The Nihil SIgil

Speaking of paper talismans, here is one that has been particularly useful for me these days. Well, techically it's not a sigil but heck, the name's got a nice ring to it.

I also call it the Triangle of Negation, or the "pigil" sigil ("pigil" being Tagalog for the word "prevent"). It's based on the classic ABRACADABRA charm. Unlike my other talismans, the words written on it are pretty obvious and straightforward. It's three sides nicely accentuates its correspondence to Saturn, whose number is three. In classical Western magic, Saturn is the planetary sphere to work with for purposes of banishment and destruction.

I admit, this was originally designed for 'evil' purposes, but actually it's doing me more good than harm.

Want to control your diet? Place it on the fridge.
Prevent yourself from impulsive spending? Put it on your wallet.
Fight your addiction to Facebook? Stick it onto the computer monitor.
Bam!

The paper was stained in a potion of black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, rust, bone dust and god knows what else (I forgot the rest). To make the most of Saturnian energies, it is to be made and charged on a Saturday, during the hours of Saturn, and preferably when the moon is in Scorpio.

Basbasan Nawa!

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Three Other Things a Witch Can Do with Herbs

As a modern (and lazy) witch, I just buy my magical herbs from the magical grocery store. The problem I get with this is that I end up buying about a cupful of herbs, use a teaspoonful or two for oils, tinctures, and gris-gris bags, and then the remaining herbs would be left on stock for seemingly eternity.

It's probably just me being O.C. but I couldn't stand seeing jars of spices and herbs sitting around doing nothing, so I had to think of other stuff to use them for.

1. Herb-Powered Paper talismans.

While I don't make herbal oils and charms that often, I do make talismans a lot.

To prepare the paper to be used in making talismans, I simply make an infusion or tea of the appropriate herb(s) and soak the paper in it for some time. The color of herb infusions take a while to get into the paper so I usually let the paper soak into the infusion overnight. Sometimes I would mix the remaining infusion with acrylic paint to make magical ink for writing the symbols with.

I'm happier using tea-stained papers for making talisman than cardboard and metal. That aged parchment color just make them look especially arcane.

A Mercurian-Jupiterian talisman on tea-stained paper being prepared for consecration.

2. Let Them Simmer.

Herbs and spices are often used to make raw incenses, but I honestly don't like making my own. It's fairly easy to do, but it's tough to use. For some reason, I couldn't keep a charcoal burning long enough, and putting incense periodically into the censer sometimes ruin the ritual mood for me.

I find that simmering the herbs on water in an aromatherapy oil diffuser is a useful alternative. I don't have to tend to the candle flame and it doesn't suffocate me with smoke. However, compared to incenses, the smell is very subtle so I find it more useful for meditation than magical rituals.

Actually I don't use an oil diffuser anymore. I use a glass bowl on a metal tripod, which I received as a birthday gift from a friend. I find it so fun mixing herbs on hot water that sometimes I get carried away and forget the meditation entirely.

Though I haven't tried it yet, I figure this sort of thing can be used for divination too. I might give it a go sometime. I've always wanted to feel like one of those evil witches in Disney cartoons skrying into the boiling liquid of a sinister-looking cauldron.

Cinnamon. Smells like Christmas.

3. Protect Your Altar from Vermin.

I once offered a bowlful of rice grains to Ganesh and noticed thereafter that it was dwindling day by day. I have almost come into believing that the Lord Ganesh had been miraculously consuming my offerings. But to my utter shock (and regret) I woke up one night to find a pair of mice having dinner on my offering bowl! It's as if my altar have become a romantic Asian restaurant, with candles and flowers and all.

Eventually I learned that spice repels mice - especially the strong-smelling ones. So on my altar I placed a small woven box filled with bay leaves, cloves, ginger root and some pepper, and thankfully there has no longer been any dinner-dating mice on my altar ever since.

Herbs and spices apparently also repel other types of vermin - like moth and silverfish, which tend to make a snack of our beloved books. Making a sachet of strong-smelling herbs and putting it somewhere within the bookshelves would help keeping these little demons out of the way.

Basbasan Nawa!

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Iroko: The Serpent Oshumare Climbs the Tree of Orishas

This is what happens when you put your hands into too many mystical systems.

