Martinie: September MR 2008
Posted on 11/16/08 02:55 pm
Monday
9.1.2008
Hurricane Gustav….evacuate to Bloomington.
Listening to the weather news with Mishlen.
I am very disturbed by the barges loose in the Industrial Canal. This is oddly like Katrina.
Tuesday
9.2.2008
Hurricane Gustav...Bloomington evacuation.
H-T story…a good way to say Goodby and Thank You to all those who helped us so much after Hurricane Katrina.
Wednesday
9.3.2008
Hurricane Gustav..Bloomington evacuation.
2007 Tax…almost complete. This is the last of Hurricane Katrina. We sold the badly damaged house on Lake Pontchartrain in 2007.
9.1.2008
Hurricane Gustav….evacuate to Bloomington.
Listening to the weather news with Mishlen.
I am very disturbed by the barges loose in the Industrial Canal. This is oddly like Katrina.
Tuesday
9.2.2008
Hurricane Gustav...Bloomington evacuation.
H-T story…a good way to say Goodby and Thank You to all those who helped us so much after Hurricane Katrina.
Wednesday
9.3.2008
Hurricane Gustav..Bloomington evacuation.
2007 Tax…almost complete. This is the last of Hurricane Katrina. We sold the badly damaged house on Lake Pontchartrain in 2007.
Martinie - November M R - weekly entry
Posted on 11/09/08 02:50 pm
Saturday
11.1.2008
Rite: To seat Erzulie Frieda in woman’s head
Drum and participate. Reverend Severine and Reverend Kenneth officiating
In Lacomb, La. Through Bayou Pacquet. A bit of a drive and the woman didn’t show. Ah! This is so much like Erzulie Freida. She is surely a daughter of that loa.
Severine had worked all week in setting up the land around her house for the rite. It was to take place there and in boats on Lake Pontchartrain.
Lights on Graves
There is a custom in of setting lights on the graves. We offered prayers and harvested photo graphs. I thanked those setting the lights. So beautiful.
There is a co incidence of fire here. Friday I photo graphed the burnt house and the fire blower on Frenchman Friday.
Sunday
11.2.2008
New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple:
Second line for Oba Ma and Oba Tala.
Winding through the Quarter to the Mississippi. Flowers put into the current.
Priestess Miriam called the loa; a bystander was ridden and did a summersault into the not overly warm water.
We stopped at a the Voodoo Museum and Voodoo Authentica. It is such a good thing when the different spiritual houses pay honor and respect to one another. All of us are so busy in our circles, our areas of activity. Where we can make the most difference. To me, its not that the Houses should work together. We all have enough to do. Grace comes from the simple act of honoring and respecting one another.
Monday
11.3.2008
BlackMoon…Ben Rowe mss. Moving toward completion.
Time is beginning to open up. I’m being here more than moving back.
Fringe Fest…I’m playing drums with a performance group doing Crow Jane, created by Jessica Radcliffe. Spoken work and music.
Tuesday
11.4.2008
Election; watched with Priestess Miriam and Allen.
The Oba Ma is chosen.
My eyes teared when he said “straight and gay.”
When the great king is in place, the land and all in it are properly set.
I realized that the last leader of such stature was Dr. ML King.
Coffee and Beignets with the poppet when I got to the studio.
Wednesday
11.5.2008
There is a glow in me from the election. Hope.
The city is covered with a deep, white fog.
Erzulie…I had wrapped gifts to Erzulie for the rite last Saturday in a white paper. I left my room this morning and saw that the paper had been hung like a white flag. Erzulie in the wind. Odd.
Thursday
11.6.2008
I am revolving in my mind the possibility of holding drum prayers for the long lif and safety of the Oba. This would be a continuation of the 1990 to 1998 rites at the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple with a new meaning in a new time.
Friday
11.7.2008
Jessica…Conversation about the importance of saying a name. When a friend went to Glastonbury, Jessica asked her to say her name at the holy spot.
Jessica said that was all that she wanted, the only thing she wanted.
Saturday
11.8.2008
Sylvia…electronic mail, she made contact with @ “ A loa so lost, so unremembered it had forgotten its own name.” This is a poignant thought. Names again.
Sunday
11.9.2008
Rite: For Priest Oswan at grave site.
I want to play the temple rhythm he loved so much, “Mosquito Jump.”
This return after the Storm is in many ways a new beginning for me.
I look forward to praying at his grave…for all of us.
11.1.2008
Rite: To seat Erzulie Frieda in woman’s head
Drum and participate. Reverend Severine and Reverend Kenneth officiating
In Lacomb, La. Through Bayou Pacquet. A bit of a drive and the woman didn’t show. Ah! This is so much like Erzulie Freida. She is surely a daughter of that loa.
