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- Nov 7, 2024
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Hi all - apologies for the delay in getting this intro posted. My name's Moses - I've been a full-time conjurer since 2016, studying, teaching and practicing spiritual and magical traditions locally, nationally and worldwide. I provide my handmade goods and spiritual services, teach, and read the cards for folks 6 days a week, and immerse myself in my studies in my free time, so I am incredibly grateful to have found wf - what a resource! I look forward to meeting you all!
I was raised and educated from childhood in an observant Jewish lineage, learning to read and write Hebrew and Aramaic, becoming familiar with scripture and talmud, and learning gematria and other kabballah-adjacent ideas beginning in Kindergarten and continuing through High School, which served me well when I began exploring Western Esotericism/occultism/etc in my adolescence.
I had to run out the clock til I turned 40 and could study proper kabbalah, so in my 20s, I began to study conjure (what folks would call hoodoo) - I had some light in-person exposure thanks to an elder gentleman I became acquainted with and pursued the majority of my studies just being curious and asking questions. In my academic studies, I did my undergraduate work in Cultural Anthropology with a focus on the magico-religious practices of diasporic communities.
I continued learning both the "high magic" and "low magic" branches as I continued my academic studies, and got really into Manly P Hall, Freemasonry, and Black American spiritual schools, in particular the 5%ers and Moorish Science Temple.
In my late 20s. I did my masters degree at Naropa University, where I focused on the occult system of 20th century beat writer, William S. Burroughs. In the course of that research, I got to meet some very very cool characters and learn some interesting and obscure things from both the chaos magic and traditional domains.
Through my 30s, I left my theoretical/armchair phase and began to apply what I'd learned in experiments with increasing satisfaction as I worked in the still-sorta underground cannabis industry. This gave me a chance to learn a LOT about taking apart plants and their compounds and laid the foundation for me to broadly explore and practice spagyrics and at least read about mineral alchemy and make some sense of it.
By my late 30s, I started an Instagram account to act as a record of my experiments, and soon began receiving requests to take on client work, which I hesitatingly accepted. This led to my offering of formulas, materia and ritual items to the community and shortly thereafter to begin teaching what I could, both at local metaphysical shops and online.
In 2020, I founded Holy Mountain Spiritualist Temple, a registered 501(c)3 religious non-profit dedicated to preserving and securing the magical arts under the religious protection enshrined in the US constitution. I maintain a small public temple here in Colorado which is the base for my ritual work. In 2021, I co-founded Our Santa Muerte Mission in Phoenix, Arizona.
This relatively public spiritual journey has taken me ever deeper, bringing more fascinating and learned practitioners into my life, giving me an opportunity to continue learning through first-hand exposure.
I'm a husband and dad of two little kids, so I keep a fairly tight circle these days, maintaining very close kinship with some conjurers in the Gullah-Geechie community in South Carolina, a hechicera from Rancho Laredo, MX, and some Santa Muerte devotees from Catemaco and Tijuana (two similar but distinct branches of the faith), a 3rd generation Cuban-born Palera and Olorisha, and some American occultists.
As I'm sure you all know - it gets kinda lonely out there in the mundane world - so I'm super glad to be here in community with you all and look forward to learning from you and sharing what I humbly can.
Peace + blessings,
Moses
PS I turned 40 a few years ago and am FINALLLLLY getting to dip my toe in proper kabbalah lolol It's crazy to spend decades studying every system but your birthright to then come back and see how much of your own system you've learned in bits and pieces everywhere else
[edit - cleaned up some typos]
I was raised and educated from childhood in an observant Jewish lineage, learning to read and write Hebrew and Aramaic, becoming familiar with scripture and talmud, and learning gematria and other kabballah-adjacent ideas beginning in Kindergarten and continuing through High School, which served me well when I began exploring Western Esotericism/occultism/etc in my adolescence.
I had to run out the clock til I turned 40 and could study proper kabbalah, so in my 20s, I began to study conjure (what folks would call hoodoo) - I had some light in-person exposure thanks to an elder gentleman I became acquainted with and pursued the majority of my studies just being curious and asking questions. In my academic studies, I did my undergraduate work in Cultural Anthropology with a focus on the magico-religious practices of diasporic communities.
I continued learning both the "high magic" and "low magic" branches as I continued my academic studies, and got really into Manly P Hall, Freemasonry, and Black American spiritual schools, in particular the 5%ers and Moorish Science Temple.
In my late 20s. I did my masters degree at Naropa University, where I focused on the occult system of 20th century beat writer, William S. Burroughs. In the course of that research, I got to meet some very very cool characters and learn some interesting and obscure things from both the chaos magic and traditional domains.
Through my 30s, I left my theoretical/armchair phase and began to apply what I'd learned in experiments with increasing satisfaction as I worked in the still-sorta underground cannabis industry. This gave me a chance to learn a LOT about taking apart plants and their compounds and laid the foundation for me to broadly explore and practice spagyrics and at least read about mineral alchemy and make some sense of it.
By my late 30s, I started an Instagram account to act as a record of my experiments, and soon began receiving requests to take on client work, which I hesitatingly accepted. This led to my offering of formulas, materia and ritual items to the community and shortly thereafter to begin teaching what I could, both at local metaphysical shops and online.
In 2020, I founded Holy Mountain Spiritualist Temple, a registered 501(c)3 religious non-profit dedicated to preserving and securing the magical arts under the religious protection enshrined in the US constitution. I maintain a small public temple here in Colorado which is the base for my ritual work. In 2021, I co-founded Our Santa Muerte Mission in Phoenix, Arizona.
This relatively public spiritual journey has taken me ever deeper, bringing more fascinating and learned practitioners into my life, giving me an opportunity to continue learning through first-hand exposure.
I'm a husband and dad of two little kids, so I keep a fairly tight circle these days, maintaining very close kinship with some conjurers in the Gullah-Geechie community in South Carolina, a hechicera from Rancho Laredo, MX, and some Santa Muerte devotees from Catemaco and Tijuana (two similar but distinct branches of the faith), a 3rd generation Cuban-born Palera and Olorisha, and some American occultists.
As I'm sure you all know - it gets kinda lonely out there in the mundane world - so I'm super glad to be here in community with you all and look forward to learning from you and sharing what I humbly can.
Peace + blessings,
Moses
PS I turned 40 a few years ago and am FINALLLLLY getting to dip my toe in proper kabbalah lolol It's crazy to spend decades studying every system but your birthright to then come back and see how much of your own system you've learned in bits and pieces everywhere else
[edit - cleaned up some typos]
