Accelerated Thinking

This month I have mostly been thinking about politics and the occult. In general I prefer to keep such material concerns out of my magick, and distance myself from those who would too eagerly seek identity in such division. Feeding the spectacle will never force it to starve, after all. But the sad fact is that I saw such a merging of Right Wing politics and apocalyptic Christianity on the horizon long before it was cool to do so. I faced censure for understanding that love and light can only get a group so far when the opposition is literally everyone else who thinks a different way. The lack of barriers between church and state was always going to create a caustic environment for those who fail to comply. I said my piece some twenty years ago, and was damned for it too. My time in the trenches of the culture war is long over now, but I do salute the next generation of chaotes on their way to fight.

Empowered Words

“In Astrology, the moon, among its other meanings, has that of “the common people,” who submit (they know not why) to any independent will that can express itself with sufficient energy. The people who guillotined the mild Louis XVI died gladly for Napoleon. The impossibility of an actual democracy is due to this fact of mob-psychology. As soon as you group men, they lose their personalities. A parliament of the wisest and strongest men in the nation is liable to behave like a set of schoolboys, tearing up their desks and throwing their inkpots at each other. The only possibility of co-operation lies in discipline and autocracy, which men have sometimes established in the name of equal rights.”
— Aleister Crowley, Moonchild

Occult Almanac

May is relatively busy from a celestial point of view, and holds a few notable observances as well. For those who follow the state of the lunar disk as it dances across the heavens the First Quarter is on the 4th and Full Willow or Flower Moon falls on the 12th. The Third Quarter is then on the 20th and Accelerated Necromancer’s celebrate the New Moon on the 27th as the Martyr’s Moon instead. The Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower peaks on the 6th and 7th, while Venus is At Greatest Western Elongation on the 31st. Demonolaters may choose to observe the First Rite to Leviathan on the 2nd and a Rite to Belphegor on the 13th as well. That will be the second this year, though they are rarely approached in strict sequence. Finally, the Neopagan Community will celebrate Beltane on the 1st, and bask in the warming rays of the reborn and ascendant sun as the bonfires turn to embers around them.

Necronomicon Mortui

A list of notable members of the occult, paranormal and Fortean community, ordered by date of death as opposed to birth. Charles Hoy Fort, Author, born 6th August 1874, died 3rd May 1932. Michael Thalbourne, Parapsychologist, born 24th March 1955, died 4th May 2010. Guido Karl Anton List, Mystic, born 5th October 1848, died 7th May 1919. Hans Bender, Parapsychologist, born 5th February 1907, died 7th May 1991. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Theosophist, born 12th August 1831, died 8th May 1891. Doris Stokes, Medium, born 6th January 1920, died 8th May 1987. Antoine Court, Author, born around 1719, died 10th May 1784. Mellie Uyldert, Astrologer, born 31st May 1908, died 10th May 2009. Rufus Osgood Mason, Parapsychologist, born 22nd January 1830, died 11th May 1903. Marguerite Frieda Harris, Magickian, born 1877, died 11th May 1962. Kenneth Anger, Magickian, born 3rd February 1927, died 11th May 2023. Stanton Terry Friedman, UFOlogist, born 29th July 1934, died 13th May 2019. August Strindberg, Alchemist, born 22nd January 1849, died 14th May 1912. Austin Osman Spare, Magickian, born 30th December 1886, died 15th May 1956. Eusapia Palladino, Medium, born 21st January 1854, died 16th May 1918. Nandor Fodor, Parapsychologist, born 13th May 1895, died 17th May 1964. William Francis Brinsley Le Poer Trench, UFOlogist, born 18th September 1911, died 18th May 1995. Arthur Edward Waite, Mystic, born 2nd October 1857, Died 19th May 1942. Heinrich Luitpold Himmler, Magickian, born 7th October 1900, died 23rd May 1945. Sir William Fletcher Barrett, Parapsychologist, born 10th February 1844, died 26th May 1925. Eliphas Levi, Magickian, born 8th February 1810, died 31st May 1875. Timothy Leary, Mystic, born 22nd October 1920, died 31st May 1996.

Vault Viewer

A continuation of the sourly political tangent that seems to have infested this particular edition of my Vulpine Occulture Newsletter, The Esoteric Accelerationist Manifesto originally saw print in Five of Swords Magazine before that project went on permanent hiatus during early 2020. Confrontational, eclectic and held by some as a showcase for irreverently sacrilegious ideas, the manifesto outlines a last ditch methodology for futureproofing the Millennial occult revival against its inevitable stagnation. Enemies lie within and without, and the only way forward seems to be through on both an esoteric as well as social level. Culture is a numbers game after all. The Left aligned Accelerationist tools outlined here are nothing if not drastic, perhaps even caustic at first glance, but sometimes the dead flesh must be cut away before the rest of the body can try to heal.

Grimoire Guides

Dave Lee has a long and storied history in chaos magick circles. A founder member of the IOT he was there for many of the tall tales that now permeate the weave of occulture. As a sweeping narrative journey Primordial Chaos is a fantastic testament to both Dave’s level headed approach to the weird as well as his staying power within the conceptual boundaries of UK counterculture. His efforts to guide others towards the emerging chaos current in the 1980’s are told through the reprints of those early articles which form the first section of the book. The second examines psychedelia, and the third returns to a more recognisable Neopagan perspective that explores the runes in relation to landscape. Finally the fourth is a melting pot of public talks and presentations. A very important work, and one that offers a window into simpler, less digitally interwoven, ‘zine led times.

End Notes

And there it is, the latest issue of my occult and paranormal newsletter ready to walk among the shadows of the esoteric narrative, peeking out from inboxes far and wide. In general the format here is pretty much set, so there is not a lot to report behind the scenes at The Vulpine Portfolio currently. My presence on BlueSky remains an interesting diversion, and I have begun work on a couple of fresh side projects in the occult space that will likely be announced over there before we see them hosted here. The kind of things that require a real time scrolling feed to pull off. Those who remember me from my old Twitter days will likely have an idea what is coming. So yes, while I am ambivalent to social media at the best of times it has quickly become the more public face of my pop culture sorcery, and if you have the app I highly recommend following me over there too.