N'wraenomicon

The last time I wrote something here, the 45 day project I was participating in was about to start. I just just finished creating something that was an important element of the project, and the creation of that item needed to be done in preparation. And now...well, it has been 45 days, so has the project ended? Yes and no. The structured project, with the ritual everyone involved in the project was doing, has ended. It's time to write up reports, combine them, pass them out, let us all see what was happening across the project as a whole. All I have to do is write my part, send it in, and study the greater results when it all gets sent out. I'm not part of combining everything and sending it out. The formal project has ended. On a personal level...maybe it's not that simple. There were things that popped up during this project that I know aren't contained to just what we've been doing for 45 days. There are also things that seem to be more personal, or at least weav...

As I mentioned before, I've got a project coming up. One of the things I needed to do as part of my preparations for the project was create a ritual icon to be used in the work. I knew the symbol and colors I should be working with, but a lot of the design for the icon was left open for my personal creative process. No problem! I knew what I wanted to do, the materials to use, method, style... all good! And then the whole house got sick. I'm two or three days into this. I'm not sure. Yesterday may have been two days long, and symptoms are having an even heavier effect on me today. I would be cutting things close, but I could just wait a few more days and make the icon after the fever has passed. But then I asked myself if that was really the best plan. Again, I would be cutting things close. It would reduce my time for consecrating the icon. I really needed to make it today. In my feverish condition? Why not?! A feverish condition can open gates of its own. This might, in f...

The 23rd of each month is a special day in my practice of Yog-Sothothery, as it is for many others in their own practices. I can't say it's a hard rule for all who would describe their practice as Yog-Sothothery. We are called to the Old Ones in different ways, and for different reasons. The choice of the 23rd day of the month wasn't a choice I personally made, though, and there are reasons the number is important to others, not just myself. Oh, but I probably would have chosen it if it had been up to me! It was something that drew me in. My favorite number! There are stories about that, and jokes about 5 and 23 being the same number, but I'll save those for other times. The number wasn't my choice, but it did already have personal meaning for me. I find that happens often in my practice of Yog-Sothothery. Things line up in a way that shows how unconnected they seemed before to be an illusion. There's a certain box I keep items related to my practice...

Why do we generally only refer to fiction as "creative writing"? All writing is a creative process. Even text messages. Not every written message has an obvious creative process to it, but it's there. Communication is creative. I've been doing a lot of work in my own writing recently. I wouldn't say I'm finding specific inspiration in my dreams, but I have noticed my creative process becomes more focused, and more fruitful, as my dreams become more vivid and remembered more in the waking world. I pray for the Lake Monster to make things flow, and I get a flood of creativity! I have devotional training work to do for my religious practice. I have work to do within Yog-Sothothery. None of this is being forgotten or procrastinated. Because I am putting a lot of time and energy into my writing, though, I may have less of it to spend on documenting and reflecting on things in blog posts. Or, maybe I'll find even more of it. I'm just guessing at this point.

I usually include black and white photos, if I am including one at all. This one needs to be shown in color, though. I worked on this for about a week and a half. I didn't plan it out. I sat down with my pens, turned on the Ah Pook the Destroyer Silver Key album, and let it all flow. I thought about the fact that ink is liquid. Water. This both is and is not my usual style. I do this kind of work only in black ink. Colors are used for other kinds of work. Something kept nudging me to put the colors in, though, and I did. Then I added the white highlights. I have no reason other than it felt like I was supposed to. The tentacles, web, scales, stars, growing spiral of leaves or feathers...berries? What is it? I don't know. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's everything. It is, apparently, something swirling around in my unconscious mind, so Azathoth dreamed it.

I've been working on a project that, at first glance, wouldn't seem to be related to my work in Yog-Sothothery. A deeper dive into how the project is developing shows several connections. I'm not ready to reveal details about the actual project yet, but I will say it combines multiple forms of art, language, and storytelling. It also gets into how broad "storytelling" can be. Stories, history, information. And these things are not just influences on the development of the project, but also messages that the project seeks to put out into the world. I think of how fictional stories are born from factual events, how fictional characters are inspired by the lives of people in the physical world. I think of the stories of Cthulhu channeling all kinds of weird information through artists. The way the fictional Necronomicon has had bits of information about it added to many stories by many authors. Folklore. Fairy tales. Written stories read to and by children that were ...

Working with sigil creation is something I have a passion for. Probably because that's where my hyperlexia, visual arts, and magic come together. As I'm willing to bet is the case for many people in my generation and the generation before us, I was introduced to sigil work through my days of chaos magick. Specifically, my introduction was the Austin Osman Spare method. There are many methods. I've worked with several, and eventually the things I learned evolved into what is "my" method. That doesn't mean I created the method. Many other people, working with many methods, did. It just means it's the method I use. Sometimes, depending on the exact work I'm doing, I do stick with a specific method. My views on what is called magic have changed a lot over the years. I actually kind of dislike the word now. I feel it carries a lot of misunderstandings and assumptions, even within groups of people who identify themselves as being practitioners of various for...