into us and transform this tree into a good fruitful tree. A man without ego is a man with God, is a man with the Holy Spirit. When you are ready to die for everybody in each moment, when you love, when you respect, when you prostrate to the other, it’s like you prepare him to be ready for an operation; but it’s not that you judge the other or feel that he needs something from you. When you are perfect before Him—and we can be perfect; in fact, we have to be perfect; it’s the principal need—then right away people need it, know it, understand it. Very quickly everybody comes to take a seat in front of such a person, in front of a spiritual son or a spiritual father. WIE: Is it also your experience that a spiritual father who has truly gone beyond the ego not only inspires people to reach for their highest potential but also presents the ultimate challenge to the ego of those who come to see him? Dionysios: Absolutely. In fact, in the presence of such a person, the devil comes out straightaway. And you can see very clearly how the devil makes people crazy or angry or disrespectful when you haven’t even said anything. Just because you are there, they explode. And you can see terrible things in people where otherwise you would see only kind people with ties and gold jewelry. When someone appears who embodies the Spirit of God, there you can see what you could see when Jesus was walking in the streets. The devils who were in the people said, “Whoa, who are you? You came here to put us in trouble.” Some were scandalized by him, others were thinking about how to kill him, and still others were thinking things against him. He was speaking not to what they said but to what they were thinking. And the same Holy Spirit exists in the spiritual fathers, and it can also create this kind of confrontation. This happens because the other person understands that he cannot play with this man. He cannot hide from this man. WIE: In Christian writings, the enemy of the spiritual path is often referred to in dramatic terms as Satan, Lucifer, the devil. Is Satan simply a metaphor for the human ego? Or is it something independent of us? Dionysios: Satan is the teacher. And the ego is the means by which we fulfill his theory. Living from our ego is like burning incense to him. When he smells it, he comes. It is familiar to him; it’s his relative, his tongue, his dialect. He likes it. So he comes, and then he starts to open company with our ego. Then he starts to be related to us. WIE: So would you say that Satan exists in this sense as an impersonal force of evil that operates within each of us as the ego? Or would it be more accurate to say that the ego is already there in us and Satan is the voice of temptation to which the ego listens? Dionysios: The second. He doesn’t have the authority to work through our ego. We’re free all the time to decide. WIE: There are many spiritual authorities in the modern West who are attempting to bring the ideas of Western psychology to bear on the spiritual path. In fact, it is now commonly held that in order to withstand the difficulties of the spiritual path, one has to first develop a strong ego, a strong sense of self. One statement that has become almost a credo in many spiritual circles is: “You have to become somebody before you can be nobody.” What do you think of this idea? Dionysios: That’s like saying, “We first have to be the head of the Mafia and then we can become president.” Or, “I will first work together with the devil; I shall make common company with him so that he will give me whatever I need, but because I am more clever than he is, I will then use my power for good.” It’s good to send children out to study, to learn to sing, to learn athletics, to be well educated, to have an economic basis from which to start their life. But how often do we see that the dreams of all the rich men and their children are broken? The Bible says that “if the builders are working very hard to build a tower that the Lord does not bless, they have worked for nothing.” This ego is the modern god of the twentieth century and the twenty-first century. And the idea you referred to in your question is the modern religion. But we know this temptation. Ego means, “I don’t believe in the existence of the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit does not exist.” But this is a lie. The Holy Spirit guides the world and blessed are they who want it, who see it, who breathe in it, who move in it, who inspire through it, who love it, who are uniting with it. WIE: There are also many spiritual authorities today who insist that the ego is an inherent and irreversible fact of our humanity and that any attempt to give up the ego, to transcend our lower nature in pursuit of perfection, is itself an expression of the greatest hubris. Jungian psychologist Marion Woodman goes so far as to say that the very notion of perfection “rapes the soul.” How would you respond to those who assert that we are, by nature, flawed and incapable of reaching perfection? Dionysios: Christ said, “Be perfect. Become perfect. And when you will be and you will do everything perfectly, saying within yourself and believing that you are miserable, terrible lost sinners, servants, there you will find humility and glory.” It’s possible to be perfect because He is perfect, because He received our nature. So if He did this, we can do it; we can be with Him. It’s possible to be perfect because of this gift. And it’s possible to not be perfect because we have the authority to refuse the gift, to refuse the love. And when we refuse it, then we need theology, then we need philosophy, then we need to create new books and new theories that say that the ego cannot be transcended. It is possible to be free of the ego. It has to be. It’s necessary. It’s only because people don’t know of this possibility, don’t want this possibility, and don’t permit this possibility to exist that they need to create all these ideas. But they know that they are speaking lies. This is the craziest thing we can hear. What doctor says to a sick man, “Look, sickness is a part of our nature. We have to be with it. So we don’t have to cut our nails. We don’t need to wash our face, because we shall be dead tomorrow anyway”? What kind of teaching is this? Yes, it is possible to be free of the ego, but it’s a mystery. WIE: The ascetic practices of Orthodoxy place a strong emphasis on the need to suppress our instinctual drives. Impulses like lust, hunger, thirst, and even the desire for sleep are often held at bay for long periods in extreme acts of renunciation. What is the role of ascetic practice in attaining freedom from the ego? Dionysios: Asceticism is a means to get where we want to go. It is a railway on which the train can run. Many people feel that asceticism means following a set of rules, but it’s not a law that is imposed on us. In football, for example, it’s not that the rules of the game are hard, but that they help the game to come out perfectly. And so it is with ascetic life. The special periods and rules of fasting, vigil, and prayer serve as mystical ways or means. We follow these mystery ways, these divine commitments, these divine orders. And outside of the general rules, there are also personal rules that are given in the communication between spiritual father and son, special vocations for each individual. We see saints who spend much time in the caves or in the forest or in the desert. And they don’t go there with plans to come back; when they go there, they go forever. And the Lord guides them then. When Christ went to the desert after his baptism, he went to face the devil. He didn’t think in his mind, “After forty days I will return.” He just went there. He came out of the Jordan River, baptized by Saint John the Baptist, and he went to the desert. From one point of view, he lost time being alone there. He didn’t go to his people to give them food, to bless them, to guide them, to give the Holy Spirit to them. No. He went to the desert. And he said to the devil, “My friend, look, until now you were playing with the people. You started with Eve in paradise, and now you are finishing with me. I am here alone. I’m not eating. I’m not drinking. And the cold in my bones in the night in the desert is terrible. I suffer. But I don’t play games. I’m here. Alone. And you come to me and you tell me to turn stones into bread. You tell me to prostrate to you. You? To give you the authority of my people? Go now. We have seen each other. I know who you are and you know who I am.” And in that moment the devil gave up everything. So the ascetic life is necessary. To be ready in each moment to die, in front of everybody for everything—this is the desert, this is the ascetic life. And it brings the Holy Spirit. And if we go, the Lord will guide us.

Yea this post has been featured on another blog!!! Thank you Patti and Paula for the feature over at their blog, Ivy and Elephants!! Make sure you check out their classy blog full of fun vintage and victorian collections    Hello paper lovers, thank you for stopping by! Today I have baby girl book made with vintage style scrapbook paper. I love this paper line, Little Darlings Collection by graphic 45. I find myself always wanting to make baby girl projects. I think after years of making things for my boys, I just can't resist the "girl" paper now! Or maybe I am at just hoping for a granddaughter someday! Whichever it is girly projects for now!   At first I wanted to make a banner, but then I thought a book would probably make a more "savable" keepsake.     Below is a photo of  the Jolee's fabric flower I attached with some ribbon to one of the large rings I used for the book binding.     This picture below is a close-up of the banner I made for the front cover of the book. (see I did get a banner in the project) . I made 4, one inch  pinwheels with my Martha Stewart scoreboard, I inked all the edges with brown ink. I cut the letters for baby with my Cricut, using the Mini Monogram's cartridge.  Here is a peek of the inside cover and page one. I love all the sweet images. So soft and vintagey, I know that's not a word! But it should be!    Below a close-up of another tiny banner I made for page 2. Everything is glued down with a glue gun to hold it in place.    Pages 2 and 3. Plenty of spaces to put pictures of your little darling!    Below a picture of pages 4 and 5.    Pages 6 and 7 below.  Pages 7 and 8.  Lastly page 9 and the back cover.  This book was so easy to put together, the paper is so pretty the pages just designed themselves.  The back cover of the book.    A couple of close-ups of the front cover.  So for fun I listed and sold this book on Ebay. Many years ago I put some of my cards and scrapbook layouts on EBay and most of them sold. Sometimes I would get several bids and a few times no bids at all, which can be a blow to the creative ego, but you just create and try again, right?  There are several thousand scrapbook type pieces listed on EBay so I think it is really hit or miss as far as a buyer seeing your work. But it's fun to list something and see what kind of reaction your work gets, and the creative ego has to be tough!    All the paper and trims for this book was purchased at Paper Daises. I used the Little Darlings Collection from graphic45. And one piece of paper from the in love- our song line from webster's pages paper line. The Jolee's flower and ribbon were purchased from Michael's. Thank you for stopping by, if your are a paper crafter let me know what your favorite style is. I like many different styles, I am usually inspired by the paper!   Have a great day! Lori Thank you again Paula and Patti for the feature at Ivy and Elephants!! I really appreciate it! Make sure you visit their blog! You don't want to miss it! I am sharing this post at: Ivy & Elephants: What's It Wednesday #81

For any creative work, there is a myth of inspiration that surrounds it. Many people believe that writing, painting, or otherwise creating involves simply waiting for the Muse or Inspiration or something similar to strike you, and all of a sudden you have a perfectly formed piece. Or maybe it's not that dramatic, but a belief along the lines of you can't create without that moment of inspiration persists. But in reality? It's simply not true. If you only ever wrote or created when inspiration struck, you'd never end up finishing anything. If you really want to be a writer, it's actually much more useful to have a routine. You may be thinking, doesn't a routine just make you feel like you're in a rut and boxed in? And sure, it can. But if you use routines in the right way, it can actually be a boon to your creativity. When you should use a routine 1. In your creative life Creativity is more about training your brain to show up for work rather than waiting for inspiration to strike. Sitting down regularly and writing something, even if it feels like garbage, is a far superior method than not writing anything until you feel inspired. This is the first way routines can be useful: having a regular creativity time. It doesn't have to be writing (although, if you want to be a writer, most of these sessions should be focused on writing). But just having a time every day when you create something--whether it's doodling, photography, or working on a longer-term project--trains your brain to be in the habit of being ready to create, every day, regardless of what else is going on. Experiment with different times of the day. Are you more productive in the morning before everyone else is up? Or maybe in the evening when things have settled down? Or maybe it just depends on the day. Try to pick a regular time to write, but allow yourself flexibility in the when. The focus should be on consistency. I've already written about the importance of writing regularly, but what about those times when you sit down, ready to write, only to spend half an hour (or longer!) actually getting into the rhythm? Is there a way to avoid wasting that precious writing time? The answer is yes: by implementing a routine that precedes each creative time. It's pretty much the science behind Pavlov's dogs--having a routine before you begin your writing session jumpstarts your brain to say Oh yes! Doing this means it's time to write. Maybe it's making a cup of tea, reading a poem, or lighting a candle. I like to open each of my writing sessions with a prayer. I recommend also having a regular spot that you use for writing that is away from easy distractions and can signal to your brain that it's time to work. 2. In your personal life Routines can help your creativity even when they're used in other areas of your life. This is because of a little thing called decision fatigue. When you spend all day making choices, even little ones, you end up using so much of your creative energy that it can be hard to write or create anything. Routines can help alleviate some of this decision fatigue. If you always mean to connect more with friends, decide that each morning you'll text a different friend to see how they're doing, or each week you'll set aside Thursday lunches to try and catch up with a friend. When you make decisions like these ahead of time, it relieves stress and gives you more mental space to focus on creating. When not to use routines 1. When you get into a rut I know, earlier I said that routines don't equal ruts. And they don't have to! But, yes, sometimes they can. If your routine, whether in your creative or personal life, suddenly stops giving you creativity and instead leaves you feeling bored and like all your ideas have dried up, then it's time to do something new! This could mean trying a new routine, or simply taking a break from your regular routine for a while and then coming back to it to see if it works again. Sometimes you won't have a choice, like traveling for any reason, and it can be okay to let yourself enjoy these breaks from routine and use them as a time to recharge and mix things up. 2. When it becomes an excuse not to work Of course, it's nice to have your ideal creativity routine set up. Maybe you get up every morning, make a cup of coffee, and settle down at the table just beginning to be illuminated by sunlight from the window and keep writing the next Great American Novel. Which is awesome! But--don't let that be the only time and place you can work. Because life will happen, and sometimes you're not always going to be able to have that routine. Here's a weird metaphor: when you have a newborn child (or so I'm told), it's your instinct to be very quiet after you put them to bed, and to do everything you can to avoid making noises and waking them up. But in reality, you're just training them to only be able to sleep in complete silence. Which is all fine and good now, but eventually they'll go to camp and college and have roommates and maybe a spouse and they may not always be able to have complete silence when they're trying to sleep. So you're actually doing them a disservice in the long run. What does this have to do with writing? While it's good to know your most productive place and time to work and have a routine in place to jumpstart your brain, still try to practice working during other times and at other places and even surrounded by distractions, so that you don't train yourself to be unable to work except for within those specific parameters. Do you have any routines that work for you? In what areas of your life? Let me know in the comments! [caption id=attachment_385 align=aligncenter width=514] If you liked this post, pin it to share and save for later![/caption]                   Featured image by Estée Janssens

We're continually blown away by the creative individuals we work with here at UO — from artists to designers, stylists to photographers...we're surrounded by a completely inspiring and hardworking group. For this week's US@UO feature, which tells the stories about some of the amazing people we're lucky enough to work alongside, we're visiting the Philadelphia home of our Design Build Senior Manager Todd Quarles: AKA the guy who helps conceive, design, and execute all the amazing installations inside our UO stores. Todd has worked for UO for nearly a decade, starting as a display artist in the store in Charleston, SC. After awhile, he started traveling around to other store locations to help them open and have input in creating the design prototypes. Eventually, he moved to the Philadelphia home office to work as the Corporate Display Artist. Over the years, his role has evolved and grown into what he does today, which includes everything from designing the way the flooring looks in fitting rooms to considering wall finish details to planning and constructing giant hanging installations. Off-duty, Todd's just as busy with a seemingly unlimited amount of hobbies, side projects, and talents: seriously, his apartment is a treasure trove of found, vintage, and insanely cool pieces he's made by hand. Not to mention his airy Philly loft—within which he has built a woodshop INSIDE the apartment—is also pretty fantastic. We caught up with him to talk more about how he works, how he's inspired, and what dream projects he's cooking up.  Photos by Michael Muller Above: Cutting boards Todd made from different layered pieces of maple, cherry, walnut, white oak, white ash, and philippine mahogany woods When did you first start making things by hand?When I was really young I remember hanging out in my grandfather’s basement and he had every hand tool you could think of and multiples of each. So from a young age I wanted to use tools. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and where I lived, houses were being built constantly. When I was in grade school and junior high we used to take scrap wood from construction sites and build forts. I usually had the ideas in my head and my friends would help me build them. Building forts turned into skateboard ramps as I got a little older.   Above: A collection of vintage cameras (most sourced from antique stores or estate sales) arranged in front of the latticed wall he designed to break up his bedroom from the rest of the studio apartment. Can you share more about the herringbone-patterned wall you built in your apartment — and how you've reworked the technique in UO projects? When I moved into my space there was a bedroom built, but I decided to convert that into my workshop…and was left without a bedroom. I decided to build a divider wall to build a proper room, but since it's a backdrop for my living space I wanted to make it look cool. I constructed the wall in a herringbone pattern since I could use mostly scrap wood, using all kinds of wood from hardwoods to plywood to Masonite. One of the things that makes it unique is all of the woods are different thicknesses, giving it a really interesting texture. When I got to the corner I wanted to continue the herringbone around the corner instead of changing direction (which is how people normally do it). So the corner took me a while to figure out since I used different thicknesses of wood…definitely the most difficult (but satisfying) part.  In the doorway I used MDF that I painted and then sanded to give it an effect of tile with grout. We ended up using that technique in our Westwood store on a giant wall for the backdrop of the women’s space. It was cool to see what I did in a small way in my apartment turned into a large scale project in one of our stores. Above: On the dining table, a series of patterned vases Todd made from re-envisioning root beer bottles. What are some of your favorite UO design-build projects you've worked on? I would have to say my favorite store is Store #78 in Charleston, SC. Maybe it’s because I started there, but it is so beautiful, housed in an old theatre from the early 1900s; the back half of the theater was restored and the front half was left in its original state, left open to see the layers of the space and how it was constructed. A favorite recent project was the drop ceiling we installed in the New York Herald Square building, which covers about 2500 square feet. It was totally different than anything we'd done before.  Above: Todd tracing a prototype for his wooden hearts, which he makes from a mix of any scrap wood he can get his hands on, from used skateboard decks to glued-up scrap plywood to pristinely beautiful hardwoods. Can you tell us the story behind the wooden hearts you make? How did you first come up with the idea? It’s kind of funny: when I lived in Charleston, I was part of an art show in a venue connected to a vintage shop. The premise of the show was centered around these antique suitcases the shop had found, where each artist was assigned a suitcase and made work in response to it and using its materials. I got a little hard shell train case, and right away saw it as a head of a toy robot. So I made a six-foot-tall robot out of all kinds of both items I found and built, using the train case as the head. I thought it would be funny to have a heart in a robot and decided to make one out of wood, inserting in a matte black box inside the robot chest so it looked like the heart was floating. A friend later said that the heart was her favorite part of the whole project, which gave me the idea to continue making them.  From there I made a couple as gifts and put them in a little ornately-framed shadow box. The boxes are either matte black or white, and the heart is high gloss: I want it to be the main focus. About two years ago I did a show at UO's home office just about the hearts and made 35 of them and ended up selling a bunch of them. Now, I keep making them but mostly sell them through my  Instagram and word of mouth.  Could you walk through the steps of how you make one?  I either start with a chunk of wood or I glue up a bunch of little pieces to make a block of wood that's six inches wide, six tall, and two deep. I draw a rough heart shape on the block, trying to consider how the grain will work with the shape of the heart. I then cut it out and start to shape it, using a benchtop belt sander...this usually takes about an hour. Once I get the rough shape I sand it to make it smooth and to fine-tune the shape. It’s pretty cool to see as I start to remove material how the grain changes. One of the reasons I like making them is every one I make has its own characteristics. I could cut five hearts out of the same slab of wood and each has a unique look and natural beauty about it. Once the heart is shaped I try and put between 6-10 coats of high gloss clear on it, which really brings out all of the detail. The shadow box that I mount them in is a pretty simple design, but actually takes a decent amount of work as well.  Above: Todd's collection of vintage clamps and the tattoo they inspired Above: Scenes from Todd's apartment in north Philly What are some of your favorite objects in your home? I think one of my favorite pieces I have is my Z chair from Selig. I’m always inspired by midcentury furniture and design. I found this chair in a thrift store in South Carolina and picked it up for $75 and re-upholstered the cushions. I’ve seen them go for up to $1700, so that was definitely a good one. I also garbage-picked my 1975 Herman Miller fiberglass shell chairs…I was really psyched on that find. The next project for my house is a walnut and maple credenza. Above: Another of Todd's (many) interests? Fixing up bikes, like this 1977 Harley Ironhead, which he's rebuilding to make his own with a new front end, gas tank, and handlebars. What new ideas or projects have you been thinking about lately?  What’s pretty awesome about my job is when I have an idea it usually becomes a reality, or at least some iteration of it. So it’s rare that I have something sitting on the back burner that I don’t get a chance to use. It’s kind of the opposite, actually: we have a lot of projects so we are constantly pushing to come up with new ideas. Most of the design is such a collaborative process, whether it’s an idea that I have that evolves or I’m tweaking someone else’s idea. Actually…I do have one idea I’ve wanted to use in a store somewhere for a long time and we haven’t really had the right space for it. It has to do with the skeleton of skateboard ramps and ceilings. I’m going to leave it at that. We’ll see if it ever comes to fruition. Above: Tools and the setup in Todd's workshop space, which he designed inside his Philadelphia apartment Keep following the blog for more US@UO posts and behind-the-scenes looks at the amazingly creative individuals who make up the UO team!

In a small sleepy village outside of Cebu lies the heart of SPFTC’s Fair Trade production of their products, which include dried mangoes, mango balls, dried manangy, dried spices, tamerind, and virgin coconut oil. Theirs is an environmentally sound development consisting of a production area, an office, workshops, delivery vehicles all alongside allotments, plants and trees. We were shown around their site, which was built 16 years ago on leased land. The site gradually grew over the years, designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. This was evident form the moment we drove through the entrance of the plant; pass gates and fences made from recycled plastic bottles. A great idea and a cleaver solution to the huge problem of plastic recycling and garbage disposal. Rolo, the manager and overseer of the production side of SPFTC’s products showed us around. He’s sense of humour and approachable manor, made the tour really interesting. Rolo knew every statistic, all the ins and outs and had insightful answers for our every question. We are very grateful for his patience with us and for letting us pick his brain on the production processes. The main body of the site is their production area that is made from three cargo containers. We were told that along with using a cheap recyclable structure, it was also chosen as an easy means of moving if they had to due to not owning the land their site is on.   The SPFTC office was also made from a cargo container, which had a bit of work done to it. With wooden floors, an out door seating area and two large office spaces for admin.  The grounds consisted of two mango trees, banana trees, managy trees and tamarind. Only the tamarind was grown for the processing process. The other produce came in from Fair Trade suppliers from around Cebu for production. The plants on sight were mainly for experimental processes only. When we were there, SPFTC were experimenting with making mango balls from dried mangoes as an alternative healthy snack. And instead of buying in machines, Rolo and his team of engineers were coming up with their own inventions in production machines.  Mango ball machine in the making We were shown through the steps of process when making dried mangos, which is the same for other dried fruits, but with different timings in the process for depending on the water content of the fruit. We had to wear funny protective gear so not to contaminate the sanitised production areas. As no mangoes were being processed at the time, we weren’t actually able to see much production, but the picture give a good idea of the steps. Rolo (left), shows us the production stages for dried mango in a sanitised container 1. Fist we were shown the area in which the mangoes are cleaned, peeled and sliced. Each mango had two large slices and four small slices. They had designed special peelers specifically for the mangoes so the inside fruit isn’t damaged and little flesh is removed with the skin.  SPFTC's own design for a mango peeler When we were there, a batch of malangy had come in for a similar process, they were placed in the cleaning up room to be ready to be processed.  Malangy, ready to be processed 2. Then the mangoes are placed in large bowls filled with a syrup which then goes into an osmosis tank. This helps remove with the osmosis process, removing the water from the fruit. As mangoes are 80% water, the process of removing the water takes longer then a lot of other fruit. The mangoes are left in syrup for a day.     3. After being removed from the syrup, the mangoes have lost 15% of their water. They are then blanched in hot water to remove excess syrup. 4.  They are then placed on racks that go into the dehydration ovens. This gives the mangoes a steady warm heat and an air flow allowing the mangoes to dry fully and lose all their water so they are just fruit. SPFTC has two dehydrating ovens that are heated using a water system that heats up from burning natural waste from coconuts, mango skins, and other waste from the plant. This process takes a day also. Dehydration ovens       5.. After the dried mango comes out of the dehydrator it has lost all water and is pure fruit. They are left to sit in dark room, then packaged and labelled on site.      6. From 1000kg of mangoes the outcome is 150kg of dried mangoes. The mango stone is used in making mango puree. The stone is put through a specially design machine which removes as much pulp as possible. The pulp is then used to make mango juice. The syrup used in the osmosis process is also used in their juices.  7. Each batch goes through quality control. A sample from each batch is kept if any future problems were to occur.  Mangoes ready for export After our tour, we were taken to the meeting room for refreshments and snacks. Her we discovered the full extent of the scale of work SPFTC did. To meet demands from the West and Japan, they had to make changes in their machines, in their production methods, in their packaging and labelling. This was interesting to hear. The changes took a long time, but there were creative solutions around this. For example, the dehydrators were run on a reverse fridge system. This was extremely bad for energy consumption, but with help and guidance, they came up with a water system that was heated using waste from the site. Cleaver solutions like this and the inventions of machines for the production process not only makes me feel like SPFTC are advanced compare to larger producers in the Cebu area, but that they are very good at adapting to a greener, more sustainable way of manufacturing. We had a great time, at the production plant. I almost have a problem calling it a “production plant”, because it didn't feel like that at all. It felt more like a place where good ideas sprang and greener possibilities were seen. It felt homely, lush with vegetation, clean, welcoming, and most of all a good example for production of similar products around the world.

