On Doing the Work

Training is good, yes.

Books are good, yes.

But you can be trained in formal training for twenty years and never "get it", and you can go out your back door with no training or knowledge at all and just "get it".  There is no guaranties, and none of it is where you actually get experience and wisdom.  You get those from doing it.

If I went through the best medical school in the world, I wouldn't be able to go straight in and be able to do everything day one.  As an example, I want into the emergency room for something.  The doctor was concerned about something else because he hadn't ever seen it, but the nurse told him, no, that isn't normal, but it's not abnormal, and convince him not to worry about it.  He had far more formal training than she did, but she had worked in the ER for many years and seen much more than he had.  He had more knowledge, but she had more experience.  In general, nurses see more and experience more because they handle most things that don't require the expertise the doctor has because of training, so have more wisdom to see things as they really are and know what to do in a lot more circumstances.

I read a quote in a book last night, Witches, Midwives, and Nurse: A History of Women Healers.  "If a woman dare to cure without having studies she is a witch and must die."  Note the emphasis on studying (indicating training, not reading, in this context).  While the restriction of women in medical schools and the prevalence of women over men in folk practice was an issue at the time, it was more about credentials vs no credentials than about gender.  The doctors felt only they should be able to heal because they were the ones with training, who had put in the time and effort to be trained, and could prove they were training.  Not really different from today when the main argument against alternative medicine in the US is not about if it works or not, but about lack of a medical degree.

Back to the craft, same thing.

Training is good, and is required in some *traditions* to practice that *tradition*, for very good reasons, but is not required to practice the craft, and doesn't guaranty success in it, any more than reading books do.  It's the experience that builds wisdom, and if you don't do anything until you have learned sufficiently to make no mistakes and always be good at it, you'll never reach that.

Read what you can, sure.

Get the formal, or informal, training if you can, sure.

But are real teachers are the spirits, our experiences, and our own self, seen through a mirror darkly.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Thirteen Points of Advice for Those Starting on the Path

The following are thirteen points of advice and guidance I'd give to anyone starting out of the path.  They aren't exclusive, there are other things to know.  And they aren't original, they are drawn from many sources.  And they are from my point of view, so should not be taken as gospel.  I hope they help some who read them.  Before getting into them, four books I'd recommend before most others, and I have a very long recommended reading list, are the following:

• Visual Magick by Jan Fries (Paperback, Kindle)
• Drawing Down the Spirits by Kenaz Filan and Raven Kaldera (Paperback, Kindle)
• Mysticism: Initiation and Dream by Andrew D. Chumbley (J.D. Holmes - US, Three Hands Press - UK)
• The Robert Cochrane Letters by Robert Cochrane and Evan John Jones (Out of print but available through Amazon)

And that being said, here are the thirteen points of advice that are my intention if sharing this:

1. Mutual respect is essential. Respect the spirits, and expect respect in return. If you don't receive it, they're out, burnt, or cut off.
2. All things have a spirit, and that spirit can be worked with and learned from. Some work with them as servants, or worship them and become servants. I prefer to work with them as partners. There is an authority in knowing you are equal with all things.
3. People (and spirits) see what they expect to see. Open your eyes, then open them again. Observe. Perceive. Understand.
4. What conceals also reveals. Look beneath the surface, both in of what your senses (physical or otherwise) tell you and what teachings, lore, and myth tell you. What they hide is as important as what they say.
5. Learn to ask the right questions. Asking the wrong question will send you in the wrong direction. There are no bad questions, but often looking at the question in the right way opens doors. And always ask the next question, don't let the answer be the end of the question.
6. When all else fails, cheat. Don't assume that the traditional way to do something, the way everyone does it, or the way you've always done it is the only approach. If it doesn't work, do something else.
7. Divide and conquer. If something is baffling or seems to be concealing something you can't quite grasp or see, break it down, look at each part of it separately, determine where something is missing, concealed, or not working, and focus there.
8. Only you are responsible for your actions and words, no one else, and you aren't responsible for anyone else's. Do what is necessary, but accept the responsibility for it. Own what you say and what you do, regardless of the consequences or what you think of them later. Don't pass blame, and don't take it on.
9. Learn from all things. All beings, objects, persons, spirits, circumstances, lore, teachings, regardless of the source or pain or issues, contain beauty, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, and can be learned from, if you ask the right questions, look beneath the surface, and separate what has value from what doesn't. There's a saying in Hawai'i that not all knowledge is found in one shed.
10. Be willing to consider any idea, no matter how different from your own. Examine it, understand it, but don't just accept it in you process. Hold on firmly to what you know, and only change it if there is good reason to do so.
11. Everybody lies, misrepresents, and hides things. This goes for spirits as well as living humans, and all things. Never assume you are being told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We all speak through our filters, understand based on our experiences, hide what we don't want seen, and mislead when it will gain us something. Make no assumptions about the truth of, completeness of, or accuracy of anything you are told. This goes for what you tell yourself as well. Look deeper, examine. Observe. Perceive. Understand.
12. What is yours, you need to hold, protect, defend. As Cochrane said, "What I have--I hold!" You are guardian and keeper of what is yours. Find what that is, and keep it against the storm.
13. What you put in, you get out. As we say in computers, garbage in, garbage out. Only you control what you get from the path. No effort, no result. No danger, no gain. Victor Anderson said anything worth doing is dangerous, and Cochrane said take all you are given, give all of yourself. Huna teaches that where your attention goes, the mana goes, and Taoist thought teaches similar, where the mind goes, the chi follows. Where you focus, that's where your energy is, what you think about and contemplate, that is where you will learn. It's all about you. You hold the reins. Make the most of it.

