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I know, two blog posts in one day. Craziness! But I wanted to share this letter I received in hopes it illustrates the need for a project like Prismatic Art. The author, Charles, contacted me on Twitter because he and his daughters are very interested in the project. I had mentioned that my hope for the project would be that not only would his daughters find artwork they enjoyed but it would encourage them to create their own too.
It turns out they already do and want to share some of it as part of the project. I asked them to send along some samples so I could get an idea of their level of experience (the main project will be for professional art) and this is the reply. Awesome stuff and I'll admit it made me tear up a bit last night when I read it. And don't worry, I will find a home for their art and the art of others even if it's not in the way I originally planned.
Thank you, Tracy!
I read your email to our daughters and they are excited for the challenge. (My daughter J even narrowed her eyes, rubbed her hands together, and declared in her best evil villainess voice, "'Level of experience?' I'll show her my level of experience!" :)
We're all very excited with what you're doing both with Prismatic Art and with trying to shift the gaming community to a more respectful place in general. They began playing 4e from the moment I introduced it to them when they were 8 years old, and have probably read every 4e book that WoTC has published, except for the first two Essentials "Heroes of..." books. (They turned their noses up at Essentials until they got over their "edition-ism." :) They've built countless 4e characters and they've read the first Dragonlance trilogy multiple times (Laurana is their favorite character) and are still hoping that someday Dragonlance comes back and unseats Forgotten Realms as a D&D setting. (Yeah, I know, not likely...) They've also branched out into other RPGs and even had their letters published in Daniel Solis' "Do: The Book of Letters."
RPGs and drawing are our daughters' favorite activities. The majority of what they read is probably gaming books, fantasy novels and articles from D&D Insider (including yours!). I have to admit that we're not always happy with the way female characters are portrayed in what they read, or in the art they're seeing on WoTC's site and on DDO (where they spend most of their allowed online gaming time). According to S, "There are too many scantily-clad female characters out there, and not enough in actual armor." Still, instead of censoring, my wife and I have chosen to use such content as springboards for discussion. (I usually join in their party when they play DDO, and I also run a monthly tabletop 4e game for them and three of their closest girlfriends.) We're happy that our daughters have retained their strong self-image despite some of the messages which they've been receiving from the gaming culture at large, but we'd rather they just be able to enjoy the culture without those messages. I think you know what we mean.
J even had one of her "rants" published by New Moon Girls magazine:
> I was on a gaming website and saw a game called "Nerdy Girl Makeover." The description of the game is this: "School is out! Put those books away and give this girl a hot new look!" I find this really offensive. The girl wore glasses, was reading, and had a T-shirt with an atom on it. Why do so many people think that smart, intellectual girls who like reading and academic subjects are "wrong" and "ugly"?
> J, Washington
In any event, both our daughters' first love in gaming has remained D&D and powerful fantasy heroines and villainesses are still their favorite subjects for drawing. (They've drawn for hours every day since they could hold a crayon.) J's favorite characters to play and draw (in no particular order) are barbarians, rangers, sorceresses and rogues. S said that her favorites are wizards, witches and mages which led to an argument about whether those three are all the same or not so you see, our daughters really are gamers! :) We're looking forward to seeing what they draw for you. I'll scan it and send it along and we'll go from there. If their art doesn't fit with Prismatic Art, then perhaps we can collaborate on something else in the future.
Above all, please know that you have a family of supporters out here in the Pacific Northwest! You are an inspiration to our daughters and as parents of girls who are passionate about D&D, we wholeheartedly support your initiative!
All the best,
Charles
Both Charles and his wife Jung game with their daughters and they write about their experiences.
Suggested ebooks:
Correllian Times Emagazine - Issue 44 April 2010 What A Beautiful World
Hermes Trismegistus - Book V That God Is Not Manifest And Yet Most Manifest
Troth Aor - Odinism What Is It The Odinic Rite
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93
Anno IV xix Sol 0^0 Aries, Luna 17^0 Libra.
"But ye, o my people, rise up & awake!" - "L", 2:34.
"Aye! feast! rejoice! there is no dread hereafter. There is the dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of Nu. - L", 2:44.
It is the Thelemic New Year, Year CVII of the Thelemic Age of Heru-Ra-Ha. May it be an auspicious one for the Church, for Thelemites and for the whole world. May the nations continue to "rise up & awake" to the spirit of overarching Thelemic Law, whereby all religions shall in time be liberated of their primitive bondage, so that in centuries to come the cults of propitiatory restriction be relieved of superstitious servitude and ideological hatred. May all cultures continue to be lifted up through communication of the glad word of "Do what thou wilt", in which the chosen realize a millionfold joy via the Gnosis & Communion of the Holy Supernal Will.