These gift ideas for toddlers were thoughtfully curated as a former teacher with a background in child development… and as a mom to a 2.5 year old during a pandemic 😉 All items on this list are either ones that my toddler has and loves or ones that I have on his Christmas list this year. What I look for in toys are ones that are some combination of: open ended, long lasting, highly rated, educational, developmentally appropriate and fun! I also included lots of smaller gift ideas for thoughtful stocking stuffers- make sure to scroll to the bottom for those! I hope you find some gift ideas that the toddler in your life will love! The links below are affiliate links. Anything purchased through the links on this page helps support our family (at no additional cost to you) and for that, I thank you! Gift Ideas for Toddlers: V Tech Write & Learn Creative Center This is a toy that I wouldn’t normally gravitate towards, but we actually found this at a thrift store and it is hands down one of the most played with toys in our house! It has simple drawing and writing tutorials and I was shocked how well Henry learned to draw at just two years old. It’s a fun learning toy that he LOVES and I highly recommend! ThinkFun Roll and Play Game for Toddlers A fun first game for toddlers. Each color on the cube corresponds to a different category- emotions, body parts, counting, colors, animal sounds and actions. They roll the cube, draw a corresponding card and complete the action. Learning and fun all in one! Carpet Playmat Rug Our carpet playmat is played with every single day. Not only does he play with his vehicles on it, but toy animals, people figurines and blocks! This town play set is a great addition to a playmat! Picasso Magnet Tiles You have probably seen these on every gift guide out there, but they are worth they hype! Henry received these last Christmas when he was about 20 months old and has played with them every day since! These are the less expensive brand out of the popular options and they have held up great so far with no issues. My First Remote Control Car Such a cute and simple first remote control car for little ones! There are a few different vehicle options available. Picasso Bristle Blocks One of Henry’s favorite activities is building different types of vehicles out of blocks, legos, etc. I thought this would be a fun set to add to our building toy rotation- and you can’t beat the reviews! Wobble Balance Board This is an open ended toy that can be used in so many different ways- for balancing, rocking, climbing, imaginative play and more! With a weight limit of over 200 pounds it can be used for years and years. Matchbox Garbage Truck So many toddlers are obsessed with garbage trucks- if yours is too, this one has amazing reviews! It can actually load “garbage” and then can dump it out the back! Tot Tube Playset One of those toys that is so simple, but such a great idea! A toy tube that kids can send cars, balls, etc down. Lots of great learning opportunities and fun to be had. Radio Flyer My 1st Scooter A scooter or a balance bike are a fun “big” present for toddlers- especially if you live somewhere with mild winters! Wooden Community Helpers I added these to Henry’s list because I wanted him to have some toys that included people of diverse skin colors and abilities. This set not only promotes the diversity I was looking for, but can be used for all kinds of open ended play! My Own Mailbox Set Anyone else have a toddler who is obsessed with checking the mail? If you have one like mine, this set is so fun and is perfect for imaginative play! Duplo Compatible Marble Run If you don’t have Lego Duplo blocks for your toddler- start there 😉 Henry loves them and plays with them every single day. I thought this set would be a fun addition to expand his play. Children of the World Puzzle A big floor puzzle that would be a great starting point to discuss different cultures! Toy Sink with Running Water Water play is always a win with toddlers! Henry has a similar play sink and loves it! Stomp and Catch Board This is such a smart idea! Kiddos stomp on the board, which launches the bean bag for them to catch. A good way to practice those gross motor skills during the winter. Electric Drill Set Henry loves his toy tool set, but I think he would be thrilled to have some that actually “work”! I love that this set includes the shapes as well to make it a more purposeful toy. Indoor Pop Up Tent Henry adores his play tent at his grandparents’ house! He uses it for imaginative play, to play hide and seek and as a cozy spot to read. Shapes Puzzle I love how open ended this puzzle is and it comes with a TON of prompt cards too! My puzzle loving toddler will love this and it will hopefully challenge him longer than the typical ones. Hopper Ball Anyone else remember these from childhood? I loved playing with them and I’m sure that my energetic 2 year old will love playing with this toddler sized one as well. Kinetic Sand Construction Playset I love this as an easy premade sensory bin option, especially for the winter months when we aren’t using his outdoor sandbox. Toddler Camera If your little one loves taking pictures, this real (but toddler safe) digital camera would be perfect for them! Alphabet Robot Transformers Letters that transform into robots! I’m thinking these would make a fun quiet time activity. Amazing Machines Book Set This set of 14 books comes in a cute firetruck storage box! Henry has read these books from the library and really enjoyed them. I also have this “Wheels on the Trucks” book set on his list- although you can’t go wrong with any books in my opinion 😉 Giant Road Jigsaw Puzzle I was looking for an alternative to an expensive road toy and found this with great reviews! I love that it combines the benefits of puzzle building with imaginative play and my son’s love of all things with wheels! You can also buy a railroad and town set and they all connect together. Play Food Whether or not you have a play kitchen, there are so many fun sets of play food out there that are great for imaginative play! Henry actually received a play kitchen for Christmas last year and wasn’t overly interested in it…until I bought this condiment set. He LOVES “dip” so this was right up his alley and he has played with them (and his kitchen) literally every day since. I also have heard great things about this magnetic ice cream set and am considering it for Christmas this year! Oh and this smoothie maker set is adorable too! Tube Building Toys I always find that open ended, “building” tools are the most played with in our house. This set looks fun and I know Henry will love that it comes with wheels! Magnetic Animal Mix and Match Game Henry has this and really enjoys it- it’s essentially magnetic puzzles. A great quiet time or travel activity! Cardboard Playhouse to Color A 2 in 1 activity: your little one can color the house AND play in it! So fun! Flashcard Puzzles These look like a fun way to expose toddlers to the alphabet and numbers! Expression Babies I love that these dolls come in a variety of skin tones- a good way to incorporate diversity as well as teach emotions. This would be a great gift when paired with “The Feelings Book”. Activity Books We’ve been relying pretty hard on coloring and activity books around here this year, with so much time spent at home! A few of our favorites include the jumbo coloring pads and the seek and find sticker pads from Melissa and Doug. I love the large size and good quality paper! Henry also LOVES these dry erase seek and find books & I love that they are reusable! Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Toddlers: I love filling stockings with items that will actually be used: small quality toys, art/craft supplies and practical items. Kwik Stix Solid Tempera Paint These paint sticks are PERFECT for toddlers. They dry in under 90 seconds so they are much less messy than regular paint. I also love that they are washable and nontoxic! The Pencil Grip Magic Tri Stix Markers These markers are the perfect markers for toddlers! Why? Because they last up to 7 days with no lid and won’t dry out! We’ve tested it and they really do work a week later. I love that we don’t have to be constantly repurchasing markers and that these are a lower waste option. Wonder Stix Another fun addition to your craft supplies are these Wonder Stix. They are awesome because you can write on just about anything including: windows, wood, chalkboards, white boards, cardboard, etc. They’re also washable, dust free and cap free! Simple Modern Kids Water Bottle These come in tons of great colors and patterns and have amazing reviews! Kid Friendly Cooking Knives I want Henry to start being able to help me in the kitchen more and I think he will love being able to use these kid friendly knives! Flashlight What toddler doesn’t love flashlights? Other than using them for free play, we like to take flashlight walks and read with flashlights occasionally! Measuring Tape These retractable measuring tapes are so fun for kids to use and SO much cheaper than the ones made specifically for kids (these should always be used supervised!) Toddler Scavenger Hunt Cards at Home A fun game that is extra appropriate for this year when we are all stuck at home! Lego Duplo Fire Truck These small, simple duplo sets are perfect for toddlers and will be a great add on to the Legos he already has. Spot It Jr. I’ve only heard amazing things about this game and I’m excited to introduce it to Henry! He may be a little young, but it is one that can defintley grow with him. Beginner Puzzles I got these puzzles to include in Henry’s stocking this year. (I’ll take them out of the box and put in a small bag so they’ll fit!) It’s hard to find puzzles for toddlers that are the right level of difficulty between baby and “big kid” and these look great for that in between stage! Wood Vehicles These are on my list this year for Henry- they look like high quality and I know would get used for years to come! TOOB Animal Figurines These mini animal figurines can be used in so many different ways! We have several different versions that I rotate for Henry to play with. I thought this Arctic animal one would be perfect for Christmas! 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In 2003, someone gave me a 1970's vintage 14' Hobie Catamaran...Orange hulls in good shape, but with quite a bit of oxidization on them...The guy who gave it to me hadn't used it in years...It had been sitting on a beach, on a lake here in Washington State... Another  guy  GAVE me his 1990 15 hp Johnson two stroke...  With no specific plan and uncertain expectations, my catamaran conversion was underway... I dismantled the catamaran, removed anything required to sail it and set about cleaning the hulls...That involved wet sanding and removing silicone caulking in places it didn't need to be... The trampoline replacement was next...  My plan was to do a deck composite of 1/2" x 1.25" cedar and 1/2" foam...run lengthwise and epoxy / glass over and under...The deck would have the natural arch that Hobie's have at the front crossbar... A design element that wasn't my preference, but something that would require a lot of effort and money to change... (Above) The tramp replacement sub-frame...It's mostly a high grade 1/2" marine ply...Drilled out to reduce weight, yet still retain strength...12# (Above) Here's what used as the deck...It's mostly 1/2' blue Styrofoam, with 1/8" lauan plywood "stringers" between, with 1/2" cedar thrown in... The 8' x 8' unglassed deck weighs 20 #... (Above) The deck is laminated with 9 oz. Volan and epoxy resin...Next step was to trim the edges and cut a rounded nose...    (Above) This is the underside of the tramp replacement...The framework is 1/2" high grade marine plywood with some cedar web braces...You can see the chalk line that marks the rounded nose...I used my 5'10" fish template for the curve...  The framework is bonded to the deck with high strength construction adhesive...I coved it and glassed on a layer strip of 9 oz. volan / epoxy... I wanted the tramp replacement to offer some wind and spray protection.. (Above) So I built a "cabin" in front with Styrofoam... Styrofoam  is so easy to work with, and cheap too...It cuts easily with a knife, shapes with sandpaper...To hold the seams together I used Liquid Nails Heavy Duty Construction Adhesive...It sets up pretty fast, and after a day it can be sanded...Once the pieces are set, it's ready to be fiberglassed...Styrofoam must be glassed with epoxy resin, at least to laminate...Polyester resin will melt the foam...Your sanding coats can be polyester...It takes epoxy a week or so to fully harden, but I'm using less glass than I thought I would...Structurally, I'm surprised how rigid it is, considering it's light weight...  After I took those picture I decided to cut a curve in the top side rail...I used my 8' egg template for the curve...Making the curves and lines come together  was harder than I thought... (Above) The front is now together...The joints have been rounded and it's laminated...The interior sides have been built out and rounded (like a surfboard rail)...The front arch is attached and ready to be sanded, then glassed... Back on the boat design ... From what I've heard, the catamaran set-up needs refinement for it to achieve it's full potential...The recurring "problem" seems to be the motor just hanging in the rear...My solution was in my back yard...For years I've had a 15'9" fiberglass square end canoe...If I could figure a way to have that be the motor mount, and if I could figure a way for it to connect to the catamaran, I might be on the road to a better boat... So, I'm going to make it a Tri-maran...The canoe will solve some issues as well as present a few smaller challenges...It looks very promising overall...I put the catamaran together in the backyard and placed the canoe roughly where it might end up... (Above) The canoe is between the cat hulls...I like how the lines all work together...I think it'll get up and plane pretty easy...One benefit of adding the canoe is capacity... The catamarans weight capacity is 500#...The canoe's capacity is 1,085 #... (Above) The fiberglass top 'THING' started off as a necessarily of design, based upon Vic's pictures...   When I started, the canoe wasn't part of the equation...   Since the canoe has  been incorporated,  I now have even more flexibility in potential usage...Fully covered, it'll withstand any rainstorm...Oh, the possibilities...  (Above) I'm made fixed bulkheads out of 1/2" marine plywood to connect the cat's crossbars to the canoe...I'm going to have some aluminum brackets made that'll be welded to the crossbars and be able to bolt to the plywood risers coming out of the canoe...At the ends are deck covers  for the canoe, to keep water from entering the "hold"...On the bow is a "hatch to allow access to the front...It's a Heavy Duty Garbage Can, that's been cut...I sawed the top 3" from the barrel, and epoxied / fiberglassed it in place...The lid snaps tight...This creative stuff is fun...!!!...    (Above) The cat hulls are fully painted, the canoe hull / deck is 95% done...The crossbars are finally ready to be picked up from the welding shop ...I still have the motor / tank mounting to do, but it's getting a lot closed to water testing... I'll run it for a while without the "deck" on...That will take at least a couple of weeks for me to finish glassing and painting...Whew, it's a lot of work... The crossbars and mounting brackets will be painted yellow.....Interlux Brightside Polyurethane...A hard, high gloss, single-part polyurethane...Available at any boat store...   Applied with a thin foam roller, then "tipped off" with a good paintbrush... (Above) Check out the 1/4" thick aluminum crossbar brackets w/ gussets... (Above) The deck lines  seem like they were made for each other... Balanced... I'm really stoked how it's all come together...      The much-anticipated launch... (Above) Mid-afternoon I hooked the trailer to the van and headed to Pattison Lake...At the boat launch it was completely empty...There was a 15 kt. wind out of the west...I unhooked the lights, loosened the straps and put the trailer in over the tires...The hull slipped off real easy...I pushed the boat into the weeds and parked the trailer...The motor started easy, I pushed off, jumped on and soon I was just cruising along at a nice, faster than walking speed...Very smooth...I hooked up the tiller extension, and was pleasantly surprised how easy it worked...Good speed control and accurate steering... (Above) I'll use a tiller extension on the outboard... The extension of course is modified...It's a u-joint set-up built for outboards...But the stock stick was too short for my purposes...So, I got a heavy duty painter's extension pole that has a treaded end that goes into a paint roller... I cut off the u-joint thing and epoxied the threaded end thing into that...The painter's pole has a well thought out one push of a button quick disconnect...It's a hex fitting so it won't spin...Very easy to set up and use...I'll be fine with it until I set up a real throttle / steering wheel set-up this winter... (Above)  The underside of the deck... You can see the access hatch cutout and framing... The opening is 22" x 26"... Using the time honored method of computing capacity, using an abacus and verifying it with a slide rule, my calculation confirm with mathematical certainty that there will be 29.5387 cubic feet of storage capacity under the main deck... The Bow will hold the 14 gallon fuel cell and be home to the anchor...The stern will hold the life jackets / safety gear, leaving the center section for folding chairs, towels/wetsuits, food/drink, etc... (Above) I mostly just cruised the lake, but I opened up the throttle a few times, not top speed yet, but enough to get a sense of what the motor will do...I'll be fine with it for the foreseeable future... One thing that became apparent was, at speed the water coming off the canoe hull is directed at the catamaran hulls...It rebounds off those and unless I build the "side walls" higher, I might have water coming into the canoe...I had planned to do that, even before the test ride, but it's now higher on the priority list... The balance of weight is fine...Super stable, and once I permanently mount a 14 gallon tank in the bow, it should be perfect... (above)  I built a 4.5" extension for the transom...Multiple layers of marine plywood, sanded, routered and painted white...Through bolts hold it solid...In addition, I got a "Sting Ray Hydro Foil Jr." for the cavitation plate...Finally, I moved the pin that adjusts the motor angle all the way forward...   (Above)  You can see the relationship of the bottom to the prop....In use it works superb...I think that raising the motor made the biggest difference...The bow stayed down and the stern rose perfectly, even at the slowest speeds...I think I was  getting much lift out of the tail though because of the way it flairs up and has a keel built into it. The water exits smoothly but that shape doesn't do anything for the planning characteristics of the craft. I think the "Hydro Foil" on the motor overcomes the natural tendency for the tail to sink...At speed, the water exits the rear co cleanly... I went from stoked to"YEAH BABY"when I first gave the throttle a real twist...This excursion had me holding onto my hat...I'm estimating that I was cruising at about 15- 20 mph...Problem solved...   (Above) Here's the 14 gallon fuel cell installed in the bow...I'm using about a quarter gallon an hour cruising the lake ...Can you say " All day cruising"...???...I knew you could...   (Above)  Looking into the "hold" towards the bow...I enlarged the opening to the bow and stern, now that the deck is fully enclosed and watertight at the gunwale level...You can see the fuel cell up there...   (Above)  Looking into the stern...That's my folding chair sticking out...      Oh, by the way, the name of the boat is: ...???...What The Hull...???... This project was full of all the stuff I love...Facing design issues and coming up with solutions that are beyond common...

John Deere tractor...a little boy's dream Birthday Cake. It's truly a very easy mini cupcake cake to make. I made this for my Great-Grandson. He is truly obsessed with tractors...big ones, medium ones, small ones and of course those little tiny ones that fit in their hands so well. I made this a while ago. So I had to kind of recreate the instructions and pictures.  You can use a cake mix if you like, but I made mine from a chocolate cake recipe that I just love. The frosting is my version of buttercream frosting. The cake recipe that I used makes 48 mini cupcakes with a little left over to make a small cake for my husband and myself. A little humor from Barb I have to add this, because it's truly funny! I'm getting older and I tend to forget things sometimes. After I baked the 48 cupcakes, I buttered and floured my smallest round cake pan to use up the remaining cake batter. After removing the cupcakes from the oven, I placed the small round cake pan with the cake batter back in the oven. I got a little distracted from what I was doing, and forgot about the cake in the oven. I didn't find out what I had done until the next day when I was getting ready to cook supper. I opened the oven and there was my little cake, half baked. First, I said, 'oh no!" and then I laughed. At some point, I turned the oven off after I made the cupcakes and just simply forgot there was another cake in the oven.  It's so fun getting older...LOL! Needless to say that half-baked cake went into the garbage. So sad for my husband and myself. Always remember to keep your eye on the prize. Don't get distracted when you are making anything...It was funny though!!!😂 Let's Make a John Deere Cake  Above is the diagram for the cupcake cake. You will need 39 mini cupcakes. I use a poster board from the Dollar Tree for the base. After baking your mini cupcakes, take them and use the diagram for placement. Check the size of the mini cupcake arrangement and measure where you will need to cut the poster board. Remove mini cupcakes and cut poster board to size. At this point you should be making your frosting. I have included my recipe for buttercream frosting below. You will need 3 colors for the frosting, green, black, gold and some leftover white frosting for the window. I use a 1M decorating tip. I purchased mine at Walmart for $1.50. I purchased 4 of them so you don't have to wash the tip after each color and you can use them over and over again. Consider them as tools that can be used for many other purposes when it comes to cake decorating. A good investment. I also use plastic pastry bags that can also be purchased at Walmart. I believe the price is about $5.00 for 12.  I'm including my cake recipe below for moist Chocolate Cake, just in case you want to be a little more creative. I found this recipe on Pinterest by the Scientifically Sweet website. I love this recipe because it's so moist and so good. Otherwise, just use a cake mix. I believe one cake mix will make 48 mini cupcakes. Moist Chocolate Cake Ingredients: 1 3/4 C. flour 2/3 C. Cocoa powder 1 t. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1 C. granulated sugar 1/2 C. packed light brown sugar 3/4 t. salt 2 large eggs 1/2 C. oil (not olive oil) 3/4 C. sour cream 1 t. pure vanilla 1 C. hot coffee Directions: Preheat oven to 350℉. Lightly grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans and line the base with parchment paper. Of course we are making mini cupcakes, so place 48 mini cupcake liners in a 48 mini cupcake pan...or you can use a 24 mini cupcake pan and bake two batches. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda into a large bow. Add both sugars and salt and whisk to blend well, pressing out any lumps of brown sugar. Combine eggs, oil, sour cream and vanilla in a medium bowl and whisk to blend well. Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix with an electric hand mixer on medium-low  until blended. It will be thick and somewhat dry. Add the hot coffee gradually in two stages to minimize clumps forming and beat until evenly combined and the batter is smooth. Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 30-33 minutes until cakes spring back when pressed gently and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer pans to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes before inverting onto the rack to cool completely. Note: For the mini cupcakes, line pan with mini cupcake liners and fill half full. Bake for 10-12 minutes You will need all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, salt, eggs, oil, sour cream, vanilla and a cup of hot coffee. Again, you can use a cake mix instead of making your own cake. I use a 48 mini cupcake pan which I purchased at Joann Etc. I do make a lot of them and this size works for me. However, I also have the 12 mini cupcake pan which I use occasionally. Bake the mini cupcakes for 10-12 minutes. Press on top after 10 minutes to see if they bounce back. If not, leave them in for another minute or two. Let cool. I usually put my cakes, cupcakes and mini cupcakes in the freezer for at least an hour and up to 3 months, if I'm not planning on decorating right away. This keeps them moist while you are preparing the frosting. Buttercream Frosting  Ingredients: 1 c. shortening 1 c. margarine or butter 4-6 C. powdered sugar 1 tsp. vanilla (I use clear vanilla to keep the frosting as white as it can be) 1/2 tsp. almond extract milk   (add a little at a time to the consistency that you want) Directions: Beat shortening and margarine/butter until the color is almost white.  This will take a few minutes Add powdered sugar, vanilla, almond extract and about a scant 1/4 cup milk and beat until blended.  Add more milk to get to your consistency. Remember a little milk goes a long way.  Add more milk by tablespoons. Time to Assemble Your Tractor  Now it's time to assemble your creation on the poster board that you pre-cut. Use the diagram above for placement. I usually put a drop of frosting on the bottom of each mini cupcake on the liner so it stays in place. This makes frosting each of them much easier. At this point I tint the frosting. Take out 3 bowls and put about a cup or so of the frosting in each. Add green gel color to one, black gel color to the next, and gold gel color to the last and mix until the color is even throughout the frosting. The colors will darken as they sit. If you want the colors more vibrant, add more color. You can also purchase the gel at Walmart or Michaels. NOTE: Fill your pastry bags and using the diagram swirl the frosting on each mini cupcake. The wheel in the front has only 4 mini cupcakes with a swirl of gold frosting in the center of the 4 mini cupcakes. NOTE II: If you want your frosting a true white, I recommend using a "White" gel color. When making buttercream with butter or margarine, it will have a slight yellow tinge to the frosting, but tastes the best. White gel color helps to get it to the white color you want. You can also use a tiny amount of purple gel color to neutralize the yellow tinge instead of the white gel color. When using the purple color use it very, very sparingly. A little goes a long way. You don't want to end up with light purple frosting. When I mean a very, very little, I mean just a touch of purple on a toothpick. If it's not quite right, add another touch until you reach the color you want. I personally like the white gel color. It works great! NOTE: When you are frosting your cupcakes in place, the front wheel is 4 mini cupcakes with some gold frosting in the center of the 4 mini cupcakes, not 5 mini cupcakes. Finishing that John Deere Tractor Cake ... So the cake is made and frosted. Now we need to do some finishing work. You need to pipe the smoke stack on to the poster board with black frosting. The clouds are just a few dollops of frosting in white. There is one more thing that needs to be made a head of time. You can use whatever you want for the name on the cake (John Deere), if you just want to use some gold frosting and make star dabs, use a star tip (also can be purchased at Walmart). I used homemade fondant for the name plaque (by Fabulous Cakes website) and then piped on the John Deere name. Below is the recipe for homemade fondant. I've used this recipe for years and you will find it in other posts that I have written. I have also added a video on making homemade fondant below. Homemade  Marshmallow Fondant  Ingredients: 1 (1 lb. or 454 gm) bag of mini marshmallows (I use the big ones...just remember to weigh them if using the big ones. 2 T. water 5-6 cups of powdered sugar 1 tsp. of lemon, orange, almond or vanilla extract (optional)...I use the almond extract Directions: Place the marshmallows in a big bowl. Add water. Microwave it for a minute. Let it rest in microwave for a minute, then microwave it again for 1 minutes. In the meantime grease a wooden spoon with shortening. Mix marshmallows until all melted and smooth. Add flavors and color if using. (I just make my fondant white and add the color I need mixing it by kneading the color into the fondant). Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix. Add another 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix again. It will be harder to mix with a spoon at this stage. Use a scraper to get to the bits at the bottom of the bowl. Use your hands to knead the dough. (I grease my hands at this point to keep the dough from sticking to my hands). The dough will still be sticky at this point. Add 1 to 2 more cups of powdered sugar. The amount varies depending on how sticky the dough is. I mix it in a bowl and then place it on my pie mat to knead. It's totally up to you how you want to do it. Just keep in mind you might need to grease your hands a few times. Make it into a ball shape and cover with plastic wrap and place it inside a tight sealed container or baggie. Don't forget to squeeze the air out. Note: This fondant can be frozen in an airtight container to be used for other decorations at a later date. This recipe is enough to cover up to a 12" round cake 4" high. I have never used it on a cake. I use my fondant for making shapes, flowers and other decorations for cakes or cupcakes. Thanks "Make Fabulous Cakes" for a great recipe for fondant...and it's a lot cheaper than buying it pre-made. Homemade Fondant Video  How to make Homemade Fondant-VIDEO At the beginning of this post I said I had to recreate the process for making the tractor because I had made this awhile ago. So I used my mini cupcakes that I made for this post for some Halloween mini cupcakes, because Halloween is just around the corner. We don't want to waste some good mini cupcakes, do we? And here it is! All finished...there are so many cute cakes that can be made with mini cupcakes. They're easy to make and each mini cupcake is just the right size for adults and children. Memories of  Decorating Cakes from my Past Life In another life, I was a cake decorator. I loved my job. I could use cake and frosting to put lots of smiles on people's faces. Here are a few of those yummy cakes.   Oh How I Love Those Smiles The Best Sugar Cookies Alphabet & Number Cakes Well, that's it for the John Deere tractor cake. I hope that my instructions are easy enough for everyone to follow. Yes, you do have to invest in a mini cupcake pan, but you will use it over and over again for other cupcake cakes. The piping tips are a very good investment also, along with the pastry bags. I guess the best way to look at it is you will create many, many mini cupcake cakes to put lots of smiles on your family's faces... Always remember..."Life's short...eat dessert first!"...words to live by!

