essays on polytheism, minimalism, and everything in between
The past few weeks have been a blur of activity, from academic article-writing to running an internal conference at my workplace to managing an annual meeting for the local chapter of my professional association. However busy I am, I carve out time for praying, but it wasn't always that way. Especially now, with the pandemic … Continue reading Prayer in Under 5 Minutes
The ad hoc ritual space at the beginning of the ritual. There's a passage in Marinus' Life of Proclus, the hagiography in honor of Proclus' life, that really struck me because it made me nostalgic for lunar rituals when I first read it, and often near the full moon, I'll remember it because it was … Continue reading Honoring the Moon
Next Thargelia isn't until May 17-19, 2021. In 2020, I used a ritual outline, and I'm uploading it today so it has enough time for Google's crawlers to find it in time for people frantically searching for a ritual outline next year. Some Background As I said in a previous post, my ritual outlines tend … Continue reading A Complete Thargelia Ritual
While I rarely ever post link roundups, there are a few posts floating around the blogosphere this week that I think are worthwhile shares (especially now that I'm making an effort to be quieter). First, John Beckett wrote "What to Do When You Make a Mistake in Ritual." It is a useful post because we … Continue reading Linking Out to a Few Blog Posts I read, With Some Added Comments
At the beginning of Plato’s Republic, specifically at 328b-c, the elderly Cephalus is wearing a wreath upon his head because he had just finished offering divine sacrifices in the courtyard. In addition to generic ritual wreaths, ones that use specific materials — laurel, bay, rosemary, olive, oak, and so on — have been used for millennia … Continue reading An Etiquette of Crowns, Floral and Verdant
In my blog post about reading Iamblichus’ On the Mysteries, I said that theurgy is “basically a fancy word for traditional cultus.” The post has gotten a lot of reach, with most referrals from Facebook (where I can’t see anything), but it was also posted to a Reddit board called r/Occult by someone. A Reddit … Continue reading In Which Some Comments Are Made About the Word Theurgy
At the close of August, after reading Proclus' Parmenides commentary, I spent a few days with the Chaldean Oracles fragments as translated by Ruth Majercik. The ChalOr¹ are quoted a lot by Proclus and other Late Platonists — I read the last third of the Parmenides commentary in the span of about two and a half weeks, and the … Continue reading My Biggest Takeaways from the Chaldean Oracles
