Category Archives: Comment

December 11, 2013 · 2:30 pm

Foretelling the Future – How Not To Do It

Astrologer poking his head out of the sphere of fixed stars to see what lies beyond

“Help! I’m stuck!” 😉

In an article in the forthcoming Journal of Consumer Research, researchers report that the way people react to a prediction of the future (e.g. an astrological forecast), depends to a large extent on the extent to which they believe in fate. In some circumstances this may lead to seemingly counter-intuitive behaviour. (NB: this story was misreported in the Daily Telegraph today under a headline luridly suggesting horoscopes may be bad for you, despite the fact that technically speaking, no actual astrology took place during the study concerned.)

The gist of their findings is this: if you give a prediction of ill-omen to someone who believes fate is malleable, that person is likely to choose a “virtuous” course of action (i.e. in an attempt to avert the omen). However, if you give the same prediction to someone who believes fate is fixed, they are likely to just thing “F— it,” and just go do something self-indulgent. In such a situation, trying to use the prediction as a warning to them to mend their ways will end up having the opposite effect that which is intended.

This has potentially important implications for those of us who practice divination, either in the form of Astrology, Tarot, or some other method.

In order to make use of divination as an effective tool to help someone, it is necessary first to make them understand that their Fate is not fixed, that they still have free will and therefore the choice to either avoid or accept the message being given to them. There is an old saying: the stars impel, they do not compel. This rather goes back to the ancient Hermetic view of the universe, which was that it was possible to rise above the influence of the stars and the planets if one were to ascend in consciousness – to “free one’s mind,” in other words. Divination – typically in the form of astrology – was thus the key to achieving this freedom, as it enabled the individual to be fully informed of the route he or she needed to take in life – rather than be imprisoned in a deterministic, mechanistic universe.

This approach can be applied by analogy to other forms of Divination, e.g. the Tarot, which releases intuitive insights from the consciousness of the reader. Instead of predicting the future, per se, the divination is in fact pointing out present causes: and, indeed, present opportunities. These only create a “fate” where the querent is unwilling to take responsibility for his or her own actions.

My tarot themed novel, Taromancer, is free until December 11th 2013. Hurry to download a copy now!

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December 3, 2013 · 10:54 am

Wandering in darkness in search of Light

This is a response to Peregrin Wildoak’s Searching and landing – a MOTO review 🙂. It occurred to me it would be interesting to perform the same sort of exercise, to see what kind of search terms are leading people to my own website.

The Top Ten

Here are the top ten search terms used in the past year. In hit-parade style, they are:

10 – love in hebrew

9 – famous thelemites

8 – ehnb

7 – adonai ha aretz

6 – sol ascendans

5 – money logo

4 – books

3 – alex sumner

2 – horn of prosperity

1 – Pentagram

Obviously I have a more intelligent class of people come to my blog – all the freaky ones must go to Magic of the Ordinary! However, looking through my list, there are some bizarre search terms, to wit:

invocation to lesser key of solomon for winning lottery jackpot – yes, someone out there has actually considered using the Goetia to win the National Lottery.

blank cheque god

http://www.facebook.com – Now this is impressive – someone was searching for the world’s most famous website and they found mine instead! Mind you it must take a special kind of idiot to not succeed in searching for Facebook even when you have the full web-address!

dracula illuminati

monty python and the holy grail she’s a witch – well, she looks like a witch, doesn’t she?

thong girl / thong bikinis brazil / trip to brasil thong / thong brazilian bikinis / etc – OK I know what this is about. I blogged about my books now being available via Amazon in Brazil, and may have just mentioned thongs, purely by accident and certainly not in a cynical attempt to attract traffic to this website.

hong sau satanism – not two terms one would expect to find together in the same search – “hong sau” being a simple Yogic method of meditating on the breath.

what tarot key is the month of june – surreal!

jared diamond it’s irrational to be religious arguments – this would actually make more sense if I had ever mentioned Jared Diamond on my website.

jonathan cainer becomes a druid – this is what happens when you just happen to mention Jonathan Cainer the astrologer in passing in one blog post, and then you mention druids in a completely different blog post! The Google search algorhythm managed to conflate the two and come up with my website.

fay weldon jehovah – what – someone was actually searching for both Fay Weldon and Jehovah in the same search term?