Two of our Young Artists are currently taking on one of world literature’s great roles: Werther, the fictional alter-ego created early in his career by Germany’s greatest writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (and later re-imagined by French opera composer Jules Massenet). Goethe introduced the world to this fascinatingly tormented, passionate young man in 1774 in his novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, which is structured as a series of letters Werther writes his good friend Wilhelm chronicling Werther’s obsession with Charlotte. Towards the end of Werther’s life, an editor takes over the narration and tells us how this strange young man did away with himself. The letters are so realistic many of the first readers were convinced that Werther actually existed and wrote the letters himself! Leo Goeke as Werther in Seattle Opera's 1976 Werther (photo by Des Gates) Goethe was almost Werther. The novel was indeed born out of the author's own personal experience. Not long after he had finished his Doctor of Law degree, Goethe moved to Wetzlar, the town mentioned in the novel, and opened a legal practice. He actually fell in love with a woman named Charlotte, who took care of her younger brothers and sisters and was engaged to be married. Just as Werther does in the novel, Goethe became a good friend of Charlotte and her husband-to-be. Unlike Werther, however, Goethe didn’t shoot himself. When things got too tense in Wetzlar, he moved back to Frankfurt, where he had grown up, and wrote his novel. Many biographers feel Goethe used the novel as a way to get all that hopeless love out of his system so he could get on with his life. By exaggerating his own amorous feelings to the point of parody, Goethe was able to distance himself, psychologically, from his own propensity toward indulging in hopeless love, a tendency which caused him no end of trouble. (Goethe finally settled down with a woman named Christiane Vulpius when he turned 39; they lived together for eighteen years and then finally got married.) Vinson Cole as Werther in Seattle Opera's 1997 production (photo by Jeffree Luke) To Goethe’s surprise, The Sorrows of Young Werther became a phenomenal bestseller and attracted a cult following. Translations sprang up in dozens of languages; poets all across Europe began writing Werther-inspired verses; young men around Europe started dressing up in the blue frock coat and yellow waistcoat described as Werther’s habitual costume in the novel, and young ladies bought bottles of eau de Werther perfume; figures of Werther and Charlotte appeared on dishes, jewelery, and other trinkets. One disturbed young man identified so strongly with Goethe’s impetuous hero he threatened to commit suicide the way Werther had. (The story goes that Goethe talked him out of it.) And when the corpse of a young woman who had drowned herself was fished from the river with a copy of the novel in her pocket, Goethe realized there was a problem. The young people who read his novel were not picking up on his cynical treatment of Werther: they were revelling in the way Werther indulged in the most extreme and unhealthy emotional life. When it came time to reprint the book, Goethe added a disclaimer to the beginning, a letter from the dead Werther to his readers in which Werther urges: “Be a man, and do not follow my example!” Dale Duesing and Delores Ziegler as Werther and Charlotte in Seattle Opera's 1989 production (Photo by Ron Scherl) Like all well-drawn fictional characters, Werther is so complicated he is impossible to pin down; people’s responses to Werther usually say much more about the people making the response than they do about Werther himself. We collected the following takes on Goethe’s troubled twenty-three year old: Yes, hopeless SUFFERER! friendless, and forlorn— Sweet victim of LOVE’S power, the silent tear Shall oft at twilight’s close, and blushing morn, Gem the pale primrose that adorns thy bier; And as the balmy dew ascends to heaven, Thy crime shall steal away, thy frailty be forgiven!—from ”Elegy to the Memory of Werther” by Mrs. Mary Robinson Poster for the first Paris performances of Massenet's opera, which premiered in Vienna in 1892; images here include Werther admiring Charlotte as big sister, in Act One, and Werther pleading with Charlotte in Act Three Goethe makes Werther an idle dilletante, who sketches a bit, reads a bit, but is incapable of seriously concentrating on anything...[The novel] reads as...a masterly and devastating portrait of a complete egoist, a spoiled brat, incapable of love because he cares for nobody and nothing but himself and having his way at whatever cost to others... Werther, by staying on when it is clear that his presence is unwelcome, defies the company [at a party in the town to which he has moved], but his precious ego is hurt by their reactions, and he resigns his post, returns to Lotte and disaster for all, destroying himself and ruining the lives of Lotte and Albert. What a horrid little monster!—English poet W. H. Auden To complain of Werther’s self-pity or lack of will is like complaining of Hamlet’s procrastination. The weaknesses in Werther’s character are certainly there. They are there for a reason. They are there as an essential part of the portrait of a man ill-equipped to cope with his life. They are there as the fatal flaws in a character likeable, generous, creative, spontaneous, responsive, and full of vitality. And as such they must be accepted as the necessary premises in a persuasive tragedy, as necessary components in a consummate work of art. —Michael Hulse, Goethe translator Oh, how often have I cursed those foolish pages of mine which made my youthful sufferings public property! If Werther had been my brother and I had killed him, I could scarcely have been so persecuted by his avenging ghost.—Goethe, Second Roman Elegy (first version) Dale Duesing as Werther at Seattle Opera in 1989 (Photo by Matthew McVay) And here, for those of you who haven’t read the novel, are a few excerpted letters chronicling Werther’s disintegration. What would you write back, if you were Wilhelm? Have you ever known any Werthers in your life? What did you do, the first time you fell head over heels in hopeless, impossible love with somebody? July 16, 1771 [One month after Werther meets Charlotte] Oh, how my blood rushes through my veins when my fingers unintentionally brush hers or when our feet touch under the table. I shrink back as though from fire, but a secret force drives me forward again, although everything swims before my eyes. Her innocent, candid soul does not divine how tormenting such small intimacies can be. And when, while we talk, she puts her hand on mine and, animated by what we are saying, moves closer to me, so that the heavenly breath of her mouth reaches my lips, I am close to fainting, as if struck by lightning. And, Wilhelm, if I should ever dare—this heavenly confidence—you understand! No, my heart is not so depraved! Weak! Weak enough!—And is that not depravity? She is sacred to me. Any desire is silenced in her presence. I never know what I feel when I am with her; it is as if my soul were spinning through every nerve. She plays a melody on her clavichord with the touch of an angel, so simple, so ethereal! It is her favorite tune, and I am cured of all pain, confusion, and melancholy the moment she strikes the first note. Not one word about the magic power of music in antiquity seems to me improbable when I am under the spell of her simple melody. And how well she knows when to play it, at the moment when I feel like blowing out my brains. The confusion and darkness of my soul are then dispersed, and I can breathe more freely again. Erich Parce and Vinson Cole as Albert and Werther at Seattle Opera in 1997 (Photo by Gary Smith) August 18 Must it be so that whatever makes man happy must later become the source of his misery? That generous and warm feeling for Nature which flooded my heart with such bliss, so that I saw the world around me as a Paradise, has now become an unbearable torment, a sort of demon that persecutes me wherever I go. When I formerly looked from the rock far across the river and the fertile valleys to the distant hills, and saw everything on all sides sprout and spring forth—the mountains covered with tall, thick trees from base to summit, the valleys winding between pleasant shading woods, the gently flowing river gliding among the whispering reeds and reflecting light clouds which sailed across the sky under the mild evening breeze; when I listened to the birds that bring the forest to life, while millions of midges danced in the red rays of a setting sun whose last flare roused the buzzing beetle from the grass; and all the whirring and weaving around me drew my attention to the ground underfoot where the moss, which wrests its nourishment from my hard rock, and the broom plant, which grows on the slope of the arid sand hill, revealed to me the inner, glowing, sacred life of Nature—how fervently did I take all this into my warm heart, feeling like a god in that overflowing abundance, while the beautiful forms of the infinite universe surrounded and inspired my soul. Huge mountains surrounded me, precipices opened before me, and torrents gushed downward; the rivers streamed below, and wood and mountains sang; and I saw them at their mutual work of creation in the depths of the earth, all these unfathomable forces. And above the earth and below the sky swarms the variety of creatures, multifarious and multiform. Everything, everything populated with a thousand shapes; and mankind, huddled together in the security of its little houses, nesting throughout and dominating the wide world in its own way. Poor fool who belittles everything because you are yourself so small! From the inaccessible mountains, across the wasteland untrod by human foot, to the end of the unexplored seas breathes the spirit of the eternal Creator who rejoices in every atom of dust that divines Him and lives. —Oh, the times when I longed to fly on the crane’s wings, as it passed overhead, to the shores of the illimitable ocean, in order to drink from the foaming cup of the Infinite an elating sensation of life, and to feel, if only for a moment, in the cramped forces of my being one drop of the bliss of that Being who creates everything in and through Himself. My friend, only the memory of these hours eases my heart. Even the effort to recall and to express again in words those inexpressible sensations lifts my soul above itself, but also intensifies the anguish of my present state. January 8, 1772 [Unable to subdue his feelings for Charlotte, Werther has left the town where she lives and taken a job elsewhere; but he has no patience for the new people in his life and disdains them as petty snobs.] What dreadful people these are, whose minds are completely absorbed in matters of etiquette, whose thoughts and aspirations all year long turn over the single problem of how to push oneself one chair higher at table. And it is not as though they had nothing else to do. No, on the contrary, work continues to pile up because trivial annoyances hinder the dispatch of more important matters. Last week a quarrel started during a sleighing party and the whole fun was spoiled. The fools, who do not understand that actual rank does not matter at all and that he who occupies the top very rarely plays the chief role. How often a king is ruled by a minister; how many ministers by their secretaries! And who is then the first? I believe it is the man who knows his fellow-men at a glance and has sufficient power or shrewdness to harness their forces and passions to the execution of his plans. Vinson Cole and Jean Rigby as Werther and Charlotte at Seattle Opera in 1997 (Photo by Gary Smith) October 19 [Werther loses his new job and returns to the town where Charlotte lives, even though he is growing increasingly unhappy] Oh, this void, this terrifying void I feel in my breast! I often think: if you could once, only once, press her to your heart, this void would be filled. December 6 [One of Werther’s final letters] How her image haunts me! Awake or asleep, she fills my entire being. Here, when I close my eyes, here, in my forehead, at the focus of my inner vision, her dark eyes remain. Here! but I cannot put it into words. When I close my eyes, they are there; like an ocean, like an abyss, they lie before me, in me, taking hold of all my thoughts. What is man, that celebrated demigod? Does he not lack powers just where he needs them most? And when he soars with joy, or sinks into suffering, is he not in both cases held back and restored to dull, cold consciousness at the very moment when he longs to lose himself in the fullness of the Infinite? Dale Duesing and Delores Ziegler as Werther and Charlotte in Seattle Opera's 1989 production (Photo by Matthew McVay) Quotations taken from the Michael Hulse translation of The Sorrows of Young Werther Andrew Stenson as Werther in Seattle Opera's current Young Artists Program production, which plays in downtown Seattle Saturday, November 19, 8 pm, at the Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall

Following the Red C shape ViA sync brought about the dynamic interplay of many related elements such as: The Red C being interchangeable with the Red See, Seeing Red and Red Eyes, thus even a Red I. The Red Eye becomes even more useful if we allow anything resembling a Red Eye, such as a spot, dot, sphere or ball to connect with C-Ing Red theme. Q:How does one justify the ever relaxing and increasingly 'loose' connections being made by synchromystics? A:The mind is what cuts reality up into bits and bytes, it is in actuality a seamlessly unified Experience. The mind made laws about what rationally bares comparison are entirely arbitrary and in constant flux. Art, Poetry, Hip Hop and the Dream State reveal the flexibility of making association and delight (the light) realized in doing this with creative flare. Unjustified fear of all perception becoming a psychedelic mish-mash or psychosis - owing to freeing up association (allowing all to sync in) - can be put aside upon realizing where all phenomena and association itself arise from. Synchromysticism is this process of relaxing what is to be considered valid for comparison. The object of doing this is to realize where all connection and perception come from. The more one relaxes and allows free association between your perception and the objects being witnessed, the greater the depth of experience, clearer the relationship between the two and increased realization of What accounts for both phenomena. As seen above some Hindu deities and characters have C and U shaped tilak markings on their foreheads, the most famous type of tilak is the simple Red Spot bindi. A C resembles a tilted U, making the Red U also a Seeing Red resonator. U Turn, Dig? The talik is placed where traditions claim a third spiritual eye/I. Ramana Maharshi explains that the third eye, where there is no physical eye, is a symbol of Consciousness. Consciousness doesn't see/C as seeing implies an observer and an observed, thus a duality where Consciousness is always non-dual. Consciousness is then a third eye/I where there is no Eye/I. The Red C/See, as also seen on the 12-Inch Charlie Brown Pez dispenser above, becomes interchangeable with this third eye of Consciousness via the red talik crescent associations and the interplay observed in the concepts of C and See. Above is Jack Frost, Seeing Red, in Grant Morrison's comic "The Invisibles". He is encountering the Red Spot called Barbelith during a visionary episode. Barbelith is an intelligence guiding individuals towards Cosmic Consciousness sharing much similarities with Philip K. Dick's VALIS. Red spheres, balls and spots resemble the Red Eye/I and Barbelith becomes a resonator of the C-Ing Red type syncs. Here is a sync vid about this topic, including the pattern of finding the Blue Deity and Highlighted Palm in close proximity to C-Ing Red. Jacks (like Jack Frost) in particular and J names in general are strong resonators of Jupiter and Cosmic Consciousness. Think "Jumping Jesus/Jack/Jupiter!" See Dead Mans Rope for more Jack and J observations, where we also learn the noose is a symbol of Ayahuasca a.k.a the Dead Man's Rope, shown interacting with Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Above is another Jack, one Mr Nicholson, with the Dead Man's Rope. The Red Spot Barbelith resembles a big red stoplight, taking note here of how Spot is an anagram for Stop.. Funny that, as another related traffic sign is the Red Octagonal Stop sign. We can then say that all Spots resonate Stops and Stops resonate Seeing Red. The Octagon is syncnificant in a bajillion ways it is indeed, at this point, the most common shape one finds in key positions of media resonating Cosmic Consciousness. Above is the latest example to help illustrate the point/spot. An image of Octagons giving a halo to Drew Barrymore in "E.T" and "Fever Pitch". As Drew Barrymore is part of the cinematic family that makes first contact with Kosmic Konsciousness - all E.T's ultimate meaning - in arguably the most iconic piece of media about the subject, she is a potent resonator of Self realized Being. Above is an amazing site. Catherine Zeta-Jones bathed in Red (thus Seeing Red (having Red Eyes,dig?)) while dancing under the Red Spot light, forming a Red Stop type circle on the ground. Practically everything we have been talking about, up to this point, in one still! This is a scene from ChiCago, the very film who's Red C got the Red Ball rolling on the Red C syncs. Another Red C started this particular post - Charlie Brown's Baseball Cap third Eye. Susynctly this Red C, standing for The Chicago Cubs, also references the city of Chicago. Why exactly Chicago is such a powerful presence in the ebb and flow of the sync stream is a mystery to me. Again See C-Ing Red for the ChiCago Red C. While hanging with Jim a few weeks ago I was telling him about Stops as Spots and Pots, then also mentioning a clip of Robin Tunney on "The EllenDegeneres Show"... Robin Tunney on Ellen DeGeneres 02/11/09 (4 of 5) This episode of Ellen aired on the 11th of February 2009. A Blob post 11:11, Time For Ascension! involved the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper for this same date, 11 February or 11/2 (thus 11:11). On the front page WE/ME also noted a Robin, my animal familiar, as the paper was reporting these birds showing up earlier this year then any other. The post connected the 11:11 resonating date and earlier arrival of the early bird - Robins being the traditional herald of spring - to the current consciousness shift of Earth. We NOW have both a Robin on the cover of the Winnipeg Free Press and Robin Tunney appearing on Ellen, on the same day. A day that also happens to resonate 11:11, the potent sync associated to KK/2K (as K is the 11th letter of the alphabet) all of which clearly yells Kosmic Konsciousness. For more info on K2 try K2 and the 2012 Maya Mega Ritual In the clip we see Tunney sandwiched between the two ll's of Ellen resonating the 2/11 date. She flicks the nose of actor Simon Baker a.k.a The Mentalist. Richard Arrowsmith has been exploring the nose/knows at Black Dog Star in posts like Udderly Potty. The Blob has been focusing on the Red Eye for a while as The Black Dog Star favors the Blue Hand and Nose. What stands out about this is that they are all extremities tied to the senses: sight, touch, smell. These are the tools God has evolved in order for It to experience experience Itself. It seems a matter of time before WE/ME start a mouth/taste and ear/hearing pattern. Examples like the SpiriT Palm (a hand with an eye or some kind of marking, like the Gonzo symbol above) help give insight into this 'senses theme'. The hand represents touch and it as been combined with the eye of sight. We have then both touch and sight merging, the senses unified. A similar thing happens when we note the general C shape of the ears and symbols associated to hearing like the telephone receiver. Again we remember that to See or C is associated to Sight meaning that embedded in the C shape of hearing is the act of seeing. There is ultimately ONE Experiencor of all the senses and the mind which regulates them. The senses are Its tools for experiencing experience or knowing that it knows. In a sense all the senses are ONE sense. It becomes even more Udderly Potty when we continue watching the clip and see it focuses on a pot Tunney bought thinking it was one Ellen also owned. Pots are another anagram for Spots and Stops meaning it resonates with the Red Eye of the Master. The Spot or Point, center of the mandala/StarG8 and the eye/I of God is also the Pot. Smoking the plant pot tends to give one Red Eye's. See Heal The World.Make It A Better Place for info about the Red Eye as that of the Master. Tunney points (spots) towards Plants and Pots with her Jupiter fingers. In Palmistry the planETs are associated to certain fingers and we can see in the image above that the pointer/spotter finger is attributed to Jupiter. During my last Ayahuasca healing on 22/7 (longest solar eclipse this century resonating Pi) I was outside for a bit as a friend, Justin, had gone missing from the circle of participants. We checked his room and eventually had to venture outside under the stars as Justin was nowhere to be found. At one point (spot) another friend stopped (pots) to point out Jupiter. I was practically hypnotized by his finger pointing at the bright spot he claimed was Jupiter. The classic Buddhist statement came loudly into mind "The Finger Pointing at The Moon". Bruce Lee giving a perfect explanation of the "Finger Pointing At The Moon" in "Enter The Dragon". The point/spot is that any concept, idea or thing can only point towards the reality which is always beyond form and thought. Upon giving up on finding the missing friend and returning to the circle for the rest of the ceremony he was found safely on his original appointed spot. The next day traveling back to Winnipeg with Justin and Jim we talked about him having disappeared and our subsequent search. He had indeed left the circle to lie down on his bed and even remembered voices in the room looking for him. I mused that perhaps he had really physically disappeared and that nobody could see him. Moments later on another tangent he is explaining to Jim that the pointer finger is that of Jupiter. The same friend who's disappearance resulted in me looking at a finger pointing towards Jupiter completing the connections needed for the full revelation. Both the Finger and Jupiter are ONE. Note that this is Jake, listening to Jim and Justin all J's resonating Jupiter. Another part of the conversation with Jim about Ellen and Tunney turned to the Big/Great and Little Bear constellations, Ursa Major and Minor. Jim noted how they are also the Pots and Pans of the night sky in there more common envisioning as the Big and Little Dipper. In Blue Worm we learn