When Gaming Goes Philosophical on your Ass

I downloaded the Netbook of Time for D&D from the internet.

My reaction is this scene from Austin Powers:

What I expected to be a book on simple chronomancy and how to apply it to role-playing (and come on, Amadeus the naked Paladin would be so much cooler in a TARDIS) turned into a complete philosophy class on discussions such as paradoxes, multiverse theory (in the real-life variety and not in the D&D Great Wheel/Astral Sea variety), free will, God, and the cosmos.  And it couldn't have been more glorious.  Of course, I revel in Philosophy, my favorite classes in college dealt with Philosophy.  It just too bad the only thing a Philosophy degree would ever get me is the chance to ask why someone would like fires with that. I kid, I kid.

On my bookshelf, I have a shelf dedicated to Spirituality, Philosphy, and the Occult.  From Plato to Buckland to Tenzin Gyatso (our current Dalai Lama for the unaware).  It's something I also try to inject in my writing and planning.  Sure, Plato is not walking round the streets of my fictional locales, and you won't find any Wiccans in those locales either, though I have written in a Buddha analogue named Agartha, but that's a story for another time.  However, what I bring in is the philosophy and the spirituality, the immaterial culture (I studied in Sociology, I guess to figure out the effect of how people want fries with their fast food meals, again I kid).  The strongest fictions are the ones in which the people act like us.  NPC's are not supposed to be the quest-giving cardboard cut-outs of MMO's and the RPGs of the 80's (although the 80's has the excuse of memory capacities); NPC's are your common run of the mill folk who live, breathe, work, worship, play, eat, have sex, sleep, struggle, and die.  What local superstitions are there?  Do they have a belief that sneezing is how evil spirits enter the body (btw, that is a possible source of the response to sneezing that is Bless You)?  Do they think that only water from a running source can fertilize crops properly?  Do they have drinking songs about beautiful voluptuous women and certain poultry on rafts?

You know, I think in some ways we are turning into the bland cardboard cut-out NPCs anymore.  I suggest philosophy could help, that and maybe a brand new superstition.  So here is mine, one I just created off the top of my head.  Seeing your hair cut soon after getting it cut in a mirror will result in shortened luck, so if you want to look in a mirror, you need to wear a silly hat to counteract the bad luck, for the bad luck will think it silly to look at you in a silly hat and leave you alone.

Or a turban, because turbans are cool!

Table Plan: World Building pt.I (with Wintermoot Island)

I hung out with Destiny up in Wilkes-Barre before she went back to Temple.  Had an amazing time with, her, finally saw The Hobbit (which I must say, was excellent, and nothing like seeing the Seventh Doctor as Radagast the Brown), and finally got introduced to Sherlock ( and how awesome is the name Benedict Cumberbatch).  I also got to see this island that, when I looked at the directions up there, immediately sparked my imagination.  This lonely island on the Susquehanna River, called Wintermoot.  And by sparking my imagination, I mean that it had to be made into a D&D adventure.  In this resurrection of the Table-Plan series, we take a look at world making together, using Wintermoot as an example.

This is my fictional island of Wintermoot (technically two islands, but both are collectively known as Wintermoot).  Same world as my current DM's world, it is located to the southwest.  Why southwest?  A region on his continent in the south is an icy, cold region.  His continent also looks a bit like Australia to me.  We have a group of cold islands, an Australia shaped landmass, and a cold region to the south of said landmass.  Plus, I want to make Wintermoot a land of exciting adventure, so why not make it this land's analogue to New Zealand?

Sometimes, the best ideas for land masses and shapes is real-life analogues.  One of my most beloved campaign settings, Mystara, is based on the Earth after the break up of Pangaea.  Once you have a vague idea, you can begin to morph the landscape a little bit, maybe flip something around, maybe change the coast line.  Maybe the addition and/or subtraction of mountains could make a change.  For example, the volcano Mount Erberous (not labled, its the mountain with the red splotch on it), is based on both the volcanism of New Zealand, and the volcano Mount Erebus in Antarctica.

