tantra | The Blog of Baphomet

“Women are divinity, women are life, women are jewels.”
Yoni Tantra

“Within, a Sakta; outwardly a Saivite; in the world a Vaisnava. This is the rule.”
Kaula Upanisad

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of my previous explorations of the contribution that Mike Magee has made to development of the Thelemic current within the world of contemporary occultism here. Via the impact of the Amookos Order that he founded (the Arcane and Magickal Order Of the Knights Of Shambhala), and his accessible but scholarly translation of core Sanskrit texts, Mike has helped lay a significant foundation for how we as magical practitioners in the 21st Century integrate non-western sources into our practice.

The genesis of Amookos is often considered to be the result of Mike’s initiatory relationship with Sri Mahendranath (Dadaji) and the seismic impact that this had on his personal magical universe. While the encounter with Dadaji was undoubtedly powerful, it also came within the context of his work with Kenneth Grant and his Typhonian Order. Grant himself was significantly influenced by Eastern teaching and source material (as depicted within At the Feet of the Guru) and Mike is quite open about how the presence of this material in his work with Grant catalyzed his own journey eastwards. Prior to travelling to India and encountering Dadaji, Mike had already begun mantra work, embarked on in-depth studies of Sidereal astrology and Sanskrit, and was familiar with Kashmir Shaivism. While Dadaji’s relationship with Mike and Amookos sadly deteriorated due to the on-set of dementia at the end of Dadaji’s life, Mike was able to utilize his own significant skills as both a translator and interpreter to move forward on the path and this current volume is a prime example of his contribution.

For me, this book represents a brilliant distillation of over 40 years of practice, translation and interpretation of the Tantric Shri Vidya (Goddess focused) tradition. For those in the know, Mike’s work held over at shivashakti.com has long represented some of the highest quality translations of primary texts relating to the Kaula Nath path (upon which Amookos is based) and wider tantric traditions. This book provides us with an excellent drawing together of material relating to the darker aspects of the Goddess and specifically the Great Mother Kali.

The book has a forward by Phil Hine and contains numerous beautifully illustrated line drawings by Jan Bailey. The introduction by Mike contains a superb overview of the central themes, methods and approaches that are often utilized in approaching “the primordial Devi who is the root of all Great Knowledges….She destroys time, is time, and is the night of eternity”. Blimey! And we are only on page 4! As both a practitioner and scholar, Magee does not shy away from the complexity of the terrain he is seeking to depict and the differing cultures and historic periods that this material has emerged from. While this is far from a simplified attempt to reduce the Great Mother to a few bullet points, it does offer the determined explorer with a vital portal through which we can appreciate the contradiction and theological complexity that her traditions embody.

Kali Magic is at once scholarly and highly practical with sections on Sadhana that explore core techniques and technologies such as mantra, yantra and nyasa. The book contains helpful explanations of the major Kali Yantras and how their insights might provide vital keys as to how our practice might be earthed in the body and within the ritual space (whether actual or imagined) of the cremation grounds. In the latter portion of the book Mike provides us with vivid translations of primary source material that will allow our practical exploration to be based firmly within the depths of historic traditions. Personally I found these Goddess Upanishads and Tantras both powerful and shocking in their physical frankness. As Mike stresses, the way of the Great Mother and the Left Hand Path is raw and unapologetic in its exploration of how bodily fluids and sexual practices can be skillfully utilized in promoting the most profound alchemical processes:

“The miraculous Yoni Tattva Tantra is the best of all tantras. Because of love for you, this very hidden tantra is revealed. The only evil in sexual intercourse is disgust for blood and semen. He who mixes them with wine is discriminating in worship.” Yoni Tantra, Third Patala.

This is a truly significant work that represents a lifetime of scholarship and devotion, and while deep and demanding it also captures the raw beauty of Kali and pulls no punches in opening a door way to her mysteries. Highly recommended for those magical practitioners wishing to work with Tantric currents in a way in that is profoundly aware of the original source material so as to avoid either reductionism or consumerist appropriation. As we as Pagans and Occultists seek to evolve and strengthen our theology and sadhana in order to highlight the potent validity of our chosen spiritual paths, works such as Kali Magic offer a vital and valuable contribution to such processes of growth.

Steve Dee

Purchase Kali Magic by Mike Magee

Coming Up Next…

There are still a few places left on our Sacred Space Holder Program for people looking to develop their practice of working with Sacred Mushrooms. Join Nikki, Julian and the fabulous Fungi Academy crew in October on the shores of Lake Atitlán for a hands-on adventure into the science and spirituality of psychedelic ceremony.

For people who can’t make it in person to Fungi Academy HQ in Guatemala there is the Psychedelic Journeywork course, use the code ‘Julian’ to get a discount!