that the Aztec symbol symbol XONEcuilli a.k.a Blue Worm is possibly representing the Big or Little Bear/Dipper constellations. The Blue Worm would then also be a symbol of the celestial Pots and Pans. Above is Danny DeVito dressed in Red inside a Red C shaped circus ring. This still, from "Big Fish", was also seen in the previous post where it was connected to a Seeing Red penguin, DeVito plays the Penguin in "Batman Returns". Penguins like Robins are another powerful animal familiar of The Blob. See One By One The Penguins Steal My Sanity! Here is the Penguin as Owen, riding in a car with Billy Crystal, while a Red Spot/Pot moves into his crown as a passing light. This is a scene from "Throw Momma From The Train". OWEN is another name like ZOE that ViA the "WE3 Spinner" concept (W being able to rotate and interchange with 3, M and E) contains the letters of that most dynamic of letter sequences ONE. Thus OWEN/ZOE/ONE/NOW/EON/N.W.O etc. I find it very agreeable to compress doubles in words, like the WE in OWEN, to result in the unveiling of ONE. Adding letters to a sequence that already contains the same figure (like ONE becoming OWEN) or compressing (OWEN becoming ONE) seems total fare game. Going even further we have seen The Blob and many other a synchromystic take parts of a word, adding what is needed or subtracting what is unnecessary. A good example is Shi(v)a LeBeouf. As far as rules for this process go, there are nONE. Any connect that can possibly be made is being made ultimately by Consciousness itself. Let It do what It does. Will this process result in sychromysticism eventually becoming a blur or connections no one but the 'in crowd' can follow? I believe not as the connections are not coming from the synchromystics themselves but from the ultimate creative ground off all Being, the same source of any consciousness that could possible read these words. As the Consciousness of the writer and reader is one WE will always be able to understand each other as WE/ME have the same source. Reflection on the matter pionts towards the insight that this is how we have always understood each other to begin with. The mysterious and ellusive source of symbol recognition and language is the Self. Not much later in "Throw Momma From The Train" we see OWEN whack Billy, as Larry, with a fry Pan. Through DeVito WE/ME (again the interchangeability and non-reality of separation between you and me revealed ViA WE3 Spinner) have both the Spot/Pots and Pan connected to the ONE (in "Throw Momma From The Train") and the Seeing Red theme (In "Big Fish"). Pan is OZ/77 in Kabala and also means whole or totality. This unveils the lovely interactions of the spot and pan. The spot or point relates to the pan or whole. If we think of a mandala we could associate the spot with the center and the pan with the mandala as a whole. Taking into account the spot and pan syncs we realize the center and the whole of the mandala are ONE and the same. "God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere." Voltaire The scrambled eggs present during the DeVito fry pan incident becomes relevant in a little while. Does it surprise us then to learn that DeVito, the Red Penguin and ONE who holds the Pan, plays Pan (Philoctetes) in Disney's "Hercules"? The celestial Pots and Pans are also the Bear constellations, meaning bear resonates pan. Total magic as DeVito is also "Jack The Bear". Finally we see DeVito between the two 911 Pillarmids and Holy of Holies - as the Twin Towers represent Solomon's Temple - on the poster for "Other Peoples Money". "Meet Larry The Liquidator" resonating Aquarius and Billy Crystal in "Throw Momma From The Train". Finding Pan and ONE in this Spot makes complete sense given that the collapse of the Buildings ushered in the rapid ascension of mankind. In "Working Girl" we see Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver enter the lobby of Building 7, the third Pillarmid to collapse on 911. Above is Weaver hobnobbing at Ground Zero inside Building 7. Worth noting here how the 7 of Building 7 resonates the amount of stars in the Big Dipper constellation and the colors of the rainbow, a Red C rimed arch. 911 resonates emergency and danger just like the Red Octagonal Stop and Red Stop highlight caution. These are all the reflections of the collective fear of entering into Cosmic Consciousness. If we focus on these aspects of the StarG8 we imagine we can delay union with our true Self. Weaver, she who weaves and brings together, is also the Hall-9000 inspired Auto in the film "Wall-E". The Red Eye connects with the Red Dress she wears in Building 7 and all the talk of C-Ing Red and Red Spots addressed in this post. The evil Red Eyed A.I (a I/Self) is yet again just the Eye of the Master masquerading as ego and fear. Fear, like all ecstatic states, are doorways to divinity. What happens when fear is taken to its extreme? One has to surrender your clinging to mortality and identity, leading to the discovery of the infinite and eternal. Good examples are people who have been in dangerous or near death situations only to report an extreme sense of peace and serenity when they thought all was lost. When we lose all we think we are what remains is the true Self, which is beyond birth and death. The I in the blue "ALIENS" title glows brighter and swells, becoming an ovoid or egg shaped portal. The I/Eye/Self is clearly highlighting the true meaning of 'Cosmic Others' like Aliens and E.T's. The Blue S reminds us that these critters are XENOmorphs resonating the XONEcuilli or Blue Worm. See Blue Worm for XENO/XONE observations including its association to the Aliens. I rented "Aliens" after seeing some of these creatures hovering over me while lying down during the 22/7 Ayahuasca ceremony. There faces were near mine and they were sniffing at me. It didn't seem threatening. I had the impression that they were real beings from some plane of existence somehow having been woven into our popular mythology. It didn't feel like I was seeing something from a movie, but that the movies had somehow picked up on them. I can only guess that H.R Giger like all artists was very directly being guided when 'creating' 'his' design. More then that, I am staring to feel the amount of personal or individual influence present during the creation process is something in the the order of nothing. We are learning how interrelated or indivisible we are from the totality and how self and other interact in a dynamic play of union. Steve Willner left this comment on the Heal The World. Make it a Better Place post: On a personal note I experienced the same exact meltdown/rebirth while under an extremely heavy dose of Acid in Walt Disney World in the mid 90's.. the Climax of which occurred during the "Alien Adventure" ride.. where they emulate the aliens from the same franchise jumping on top of your carts and using a form of holophonic sound.. to make it seem as if they were breathing or drooling in your ear. I was completely locked in the "cart" there was no escaping this fate.. Two synchromystics having intense psychedelic episodes involving the XENOmorphs, hmmm. Note how theses creatures have Acid, a popular name for LSD, for blood. In the beginning of the film Ripley is found in her shuttle by a salvage crew. The shuttle is marked in a few places, as seen above, with a D-7 (mirrored in still). I have been aware of D7 for a long time but have never had a sync necessitating its documentation. It must be time (dramatic pause).... Khaled Khan's (Aleister Crowley) Grid or Cipher page from the Book Of The Law sees the Circle and Cross inside the Grid Reference at D7. This book is a channeled work received in Cairo ViA his wife Rose - her being under the influence of an entity calling itself Aiwass, a herald of Horus, or some such - soon after KK spent a night in the Kings Chamber of the Great Pyramid. The Grid, Diagonal Line and Circle Cross are said to veil some mysterious secret - related perhaps to a new form of Gematria - encoded in the Book of Law. I am not familair enough with Thelema to speculate wheter 'the secret' is in any way solved or what it really signifies to the orginazation. Synchromystically we have encountered the Grid, Diagonal and Circle Cross before. In no less a syncnificant position then on the poster for the Robin Tunney starring "The Zodiac". The Zodiac is a ring of stars surrounding the PlanET which resonates the act of a Star, like Tunney, StarRing in a film. On "The Zodiac" poster we note that the Diagonal, Grid and Circle Cross entrain with the name Robin Tunney. These were explored in K2 and The 2012 Maya Mega Ritual One more time from the Top.. Ralph Ellis writes in "K2: Quest of the Gods" about his interpretation of the Great Pyramid as a Map and 'Man Made' Mountain that mimics and points the way to K2, the second tallest Mountain on Earth. Khaled Khan/KK was the part of the first serious attempt to scale this same mountain 2 years before the Cairo incident involving the Great Pyramid. The first serious attempt to climb K2 was undertaken in 1902 by Oscar Eckenstein and Aleister Crowley via the Northeast Ridge, but after five serious and costly attempts, the team could only reach up to 6,525 metres (21,407 ft). K2 Wikipedia Robin Tunney also attempts and fails scaling K2 in the Red C featuring "VertiCal Limit". Bill Paxton (sporting 2 pentagrams on his took) is also present who just so happens to be one of the marines sent to deal with the XENOmorphs (Blue Worms) in "Aliens". Below he holds on to the chain in "Aliens", a symbol of DNA and the confinement of the ego or limited identity. See Cain Of Events for more chain syncs, many involving Robin Tunney. Robin Tunney, who climbs K2 and interacts with all the Grid page ellements enters an occult book store in "The Craft". We also see her interact with Blue Worms in this same film and another in Blue Worm For a split second we see her in frame with a book called "Magick", the Khaled Khan invented spelling for his system of occult science. We NOW have the context to see the full syncnificance of the D7 sync wink in "Aliens" mentioned earlier. The Weaver from Building 7 with the Red Eye is found inside a shuttle with the Grid Page number. This in 'the' film about Aliens or ET's, an entity clearly pionting towards Kosmic Konsciousness. Above she has the chain/DNA and hook, hitting her profile, as she stairs at a K2 mountianeer Bill Paxton. The DNA is the evolionary ladder Life climbs on its way to the Stars/Heaven. We should be satisfied at this piont as the connections are way to loud and 'in your face' for subtlety or doubt. But God the Father has given us himself to marvel at as POP and POP is by no means subtle. Seeing then, directly next to K2 mountaineer (in film "Vertical Limit") Paxton, K2 (in film "K2" (poster above)) mountaineer Michael Biehn! The K2 mountaineer Michael Biehn and the symbol of Kosmic Konsciousness, together at last. Above The Weaver (she who brings together, creates Union) between two 7's or 77/Pan. The XENOmorphs resonate the Blue Worm, the celestial Pots and Pans. Aliens=Pan=Whole=Totality The K2 mountaineer teaches Ellen Ripley (The Weaver) how to use the tools of the Alien killing trade. We note how this entrains with the earlier mention of Tunney appearing on Ellen on 2/11 or 11:11/K2. The ammo counter reads 42 in red. 42 being "The Answer" to "Life The Universe and Everything" and Jupiter. See Jumpiter for more on 42. Not much later everyone is Seeing Red - The Weaver, her two K2 mountaineer companions, a Newt and one Paul Reiser included (threads best left alone for sanity's sake!) - as the Aliens (Kosmic Konsciousness) brake through the barricades... (Then there is the android Bishop or Lance Henriksen from Millennium - currently attempting to remote pilot a drop ship - who we can but invoke in passing as WE/ME must push ahead with the themes currently in play, avoiding the infinite see of connections and distractions.) The Kosmic Konsciousness as monsters or killer beast are the classic Ego intertwined aspect of Being. God coming on as fear and attachment because that's the only way WE/ME are currently ready to handle the pressure of the eternal and infinite mystery of Divine Perfection. Seeing as WE/ME can actually see this, perhaps we are healing from this need to C god as Boogeyman. Not only are the XENOmorphs the Blue Worm. They are also the Scarlet Dragon, being actually called dragons in "Alien 3". Maybe we will penetrate this mystery in the ill advised potential "Scarlet Dragon 3". Kosmic Konsciousness hatches from an Egg, symbol of Life and Ego. The Weaver takes offense at this situations and destroys the eggo in the alchemical fire of transformation. The Aliens/Pan and the eggs, the same tale told in the DeVito fry pan incident, kaleidoscope of Being rearranged. In James Cameron's (JC/Jesus Christ/Khrist Konsciousness) indomitable style, the Ego facet of Kosmic Konsciousness, Currently as Alien Mommy, just keeps dusting itself off, over and over, and returns for another round of battle. This is similar to our personal struggle with the Ego beast. I advise to always just keep going regardless of how many times WE/ME fall, eventually (even in a James Cameron film!) the good prevails. The Alien Queen with her giant Monster Mouth is Isis and the Milky Way. The gaping mouth is the physical cosmic womb and Galactic Center (GC) or the spiritual heart of I Am. I understand that ancient cultures like the Maya envisioned the Dark Rift of the Milky Way, being in alignment with GC, as a Monster Mouth. Sometimes also an animal's mouth like a gaping Toad or Gator was used. This echoes the facet of GC as a probable Supermassive Black Hole See Galactic Center Temple and World Trade Galactic Center for Monster Mouths as GC In Blue Worm we also noted the the XONEcuilli is the Staff of the feathered serpent God Quetzalcoatl. The Alien thus resonates Quetzalcoatl as Dragon/Serpent type and ViA both having Blue Worm associations. Above is Quetzalcoatl devouring someone with his Monster Mouth, much like the Alien Queen would if she could ever catch The Weaver. Fleeing the Queen and alignment with MOM, The Weaver is seen in front of the Double X, symbol of the new Aeon of Horus or this period of mankind's rapid ascension. See Circle-M for XX (the Khaled Khan Thoth Tarot 20 or The Aeon, featuring Red Eye/Horus and Milky Way). The card has Nut or Isis in Omega shape hovering over a seated Horus between 2 red spots/pots. Shock and Awe, as the Double XX cuts to a red K2 sync wink. I am now speechless (yet I talk) as a film - watched soon after being visited by the creatures depicted in said movie on Ayahuasca - contains the powerful K2 sync. The same film that resonates the Blue Worm and features the Grid number D7! Again, subtlety is not currently God/POP's strong point, in this, the final act of history, as WE/ME are french kissed by K2 one more time. In no less an awetacular moment as that of when The Weaver delivers the final blow upon misidentified identity, opening the airlock that sucks the Queen into Space. Tops! Addendum: I rented Sofia Coppola's "The Virgin Suicides" yesterday, after posting the above, only to be surprised by a short cameo featuring Danny DeVito (DD/44) as the psychiatrist of one of our suicidal virgins. He shows her a Rorschach ink blot as a Red I winks at the very bottom of the screen. The Red I entrains perfectly with DD standing in a Red C in "Big Fish" and the Red Spot from "Throw Momma From The Train". Further weirdness must be acknowledged as I was checking out "The MothMan Prophecies" poster, featuring a Rorschach design, earlier that very day. MothMan/MM/2000/2K Its fuzzy but the tagline for "The MothMan Prophecies", on the poster above reads "What do you see?" in Red. We have then a Red See/C, fitting as the MothMan itself is often depicted with big Red Eyes. Another strange connect here is noting the winged and antennad character called MothMan in "The Watchmen". Above he is standing second from left with the Red M hitting his head while wearing a Red M on his chest (MM/2000/2K). See Shaman's epic For The Dead Or Dying for more MothMan and antenna syncs. The same comic and film featuring the ultraviolent character Rorschach.

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Strained and melted with organic shea butter and coconut oil, combined with uplifting and illuminating essential oils, set, and whipped to fluffy perfection alongside sheets of 24k gold. Apply as you would any other body butter for its moisturizing properties, but especially when you wish to feel confident, self-assured, and be seen in your best light. Energizing, uplifting, inspiring (and the scent is DELICIOUS ). Offered in a 2 oz glass jar for $33, or 6 oz bulk pot for $78 Important note: Body Butters are prone to melting in transit during hot weather, especially when shipped ground and/ or not collected immediately!  They are whipped (like cream) to create a soft, spreadable texture. When Body Butters melt in transit, the air within gets separated from the oil base, making the jar *appear* less full. Rest assured that we never send "half empty" Body Butters. You are getting the *same amount* of product when this happens. None leaked if the exterior of the jar and label are not oily. Your Butter can be restored by putting it into the refrigerator and re-whipping it, or used as-is, whatever you prefer! It retains its magical and herbal potency regardless of air content.  Refunds or replacements are not given for items that melt in transit. Only the Client understands what the weather is like in their area around the time they order, what their personal mail scenario is (put inside a climate controlled building or likely to be left in a hot mailbox?), and what type of shipping they choose. If your order qualifies for free shipping, please add your preference as a note if you have one. You can also refrain from obtaining items that may melt in hot conditions by saving those acquisitions for cooler weather.  Thank you for understanding! 47 reviews $33 – $78 $33 – $78 Out of stock Sold out Restock Incoming - Join List $36 – $72 Out of stock Bath Salts of Regulus III Available, Bath Salts, Face + Body, Regulus III, Salts Dead Sea salts, fumigated in the election window with frankincense, combined with organic consecrated Regulus III herbal mix, including classical associations for Cœur Leonis: mugwort, celandine, wormwood, mastic, and garnet, alongside 24k gold, saffron, and sundry ingredients for personal empowerment, healthy ego development, and illumination. Essential oils of frankincense, mugwort, blood orange, and helichrysum. A touch of Regulus III Oil makes this not only a cleansing, but an anointing in one step. Bathe to banish self-doubt and low, melancholic states. Especially as part of the full Ritual Bathing protocol. Restore a strong sense of self, and embody that which makes you unique, authentic, and special — help others to see the same! Take confident command as the unfettered, unstoppable leader **your OWN Sphere** needs, emerging as Luminous Sovereign of thine own realm. The standard size is enough for 2-3 deep baths, or dilute smaller amounts with more salt to make a little go a much longer way. This salt can also be added to floor washes, sprays, or dishes of water for additional magical utility, or used as a salt scrub for those without a tub. Offered in an airtight 8 oz bale top glass jar for $36, 16 oz bulk pot for $72, or unbreakable 18 oz (by weight) bath bundle for $66 (enough to refill the bulk pot). Note that reusable muslin bags are available as accessories, if you'd like to bathe without leaving herbal residue behind in the tub or going down the drain. They also work wonderfully as body scrub bundles for using magical Bath Salts in the shower, or for small travel portions without fear of glass breaking! 21 reviews $36 – $72 $36 – $72 Out of stock Sold out Restock Incoming - Join List $33 – $99 Out of stock Powder of Regulus III Available, Powders, Regulus III Classic herbs and materials associated with Regulus include mugwort, mastic, garnet, wormwood, and celandine. These, along with frankincense, 24k gold, saffron, chrysanthemum, calendula, dandelion root, orange peel, red ginseng, and other plants allied to the powers of empowerment, light, and leadership, were ritually combined, fumigated, and consecrated, during an election featuring the freshly ingressed, waxing Virgo Moon conjunct Regulus, applying to an aspect with Jupiter in Pisces (forming a strong and fortuitous Gaja Kesari yoga). Later ground in the hour of Sol and combined with additional 24k gold. Use to dress candles, add to mojos, sprinkle in shoes, breast pockets, and use as an ingredient or offering in spell work for Regulean ends. Dust the hair (or add to hair products!) to spike the mane. 100% uncut herbs, resins, and essential oils. Nothing artificial, and no fillers. Use as-is or cut with cornstarch to create your own nearly infinite supply of sachet powder... Offered in a 1/2 oz glass vial with cork top for $33, or 2 oz bulk pot for $99 15 reviews $33 – $99 $33 – $99 Out of stock Sold out Restock Incoming - Join List $35 – $60 Out of stock Attuning Tincture of Regulus III Available, Regulus III, Tinctures 100% ingredients: organic mugwort, goldenseal root, dandelion root, wormwood, calendula, orange peel, red ginseng, turmeric, mastic, saffron, a touch of honey, and 24k gold, immersed in top-shelf cognac following fumigation of frankincense and prayers for Regulus' blessing during Sphere + Sundry's third operation for Cœur Leonis. Cognac is a distillation of champagne, a beverage long associated with nobility, wealth, celebration, and opulence, whose bubbles impart a quality of literal effervescence and therefore elevation, making it a most worthy medium for the embodiment of our patron Royal star. Anoint that which you do not want getting oily, add to floor washes, and the like. (For a sense of its impact, see testimonials for Regulus II Attuning Tincture) Offered in a 1/2 oz glass jar with dropper cap for $35, or 1 oz for $60 Please Note: To promote the longest shelf-life possible and reduce the likelihood of leaking during transit, this Tincture now arrives sealed with a flat closed cap, with a glass dropper bulb + 5 ml Mini vial for collecting the displaced excess on the side (for travel or gifting!). We suggest only inserting the bulb during periods of routine application, and keeping the flat cap for times of dormant or less active use, especially since droppers can allow for evaporation and discoloration over time. Disclaimer: While this does not contain anything inedible or poisonous, it was not created in a commercial kitchen to GMP standards, so it is not suitable or intended for consumption (legally speaking). Use externally to anoint yourself or objects. Keep this (and all our wares) out of reach of children. Any internal consumption undertaken at the user’s sole risk and liability. 