Severine had worked all week in setting up the land around her house for the rite. It was to take place there and in boats on Lake Pontchartrain.
Lights on Graves
There is a custom in of setting lights on the graves. We offered prayers and harvested photo graphs. I thanked those setting the lights. So beautiful.
There is a co incidence of fire here. Friday I photo graphed the burnt house and the fire blower on Frenchman Friday.
Sunday
11.2.2008
New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple:
Second line for Oba Ma and Oba Tala.
Winding through the Quarter to the Mississippi. Flowers put into the current.
Priestess Miriam called the loa; a bystander was ridden and did a summersault into the not overly warm water.
We stopped at a the Voodoo Museum and Voodoo Authentica. It is such a good thing when the different spiritual houses pay honor and respect to one another. All of us are so busy in our circles, our areas of activity. Where we can make the most difference. To me, its not that the Houses should work together. We all have enough to do. Grace comes from the simple act of honoring and respecting one another.
Monday
11.3.2008
BlackMoon…Ben Rowe mss. Moving toward completion.
Time is beginning to open up. I’m being here more than moving back.
Fringe Fest…I’m playing drums with a performance group doing Crow Jane, created by Jessica Radcliffe. Spoken work and music.
Tuesday
11.4.2008
Election; watched with Priestess Miriam and Allen.
The Oba Ma is chosen.
My eyes teared when he said “straight and gay.”
When the great king is in place, the land and all in it are properly set.
I realized that the last leader of such stature was Dr. ML King.
Coffee and Beignets with the poppet when I got to the studio.
Wednesday
11.5.2008
There is a glow in me from the election. Hope.
The city is covered with a deep, white fog.
Erzulie…I had wrapped gifts to Erzulie for the rite last Saturday in a white paper. I left my room this morning and saw that the paper had been hung like a white flag. Erzulie in the wind. Odd.
Thursday
11.6.2008
I am revolving in my mind the possibility of holding drum prayers for the long lif and safety of the Oba. This would be a continuation of the 1990 to 1998 rites at the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple with a new meaning in a new time.
Friday
11.7.2008
Jessica…Conversation about the importance of saying a name. When a friend went to Glastonbury, Jessica asked her to say her name at the holy spot.
Jessica said that was all that she wanted, the only thing she wanted.
Saturday
11.8.2008
Sylvia…electronic mail, she made contact with @ “ A loa so lost, so unremembered it had forgotten its own name.” This is a poignant thought. Names again.
Sunday
11.9.2008
Rite: For Priest Oswan at grave site.
I want to play the temple rhythm he loved so much, “Mosquito Jump.”
This return after the Storm is in many ways a new beginning for me.
I look forward to praying at his grave…for all of us.
New video post from Louis
Posted on 11/03/08 11:45 am
I have watched all of the video intos on the initiates forum a number of times, but I just went back to that page again today and noticed that Louis has posted another video clip. Just wanted to let you know someone is watching and enjoying. Thanks!
Tree of Life
Posted on 08/08/08 09:55 am
I would like to understand the Tree of Life better. Anything anyone can share?
Posted on 07/16/08 02:38 am
July 15, 2008
A dull white tapeworm-like snake is biting me. It doesn’t feel like a snakebite, but more like a pest bite. I’m not frightened just mostly irritated. I notice the head of the snake is similar to a past experience I had with a salmon-colored tapeworm that was astrally feeding on me. It all feels very nonspiritual. I realize that I must cleanse to rid myself of this astral pest. Be gone! I will not be food for this lower entity.
Posted on 07/01/08 10:20 pm
I’m in a restaurant with several Elder Guedeh. We are sitting at a round table at the back of the restaurant in a separate room. I don’t remember eating, but do get a sense of being together as a family working out a particular issue. There is a black coffin in the room with us. The coffin is old and matte black with large silver rings on the sides and silver ornamentation on the top. I’m told that I have to transfer the coffin. I’m uncomfortable with the task. It all feels chaotic. I’m at my house looking underneath where there is a crawlspace. There is wood lattice that I pull away and see a medium black dog pulling with it’s teeth the black lining of the coffin. The lid to the coffin is always shut. The dog is snarling, not angry, but concentrated on moving the coffin via the lining. The coffin is shaped more like a sarcophagus. I think the coffin is smaller so I can move it more easily. I feel an urgency to get the coffin out from under the house to another location and because there is debris surrounding it. I pull the coffin away from the dog, who quickly surrenders it and take it to the front of my house. I stand looking at it, content with the new location. The sunlight is coming through the trees dancing on the lid of the coffin.
