Silver Key, Silver Gate

There was weird work to be done tonight. I don't talk too openly about these things. I talk more openly, and in other places, about my worship practices. There are parts that are too private, too intimate, so I don't open up about all the details. I will talk pretty openly about worship, though, and one reason is that talking about it is part of those practices. Magical practices, though? I learned a long time ago that there are good reasons for keeping quiet that aren't about asking, "But what would people think?!" I'm not concerned about the opinions. I'd be a lot quieter about a lot more things if that was the case. Unless certain things were constructed for being made public, though, there is vulnerability in revealing too much.

As a side note, I will say here that the pictures I take are not of the actual practices. Social media culture, algorithms, marketability...it all encourages us to share what we're doing. Sometimes it's better to share something about what one is doing instead of what is actually being done. I'm not the only practitioner who understands that, so it's worth keeping in mind if one starts falling into the mental trap of thinking, "Oh, but my altar and rituals look so plain compared to that".

Now, back to the weird work that was done.

The authors of the tales of the Old Ones may have made up the names and events, but there is truth in, "The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones always shall be." Inspiration came from various cultures, mythologies, religions, and such. Why is it so hard for some people to believe Lovecraft made up the Necronomicon? Maybe because similar grimoires have existed throughout history. We can find the Old Ones in what we know of ancient Mesopotamian cultures, and in practices and beliefs of tribal cultures around the world. While the Mythos tales tend to paint it as "primitive" indiginous tribes having terrifying knowledge and practices that will bring a horrifying end to us all, that's not really where the truth of it is found. Look deeper than the story being told on the surface. 

We can also find the Old Ones in cultures that Western civilizations have given more respect than has been given to tribal cultures, though often still misunderstood and mischaracterized. I thought at first that my being able to recognize Hekate in some of the Old Ones - especially, but not completely limited to Yog-Sothoth - might just be the strange connections I often make. Connections that others have trouble seeing even when I explain, and that sometimes turn out to be wrong once I've learned more. Discussions with others have revealed, though, that I'm not alone when it comes to this specific connection.

I participated tonight in an event that is, in part, related to the Mythos tales involving Randolph Carter. Those are some of my favorite stories, and anyone who knows me well enough would probably say, "Let me guess... because of the key?" There are reasons I first understood Hekate as Kleidoukhos. The event also included information about the ankh that drew my attention. I have a stainless steel (to the eye, silver) ankh that I've had...well, for years. At least a couple of decades. Unlike most things I've held onto for so long, I don't know how I acquired it. There has to have been a time when I didn't have it, but I can't really remember it ever not being an item in a box in my possession.

I don't know much about ancient Egypt, Kemetic beliefs and practices - ancient or modern - or the symbols. I know the story of how the death of Osiris explains the fertile land of the banks of the Nile. I know a little about the difference between the Eye of Ra and Eye of Horus, but can never recognize which I'm looking at. I have issues with the ethics, or lack of, in how pyramids have been "explored". I just don't have enough knowledge to be able to identify why the ankh has always been an important symbol to me. Something about the shape draws me in and I react in an emotional way, but I don't know why.

Because I also have a tiny (also, to the eye, silver) ankh that has become part of a set I use for divination practices, I've been doing some research on the ankh over the past few months. When I learned about it being understood as the Key of Life, or Key of the Soul...well, there I am again with keys! I've been working to better understand it as a key, and the event tonight may have helped with that.

Something it will be very important for me to remember later, though this may sound a bit cryptic: In the silver-white light, there was Hekate. Then there was the Lake Monster. The gate was a portal. The portal was also a way of giving birth. The stars, especially the arms of the Milky Way, were waves. They were like water, in their own way, and the universe was an ocean. And then it was all the silver-white light.

I drew three cards from the Temple of Abzu deck tonight.

A Cosmic Dream Soul

An Aura By The Rim

Foreigners Seldom Stayed There

It Caved In Like An Egg-Shell

A Trail Of Sailing Stars

Whispers From An Inner Shadow

Earlier today, I was looking through some of my notes about things and noticed there were Hekate-related notes on three pages, two of which had page numbers that are numbers I associate with Her. One of those was 33. I remember thinking it was too bad the third page number was not a number I associate with Her, and I even tried to see if adding the digits together to reduce the number would change that, but it didn't.

When I pulled the cards and read them, I immediately recognized the words having some relevance to what I was doing the reading for. Then I noticed the first card was 33 and how appropriate it seemed for things to be lining up. Then I noticed the third card was 74. The number I couldn't associate with Hekate earlier.

I pulled the notes out again and checked to see what it was about Her on that page. The notes are about Hekate as Anima Mundi, the Soul of the World. I get the feeling I should check that number in the ToA gematria later, and that truly understanding this reading is going to take some time.