49 reviews $35 – $60 $35 – $60 Out of stock Sold out Restock Incoming - Join List $33 – $99 Out of stock Incense of Regulus III Available, Incense, Regulus III Classic herbs and materials associated with Regulus include mugwort, mastic, garnet, wormwood, and celandine. These, along with frankincense, 24k gold, saffron, chrysanthemum, calendula, dandelion root, orange peel, red ginseng, and other plants allied to the powers of empowerment, light, and leadership, were ritually combined, fumigated, and consecrated, during an election featuring the freshly ingressed, waxing Virgo Moon conjunct Regulus, applying to an aspect with Jupiter in Pisces (forming a strong and fortuitous Lion-Elephant yoga). Create a small, peaked mound, or form lines and create sigils on a bed of ash or sand. Burn as an offering to invoke the Royal Star’s influence, or during magical operations intended for self-promotion, self-actualization, success, and explorations of a heart-centered, empowering nature. Smoke bathe the body to banish self-doubt and melancholy, restoring a lightness of being and luminosity to the aura. This can be done as-needed (the morning before an important presentation, for instance), or keyed to Solar days/ hours (or those of the Sun's ruler) for the purposes of meta-Solar remediation. To be seen in the best of light, fumigate camera equipment, literal lighting(!), and spaces in which performance/ appearance will be taking place. Clear the way for creative expression, slay any semblance of self-doubt, and above all, keep going... Offered in a 1/2 oz glass vial with cork top for $33, or 2 oz bulk pot for $99 Note that Sphere + Sundry's Incense Powders are designed to be burned *without* charcoal, on beds of premium ash in a firesafe dish or plate. Pour ash, then pat or use a tool to create a relatively smooth surface. Pour the desired amount of Incense Powder into the palm of your non-dominant hand, and use the other to assemble a thin peaked mound, line, or sigil, pinch by pinch. These can be quite thin if desired. The neater and more ridged your shape is, the better it will burn! Light the top of the ridge to ignite. Taking time to prepare Incense in this way can be a meditative and centering experience, and allows the practitioner to create custom burn times with zero waste. If your line ends up too long, simply use a knife to 'cut' the fresh powder away from the ignited portion to use later.  17 reviews $33 – $99 $33 – $99 Out of stock SALE! .yith-wcbm-badge-86301{--badge-discount-text : 'Discount';--badge-up-to-text : 'Up to';--badge-primary-color : #f4b712;--badge-text-color : #ffffff;--badge-secondary-color : #926d0a;--badge-secondary-light-color : #aa800c;--badge-secondary-dark-color : #7a5b09;--badge-tertiary-color : #614907;--badge-triadic-positive-color : hsl(133 , 91% , 51% );--badge-triadic-negative-color : hsl(-47 , 91% , 51% );--badge-analogous-positive-color : hsl(73 , 91% , 51% );--badge-analogous-negative-color : hsl(13 , 91% , 51% );--badge-complementary-color : hsl(223 , 91% , 51% );} .yith-wcbm-badge.yith-wcbm-badge-css-1 { overflow: auto; background-color: var(--badge-primary-color, #3a86c4); } .yith-wcbm-badge.yith-wcbm-badge-css-1 div.yith-wcbm-css-text { padding: 6px 8px; } $33 – $60 Select options Regulus III Steep + Smoke Extinction Bursts, Re-Labeling *SALE*, 30% OFF, Available, Regulus III, Steep + Smokes 100% ingredients (99% organic or wildcrafted): Mugwort, calendula, St. John's wort, wormwood, saffron. Ritually crafted and fumigated with frankincense during Sphere + Sundry’s Regulus III election, featuring a strong and auspicious Lion-Elephant Yoga. Steep and add to floor washes or baths to banish low and melancholic states + spirits. Elevates, cleanses, and illuminates. Draws the favor of those around you (especially those in power), supports healthy ego development, quells self-doubt, and the Regulean like Use as an herbal smoking blend (pairs well with Mother Mary Jane…). Offered in your selection of 2 oz clear top tin for $33, or 4 oz for $60. Individual steeping pouches are available as accessories. If any Steep is too strong or bitter, simply infuse for shorter lengths of time and re-infuse for future cups, which has the added benefit of making a little go a longer way! Note: While this contains nothing inedible or poisonous, it was not created in a commercial kitchen to GMP standards, so it is not suitable or intended for consumption. Keep this (and all our wares) out of reach of children. Do not use while pregnant. Any internal consumption undertaken at the user’s sole risk and liability. 20 reviews $33 – $60 $33 – $60 Select options Sold out 100%  Sold Out $72 – $106 Out of stock Salve of Regulus III Regulus III, Salves, Sold Out Organic mugwort, goldenseal, comfrey root, yellow dock root, calendula, St. John’s wort, dandelion root, mastic, saffron, and garnet.⠀ Fumigated at the height of Regulus III's grounded and present Virgo Moon election for Cœur Leonis (opposite Jupiter in Pisces), immersed in 3/4 golden jojoba and 1/4 extra virgin olive oil (all organic). Left to incubate 173 days before being strained in Sol's day and hour, combined with melted organic beeswax, scented with pure frankincense and refreshing yuzu. Shaken with generous amounts of 24k gold, spangled throughout. A highly absorbent, uplifting, and energizing day-side Salve results, perfect for rubbing into the feet, low back, heart center, and shoulders in the mornings, or to refresh before making an appearance. Calms and reassures the nervous system; anchors the spirit, mind, and heart to the body; and enhances one's natural charisma. Reduces pain where applied, and offers a comfortable, tempered warmth. Adds sustain to a long day (may disturb sleep if applied too close to bed!). Illuminate from within, embodying self-assured, quiet confidence. And a little goes a long way... Offered in a 2.5 oz tin for $72, or 4 oz bulk pot for $106 51 reviews $72 – $106 $72 – $106 Out of stock Sold out 100%  Sold Out $90 – $168 Out of stock Candles of Regulus III Candles, Light{s} in the Darkness, Regulus III, Sold Out Light{s} in the Darkness contribution: 3" Shortie ($108) and 6" Tall ($168) pillars. White beeswax dyed a natural, gentle yellow solely by the inclusion of saffron while melting. Vessels fumigated with frankincense and prayer during Sphere + Sundry's Regulus III working, poured and set during the election window. Crowned with 24k gold and a ❤️ of high-grade, faceted garnet. Burn in the background during important interviews and appearances. Light during Solar rites and rituals for success, visibility, and the accumulation of personal power. Helps to cultivate a charismatic, luminous, and self-determined aura/ mindset. Gaze and meditate upon its flame. Use the candle's light to feed Regulus talismans and other implements and icons of like-purpose. Offered in the client's selection of a 2 oz glass jar ($90), or ultra long-lasting slim vigil for $168 Pillars were also poured for this election, but will be released at a later date... 12 reviews $90 – $168 $90 – $168 Out of stock Sold out Restock Incoming - Join List $36 Out of stock Honey of Regulus III Available, Honeys, Regulus III Local organic honey, fumigated and combined with consecrated Regulus III herbal and lapidary mix during the election window. Left to incubate alongside the rest of the series before being heated to further infuse the herbal properties and strained (making this the first of our honeys without suspended matter, making it easier to work with). Spangled with a generous amount of 24k gold + given a keepsake garnet ❤️ Honey pot yourself, loved ones, or clients for Regulean ends. Add as a component in spell work, or make as an offering. Can also be used as a face mask... Offered in a 2 oz glass pot for $36 5 reviews $36 $36 Out of stock Sold out Restock Incoming - Join List $36 – $106 Out of stock Kolonía of Regulus III Available, Kolonías, Regulus III, Waters Water freshly harvested from the headwaters of Mt. Shasta, grain alcohol, and colloidal gold, combined at the height of the Regulus III election and left to bask upon the altar. Incubated for many months tucked within consecrated herbal matter for the series, finished with essential oils of helichrysum, frankincense, and yuzu, and a keepsake heart of garnet. Turkish colognes are often sprinkled upon the hands before entering one’s household or business establishment, providing some natural sanitation and also a delightful scent. This can be used in such a way, or as a type of Regulus Florida Water for energetic cleansing, drawing goodness and illumination — anytime or before ritual. Makes it difficult for nasties to glom on or penetrate the auric body. Shake well to integrate and disburse golden drops of essential oil before use. Energy Clearing Protocol For energetic cleansing, sprinkle about a half teaspoon onto the palms of the hands and gently but thoroughly rub together for 10 or so seconds, coating both sides. The hands can float 2 inches from the body or be lightly touching it. Stand and run your palms from the crown of your head down the back of the head, then start from the top again, going down the front of your face and body, all the way down to the tops of your feet. If you feel any areas “sticking”, continue stroking them until energies disperse, and then proceed with downward sweeping. Continue skimming from the head downward, running your cologned hands across every surface area, including under the arms, groin, and rear, concluding with the bottoms of the feet by lifting them. You can “flick” the energy off if it feels right, or it will dissipate naturally, however you prefer. Take 10-30 seconds to close your eyes and integrate the cleansing, feeling the shift, and thank Asclepius for his protection, sealing the auric body from negativity. Other Applications This can also be added to baths, floor washes, essential oil diffusers, or dishes of water kept at the bedside for protection. May disturb sleep. Extraordinarily versatile, effective, and p o t e n t . Offered in a 1.7 oz glass woozy bottle for $36, or bulk 5 oz for $106 14 reviews $36 – $106 $36 – $106 Out of stock Sold out Restock Incoming - Join List $30 – $75 Out of stock Water of Regulus III Available, Regulus III, Sprays + Hydrosols, Waters Pomegranate, passionfruit, mugwort, celandine, mastic, and garnet, distilled with water from the headwaters of Mt. Shasta throughout the day of the Regulus III election, beginning in Jupiter's hour. Left to bask on the Altar of Operation, and incubated for more than 160-days tucked away with the rest of the series. Mixed with essential oils of yuzu and frankincense, and a small amount of cosmetic-grade golden mica. Shake well before using as a body, linen, or aura spray, to wash away self-doubt and bring a soft illumination. Mist altars and offerings of a Solar nature. One of the gentlest items this series has to show... Offered in a 1/2 oz travel or sample size glass spray bottle for $30, or full 2 oz for $75 38 reviews $30 – $75 $30 – $75 Out of stock Sold out 100%  Sold Out Out of stock Regulus III Altar Box Sets Altar Boxes + Ritual Sets, Regulus III, Sold Out Wooden boxes in two sizes waxed a deep gold, which may be further inscribed/ decorated by the client. Each Altar Box Set includes every full sized item from Sphere + Sundry's Regulus III: Heart of the Lion-Elephant series, in small or large form (where there are size variations) based on set size. Reminder that there are no talismans for this series... Exalted Sol BPAL perfumes are part of a different election, so they are not included in these Altar Box Sets. You are welcome to add them individually or as a set of their own from their listing... Availability, dimensions, pricing — Small (6 total): 6.5” wide, 4.5” tall, 3.8” deep = $552 + your Oil selections Large (6 total): 9.5” wide, 5.5” tall, 6” deep = $1,026 + your Oil selections No reviews Out of stock Sold out Restock Incoming - Join List $33 Out of stock Regulus III Bath Bombs Available, Bath Bombs, Regulus III Anointing Oil and Hydrosol from Regulus III, made into a softly shimmering, super long-lasting, and skin smoothing Bath Bomb. Organic essential oils of frankincense and blood orange, star-spangled with genuine 24k gold. This Form may be preferred to Bath Salts in some cases for Bombs’ higher properties of energetic infusion (as opposed to primarily cleansing), skin softening (prior to public and promotional engagements), and luxurious, spa-like experience — an offering to Self… a rare treat for the sensorium. Works wonderfully to prepare the vessel for mundane and ritual purposes. Offered in a 3" star for $33 No reviews $33 $33 Out of stock Sold out Restock Incoming - Join List $48 Out of stock Regulus III Spell Soap Available, Face + Body, Regulus III, Spell Soaps Glycerin based soap, infused with consecrated Heart of the Lion-Elephant materia, mixed with organic essential oils of frankincense and blood orange. Star-spangled with genuine 24k gold. Use in the shower for a quick cleansing and infusion in one! Offered in a 3" x 1" disc for $48 Please note that the loaded herbal components can make these slightly "scratchy" on the skin, which can serve to exfoliate, or, use your hands to work up a lather and transfer it to whatever areas you wish to wash! 5 reviews $48 $48 Out of stock Sold out 100%  Sold Out $6 Out of stock Regulus Stickers Regulus II, Regulus III, Sold Out, Stickers + Swag An image dedicated to Regulus created by Grant Hanna for his forthcoming oracle deck, the Liber Celestis. This sticker is 2” wide and 4” tall, featuring extra space on the bottom which can be used by the client to make their own additions of logo, text, or sigil (or is easily trimmed). Contains no branding or business names, simply displays the image. Limited to 360 prints, each available for $6 6 reviews $6 $6 Out of stock Regulus marks the Heart of the Lion in the constellation Leo, though due to the natural course of precession the star transitioned into the first degree of tropical Virgo in September of 2011, making it possible to call (and to capture) its elevating, purifying, and esteem-promoting light from the Moon’s place in showy late-Leo, or the flaxen fields of the Zodiacal Virgin. This allows the AstroMage a certain flexibility most stars farther removed from sign boundaries do not possess, since stellar workings typically require Luna to have a ≤ 2° orb between Her and the stellar Power being ushered into our Sublunary realm. Regulus is the most Regal of the four Royal Stars, of which there are four. It is considered the Watcher of the North, which opens the way for interesting magical opportunities using Royal Star materia to call Spirits associated with certain directions, make offerings, or invoke the directions directly. Cœur Leonis is also a member of the fifteen Behenian Fixed Stars, with a reputation as a productive and powerful aggrandizing influence. It builds a deep, core confidence un-reliant on external validation, which, funnily enough, magnetizes external validation to it, bestowing upon its favored children a Crown of Spotlight. The star is supremely Solar in nature, and having to do with Nobility, Leadership, and Sovereignty. In right accord with the Doctrine of Signatures, it shines at a luminosity exactly 360 times greater than that of our own Sun, but also has a sympathetic relationship with Jupiter given its benefic and generous nature, and to a lesser extent, Mars, for its ability to bring triumph. The election for Regulus III sought to magnify its wise Jupiterian properties and minimize Martial interference, helping draw the most benefic results possible and safeguard against the violence and upset Regulus can otherwise — in less careful elections — bring. The results are incredible… deep, glowy, and warm. Cozy, even! Regulus even an introvert can love… Similarly to Mars in Scorpio, the election for this series didn’t work for any of our usual collaborators, and might not even seem that amazing at first blush; but it was chosen in consultation with Sphere + Sundry’s electional architect Austin Coppock because of a rare and powerful yoga (a la Quicksilver Tongue) formed between Luna-Regulus and Jupiter-Fomalhaut. In his own words — Regulus gives recognition, elevation, and banishes melancholy. Yet it can do this in a range of different ways, as attested to by its connection to the planetary natures of both magnanimous Jupiter and aggressive Mars. The goal in this particular operation was to minimize the loud, potentially obnoxious input of Mars while maximizing the star’s entanglement with gentle, wise, and confident Jupiter. Thus, the Moon in this election is configured tightly to Jupiter, which is in a place of glorious potency, with much to give. The big planet is in its own sign, Pisces, angular in the 4th, and rules the Ascendant. Furthermore, Jupiter is here conjunct another royal star, Fomalhaut, further amplifying its strength. Jupiter-Moon are the subject of constant praise and high expectation in Hellenistic texts. The Moon and Jupiter’s relationship is also the basis of the quite fortunate Gaja Kesari yoga. The Sanskrit “Gaja Kesari” translates to “Lion-Elephant,” and gives happiness and success by combining the unbothered confidence of the elephant with the goal-orientation of the powerful lion. At minimum, it requires the Moon and Jupiter to be in angular aspect to one another. These conditions are met in this chart, and far exceeded, as the angularity of the Moon-Jupiter pairing recurs from the viewpoint of both the Ascendant and the Sun. Regulus, Cor Leonis, is the Heart of the Lion, but this particular operation partakes deeply of elephantine Jupiter’s wisdom and unbothered confidence. In addition to the close entanglement with Jupiter, the Moon in this chart is, crucially, conjunct the star Regulus within fractions of a degree. Though falling away from the MC, Luna is solidly in the whole sign 10th, and is possessed of good light, waxing, increasing in speed, and ascending high in northern latitude. It is also, of course, the Hour of the Moon, as it is only by the grace of her silver light that the radiance of distant stars is granted full access into our little terrarium. Oh Royal Regulus! Plant a portion of thy star-fire in our Hearts Grant us thy azure, melancholy-banishing flame! Restore to us the memory and favor of our Divine Ancestry For we are the forgetful great-grandchildren of the Gods themselves Shine upon what is Great, Good, and Wise in our Works Let our rise inspire, and our radiance nurture A victory for the World in which we dwell! — The Lion-Elephant energies present very strongly in the feel and effects of this series, offering a grounded stability and deep, sure footed steadiness that rarely comes aerated by so much GD light and luminosity. You get all this glorious, uplifting, feel-good Regulus — which longer-term Sphere + Sundry clients will be familiar with from our first and second series — but with a side of fortifying gravitas, depth, and self-assuredness that will NO DOUBT produce beautiful, long-lasting, and life-changing results in the lives and ego-development of those who partake. Upon personal application, Regulus brings a profound sense of clarity and cleanliness, wholeness and wellbeing, and is one of the finest astral medicaments for the washing away of melancholic + anxious states. The charge here is protective, determined, and grounded, yet weaves brilliance and shine throughout all it touches, elevating, healing, and fortifying the Heart, Body, Mind, and Spirit. Similar to Immortal Heart, in that it offers a distinct sense of personal security/ safety, BUT ALSO, in a very bizarre way, Aldebaran, for how it “beefs up” the auric body, reinforcing self-determination. But without the grieving and anti-social “bull in a China shop”-ness, respectively. Very wearable and downright enjoyable as an unadulterated, singular influence, but layers well with pretty much every other series. For those who have a difficult time engaging Solar materia directly, Regulus can be easier to metabolize, offering similar benefits without pinging the pain-points which stem from natal Solar deficits (thread). A bit of a bypass and wonderful hack, at least according to this Regulus-loving 12th house Libra. Wear or invoke Regulus to shine more brightly and exude self-confidence, especially whenever you need to stand in your own power and showcase value, competence, and charisma in the eyes of yourself and others. In a time where Solar virtues are so heavily rewarded, and where market, media, and social forces are waging constant war against individual self-esteem, Regulus is most excellent medicine indeed. Supports success, promotion, visibility, authority, leadership, and personal coherence, with higher potentials to highlight and heal patrilineal damage, bodily acceptance, and issues of self-doubt, self-hatred, or fear of being seen. On an energetic level, Regulus opens and activates the heart center, and is thought to promote healthy heart function, circulation, and assist in deeper breathing. Attention may be called to tightness in the chest as Regulus takes root in the vessel, loosening and relaxing the ribcage over time. Aside from qualities that can appear initially as self-serving, Regulus also teaches how to empower and appreciate others by connecting us with our own Divine Sovereignty, and seeing that same potential in third parties. It’s easier to honor and celebrate the uniqueness of those around us when we’re illuminated by the awareness of our own self-love, and in that way, Regulus can function as anti-venom for jealousy, covetousness, and comparison. When we fully perceive and embrace the nature of our core selves, throned comfortably in the Cathedral of the Heart, security, generosity, and admiration without contest become truly possible. Side effects of Regulus exposure include drawing more people into one’s own orbit (in addition to kitties!), boosts in the ability to cast glamours and to fascinate, and a drive to center one’s own needs first. Excessive levels can beget an overly-inflated sense of self-importance and egotism, but that’s less an issue with this election than others. Primarily, it supports the healthy ego development necessary to light our way and works in a less-than-kind, imperfect world. Riding alongside this release, Elizabeth Barrial of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab and Twilight Alchemy Lab offers us a Yuletide haul of Exalted Sol perfumes from 2021’s Aries ingress. LOGISTICS: Shipping has already begun for Plus Members and will continue nonstop until all orders are out the door! With 4 or so elves packing simultaneously, our fingers are crossed many of these (domestics, at least) will arrive in time for Christmas and the New Year. Gratitude to the Sphere + Sundry Team, and our beloved Clients, for making all this possible ❤️ Each order includes basic instructions for use, timing suggestions, and prayer, alongside an invitation to our warm and welcoming Client Community. As always, the electional chart is in the photo gallery for each offering.