Posted on 06/26/08 02:02 pm
Babalon Rising Festival _____________________________________________
June 6, 2008
Friday
Rain and storm…flooding. This is a part of the series of storms that caused two cars to float into each other and block the road down the hill from us.
I want to work on the sessions and rites for Babalon Rising so, all things considered; I will go to the fest tomorrow and work on the outlines tonight.
June 7, 2008
Saturday
Arrive about an hour before the first session. Our Haven is pregnant with spirit. There is a deep physical knowing of this.
Session:
Mademoiselle Katrina; New New Orleans Voodoo:
A New loa and a New Rhythm.
Louis Martinie
New loa are always being born. Hurricane Katrina as loa. St Johns Eve is the most sanctified date in New Orleans Voodoo. On August 29th, on the exact day the beheading of St. John the Baptist is celebrated, Hurricane Katrina immersed New Orleans This session/rite builds on a ritual performed with Priestess Miriam on March 1, 2008. Part of the background can be found in http://www.horusmaat.com/silverstar/SILVERSTAR9.htm. Manuscript # 43.
The session will include talk, learning to drum the rhythm, and using the rhythm in ritual.
Comment: Roselinda had a vision she described when I arrived. There was a rite on a concrete slab. There was water on the floor. A transparent water serpent, very fluid rose from the slab into the air and moved toward Roselinda then past Roselinda. The dead from the black community in New Orleans so hard hit by Katrina were with her and hungry and reaching for food. They were desperate, hungry and tired. You could see it in their eyes.
Very nice. The Katrina rhythm was done on a concrete slab and a fan was used to blow water into the air to cool the participants.
The rhythm is simple and strong. Persistent, inevitable it calls Msl. Katrina. The feeding of these dead is important. It is an act of grace that is planned to run through the other sessions and rites.
Ritual:
Old New Orleans Voodoo Drumming:
Confirmation in an Order of Service to the Loa
Louis Martinie
During this ritual session drum prayers and rhythms developed at ceremonies held by the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple will be taught. These prayers/rhythms are part of a unique Order of Service based upon birthing. The session will end with an honor bound confirmation in this Order of Service given through the loa blanc dan-i. The prayers and rhythms can be learnt with out participating in the confirmation.
Comment: The banda and the feeding of the dead is the strongest of the rhythms today. How odd…this is unexpected. The festival is a good distance from New Orleans. I brought blac dan-i into the grandfather drum and the confirmation was given from the head of that drum. This is something new. I usually invite the loa dan-i into my body. The drum was a good middle ground choice given things I wanted to do immediately after the rite.
MAYAN RUINS: I sat in with the group. New and old friends and a wonderful dancer. I have spent so much time on stage when I played with bands but the stage is still a special place, a point at a center of the universe. Owen recited “Face of still water” to the music. His voice and his body added to the power of his poem.
FIRE: The fire and the drumming was strong with spirit. The aspects of the ritualists and dancers around the fire was spectacular. The drumming was open so I played some of the voodoo rhythms. Bamboula and some of her 6 sisters. Fine memories of drumming in the court yard of the Voodoo Spiritual Temple and of the Krewe of Nuteria fanned the passions of the present. It is good to drum with brothers and sisters.
Ah! Then Babalon poured her beneficence onto me. I do believe that I saw all 7 of the stars.
June 8, 2008
Sunday
Owen Nature Walk….poetry and spoken work in the forest with Owen Knight. His presence uncovers the magick that is all ways there. At the end we stood in a clearing with the great trees nodding above us. Owen spoke of us as matter evolving toward self knowledge. He successfully evoked the mystery of such a journey. We stand and speak of spiritual matters in the center of the trees. The trees nodd to one another as they converse; possibly of the same matters. Owen Knight called this @”being in nature.”
Session:
Perspectives on Self Initiation: The Practitioner, the Priest, and the Professor.
Marty Laubach, Louis Martinie, & Linda Clemons
Initiation is a religious practice that is generally understood as involving socialization and acceptance into a religious community, but American Neopaganism, with its emphasis on individualism and autonomy, has evolved a meaning that appears to bypass the community. The practice of self-initiation effectively redefines the community into which the practitioner is initiated to be a community consisting of the spirit world. This allows a practitioner to make claims of spiritual attainment, but also presents the community with the task of accepting or rejecting that claim. In response to the postmodern critique of contemporary academic writing, this paper is a collaborative effort that preserves the voices of a magic practitioner, a New Orleans Voodoo priest, and a sociology professor.