 

Next come constructed locations.  I have two locations on my map at this time, Skrarut and the Ice Palace.  I'm not going into campaign details yet, just the design at the moment.  Being a cold desolate region, Skrarut shouldn't be too big of a location, so it is definitely not a city, but its still notable to be marked on the map, so it has to be an adventuring hub.  Second we have a location on an iceberg, the Ice Palace.  The name sounds regal, and in a place few can survive, the ruler cannot be human, and every region needs at least one dragon, so the iceberg is home to White Dragons.  We also need a reason to explore Wintermoot, maybe the lust for adventure came to be because of a Frost Giant Jarldom which leftv scattered ruins over the land, but few are unremarkable enough to be marked on a map.

When making locations, think of the regions first.  Cities traditionally have been placed alongside the coast or on riverways, and some on major traderoutes.  Different races prefer different locales to.  While a human population might not build high up on a mountain, a dwarven population would, and maybe into the mountain as well.  Major non-population locations need to have a similar thought process.  A large, abandoned temple to a sky god probably won't be found in the depths of the Underdark (for those that don't know, the Underdark is the generic vanilla D&D term for the giant caverns under the world, inspired by Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms) without a good explaination; but a temple to an evil subterranean deity probably would (my vote would be Lolth, but thats my personal choice).

And there we have a look at the physical geography of a region.  Next post we will begin talking about the fluff.  We will discuss Skrarut, the old Frost Giant Jarldom, and how both are tied together by the same ancient wyrm that still haunts the land.

BLARGHer

Moments ago I posted my forth entry in Pagan Blog Project, and here I am making another post the same day, it's a twofer today people :D

However, this blog is not an informative jaunt through the Pagan traditions or through nerdom, oh no...

...this log is a RANT!

This morning, I copy and pasted my Baphomet blog from my word file i typed up a few days ago, to this blog.  Now, when I do that, in the writing, I have little notations like (INSERT PIC HERE) or (THIS WOULD BE A NICE PLACE FOR A WITTY JOKE) or (BOOOOOOOOOOOBS!).  Using these notes I am able to go back and add on finishing touches to my blog on Blogger itself.  SO I go to add the famous Eliphas Levi Baphomet image, you know, that one.  Its appearance is supposed to be between the quote from the Gnostic Creed and the tongue-in-cheek "Baphomet iz TEH SATIN" paragraph.  So I put in the picture, and blogger decides to go "fuck you, I'm putting this image at the top of the blog!"

No problem, so I delete the image, go back between the quote and first paragraph, I go to put in an image, I paste the URL of the image, and confirm..... back at the top again.  Hm?  So I go to the beginning of the paragraph...

...I open the Insert Image window...

...I copy the URL...

...I confirm...

ME: This better go into the blog where I want it to go!

BLOGGER: Fuck you, I'm putting this image at the top of the blog!

ME: Here goes nothing *clicks*

BLOGGER: *in stereotypical Irish accent* Top o' the blog to ye!

I never knew why some people make money off of blogs.  I know, one day, I might be that guy and have Google AdSense on this blog, so I can make a little profit off of this blog, but some people make whole careers off of blogging.  What I didn't know was that blogging sometimes involves real, physical pain, like I headache I have right now.  It's not a big one, just a small throbbing, as if there was a little six year old in my head throwing a temper tantrum.

And now for something completely different....

PBP #4: Baphomet

"And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in His name BAPHOMET."
-Creed of the EGC

No name sends unfounded shivers down more people's spines than the name Baphomet.  His image is supposedly that of the image of Satan, ruler of Hell.  He is the false god of the Templars and Satanists, and worshipped by Freemasons in their temples by the name GAOTU.  In D&D, he is a Demon Lord, and the ruler of Minotaurs.  Surely Baphomet is eeeeeevil!

