magic | The Blog of Baphomet

While the beginnings of many religious traditions are decidedly focused on the salvation, liberation or empowerment of the individual, they rarely remain as such. Given time to evolve and gaze outwards, many religious traditions develop a greater sense of collective responsibility, where the impact of any apparent awakening demands a response to the “other” and the world around them.

In considering such development, contemporary Paganism is no different and this concise work by Phil Hine provides us with a pacey and inspiring overview of the evolution of the political dimensions of Paganism within the UK scene.

Phil begins by mapping some of the origins of political conservatism within occult and esoteric circles, with writers such as Dion Fortune casting doubts over the spiritual pedigree of those who involve themselves with worldly politics. Such messages helped shape the reluctance within the magical and Pagan circles well into the 1970’s and early 80’s often leading to an absence of challenge to the mainstream positions in a way that translated into activism. For Hine this shifted radically during the ‘Satanic Panic’ that hit the UK in the late 80’s and early 90’s, which seemed to catalyse parts of the Pagan and magical communities into adopting a new radical openness in seeking to challenge the lazy stereotyping and misinformation so widespread in the media.

This work features some inspiring flyers and snippets from ‘zines from this time period that help capture the dynamism and punk rock energy that inspired many Pagans to greater acts of openness and heroism. Phil helpfully tracks a timeline of magical resistance before the late 1980’s as it manifested in Pagan contributions to the Greenham Common anti-nuclear protests, PAN: Pagans Against Nukes, Stop the City and the contribution of the PaganLink Network. These movements alongside seminal works such as Starhawk’s Dreaming the Dark (1982) helped ferment a new questioning as to whether “we are content to be spare bedroom Witches” with a limited vision of what our Paganism has to offer the world.

Moving into the 1990’s Phil paints a vivid picture of the collective ritual workings of the Dragon Environmental Network, Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth and Queer Pagan Camp as they sought to bring people together to challenge both ecological threat and attempts to limit sexual liberty. These collective actions fostered community and helped create a sense that change was possible. The book provides us with insights into large group rituals such as the ‘Heal the Earth’ working (summer solstice 1987) and smaller sorcerous rites born from his time in the Leeds squat movement where the “magic of need” brought together activists seeking change in their immediate communities. These aren’t simply feel-good pathworkings in the hope of societal change, with rituals such as ‘Unleash the Furies’ illustrating how occult technologies such as Goetic working can be used to name, contain and then redirect contemporary demons such as patriarchal abuse or homophobic violence.

While this work is inescapably a challenge for us to move our magical practice and perspectives out of our spooky-club ghettos, it also manages to avoid the grimness that can feel present in our often near-exhausted activism. What I really enjoy about Phil’s writing is his ability to remain playful and humorous even as he is trying to describe the realities of trying to bring about political change. In a similar way to his ‘Liber Nice’ in his seminal Prime Chaos, he frames many group rituals as having a Discordian and almost Dadaist potential in being able to disrupt and undermine the bloated misuses of power that so often lay at the heart of oppression. When we are able to ‘play’ via our protests, so we model and embody a freedom that can even act as an invitation to those who we are protesting against.

The book concludes with a rich and diverse section on influences and resources to inspire. Phil reminds us of our heroic forebears such as Annie Besant, Florence Farr and those Kali worshippers who invoked her potency in order to challenge British colonialism. These spiritual allies and suggestions all aid what Phil calls “A Space for Wonder”, that can help us when our activism and protest might threaten burn-out or compassion fatigue. How can our Paganisms and practices reawaken creativity, openness and a connection with others? This is surely one of the primary goals of our magic and as such Hine urges us to embrace Wonder’s “alienating presentness”:

“Wonder propels us toward the unfamiliar, to seek new relations, to revel in dizzying complexity and richness. Wonder pulls us into the world beyond a limited horizon, beyond the certain, the familiar, the possible.”

In our current times, Phil’s book is a real grimoire for a magical engagement with our lives, our struggles and our joys. Highly recommended.

Steve Dee

Buy Act of Magical Resistance by Phil Hine

Coming up next…

Baphomet Magic – March 13th and 20th, 7-9pm UK time live and recorded.

Ghost in the Machine – March 25th, 7-8:30pm UK time live and recorded.

Psychotropics & Western Magic – April 3rd, 7-8:30pm UK time live and recorded.

