Real Sorcery by Jason Miller

Most people have heard of Aesop’s fables. I learned about them as a child by watching the animated Aesop and Son on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show in the 1960s and 70s. Sometimes statements made by Aesop are wrongly credited to others. For example, some claim that “God helps those who help themselves” is found in the Christian Bible; however, it’s not. It’s a misquote of Aesop, who was a pagan and wrote, “The gods help those who help themselves.”

Aesop’s expression is a good summation of the magical philosophy of the sorcerer Jason Miller. His philosophy, which he calls ‘Strategic Sorcery,’ holds that one should start with real-world action to achieve a goal and supplement it with magick. This differs from others who would have you make magick the focus for achieving your goal.

I’ve long been a fan of Jason Miller. His books are practical and very useful. I own, I believe, all of his books and have taken several of his courses. All of which has elevated my magical practice. 

His newest book is titled Real Sorcery. This book is an update on his classic The Sorcerer’s Secrets, which was the first book of his that I bought. In Real Sorcery, Miller starts with basic practices. From there he provides practical tools for financial sorcery, divination, love sorcery, and more. 

I highly recommend Real Sorcery by Jason Miller. Even if you already have the original The Sorcerer’s Secrets, Real Sorcery has lots of useful and very interesting updates.

The Great Deception

There’s a lie that has persisted for thousands of years. One variation of this lie claims that monotheism was always the norm and polytheism was aberrant. Another variant acknowledges that monotheism arose after polytheism but holds that monotheism is more intellectually and ethically advanced. 

I call this lie the Great Deception.

The truth is that polytheism has always been the human norm, and monotheism is aberrant. Archeology and ancient writings show humanity as universally polytheistic. Polytheism is the human norm rather than monotheism.

Even monotheist religious texts provide support for this. The Hebrew Bible, for example, which Christians call the Old Testament, contains evidence of the polytheist past of the Hebrew people. For example, one can see this in Genesis 1, where the Creator god refers to Himself in the plural (“Let us…”). In fact, in this text, the god’s name “Elohim” is a plural form that the Canaanites used for their pantheon of gods. Polytheism isn’t limited to Genesis 1. We also see evidence of polytheism as common among the ancient Hebrews in other texts, such as Jeremiah 44.   

Another truth is that contrary to the claim of the Great Deception, polytheism is the more intellectually and ethically advanced belief system. 

Intellectually, polytheism makes more sense than monotheism, for it reflects the world around us, which is complex and multi-varied. Diversity is the norm in the world. Therefore, reason says we should expect divinity to share in this diversity. 

History also shows that polytheism is more ethical than monotheism. For example, ‘religious war,’ where groups attack each other because they worship different gods, is common in monotheism and extremely rare in polytheism. This is not to say that classical polytheists were pacifists. But religion wasn’t one of the reasons they warred.

To learn more about this subject, I highly recommend the book A Million and One Gods: The Persistence of Polytheism by Page duBois. 

The Highest Holiday

In several Western countries, July is a month of civic holidays. For Canadians, July 1st is Canada Day. For Americans, July 4th is Independence Day. And for the French, July 14th is Bastille Day. Of course, there are also civic and religious holidays in other months. Wiccans, for example, celebrate eight festival days throughout the calendar year.

There is one day that, more than any other, each person should celebrate. This holiday is the highest of all holidays. It’s a day of joy and gratitude. 

That holiday is your birthday.

Corpospirituality, the belief that the physical world is as divine as the ‘spiritual,’ is one of the nine Dark Pagan principles. Because of the inherent divinity of the physical realm, as physical beings, we are the conscious embodiment of the divine. Therefore, your birth was the birth of a divine being. That alone is worthy of celebration.

The French philosopher Albert Camus said that the way to respond to the universe’s lack of meaning was to rebel. I believe the best way to rebel against a meaningless life is to strive to “actually feel the rapture of being alive,” as the mythologist Joseph Campbell said. 

Celebrating your birthday is a proclamation to a silent, meaningless universe that you are not going gentle into that good night.

Life is good. Celebrate it.

Dark Emotions

“A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them.” - Carl Jung.

We, Dark Pagans, love to talk about the Shadow. You’ll find it in nearly every dark pagan book, mine included. However, we must understand that the term “Shadow” applies to a narrow aspect of a personality. According to Jung, who created the concept, the Shadow is always unconscious. If we become conscious of the emotions and desires buried within our Shadow, they are no longer part of it.  