Julian is also going to be teaching again with Treadwell’s Books in the autumn this year with lectures and workshops, online and in-person, on subjects including The Meaning of Witchcraft, Queer Magic, Applied Chaos Magic, Aleister Crowley’s Magick and The Thoth Tarot

For more details of one-to-one mentoring and support, psychedelic integration services, tarot readings and online courses with Julian please visit julianvayne.com

Nikki and Julian will be running a ceremony at Medicine Festival and will also be speaking at Trans-States.

Steve Dee’s new book Chaos Monk: Bringing Magical Creativity to the New Monastic Path is out now!

The Magical Pact of The Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT) have been experimenting with online magic way before it was fashionable (or necessary, as in the face of a pandemic…). Over the last few months, in addition to online meetings, the British Isles Section (each geographical region has autonomous ‘Sections’) of the IOT has also been producing more public facing content so that people can get a sense of the kind of the magical work we do firsthand.

You can now follow the British Isles Section of the IOT on Instagram where we’ll be sharing art, images from ritual work and a range of other enchantments. Over on YouTube, viewers are getting to discover the truth about the IOT with bite-size interviews hosted by former IOT Section Head Soror Brigantia.

Meanwhile, on my own YouTube channel ‘My Magical Thing’ continues to share objects and stories for a growing circle of esoteric and psychedelic practitioners. In case you’ve somehow missed them, the most recent film features the awesome editor of the psychedelic renaissance, Nikki Wyrd.

I’ve got a number of films ready to release over the next few weeks featuring everything from emerging ‘Instagram witches’ through to leading academics in the field of occulture. (In fact some of the My Magical Thing material is filtering from popular culture into academic online space.) Please like, share, subscribe and enjoy!

Still in virtual space: I’ve had the pleasure of leading weekly workshops in conjunction with Treadwell’s Books. The next one (this week) is on the subject of Left-hand Path Tantra. A few places are still left (geddit?) so grab some sacred ash, your kapala, and come and join me for two hours of theory, discussion and practice. In future, I’ll also be leading some very special workshops for the growing number of chaos witches and devotees of Baphomet out there, as well as sharing new content in my Cleansing, Banishing and Centering workshop, which received this rave review. Banishing magic pro tip! Here are two of the most powerful techniques known: The first is by me and my son, foolproof against any malignant entities, while this Vajrayāna left-hand path sorcery technique turns hatred from the haters into ecstatic kundalini energy! I hope you can join me at one or more of these Treadwell’s curated magical gatherings soon 😀

When it comes to the Tantric material one of its interesting aspects is how its ‘disturbing’ imagery (skulls, headless Goddesses spurting blood and other gore) functions as a mechanism to deter dilettantes, the prurient, and those without the necessary discernment or daring to walk the magical path. Some examples of ‘transgressive’ tantric images I use in my workshop come from the wonderful photography of Darragh Mason Field (I’ll be appearing on his podcast soon). In the episode where Darragh meets the Aghori in Varanasi he mentions how these Shivites – who get accused of all the usual ‘black magic’ stuff by the uninitiated – deliberately employ scary iconography and a dodgy reputation to keep away the hoi polloi. This strategy means they can get on with their devotions which, while extreme by some standards, are in no way abusive or threatening in the sense their detractors imagine. This gate keeping process works really well and can be found in many aspects of western occulture; By scaring off those who have been taken in by superficial ‘shocking’ stories of horror and malefic magic, only those with the determination to discover things for themselves, only ‘sincere seekers’, are admitted to the inner sanctum of the Mysteries.

Few actually bother to sit with the Aghori and find out the truth for themselves. I was honoured to be able to do just that while in Nepal in 2011. In fact I actually ended up taking over one Baba’s role for an afternoon. I had been chatting with the ash-covered incumbent of a little Naga temple on the outskirts of a town over several days. One morning I came to visit him, bringing with me my Thoth tarot deck. My host been drinking the night before and, after our conversation, where we discussed the relationship between the Thoth images and the iconography of Hindu and Tibetan Tantrism – he pulled a tarpaulin over himself and fell into a boozy, snoring slumber. Some local men from the village came up the track to sit beside me at the Baba’s fire pit out of which stuck his iron trident garlanded with rudraksha beads. ‘The Baba is sleeping’ I explained to the first visitor. ‘Ah yes!’ I was told, ‘this week the Baba is only drinking alcohol. No milk, no grain or meat. He is only drinking alcohol, he is very holy!’ This visitor soon spotted my tarot cards and of course asked for a reading. Several readings, and many chillums later, I left the tiny temple with my ‘very holy’ Shivite host still sound asleep.

One day I hope to return to the Himalayas but for now I shall content myself with the cliffs and hills of Devon, and those online meetings with marvellous magical people in far distant lands.

I hope that, dear friends, you are faring well in these difficult times. As I’ve said I plan to keep sharing those Magical Things. There are also some big projects in train right now designed to bring magic to some even wider audiences and, in time, gods willing, we shall all be able to share our magic not only online but in physical space too.

Wishing you and your community well.

Julian Vayne