Comment: This reminded me that getting our work in a peer reviewed British journal is an honor and a part of the movement of the entire community toward a unifying re-cognition, a rethinking of boundaries. Science, in particularly as it is lived, can be described as a religion just as much as voodoo.
The three of us are close friends; this gives our work together a personal depth. And I think that this depth leads to an unguarded exposure of our positions that enriches out triologue.
We focused on self initiation. I made the point that New Orleans Voodoo is conformational and not initiatory. We are closer to Protestantism in this respect than to Roman Catholicism.
Ritual:
Thelemic / Voodoo Nuptial Vow Renewal
Between Sylvia and Vaoan
Louis Martinie
Preliminaries for Creating a Pacquet to hold a spirit created from the union of Sylvia and Vaoan :
(electronic mail to Vaoan)
Ideas for creating a pacquet and the spirit within the pacquet.
Pacquet is an interesting word. A bundle but also a retreat. A safe place to go that is hidden away. The pacquet would be a manifestation of the spirit of your marriage reaffirmation.
One way to create the spirit would be to have friends and those attending the ritual "collect" mental images of the two of you together and place these images into the visual body (pacquet) of the spirit using a small pinch of earth.
The physical basis used by friends/ritualists to hold these images could be a small pinch of earth from the tombs of their ancestors (who they are in a wider sense).
or
Earth from the crossroads of a burial ground for which they have cared. The Dead belong to all. Any grave you care for is that of your Mother ( grand / great grand /..)
or
Any earth gathered while giving honor and respect to the the Barons (literally owners of the land). All such earth works equally well.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outline of the Rite:
Sylvia and Vaoan’s fine voodoo and thelemic altar spirits and figures were placed upon a great split log that served as the altar in the open field. Grandfather drum from the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple sat before the altar.
(Thelemic readings from Liber 15; The Gnostic Mass)
1. Play Bamboula (Call to Gather)
Greet people and describe rite as a meeting of Thelema and New Orleans Voodoo.
The nuptial renewal of Sylvia and Vaoan.
2. Play Legba (Adoration)
Litany of the loa
Read Adoration (Thelemic)
3. Play Mame Waters (Purification)
Read Sun (Thelemic) to call Vaoan in from West
Read Moon (Thelemic) to call Sylvia in from the East.
Flordia Water used to purify Sylvia and Vaoan and the pacquet.
4. & 5. Play Ogun Balindio and Annie Christmas (Fortify)
Read The Lord (Thelemic) to Vaoan
Read The Lady (Thelemic) to Sylvia
Anoint Vaoan and Sylvia and pacquet with red palm oil to strengthen.
6. Play Banda for Ancestors (Birth… of the nuptial renewal and of spirit in pacquet)
Sylvia and Vaoan sit close together while rhythm played.
Read Birth (Thelemic) to Sylvia and Vaoan
Invite guests to come up and create mental images of Sylvia and Vaoan with one another and place these images into the visual body (pacquet) of the spirit using the small pinch of earth they, the guests, have collected.
7. Play Yenvelou to the great serpents; shedding of skin is…Renewal/Celebration
Sylvia and Vaoan tie pacquet while rhythm played.
Hold broom and read marriage (Thelemic)
Put broom on earth
Sylvia and "collect" mental images of the two of you together and place these images into the visual body (pacquet) of the spirit using a small pinch of earth.
Vaoan jump over broom
Explain Serpents shed skin as a renewal.
Feast and Celebration
Comment:
Before the ceremony I asked Mr. Crowley for advice. I did bibliomancy and got @“That is, any wind must stir the feather of truth.” I was concerned about the wind blowing the items on the alter. A good reintroduction to the humor of Mr.Crowley I so much enjoy.
Years ago I had a vision of Mr. Crowley and he said, “I recommend you to Allen Bennet.” I was and still am not sure what he meant by this. Sylvia’s last name is Bennet and she has reason to believe she is related to Allen Bennet. After the ceremony Sylvia and Vaoan gave me a Marassa alter they created. It was covered with ancestral earth collected by Sylvia. A wonderful link to Mr. Bennet. Something I want to follow up on. I receive so much more than I give in these rites.
Session:
The Dancer and Drummer; .Two as One
Roselinda and Louis Martinie
This session will create and explore the relationship between the dancer and drummer in ritual with particular emphasis on New Orleans Voodoo. Dancer and drummer as marassa (twins). Talk, play, and dance. Bring your drums and feet or simply your ears.
Comment: This was oddly powerful. The last session on Sunday before the fire and Roselinda and I were very tired. Fortunately; the tiredness closed my mouth and I learnt a great deal by listening to the dancers speak. I have no memory of ever being at a session where the drummers and dancers were present and listened to each other about the sacred fire dance. Yes, there are many sessions for drummers and a good number for dancers but both together…no.
