Journal Lifeforce

[Wintruz]

This is a collective journal thread for those working through Don Webb's Energy Magick of the Vampyre curriculum starting from the 4th of August. Those starting after the 4th of August (I would recommend starting on a night of the New Moon) are also welcome to share thoughts, ideas and impressions here after you've completed the book's 'Opening Rite of Try'. If you have questions about the work before beginning it, I would recommend that you post those here so that this thread can focus entirely on the work itself. This work raises a number of synchronicities and strange subjective states and those experiencing them are better unencumbered by "What do you mean?" type questions from those not travelling the same terrain. At the same time, this thread is not a substitute for a personal diary. Use commonsense when writing here.

On the evening of the 4th of August those embarking on this curriculum will carry out the 'Opening Rite of Try'. Before then, it is essential to begin, as soon as possible, the 'Daily Energy Inventory' from the book. This should be done every night for the duration of the curriculum. The only exceptions are those nights when an 'Opening' rite or 'Initiatic' rite are due to occur. As a general rule, these will be the two nights around the New Moon. Ideally, the 'Initiatic' rites will happen on the nights before the New Moon and the 'Opening' rites on the nights of the New Moon. Sometimes the Moon becomes New during daylight hours. In that case, as good symbolists, we want the 'Initiatic' working to occur on the last night of waning and the 'Opening' rite to occur on the first night of waxing. This means that you'll be doing rites two nights in a row and then back to the Energy Inventory for the rest of the time. Get used to the cycles of the Moon. They're going to teach you a great deal about what patterns are at work in your life.

Other magical work can be carried out provided that it is 1) non-initiatory and 2) resonant with the curriculum. If you need to do some sorcery or divination, that's fine. It's a good idea to use Webb's 'Frame Rite' around any rituals so that there is a link with the initiatory work. All ritual work for this curriculum must take place after sundown and before sunrise. Practising the various techniques as you go about your day is fine.

It would be a good idea to get through as much of Webb's book as possible before the 4th of August. This isn't a Masonic system where psychodrama comes from surprise; knowing the rites in advance will help you to prepare for them (not least in gathering the items you may need) so that when it's "curtain up" you can give it your all. And you really must give it your all. Treat this curriculum as a once in a lifetime encounter with the most Secret and Powerful aspect of yourself, an aspect that you would normally never go near. It may well be. When you get through Webb's book, move onto the First Tier of the reading list towards the end of the book. Start with Dracula, then select what attracts you. It's nice to key in what you're reading with the nature of the working month itself (say 'Remanifest' and Peake's Is There Life After Death? or 'Indulgence' and LaVey's The Satanic Witch or Xeper and Aquino's MindStar). I can put up what I think are the best readings for each month if you'd like me to but I don't want to hamper anyone else's ideas.

If I'm "on script" I usually print out rites a day or two before I do them. Before the 4th I will do that for the 'Opening Rite of Try'. When I do, I will copy it here for the first working so that you can see what my ritual formulae looks like. This will also let me address a couple of unfortunate typos in the Webb text.

 

[Xenophon]

This is a collective journal thread for those working through Don Webb's Energy Magick of the Vampyre curriculum starting from the 4th of August. Those starting after the 4th of August (I would recommend starting on a night of the New Moon) are also welcome to share thoughts, ideas and impressions here after you've completed the book's 'Opening Rite of Try'. If you have questions about the work before beginning it, I would recommend that you post those here so that this thread can focus entirely on the work itself. This work raises a number of synchronicities and strange subjective states and those experiencing them are better unencumbered by "What do you mean?" type questions from those not travelling the same terrain. At the same time, this thread is not a substitute for a personal diary. Use commonsense when writing here.

On the evening of the 4th of August those embarking on this curriculum will carry out the 'Opening Rite of Try'. Before then, it is essential to begin, as soon as possible, the 'Daily Energy Inventory' from the book. This should be done every night for the duration of the curriculum. The only exceptions are those nights when an 'Opening' rite or 'Initiatic' rite are due to occur. As a general rule, these will be the two nights around the New Moon. Ideally, the 'Initiatic' rites will happen on the nights before the New Moon and the 'Opening' rites on the nights of the New Moon. Sometimes the Moon becomes New during daylight hours. In that case, as good symbolists, we want the 'Initiatic' working to occur on the last night of waning and the 'Opening' rite to occur on the first night of waxing. This means that you'll be doing rites two nights in a row and then back to the Energy Inventory for the rest of the time. Get used to the cycles of the Moon. They're going to teach you a great deal about what patterns are at work in your life.