"We need to break away from all old superstitions and work in the clear light of Ra-Hoor-Khuit." (Leah Hirsig, Scarlet Woman, Oct.26, 1924 E.V.)
Happy New Year!
93
93/93
777
Suggested ebooks:
Alexander Mackenzie - The Celtic Magazine Vol Xi
Janus Lacinius Therapus - The New Pearl Of Great Price
Frater Hoor - A Thelemic Calendar
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93
"Ah! thy death shall be lovely: whoso seeth it shall be glad. Thy death shall be the seal of the promise of our agelong love. Come! lift up thine heart we are none."
-"Liber Legis", 2:66.
Throughout the entire month of December, the Holy Thelemic Church celebrates the greater feast (i.e. death) of the first prophet of the Thelemic Age, Aleister Crowley, a.k.a. To Mega Therion. Crowley died of heart failure on December 1st, 1947 Era Vulgari, at 11 a.m., at 72 years of age. His funeral was held on December 5th; and so we find this date to be fitting to commemorate that earlier Thelemic saint, Ankh-af-na-khonsu (Ankhfnkhons I), of whom Crowley claimed to be a reincarnation.
While not all Thelemites hold the lesser and greater feast days of the prophet to be official holy occasions, we find a clear injunction in "Liber Legis", 2:41 ("a feast for life and a greater feast for death"), 2:66 ("whoso seeth it shall be glad"), and 2:79 ("blessing it is the veil of sorrow, & the pall of death: this is none of me. Tear down that lying spectre of the centuries"
Death is a feast greater than that of birth, not because it is better to die than to live -- on the contrary, we love life above all -- but to abolish the age-old tendency to regard death as an unfortunate end to material existence. It is, in fact, merely the end of one of an unending series of incarnations in some or other material form. Beyond the terrible agony of the process of dying is an experience not to be dreaded. "Aye! feast! rejoice! there is no dread hereafter. There is the dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of Nu." ("L", 2:44.) Death culminates in a form of "Samadhi "or "Union", in which there is only the greatest ecstasy; so it is a lack of understanding which leads us to mourn over it.
There are those who claim that Aleister Crowley failed as the prophet of a new religion, and that all of the problems during the latter portion of his life prove their point. Having spent a small fortune on publishing books and pursuing his mission to spread the joyous Law of Love under Holy Will, he died nearly penniless and without popular recognition for his abundant wisdom and talent. But it is short-sightedness that sees his life as a failure. His body of work is enormous and nothing short of brilliant; and that work will only continue to gain popular appreciation as time goes by.
All of this was foreseen back in 1904 E.V., when the following portent was given ("L", 2:53-54):
"Fear not, o prophet, when these words are said, thou shalt not be sorry. Thou art emphatically my chosen; and blessed are the eyes that thou shalt look upon with gladness. But I will hide thee in a mask of sorrow: they that see thee shall fear thou art fallen: but I lift thee up.
"Nor shall they who cry aloud their folly that thou meanest nought avail; thou shall reveal it: thou availest: they are the slaves of because: They are not of me."
It took a couple of centuries for Christ to be popularized after his death. It is a lack of vision that estimates Aleister Crowley's efforts to have been in vain. Humanity is slow to catch up to its prophets.
We remember our prophet not with sadness but with gladness, knowing that a victorious destiny awaits his work, as prophesied -- for the prophecies of "The Book of the Law "have not failed us yet. "There is success." ("L", 3:69.) Such a praeterhuman mind as is so clearly responsible for the transmission of the extraordinary verses of that little book does not work for failure.
Solstitial greetings and well-wishes to all at this joyous time; and may 93 be with ye.
93
93/93
777
Suggested ebooks:
Sepharial - The Basis Of Scripture Prophecy
Aleister Crowley - Liber 052 Manifesto Of The Oto
Aleister Crowley - Greater Ritual Of The Pentagram
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Astral projection (OOBE, out of the body experience) is a popular area of occult literature; for traveling to see other worlds and places while the physical body sleeps or is entranced is an exciting notion. Astral projection is not dangerous. It is as safe as sleeping. Most dreams are probably unconscious astral projections, anyway. Although there has been quite a bit written on the subject, astral projection is difficult for many people. The main difficulty is the tendency to forget dream consciousness upon awakening. Accordingly, the successful practice of astral projection requires work.