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November 21, 2013 · 12:44 pm

The Matrix: an occult view

Monica Belluci in Matrix: Reloaded

Monica Belluci in Matrix: Reloaded

News today that some scientists have theorised we may be living in The Matrix. This is based on the idea that the fact that cosmic rays always hit earth with a specific maximum energy of 1020 electron-volts, this somehow implies that this limit is controlled from outside by mysterious beings who are running this Universe as a simulation.

However: just as Neo and his friends had the Agents called Smith, Jones and Brown to spoil their fun, so we have Agents of our own called Thomas Bayes and Pierre Laplace! I.e. in all their theorising, the scientists have not once accounted for how probable it is that these results can also be explained by the Universe not being a simulation.

Nevertheless, this has prompted me to write an occultist’s explanation of the whole deal. The Matrix has been described as a parable of Gnosticism in the past: however, this is a rather superficial analysis. In actual fact,  the viewpoint of the fictional millieu evolves from a Gnostic to a Neo-Platonic setting as the Trilogy progresses – as I shall explain below.

Gnostic Symbolism

The basic premise of Gnosticism is that humans are enslaved within the material universe, which is a prison. The ultimate aim of existence is therefore to defeat the spiritual forces which are enslaving us, escape from the material universe, and re-take our place in the “real” or Spiritual Universe.

At once there are some immediate parallels with The Matrix, to wit:

The Architect is the Demiurge, the creator of the material universe, and hence ultimately responsible for enslaving humankind.

The Demiurge
The Agents are the Archons, who actively work to prevent us breaking out of the material universe.

The Archons
The Oracle is Sophia.

410cc80dd32b3080bd8e9d3262112dfa

Sophia
Neo is the Logos, who helps us poor souls break out.

The Logos
The Red Pill is Gnosis, the key whereby to achieve spiritual freedom.

Lawrence-Fishburne-Morpheus-the-matrix-Red-pill

Gnosis
Zion is the Pleroma, the real Universe where everybody is free.

The Pleroma

Neo-Platonic Symbolism

However, this straightforward correlation to Gnosticism was complicated – along with most other things in the Trilogy – by Matrix:Re-Loaded and Matrix:Revolutions. The main problem is the concept of the existence of rogue sentient programs such as The Merovingian and his chums, the Key-Maker, Seraph etc – and ultimately Agent Smith himself. These characters – who exist within the Matrix, but are independent of the forces controlling it and thus follow their own agendas – don’t really have parallels in Gnosticism – but they do in certain Neo-Platonic frameworks.

The Oracle remarks in the second film that these entities are in fact left-overs from previous versions of the Matrix. This basically mirrors the cosmological view espoused by Martinez De Pasqually – the founder of the Elu Cohens and by extension an inspiration behind Martinism – in his Treatise on the Reintegration of Beings. To wit: the so-called Demons of the material universe are in fact spiritual beings that did not fit in nicely in with previous emanations of the spiritual universe. Thus they were consigned to this universe as a sort of prison.

In the third film, this parallel is taken to its logical conclusion when at the climax, the forces of the Matrix, instead of fighting against Neo and friends, ask Neo to defeat Agent Smith, the quintessential rogue sentient program for them. Neo’s prize for doing so is that the war is ended, those that want to be released from the Matrix are freed, and everyone can now play nicely with each other. This is the scenario envisaged by De Pasqually i.e.

Neo becomes “Yeheshuah,” the mystical Jesus, sent to save the material universe.

Yeheshuah, the Repairer
The Architect is still a demiurge-type figure – the “Supreme Architect of the Universe” as De Pasqually has it – but now he has become a Neo-platonic demiurge – i.e. one that is willing to be merciful to the souls of the virtuous who are trapped within the material universe.

SAOTU
Agent Smith – collectively – represents the various Demons, whom “Yeheshuah” (Neo) has to defeat and drive back to ensure that the inhabitants of the material universe (the Matrix) have the chance to achieve their spiritual potential.

Demons

Thus, the Matrix Trilogy collectively represents a development from Gnosticism in the first film, to Martinez De Pasqually style Neo Platonism in the third film – with the second film being a transitional mish-mash between the two.

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November 20, 2013 · 6:05 pm

Houston Anthropologist Reveals Irrefutable Proof that Recorded History is Wrong

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November 2, 2013 · 11:53 am

There Is Power In A Union


It is not often that your humble blogmaster has anything good to say about Nazi-propaganda rag, the Daily Mail. However I note today that they have run a story which basically confirms what most people have suspected for a long time, that Telephone Psychics are a con.