Okay, I'm sure you can all hear the sarcasm dripping from that introduction there.  But what is Baphomet?  What is this deity, who is: "Like a goat, Like an ass, Like an eagle, Like a bearded head, Like two or three cats, Like a duck, Like a painting on a wall, Like a serpent and a lion." (quote from T Polyphilus).  What does Baphomet even mean?

Historians and etymologists believe the name Baphomet comes from the French pronunciation of the name Mohammed, prophet of Islam.  The name Mohammed in French is Mahomet, in which we can see the similarity to the name Baphomet.  It is also suggested that the name means Baphe Metis, or Baptism of Wisdom; or also a corruption of the name of the name of the Egyptian deity Banebdjedet, the Goat of Mendes.  Some also suggest an Arabic origin, meaning "Father of Understanding."  Whatever the origin, the name Baphomet still seems to hold power.  Even typing the name, its almost as if I can feel him watching on, and thats not just because of his image on my altar.

Speaking of the Image, why does Baphomet look like that anyway.  Baphomet is the balance of opposites.  As described by Eliphas Levi: The goat on the frontispiece carries the sign of the pentagram on the forehead, with one point at the top, a symbol of light, his two hands forming the sign of occultism, the one pointing up to the white moon of Chesed, the other pointing down to the black one of Geburah. This sign expresses the perfect harmony of mercy with justice. His one arm is female, the other male like the ones of the androgyne of Khunrath, the attributes of which we had to unite with those of our goat because he is one and the same symbol. The flame of intelligence shining between his horns is the magic light of the universal balance, the image of the soul elevated above matter, as the flame, whilst being tied to matter, shines above it. The beast's head expresses the horror of the sinner, whose materially acting, solely responsible part has to bear the punishment exclusively; because the soul is insensitive according to its nature and can only suffer when it materializes. The rod standing instead of genitals symbolizes eternal life, the body covered with scales the water, the semi-circle above it the atmosphere, the feathers following above the volatile. Humanity is represented by the two breasts and the androgyne arms of this sphinx of the occult sciences.

Baphomet is also the spermatoza, and the union of the male and female.  Baphomet is shown to be very giving, giving more than Bacchus and Apollo according to Liber A'Ash.  A line soon after states that whome he loves, he chastises with many rods.  Some point to this, as well as the sexual nature of witch trial accounts, to say that Baphomet is also the patron of BDSM.  If one believes (like I do) that Baphomet is a modern expression of Banebdjedet, then one can see the sexual nature of Baphomet brought forth again.  However one looks at it, Baphomet is a god of Wisdom as well as Sexuality, as well as trial and initiation.  In fact, Levi called Baphomet the sign of initiation.  I can certainly attest that beginning to call upon Baphomet is a trial, to get past what one is uncomfortable with, and to a more well rounded person.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret that I came to discover when I began venerating Baphomet, and calling upon him.  In the Torah, as well as in Jewish and Christian traditions, angels used to tell the people they appeared to, "not be afraid."  Why would they say that?  Why would a cute cherub say that, who could be afraid of a cherub?  Well, those who study angelology know that, in ancient times, angels did not look like the cute little cherub.  In fact, take a moment and read the Book of Revelations, specifically Revelations 4:8.  Here, I'll post it here on this blog: "Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.""

Jesus loves the little chil... WAIT, DON'T RUN, DON'T BE AFRAID!!!

For the nerds like me: I would run in horror if I saw Cthulhu knocking on my door, even if he told me not to be afraid.  Baphomet is the same, however, he will not give you that warning.  Baphomet is force and darkness and rage, he is the storm and the night.  Yet, he is also the light of wisdom and peace and truth.  Lady Liberty might lift her lamp beside the golden door of Liberty, but Baphomet will butt the door open and guide you with the torch betwixt his horns.  First, however, you must learn not to be afraid.  The darkness and rage is of your own creation, your Shadow if you will.

I guess one can say that, ultimately, Baphomet is the Holy Guardian Angel, which is ultimately us.