Modern psychology discounts the idea of actual OOBE (that the spirit temporarily vacates the physical body). However, the idea is very ancient. The Tibetans have an entire system of yoga (dream yoga) based upon astral projection. And here we have an import-ant assumption: you are involved in an OOBE (at least to a degree) whenever you dream. What sets it apart from a full OOBE is your hazy consciousness during the experience and poor recall afterwards. Many people forget most of their dreams completely. Learning astral projection requires a kind of inner mental clarity and alertness.
Dreams are a door to the subconscious which can be used for psychological and spiritual insight, and sometimes for precognition. Dream content is influenced by external sounds and sensations. For example, a loud external noise (such as a train) will likely appear in your dream (if it doesn't wake you up!). Dreams are also influenced by events of the previous day, by your moods, and by suggestion. Everyone normally dreams 4 or 5 times a night (about every 2 hours). The longest dreams occur in the morning. Everyone dreams. You are more likely to remember the details of your dream when you first wake up. By keeping a dream diary you will improve dream recall. Have writing equipment or a tape recorder at your bedside for this purpose; also a light which isn't too bright. Suggest to yourself several times before you go to sleep, "I will awaken with the knowledge of a dream." Then when you do awaken, move quietly (sometimes just turning over drives the idea away). Remember first, then write the dream down, and then add as many details as possible. The next day check for objective facts and expand if you can (by remembering 'what happened before that'). Once you start remembering your dreams in this way, it will become easier to do so. (If you are unsuccessful at this, and *really* want to remember your dreams, you could arrange for someone to sit by your bedside all night long with a dim light on. Then when he sees your eyes moving back and forth -- rapid eye move-ments, a sign you are dreaming -- he can wake you and ask for a dream report.)
Forms Of Astral Projection
Astral projection may be subdivided into three basic types: mental projection, astral proje-ction (proper) and etheric projection. And your OOBE may shift between them. Mental projection is really simple clairvoyance ('remote viewing'), and 'traveling in your mind'. Imagination plays a key role. The experience of mental projection is not particularly vivid, and you will more likely be an observer than a participant. Nevertheless, mental projection is an important 'way in' to astral projection proper.
During mental projection and astral projection you are able to travel through solid objects, but are not able to act directly upon them or to move them (if they are in the physical world). This is not true during etheric projection. Whether it is simply subconscious expectation, or whether it is a true etheric projection which in theory means that part of your physical body has been relocated with your projection (the etheric or vital part) may be difficult to determine. Etheric projections generally travel at or very near the physical world. There are even cases reported (very, very rare ones) in which the entire physical body is transferred to another location (teleportation), or cases in which the physical body exists and acts in two separate places at once (bilocation)!
But our primary interest is astral projection proper and mental projection to a lesser extent. Astral and mental projection are not confined to the physical world. Travel in the mental and astral realms is feasible, and often preferred. Nor are astral and mental projection restricted to the realm of the earth (you could even go to the moon and planets).
States Of Consciousness
The electrical activity of the brain has been observed and classified with EEG (electroen-cephalograph) equipment; signals picked up from the scalp by electrodes, then filtered and amplified, drive a graph recorder. Brain activity has been found to produce specific ranges for certain basic states of consciousness, as indicated in 'hz' (hertz, or cycles/ vibrations per second):
delta -- 0.2 to 3.5 hz (deep sleep, trance state),
theta -- 3.5 to 7.5 hz (day dreaming, memory),
alpha-- 7.5to 13 hz (tranquillity, heightened awareness, meditation),
beta -- 13 to 28 hz (tension, 'normal' consciousness).
As you can see, some form of physical relaxation is implied in the alpha, theta, and delta consciousness. These states are in fact reached through deep breathing, hypnosis, and other relaxation techniques. OOBE occurs during these states, and delta is probably the most important for it.
The problem is really, as we have said, one of maintaining mental awareness and alert-ness while experiencing these altered states. Experimental subjects hooked to an EEG do not show a discrete change from drowsy to sleep; it is very gradual.
At the threshold between sleep and waking consciousness is a drowsy condition known as the hypnogogic state. OOBE seems to occur during this state, or a variant of it. By careful control of the hypnogogic state (not going beyond it) it is possible to enter OOBE directly.
Basic Techniques
Most methods of astral projection are methods of conditioning. Some form of trance or altered consciousness is always involved. No one ever projects consciously while fully awake (some may think that they do). Although there are many techniques used to prod-uce an astral projection, they boil down to ten of them. They all sort of overlap.