Speaking from the viewpoint of someone who aspires to be a reputable tarot reader, the question naturally arises – how can one ever guarantee that any psychic who offers his or her services for money is not a con?

The only possible way, in my opinion, is to institute Professional Standards across the “industry.” In other walks of life, members of a Profession all belong to a Professional Body which has the roles of guaranteeing quality, and administering discipline to members who fall short of the body’s code of conduct. There are actual bodies who do provide certification for professional psychics, thus giving members of those bodies the veneer of respectability.

However, the problem as I see it is that in order to get rid of the scammers, these organisations ought to go further than just providing certification and adopt the role of a Militant Trade Union – e.g. by actively campaigning to block disreputable psychic organisations from trading, and turning current psychic companies into “Closed Shops” so that only Psychics who have been fully accredited can be employed by them.

There is a joke that you never see a poor Lawyer, but also there is another joke that no-one has ever seen a rich Psychic! Why? The lawyer is able to maintain his high fees because he belongs to a profession with a pro-active professional body, whilst the Psychic does not!

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October 21, 2013 · 2:09 pm

Allegseu neun Daehan Minguk eul salang

Flag of South Korea

The Republic of Korea, aka South Korea

My regular readers will probably be aware that I have said enough rude things about Kim Jong Un to merit a swift appointment with an angry firing squad should I ever be in the neighbourhood of North Korea (e.g. see here and here). My regard for South Korea, is altogether more pleasant, the musical output of PSY notwithstanding. In the New York Times on Sunday I read that Korean executives often consult spiritual advisers before making major business decisions, and the belief in divination and shamanism is fairly mainstream.

Really, one should not be surprised about acceptance of such matters in South Korea. I mean, just look at their flag! The central motif is clearly inspired by the Tai Chi (i.e. the symbol of Yin & Yang), whilst surrounding it are four of the eight traditional Trigrams of the I Ching, to wit:

Top left – CHIEN – east – Awareness here means living in tune with the spirit of the time, the East.  The image is the night heaven.  The motivation is creativity.  The purpose of the I Ching is to merge with cosmic creativity.

Top right – KAN – south –  Soul.  The soul is between heaven and earth, spirit and body.  It is always in danger of stagnation, based on the six primary relations of the family:  Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Daughter, Son.  The Soul, like the river, has to flow from the source in the mountain to the sea, then be transformed, die, into clouds, and finally be reincarnated again as rain in the mountains.  The motivation is danger and the abyss.

Bottom right – KUN – west – Earth. The image is the vastness of our planet. The motivation is the receptive, to receive the germ and let it grow.

Bottom left – LI – north – Thinking. Thinking links up sense data with words, following the wishes or motivations and impulses. Thinking has a beginning and end, visualized in the image of burning wood. You should not think beyond the solution of the problem. The motivation is to attain clarity, unattached to the thought. Thinking, like dialogue, is not an end in itself.

Or, as another source has it, “Heaven, Water, Fire, Earth.” By comparison with “neo” Feng Shui, we may say that South Korea has chosen to invoke good luck in regard to patrons and benefactors (Chien),  careers (Kan),  Love and marriage (Kun), and recognition and fame (Li).

It is interesting to consider that conspiracy theorists strive to find occult symbolism hidden in the insignia of the USA, when by contrast it is open plain to see elsewhere in the world! Anyway, South Korean businessmen, please take note: if you are keen to expand your operations into the west and need a local astrologer and tarot reader for European office, I’m just saying that I’m available and my rates are very reasonable. 🙂

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October 17, 2013 · 2:31 pm

The Age of Miracles

11 million adults in the UK are potentially interested in the Tarot! © Alex Sumner 2013

11 million adults in the UK are potentially interested in the Tarot!
© Alex Sumner 2013

News today that Britons still believe in miracles, angels and ‘spiritual forces’. From a sample of 2000 people, the following numbers were crunched:

% of the population who think spiritual forces have no influence on earth: 25%

% of Christians who think such spiritual forces can influence people’s thoughts or the human or natural world: 62%

% of non-religious people who think the same: 35%

% of people who said they or someone they knew had experienced a miracle: 16% – including 8% non-religious people.