Something as seemingly transparent as format became clear to me for the first time…the drums begin the rhythm and the dancers end the rhythm. The drums don’t stop until the dancers are done. The very thought of stopping before Priestess Miriam had finished dancing was abhorrent; dishonorable.
I heard how the dancers depend on the drummers to create a safe space for the dancers to hold spirit. To stop in the middle of such a process is spiritually damaging to the dancer. We talked about the functions of the fire. It functions as a porteau mitan (center pole) and a place for the dancers to rest their eyes in spirit while dancing. What are the responsibilities of the dancers and drummers to one another? A good question for more sessions of this type.
__________________________________________________________________
June 9, 2008
Monday
This is a poem that came to me while thinking of Black Moon Web.
web
wind
strands blow
sowing memories
web
wind
June 10,2008
Tuesday
These are questions I answered about the Babalon Rising Fest online.
Blessings to All....Gratitude is certainly my keyword for the third Babalon Rising. I offer my gratitude to the organizers and goers who gave the great mysterie Babalon a place and a time to manifest her joy and beneficence.
Louis Martinie
1. Who are you? I focused some of the sesions and rites that included New Orleans Voodoo practices.
2. What did you learn at Babalon Rising 2008?
Ah! So much.
1. Who are you? I focused some of the sesions and rites that included New Orleans Voodoo practices.
2. What did you learn at Babalon Rising 2008?
Ah! So much. At the wedding renewal of Sylvia and Vaoan I received a reintroduction to Allen Bennet. That was very important to me. At the Drummer and Dancer session the dancers gave me a sense of how much the drummers provide a safe space for the dancers to presence different spirits and how the fire acts as the center pole for the dance.
3. What amazed you at the festival?
Lots...Roselinda's prior vision of a concrete slab and a transparent water snake that rose up and then disassembled matched the concrete floor of the pavillion and the water blown by the fan to keep us all cool. Owen Knight's walk in the woods with his poetry
4. What are your favorite memories from the Festival?
Before the wedding renewal I asked Mr. Crowley through bibliomancy (open a book at random and point to a sentence with your eyes averted) to comment on the ritual.
I got, "That is, any wind must stir the Feather of Truth." The wind on the field certainly stirred the items on the alter and I renewed my appreciation of Mr. Crowley's brilliantly keen sense of humor.
June 11, 2008
Wednesday
Planning a pilgrimage to Ireland to honor the loa Manman Brigitte and the goddess Brigitte. It would be a fine thing to visit and pay honor and respect to the Brigitte Wells.
June 12, 2008
Thursday
Mayan Ruins….listened to both Cds. Strong trance music.
June 13, 2008
Friday
Jessica wrote from New Orleans, “ Enough, Come Back.”
June 14,2008
Saturday
Rite: Mademoiselle Katrina
Courage / Fear
I played the rhythm of the loa while in a boat on a large lake. I was surrounded by water.
While playing the rhythm of Mame Waters began to fill my hands. I played both together. The Great Water Mother had the effect of slowing Katrina down. Reducing her force.
June 15, 2008
Sunday
Babalon Rising Fest….I am inspired to look deeper into Allan Bennet. A Thelemic Fest…it is so logical that Allan Bennet would once more come to mind.
June 16,2008
Monday
From letters: “About 10 years ago I was given an asson or rattle to use in a funeral rite. I took the responsibility too lightly. I was distracted, mixed spells, and animated the corpse. This shocked me and from the look on the dead man's face as he moved, brought him much pain. I learnt the power of the rattle quickly. A good lesson but I regret the suffering I caused.
My advice is not to worry about what other people think. If they are initiates they will be able to feel and measure your grace. If they misjudge you, they call into question their own attainments.
The concern is that you may cause yourself or others suffering by unintentional misuse of the tool. I did. Maybe that is necessary to the learning. Maybe the dead man suffered as a gift to me. I don't know. “
June 17, 2008
Tuesday
Perhaps the rhythm for Mademoiselle Katrina can begin and end with Mame Waters. The rhythm alone has been making people ill. This may help. This order creats a context for Msl. Katrina that is more balanced.
June 18, 2008
Wednesday
Ireland….the price of pilgrimage seems to have risen.
June 19, 2008
Thursday
SR is visiting. Her art is amazing. Her paintings sold out at the last Ann Arbor Women’s Festival.
June 20, 2008
Friday
Mishlen is working to set up a magickal art show with SR. Much work on the website.
