Category Archives: Supernatural
Royal Wedding: Astrology Proved Right!
This is a bit of a sad post for me, as I had rather wished I had not been right after all. On the positive side I am glad to see that anarchists and satanists did not disrupt the Royal Wedding after all. However, over the weekend it was reported that Wills & Kate had decided to postpone their honeymoon: whilst today it was reported that the couple face separation as Prince William deploys to Falklands.
It is with no pride that I distinctly remember what I wrote in a previous blog post:
Sometime last year I went on the radio – the BBC World Service no less – to explain that astrologically speaking there is something wrong with the date that Wills and Kate have chosen for their wedding. The main concern I identified was that on April 29th 2011, Saturn – the planet of Death, delays and restrictions – was opposed to Venus, the planet of Love.
In effect, the Wedding Day was the day on which the marriage was “born,” and hence the stars on that day constitute a natal chart of sorts. Hence although the day itself went alright, the Saturn influence will show itself as a recurring pattern throughout the marriage. It would appear from the news stories referred to above that this is already beginning to rear its ugly head.
My advice to the Royal couple is therefore to take steps to knock this on the head now, so it does not become a feature of the marriage. Seeing as the Honeymoon has been postponed, there is now a rather obvious date later in the year when it would be an auspicious day for them to take it, viz Friday October 7th, which was the day I suggested for their wedding in the first place!
Filed under Comment, Supernatural
Daily Telegraph reports on Ley Lines 90 years after they were first discovered.
The many millions of readers of this blog will know that I am not overly impressed by the Daily Telegraph’s reputation for up to the minute scientific reportage. Often a scientific story gets reported a few days or even a week late, and sometimes even the time-gap is even longer (e.g. getting round to reporting on Professor Chandra Wickramsingh‘s work in astrobiology only after he had been doing it for the best part of forty years).
Now however they have taken the biscuit. In today’s edition I read that “Prehistoric man navigated his way across England using a crude version of sat nav based on stone circle markers, historians have claimed.” Further:
They were able to travel between settlements with pinpoint accuracy thanks to a complex network of hilltop monuments.
These covered much of southern England and Wales and included now famous landmarks such as Stonehenge and The Mount.
Well, well! There is only one problem with this theory: it was first proposed by Alfred Watkins in 1922 in his book Early British Trackways (1922), which was the fore-runner of the seminal The Old Straight Track
Note however that Watkins never claimed that Ley Lines were anything other than a geographical phenomenon. It was left to later writers to attach paranormal connotations. John Michell’s The View over Atlantis
Actually the idea of siting a temple using ley lines is perfectly sound, especially when you consider that ancient places of worship would have been the very sorts of location that neolithic man would have wanted to find as he roamed over the countryside. Hence: it is inevitable that ancient temples would be located upon ley-lines not necessarily due to any paranormal significance, but so that pilgrims would succeed in finding them.
This is not to say, however, that Ley-lines do not have paranormal significance. One of Michell’s assertions in the View Over Atlantis is that ley-lines indicate currents of energy which he refers to as “dragon-current,” because they are comparable to similar currents of energy found in Feng-Shui. Moreover the idea of “dragon-current” appears to be archetypal because along at least one ley-line in Britain there is a number of Christian churches – built on the sites of old pagan temples – which are all dedicated to either St Michael or St George – two saints famous for killing dragons. The official explanation for this is that they represent the victory of the Christian Church over Satan – although one may point out that it really meant the victory of the church over the pre-existing pagan religion, on the basis that in those days any religion which one did not like was linked by the Church to Satan by default.
So far, so coincidental. However recently I found a book called Ancient Magicks for a New Age
But, prior to sleep, approached Bel’s Tump in the astral. Had a vision of a broad tree with a whitened bole, and then the Tump itself, a demonic looking creature rising from it. For once, despite the usual frisson of fear, I didn’t shut it out and demanded, several times, to know its secret.
