Accelerated Thinking

This month I have mostly been thinking about the projects of summers past. It was my tenth anniversary as a published author recently, thanks to the always excellent Hadean Press taking a chance on an unknown writer with a necromantic axe to grind, and seeing as I’m not getting any younger it got me wondering about what I could do to keep those ideas permeating occulture long after I am gone. As a latter generation Technopagan, who originally started researching the weird via the message boards online around the early 2000’s, I have always been drawn to blogging as a platform and even ran a few over the years. Add to that the lack of availability or paywalling of my work up to this point and it seemed that reposting those essays for free with a bit of grammatical polish was the best way to share them for a wider audience. Hence my newest project, The Accelerated Chaote.

Occult Almanac

July sees the planets Venus and Mars in conjunction on the 1st, and then the Earth reaches its Aphelion, or farthest point from the sun, on the 6th. The Blessing or Oak Moon on the 3rd is followed by the Third Quarter on the 10th and a New Moon on the 17th. Finally we get the First Quarter on the 25th. The Perseid meteor shower begins on the 17th July and runs until the 24th August, and those in the Southern Hemisphere can see the much fainter Delta Aquariid meteor shower between the 18th July and the 21st August as well. It is also worth planning ahead for Lughnasadh on the 1st of August, as not only is it the Corn or Holly Moon but also a Super Full Moon too. Lunar energies are going to be especially abundant during the start of the harvest season this year, and should be exploited wherever possible to effect change.

Necronomicon Mortui

A list of notable members of the occult, paranormal and Fortean community, ordered by date of death as opposed to birth. Michel de Nostredame, Seer, born around 21st December 1503, died 2nd July 1566. John Alva Keel, Author, born 25th March 1930, died 3rd July 2009. Arthur Conan Doyle, Spiritualist, born 22nd May 1859, died 7th July 1930. Franz Bardon, Mystic, born 1st December 1909, died 10th July 1958. Philip J. Corso, UFOlogist, born 22nd May 1915, died 16th July 1998. Elizabeth Hope, Medium, born 20th November 1855, died 20th July 1919. William Lyon Mackenzie King, Spiritualist, born 17th December 1874, died 22nd July 1950. Moina Mathers, Magician, born 28th February 1865, died 25th July 1928. Margot Adler, Witch, born 16th April 1946, died 28th July 2014. Paschal Beverly Randolph, Magickian, born 8th October 1825, died 29th July 1875. William Wynn Westcott, Magickian, born 17th December 1848, died 30th July 1925.

Media Magick

I was very surprised by The Invocation of Enver Simaku, a film that has flown under the radar thus far and seems to be largely unknown in occult circles despite literally being a movie about memetic contagion. Of course, as it is dressed up as possible possession it was likely passed over by those tired of the usual Satanic panic drivel that leaks out of Hollywood’s back lot. Following a journalist who returns to Albania eighteen years after the death of his wife, it soon becomes a twisting exploration of loss undercut with numerous potentially supernatural events. Don’t let the lack of ratings and missing Rotten Tomatoes score fool you, there is a lot to admire about the slow paced, documentary style storytelling and haunting cinematography. The low budget feel and persistent voiceover also adds a level of realism to the whole affair that is missing from many bigger productions.

Audio Sorcery

While those in occult circles are aware of 3T3ETH and the lead singer’s association with chaos magick, it was their heavy, almost acerbic industrial style that first caught my interest. That said, the current collaboration with the legendary composer of DOOM 2016‘s hypnotic soundtrack, Mick Gordon, has got me drooling for their upcoming fourth album. The two current teaser singles, Slum Planet and Merchant Of The Void are a little more accessible than the band’s earlier work, and that bodes well for the growth of their brand into the latter half of 2023. Personally I cannot wait to see what direction 3T3ETH goes in next, and the idea of more collaborations with talented creators and overt occult themes in their work reaching a global audience has got me wondering just how magickal things are going to get.

End Notes

And there we are, newsletter one finished and sent. I really do need to come up with a better overall name for these, as well as the individual headings contained within, but I guess I can work on that once I have a couple in the can. More important than all that is the role you as my audience can play in spreading the word about my content. All goes to plan I will be posting one of these a month, a couple of days before the 1st, and then reposting my previously published writing in between. While I will likely play around with the format of these the Occult Almanac and Necromicon Mortui sections are definitely staying, and worth the price of admission for those who suck at keeping an esoteric timetable of their own. Which is free, of course, and always will be so long as there is a demand. So yes, if you liked it, share it. I am not going anywhere anytime soon, and it would be great to have my fellow Gravehounds join me on the hunt.