NEXT WEEK: Celtophilia, or the misapproptiation, mislabeling, and what exactly is a Celtic                                         tradition (or, I make a whole bunch of enemies :P)

I Slept Too Long

Nerdy people like me who love awesome movies like the third part of the Evil Dead series, Army of Darkness, probably know of the alternate ending of the film, shown below:

This morning, I felt like that.  I woke up completely groggy, and it felt like time itself was not moving, just in stasis.  I was Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, trapped in one uninteresting moment.  I woke up, not in a post nuclear holocaust world, but in the detritus of what felt like my life just passing me by.  Or, to quote my friend Destiny, I was having a mope.  This mope didn't last long, in fact after I was energized, I felt alright.  However, one part of that mope is sitting there like the food with the paddle ball toy on the Orbitz commercial.

I am currently in the throws of another job hunt, I still have to go back to college to at least get my BA, and I still have yet to take my EMT exam.  I used to have so much zeal, its still there, my hope stills fuels me, but its like subdued.  I can sit back and blame it on the negative environment I'm living in, or the fact that the economy here sucks, but like in Margaritaville, it's my own damn fault.  They say recognizing the problem is a great first step, then you just have to take that next step.

One foot...

...in front of...

...the other.

Of course, no one can do it alone, which is why I am so thankful for the people in my life that believe in me, that believe in that old childhood fantasy that I can become anything I set my mind to.  Fuck the economy, fuck societal norms, and fuck all the people that say you can't.  I full heartedly believe in "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."  No one fulfills their Will, their arete, by sitting on their ass.  But like Frodo, I can't do it alone, I need my Sam, and thats what the wonderful people in my life are, my Sam.

I needed a place to vent this to, and also to hopefully inspire others who read this to go out and do.  Do what, I can't tell you.  College is not for everyone, and neither is taking up a trade, but you never know if you don't go out and do.  Life is about doing!

PBP #3: Babalon

"I am the daughter of Fortitude, and ravished every hour from my youth. For behold I am Understanding and science dwelleth in me..."
-Vision of Edward Kelly

How best to describe the goddess Babalon.  Perhaps it's best to start with the Creed of the Ecclessia Gnostica Catholica: "And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all, and in one Womb wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery of Mystery, in Her name BABALON."

Babalon's symbolism borrows heavily from the Book of Revelations in the New Testament.  Shown as a harlot riding upon a scarlet beast, she holds a chalice filled with the blood of the saints.  A few of her epithets also come from Revelations, like Great Harlot/Whore, Mystery of Mysteries, Mother of Abominations, etc.  However, the similarities end there.  While Babylon in Revelations is a symbol of the Roman Empire and of worldly evils, Bablon is a mother, and the gateway to enlightenment.  For one should, if they want to become a saint, pour their blood inter her chalice.  Of course, the meaning of blood here is the ego.

More of her symbolism comes from Enochian Magic of John Dee and Edward Kelly, who served the British Royal court in the late 1500's.  The quote in the beginning of this post is from one such vision, in which Kelly scryed a goddess-like figure, who demanded righteousness before she would come to men.  And her relation to Babalon?  She compares herself to a harlot.  However, she also compares herself to a virgin: " I am a harlot for such as ravish me, and a virgin with such as know me not: For Lo, I am loved of many, and I am a lover to many; and as many as come unto me as they should do, have entertainment."

Babalon's harlotry is explained in that she denies no one enlightenment, and denies no one from her presence.  However, she expects a great price, your own ego.  The abandonment of the ego in the name of enlightenment is not new, for it is the ego that ultimately divides us all.  Imagine, if you will, that we are but folds in the grand tapestry of the universe.  Peace, happiness, and communion with all things comes when we banish our ego and flatten our fold.  A possible better example is to compare oneself to a old, dirty mirror, unable to reflect the light of a great fire.  The dirt and grime on the mirror is our ego, and everything we believe about ourselves, and accumulated throughout our lifetimes.