We all have dark emotions and desires that we’re conscious of and therefore aren’t part of the Shadow. Anger, lust, greed, and pride are just a few of these dark emotions. 

 

Many religious leaders and philosophers are critical of these dark emotions. Anger, in particular, gets a lot of negative attention. Gautama the Buddha is to have said, “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” And the Roman Statesman Lucius Annaeus Seneca said, “Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.”

Dark Pagans see this issue differently. Such emotions are natural and healthy. In fact, they’re essential for life. Lust is necessary for the continuation of the species. Greed helps us set goals by which to better ourselves. Pride is needed for self-respect. And anger, as the Catholic priest and historian Bede Jarrett wrote, can motivate one to act against evil.

Dark emotions and desires aren’t wrong and shouldn’t be denied. They’re an essential part of our humanity.

Dark Moon

“There is no dark side of the moon, really. Matter of fact, it’s all dark.” – Pink Floyd.

Today, June 18th, 2023, is a Dark Moon or New Moon. This Dark Moon is the closest since 1030 C.E. It won’t be this close again for another 345 years. While the Full Moon is the subject of many spells and rituals, we sometimes fail to consider the power of the Dark Moon.

A domain of the Dark Moon is the Shadow Current. The Shadow Current is a magical current or flow arising out of the collective impact of our individual Shadows. Because of this, the Dark Moon is an excellent time for Shadow Work. It’s great for spells and rituals to cultivate the Self. It’s also a perfect time for working with ‘dark deities.’ 

For Dark Moon magick, I highly recommend Of Blood and Bones by the Dark Pagan author Kate Freuler.

 

Angela’s Symposium

I’ve mentioned that we’re in a golden age of Pagan publications. We’re also in an excellent time for online video productions about esoteric subjects. One of the great video channels is “Angela’s Symposium” by Dr. Angela Puca.

Dr. Angela Puca

She describes her YouTube channel as: “Academic study of Esotericism, Paganism, witchcraft and the occult.” Dr. Puca is the real deal in academia. According to her YouTube biography, she holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Philosophy as well as a PhD in Anthropology of Religion from the University of Leeds. Dr. Puca’s research focuses on magic, witchcraft, Paganism, esotericism, shamanism, and related currents. She’s the author of several peer-reviewed publications as well as co-editor of the forthcoming ‘Pagan Religions in five minutes’ for Equinox.

 

Dr. Puca has a wide variety of videos on her channel. She’s covered topics such as Freemasonry, astrology, Anthroposophy, Eleusianian Mysteries, Theurgy, and more. 

Dr. Angela Puca’s YouTube videos are informative, with solid academic support, and very entertaining. I highly recommend Angela’s Symposium. You can support her through Patreon https://www.patreon.com/angelapuca or Paypal https://paypal.me/angelasymposium.

Pride

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us.” - Jane Austen, British Author.

Most know that June is recognized as Pride Month in the US and many other countries. June was chosen to celebrate LGBTQA+ individuals because the Stonewall Riots, which started the Gay Rights movement, occurred at the end of June 1969. 

 

Pride Month is closely connected to the Dark Pagan principles of Self-knowledge, Self-Acceptance, and Autonomy.

Thousands of years ago, etched into the walls of the Temple of Delphi in Greece were the words “Know Thyself.” It is with this ancient Pagan wisdom that Pride begins. Understanding one’s identity, both gender and sexual, is an essential part of self-knowledge. 

It’s well established that some people’s hatred of LGBTQA+ individuals arises from subconscious gender and sexual identity issues. While this isn’t true for all who express such hatred (for some, it’s just a character flaw), this lack of self-knowledge is the source of anger for many.

Building on Self-knowledge, Self-acceptance is the next critical element of Pride. Once a person understands themselves, the next step is to accept themselves. Self-love rests at the heart of self-acceptance. 

However, there are forces in our society that teach against self-love. Many religious institutions tell us that we’re fallen and need salvation. This self-hatred often is turned outwards, creating Others who are seen as different and dangerous.

The final Dark Pagan principle that applies to Pride is Autonomy. The Stonewall Riot was an example of courageous individuals who confronted institutional homophobia and bigotry. It was a declaration of autonomy that they wouldn’t cave into the demands of the herd.

Ironically, the homophobic and transphobic voices of today often wrap their opposition to autonomy into claims of personal liberty. In an example of Orwellian thought, they twist laws meant to remove the rights of LGBTQA+ persons as being to enhance freedom.  

Pride is a Dark Pagan value.