June 21, 2008
Saturday
Summer Solstice Rite:
Offering of Absinthe to the great Zombies; the sky serpents at their zenith.
June 6, 2008
Friday
Rain and storm…flooding. This is a part of the series of storms that caused two cars to float into each other and block the road down the hill from us.
I want to work on the sessions and rites for Babalon Rising so, all things considered; I will go to the fest tomorrow and work on the outlines tonight.
June 7, 2008
Saturday
Arrive about an hour before the first session. Our Haven is pregnant with spirit. There is a deep physical knowing of this.
Session:
Mademoiselle Katrina; New New Orleans Voodoo:
A New loa and a New Rhythm.
Louis Martinie
New loa are always being born. Hurricane Katrina as loa. St Johns Eve is the most sanctified date in New Orleans Voodoo. On August 29th, on the exact day the beheading of St. John the Baptist is celebrated, Hurricane Katrina immersed New Orleans This session/rite builds on a ritual performed with Priestess Miriam on March 1, 2008. Part of the background can be found in http://www.horusmaat.com/silverstar/SILVERSTAR9.htm. Manuscript # 43.
The session will include talk, learning to drum the rhythm, and using the rhythm in ritual.
Comment: Roselinda had a vision she described when I arrived. There was a rite on a concrete slab. There was water on the floor. A transparent water serpent, very fluid rose from the slab into the air and moved toward Roselinda then past Roselinda. The dead from the black community in New Orleans so hard hit by Katrina were with her and hungry and reaching for food. They were desperate, hungry and tired. You could see it in their eyes.
Very nice. The Katrina rhythm was done on a concrete slab and a fan was used to blow water into the air to cool the participants.
The rhythm is simple and strong. Persistent, inevitable it calls Msl. Katrina. The feeding of these dead is important. It is an act of grace that is planned to run through the other sessions and rites.
Ritual:
Old New Orleans Voodoo Drumming:
Confirmation in an Order of Service to the Loa
Louis Martinie
During this ritual session drum prayers and rhythms developed at ceremonies held by the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple will be taught. These prayers/rhythms are part of a unique Order of Service based upon birthing. The session will end with an honor bound confirmation in this Order of Service given through the loa blanc dan-i. The prayers and rhythms can be learnt with out participating in the confirmation.
Comment: The banda and the feeding of the dead is the strongest of the rhythms today. How odd…this is unexpected. The festival is a good distance from New Orleans. I brought blac dan-i into the grandfather drum and the confirmation was given from the head of that drum. This is something new. I usually invite the loa dan-i into my body. The drum was a good middle ground choice given things I wanted to do immediately after the rite.
MAYAN RUINS: I sat in with the group. New and old friends and a wonderful dancer. I have spent so much time on stage when I played with bands but the stage is still a special place, a point at a center of the universe. Owen recited “Face of still water” to the music. His voice and his body added to the power of his poem.
FIRE: The fire and the drumming was strong with spirit. The aspects of the ritualists and dancers around the fire was spectacular. The drumming was open so I played some of the voodoo rhythms. Bamboula and some of her 6 sisters. Fine memories of drumming in the court yard of the Voodoo Spiritual Temple and of the Krewe of Nuteria fanned the passions of the present. It is good to drum with brothers and sisters.
Ah! Then Babalon poured her beneficence onto me. I do believe that I saw all 7 of the stars.
June 8, 2008
Sunday
Owen Nature Walk….poetry and spoken work in the forest with Owen Knight. His presence uncovers the magick that is all ways there. At the end we stood in a clearing with the great trees nodding above us. Owen spoke of us as matter evolving toward self knowledge. He successfully evoked the mystery of such a journey. We stand and speak of spiritual matters in the center of the trees. The trees nodd to one another as they converse; possibly of the same matters. Owen Knight called this @”being in nature.”
Session:
Perspectives on Self Initiation: The Practitioner, the Priest, and the Professor.
Marty Laubach, Louis Martinie, & Linda Clemons
Initiation is a religious practice that is generally understood as involving socialization and acceptance into a religious community, but American Neopaganism, with its emphasis on individualism and autonomy, has evolved a meaning that appears to bypass the community. The practice of self-initiation effectively redefines the community into which the practitioner is initiated to be a community consisting of the spirit world. This allows a practitioner to make claims of spiritual attainment, but also presents the community with the task of accepting or rejecting that claim. In response to the postmodern critique of contemporary academic writing, this paper is a collaborative effort that preserves the voices of a magic practitioner, a New Orleans Voodoo priest, and a sociology professor.
Comment: This reminded me that getting our work in a peer reviewed British journal is an honor and a part of the movement of the entire community toward a unifying re-cognition, a rethinking of boundaries. Science, in particularly as it is lived, can be described as a religion just as much as voodoo.
