From bouncefilter+occult=tyagi=houseofkaos.abyss.com@hollyfeld.org Thu Sep 17 05:47:23 1998 Return-Path: Received: from mindy.accesscom.com (root@ns2.accesscom.com [205.226.156.3]) by shell.accesscom.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id FAA09191 for ; Thu, 17 Sep 1998 05:47:23 -0700 Received: from mail-out-0.tiac.net (mail-out-0.tiac.net [199.0.65.247]) by mindy.accesscom.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id FAA25153 for ; Thu, 17 Sep 1998 05:47:23 -0700 Received: from mail-out-1.tiac.net (mail-out-1.tiac.net [199.0.65.12]) by mail-out-0.tiac.net (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id IAA05895 for ; Thu, 17 Sep 1998 08:47:22 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from bouncefilter+occult=tyagi=houseofkaos.abyss.com@hollyfeld.org) Received: from www.hollyfeld.org (www.hollyfeld.org [204.130.199.143]) by mail-out-1.tiac.net (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id IAA26598 for ; Thu, 17 Sep 1998 08:47:10 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from majordom@localhost) by www.hollyfeld.org (8.8.4/8.8.4) id IAA27965 for tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com; Thu, 17 Sep 1998 08:59:50 -0400 X-Authentication-Warning: www.hollyfeld.org: majordom set sender to bouncefilter+occult=tyagi=houseofkaos.abyss.com@hollyfeld.org using -f Received: from mindy.accesscom.com (ns2.accesscom.com [205.226.156.3]) by www.hollyfeld.org (8.8.4/8.8.4) with ESMTP id IAA27885 for ; Thu, 17 Sep 1998 08:55:20 -0400 Received: from shell.accesscom.com (tyagi@shell.accesscom.com [205.226.156.10]) by mindy.accesscom.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id FAA24979; Thu, 17 Sep 1998 05:42:39 -0700 Received: (from tyagi@localhost) by shell.accesscom.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id FAA08997; Thu, 17 Sep 1998 05:42:39 -0700 Message-Id: <199809171242.FAA08997@shell.accesscom.com> Subject: (O) Books of Shadows In-Reply-To: from "FireShiane@aol.com" at "Aug 24, 98 09:27:37 pm" To: occult@hollyfeld.org (Occult Elist) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 05:42:39 -0700 (PDT) From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (lorax666) Orientation: House of Kaos, St. Joseph, Kali Fornika, US -- Kali Yuga X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL31 (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-occult@hollyfeld.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: occult@hollyfeld.org Status: RO 980917 IIIom from a correspondent (bcc'd): # I was just reading your page that is on the web...the excerps # from your BoS. I've been reading on Wicca for a few months # now, and I'd like to perhaps follow this path, but first I # want to make sure I have the basic understandings of Wicca. note: my BoS was inspired by studying with CA Line Gardnerians. it can be found at: http://www.hollyfeld.org/heaven/Avidyana/Eldar/bookofshadows.l # 1) How and what did you construct your BoS of? I had compiled a notebook or two in reflection of what I was learning with some California Line Gardnerians. the originals were cannibalized to create the online version. the study did not include formal initiation into the lineage. we were told that we may be exposed to traditional liturgy or instructions but that this would not be identified as such. my intent was to absorb what I could within this context and integrate what I wanted into my already established ritual practice (set up along different association schema and much less ceremonial in character, integrating psychoactives, sex, and taboo-breaking). I was to consider whether I wanted to be part of the cult and later decided against it based on oath-binding inherent to it. in making the online version of the BoS I sought to construct a veritable ritual of its own poetic form while communicating some of the flavor of the material about which I was learning (ostensibly northern European shamanism of a modern bent). # Is there any one way it's supposed to be done? my understanding is that the Magical Record or Book of Shadows (the first is from Hermetic tradition, the latter specifically from Gardnerian Wicca and its offshoots/reflections) varies considerably as to content. the Magical Record typically is a 'scientific' record of one's ceremonial experiments and some reflection on their results. it may also contain material that inspired the workings or reflects in some way the magical activities described. if one is under tutelage then it may include specific recommendations or inspirational suggestions from one's instructor. the Book of Shadows seems to have undergone an expansion of meaning as Wicca diversified and expanded from Gardnerian roots. at first it seems primarily to have been a substitute for the Holy Scripture with which Gardner was familiar, integrating mystical utterances of one's forebears, instructions or mythos to inform one's ceremonial activities, and general reflections on the religion of which one was a part that could be instructional to the aspirant. Gardner's earliest Book of Shadows appears to have been cobbled text from text he had at his disposal, such as grimoires, works by Crowley and other occultists, and religious of which he was fond. it was intended that the BoS be a secret document transmitted only to those who were a part of one's cultus, initiated and restrained to secrecy for the purposes of cult-protection. Gardner or whoever it was that originated this idea (some say his instructor, Clutterbuck) seems to have wanted to convey the impression that these texts were anciente (sic), evidence of long-term survival of witch-cults, and containing powerful data that needed protection (and would conveniently attract membership). as with most cults, the texts typically (even today) contain little or nothing of the sort (as has been explicated to some degree by Aidan Kelly and others) and that they are evidence of witchcraft's survival is a silly suggestion in any case given the predominant condition of illiteracy prevalent in Inquisitory Europe. # And what about the book blessing...do you put in a bk. # blessing in your own way? I have never seen a traditional Gardnerian Book of Shadows. I merely imagined what *I* would want in such a document that I might construct. I don't remember anything about book blessings, but traditionally spellbooks contain more *curses* in the initial pages (against those who acquire the text by nefarious means and may intend harm against the mage or witch who constructed it) than blessings. why one would need to bless a book within its own pages (aside, perhaps, from constructing a writ-ual similar to my own), I have no idea. # and 2) I was hoping that you could explain what exactly # those excerps mean? I'm having trouble following them. # Perhaps, because of the fact that they're not the whole # BoS.But, in any event, I would be most appreciative if # you would explain them for me. there is too much text there to explicate its meaning on the whole, even in excerpt. treat it as reflections of a student of the mysteries and you'll get the flavor of their meaning. as a body I'm not sure that it can be said to contain a single or contiguous meaning. this was not the intent of the work (as compared, say, to a novel whose meaning is the story or its underlying messages or a book of nonfiction whose meaning is to convey a set of data). blessed beast! ====================================================================== lorax666; tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com; http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/ cc replies to me if this was read in Usenet. replies may be posted. ____________...oooOOO---occult@hollyfeld.org---OOOooo..._____________ To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe" to occult-request@hollyfeld.org To unsubscribe your@email.com send "unsubscribe your@email.com" http://www.hollyfeld.org/heaven/elists/occult.phtml