Babalon is also very comparible to Ishtar,an ancient Babylonian goddess.  Perhaps they are one and the same, Ishtar as our modern minds comprehend her?

Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about Babalon in our time is the Babalon Working of John Whitsides Parsons and L. Ron Hubbard (yes, THAT L. Ron Hubbard).  The ritual involved invoking the goddess for a new revelation, of which Parsons did receive, Liber 49, considered the fourth chapter of Liber AL vel Legis (of which I shall discuss later).

NEXT WEEK: Baphomet

D&D Stories: Amadeus the Naked Paladin

I must have been planning this blog out for WEEKS!

First, I had to tell the world about my new wallet, which I still love and use by the by.  And then I began Pagan Blog Project because it was something I wanted to do, and its educational goddamn it!  But now I am backed into a corner.  I have no other choice, it's either this or the boiling vat of acid, ad you will learn in a paragraph why that makes me quake in my gamer shoes.  So, without further adieu: Amadeus, the Naked Paladin.

Lazlo died in the campaign, died in the most ironic was for a rogue to die, an obvious trap.  Now, granted, he was trying to stop the Ollie the Halfling Cleric from walking into said trap, but that still doesn't heal the wound of falling into it and dieing in one hit of the acid.  Seriously, who puts a giant pool of acid in their throne room.  One accidental flipping of the switch and you go for a swim hotter than buffalo sauce.

So we basically had a TPK (Total Party Kill, for those who don't know), only the Wizard survived.  Anyway, we had to roll up new characters, and mine was the younger brother (yet older than Lazlo because of the timey wimey stuff that went on after the Cave of Irmite, the Lazy God of Time) of Lazlo, Amadeus Quicksilver.  Amadeus is a Paladin.

I seriously wish this joke happened, since Paladins are kind of a 

well known fantasy occupation

Before I continue, I must first spend this entire paragraph talking about the stereotype of Paladins in D&D.  Yes, I am talking about LAWFUL STUPID.  The kind of person that is over zealous, prattling on about morals (and in our modern American culture: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus), holding themselves as holier-than-thou, sometimes even coming off as ethnocentric when it comes to morals; you know that guy?  That guy can be considered Lawful Stupid.  Mainly because we do not know how to be paragons of goodness and morality, especially not the paragon of goodness and morality of a polytheistic culture like most D&D settings are.  If you were playing a Paladin of the Church of the Silver Flame in the Eberron setting, then I can kind of see it justified, but not in vanilla D&D!

Now I'm not saying that I am a paragon myself, far from it, but I do know how a polytheistic society works, being one myself.  So I basically took the Five Precepts of Buddhism and Paladinized them a bit, while adding a sixth one to respect other gods.  It's THAT simple to cure Lawful Stupid.  Even Helm in the Forgotten Realms, a god favored by Paladins in that setting, used subterfuge and less-than-lawful methods to obtain a goal in Prince of Lies (and was called out by the evil god of thieves Mask: "I always figured you for a storm-the-front-gates-in-broad-daylight sort of strategist!").

What else makes Amadeus unique among Paladins is that, because he does not have the endurance feat, he learned to fight with a crossbow... at night... in the nude...

That's right, in the nude!

Shave off Amadeus' beard and mustache, grow him to Colossal size,

and put him in the middle of NYC, and this is what it will look like!

Funny thing is, all the combats we entered he fought nude in.  Giant spiders in the forest?  Nude!  Unicorn encounter?  Nude!  Running from a Fire Giant?  Nude!  Attacking a thieves guild to get stuff back for the party?  Robbed!  But what was he wearing underneath that simple robe?  BIRTHDAY SUIT!!!

My gaming group cannot deny it, Amadeus Quicksilver kicks major ass in the buff.  He didn't even need his crossbow to take on the thieves, he flat out clocks a guy with his fists of holy fury.  I had no theme coming in to playing Amadeus, like the James Bond-esque Lazlo, but I think I'm never going to give Amadeus light armor for the nighttime, no-sir-ee!  After the last two sessions, I think every D&D party needs a nude Paladin; and that's the truth!