The three of us are close friends; this gives our work together a personal depth. And I think that this depth leads to an unguarded exposure of our positions that enriches out triologue.
We focused on self initiation. I made the point that New Orleans Voodoo is conformational and not initiatory. We are closer to Protestantism in this respect than to Roman Catholicism.
Ritual:
Thelemic / Voodoo Nuptial Vow Renewal
Between Sylvia and Vaoan
Louis Martinie
Preliminaries for Creating a Pacquet to hold a spirit created from the union of Sylvia and Vaoan :
(electronic mail to Vaoan)
Ideas for creating a pacquet and the spirit within the pacquet.
Pacquet is an interesting word. A bundle but also a retreat. A safe place to go that is hidden away. The pacquet would be a manifestation of the spirit of your marriage reaffirmation.
One way to create the spirit would be to have friends and those attending the ritual "collect" mental images of the two of you together and place these images into the visual body (pacquet) of the spirit using a small pinch of earth.
The physical basis used by friends/ritualists to hold these images could be a small pinch of earth from the tombs of their ancestors (who they are in a wider sense).
or
Earth from the crossroads of a burial ground for which they have cared. The Dead belong to all. Any grave you care for is that of your Mother ( grand / great grand /..)
or
Any earth gathered while giving honor and respect to the the Barons (literally owners of the land). All such earth works equally well.
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Outline of the Rite:
Sylvia and Vaoan’s fine voodoo and thelemic altar spirits and figures were placed upon a great split log that served as the altar in the open field. Grandfather drum from the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple sat before the altar.
(Thelemic readings from Liber 15; The Gnostic Mass)
1. Play Bamboula (Call to Gather)
Greet people and describe rite as a meeting of Thelema and New Orleans Voodoo.
The nuptial renewal of Sylvia and Vaoan.
2. Play Legba (Adoration)
Litany of the loa
Read Adoration (Thelemic)
3. Play Mame Waters (Purification)
Read Sun (Thelemic) to call Vaoan in from West
Read Moon (Thelemic) to call Sylvia in from the East.
Flordia Water used to purify Sylvia and Vaoan and the pacquet.
4. & 5. Play Ogun Balindio and Annie Christmas (Fortify)
Read The Lord (Thelemic) to Vaoan
Read The Lady (Thelemic) to Sylvia
Anoint Vaoan and Sylvia and pacquet with red palm oil to strengthen.
6. Play Banda for Ancestors (Birth… of the nuptial renewal and of spirit in pacquet)
Sylvia and Vaoan sit close together while rhythm played.
Read Birth (Thelemic) to Sylvia and Vaoan
Invite guests to come up and create mental images of Sylvia and Vaoan with one another and place these images into the visual body (pacquet) of the spirit using the small pinch of earth they, the guests, have collected.
7. Play Yenvelou to the great serpents; shedding of skin is…Renewal/Celebration
Sylvia and Vaoan tie pacquet while rhythm played.
Hold broom and read marriage (Thelemic)
Put broom on earth
Sylvia and "collect" mental images of the two of you together and place these images into the visual body (pacquet) of the spirit using a small pinch of earth.
Vaoan jump over broom
Explain Serpents shed skin as a renewal.
Feast and Celebration
Comment:
Before the ceremony I asked Mr. Crowley for advice. I did bibliomancy and got @“That is, any wind must stir the feather of truth.” I was concerned about the wind blowing the items on the alter. A good reintroduction to the humor of Mr.Crowley I so much enjoy.
Years ago I had a vision of Mr. Crowley and he said, “I recommend you to Allen Bennet.” I was and still am not sure what he meant by this. Sylvia’s last name is Bennet and she has reason to believe she is related to Allen Bennet. After the ceremony Sylvia and Vaoan gave me a Marassa alter they created. It was covered with ancestral earth collected by Sylvia. A wonderful link to Mr. Bennet. Something I want to follow up on. I receive so much more than I give in these rites.
Session:
The Dancer and Drummer; .Two as One
Roselinda and Louis Martinie
This session will create and explore the relationship between the dancer and drummer in ritual with particular emphasis on New Orleans Voodoo. Dancer and drummer as marassa (twins). Talk, play, and dance. Bring your drums and feet or simply your ears.
Comment: This was oddly powerful. The last session on Sunday before the fire and Roselinda and I were very tired. Fortunately; the tiredness closed my mouth and I learnt a great deal by listening to the dancers speak. I have no memory of ever being at a session where the drummers and dancers were present and listened to each other about the sacred fire dance. Yes, there are many sessions for drummers and a good number for dancers but both together…no.