1 Engaging with entropy Leonardo da Vinci was the first European creative thinker to write about the importance of making art by introducing random and chance events to create artistic patterns. He advised people to contemplate the walls, clouds, pavements, encountered in their everyday environment, with the idea of looking for patterns and images to conceptually blend with creative thoughts. He would gaze at the stains of walls, the ashes of a fire, the shape of clouds or patterns in mud. He would imagine seeing trees, battles, landscapes, figures with lively movements, etc., and then excite his mind by conceptually blending the subjects and events he imagined to embellish his vision. It is said that Da Vinci would occasionally throw a paint-filled sponge against the wall and contemplate the random stains and what they might represent. In hurling his paint-filled sponge at the wall Leonardo was initiating a process governed by the second law of thermodynamics. Muscular energy is converted to the squidgy sound energy of impact and the kinetic energy of motion when the sponge's elastic structure is compressed and the paint is ejected. There is also a release of heat energy on impact, which warms the wall ever so slightly. The thermodynamic result is that the energy of muscle contraction has been irreversibly, and unpredicably dispersed into the environment. The outcome is measured as entropy, which is a quantification of how much energy has flowed from being localized, in this case within Leonardo's muscle, to several different forms that have become more widely spread out in the environment. Throwing a sponge provides a demonstration of the increase in entropy that accompanies all processes in the universe. It can be placed alongside other common examples; of hot milk cooling, balloons bursting, forest fires burning, skin wrinkling with age and water flowing down mountains. John Ruskin, the 19th century art critic, was engaging with the latter demonstration of Earth’s impermanence, in the name of art, when he wrote of the 'frailty of mountains' as follows: § 9. "Perfect permanence and absolute security were evidently in nowise intended. It would have been as easy for the Creator to have made mountains of steel as of granite, of adamant as of lime; but this was clearly no part of the Divine counsels: mountains were to be destructible and frail; to melt under the soft lambency of the streamlet; to shiver before the subtle wedge of the frost; to wither with untraceable decay in their own substance; and yet, under all these conditions of destruction, to be maintained in magnificent eminence before the eyes of men. Nor is it in any wise difficult for us to perceive the beneficent reasons for this appointed frailness of the mountains. They appear to be threefold: the first, and the most important, that successive soils might be supplied to the plains, in the manner explained in the last chapter, and that men might be furnished with a material for their works of architecture and sculpture, at once soft enough to be subdued, and hard enough to be preserved; the second, that some sense of danger might always be connected with the most precipitous forms, and thus increase their sublimity; and the third, that a subject of perpetual interest might be opened to the human mind in observing the changes of form brought about by time on these monuments of creation". The argument was part of his theme of landscape painting in which the aesthetic and philosophical aspects of geology were major points of focus. This is borne out by his description of the Pass of Faido which was the subject of one of his etchings (Fig 1). In a modern setting the alpine pass would illustrate the ecosystem services provided by watersheds. Century by century its relatively small stream contributes ceaselessly to the planet’s ever-increasing entropy. Fig 1 John Ruskin's etching of the Pass of Faido (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31623/31623-h/31623-h.htm) He writes, "There is nothing in this scene, taken by itself, particularly interesting or impressive. The mountains are not elevated, nor particularly fine in form, and the heaps of stones which encumber the Ticino present nothing notable to the ordinary eye. But, in reality, the place is approached through one of the narrowest and most sublime ravines in the Alps, and after the traveller during the early part of the day has been familiarized with the aspect of the highest peaks of the Mont St. Gothard. Hence it speaks quite another language to him from that in which it would address itself to an unprepared spectator: the confused stones, which by themselves would be almost without any claim upon his thoughts, become exponents of the fury of the river by which he has journeyed all day long; the defile beyond, not in itself narrow or terrible, is regarded nevertheless with awe, because it is imagined to resemble the gorge that has just been traversed above; and, although no very elevated mountains immediately overhang it, the scene is felt to belong to, and arise in its essential characters out of, the strength of those mightier mountains in the unseen north". By writing in this way Ruskin had himself become part of the random and chance dynamics of the geological process which had produced the scene he depicted. 2 Randomness and art Actually, for centuries, hauntingly beautiful water-worn 'viewing stones' had captivated the imagination of Chinese scholars with their randomness of shape and colour.They the have the power to suggest a scene or object, very much like looking at a cloud and seeing running stallions or angels, images unlimited by imagination (Fig 2). Fig 2 Example of a viewing stone The art of making miniature rock landscapes has an ancient history. Chinese emperors and noblemen created elaborate palace gardens, complete with streams and scaled-down mountains. In time, Buddhist monks and wealthy intellectuals began to introduce miniature trees (bonsai) and spirit rocks (gongshi) in their mountain retreats and city courtyards. The Chinese word for landscape, shan shui, means 'mountains and water': mountains, because of their height, were seen as a bridge between earth and the heavens.A Taoist story tells of an old man who accidentally fell into the river rapids leading to a high and dangerous waterfall. Onlookers feared for his life. Miraculously, he came out alive and unharmed downstream at the bottom of the falls. People asked him how he managed to survive. "I accommodated myself to the water, not the water to me. Without thinking, I allowed myself to be shaped by it. Plunging into the swirl, I came out with the swirl. This is how I survived." As Chinese influence spread abroad, Korea and Japan adopted the practice of stone-collecting. Japan, especially, went on to develop the art in ways unique to its cultural ecology. In Japanese such garden stones are called water-rocks (suiseki.). Collectors of water-rocks are actually bringing disordered nature into the home and temporarily arresting the great entropic forces of the universe which stones represent by the application of miniscule forces of hand and eye. From this point of view, suiseki may also be taken as an example of the propensity of humans to create order in the environment. In the world of suiseki, "wabi-sabi," refers to the deep spiritual understanding of connecting with a suiseki. Prized suiseki are not replicas of natural objects. They merely suggest the object and capture its essence with simple visual gestures; awakening the imagination and inviting the viewer to complete the picture. They are simplicity, in accordance with Zen teachings. They are "less is more" captured in stone. For Zen Buddhists, they are a means of understanding humankind's relationship to existence. Zen Buddhists believe that enlightenment is achieved by turning the eye inward through meditation and mindfulness of daily experiences and so maintain a close connection to nature. Perception and evaluation of complex sensory patterns is central to human cognition and awareness, yet the underlying neural coding mechanisms are almost completely unknown. The human brain is a spectacular pattern analyzer, able to make sense of the most complex images and sounds. Human pattern cognition is so rich, varied, and intense that it is a source of aesthetic pleasure and a ground for creativity. Ruskin as a reasoning human, was well equipped to detect and create ordered structure in his mind, but not to arrange things at random. Human behaviour seems to stem from a strong "sense of order", a term coined by E. H. Gombrich to express how our drive to "regularise" artefacts is a fundamental aspect of human cognition, almost as basic as our sense of smell or touch. Art is therefore the placement of pigments and objects in an order unique to the artist. The poor ability of humans to create random patterns is a physiological limitation on human creativity. Process artists engage with the randomness of organic systems when using perishable, insubstantial, and transitory materials, but works of art based on deliberate random arrangements of pigments or objects are very rare. As an example, Gesche Westphal-Fitch and W. Tecumseh Fitch conclude that Victorian-era quilt-makers were exceptional in achieving a level of intentional spatial randomness that has never been documented in any other human artefact. This conclusion came from an analysis of "Crazy quilts", which represent an historically important style of quilt-making that became popular in the 1870s, and lasted about 50 years (Fig 3 ). Fig 3 Example of a 'crazy quilt' (C") compared with a regular pattern (R8). Despite the neglect of randomness in the application of artistic creativity humankind has always showed a predeliction for the decorative effects of random patterns. Examples are the use of polished stones, particularly veined marble, to furnish buildings, and the derived craft of marbling paper, which was used widely in 19th century book binding. 3 The language of skin The study of human ageing which respresents the work of random biochemical process often begins with the skin by highlighting its loss of elasticity expressed in inevitable well-defined changes in physical properties, which include thinning, sagging, wrinkling and the appearance of age spots, broken blood vessels and areas of dryness. This is known as intrinsic ageing, also known as the natural ageing process. It is a continuous process that normally begins in the mid-20s due to intrinsic changes in the chemical bonds of the extracellular connective tissue of which collagen fibres are dominant. Collagen production slows, and elastin, the substance that enables stretched skin to snap back into place, becomes less springing. Elastic bands stored in a draw mimic the increased chances of death with the passage of time. These changes in skin usually proceed relentlessly at a rate that intrigued Rembrant who left more than eighty paintings, etchings and drawings of himself recording his facial appearance throughout his career. Effects of time and environment are already written on his face in a self portrait produced in 1657, age 51, where he explored the subtle colouring and textures of ageing skin with startling objectivity (Fig 4). Fig 4 Rembrant self portrait age 51 4 Serendipitous abstractions In is book, Happy Accidents, Morton Meyers, notes the risks of being stuck in established modes of inquiry; the answer, he writes, may lie in a different direction that can be seen only when perception is altered. Meyers uses the example of the Russian painter Wassili Kandinsky, known as the “father of abstract art,” who late one night, on returning to his dark studio, found that he could not make out the subject on his easel, but was deeply moved by the shapes and colours. It was only later that he discovered that the painting was resting on its side. Nevertheless, this experience led him down the path of emphasizing the importance of the placement of forms and colours and deciding that “depicting objects was not necessary in my paintings and could indeed even harm them” . Meyers then suggests that too-close attention to detail may obscure the view of the whole. Randomness is a conception of non-order and directly associated with the concepts of chance and probability and so suggests a lack of predictability. There is no comprehensible pattern or grouping. Serendipity, as experienced by Kandinsky, is understood as an event that is an accidental discovery of something, especially when somebody is looking for something else and then making use of these chance encounters in a productive way. In his paintings created in 1912 at the height of his involvement with the avant-garde Expressionist group, Der Blaue Reiter, Kandinsky in a frenzy of randomness and serendipity floods the surface of his canvas with opaque and translucent colours. Amorphous forms appear to explode, overlap, and evaporate beyond the boundaries of the picture plane, alluding to the constant flux of energy and entropy at play in the universe. The goal of Kandinsky's art of this period, in the painter's own words, was "to awaken as yet nameless feelings of a finer nature." It is with these grand canvases, pulsating with colour, that the artist attempted to create a new aesthetic experience of 'otherness' for the 20th century. His highly personal colour theory was published in 1911 and meant to explain the painter's palette in two ways: the effect on the eye (person's physical understanding of the colour) and an unseen "inner resonance", psychological effect, when it effects your spiritual experience. He believed that the only way of depicting the unseen inner harmony of organic forms is through abstraction, which enevitably introduces an element of randomness in choice of form and colour and positioning in the picture plane. He wrote in 1914 (Concerning the Spiritual in Art) that: "The inner need is the basic alike of small and great problems in painting. We are seeking today for the road which is to lead us away from the outer to the inner basis. The spirit, like the body, can be strengthened and developed by frequent exercise. Just as the body, if neglected, grows weaker and finally impotent, so the spirit perishes if untended. And for this reason it is necessary for the artist to know the starting point for the exercise of his spirit. The starting point is the study of colour and its effect on men. There is no need to engage in the finer shades of complicated colour, but rather at first to consider only the direct use of simple colours". In 1922 Kandinsky accepted a teaching position at the Bauhaus, the state-sponsored Weimar school of ‘art and applied design’founded in 1919 by architect Walter Gropius. The school's curriculum was based on the principle that the crafts were equal to the traditional arts and was organized according to a medieval-style guild system of training under the tutelage of masters. Kandinsky conducted the Wall Painting Workshop and Preliminary Course and taught at all three of the school's sequential locations in Weimar, Dessau, and Berlin until 1933, when the Bauhaus was closed due to pressure from the National Socialist government. During this period geometric shapes came to play a dominant role in Kandinsky's pictorial vocabulary. He was interested in uncovering a universal aesthetic language and increased his use of overlapping, flat planes and clearly delineated forms. Geometrical elements took on increasing importance in both his teaching and painting-particularly the circle, half-circle, the angle, straight lines and curves (Fig 5). This change was due, in part, to his familiarity with the Suprematist work of Kazimir Malevich and the art of the Constructivists. Kandinsky's turn toward geometric forms was also likely a testament to the influence of industry and developments in technology. In his writings of this time Kandinsky analyzed the geometrical elements which make up every painting- the point and the line. He called the physical support and the material surface on which the artist draws or paints the basic plane, or BP. However, he did not analyse them objectively, but from the point of view of their inner effect on the observer. Fig 5 Kandinsky Composition 8 (1928) Fig 6 Computer model of Composition 8 In placing his lines and shapes Kandinsky, although adhering to a standard vocabulary of shapes, was really making a series of arbitrary decisions with regard to the choice and placement of shapes and colours. With the same vocabulary, a different maker would make different choices. This is evident from Fig 6 where a computer was programmed to make a picture in Kandinsky's style. This raises the general issue of the viewer's interaction with a work of art where he or she has access to only one of many possible compositions. Kandinsky never made these comparisons but the creation of computer programmes, such as 'The Pattern Cognition and Aesthetics' programme now allows a scientific comparison to be made of the responses of different viewers to variations on an artistic theme . The PCA programme uses computer morphing technology to study 3D shape aesthetics. Experiments with this software are based on 3D laser scans of sculptures by the 20th century modernist Jean Arp from a variety of sources. The laser scans serve as the basis for arrays of Arp's morphed shapes in which geometric characteristics like surface curvature, axis curvature, and volume distribution are gradually varied (Fig 7). Subjects are asked to choose their favourite and least favourite sculptures in each array. The results are analysed to determine how these geometric characteristics influence aesthetic preference. Findings in this experiment are being used to design targeted tests of aesthetic responses in the human brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Fig 7 An array of morphed shapes from the works of Jean Arp 5 Nature registration Jacek Tylicki began his work with nature in 1973. Taking pieces of paper or canvas, he sent them blowing into the wind, under trees and rocks, and waited for a time until recovering them to see what the world had done to them. He ended up creating a startling amount of beautiful forms, colours, and patterns that, in all actuality, he hadn’t made (Fig 8). Tylicki began to make nature do something that all artists do as well-create forms. The results are an array of shapes and designs that are unique; full of movement and detail that a person could not ever hope to make on their own. He harnesses nature’s hand to make something more permanent than itself. "Avoiding all control, I spread out sheets of white paper or canvas in the nature. For some time they stay in the grass, in the rushes of river, in the meadows or in the mountains. Nature registers its presence, covering the surface of the paper with colors, forms and tracks. This process is controlled by a number of agents; such as space and time, substance and causality. It is governed by nature’s intensity. It does not, depend on man’s interference. Nature is the greatest and most admirable creator, and unlike logic it doesn’t fail.The artist obligation is not to shape -handicraft, but to understanding the riddles of reality. In such conception of Art there lies, as in the Universe itself, an immense richness, and a countless variety of forms." Fig 8 One of Jacek Tylicki's nature registrations Fig 9 One of Jill Randall's nature registrations created in the Parys Mountain copper mine Nature registrations were produced in 2008 by Jill Randall an Artist-In-Residence at the Parys Mountain Copper Mine and Amlwch Industrial Heritage Centre in North Wales. The Parys Mountain was once the world’s leading centre of copper production. It is an extreme environment, with its own “terrible beauty” of amazing colours, a toxic landscape where corrosion and time are accelerated. Beneath the skin of the landscape lie hidden voids, the vast underground network of abandoned mine shafts where peculiar life forms grow in the complete absence of light. The outcome of her residency was a series of 10 huge, brightly-coloured registrations created in and by the abandoned underground mine workings (Fig 9). Physically and practically very difficult to site and retrieve the colours were the results of on-going chemical reactions in the water percolating through the rock strata into the man-made caverns of the mine. The stained registrations on the Randall’s art substrate reflect the mineralised colours in the walls of the mine. Both kinds of chemical interactions are also open to interactions with the concrete surfaces of the art works of Michael Deane which demonstrate that hardness can be deceiving.Despite its reputation for intransigence, concrete is a uniquely subtle, delicate material. The surface of any motorway flyover, housing block or city pavement reveals a spectrum of patinas through which concrete absorbs and reflects its surroundings. Metal fixings soak rusty stains into their concrete bases; shoes and rubber tyres apply patient layers of dirt and oil onto walkways and roads, and rainwater causes streaks of colouration to develop across walls. Michael Dean exploits this aspect of his material’s versatility in surprising ways. He makes objects that betray intricate records of their histories on their outer surfaces. Even the mineral content of tap water can dramatically affect the way concrete looks. It remains porous when hard, so oils from contact with human skin give it an organic quality. Some of Dean’s works have the uncanny appearance of elephant hide, dark whale skin or cured panels of leather; others resemble nothing so much as giant fossils, plant matter preserved and fractured beneath layers of peat bog. All of these associations are, to different degrees, ancient, and make us forget that the sculptures they cling to only recently came into the world through his efforts. Fig 10 Concrete panels with surface texture Michael Dean's sculptures are either the perfect size to be carried or quote their surrounding architecture where they are to be found propped against gallery walls. Made from cast concrete, the surfaces are veined and ridged, offering invitations to be touched (Fig 10). Tactility is an essential sculptural quality for Dean because he wishes us to first 'touch with the eyes, and then allow ourselves to touch with the hand' 6 Maintenance art Meirle Ukeles' work is created through a process of participatory democracy that unites people in open dialogue about the characteristics of important community ecological issues. In 1976 Ukeles accepted an unsalaried position as artist-in-residence with the New York City Department of Sanitation. She proposed to do work that would incorporate a dialogue of community participation around life-centred issues, and ecological sustainability. Ukeles focused her creative energies on a series of long term projects to provide visitors with points of access to issues of urban waste management which is the 'material entropy' of consumerism. Touch Sanitation was Ukeles' first project as the city's new artist-in-residence. She drew attention to the maintenance of urban ecological systems in general and the unjustified use of pejorative language to represent "garbage men" in particular. Ukeles travelled sections of New York City to shake the hands of over 8500 sanitation employees or "sanmen" during a year-long performance (Fig 11). She documented her activities on a map, meticulously recording her conversations with the workers. Ukeles documented the workers' private stories, fears, castigations, and public humiliations in an attempt to change some of the negative vernacular words used in the public sphere of society. In this way, Ukeles used her art as an agent of change to challenge conventional language stereotypes. Fig 11 Meirle Ukeles hand-shaking performance 6 Complexity and entropy Like throwing a paint soaked sponge against a wall, making a work of art is a process consisting of a series of actions taken in order to achieve a particular end when energy becomes form. The actions consume energy and it seems reasonable to assume that the entropy of making a complex work of art is more that that required to make a simple one. The finished work prompts a response from the viewer according to his or her understanding of the ensemble as a system of interrelated parts. The ensemble has properties more than the sum of its parts and the work holds the attention of the viewer or a listeners according to their understanding of its dynamic complexity. In this respect, there are three kinds of complexity, that based on the structure created by its maker, that perceived by the viewer or listener and that accepted as a cultural norm by society. An audience experiences the complexity of a painting through the patterns of paint marks mapped out across the spatial dimensions of a canvas. These patterns are static in the sense that they do not evolve with time. However, the audiences will experience a musical work’s complexity through the development of the pattern of sound as a function of time. Any work of art thus finds it’s own audience by inviting them to make what they will of this or that idea as part of the relationship between objective, subjective and social complexity. Complexity can literally be defined as being “made up of a large number of parts that have many interactions.” This definition has been applied to many subjects, such as art, music, dance, and literature. In aesthetics research, complexity has been divided into three dimensions that account for the interaction between the amount of elements, differences in elements, and patterns in their arrangement. Furthermore, this characteristic in aesthetics consists of a wide spectrum, ranging from low complexity to high complexity. Key studies have found through the Galvanic skin response that more complex artworks produce greater physiological arousal and higher hedonic ratings, which is consistent with other findings that claim that aesthetic liking increases with complexity. Most important, several studies have found that there exists a U-shape relationship between aesthetic preference and complexity. In other words, the lowest ratings in aesthetic responses correlate with high and low levels of complexity, which displays an “avoidance of extremes.”Furthermore, the highest level of aesthetic response occurs in the middle level of complexity. In a study of undergraduates’ ratings of liking and complexity of contemporary pop music reported an inverted U-shape relationship between liking and complexity. Other research, suggests that this trend of complexity could also be associated with ability to understand, in which obserevers prefer artwork that is not too easy or too difficult to comprehend.The research both confirms and disconfirms predictions that suggest that individual characteristics such as artistic expertise and training can produce a shift in the inverted U-shape distribution. This relationship between objective, subjective and cultural complexity across the arts has been explored by Jean Pierre Boon, John Casti and Richard Taylor who focused on the spatial complexity of Jackson Pollock’s abstract paintings (Fig 12) and the temporal complexity of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music as well as about 30 music pieces by various composers. They measured the objective complexity using established tools of complexity theory fractal dimension ( D) to quantify the global dynamics and entropy (H) to measure the local dynamics. They found that over a period of ten years (1943-1952) Pollock refined his fractal construction process and appeared to be able to tune the D value and hence the objective complexity of his paintings. As a consequence, his masterworks gravitated to an objective complexity of 1.7. The researchers also found that the musical compositions of Bach have a similar level of objective complexity. They suggest that the D values of Pollock's work appear to be trademark signatures of his unique objective complexity, and might potentially help in distinguishing authentic Pollocks from imitations although this does not seem to be the case for musical compositions. Fig 12 Jackson Pollack; 1950 Autumn Rhythm http://msatterw.public.iastate.edu/ENG314instructionsamples/rock%20garden%20Instructions.pdf http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0074055 http://creativethinking.net/articles/2012/03/19/how-leonardo-da-vinci-got-his-ideas/ http://www.brainscienceinstitute.org/stories/pattern_cognition_aesthetics http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_self_portraits.htm http://www.edmonds.wednet.edu/cms/lib02/WA01001167/Centricity/Domain/59/Level_1_-_Shape.pdf http://www.mywowweb.com/jung_meets_kandinsky/#sthash.P3qTv2dT.dpuf http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/year-1912.php http://www.utdallas.edu/~kzhang/Publications/SIGGRAPH_AsiaFinal.pdf http://marbleart.us/SomeHistory.htm