Then came an extraordinarily long and vivid image of a colossal dragon pouring from the mound,* slithering out, vast. Again I felt no fear despite the reality. I knew it was part of me. At my demands to know its secret it crumbled to white powder and bones.
* My emphasis.
The biggest irony comes however when Richardson comments on the interpretation of his vision. “I am unable to give any clues, even at this remove, as to what my poor, short-lived beast actually meant.” We may speculate that a conical tumulus may have been just the kind of earth-work that neolithic man might have erected as a marker along the direction of a ley-line. If so we then have the situation that a clairvoyant, whilst still ignorant of John Michell’s theory of “dragon-current,” nevertheless has a dragon-related vision in relation to this particular locale. It may just be anecdotal evidence but it indicates a tentative vindication Michell’s writing.
So, all in all it is at least worth keeping an open-mind as to the paranormal or spiritual significances of ley-lines as something far-more than just a primitive sat-nav system.
What next for the Daily Telegraph one wonders? Scientists discover round-things which help make transport easier???
Filed under Comment, Supernatural
Fiction Is Stranger Than Truth
Working on a new book recently – i.e. the one I intend for publication after “Licence To Depart” comes out on May 11th – I wanted to create a story that combined elements of science fiction and fantasy with the occult. More specifically, I wanted to create a plot-device which would enable one character to teleport from one place to another. The actual method of teleportation was essentially a MacGuffin to introduce the main action of the plot, i.e. the various adventures that occurred at the destination points, and the implications in terms of character development arising therefrom. I therefore threw together something off the top of my head, which as far as I was concerned was unrelated to anything of which I had previously conceived in my study of the occult, but was instead pure fiction.
Then, that night I had a lucid dream about my fictional plot-device – and it worked.
I hasten to add that of course I did not physically teleport from one place to another, it was all action taking place within my lucid dream. Nevertheless using this fictional plot-method in my own lucid dream I realised I had invented a new method of Clairvoyance.
Vayu - the Tattva of Air
At this point I shall just digress on the nature of Clairvoyance. In the Golden Dawn Clairvoyance is not the same thing as “Remote Viewing” or “Auric Vision.” It is not so much about seeing things which are occurring on the physical plane as it is about discerning the contents of the Astral plane. This is why I have to chuckle when I hear about doctors in hospitals putting things on shelves too near the ceiling, so that only disembodied spirits would supposedly be able to see them. When people who have an NDE inaccurately report what is on those shelves, these doctors claim that clairvoyance must be a hoax. To which I have to say, “No: your own definition which you have made up of Clairvoyance is a hoax. I could have told you before your experiment started that it would not provide valid evidence of real Clairvoyance.”
The classic method of achieving Clairvoyance in magic is to astrally project through a “magic door” which consists of a symbol of a magical force – e.g. a Tattva. What one sees beyond that door will be an astral representation of the qualities which that symbol represents. Ultimately, by undertaking this astral journey, one may come to learn how to manifest that magical force in physical life.
The Tattva-method of Clairvoyance is a well known practice in western occultism, but it has a potential draw-back, in that all the phenomena encountered will ultimately remain within the paradigm established by the Tattva symbols. What if, for example, one wanted to explore a magical force which was unrelated to the Tattvas – which was outside the paradigm? I keep talking about “Tattvas” but of course they are only one set of symbols in use in occultism. It is entirely possible that instead of a Tattva one could substitute something else which is more appropriate to the magical force which one wants to explore – and then use the astral projection method on that instead.
However, what if one had exhausted all the known sets of symbols in all forms of occultism … and one still wanted to explore something that was outside the paradigm-limits of all of them – what then? What if, indeed, one wanted to explore the outer limits of what is possible and impossible? It is here that the creative use of Fiction as a Magical Tool comes in useful – as I believe I had inadvertently discovered with my experiences with my plot-device.