Other magical work can be carried out provided that it is 1) non-initiatory and 2) resonant with the curriculum. If you need to do some sorcery or divination, that's fine. It's a good idea to use Webb's 'Frame Rite' around any rituals so that there is a link with the initiatory work. All ritual work for this curriculum must take place after sundown and before sunrise. Practising the various techniques as you go about your day is fine.

It would be a good idea to get through as much of Webb's book as possible before the 4th of August. This isn't a Masonic system where psychodrama comes from surprise; knowing the rites in advance will help you to prepare for them (not least in gathering the items you may need) so that when it's "curtain up" you can give it your all. And you really must give it your all. Treat this curriculum as a once in a lifetime encounter with the most Secret and Powerful aspect of yourself, an aspect that you would normally never go near. It may well be. When you get through Webb's book, move onto the First Tier of the reading list towards the end of the book. Start with Dracula, then select what attracts you. It's nice to key in what you're reading with the nature of the working month itself (say 'Remanifest' and Peake's Is There Life After Death? or 'Indulgence' and LaVey's The Satanic Witch or Xeper and Aquino's MindStar). I can put up what I think are the best readings for each month if you'd like me to but I don't want to hamper anyone else's ideas.

If I'm "on script" I usually print out rites a day or two before I do them. Before the 4th I will do that for the 'Opening Rite of Try'. When I do, I will copy it here for the first working so that you can see what my ritual formulae looks like. This will also let me address a couple of unfortunate typos in the Webb text.

Maybe go ahead and post what you think are the best readings. I'm already through a first reading of Webb and am looking at Peake's "Life After." I doubt that a suggested list will cramp our style. Dictating to magi is like cat-herding, no?

 

[Wintruz]

Opening Rite of Try

1. Prepare yourself and the chamber in accordance with the guidelines in Webb's 'Frame Rite'.

2. Place three candles in a triangle facing south, that is, towards you. Light the candles—red,
black, red. As you light the candles say,

I gather energy, I purify energy, I send forth energy.

3. Gaze upon your symbol until you feel it Gazes upon you.

4. Say the Vampyric Invocation from the frame rite.

5. Offer the food or drink while saying:

As Lord Dattatreya offered his flesh to his students as a blessing,
I offer this food to those who rule the world in the Name of the
Great Vampire. As the receiver of this offering I offer thanks for
my nightly sustenance.

Drain the chalice.

6. Make the statement of intent:

I, the Vampyre [NAME], child of Setnakt, child of Lilith, change the
Cosmos this night. It is my Will that . . . say in your own words what you hope to accomplish with this curriculum.

7. After a moment a quiet, recite this, the corrected version of Webb's text:

I call the Vampyric current into me as it was remanifested in 1748.
From ancient tombs and forgotten nightmares, come O Great
Vampire, I say you are better than my mother:
Dear boy/girl, who believes the firm words of your ever-pious momma,
Who like the Heyduckish peasant folk at

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believe
I am a deadly Vampyre, you do not love me—I take revenge
On your unconsciousness, I will drink from you as a Vampyre.
When you sleep softly I will suck rich purple from your cheeks.
I will scare you! I will kiss you and kiss you as a Vampyre kisses.
If you are shocked, you will fall dull in my arms
You will swoon like the dead, and with soft voice,
I will ask, are not the Vampyre’s teachings better than your
momma’s?

After a moment of quiet say:

I bare my neck to the Great Vampyre, I will try his Teachings,
And if I succeed with them swoon to my old life
And rise anew with the Night!

Now pass your left hand over the flames of three candles seven
times.

I will Try the new, I die to what does not empower me. I will Try
my secret wants and set aside dreams, I will Try to remember
myself and forget the lie that that has been told to me. And I will
have faith only in what I discover in this new world of strangeness
and beauty!

8. Closing:

My Magic prevails without mercy. My Magic finds its warriors
with rapid accuracy. My Magick manifests by the wisest path. My
Magick endureth from Aeon to Aeon. My Magick is incarnate
in my words, my thoughts, my deeds, my dreams and my
circumstance. Hail the ancient dreams! The Five Become the One
and enrich the One!

9. Meditate on what you have seen—both with your inner eyes and in the chamber. Close your eyes and try to “swallow” your memories. Extinguish the candles in reverse order from your lighting of them, and say,

My Energy existed long before this body, long before this Rite. My
Energy brings me Power, Pleasure and Wisdom. My Energy will
exist after the passing of this dying world.

