Accelerated Thinking

This month I have mostly been thinking about my continued efforts to blog on occult and paranormal topics in an age where most of the more visible content creators have moved to short form video using platforms such as TikTok. Of course I could just claim the status of author as opposed to internet personality and leave the topic there, but the true reason is as complex as it is blackly belligerent. I take writing my own legacy within the wider occult field extremely seriously. I am also a man with little interest in becoming an influencer or talking head for others to exploit. My ideas, damned and out of phase with the more marketable mainstream as they are, remain the memetic children which I will leave behind when the Reaper calls me home. So mine is the role of empty vessel for their instillation into the zeitgeist, and that is best served by the longevity of words on a page.

Empowered Words

“Chaos is not in itself, a system or philosophy. It is rather an attitude that one applies to one’s magic and philosophy. It is the basis for all magic, as it is the primal creative force. A Chaos Magician learns a variety of magical techniques, usually as many as s/he can gain access to, but sees beyond the systems and dogmas to the physics behind the magical force and uses whatever methods are appealing to him/herself. Chaos does not come with a specific Grimoire or even a prescribed set of ethics. For this reason, it has been dubbed ‘left hand path’ by some who choose not to understand that which is beyond their own chosen path. There is no set of specific spells that are considered to be ‘Chaos Magic spells’. A Chaos Magician will use the same spells as those of other paths, or those of his/her own making. Any and all methods and information are valid, the only requirement is that it works.”
— Mark Chao, Defining Chaos

Occult Almanac

March is a very busy month from a celestial point of view. As far as the moon is concerned the First Quarter is on the 6th and the Full Ash or Storm Moon is on the 14th, at the same time as a Partial Lunar Eclipse. The Third Quarter falls on the 22nd, and the New Moon is on the 29th. This is both a Super New Moon and also observed as the Foundling’s Moon by those who follow my Accelerated Necromancy paradigm. The Spring Equinox is on the 20th, with Neopagans celebrating this as Ostara as well. For those who work with the planets Mercury is At Greatest Eastern Elongation on the 8th, and goes fully retrograde from the 14th of March to the 5th of April. A bumpy ride with technology and relationships is to be expected until that comes to an end. Finally sorcerers who work with demonic energies as per the system outlined by S. Connolly may choose to plan rituals for the First Rite to Lucifer on the 21st and a Rite to Belphegor on the 31st.

Necronomicon Mortui

A list of notable members of the occult, paranormal and Fortean community, ordered by date of death as opposed to birth. James Lewis Spence, Author, born 25th November 1874, died 3rd March 1955. Dan Apostol, Cryprozoologist, born 12th July 1957, died 4th March 2013. Franz Mesmer, Mystic, born 23rd May 1734, died 5th March 1815. William Hope, Spiritualist, born 1863, died 8th March 1933. Martinus Thomsen, Mystic, born 11th August 1890, died 8th March 1981. Israel Regardie, Magickian, born 17th November 1907, died 10th March 1985. Otto Wilhelm Rahn, Author, born 18th February 1904, died 13th March 1939. Roger K. Leir, UFOlogist, Born 1934, died 14th March 2014. Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Magickian, born 22nd February 1950, died 14th March 2020. Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Author, born 20th August 1890, died 15th March 1937. Isaac Newton, Alchemist, born 25th December 1642, died 20th March 1727. Nicolas Flamel, Alchemist, born around 1330, died 22nd March 1418. Hellmut Wolff, mystic, born 30th March 1906, died 22nd March 1986. Constant Chevillon, Rosicrucian, born 26th October 1880, died 23rd March 1944. Marshall Herff Applewhite Jr., Mystic, born 17th May 1931, died 26th March 1997. Emanuel Swedenborg, Mystic, born 29th January 1688, died 29th March 1772. Harry Price, Parapsychologist, born 17th January 1881, died 29th March 1948. Rudolf Steiner, Mystic, born around 27th February 1861, died 30th March 1925. Allan Kardec, Spiritist, born 3rd October 1894, died 31st March 1969.

Vault Viewer

The name of this month’s previously published article, The Womb Of Tiamat, may at first seem inaccurate as the tale unfolds. Those who have been following my work here at The Accelerated Chaote for a while now will know that my chosen godform is Lilith, specifically in her rebellious aspect, and it is in fact mostly about my relationship with her. But it was one of a sequence of path workings designed to explore the concept of the void as a seething, roiling womb of both creation and dissolution, which would go on to become a fundamental concept in my recent book The Accelerated Necromancer. Initially seeing digital print over at ChaosMagick.Com towards the end of summer 2022 it is a doorway to ritual, roadmap for shamanic journeying and an deeply personal narrative. You can now read it completely free by following the above link to my portfolio archive.

Media Magick

For those of you who have already seen this particular masterpiece, my choice to recommend The Devil’s Backbone to all the necromancers in the audience will make perfect sense. At times genuinely scary, bloody and dark, Guillermo del Toro weaves a very classic haunted orphanage story for the audience, one set starkly against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. The plot involves a mismatched group of children striving to uncover the truth behind the mournful spirit wandering around their home. Add to the mix a loose group of adults with their own dark agendas to fulfil as well as one of the best looking ghosts ever committed to celluloid and there is no doubt that once all the pieces fall into place at the end of the film you will be numbly marvelling at the sheer brilliance of both the scripting and cinematography on show, just like I was the first time around.

End Notes

And there it is, the latest issue of my occult and paranormal newsletter zipping along the sinews of cyberspace to inboxes far and wide. The pace here has returned to something of a sedate crawl after the promotional work that I did for my recent book, and will likely remain so until the next one. I am of course still seeking publication in magazines and anthologies this year, and will share further updates on that as they happen. Having The Accelerated Necromancer in stores now can only help in those efforts of course. For those who do the whole social media thing, I have been testing the waters over on BluSky for a while now, and so far at least I have found it to be a suitable location for my more quick fire quips and insights. I also share a lot of the surviving early Pagan and Chaos Magick related websites I find in my research over there as well, so it is worth a look.