Philosophically this is somewhat difficult to describe fully, as ultimately the only way to satisfactorily describe something which is capable of transcending all paradigms of thought is to stand outside all paradigms. But if I do that, am I not then speaking from another paradigm, albeit a new one? Whatever – I shall describe it in terms of the astral plane, as that is what I am comfortable with. What is fundamental to realise is that the so-called astral plane is not tied to any particular belief system, but applies to the entire Universe – the Known, the Unknown, Past, Present, Future, Alternate, Potential, Speculative, Fact and Fiction. From Earth to the far reaches of the Cosmos and all points in between. On the Astral Plane, it does not matter whether something is true or false in Physical Plane terms, but whether it is a Real Astral Phenomenon or not. Moreover, its reality as an Astral Phenomenon again does not depend on truth or falsehood – because if it is perceived it must exist in some sense or other – but on how important or significant it is – which is a subjective value judgement.
To illustrate my point: take for example the Archangel Michael. Is he true or false? Fact or fiction? He is undoubtedly a Real Astral Phenomenon. I imagine that fundamentalist Christian might go further and claim that he is actually true – because the Bible says so, and the Bible as we all know is not fiction. 😉
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
What however about Cthulhu – an entity created by the author HP Lovecraft, who is on record as stating that he himself knew that this Great Old One and the rest of the Mythos were fictional? Is it then valid for people like Kenneth Grant or Phil Hine to go and perform magic rituals based on the assumption that Cthulhu is in fact real? In a certain way – yes it is, because it is no more outrageous than claiming it is possible to create an Artificial Elemental, which has been an established magical practice for more than a hundred years. If we assume that creating Artifical Elementals are possible, then it should certainly be possible to create Artificial Elementals out of characters who are fictional creations, whether they be Cthulhu, Gandalf, or whoever. In fact, it should be easier to create an Artificial Elemental based on a fictional creation – as opposed to say one who has been invented de novo – because the former will have a back-story already written which helps the magician to fully realise them.
The only qualification I would have to make is that whilst such a Fictional Magical being or indeed thing may produce effects on the physical plane – as indeed we must hold out the possibility of it being able to if we subscribe to the validity of Artificial Elementals working at all – the Fictional creation remains on the astral plane. It is not a paradox between truth and falsehood, it is just that truth/falsity only applies to the physical plane, whilst different rules applies to the Astral. So whilst I might be impressed by someone who was able to take a piece of Fiction and make a successful magical operation out of it, I am less than keen on people rabbiting on and on about their astral experiences as if they were “true” in the physical-plane sense of the word.
So the moral of this blog-post is: if you want to achieve anything in magic, do not get hung up on whether it fits in with any particular milieu – or whether you are comfortable working with that milieu at all. The creative magician can always find a solution, because in a very literal sense, you are only limited by your imagination.
Hang on! If artificial elementals are real, perhaps that means the Archangel Michael is an artificial elemental? Perhaps that means that … whisper it… God is both Fictional and Real! If this statement does not get me lynched by both Christians and Atheists then nothing will! 😉
Filed under Licence To Depart, Supernatural
Translucid Dreaming
I touched upon this subject briefly in a blog post in 2009 (“Lucid Dreaming“). Since then I have had experiential evidence of actual “Translucid Dreams.” It appears that other writers had had experience of these phenomena, which I only discovered after writing the blog post referred to above. Ken Wilber actually described them in his book One Taste as “Pellucid Dreams” as opposed to “Lucid Dreams.” I also discovered that one tradition in which I had taken a vow of secrecy advocates the practice as part of its teachings, without me realising beforehand! Oh well I shall not disturb their privacy – I have already stated my position on oaths of secrecy.
Anyway, the position is this: what I call a “Translucid dream” is a Lucid Dream in which one experiences Transpersonal states of awareness. The basic technique appears to be: starting from a lucid dream, dissolve all dream images until one is left with nothing. I believe that the great Neo-platonic adept, Plotinus, who was said to have been united with God four times whilst still in the body, was conversant with a similar technique – or at least that is what I understand from reading David Godwin:
The way to achieve these states was by contemplation. One recommended technique was to visualize the universe and then mentally abolish its limitations.