1) Diet-- Certain dietary practices may aid in OOBE, especially at first. These include fasting, vegetarianism, and in general the eating of 'light' foods as discussed in a previous lesson. Carrots and raw eggs are thought to be especially beneficial, but all nuts are to be avoided. Over-eating should be avoided. And no food should be eaten just before an OOBE attempt. If you intend to practice during sleep, for example, allow 2 to 4 hours of no food or drink (except water) before bedtime. In general, we see here the same kind of dietary restrictions advocated for kundalini yoga.
2) Progressive muscular relaxation--This is one of the basic methods used in hypnosis and self-hypnosis. Physical relaxation can assist one in attaining the requisite trance state. These techniques involve beginning at the toes and tensing, then relaxing the muscles, progressively up the entire body.
3) Yoga and breath-- Yoga, mantra, and breathing exercises similarly aim at physical relaxation. The practice of kundalini yoga is particularly relevant, since it is concerned with altered consciousness. In fact the arousal of kundalini requires a similar state of conscio-usness to OOBE.
4) Visualization --This involves a type of extended clairvoyance or picturing of remote surroundings. If you can experience the feeling of being there, so much the better. Although this technique is essentially mental projection, it is possible to deepen mental projection into astral projection through (you guessed it!) visualization. Crowley taught a similar technique: a) visualize a closed door on a blank wall, b) imagine a meditation symbol on the door, c) visualize the door opening and yourself entering through it. And J.H. Brennan describes similar techniques wherein the door is shaped and colored like a tattva, or alternately, a chosen tarot card is visualized and the student visualizes entering into it.
5) Guided imagery - In many respects similar to visualization. Except in this case, there is a guide (or perhaps a voice on tape) directing you by means of descriptions. As with visualization, mental rather than astral projection is most likely.
6) Body of Light --The old Golden Dawn technique. Imagine a duplicate (mirror image) of yourself in front of you. Then transfer your consciousness and sensation to the duplicate ('body of light').
7) Strong willing -- Sort of like creative visualization experienced in the present. That is you express your strong desire to project through your willpower while you visualize yourself doing it.
8) The Monroe techniques -- These are a series of steps developed by Robert Monroe: a) relax the body, b) enter the hypnogogic state, c) deepen the state, d) develop the sensation of 'vibration', e) separate from the body. The Monroe Institute has developed some cassette tapes which are claimed to help in this.
9) Dream control --This is one of the most important techniques. It involves becoming aware that you are dreaming. There are several ways to do this. Oliver Fox says to look for discrepancies in the dream to realize you are dreaming. One occult student I know of visualized a white horse which he could ride wherever he wished to go. After a time, when the horse appeared in his dreams it was his cue that he was actually dreaming/projecting. Don Juan tells Castaneda to look at his hands while he is dreaming. And even the tarot and Cabala may be used as dream signals.
Another method is to tell yourself each night as you go to sleep, "I can fly"; then when you do, you will know you are dreaming. Once you know you are dreaming you can control your dream/OOBE and go anywhere you want. Repetitive activities will also likely influence your dreams. For example, if you are on an automobile trip and spend most of the day driving, you will probably dream about driving. You can condition yourself to be aware you are dreaming by doing a repetitive activity many times (walking across the room or a particular magick ritual, for example). Then when you dream about it, you will know you are dreaming.
10) Dream expansion-A variation on dream control. A dream may be *extended* by imagining it continuing from where it was when you awaken. Then it is just a simple step to 'astral project' by directing you 'dream'. Although all these techniques may appear straightforward, they all require effort. Astral projection is generally learned.
The astral world is the "ghostland" into which one passes after death. It is sometimes possible to visit with the dead, or you might be called upon to reassure and assist those who have just passed over (died) or those who are consciously projecting for the first time. Many spirits, elementals and ghosts exist in the astral world. The magician should feel comfortable there. Tibetan belief is that through proficiency in OOBE, you no longer need reincarnate after death. The astral world is extremely changeable and subject to your thoughts. Your will can control your movements in the astral world, and if you seem to be going somewhere non-volitionally ('astral current') it is probably your true will causing it anyway. You might also experience heightened magical ability while in the astral realm.
This is a popular subject, and there may be other files online about it. Check the MIND file area for OOBE.ARC. This file includes the following articles
MIAS.DOC.
MONROE.DOC.
OBEBOOK.AST
OOBE.THR.
TN.TXT.]
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1) What is the relationship between astral projection and dreams.
2) What is mental projection?
3) List the ten basic methods of astral projection.
by Phil Hansford, 4/88
Suggested ebooks:
Marcus Cordey - Magical Theory And Tradition
Robert Bruce - Treatise On Astral Projection
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