Monthly Archives: November 2010

Ghosts in the Machine?

Whilst reading an article provided by a Facebook friend about an evangelical sect in Brazil who have purportedly banned the use of USB technology because it bears the mark of Satan, (see here), I followed another link, the content of which made me giggle, but not for the reason you might think (and here).

In this article it clearly states amongst other things, that “Any PC built after 1985 has the storage capacity to house an evil spirit”.

I do like the fact that they have decided that a memory capacity is required to store said demons, which I think is a little silly but, theoretically, they may be correct. Across the world there is a long history of humanity constructing poppets, fetishes and spirits house within which demonic, familiar and ancestral spirits can reside.

I spent sometime debating the possibility of these entities residing within an electronic environment and how that might be achieved, sigilisation of circuit boards seemed to be the most obvious way in which to do this, however the contruction of servitors and even possibly egregores purely electronically or through the medium of branding could be achieved with a view to them performing a specific function. Accidental creation is also not beyond the realms of possibility either, I already joke, that when I need to know something, I go and worship the great god google!

I read of interesting experiments online to create electronic guardians of websites, Barbelith was one particular site that sprang to mind, some 5 or 6 yrs ago if I recall correctly their servitor achieved egregore status and promptly locked some of the admins out of the site, if reports are to be believed.

I even spent sometime sporting an avatar which was a photo of a spirit house containing a thoughtform, with the intention to give it access to the electronic realms, the results of those experiements weren’t particularly successful, but that may have had something to do with the thoughtform itself rather than the manner in which it was given access (it was a singularly useless thoughtform and I breathed a sigh of relief after it was returned to the person to constructed it).

So are these claims really so far fetched, recent joking discussion on my status have included a work of fiction in which the Lwa find the web, and what would happen when the goetics get email access, it gives a whole new meaning for “gmail” doesn’t it. Or are they and we already using an electronic medium to access the other worlds? I actually think so? Obviously I don’t percieve that these manifestations are as the result of Satan, and neither do I believe that as a result of being a computer buff I am going to go out and shoot a school full of innocent children, but I do sometimes wonder, if some days we are just singing to the same tune, just with different lyrics.

The True meaning of Human Sacrifice

If you haven’t already read my post on Devotion, you might like to read it before continuing on DEVOTION.

I thought I might expand a little bit on the subject today as recently I’ve seen a lot of “want it quick, want it easy, want it now” attitude happening. I’d been advised that putting anything on my blog from my book before it was published was probably a little unwise, but I felt it necessary to make an exception in this case, here is a little of what I write about sacrifice in the ancient world.

in general it appears that even in ancient society there was worth in expensive or difficult to obtain items, a value that perhaps has been forgotten, sacrifice as a ritual device was not and should not necessarily be all about blood offerings and immolation, but about providing the Gods with items worthy of their notice and devotion over and above everyday religious activity. – From the forthcoming book Liber Hekate by Tara Sanchez

Devotion and sacrifice to what ever deity you venerate is not just about lighting candles, burning incense, doing ritual, reading holy books, even going to church or other sacred sanctuary; it is about sacrifice, real human sacrifice; and in our modern world where everything IS bigger, better, faster, more, what is more precious than our time and our effort.

My daily devotion currently consists of sitting at this computer, sometimes upwards of twelve hours a day, I write, I write about Hekate, agonising over the content and the details, hoping that what I provide is worthy of notice. And its not the first time my devotional work has been, to the outsider, apparently entirely mundane and time consuming, I’ve spent whole weekends up to my elbows in clay creating images, hours with superglue and hundreds of glass beads, creating, when I would rather have been out with my friends or family instead. And I’ve smashed those lovingly, hard worked for items, into a million smithereens, burnt them on open fires, gifted them to others, thrown things in running water, launched them into the sea. I think you get the idea, I made a sacrifce, just as I sacrificed my time, I sacrificed the item itself.

Oh I could have bought many of the items I have created from the shops or other artisans. Got them quick, got them easy; but that isn’t the point. I had to put the effort and energy and intent into it, if I hadn’t, then the sacrifice would have meant nothing to me, or her for that matter!