Godwin, D, 1992, Light in Extension: Greek Magic from Homer to Modern Times (Llewellyn’s Western Magick Historical Series), Llewellyn, Minnesota – p146.
It occurred to me that as lucid dreaming and astral projection are two forms of the same phenomenon, it ought to be possible to achieve “trans-astral-projection” as well, if you will pardon the inelegant use of language. Be that as it may, when I first tried to achieve translucid dream states I found I could momentarily dream about nothing, but it did not seem to be particularly impressive. Then however, one night recently, I spontaneously realised what the final or at least next step was. After having dissolved every astral phenomena and then thought “what next?” on the spur of the moment I dissolved the dissolver.
The result was astounding. I ceased to exist – and yet when I re-incarnated an indeterminate time-later – coincidentally not a million miles away from where I remembered I was before this catastrophe – I was aware that SELF had been conscious of the experience the whole while. SELF had experienced Nothing – i.e. not nothing-in-particular but actual Nothing. In slipping off the clothes of Ego, SELF had also managed to escape from the inertial-frame of every object in the material universe. This is why I refer to “an indeterminate time” – I really have no idea whether the experience lasted five, ten, twenty minutes, half-an-hour or more.
Moreover it was a particularly powerful experience – even the memory of this moment of SELF-awareness grips my imagination writing sometime after the event.
That such “peak experiences” are possible are not so surprising when one considers this is exactly what people like Patanjali and all the great Yogis from history have been talking about for more than two thousand years or so. However, what I find remarkable is that it is possible to achieve such experiences whilst dreaming. It strikes me that, in Yogic terms, the Lucid Dream state is a perfect example of Pratyahara, or “sense-withdrawal,” the fifth of the eight-limbs of Raja Yoga. The mind of the Lucid Dreamer is conscious but perfectly detached from all external influences. Hence the Translucid dream would be equivalent to directing the mind towards the sixth, seventh and eighth limbs – Dharana (Concentration), Dhyana (Meditation), and Samadhi (Contemplation/super-consciousness).
Hence: the Translucid dream phenomenon is not an end in itself, but a useful tool for progressing on the path.
Filed under Supernatural
Royal Wedding: Anarchy and the Occult
Sometime last year I went on the radio – the BBC World Service no less – to explain that astrologically speaking there is something wrong with the date that Wills and Kate have chosen for their wedding. The main concern I identified was that on April 29th 2011, Saturn – the planet of Death, delays and restrictions – was opposed to Venus, the planet of Love. It so happened that on the same radio programme there was an astrologer from India who claimed that Saturn was not important in Jyotisa, and that rather the day itself was “75% auspicious.”
Some time later I related this incident to an Indian astrologer I met at a swanky dinner party – he looked non-plussed. “Of course Saturn’s important!” he said. “What the hell was this guy talking about?”
Anyway, that is by the by. In the news today I read that a bunch of anarchists are planning to “curse” Wills and Kate’s big day, because they object to such an ostentatious display of extravagance at a time when there are widespread cuts in public expenditure. Yesterday there were protests in central London: today the ringleader revealed his “cunning plan” to the Daily Express:
The anarchists behind yesterday’s riot are also preparing to “curse” next month’s wedding with a bizarre plot in the shape of a giant occult symbol.
They aim to occupy five destinations to represent a five-pointed star or pentacle, a symbol revered by Satanists;* the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, in a bid to stretch police lines and throw William and Kate’s big day into chaos.
They hope to get the ceremony abandoned or at least moved. Yesterday was said to be “phase one” of the plot.
* My emphasis.