Something as seemingly transparent as format became clear to me for the first time…the drums begin the rhythm and the dancers end the rhythm. The drums don’t stop until the dancers are done. The very thought of stopping before Priestess Miriam had finished dancing was abhorrent; dishonorable.
I heard how the dancers depend on the drummers to create a safe space for the dancers to hold spirit. To stop in the middle of such a process is spiritually damaging to the dancer. We talked about the functions of the fire. It functions as a porteau mitan (center pole) and a place for the dancers to rest their eyes in spirit while dancing. What are the responsibilities of the dancers and drummers to one another? A good question for more sessions of this type.
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June 9, 2008
Monday
This is a poem that came to me while thinking of Black Moon Web.
web
wind
strands blow
sowing memories
web
wind
June 10,2008
Tuesday
These are questions I answered about the Babalon Rising Fest online.
Blessings to All....Gratitude is certainly my keyword for the third Babalon Rising. I offer my gratitude to the organizers and goers who gave the great mysterie Babalon a place and a time to manifest her joy and beneficence.
Louis Martinie
1. Who are you? I focused some of the sesions and rites that included New Orleans Voodoo practices.
2. What did you learn at Babalon Rising 2008?
Ah! So much.
1. Who are you? I focused some of the sesions and rites that included New Orleans Voodoo practices.
2. What did you learn at Babalon Rising 2008?
Ah! So much. At the wedding renewal of Sylvia and Vaoan I received a reintroduction to Allen Bennet. That was very important to me. At the Drummer and Dancer session the dancers gave me a sense of how much the drummers provide a safe space for the dancers to presence different spirits and how the fire acts as the center pole for the dance.
3. What amazed you at the festival?
Lots...Roselinda's prior vision of a concrete slab and a transparent water snake that rose up and then disassembled matched the concrete floor of the pavillion and the water blown by the fan to keep us all cool. Owen Knight's walk in the woods with his poetry
4. What are your favorite memories from the Festival?
Before the wedding renewal I asked Mr. Crowley through bibliomancy (open a book at random and point to a sentence with your eyes averted) to comment on the ritual.
I got, "That is, any wind must stir the Feather of Truth." The wind on the field certainly stirred the items on the alter and I renewed my appreciation of Mr. Crowley's brilliantly keen sense of humor.
June 11, 2008
Wednesday
Planning a pilgrimage to Ireland to honor the loa Manman Brigitte and the goddess Brigitte. It would be a fine thing to visit and pay honor and respect to the Brigitte Wells.
June 12, 2008
Thursday
Mayan Ruins….listened to both Cds. Strong trance music.
June 13, 2008
Friday
Jessica wrote from New Orleans, “ Enough, Come Back.”
June 14,2008
Saturday
Rite: Mademoiselle Katrina
Courage / Fear
I played the rhythm of the loa while in a boat on a large lake. I was surrounded by water.
While playing the rhythm of Mame Waters began to fill my hands. I played both together. The Great Water Mother had the effect of slowing Katrina down. Reducing her force.
June 15, 2008
Sunday
Babalon Rising Fest….I am inspired to look deeper into Allan Bennet. A Thelemic Fest…it is so logical that Allan Bennet would once more come to mind.
June 16,2008
Monday
From letters: “About 10 years ago I was given an asson or rattle to use in a funeral rite. I took the responsibility too lightly. I was distracted, mixed spells, and animated the corpse. This shocked me and from the look on the dead man's face as he moved, brought him much pain. I learnt the power of the rattle quickly. A good lesson but I regret the suffering I caused.
My advice is not to worry about what other people think. If they are initiates they will be able to feel and measure your grace. If they misjudge you, they call into question their own attainments.
The concern is that you may cause yourself or others suffering by unintentional misuse of the tool. I did. Maybe that is necessary to the learning. Maybe the dead man suffered as a gift to me. I don't know. “
June 17, 2008
Tuesday
Perhaps the rhythm for Mademoiselle Katrina can begin and end with Mame Waters. The rhythm alone has been making people ill. This may help. This order creats a context for Msl. Katrina that is more balanced.
June 18, 2008
Wednesday
Ireland….the price of pilgrimage seems to have risen.
June 19, 2008
Thursday
SR is visiting. Her art is amazing. Her paintings sold out at the last Ann Arbor Women’s Festival.
June 20, 2008
Friday
Mishlen is working to set up a magickal art show with SR. Much work on the website.
June 21, 2008
Saturday
Summer Solstice Rite:
Offering of Absinthe to the great Zombies; the sky serpents at their zenith.