PBP #2: Aradia

"When I shall have departed from this world,
Whenever ye have need of anything,
Once in the month, and when the moon is full,
Ye shall assemble in some desert place,
Or in a forest all together join
To adore the potent spirit of your queen,
My mother, great Diana."
-The Gospel of the Witches

I think one of the major themes this PBP of mine is going to have is to show the vastness of the Western Mystery Tradition/Neopaganism, both the spirituality and the philosophy.  We might not be practicing the same religion as was done in Late Antiquity, but we are part of that memetic legacy.  We celebrate a eucharist, derived from the ancient Eleusian Mysteries and the Dionysian Mysteries, much like Christians do.  We also cast circles, a practice we can see within works like the Lemegeton (sometimes called for its first section, Goetia).  We don't need to steal from other traditions to have something full (but more on Electicism when I get to E).

Here , I want to begin discussing some of our unique deities within our traditions.  Her name is Aradia (which some state comes from the Latin for Altar of the Goddess).  According to the Gospel of the Witches written by Leland, she is the daughter of Diana and Lucifer (though modern traditions seem to shy away from the name Lucifer, I personally don't), and thus a balance of darkness and light, sun and moon.  She is called Queen of Faries, First of Witches, La Bella Pellegrina (Beautiful Pilgrim), protector of the opressed, and many more titles that can be found here.

Aradia was sent down (some say initiated into a tradition to do this) to free the oppressed and enslaved of medieval Italy from the rich and the Catholic Church.  She instructs them on magic, some that would make the fluffy-and-light-based Wiccans cry out, "but what about the Rede, Harm None!"  She also instructs them on the Sabbat, giving a charge very similar to the modern Charge of the Goddess.  In factm, the Gospel is where Doreen Valiente got the inspiration, as well as a bit from the Blue Equinox and the Gnostic Mass of the EGC.  The call to skyclad, or nude worship, is also called out, to be done "...until the last of your oppressors shall be dead."



The Sabbat meeting then follows a eucharistic pattern.  This can be seen in the conjuration of Diana:

I do not bake the bread, nor with it salt,
Nor do I cook the honey with the wine,
I bake the body and the blood and soul,
The soul of (great) Diana, that she shall p. 14
Know neither rest nor peace, and ever be
In cruel suffering till she will grant
What I request, what I do most desire,
I beg it of her from my very heart!
And if the grace be granted, O Diana!
In honour of thee I will hold this feast,
Feast and drain the goblet deep,
We, will dance and wildly leap,
And if thou grant'st the grace which I require,
Then when the dance is wildest, all the lamps
Shall be extinguished and we'll freely love!

So what major influence does Aradia have on the world, and how do we come to worship her?

Well Aradia's name is basically everywhere you look now-a-days, especially in women's groups.  The popular web-comic/series MS Paint Adventures has a character named Aradia Megido, who is a troll in the series.

To begin in the veneration of this goddess, I would first suggest reading the Gospel of the Witches, beyond getting a glimpse at her and the Neopagan Diana, its also a pretty damn good read, and in some ways, a social commentary (some think Leland forged the book with Maddalena as social commentary about the oppression of the lower class in industrial society, though I forgot where I read it at, I know, bad form to not have references, I have more important things to do at this time, like help take care of my sister who got her wisdom teeth removed).  Besides that, I would look into some Italian/Tuscan folk practices.  Interestingly enough, one can look to folk Catholicism for extra info that could possibly point them in the right direction.