Ok we should bear in mind that this is the Daily Express not the Daily Mail, so I am prepared to allow them some lee-way in the standards of their reporting. I have explained about the Pentagram before. Before we get concerned about the ceremony being moved, we should bear in mind that this would not be a complete disaster in itself. In another blog post I have explained that there is in fact one date later in 2011 which is actually far better than April 29th, astrologically speaking. If the Royal Wedding were postponed until Friday October 7th, this would actually work out as being far more auspicious for Wills and Kate. However: let us assume that the Royal couple intend to press ahead with April 29th, and that these anarchists also intend to press ahead with their bizarre “Satanic” plot. Are the Satanists likely to succeed?
Looking at the situation from the point of view of a magician, I would have to say, “almost certainly not.” Even if the date does get moved, the Satanists would be in no position to take credit for it. The first and most obvious point is that the ringleader has blabbed all to the national press! There is a reason why Silence is one of the four powers of the Sphinx – it is one of the sources of a magician’s own power. By opening his big mouth he can now be assured that the combined will-power of millions of well-wishers who want the wedding to go successfully will be directed against them.
Secondly, this whole business of going to such extravagant lengths is far too histrionic. I can just about imagine how a Pentagram might be used in a magical ritual to disrupt the wedding, although a ritual conducted in private somewhere would be far simpler and just as likely to succeed as trying to deploy ones minions across central London. Also there is the question of just how much depth of thought they have put into the preparation for this bizarre pentagram working. If they think that deploying themselves in a pentagram-arrangement across the capital is just going to work all by itself, then of course they are prey to the worst kind of superstitious rubbish.
As I noted above with regards to the Saturn-opposition on April 29th, Wills and Kate are likely to have a tough time of it that day without a bunch of Satanists trying to shove their oar in. If there is any disruption on the day it will ultimately be due to a prior disposition of the planets, not a bunch of unwashed agitators pretending to be great and mighty sorcerors.
Yet it is the knowledge of the astrological situation on April 29th which conversely provides the key to a way out for the happy couple from their troubles. The essence of the Hermetic tradition is that by raising ones consciousness to a sufficient degree one can transcend the crossed-conditions of Fate, for which the planets of astrology are their outward symbols. The methods of overcoming the planets are nothing less than the rituals of e.g. the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Hence: we know that Saturn is badly placed on April 29th, thus one way to overcome this would be to cast the Supreme Banishing Hexagram of Saturn ritual, in order to counter-act that planet’s effects.
In conclusion therefore: I, Alex Sumner, volunteer to use my occult powers to ward off the effects of these anarcho-satanists and thus ensure that the 29th goes well for the Royal couple. 🙂
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Astrology – QOTD
Sri Yukteswar Giri - Astrologer and Yogi
“Charlatans have brought the stellar science to its present disrepute. Astrology is too vast, both mathematically and philosophically, to be rightly grasped except by men of profound understanding. If if ignoramuses misread the heavens, and see there a scrawl instead of a script, that is to be expected in this imperfect world. One should not dismiss the wisdeom with the ‘wise.’
“…A child is born on that day and at that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with his individual karma. His horoscope is a challenging portrait, revealing his unalterable past and its probable future results. But the natal chart can be rightly interpreeted only by men of intuitive wisdom: these are few.
“The message bold blazoned across the heavens at the moment of birth is not meant to emphasize fate – theresult of past good and evil – but to arouse man’s will to escape from his universal thraldom. What he has done, he can undo. None other than himself was the instigator of the causes for whatever effects are now prevalent in his life. He can overcome any limitation, because he created it by his own actions in the first place, and because he has spiritual resources which are not subject to planetary pressure.
“Superstitious awe of astrology makes one an automaton, slavishly dependent on mechanical guidance. The wise man defeats his planets – which is to say, his past – by transferring his allegiance from the creation to the Creator. The more he realizes his unity with the Spirit, the less he can be dominated by matter. the soul is ever-free; it is deathless because birthless. It cannot be regimented by stars.”
