The Witch of King’s Cross – Rosaleen Norton

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A story that needs to be told, this ground breaking documentary does the trick. Although at 1 hour 15minutes maybe a little overlong for the format and could be a bit faster. Even so it was great to see and hear her biographer, the late Nevill Drury contributing to the story he did so much to research over several editions of his book Pan’s Daughter : the magical world of Rosaleen Norton. I found the first half the most interesting, when she was younger and a rising star, before the grey men in the Australian patriarchy, and the catholic church brought her down and mostly extinguished her fire, sometimes literally in the fire, when the police were ordered by the courts to burn two of her paintings. Outrageous stuff that courts order burning of pictures, a real witchhunt.

The dirty tricks, the illegal raids on her home by the press are all there. And though she fought back and embraced and reclaimed her witch archetype, it was something of a pyric victory as she ended her days mostly as a recluse and died alone in a hospice run by nuns. Many of her former friends in the film seemed too untogether to be there for her at the end. 

She became something of a parody of herself, sometimes grotesque in the media game. I was so glad to see the pictures of her in her sister’s garden, her hair down and unbleached, no fringe and no crazy eyebrows – just the beautiful person she once was. 

So overall, despite a great body of work, she was well ahead of her time. But a wasted genius, and not through any fault of her own, other than being a woman and a witch.  Her astral magick, with which she connected with Gavin Greenlees and Eugene Goossens enabling them to connect across space and time, is experiencing something of a revival just now and the greater details in Nevill’s book will be useful for that. The patrician musician Goossens was an important occult influence though in the end, the career of this magical superstar was destroyed by a media conceived scandal. He died soon after but never blamed Roie for the any of it; despite her keeping a photographic record of their work, which was stolen from its hiding place in her flat by a hostile journalist and they then sealed her, and his fate. So let us remember her, and induct her into the company of gnostic and tantrik saints. A true original, whose magick and witchcraft did not come from the usual suspects of the time, but was a power of love, direct and from above. 

Honorable mention to the choreographer, actors and sound people for great soundtrack, though was odd that subtitles when pan danced musick subtitled as esoteric when Lilith danced is was dramatic, great track called “Dark Arts” by Brian De Mercia.  Everyone should see this film and support the makers by paying the modest fee to own it. 

Mandrake Newsletter has more information on the biography of Rosaleen Norton Pan’s Daughter and some words from its author Nevill Drury

 

 

 

 

 

אומנות הכאוס וגלגל השנה – ירוק

 

קצת ירוק בעין

היום ומחר, ברחבי העולם יחגגו את אימבולק/ברייד/קנדלמאס, אבל אצלנו בעדת הכאוס-קראפט או בשמה הלועזי אומנות הכאוס, חוגגים את יום הקסם/כישוף (רחמנא ליצלן) הירוק


?אז מה זה
קסם ירוק ולמה עכשיו

 ב -1 בפברואר, תאריך שהוא בערך באמצע הדרך בין יום ההיפוך החורפי ליום השוויון האביבי, נחגג אימבולק

 האימבולק מסמל את “הינקות” – סימני החיים הראשונים ואת תחילת האביב. פרחים מתחילים לפרוח ואפשר לראות ניצנים קטנים על העצים. הטבע מתעורר לאיטו לאחר שנת חורף ארוכה

?אז מה כל כך קסום בצבע הירוק

זה הזמן שהטבע בא להזכיר לנו שגם אנחנו צריכים להתעורר, להרפות מהעבר ולפנות מקום להתחלות, תוכניות וחלומות חדשים. באופן מסורתי אימבולק הוא פסטיבל לכבוד האלה בריגיד (בריגיד, ברייד, בריגיט). בריגיד היא אלת האש, הריפוי, השמש והאח. היא אלת הפריון והשירה

ירוק הוא צבע הטבע והוא מסמל צמיחה והתרחבות, יציבות וסיבולת. הרמוניה, ריפוי, פוריות, תקווה, אהבה והגנה. איכויות אלה מהדהדות עם בריגיד והשמש, שצובעת  את הטבע בירוק, מרחיבה את הלב וממלאת אותו באהבה ובהתרגשות של חלום חדש.  הגוונים הכהים יותר של הירוק קשורים בדרך כלל לכסף 

אימבולק מסמל את התעוררות הטבע, התחלות חדשות ואהבה, היוצרים שער בזמן לקסם ירוק

קסם, שגשוג, ריפוי, הגנה, אהבה ושפע, הם נושאים שטוב להתמקד בהם בכל עת, אך יקבלו דחיפה מיוחדת אם נכלול  אותם בשער אימבולק ובמזבח הירוק שלנו

אז לכו והדליקו נר ירוק, או שימו תפוח עץ ירוק על האלתר שלכם (מזבח נשמע קצת כבד ומדמם..), תאכלו סלט חסה או זמנו את הענק הירוק, העיקר שיהיה לכם קצת ירוק בלב

אימבולק שמח

עוד על כאוס-קראפט תמצאו כאן

 

Chaos Craft and the wheel of the year – Green

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Green magick

And here we are again, another year has passed and for a brief moment the wheel of the year is hovering over the colour green, indicating is the time of the year again for a little green magic.

So what is it green magic and why now?

Imbolc is celebrated on February 1st, which is about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It symbolizes the “infancy”- the first signs of life, and marking the beginning of spring. Flowers are starting to come back and on the trees, little buds start to form. Nature slowly wakes up after the long winter sleep.

This is the time that nature reminds us that we are also reawakening, letting go of the past and making space for new beginnings, new plans and dreams.

It’s a sign!

Traditionally Imbolc is the festival honouring the goddess Brigid (Brighid, Bride, Brigit). Brigid is the goddess of fire, healing, the Sun and of the hearth. She is the goddess of fertility, smithcraft and poetry. She also likes the colour green.

Goddess of the hearth

So what is so magical about the colour green?

Green is the colour of nature and it resonates with growth and expansion, stability and endurance. The darker shades of green usually associated with money. Green also symbolizes harmony, healing, fertility, hope, love and protection. These qualities correspond with Brigid and with the sun, that makes nature green to broaden our hearts and fill it with love and excitement of a budding new dream.

Imbolc symbolizes the awakening of nature, new beginnings and love which creates a magickal window to work some green magic.

Magic, prosperity, healing, protection, love and abundance are good themes to focus on at any time but will get a special boost if included in your Imbolc magical practice and on your Green magic altar. 

Happy Imbolc and don’t forget to eat your greens:)

For further reading on Chaos Craft click HERE