However, beyond my suggestions, as long as respect is involved, I don't think there is a right or wrong way to worship Aradia, being a somewhat new goddess.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ADDENDUM: Looking back on this post, I have to say that some things came off really weirdly with writing, so I thought I would take the time to mention a few things:

* I know there are many traditions within the WMT and Neopaganism, some of which do not draw inspirations from what I have mentioned in this post and in future posts.  Certainly, Asatru and other Heathen traditions basically don't draw  from the same source at all.  I think that first paragraph could have been worded better.  However, since a influential majority of Neopaganism was influenced by Wicca, which in turn, is a modern movement within the WMT, a lot can glean information from this.

* Skyclad as a term does not originate from Neopaganism or from the Gospel of the Witches, I am aware of that.  It comes from a Jain origin.  However, I used it out of a sense of the fact that it is a commonly used term to describe ritual nudity in Neopaganism.

* The quotes from the Gospel of the Witches was obtained at the Sacred Texts Archive here.

* I still can't find that damn "Aradia as Social Commentary" thingy.

* The next PBP post will be on Babalon.

PBP #1: Altars

"An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship. Today they are used particularly in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, as well as in Neopaganism and Ceremonial Magic. Judaism did so until the destruction of the Second Temple. Many historical faiths also made use of them, including Greek and Norse religion."
-Wikipedia Definition of Altar

The use of altars within most Neopagan traditions come from it's use within Ceremonial Magic.  Also known as the "Working Altar".  Most Neopagans also make use of Devotional Altars of Shrines, of which my personal Altar is.  In fact, in most religions, Devotional Shrines, or even Devotional Oratories or Chapels, are set up in homes.  Within Japanese traditions, like Shinto and Tenrikyo, the Kamidana is a common sight in many homes.  Another example being the "Red Corner" in many Russian Orthodox homes, containing images of the saints and the Theotokos.  The Red Corner is so ingrained withing Russian culture, that during the Soviet Era, the idea of putting up pictures of Valdimir Lenin and other communist figures was promoted.

This is my personal Devotional Altar.  It's a nightstand with a metal plate to make a flat space (the top came with an indentation).  On it are two bandana's making the altar cloth, alongside an incense stick holder, a pentacle on an octagonal piece of slate surrounded by five tumbled gems, a dagger, a wand, two offering dishes (read: shells, its an interesting touch), a stand with a yellow gold altar cloth.  The statues depict Auset (Isis) and Dionysus, as well as a statue of Horus (representing Ra-Hoor-Khuit).  On the sill I have some small jugs to hold libation offerings, candles, and a bell.  Also on the sill are statues of Djehuty (Thoth), Columbia, and the bodhisattva Budai.  Images of Auset and Baphomet also grace the sill.

I wouldn't say that the collection is Eclectic in any way, since I consider myself a Hermetic Magician/Thelemite.  The presence of Budai and Columbia are there for specific reason as well.  Being born and raised as an American Columbia is in many ways a patron.  The adoption of her worship by Pagans and others is sometimes thought of as controversial, picking up a lot of steam during the Hail Columbia campaign to mystically fight back against the DC 50 prayer campaign launched by the New Apostolic Reformation.  Budai, not only being a well syncretised and acculturated deity in the West, is also there representing the influence Buddhism has had on my personal faith.

Neopagan and Hermetic tradition have in many ways revived the Home Devotional Altar tradition that died off after the Protestant Reformation.  What most people that do not have one don't tend to realize is the psycho-spiritual effect it has on your life.  The altar is a promise, to keep the Divine important in your life.  Of course, the importance of the Divine in orthopraxic religions is different than in orthodoxic religions, but I digress.  The altar is not only a devotional space, but a work of art as well.  While you do not need a lot of money to make an altar, you should try to make it a grand and wonderful spot  What you have is a throne, a seat for the Gods to sit in and come dwell with you.
I inspired my sister, a Presbyterian, and my close friend, who was born and raised Catholic but is now just Christian, to put up altars in their own ways, and they still thank me.