Sri Yukteswar Giri, quoted in Autobiography of a Yogi
by Paramhansa Yogananda.
Filed under Supernatural
Invasion of Libya Predicted by Astrology
In my blog-post How To Predict The General Election Result Part 3, posted in May 2010, I wrote, regarding the day of the UK general election:
On May 6th itself there will be a T between the Moon, Sun and Mars: i.e. the Moon is square to the Sun, which is square to Mars, which is in opposition to the Moon. The people (Moon) will be challenging the Government (Sun) to action, but warfare etc (Mars) will be holding it back – which in turn will upset everyone. Whoever wins on Thursday is going to have a tough time of it in the new parliament.
What now follows I guess critics will probably say is an exercise in retrocognition, but the fact is that roundabout the same time as I posted on this my blog, I went to some smart reception or other in London – as you do – and having invoked Dionysus several times I boldly expostulated on my further thoughts on the situation. The astrological figure for the day of the 2010 General Election was effectively the day on which the present Parliament was “born” – hence, factors indicated on that horoscope also represented influences on the life of the forthcoming Government.
Therefore, I held forth to my rapt companion at the time, because Mars was in such an awkward position in relation to the Sun and Moon, I predicted that the warfare of which I had written in my blog-post referred to warfare taking place in the new Parliament. I.e. not just continuation of the warfare then going on, but a major escalation, such as the opening of hostilities on a brand new front.
I did not mention Libya by name at the time. So before you say “Alex conned us by using a deliberately sensational blog-title to induce us to read this,” please bear in mind the following important point: it was the fact the new Government would get involved in new hostilities which could have been predicted, rather than with a specific country per se. I dread to say that it was inevitable, because theoretically the Government could have chosen to avert this particular outcome – or perhaps they knew it was likely and so did it anyway. The Government does not appear to make a habit of listening to astrologers – after all, they have not indicated they are going to take me up on my suggestion regarding Ebooks (yet).
Filed under Supernatural
Sol Ascendans - The Website of Alex Sumner 
Getting Away With Murder
Lorraine Mbulawa, the teenager accused of attempted murder.
You now have the power to kill someone in the UK and be found Not Guilty of either their murder. This is the apparent verdict of Leeds Crown Court, which has acquitted a teenager of the attempted murder of her own mother.
Unfortunately though, the teenager in question was convicted of section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act (“malicious wounding”), which means that if death had occurred she would still have been guilty of manslaughter. NB: life imprisonment is the maximum sentence for manslaughter, though unlike murder it is not mandatory. As it was, she was given a suspended sentence.
The teenager and her family came from Zimbabwe where belief in the the occult is widespread. Interestingly in order to convict her of malicious wounding, the Jury implicitly accepted evidence that she was not insane at the time of the offence. In sentencing, the Judge said.
Now this is an innovation in the law which appears to have crept in since I was at University! You will probably have heard of the old adage: “Ignorance of the law is no defence.” So what we have got here is the following situation:
What, therefore, is the correct verdict? If one assumes that the accused did actually want to cause her mother’s death – albeit at the behest of these spirits – it should be Guilty of Attempted Murder. What the jury seems to have done is assume that belief in disincarnate spirits, which does not amount to insanity, is somehow a mitigating factor – that it makes the accused Reckless as opposed to Intentionally violent.
This would be like me being acquitted of Theft because Valefar put me up to it. Actually this could be a good wheeze, the more I think about it. Theft is a crime of strict Intent. There is no such thing as Reckless Theft, so if a jury found that I did not have sufficient mens rea for the full offence, there would be no lesser offence for me of which to be convicted. Hence I would walk completely free! Sorted. 😉
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Tagged as daily telegraph, Leeds Crown Court, Lorraine Mbulawa, manslaughter, Mr Justice Keith, murder, section 20 Offences Against the Person Act 1861, unlawful wounding, Zimbabwe