This is simply my attempt to place the orishas into the cosmic file cabinet of the Kabbalistic tree of life. I'm sure there are kabbalists and orisha worshippers who'd get sick of the idea, but this my personal belief. I study and practice both traditions on their own but sometimes I find it interesting to mix things up a bit, like making fusion food.

Olodumare is Kether, which is depicted here as the sun that gives life to the tree. His sphere is separate from the rest to illustrate that he can only be felt but not known. The 24 sun drops is an allusion to the pre-genesis story of the Philippine folk magic tradition ("lihim na karunungan"). It is implied here that Olorun, "owner of the heavens", is the sky itself.

Orunmila, who is "Igbakeji Olodumare" (second in command to Olodumare) occupies the second sphere. As the lord of wisdom it is only apt that he is "Chokmah", meaning understanding. In Hermeticism, the sphere of Chokmah corresponds the domain of the fixed stars. In Yoruba, the "Orun" in orunmila means "heaven".

Oya, "Ayaba Nikua", the queen of death, occupies the sphere of Binah, which is attributed to Saturn, the planet whose color is black, and whose domain is death and destruction.

For me, these three represent the cosmic triad of creation, maintenance and destruction.

Olofin, the lowest manifestation of Olodumare, represents the sphere of Daath. The abyss through which one shall pass to reach the domain of Olorun and Olodumare.

Shango, god king and lord of thunder, occupies the sphere of Chesed, ruled by the planet Jupiter, whose name comes from the Roman god king and lord of thunder.

Oggun, warrior god and lord of iron, occupies the sphere of Geburah, ruled by the planet Mars, whose name comes from the Roman god of war and iron.

Shango for me represents the force of inspiration, which comes to the psyche like a bolt of lightning. Whereas Oggun represents putting inspiration into action. Shango's fire gives shape to the iron of Oggun.

Obatala, the father of orishas, owner of the white cloth, occupies Tipareth, the center of the tree. Like the Sun to which this sphere corresponds, his radiance shines upon all as "Orishanla", lord of all orishas. Tipareth is also to the sphere of Yeheshuah (YHShVH) who, like Obatala, is a dying and rising god.

The beauteous Oshun is Netzach, attributed to Venus, whose domain is beauty and love. Her son, the trickster child Elegua, messenger of the gods, is Hod, attributed to Mercury, whose domain is wit and communication. Beauty and trickery for me are representative of the polarities of order and chaos.

Yemaya, the mother of orishas, sits below Obatala, in the sphere of Yesod. She is the foundation of the tree, where all the other branches sprung forth.

Buried in the earth itself is the root of the tree: Babalu-Aye, father and lord of the earth, occupying the sphere of Malkuth.

Oshumare, the rainbow serpent, is the kundalini serpent uncoiling through the rainbow of colors of the seven chakras as one journeys through the states of consciousness that each sphere represents - from the earthly and humble realm of Babalu-Aye in Malkuth to the ultimate and divine realm of Olodumare in Kether.

Basbasan Nawa!

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Kabbalistic Correspondences of the 16 Geomantic Signs

I made these diagrams as reference cards for my Geomantic divination flash program, Geomania. I unfortunately lost the code before completing it due to a stupid hard drive problem. The unfinished program was working already working well enough when I was able to release the executable on the net for a short period. If, for some reason, you have a copy of the compiled program, please be so kind to send a copy to me, and I would happily sell my soul to you.

Anyway, I figure these images might be of use for those who are using the geomantic signs in magic. 

The design is made in the 2008 Murmur style, which is modernly simple, colorful and cutesy. These days I'm more into the traditional occutlish look.

Sephirotic

Planetary

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The Tetragrammaton of the Illuminati

In reading Peter Carroll's "Psyber Magic", I came across an interesting diagram in which he divides psychopolitical programmes into four interesting groups. For some reason, this has stuck with me for years. I was trying to come up with a design on the lid of a wooden box for keeping my tarot cards in, and what I end up with is a 'sigilized' version of said diagram.

I'm not sure how this relates to the tarot but I'm gonna go with it.

The tridents represent chaotic while the crosses represent lawful. Hebrew letters above are YHSVH ("Jesus"), and below are YHVH ("Jehova"), which are the nice and naughty polarity of the lawful alignment. On the left is the Hebrew STN ("Satan"), and on the right is the Latin LVX ("Lucifer"), which are the naughty and nice polarity of the chaotic alignment. I wanted to emphasize the Luciferic programme as the path of illumination, hence Lux, meaning light, which the word Lucifer itself came from.