'The Universe', Sengai "...the entire eighth, my son, and the souls that are in it, and the angels, sing a hymn in silence..."  -The Ogdoad and Ennead Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man, Salvador Dali (1943) Those who walk the golden path know from experience that it is one of great illumination and propels one through a course of Initiations that simply cannot be fully expressed to one who has not 'broken ground' within themselves enough to appreciate the higher, and subsequently deeper levels of being we become attuned to and aware of through ritual work, reading, communicating and experimenting. Beginning to get on the 'path' is one of the most difficult stages, and environmental factors play a major role in that as well. There are many different ways to ignite the Black Flame within, ranging from art, to music, plants, sensory derangement - these all may serve as a 'switch' which affects the regular mode of operation allowing one to analyze both the familiar mode and the new mode, or perspective - the goal being to obtain a higher gnosis or 'profound view' of the mundane mind and its habituated instinct of identifying only with that which one sees with their eyes and opening the ego up to the range known as the 'higher mind', technically also including the subconscious, which on the Tree of Life is Yesod (the Moon). Over time, usually the period of many years, and with much effort in gaining knowledge from various sources and working with it, a second-knowledge is developed, a knowledge not based merely on action-reaction/cause-effect of factors in the microcosm, but the actions and reactions of causes and effects that span over the course of long spans of time and the impulses behind them and which they carry. There are many times in our lives where we feel a profound sense of belonging, like we are at the 'right place at the right time', and that everything in the universe must have been right on track for some fateful event to have happened in the particular way it did. Deja vu itself is like a magnified form of this in that its like we are realizing or reawakening to the path that we seem to have passed through before. The Bruce Codex - Gnosis.org  See also The Gnosis of the Light by Rev. F. Lamplugh and The Gnosis Or Ancient Wisdom in the Christian Scriptures by William Kingsland (PDF). Archetypal patterns are the fractal templates in and of themselves which carry on along the spiral currents of manifestation and sometimes our waking mind receives flashes of this pattern which reduces like a net infinitely great or infinitely small. This 'net' is that which Egyptian initiates would 'master' through their various practices, and this is the same practice that is happening in any gnostic yoga practice which seeks to unify (as a 'yoke' in an egg) as well as encompass (as the cosmic egg itself), and therefore become conscious living embodiments of the two extremes (yin and yang), and the 7 rays between them which alchemically mutate from light (spirit) into matter and then Spirit and Matter unified in balance. The Balance is symbolized by Atu VIII (8), and therefore Maat directly rules the balance of the Egg/Toroid of space-time. The symbol above which is similar to that of the Ankh shows the Wheel of Time, with the 'T' being the cross of directions, Past, Present, and Future with the 'wheel' being that which is 'rolling' (i.e. the luni-solar-stellar interplay of light and shadow which affects psychic and physical functions.) 8 or ∞ is related to the egg which has been 'imploded', that is - opened from the inside rather than the out. The center of the torus has opened and the Egg which was one universe to its own has awakened to find but another seemingly infinite universe right outside its shell. The 8 is symbolic of Eternity and the figure of Woman and the Ankh is that of Eternal Life and the figure of a Man. The figurative Serpent who put emnity between them is the spiral of 'time' at the center of the 'garden' (the toroid), the center of the Circle being figured as 359 (ShTN, 'Satan'), one less than the full circle which opens the Gate of the Qliphoth creating the movement of the revolution of Light signified by the Seven Aeons or Rays - the 8ths being the Great Ray of 'Time'/Chronos/Abraxas, and the 9th being that of distinction in solidarity or homogenization to re-open on a higher-level in 10, Malkuth, the Material plane. The Hexagram is symbolic of the union of opposites creating the Seventh Ray which illumines the 8th. It is the central shining light of GOLD in which used in Banishing and High Magick. Note also that the Hebrew word for this symbol is מגנ דוד, and thus equivalent to GOLD in the number 107, and of course reduces to 8, but shows the separation of the 1 from the 7 by the O, or Wheel of Time.  See Clearing the Aiwaves for the Qabalistic Cross The 8th Ray is known in the Gnostic Aeonology as the super-celestial aeon beyond the lower seven aeons and represents the stepping beyond the fractal 'net' through the path opened through duality and into the timeless astral region of Σοπηια (Wisdom, 369) or Αβραξας (365). The 'faculty of Abraxas' to which this post receives its name refers to the faculty which is generated over time through understanding and wisdom, to step across the 'abyss' of the fractal and tap into the source-energy of the Matrix itself - and thereby receive the power of the Ennead, a direct line of contact between ones 'self' (microcosm) and the core macrocosm of Infinity (in the center of the circle which is the Heart/Sun/Star center reflected by its own Light). The triple extension of 8 as 888 is the number of Ιηςους, 'Jesus' the carrier of THE COSMIC CHRIST force of Chrysos (GOLD), the 'Gold Light of Spirit itself manifested into THE FULLNESS OF INFINITY fit neatly into THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, that infinitely subtle but infinitely powerful substance (THE AZOTh = 888) which is the One Substance upon which all is but a mutation of the HOLOGRAPHIC SOUL which projects both inward and outward. It was just recently mentioned by physicists that certain changes in their models show that the Universe may be infinite, and I think it's funny because I recently found that 888 is THE ETERNAL OVUM MUNDI UNIVERSE, Ovum Mundi being the Egg of the World or the Universe itself - 'The Cosmic Egg' corresponding to the 888 of 'It's All in the Egg'. THE TIME DOOR + O is 888 as well showing that the Ayin (Ajna) is the Door of Time which is merely the projector of the kalas of maya or the illusion of time (THE LION'S GATE - Abraxas being the Lion-headed Serpent). Thus 888 is the THE TIMELESS TIMELINES OF ABRAXAS, THE ENCODED LOGOS-LANGUAGE which stands beyond time. Particularly related to the Gnostic idea of the 'Demiurge' which is associated particularly with the interplay of the 8 and 9 (89 being the 'GVPh', or place between Manifestations), is that 888 is itself THE GNOSTIC DEMIURGE - and THE DEMIURGE + THE AEONS and THE DEMIURGE INTELLIGENCE which is exhibited throughout the fractal cosmos and condensed in the Logos of Humanity. THE TREE OF LIFE IS A FRACTAL IN THE GOLD EGG = 888. Being one (111 = RAY in Greek as ΡΑΙ, Rho Alpha Iota) ray above 777, 888 rules THE LIGHT WORLD (=777) which is equivalent to the OVLM HQLIPVTh, or 'World of Shells' which is the shadow of the Light. The Seven Seals of REVELATION are the cosmic-fractal connection between the 7 major Chakras and the 7 major Rays of Light which combine in 888 and condense in 999 - THE ALIGNMENT of the All in One and One and All (Frater Achad's motto which had the value of 777 in Latin). Notice this is all above 666 and also above the 'physical' once entering into 777, The Light World. The Spectrum of the Nine Chambers is very dense and only just now beginning to be deciphered and disseminated - no doubt there will be people trying to plagiarize this Knowledge - THE SUPREME KNOWLEDGE - but technically it's not 'mine' anyway, though I do seem to be the only one to have deciphered this key and found personal profound revelations prompting me to find more and present it to what I find as a decaying community which I think could be greatly 'refreshed' with this very dense but still very telling information. The Faculty of Abraxas is mentioned in a few different prominent Masonic works of the 1800's and along my search for more about it they each gave a little more information. While not referring to Abraxas in particular, Helena Blavatsky discusses the nature of the 8th Aeon as being related to that which opens beyond time in The Secret Doctrine (Vol. II page 563.): "We are reminded in King's "Gnostics" that the Greek language has but one word for vowel and voice; and this has led the uninitiated to many erroneous interpretations. On the simple knowledge, however, of that well-known fact a comparison may be attempted, and a flood of light thrown upon several mystic meanings. Thus the words, so often used in the Upanishads and the Puranas, "Sound" and "Speech," may be collated with the Gnostic "Vowels" and the "Voices" of the Thunders and Angels in "Revelation." The same will be found in Pistis Sophia, and other ancient Fragments and MSS. This was remarked even by the matter-of-fact author of "The Gnostics and their Remains." Through Hippolytus, an early Church Father, we learn what Marcus -- a Pythagorean rather than a Christian Gnostic, and a Kabalist most certainly -- had received in mystic revelation. It is said that "Marcus had it revealed unto him that 'the seven heavens'* . . . . sounded each one vowel, which, all combined together, formed a complete doxology"; in clearer words: "the Sound whereof being carried down (from these seven heavens) to earth, became the creator and parent of all things that be on earth." (See "Hippolytus," vi., 48, and King's Gnostics, p. 200.) Translated from the Occult phraseology into still plainer language this would read: "The Sevenfold LOGOS having differentiated into seven Logoi, or creative potencies (vowels) these (the second logos, or "Sound") created all on Earth. Assuredly one who is acquainted with Gnostic literature can hardly help seeing in St. John's Apocalypse, a work of the same school of thought. For we find John saying (chap. x. 3, 4), "Seven thunders uttered their voices . . . and I was about to write . . . (but) I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, 'Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.' " The same injunction is given to Marcus, the same to all other semi and full Initiates. Yet the sameness of equivalent expressions used, and of the underlying ideas, always betrays a portion of the mysteries. We must always seek for more than one meaning in every mystery allegorically revealed, especially in those in which the number seven and its multiplication seven by seven, or forty-nine, appear.  Now when the Rabbi Jesus is requested (in Pistis Sophia) by his disciples to reveal to them, "the mysteries of the Light of thy (his) Father" (i.e., of the higher SELF enlightened by Initiation and Divine knowledge), Jesus answers: "Do ye seek after these mysteries? No mystery is more excellent than they which shall bring your souls unto the Light of Lights, unto the place of Truth and Goodness, unto the place where there is neither male nor female, neither form in that place but Light, everlasting, not to be uttered. Nothing therefore is more excellent than the mysteries which ye seek after,saving only THE MYSTERY of the seven vowels and their FORTY AND NINE POWERS, and their numbers thereof; and no name is more excellent than all these vowels." "The Seven Fathers and the Forty-nine Sons blaze in DARKNESS, but they are the LIFE and LIGHT and the continuation thereof through the Great Age" -- says the Commentary speaking of the "Fires." Now it becomes evident that, in every esoteric interpretation of exoteric beliefs expressed in allegorical forms, there was the same underlying idea -- the basic number seven, the compound of three and four, preceded by the divine THREE (△) making the perfect number ten. Also, these numbers applied equally to divisions of time, to cosmography metaphysical and physical, as well as to man and everything else in visible nature. Thus these Seven vowels with their forty-nine powers are identical with the three and the Seven Fires of the Hindus and their forty-nine fires; identical with the numerical mysteries of the Persian Simorgh; identical with those of the Jewish Kabalists. The latter, dwarfing the numbers (their mode of blinds), made the duration of each successive renewal (what we call in esoteric parlance Round) of the seven renewals of the globe only of 7,000 years, instead of, as is more likely, 7,000,000,000, and assigned to the total duration of the universe 49,000 years only. (Compare § "Chronology of the Brahmins.") Now, the Secret Doctrine furnishes a key which reveals to us on indisputable grounds of comparative analogy that Garuda, the allegorical and monstrous half-man and half-bird, -- the Vahan or vehicle on which Vishnu (who is Kala, "time") is shown to ride -- is the origin of all other such allegories. He is the Indian phoenix, the emblem of cyclic and periodical time, the "man-lion" Singha, of whose representations the so-called "gnostic gems" are so full.* [*As confessed by King, the great authority on Gnostic antiquities, these gnostic gems are not the work of the Gnostics, but belong to pre-christian periods, and are the work of magicians (p. 241).] "Over the seven rays of the lion's crown, and corresponding to their points, stand, in many cases, the seven vowels of the Greek alphabet [Gk char], testifying to the Seven Heavens." This is the Solar lion and the emblem of the Solar cycle, as Garuda* is that of the great cycle, the "Maha-Kalpa" co-eternal with Vishnu, and also, of course, the emblem of the Sun, and Solar cycle. This is shown by the details of the allegory. At his birth, Garuda is mistaken for Agni, the God of Fire, on account of his (Garuda's) "dazzling splendour," and called thereupon Gaganeswara, "lord of the sky." Again, his being represented as Osiris, and by many heads of allegorical monsters on the Abraxas (gnostic) gems, with the head and beak of an eagle or a hawk (solar birds), denotes Garuda's solar and cyclic character. His Son is Jatabu, the cycle of 60,000 years. As well remarked by C. W. King: -- "Whatever the primary meaning (of the gem with the solar lion and vowels) it was probably imported in its present shape from INDIA, that true fountain head of gnostic iconography" (Gnostics, p. 218). The mysteries of the seven gnostic vowels, uttered by the thunders of St. John, can be unriddled only by the primeval and original Occultism of Aryavarta, brought into India by the primeval Brahmins, who had been initiated in Central Asia. And this is the Occultism we study and try to explain, as much as is possible in these pages. Our doctrine of seven Races and Seven Rounds of life and evolution around our terrestrial chain of spheres, may be found even in Revelation.** When the seven "thunders," or "sounds," or "vowels" -- one meaning out of the seven for each such vowel relating directly to our own Earth and its seven Root-Races in each Round -- "had uttered their voices" -- but forbidden the Seer to write them, and made him "seal up those things" -- what did the Angel "standing upon the sea and upon the earth" do? He lifted his hand to heaven "and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever . . . . that there should be time no longer." "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound, the Mystery of God (of the Cycle) should be finished" (x 7), which means, in theosophic phraseology, that when the Seventh Round is completed, then Time will cease. "There shall be time no longer" very naturally, since pralaya shall set in and there will remain no one on earth to keep a division of time, during that periodical dissolution and arrest of conscious life." The Egyptologist and historian Gerald Massey also gives somewhat similar comments in a relevant vein showing his own Abractic Gnosis having studied as wide a frame of references as is necessary to truly gain the necessary inferences and insights to truly appreciate the 365, or worldwide daily powers as they manifest across the sphere in its multitudinous formats which apparently some cannon seem to appreciate. 365 = THE TREE OF LIFE = SEPARATED = TRANSLATE  Μενος – ‘Strength/Force’ (From Proto-Indo-European *ménos (“mind”), from *men- (“to think”). Cognates include Avestan (manō) and Sanskrit मनस् (mánas).) =  Mειθρας – ‘Mithras’ = Aβραξας – ‘Abraxas’ (Gk. ΑΒΡΑΞΑΣ, variant form Abrasax, ΑΒΡΑΣΑΞ) was a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the “Great Archon” (Gk., megas archōn), the princeps of the 365 spheres (Gk., ouranoi). The seven letters spelling its name may represent each of the seven classic planets—Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.) "It is affirmed that our Freemasons conceal, among other secret arts, what they term the ‘faculty of Abrac,' which is obviously a reduced form of the word Abraxas, the six-sided stone (sas or kas, Eg.) of the Ab-ra or Af-ra (Eg.) the Chnubis sun. The Abraxas stone with six sides is the foundation stone of the Masonic degree of R.A.M. [Royal Arch Mason]. This stone was fabled to have been brought by Adam out of the lost Paradise of a foreworld, and was passed on until Solomon used it as the foundation stone for his temple. The seal of Solomon is a double triangle, Y, looking like a six-pointed star. It is sometimes called the shield of David. The Hindu sri yantra contains the same figure, which is also found in ancient English churches, where the builders have made a Masonic mark. This figure is a symbolic part of the Royal Masonic Arch; and the seal of Solomon or shield of David is an extant illustration of the lunar character of David (the Egyptian Taht), and of the soli-lunar origin of Solomon the son. The double triangle of the sixfold one was also continued in a form of the divine nimbus worn by God the Father, which is represented in a fresco at Mount Athos, and upon an 'Epigonation' worn by a great image of St. Nicholas in the chief convent of Meteora in Thessaly, near Triccala. Building the temple of the heavens is the great mystery of Masonry, and they retain the chief figures accordingly. The number 5, for example, in which the first planetary heaven was completed, is one of the sacreds. This five runs into the six in the 'Five Orders,' of what are termed the 'Six Periods, the Grand Architects;' which expression is used [p.82] to designate the six days of the creation. Their mysteries reveal the same system as mythology. The building of the temple is one of the Masonic mysteries. Masons who know nothing of the mythical, that is astronomical, origin of these mysteries think this was the temple of an historical Solomon. But the mystic sen (Eg.) or brotherhood of Mâ is indefinitely older than the times of the supposed Solomon. Universal symbols found in all forms of the mysteries did not originate with the Jews a few centuries before the present era. Besides which, the 'Venerable Mah' of the Masons is one with the Hebrew Chokmah (המכח), the personification of wisdom, or Sophia, who acts the part of the builder in creation that Mâ does in the creation with Taht and Ptah. Chokmah was the 'founder of the earth.'When the heavens were prepared and a circle was set on the face of the deep, and the decree was given that the waters should not pass their appointed limit, Chokmah was there. She was the builder from the beginning, who first built the house of the seven pillars, and, therefore, like Ma, can be traced back to the goddess of the seven stars, the first measurer and maker of a circle in heaven. Chokmah denotes the skill of an artificer, but, personified, she is the feminine artificer. One mode of creating is described as checking the waters. This, in Egyptian, is khekh, to expel, turn back, or check. In the cuneiform description of creation, as part of the process, the waters were gathered into one place, where they are yet, in the three water-signs of the zodiac, and in the meh of the north. The words on the Babylonian tablet are mi, istinish, ikkique. Mi, is waters; istinish, one place; and ikhique answers to the Hebrew chaq (קח), a defined andappointed limit. Chit, in Phoenician, means encompassing. Kiki, Maori, is confined. Kuku, Fiji, to hold. Ciko, Zulu, is the woman's word for a stopper; as we have it in stopcock. To cag, English, is to bind, limit,imprison. Kakhya, in Sanskrit, denotes enclosure; kachcha, shores; ciug, Irish, the circle; kac, Breton, enclosure, whence the kay. One khekh (Eg.) sign was a collar with nine beads which, as the collar of Isis, signified the nine months of gestation and breath (or the put-circle of the nine gods). The nine dry months of the khekh, and the inundation, represented by the three water-signs, made a year, in the figure of which the waters were checked, limited, and confined to the meh, the abyss and water-girth of the northern quarter. On this the earth described by the Hebrew writers and Diodorus was founded in the nine dry signs, the antithesis of the waters. On this abyss of the waters was established the put-circle of the nine gods, the creation of Ptah who wrought in conjunction with Mâ, the Hebrew Chokmah, the Masonic 'Venerable Mah.' It is the mythical origin alone that affords any solution in such a case as this where the historical becomes fraudulent. Solomon, the Prince of Peace, was but a form of the solar or luni-solar manifestor. The demiurgic Ptah, the architect who built the temple of the heavens in conjunction with Mâ, according to one of the particular patterns, of which there were several, stellar, lunar, and solar, has a son who takes the name of Iu-em-hept, the bringer of peace. This was the Egyptian Solomon, the Ecclesiasticus or Iu-su, the coming son of the Apocrypha that was brought out of Egypt. He who comes with peace or fulfilment is the Solomon by name. The Egyptian Solomon was the typical builder and designer, the original, i.e., divine, modeller of the celestial temple. It is said in an inscription that the Temple of Edfu was 'restored as it is in the book of the model of the temple composed by Prince Iu-em-hept, eldest son of Ptahi.Prince Iu-em-hept is the prince who comes with peace, and is the Solomon who became the typical architect and healer in Israel. This establishes the link with the god Ptah, the solar architect whose assistants, the seven khnemu, are the fraternity of the seven builders of mythology. The sovereignty of Sebek (or Atum-Ra) as the seventh was founded on the six previous creations typified by the Ab-ra-xas stone; and the fact of the year having been established on those six creations and the luni-solar six divisions and then completed in 365 days, was conveyed by the 'faculty of Abraxas' in the numbers of the name, after the mode of the mysteries. This name is Abraxas in Latin and Αβρασάξ in Greek, A b r a x a s = 365 1 2 100 1 60 1 200 Such being the numeral value of the letters in Greek and Coptic, and therefore, still earlier, in Egyptian. Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, affirmed that Orpheus composed a poem of 365 gods one for every day of the year. Justin Martyr puts the number at 360. Both are numbers of the year, and both show the phenomenal foundations in the time reckonings. The Gnostics, says Irenaeus, make out the local positions of 365 heavens. They hold that their chief is Abraxas, and on this account the word contains in itself the numbers amounting to 365. Lastly, the legends show that man was created in the likeness of the types belonging to the mythos at various stages of its evolution; and as, according to the Targum of Palestine, the Adamic man was created in the image of the Lord, with 365 nerves, the divine image was the solar god of the complete year of 365 days or divisions described as nerves. That is, Adam was formed in the likeness of Atum-Ra and of the Af-Ra, the sun of the three realms, the sixfold division of heaven and of the perfected year of solar time. This was not a primary but almost the final creation. Here is another link with the Masonic six, the great seisor of the Irish Druids. Acacian is a title signifying a Mason, but not because άκακία [p.84] means innocence. The acacia (Mimosa nilotica of Linnaeus) is the Masonic typical tree, the Nile name of which is sas (ses, or sesso wood), the same as the number 6 and the division of time by six. The cube sas or was was squared in acacia wood, as well as stone, on account of its hardness, as a figure of the sixfold foundation. In 'passing the veils' in the Masonic mysteries the candidate proceeds from the figure of six, the double triangle, and at the figure of nine—the triple triangle—the word is communicated by the companions. The Masonic north is the Void or Abyss. It appears to me that their temple of the heavens ranges from the heaven of the seven stars to that of the seven planets. The sanctum sanctorum is a place of the seven, which are typified by a candlestick with seven branches. Here the initiate is shown the Ark of the Seven and of the Covenant; 'the Ark to build, the Covenant to Keep.' It is the same ark of the seven as that of the seven Rishis, the seven Hohgates, the seven companions of Arthur, the seven stars of the earliest circle and covenant made in heaven. Synesius observes that the Egyptian hierophants had κωμαστήια, which are arks concealing, as they say, the spheres. The later planetary seven are illustrated by the seven steps and seven degrees of ascent. There are seven steps in the Scottish ritual of the degree called the 'Knight of Kadosh,' the names of which are chiefly Hebrew. Also, the ladder of seven rounds ascends from the Red Room, red being the colour of the goddess Ma, and of the nocturnal sun. Ne plus ultra is written at the foot of the ladder. This is considered the highest mystery. It was the top of attainment in relation to the later and superior ogdoad of gods consisting of the seven planetary gods and their manifestor, the 'Star (eight-rayed) of the Pleroma.' Both systems are combined in the account given by Celsus, preserved by Origen, who says: 'After this, Celsus desiring to exhibit his Learning in his treatise against us, quotes also certain Persian mysteries, where he observes:—"These things are obscurely hinted at in the accounts of the Persians, and especially in the mysteries of Mithras, which are celebrated amongst them. For in the latter there is a representation of the two heavenly revolutions of this movement, viz., of the fixed stars, and of that which takes place among the planets, and of the passage of the soul through these." The representation is of the following nature:—There is a ladder with lofty gates, and on the top of it an eighth gate. The first gate consists of lead, the second of tin, the third of copper, the fourth of iron, the fifth of a mixture of metals, the sixth of silver and the seventh of gold. The first gate they assign to Saturn, indicating, by the lead, the slowness of this star; the second to Venus, comparing her to the splendour and softness of tin; the third to Jupiter, being firm and solid; the fourth to Mercury, for both mercury and iron are fit to enclose all things, and [p.85] are money-making and laborious; the fifth to Mars, because, being composed of a mixture of metals, it is varied and unequal; the sixth of silver, to the Moon; the seventh of gold, to the Sun; thus imitating the different colours of the two latter." He next proceeds to examine the reasons of the stars being arranged in this order, which is symbolised by the names of the rest of matter. Musical reasons, moreover, are added and quoted by the Persian theology; and to these, again, he strives to add a second explanation connected also with musical considerations.' There are data, then, in all the different creations and points of departure which range from the motherhood of the seven elementaries to the final fatherhood established on earth and in heaven, as it was under Atum-Ra or in the second gnostic 'Hebdomad which surrounds the Father,' the planetary seven represented by Iao-Sabaoth. The development, changes, and readjustments can all be traced according to the data yet extant. This was preserved by the Gnostics, amongst others of those who knew, the men who were supposed, by the Christian Idiotes, to be mere plagiarists and heretics that sprang up in the second century of the present era. The Gnostics and Neo-Platonists brought on the whole matter with the connecting links. They have the primary ogdoad consisting of the Mother Sophia and the 'Inferior Hebdomad' of the seven elementaries who dwelt upon the mount of Am-Smen. 'This Mother they (the Gnostics) also call Ogdoad, Sophia, Terra, Jerusalem, Holy Spirit, and, with a masculine reference, Lord.' Proclus also says: 'The Goddess Rhea is a Monad, Duad, and Heptad, comprehending in herself all the Titannidae.' Valentinus maintained that the power of the seven who gave life to this world after the likeness of the first hebdomad was represented by Arrhetos, whose name is composed of seven letters (with one duplicate) to indicate the sevenfold nature of the one. Arrhetos, the sevenfold, answers to Sebti (or Sut) and Sevekh, both of which names contain the number seven. There was a certain dyad, or twofold being, he said, who is inexpressible by any name, of whom one part should be called Arrhetos (that is ineffable), and the other Sige (Silence); this was the source of the Ogdoad. -pg. 81 The Natural Genesis, Gerald Massey The Rectangle (or Square), Triangle and the Circle are related to IAO and the Ogdoad by way of the fact that, for one, they resemble the letters IAO, and the angles of the rectangle (4), triangle (3), and the circle taken as 1 enumerates the Ogdoad. IAO has a H.E.G. value of 81, which is 9, the serpent, cubed but also THE AJNA which is the central Eye which in a sense acts as a microcosmic version of the Prism of Daath being as it is the focal point of the inner vision which first shows itself as a thin thread of light which can unravel to reveal the mask of the fabric of what we consider reality (maya). 