(Source…)

More interestingly though (from my point of view), the full report also says:

Nearly a quarter (23%) of people say they have had their tarot cards read, whilst 17% have had their star sign read, and 12% have had a reflexology session.

  • Smaller numbers had experienced more esoteric spiritual experiences, such as having a reiki session (8%), having their aura read (6%), or healing with crystals (5%).
  • Women are considerably more likely than men to undergo these experiences (51% vs. 26%).
  • Interestingly, while 39% of the overall population admits to having undergone at least one of these experiences, so do 38% of the non-religious(compared to 40% of the religious). When it comes to these more obviously non-religious spiritual activities, there appears to be no difference according to whether someone is religious or not.

Source…

The United Kingdom is a nation of 63 million – including 49 million adults. Hence assuming that the sample reflects the nation as a whole, that means that 11 million adults have had or are likely to have their Tarot cards read. To those 11 million people I say: I can be contacted via this website and my rates are very reasonable. 😉

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October 2, 2013 · 11:17 am

Good Luck Rituals Actually Work!

Four Leaf Clover

Four Leaf Clover

News today that scientists have investigated various rituals to avert bad luck, and found that some of them actually work. There are, however, certain provisos, to wit:

  • The study assumes that “bad luck” is created by people believing they will have bad luck – thereby creating a self-fulfilling prophecy; and
  • Only certain types of ritual work.

Specifically, if you make a “banishing” gesture (i.e. in the broadest sense of the word), one feels that one is banishing the bad luck, but not if your gesture consists of holding onto something or pulling it towards you. Hence:

Effective Ineffective
Touching wood, by pushing it way from you. Touching wood by just tapping it.
Throwing salt over your left shoulder. Limp-wristedly dropping salt over your shoulder so it goes down your back and looks like dandruff.
Holding on to a rabbit’s foot.
NB: needless to say it didn’t do the Rabbit any good either!

Etc etc etc.

This is important for magicians because firstly, it is yet another acknowledgement by conventional science that we have been right all along: secondly, it reminds us of the importance of incorporating dramatic gesture into ritual in order to reinforce its effectiveness.

Full story here.

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September 28, 2013 · 10:45 am

Public Challenge to David Griffin

First written some eighteen months ago when the Chrysi Augi ((literally: “Golden Dawn” in Greek) were first elected to the Greek Parliament. Now it seems that others in the GD community (e.g. here and here are waking up to the potential for damage that the Greek extreme right-wing party hold over the (magical) Golden Dawn community.

alexsumner's avatarSol Ascendans - The Website of Alex Sumner

Stop all your verbal attacks against Chic, Tabby, Nick Farrell, Pat Zalewski, the SRIA and all the rest, and use your supposed EU trademarks to stop the neo-nazis in Greece from bringing the “Golden Dawn” name into disrepute.

If you want to be remembered for doing something good for the Golden Dawn community, that is.

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August 29, 2013 · 12:09 pm

What Kim Jong-Un Has In Store For The Stars

Imagine a world where if you hear a song on the radio, and you hate it so much that you literally want the person who sung it to be taken out and executed. Well imagine no longer – it’s actually happening in North Korea! According to today’s Daily Telegraph, Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s answer to Mr Bean, has actually gone and done what other people only dream of doing, and executed a whole load of pop-stars. And he’s started off by executing one of his ex-girlfriends.

Now it would be churlish of me to say that must have been one hell of a bad break-up, so I won’t. Also, given that the stated reason was because she was allegedly involved in making a porn film, one might be sorely tempted to speculate the real reason as to why they split… but I won’t do that either. Instead, it is at times like these that I recall that I blogged about Kim Jong Un back in April, so it would be interesting to see what I predicted. I wrote:

Mars, however, does form a challenging angle with Mercury, suggesting that the current publicity KJU is generating is essentially posturing and rhetoric. More worryingly, though, it may also indicate the violent repression of freedom of the press, communication,  and writers in general – so don’t expect any of my books to be available in North Korea any time soon.

Violent repression of… communication. Mercury is, amongst other things, the planet of performers, including musicians. Thus, the current news from North Korea is an ongoing manifestation of the astrological forces I identified over three months ago.

Moreover: we should also note that in the chart I drew up for Kim Jong-Un’s regime, Mercury is conjunct the Moon’s True Node. Hence, these murderous outrages will actually characterise Kim Jong-Un’s rule all the while he remains in power.

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