The Latin letters in red are simply a mish-mash of the words XAOS and ORDO. The words written in the Alphabet of the Magic are the words from the diagram itself. See below.

From "Psyber Magick: Advanced Ideas in Chaos Magick", Peter J. Carroll

The Jehovic programme of lawful nastiness dominates most psychopolitical systems from the nation sate down the self-similar fractal ladder to the selfs within a person. Such systems tend to maintain their stasis quo at the expense of surrounding systems or sub-systems.

The Christic and Satanic programmes have little overall effect, as they expend themselves against the Jehovic programme and each other; and few systems manage to display either permanent beastliness or saintliness...

Only the Luciferic programme allows evolution, as the Illuminati well know. In recent centuries the dominant psychopolitical Jehovic forces have come to realize that a limited amount of Luciferic creative chaos can give them an edge over systems which do not possess it.

Basbasan Nawa!

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Greeting the Year of the Dragon in Hong Kong

What better place to greet the year of the dragon than in the land of the dragon itself?

The Chinese New Year's celebrations actually take a week long, but the main events happen around the first three days. It's actually a very quiet and solemn period, and many of the shops in the cities are closed - much like the Holy Week period in the Philippines. The only firecrackers I ever heard and saw was the fireworks display at Victoria Harbor at the second day of the New Year - and what a display it was! I had to camp by harbor at the Tsim Sha Tsui side for more than 4 hours, despite heavy rain and cold, just to get a nice view of the fireworks. The fireworks start at 8PM, but both sides of Victoria Bay were already jam-packed early in the afternoon.

It was my first time to experience winter (without snow, that is). I knew it was going to be cold, but I had no idea it would drop as far as 7 degrees. My polyester jacket didn't do much so I had to buy some winter accessories at the Ngong Ping village. For $200, I got a scarf, a pair of mittens and a winter cap. But despite that my fingers have become so frozen it was difficult for me to take photos on many occasions.

I decided to go to the less visited areas this time, since the touristy areas would most likely be very crowded during these holidays. I actually made a research about how Chinese New Year are celebrated in Hong Kong a few weeks before I arrived, so I already get have an idea which places I needed to visit for the cultural stuff. Many of these locations are quite far from the city center, requiring a bus ride or two, and many times I end up being the only tourist in the area. Thankfully I have finally put my knowledge of Chinese characters in practical use by writing down the names of places and asking for directions.

I unexpectedly fell in love with HK when I came here last year to watch the Riverdance show. At first I thought that it was just a bunch of concrete and steel, and Disneyland and Ocean Park which holds no appeal for me. Well, it is, though it is more than that. There are also gorgeous mountains and seas and raw nature. And that lovely, chaotic Cantonese noise of the streets, and that smell of cured meat and Chinese medicine and temple incenses, and the hot, delicious food at the dai pai dongs. All of which I dream about  once in a while, especially when I'm stuck sitting in my office cubicle.

Lion dancers at the Tin Hau temple at Fong Ma Po.

A 20-minute long fireworks display at the Victoria Harbor.

The serene and glorious beauty of the Yuen Yuen temple complex, 

home of the ruling deity of the Dragon Year.

A little boy tries his luck on the wishing tree with the help of his daddy at the Lam Tsuen well-wishing festival.

By the entrance of the ancient walled village of Kat Hing Wai.

Lanterns on display at the Well-Wishing festival at Lam Tsuen.

Lucky charms in auspicious colors of red and gold.

A huge brass dragon guards the gates of the Wong Tai Sin temple, crowded with pilgrims at the first day of the Lunar New Year. 

Illuminated display depicting the Chinese zodiac signs at the Hong Kong culural center.

Riding a cable car with a see-through floor didn't help with my fear of heights.

 Taking a break from the chaos of the city.

 

Scary dolls I met on the trail.

I like this place. It's very zen.

By the entrance of a Chinese restaurant.

 The crowd prepares for the Chinese New Year parade.

Dragon float from the Chinese New Year parade on display at Lam Tsuen.

The garden of Guan Yin at the Yuen Yuen temple institute.

Thousands line up along the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui in anticipation of the Chinese New Year Parade. 

More crazy fireworks.

The crowd disperses after the fireworks.

A very misty morning at Ngong Ping.

The very quaint fishing village of Tai O.