10. Turn on lights, put things away. Write down your record of the rite. Immerse yourself in another activity that totally engages you. Under no circumstances speak of the rite to anyone unless they are a fellow magician working with you.

11. Before going to sleep, stand before a mirror
and say,

I send my memories to the wonderland of dreams this night, so I
may know more marvels.

Drink a goblet full of water while staring in the mirror. If you
recall any dreams—regardless of how silly their contents—
record these the next day as well.

 

[Xenophon]

Did the rite last night. Nothing to discuss. Just noting that there are those out here doing the book.

The "Life Analysis" questions did, however, put me in mind of an old made-for-TV movie with Jack Palance as Dracula. I only this morning recalled how the film provided me with the link of Dracula and Vlad Tepes. Palance played a man out of his age and, if you will, "a man against time." That later played a bit of a role in my development.

 

[Xenophon]

In the "TRY" section, Webb has an intriguing question for the pupil's consideration on the relation between wonted environment and perceived free will. One is tempted to muse about the degree to which "magick" might have become one more niche for acting-out pandemic consumerist conditioning. Conversely, one wearies in advance of the cacaphony attendant on advancing such a thesis.

 

[Wintruz]

Maybe go ahead and post what you think are the best readings. I'm already through a first reading of Webb and am looking at Peake's "Life After." I doubt that a suggested list will cramp our style. Dictating to magi is like cat-herding, no?

1. Month One - Try - Dracula by Bram Stoker and/or The Delicate Dependency by Michael Talbot
2. Month Two - Thelema - Kali Kalua: A Manual of Tantric Magic by Jan Fries
3. Month Three - Indulgence - The Satanic Witch by Anton LaVey and/or Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
4. Month Four - Runa - Carnal Alchemy by Stephen Flowers and/or After the Ecstasy, the Laundry by Jack Kornfield
5. Month Five - Xeper - MindStar by Michael Aquino
6. Month Six - Remanifest - Is there Life after Death? The Extraordinary Science of What Happens after We Die by Anthony Peake
7. Month Seven - Arkte - Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine
8. Month Eight - Wyrd - The Labyrinth of Time: The Illusion of Past, Present and Future by Anthony Peake
9. Month Nine - Synesis - The Full Facts of Cold Reading by Ian Rowland and/or Philosophy as a Way of Life by Pierre Hardot

 

[Xenophon]

1. Month One - Try - Dracula by Bram Stoker and/or The Delicate Dependency by Michael Talbot
2. Month Two - Thelema - Kali Kalua: A Manual of Tantric Magic by Jan Fries
3. Month Three - Indulgence - The Satanic Witch by Anton LaVey and/or Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
4. Month Four - Runa - Carnal Alchemy by Stephen Flowers and/or After the Ecstasy, the Laundry by Jack Kornfield
5. Month Five - Xeper - MindStar by Michael Aquino
6. Month Six - Remanifest - Is there Life after Death? The Extraordinary Science of What Happens after We Die by Anthony Peake
7. Month Seven - Arkte - Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine
8. Month Eight - Wyrd - The Labyrinth of Time: The Illusion of Past, Present and Future by Anthony Peake
9. Month Nine - Synesis - The Full Facts of Cold Reading by Ian Rowland and/or Philosophy as a Way of Life by Pierre Hardot

Great. I read Peake's book Webb mentions on "life after death." It starts well; an unkind reviewer might say it turns into intellectual train wreck nearing its end. I remember Stoker rather more fondly.

 

[Asteriskos]

I think it's cool that you've isolated/encapsulated this topic within a journal format, as opposed to some more general forum, it "seems" somehow appropriate!

Post automatically merged: Aug 9, 2024

I think it's cool that you've isolated/encapsulated this topic within a journal format, as opposed to some more general forum, it "seems" somehow appropriate!

I'm also checking out some of the substance, Don Webb's not unknown to me.

 

[Xenophon]

I just started "The Delicate Dependency." From page one, it strikes a captivating mood well suited to the topic at hand. Dracula might have broken the ground, but this book is one helluva of a continuation to that tradition.

 

[plainsight]

Thanks for sharing

 

[Wintruz]

I just started "The Delicate Dependency." From page one, it strikes a captivating mood well suited to the topic at hand. Dracula might have broken the ground, but this book is one helluva of a continuation to that tradition.