Aleister Crowley & Liber AL – April 8th, 7-8:30pm UK time live and recorded.

Breaking Convention, Europe’s largest and most diverse conference on psychedelic consciousness. 17th-19th April at The University of Exeter.

The History & Practice of Scrying – May 15th, 7-8:30pm UK time live and recorded.

As many of us are now showing our solidarity by being on retreat I’d like to make a suggestion for some shared magical work to address the coronavirus pandemic.

This working was initially suggested by a member of the Illuminates of Thanateros and I’d like to thank that Brother for starting the process.

Many people will be already be doing magical work in many different ways and what I’m suggesting here allows for that diversity. We needs lots of approaches to address this crisis, in multiplicity there is strength.

To help link our magical work together this is the suggested sigil which has been named ‘Hearty’ for all the obvious reasons:

The sigil can be used as a focal point for various types of magical action including:

Sending vibes of solidarity, care, admiration and positive power to all those in the caring professions, teachers, medical staff and the many others who are at the front line in this pandemic.

Conjuring for breakthroughs in medicine, treatment, the discovery of a vaccine and other technologies and approaches to reduce suffering and support healing.

Sending spells to directly affect the virus to reduce its rate of transmission and severity.

Doing some classic shamanistic or trance work to enter the imaginal world and battle the virus.

Calling into manifestation those timelines in which our species respond to this challenge in ways that support better ways of living together on the planet and with all our relations (both human and non-human).

There are many other ways you could choose to work with the sigil. Your practice could be as simple as creating your own image of Hearty or bringing it up on screen and making prayers of gratitude and asking whatever spirits you work with for their help.

You could try some Tonglen practice using Hearty as the gateway image, breathing in the suffering of those affected by the virus and breathing out the alleviation of suffering through the symbol. (Only recommended for experienced practitioners who are in a good mental state.)

You could also use Hearty as a visual focus while speaking aloud to yourself or a friend (including over audio/video channels) and together create a ‘future nostalgia’. “Do you remember how it was that COVID-19, for all the sadness it brought, finally helped us come together as one people to address climate change and wealth inequality? Do you remember how we found a really effective and simple antidote to the virus and how wonderful the celebrations were when we emerged from our retreats? etc”.

An additional resource that you might want to include in this work is this soundtrack generated from the genome of the virus.

Here’s an example of a practice with Hearty, developed by a magical friend who is working in an intensive care unit, nursing people with the coronavirus:

Breathing with Good Heart

A breathing exercise/ritual. Can be used alone as a meditation or prayer using the sigil, or as part of a larger piece of ritual work. At a time when we face a respiratory disease, this focuses on breath as a tool to share collective prayer and ritual. Use the sigil, either printed or drawn in front of you, or in your mind. Imagine the sigil as a compass and use four cardinal points for each breath. You could draw the sigil on the floor and stand in it as your magical circle, turning to each direction as you perform the ritual.

Come to a still, centred state of awareness.

Place one hand to my chest, the other outstretched

“For my kin, for my kind, I will offer 5 breaths.”

In the East, breathe in deeply and say

“Inspiration – the breath of life that is Air

A consciousness higher, let us meet there.”

Bring attention to the element of Air.

In the South, breathe deeply and say:

“A breath for the flames that bring action and light

For passion for love, rise after the night.”

Bring attention to the element of Fire.

In the West, breathe deeply and say:

“A breath for the Water that cleanses and flows

For the tears, for the dreams, for the depths unknown.”

Bring attention to the element of Water.

In the North, breathe deeply and say:

“Inhale now and root deeply into the Earth

For the here, for the now, for the death and rebirth.”

Bring attention to the element of Earth.

Facing upwards.

“A breath for the Spirit that binds us as one

For unity, for truth, now the circle is spun.”

Take a final moment to allow your intention to pass into all those people, situations and objects that will help us in this time.

***

Obviously whatever magical work you do this needs to be combined with physical care for ourselves and others in our community.

We’re already seeing many heartening examples of community solidarity. A friend in Barcelona tells me that at 8pm each evening people come onto their balconies to clap and cheer in support of their medical staff. Let us, as Witches, Magicians, Shamans, Druids, Thelemites and others, create a global circle of power at this time of crisis and transformation. Let us be of good heart and breathe life into this magic!

Blessings on our Great Work and Happy Equinox!

Julian Vayne