Something that is not commonly seen, but is a growing presence within our traditions is the existance of ancestor altars and altars devoted to the smaller household gods, like the Larariums of old.  We spend all our days thinking of the bigger picture, and yet we do not think of the things that, without them, all this would not be possible.  I will admit that I am among those who do not have such a shrine, but one day I will, one day.  But for now, I thank them in my heart, which is the truest altar anyone can carry around, the altar given to us at birth.

NEXT WEEK: Aradia, the Gospel of the Witches

Pagan Blog Project 2013

I am doing Pagan Blog Project for 2013!

Our first posting is......................... tomorrow.........

I want to, first of all, thank Allie at Hyperbole and a Half for those amazing images to describe my reaction to both hearing about this project, and my reaction to the first post basically being tomorrow.

Second of all, I want to thank Destiny (who has a blog set up just for this reason alone) for even introducing me to it in the first place.

So I guess my D&D gaming readers will have to wait for Amadeus the Naked Paladin until after tomorrow.  Tomorrow!  Altars?  Aradia?  Aiwass?  Who knows!

P.S.: I edited the originals that Allie made, though I don't know if she would make me my own images for this.  Maybe if I asked really nicely, with a plate full of cupcakes and cookies, dressed nice and with a bow-tie, because bow-ties are cool!

The Wallet

Yes, I am quite aware that I said that my next blog post would be about Amadeus Quicksilver the "Naked Paladin", however, I have a more heart-warming story to begin our year with, a story about belated Christmas/Solstice gifts and the insanity of not knowing if the person you are giving the gifts to will have it, and a bit of heart-warmingness at the end.

I needed a new wallet, my old pleather Twilight Princess wallet was, well, looking worse than the Zelda CD-I games.

Mah boi, this wallet is what all TRUE warriors strive for!

After getting a big payment from my now-ended seasonal job, I decided to buy a few gifts for myself.  One was buffalo wings, to which I have become addicted to. I mean seriously, I blacked out one night while on my laptop and woke up dressed, in my truck, on the way to Applebees for boneless buffalo wings.  Its like my survival instincts kicked in, or like I was possessed by something that needed me to get buffalo wings.  Anyway, another gift, from Barnes and Noble, was the game Talisman, which is kick-ass! I mean, I think I have a new favorite board game, and I'm pretty sure I can play it drunk, unlike Trivial Pursuit

QUESTION: Name of a documentary that details the story of a man who dies studying 

grizzlies.  Ron White's joke was my answer.  Don't play Trivial Pursuit drunk!

I also bought myself a flip wallet that is Zelda related.  Now some of you that can read context clues in the opening can see where this is heading.  If not, well, read on, it's gonna get a bit crazy up in here!

I hung out with an amazing woman today, whom I am very close with and have known for a long time.  She and I got gifts for each other.  Before the exchange though, I wanted to buy a Vitamin Water, and she noticed I had a Zelda wallet, and got despondent.  Naturally I am concerned, until we exchange our gifts and mine was, you guessed it, a Zelda wallet!  Not the same kind I bought, in fact, it was a bajillion times more awesome :D

However, she was still a bit despondent, so I proceeded to exchange everything from the previous wallet to this new one.  Though we joked about how it was funny and calling ti a "bad" gift, the smile I had and my act in changing my stuff over to the new wallet I'm sure cemented to her that I loved the gift.

I texted her later, telling her, basically, that when I: "saw the Zelda wallet, I was so touched.  I tink I only mentioned it once to you, and you thought enough about it to get me it."  It was a long text, and that quote doesn't even begin to paraphrase it (okay, it kind of does, but still).  However, this gift made me think.  We might go out and buy ourselves all our heart's desires, but a heartfelt gift from the people you are close to and adore and love are better than anything you could buy yourself.

Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2013 is filled with a whole bunch of amazing and fantastic gifts.

P.S.: Seriously, don't drink and Trivial Pursuit, or else you rely on a d4 to make your choices, and your answers become things like "Blue color for blue, so my answer is Bluey McBluerson!"

There is the titular wallet that was my gift.  <3, just <3