Dracula is an excellent novel. For this Working I would say it's chief value lies in the way the Vampyre manifests in the Dark Lord archetype. His existence is entirely self-Willed and he acts independently of the zeitgeists which control the "crew of light". There's interesting links in there too around the use of seduction (the lure of money and sex) to draw humans into his plan and using patterns from regional folklore for magical power. There's also an interesting thought following his need for soil from his own land, a literal Blood and Soil magical nexus.

The Delicate Dependency is probably my favourite vampire novel. It essentially depicts vampires as initiates of the Rosicrucian/alchemical sort. Not included by Webb but I'd also recommend the first three novels in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series. Rice's unfortunate alcoholism makes them inconsistently written and, after the first three, it all starts to fall apart under its own weight. Still, there's a great deal of insight into the Vampyre using the strength of his consciousness to overcome death and the relationship with traditional religion.

 

[Xenophon]

Dracula is an excellent novel. For this Working I would say it's chief value lies in the way the Vampyre manifests in the Dark Lord archetype. His existence is entirely self-Willed and he acts independently of the zeitgeists which control the "crew of light". There's interesting links in there too around the use of seduction (the lure of money and sex) to draw humans into his plan and using patterns from regional folklore for magical power. There's also an interesting thought following his need for soil from his own land, a literal Blood and Soil magical nexus.

The Delicate Dependency is probably my favourite vampire novel. It essentially depicts vampires as initiates of the Rosicrucian/alchemical sort. Not included by Webb but I'd also recommend the first three novels in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series. Rice's unfortunate alcoholism makes them inconsistently written and, after the first three, it all starts to fall apart under its own weight. Still, there's a great deal of insight into the Vampyre using the strength of his consciousness to overcome death and the relationship with traditional religion.

I had forgotten the "Blut und Boden" angle in Dracula. Physical mobility exacts its price from even we mere mortals. The urge many folks feel to revisit "the old country" can repay spiritually many-fold.

 

[Xenophon]

As this goes on (a week and a half now) I notice an habitual disconnect. Whatever rites I do, whatever magickal readings, my dreams are aggressively mundane. (Were I given to psychobabble, I'd say "passive-aggressive.") Almost always I dream about work-related reading material, usually rehashed in dreary conversations with more or less faceless interlocutors. Waking life is a good deal more interesting.

 

[Wintruz]

As this goes on (a week and a half now) I notice an habitual disconnect. Whatever rites I do, whatever magickal readings, my dreams are aggressively mundane. (Were I given to psychobabble, I'd say "passive-aggressive.") Almost always I dream about work-related reading material, usually rehashed in dreary conversations with more or less faceless interlocutors. Waking life is a good deal more interesting.

Don't overemphasise the dream aspect.

I would, of course, say this given that it's a dimension that I've always found hugely unpredictable. Previously, I did find, much, much later in the curriculum, that dreams became a gateway to magical work and sometimes just a manifestation of Indulgence that let me smiling in the morning (not necessarily sexual, a masque, feast and energy exchange with Hollywood-type vampires was particularly memorable). As with all things, improvement does come but if that's not where your natural affinities lie, turn instead to the effect on waking life (commanding social presence, the ability to access the secret Self, etc.). For my part, I can cast magic into the world and know with the certainty of the sun rising that it will produce an effect that otherwise would not have happened (with all the attendant magical/synchronistic "tingles") but, nearly twenty-five years into magical Work, I still cannot have a lucid dream without immediately waking.

C'est la vie.

 

[Xenophon]

On a happier note, the ending of The Delicate Dependency was a master stroke. To say more were unforgivable spoiler.

 

[Xenophon]

@ Wintruz. It's a full moon tonight. Any variation as to Webb's ritual?

 

[Wintruz]

No, no variations to the Inventory, just observe any changes in your thoughts, interests, etc. It's also a good night to do some sorcery; as the moon fades, it carries your desire into the unknown Dark from where it will Remanifest.

 

[Xenophon]

I have noticed of late that places I have been walking past for twelve years and more look new, interesting. A little like one's university days when THC first reared its head.

 

[Xenophon]

I did Webb's nightly rite outside, the first clear night in some few days. Coming to the part about "It is my Will that...," I happened to raise my eyes and light straightaway on a planet that, I realized was one highly favorable to the intended work. A modest synchronicity, call this.

 

[Xenophon]

Next month's book, Jan Fries' Kali Kaula, looks to be heady stuff. I'm just a few pages in and have perused the TOC to see what's the plan. Fittingly the syllabus pairs this with Crowley's Thelema. Perhaps in a spirit of what the Beast shoulda been?