81 in Jewish Gematria is both 'Gold' and 'Ra', signifying the root-light of the 9x9 serpent-grid. The Kundalini/Chnoubis as the Lion Headed Serpent. In its Greek valuation, ΙΑΩ is 811, and a temurah of Αιω, meaning 'to Live', 'Breathe', 'Know'. 811 is also THE LIGHT SOURCE of THE SHEKINAH, Shekinah being the 'holy dwelling' or 'holy place' of God (i.e. manifestation), and since 811 combines the 8 and 11 which are both related to Daath (counting up from Malkuth, and counting it last), it refers to the Egg (11) of 8 (Infinity), i.e. the Egg of Abraxas which as a form of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, is 'ever-coming'. Note 800/Ω itself is 'INSIDE THE EGG' and 'THE EGG OF EVERYTHING', THE PRISM of the SERPENT which is centered in the EPIPHYSIS (Third Eye) through the alignment with XIN.  (In China, the word, xin 心 (often translated as ‘heart’) is frequently used and its concept is central to Chinese culture. However, its meaning is not exactly the same as ‘heart’ in English. Using qigong as the context, this article aims to explore the meaning of xin as a cultural keyword in order to gain an indepth understanding of Chinese culture and knowledge within that cultural system. Qigong is a Chinese health maintenance system and healing tradition which integrates physical activity with training of the mind and self-cultivation. One of qigong’s basic components is xin adjustment. It is impossible to convey the full meaning of this concept without understanding the meaning of xin. In Chinese culture, xin is the root of physical and mental life. It is the seat of all emotions, and embodies the inherent goodness of human nature and wisdom. Xin helps to guide the individual’s way of life and attitude, and can lead one to deep contentment.)  This is the alchemical process known as 'Theurgy', which in the west is the central aim of the a prominent Buddhist sect, that of MAHAYANA-BUDDHISM, by creating the 'Great'/Maha 'Vehicle'/Yana of Awakening which the Egg, Diamond, Torus, Dodecahedron, etc. are all types of. (Though it is said that the Mahayana school is a much lengthier route to Atma-Vidya/Self-Knowledge and true Enlightenment than the Vajrayana which focuses primarily on the Diamond body and the Diamond realm. There is also Therevada, Navayana, and many other forms of Buddhism which have their own unique perspective and all are very interesting and very useful for the Chaos-mage, Experimentalist, or the like.) Each path is essentially all one which leads by way of silence out of the gross mundane world of matter and ego into THE LIGHT WORLD of what could be termed 'LUCIFER CONSCIOUSNESS', for when one realizes their inextricable unity between mind and matter all is seen to be Light and THE COILED SERPENT-ANGEL OF LIGHT awakens in a way that can only be withstood for short periods either as flashes or full on raptures but may also open wider in the dream-state which is itself composed purely of the Light of Consciousness.  "The Gnostic Serpent Wheel pictured above represents the eight Aeons of Gnosticism. It is a emblem of the cycles of time and is a symbol of the Gnostic messiah- the eighth Aeon who brings awakening and restores unity. It is closely related to the eight-spoked catholic baptismal cross- the Sunday of the resurrection was for early Christians an eighth day, and symbolized regeneration. This cycle was represented for some Gnostics by the serpent, who was associated with the “self-begotten” Deity by virtue of its ability to “give birth to itself” by the shedding of its skin." -SymbolDictionary.com See Isis Unveiled Vol. II, page 461 & The Rosicrucians by Hargrave Jennings LAM is integral to these many different currents spanning the course of human history, and being enumerated as 71, Lam is a form of the Kundalini having stepped beyond the Seven Aeons into the 8th. Lam is the Mantra of the Root Chakra, the most dense relating to physical matter which is the mantra itself serves to open or loosen for entry into the more subtle layers. The Mask of LAM as given by Crowley is thus the face or head of the Kundalini (generalized of course) which has its reflection in Malkuth as M.A.L., the distiller and reviver of this core of ageless wisdom. Having been placed as the frontispiece to his commentated version of Blavatsky's The Voice of the Silence a clue is given as to the nature of what this all means, for in the Gnostic text 'The Discourse On the Eighth and the Ninth' which discusses in mystical terms the transition of the 8th to the 9th Aeonic Ray is done by a mode of 'singing in silence'.  "Hermes' son soon had ecstatic experiences of his own, and his comments make clear that visionary experiences were located as experiences of the Ogdoad or Eighth, while intellectual intuitions were located in the Ninth. In the Hermetic system, a person who was having a vision had transcended his bodily senses and had, as such, ascended beyond the physical realm of the seven planetary heavens. The Hermetists' mind or self found itself in a condition of existence that was entirely literal, even though it was mental rather than bodily. Visionary experience was not a state of consciousness but a state of being, a discrete rank or stage in the great chain of being. The Eighth cosmic region was, in Corbin's (1972) sense of the term, an "imaginal" realm, with its own epistemic and ontic integrity. We might best approximate the Hermetic nuance in modern idiom by speaking not of an Eighth celestial region, but of an Eighth "dimension." To go on to reach the Ninth cosmic region, the imaginal realm of forms had itself to be transcended. Both meditations and mystical experiences had to be limited to intellectual abstractions: "Trismegistus, let not my soul be deprived of the great divine vision. For everything is possible for you as master of the universe." Evolution - Adrian Kenyon "Return to , my son, and sing while you are silent. Ask what you want in silence." When he had finished praising he shouted, "Father Trismegistus! What shall I say? We have received this light. And I myself see this same vision in you. And I see the eighth and the souls that are in it and the angels singing a hymn to the ninth and its powers. And I see him who has the power of them all, creating those in the spirit" (Disc. 8-9 59-60; Robinson 1988:325). Abraxas - Josip Csoor The assertion that "he enters into the understanding of the eighth that reveals the ninth" (Disc. 8-9 63; Robinson 1988:326) epitomizes this part of the mystical technique. Visualization practices were used to induce visions of images that had forms. The visualizations were known to be fabricated, but the visions that they triggered were thought to be unfabricated. These reflections on the visions were made during the visionary state while in the company of the envisioned souls and angels. Due presumably to the visions' coherence or intelligibility, initiates postulated the reality of a Mind that was responsible for ideas that took visionary form as images. This Mind was not manifest to the initiate, but the images that manifested its ideas were. The text does not mention whether Mind, in this context, was human or divine. Once the ninth had been postulated on the basis of the evidence of the eighth, the initiate was ready to move on to the ninth itself. The postulation of Mind was to be used to induce a purely intelligible experience of the divine Creator of "those in the spirit." Having perceived the intellectual necessity, during visionary experience, of postulating a Mind beyond one's own, a Hermetist was to accomplish a final ontological movement by proceeding from vision to union. The initiand was to verify the divinity of the human mind, and its equivalence to divine Mind, by seeking an intellectual mystical experience. Corpus Hermeticum XIII described the experience as follows: "Father, I see the universe and I see myself in mind." "This, my child, is rebirth: no longer picturing things in three bodily dimensions. (C.H. XIII.13; Copenhaver 1992: 52)" pages 88-89, Stages of Ascension in Hermetic Rebirth, Dan Merkur Because Abraxas represents the cycle or circuit of the Earth-year it signifies revolution, which through time moves in a spiral fashion. The Spiral is related to the Cone and thus also the Triangle of ABRACADABRA itself which is said by many to be directly related to Abraxas. In An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences Vol. I by Albert G. Mackey, William J. Hughan & Edward L. Hawkins thjere is an entry on Abrac on page 6: "Abrac. In the Leland MS. it is said that the Masons conceal "the way of wynninge the facultye of Abrac." Mr. Locke (if it was he who wrote a commentary on the manscript) says, "Here I am utterly in the dark." It means simply "the way of acquiring the science of Abrac." the science of Abrac is the knowledge of the power and use of the mystical abraxas, which see; or very likely "Abrac" is merely an abbreviation of Abracadabra." And on page 260 there is an entry on the faculty of Abrac as well:   "Faculty of Abrac. In the so-called Leland Manuscript, it is said that Masons "conceal the way of wynninge the facultye of Abrac." That is, that they conceal the method of acquiring the powers bestowed by a knowledge of the magical talisman that is called Abracadabra." In this Freemason's Magazine from 1796 a whole section which mentions the Abrac/Abracadabra connection referring to what also Mackey refers which is The Leland Manuscript (sometimes called The Locke Manuscript "in consequence of the suppositous annotations appended to it by that metaphysician", see The Leland Manuscript by Mackey.) "THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, AN EXPLANATION OF THE  FACULTYE OF ABRAC. See Vol. III. p. 82. TO THE EDITOR.    SIR, I WAS extremely delighted with the copy of that ancient and venerable manuscript concerning Free-masonry with which you obliged to the public. Mr. Locke's notes and explanatory remarks do the paper great honour, and his declaration and the lady's have contributed to encrease the number of Masons in several lodges. There are however some passages so obscure that Mr. Locke himself knows not what to make of them. The way of wynning the facultye of Abrac is one; which I shall endeavour to elucidate. I apprehend, that by the facultye of Abrac is meant the chimerical virtues ascribed to the magical term ABRACADABRA, written or repeated in a particular manner. This fanciful charm is supposed to have been invented by the elder Serenus Samoniacus, in the time of the Emperors Severus and Caracalla; and was though to be efficacious in curing agues, and preventing other diseases. ---The way of writing it was thus: A    B     R     A     C     A     D     A     B     R     A A     B     R     A     C     A     D     A     B     R A     B     R     A     C     A     D     A     B A     B     R     A     C     A     D     A A     B     R     A     C     A     D A     B     R     A     C     A A     B     R     A    C A     B     R     A A     B     R A     B A  A paper so inscribed was tied about the neck of the patient. It is the more probable that this may be the true explanation of the facultye of Abrac, because we see that several of the mysteries of masonry enumerated in this old piece, are obscurely, imperfectly, or corruptly expressed. For instance, Peter Gower. Who would imagine that Peter Gower was Pythagoras in disguise? Yet how naturally and satisfactory is the corruption accounted for, by the medium which Mr. Lock has so happily discovered? Pythagoras seems to have been fated to transmigrations. The transmigration of Euphorbus into Pythagoras seems scarce more incredible, than (at first sight) the transmigraiton of Pythagoras into Peter Gower.   Another explanation of the above is to be seen in Mr. Hutchinson's Spirit of Masonry. p. 33, and in Brother Preston's Illustrations of Masonry." There is also Illustrations of Masonry, by William Preston & George Oliver,  in pages 95-97 which says:   "Mr. Lock has made several judicious observations on the answer which is given to the question here proposed. His being in the dark concerning the meaning of the faculty of Abrac, I am not surprised at, nor can I conceive how he could otherwise be. ABRAC is an abbreviation of the word ABRACADABRA. In the days of ignorance and superstition, that word had a magical signification; but the explanation of it is now lost. [Mr. Hutchinson, in his ingenious treatise, entitled The Spirit of Masonry, gives the following explanation of the word ABRAC; which, as it is curious, I shall here insert in that gentleman's own words: "ABRAC, or ABRACAR, was a name which Basilides, a religious of the second century, gave to God; who, he said, was the author of three hundred and sixty-five. "The author of this superstition is said to have lived in the time of Adrian, and that it had its name after ABRASAN, or ABRAXAS, the denomination which Basilides gave to the Deity. He called him the Supreme God, and ascribed to him seven subordinate powers or angles, who presided over the heavens: and also, according to the number of the days in the year, held, that three hundred and sixty-five virtues, powers, or intelligences, existed as the emanations of God; the value, or numerical distinction of the letters in the word, according to the ancient Greek numerals, made 365. Α    Β    Ρ    Α    Ξ    Α    Σ   1    2    100   1   60   1   200 "Among Antiquaries, ABRAXAS is an antique gem, or stone, with the word ABRAXAS engraved on it. There are a great many kinds of them, of various figures and sizes, mostly as old as the third century. Persons professing the religious principles of Basilides wore this gem with great veneration as an amulet, from whose virtues, and the protection of the Deity, to whom it was consecrated, and with whose name it was inscribed, the wearer derived health, prosperity, and safety. "There is deposited in the British Museum such a gem, which is a besil stone, of the form of an egg. The head is in cameo, the reverse in intaglio. "In church history, ABRAX is noted as a mystical term, expressing the Supreme God; under whome the Basilidians supposed three hundred and sixty-five dependent deities; it was the principle of the Gnostic hierarchy, whence sprang their multitudes of thæns. From ABRAXAS is proceeded their PRIMOGENIAL MIND; from the primogenial mind, the Logos, or Word; from the Logos, the PHRONÆSIS, SOPHIA and DYNAMIS, or Wisdom and Strength; from these two proceeded PRINCIPALITIES, Powers, and ANGELS; and from these, other angels, to the number of three hundred and sixty-five, who were supposed to have the government of so many celestial orbs committed to their care." So, we can see that as far back as the 17-1800's the 'facultye of Abrac', or Abraxas was at least somewhat known about, though the Gnostic discourse mentioned above ("The Eighth Reveals the Ninth", as it is called here since it's actual name is not fully given.) was not discovered until 1945 [= 'The Way of Abraxas' - reflecting on a newer level this year in 2015 as 'The Way of the Lama Serpent', or Serpent Lama or SERPENT LAM = 1111] and deciphered until 1947 [=THE SECRET HAS BEEN REVEALED]. The Ogdoadic and Enneadic traditions however go clear back to the Egyptian dynasties and span up to the present day with the Golden Dawn system largely of the Septuagint (7), the Ordo Astrum Solis of the Ogdoad (8) and the presently developing Enneadic Revival (9) on Malkuth with the 9 Typhonian Trilogies imparted by Kenneth Grant being a great foundational concentration and balance of the Horus and Set energies of Thelema fused with the primary keys of many of the important systems of the world and even tapping into the transplutonic, or otherworldly Gnosis which is slowly becoming more of a reality with both technological as well as psycho-philosophical advancements. The 9 pointed Star is known to Masons as the symbol of the 33rd Degree, and therefore it symbolizes the full flowering of the human soul, 33 being the two triangles forming the Hexagram of the Heart/Xin as well as the full Tree of Life including the Knowledge of Daath with it's full implications of the 'double tree', i.e. the double-headed Phoenix who is associated with Abraxas.  'The Highest Aeon Transcending Time' = 999 = 'The Aeon of Maat Outside Time' The 8 pointed Star is known as the Star of Ilu but it goes back to Sumeria where it is known as the Dingir which resembles the  Chaos magick star with the I/Eye/9 in the center and the Chinese bagua. There are 8 directions including the inbetween spaces of the cardinal directions, and 9 is 3 x 3 or the three dimensions projected into the grid # which veils the 8 directions with the 9th central square opened in the fractal expansion. 8 and 9 together are 17, the 1 divided from the 7, or Set with the Phallus of Osiris - which is unified by Isis (8+1) giving 9, the totality waking up or being reborn in Malkuth with the rising of the sun. 17 is related to Osiris who is also related to Orion and there are 17 stars in Orion that are visible to the naked eye. 17 is specifically related to reincarnation or resurrection (The Light [7] resurrected in Malkuth [10]), and 107 is The Egg of Daath which recurs cyclically through time, the nature of which is nearly 'Unspeakable' though may be intuited if one goes around the cyclical path enough to recognize the nature of the fractal wheel of Abraxas.  Note: Using Greek - ΑΒΡΑΓ or 'ABRAC' = 107, the primary number of the Egg explored in this blog. Heaven and Hell - Dennis Konstantin THE HUMAN FORM = THE FIVE = 437 = 'The Pentagram' = FREEMASON = THE 418 418 is the value of Crowley's rendering of the Abracadabra formula as Abrahadabra with HAD at the heart which he wrote about extensively in various works. 418 is the number also of Aiwass in Greek Αιvαςς, as well as the ChIT - 'pure consciousness'. In his book to Frater Achad, Liber Aleph; The Book of Wisdom or Folly, Crowley veils certain things relating to Abrahadabra: DE HAC FORMULA CONSIDERATIONES KABBALISTICAE. Behold moreover, my Son, the Oeconomy of this Way, how it is according to the Tao, fulfilling itself wholly within thine own Sphere. And it is utterly in Tune with thine own Will on every Plane, so that every Part of thy Nature rejoiceth with every other Part, communicating Praise. Now then learn also how this Formula is that of the Word ABRAHADABRA. First, HAD is the Triangle erect upon twin Squares. Of Hadit need I not o write, for He hath hidden Himself in "The Book of the Law". This Substance is the Father, the Instrument is the Son, and the Metaphysical Ekstacy is the Holy Ghost, whose Name is HRILIU. These are then the Sun, Mercury, and Venus, whose sacred letters are R-ר, B-ב, and D-ד. But the last of the Diverse Letters is H-ה, which in the Tarot is the Star whose Eidolon is D-ד; and herein is that Arcanum concerning the Tao of which I have already written. Of this will I not write more plainly. But mark this, that our Trinity is our Path inwards in the Solar System, and that H being of our Lady Nuith starry, is an Anchor to this Magick which else were apt to deny our wholeness of Relation to the Outer as to the Inner. My son, ponder these Words, and profit by them; for I have wrought cunningly to conceal or to reveal, according to thine Intelligence, o my Son! Crowley mentions something else that is odd in The Wake World about 418 being a 'Charioteer' who is 19 years, which is odd because I turned 19 the year of my deeper Initiation with the reception of the 107 Egg in 2011 which was 102 years years Liber 418 was written in 1909, 102 being the number of Mayan the Magician also mentioned in that work being also the Future Mage mentioned by Nema, and the one to carry on certain work mentioned in Liber 729: The ABRAHADABRA Key "Abrahadabra," which is a most mysterious word, because it has eleven letters in it.... The charioteer is a most curious person; he is a great big crab in the most lovely glittering armour, and he can just drive!  His name is the mysterious name I told you {Nomen [Yod Heh Vau Aleph] = 22    22x19 = 418 = Abrahadabra} about with eleven letters in it, but we call him Jehu for short, because he's only nineteen years old." Note that NINETEEN = 184 which is A-Ch-D, Achad, 'unity', the unity of 1 through 9 in the 'Egg'=19, and a temurah of 418, both of which reduce to 13. NINETEEN in its highest Hebrew-English Gematria form with N final = 700 is 1225, or 35 x 35 - the Double KEY, the KEY cubed or the KEY of the Cube. ) 19 is said to be 'The Secret Code of God' for a number of reasons, but spelled out as 1225 it is equivalent with the HUMAN LOGOS of 'The Seven Archons' of the Πνευμα Μητρας, 'Spirit Matrix' which is Ενας Σε Ολα Τα Ολα Σε Ενα, 'One in All-All in One', one of Achad's formulas for the Universe. [Note 19 is also the number of IACh, a form of IAO.] 1225 is also the sum, or triangular number of 1 through 49, 49 being 7x7 or 'Light Cubed' (The fractal extension of the manifestation of Light). Both 1225 and 19 reduce to Unity, and so it is significant that it is also the value of a Hebrew title of Kether : עתיקא דעתיקינ, 'The Ancient of the Ancient Ones'; and a verse from the Bible, Exodus 3:15: זֶה שְּׁמִי לְעֹלָם וְזֶה זִכְרִי לְדֹר דֹּר, This is My eternal name-and this is My memory from generation to generation. Thus being One with the Logos all is known by the Over-mind of 'God' which is symbolized by the 1 in 10 and 10 in 1, or 'One in All/All in One'. In Binary, 110101 is '53', the number of both DMT and Ακακια, the holy wood of immortality use for the Ark of the Covenant which contains DMT, a substance created by the pineal gland when one achieves the state of 'one-in-all-all-in-one' (Note 5x3 = 15, 'Ayin'-O, the Ajna), and 53 is also the degree of the angle of the Pythagorean triangle where Horus and Osiris meet (See Maat and Masonry). 53 is also ABN, the Stone, which connects back to 184 which is also the CHINTAMANI - the Stone which Achad concerned himself with as the MA-ION. MAION as 171 is 13 (AChD) less than 184 (A-Ch-D), but counting them all together as the MAION ABN CHINTAMANI the number 408 is obtained which is The Sapphire Stone itself, אבן הספיר - ABN H'SPhIR as the 'Maion Abn/Stone Chintamani - and if you subtract 'FRATER' from 408 -13 (negative AChD) is obtained, as if to show that Frater Achad is right there 'beyond the 0/Abyss', or inside the Egg. THE COMING OF LAM'S EGG = 418 = 'The Egg of Mu' Certainly he was on to something with his calculations, he just happened to die two years later (after 1948) and wasn't able to fully expand upon it. Kenneth Grant was the main person to carry this further, as well as a little bit of work done by various Maatians, such as Bertiaux, Greenfield, and others - but it really took awhile to develop and 'gestate' in egg a while for things to really be able to be put in scope and developed by someone with the inner-connections to these cyclically manifesting cosmic currents. I was 19 when I began this blog and the Egg was hatched in 2012, the year which the Mayan's prophesized Kukulkan (=102 = my name in Simple Gematria) would bring the SERPENT LINK (=999, K=500) to humanity at large. This has effectively been done yet is still in its formative stages. Kenneth Grant reformulates Abrahadabra in Beyond the Mauve Zone as ABRAChADABRA exchanging Heh for Cheth making AChD/'Unity' central to the formula instead of HAD, bringing the total value up from 418 to 421 the value of THE EGG which re-manifested, as a re-incarnation of Aiwass precisely on April 2, 2011 carrying on THE WORK OF THE EGG. This also makes the formula more consistent with it's ancient relations to Abrac/Abrax/Abraxas. Returning to the subject at hand, the value of ABRAC using Cheth is 212, the number of the Boiling Point in degrees Fahrenheit - 'The Boiling Water Degree', as well as 'Zero-Point Energy'. 212 is the value of ZHR, the Hebrew form of 'Zohar' which means 'Splendour' or 'Radiance', the same title as the Eighth sephira Hod associated with Abraxas - the 'radiance' from the Zero-Point - 'THE KEY OF MAGICK' or THEE MAGICKAL FACULTYE. 212 x 11 (Od/Aud, The Magick Power) = 2332, which happens to be the sum of the triangle of ABRAChADABRA in Hebrew-English Gematria. A    B     R     A     C     A     D     A     B     R     A = 421 A     B     R     A     C     A     D     A     B     R = 420 A     B     R     A     C     A     D     A     B =  220 A     B     R     A     C     A     D     A = 218 A     B     R     A     C     A     D =  217 A     B     R     A     C     A =  213 A     B     R     A    C = 212 A     B     R     A = 204 A     B     R = 203 A     B = 3 A = 1 Total = 2332 THE FACULTY OF ABRAXAS is 911, a number which has been stigmatized like 666 and associated with negativity such as the police and the events of September 11th, however it is a number of power being that of THE ZERO POINT which is active when it is the Pointed Zero (☉/10) form between the 9 and 11. 911 is also the formula of LAM-IPSOS / IPSOS-LAM [M final = 600], mentioned by Grant in Outside the Circles of Time (page 280) as 'The Maatian formula for evoking Lam', 10 being Malkuth/Muladhara/Lam which is a 'mask' of the Zero-point. 911 is also 'THE SECRET WORD WHICH I HAVE GIVEN UNTO HIM', that word being MA-ION [N final = 700], which as 821 is 90 less than 911, and therefore THE LAM-MAION is 911, 821 being THE GEMATRIA CODES of THE CHILD OF LIBER AL. Most importantly however, 911 is Αξων, 'Wheel', 'Axis', 'Pole' - the Axis or Axle being the center of the torus and therefore the heart of Abraxas - the Ομφαλος, 'Omphalos' or 'Center' from which is drawn the Ακμων, 'Meteoric Stone'/'Thunderbolt' (i.e. Magickal Creative Power of the 'Divine Light').  Azathoth - John Coulthart In the course of writing this post I had a dream just last night wherein I was doing a banishing ritual in an astral ritual chamber levitating as I do very often in my dreams above and surrounded by an empty vacuum of space. This is the timeless realm of the Egg of Abraxas which is co-terminous with the Ma-Ion, the astral K'rla Cell beyond space-time which is developed and empowered as the fractal Diamond-Light Rainbow Body. After remembering I had this dream today I calculated simply 'THE BANISHING RITUAL IN A DREAM' and just like many things that come to me almost like 'transmissions' from THE GENIUS MIND (=888), the 'received' phrase has a value of 777. 777 being the Light World of the 7 Rays it is also THE ASTRAL SEA of the ASTRAL PLANE DREAMS, each of which are like a 'BUBBLES' (=107) of AZATHOTH (=107) as what Crowley called "aggregates of experience". The ability to awaken in this way is the Faculty of Abraxas for it is the aligning with the Higher Self  and having calculated many Buddhist things and finding many things that = 777 it is significant to see it's also THE VAJRAYANA SIGHT of THE SEVEN PRIMAL RAYS of THE PHOENIX LIGHT, the re-incarnating, or re-creative eternal light.  The generation of the power of Abrax can be done with the method given in the Chinese Book of Life as expanded upon by Wilhelm and Jung in The Secret of the Golden Flower which gives the method of the Circulation of Light to create the golden elixir of 'chin' or Xin. XIN is 800 and is secreted from the GLAND (88). The XIN GLAND-888 is specifically related to the THE CIRCULATION+THE LIGHT. THE GOLDEN FLOWER which blossoms as a result of this is 889, THE INVISIBLE JEWEL of THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGEL - the One in the midst of the 8th Gnostic Aeon. Adding OM to THE GOLDEN FLOWER which is unfolded by it's utterance gives 999, THE HIGHER POWER of THE HIGHEST UNITY UTTERMOST SHOWED of THE GOLD TAO EGG of the PERFECT MANI-STONE which arrived to me on April 2nd, 2011 as a talismanic manifestation of my having aligned with the Current of Maat (The Perfect-Ion) on September 9, 2009 (9-9-9) successfully channeling THE SUPREME KNOWLEDGE without my conscious awareness at the time. More of this Knowledge will be disseminated as it is more properly integrated and much more is to be published soon expanding on many more different routes of analysis using this frame of context. Bibliography and additional reading: ۞ Illustrations of Masonry by One of the Fraternity who has devoted Thirty Years to the Subject - William Morgan (1827) Illustrations of Masonry - William Preston (1867) The New Free-mason's Monitor Or, Masonic Guide - James Hardie (1819) The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry - George F. Fort (1884) Free Masonry: Its Pretensions Exposed In Faithful Extracts Of Its Standard Authors - Henry Ward (1827) Lightfoot's Manual of the Lodge or Monitorial Instructions in the Three Degrees of Symbolic Masonry, as Exemplified in the Grand Jurisdiction of Texas - Jewel Lightfoot The Mystery of the Royal Arch Word - Arturo de Hoyos, 33° Occultic and Masonic Influence in Early Mormonism - Joel B. Groat The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth - The Nag Hammadi Library Hermetic Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth - Angel at Gnostic-Unrest Stages of Ascension in Hermetic Rebirth - Dan Merkur Election of Hermes Trismegistus from The Discourse on the Eighth & Ninth - Rennaissance Astrology