My wishes: wisdom and happiness. (Although the Chinese characters have nothing to do with 'wisdom and happiness'.)

Worshippers at the Tin Hau temple at Fong Ma Po.

Mong Kok district, known for its huge bustling crowd, was very quiet at the first day of the New Year.

Scenes at the Victoria Park flower market.

Lunar New Year display at the IFC mall. 

Lanterns underneath a dragon's belly. 

The scenic train ride to Lo Wu. 

I met a pair of bulls while hiking in a misty mountain, of all things.

The festival at Lam Tsuen. 

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Christmas Holidays in Singapore

I wasn't planning to return here anytime soon, but then they got Wicked the Musical on tour. I thought that's enough reason to go back.

That and exploring the museums, visiting an old friend, checking out the Christmas lights in Orchard Road, spending a day in Sentosa Island, and checking out the Peranakan culture in the East Coast.

Despite all of this, there's still that lingering feeling that I felt before: Singapore is boring - especially if you don't have much money to do stuff. I don't know, maybe it's too clean and organized for me that I'm finding it stale and sterile. There's a beach, and there are nature parks everywhere, but these are so artificially manicured that they have lost their magic on me.

Still, it's a very attractive country, and quite photogenic too. Thankfully I just got my Christmas money to burn.

The ArtScience Museum glows in glamorous red for the Cartier exhibit opening.

.

One of the spectacular highlights of my holiday is staying in this very cozy and chic hostel. It's quite cheap in Singapore standards. The hosts and guests are friendly and well-behaved, and everything is kept squeaky clean. But the best part I think is the unlimited Nutella that's on the free breakfast counter.

View by the hostel window. Another day in Singapore.

A very huge Christmas tree at ResortsWorld Sentosa.

The groovy escalator to the Singapore Flyer.

Beach bumming at Sentosa island for $1.00 (entrance fee). There are lockers where you can leave your stuff for about $2.00, but I didn't really want to stay long. The cargo ships in the horizon are ruining it for me. 

Marina Bay Sands on a blue sunset. What a very pretty and weird-looking architectural structure.

Real pine trees in the tropics. I hope they don't die in the sweltering heat.

Light rain while walking around the Chinatown district.

The rain oculus inside the ArtScience Museum

The Fountain of Wealth. Purportedly the largest fountain in the world.

The very posh-looking Louis Vuitton maison floating over Marina Bay. I went inside just to check it out and was almost mesmerized into buying expensive stuff by some of the friendly Filipino salespeople.

View from the Singapore flyer.

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands

Officialy one of my favorite places in the world now.

A devotee meditates around the mezzanine of the Buddha Tooth Relic temple. Monks are synchronously chanting prayers below.

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in black and white.

Devotees in prayer at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.

 Olympic circles at Marina Bay.

Enjoying my $6.00 scoop of ice cream on the beach.

The Gardens by the Bay. Still under construction.

An old man looks proudly at the skyscrapers.

 A flamenco show at the Esplanade outdoor theatres.

 Giant Salvatore Ferragamo pump inside the ArtScience Museum.

Singapore maybe boring (sometimes) but here, even the back-alleys are quite safe.

Beautiful capitol  building. Manila has got several of these Neo-classical buildings but now all of them are run-down and garishly colored.

Mall display. It's so Christmasy. 

A very busy Orchard Road. I just worn my new favorite jacket after watching Wicked the Musical at MBS. Thanks to Jeof for this photo.

Breakfast time at the hostel.  

Nutella and jam and cereal and Milo. Breakfast heaven.

Hainanese chicken rice. Recommended by Bourdain.

A very expensive Black Pepper crab. All for the sake of experience.

A Dali sculpture at the UOB Plaza.

The Titanic Artifact Exhibition was better than I expected. It wasn't merely a display of old junk. The music, the lighting, and even the temperature changes as you go through the exhibit and it contributes a lot to the mood. It was so absorbing that I actually took time to read all of the descriptions in each exhibit.

The ticket to the Titanic exhibit is a replica of the boarding pass. There is a name of a passenger at the back. Before exiting the exhibit, you get to find out whether that passenger has survived in the list of casualties and survivors that were on display.

At the Grand Staircase in the RMS Titanic.

Taking a break by the rain oculus. I love the very posh-looking paper bag which looks a lot more expensive than the souvenir magnet that I bought. 

Basbasan Nawa!

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