Hope these are helpful for some.

FFF,

~Muninn's Kiss

The Importance of Horror

This time of year, with Halloween approaching, there are a lot more horror films watched, more horror elements in television shows, and more horror books read than any other part of the year.  There is a marked focus in this direction, both in those pursuing watching and reading, and in those speaking against the genre.  Many of these elements spill into daily life, in costumes worn to work, parties, bars, and anywhere else people can get away with it by using the season as an excuse.

Supernatural horror the only mainstream place where the elements that are often a part of more occult and esoteric interest appear.  The very fact the genre (both in film and in literature, and also in art of many other forms) exists is interesting in itself.

The reason for the absence elsewhere is that people don't want to consider the monstrous and strange, preferring to pretend everything is safe and normal and predictable.  So it's pushed to the edges.  On the edges, we don't have to look at it.  We can pretend it's not there and go about life feeling safe.

But the presence of the supernatural horror genre in all mediums means that while it's pushed the edges, it's not pushed out completely.  People don't want to confront it in a "normal" context, but they also can't completely ignore or forget it either.  The genre persists because there is always a part of us that knows that the "normal" by itself is not the whole story, that there would be a lacking if the Other is completely gone.

So people seek out the monstrous and strange and dangerous on occasion, as a reminder not to forget, then return to their "normal" world, content that the stuff they push to the edges is still at the edges, so not hidden closer and waiting.

This is the place not just of the genre, but of the edges themselves.  Edges and boundaries define what is part and what is not, what is Self and what is Other, what is society and what is savage, what is cultivated and what is Wasteland or Wilderness.  By dividing, they define.  There is no boundary or edge if there isn't something beyond it.  There is no Self without Other.  There is no civilized without the Monster.  If what we don't like or are afraid of isn't at the edge, or across the boundary, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it means it has no place to be but here, where I am.  If there is no monster out there, the monster is here, or the monster is me.

The separation of worlds, the Edge and the Veil, is a separation of perception, not a gap or abyss between worlds.  Our world, our Dreaming, must be safe to us, so we push what isn't safe to the edge, make it Other, make it the otherworld.  And those that live in the otherworld, at the edges by our perception, push what isn't safe to them to the edge, to their Other, making it the otherworld for them, our world.  All things not safe for us, or that we don't want, is there.  All things not safe for them, or that they don't want, is here.  Two worlds mutually populating each other with their monsters, monsters who populate their world with monsters.

But those who walk between are monsters to both worlds, Other to all Selfs.  Because they can be either, so are monsters that appear as normal, no matter which world they walk.  And appearing normal in both, they also see both as normal, the accept the monstrous and strange as every day, as part of what makes up the whole.  They have no edges, no borders, no law, no limits.

Because edges imply two sides, boundaries and borders are between two things.  Laws define what can happen and cannot, or, what can happen without being pushed to the edges.  Limits define what is possible, but if you approach a limit long enough, you can't perceive where you are from where it is, and in effect reach it.  And once you realize the limit, what stops you from passing it?

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

The Spider's Song: I Made an Offering of Wind...

I made an offering of wind upon the altar of dust.  ~Grimr

In the beginning was a song.  The song.  The only song there ever was, and ever will be.  It was a love song, and a song of loneliness.  It was a song of joy and sorrow, of love and loss, of peace and war, of life and death.  It was the song of creation, the song of all things.  It was the spider's song.

It began with one note, ringing out through the outer darkness, like a single bell rang in a place of silence, or a the first harp string plucked.  It was a pure note, perfect, the only note that could pierce that silence, the silence of the outer dark.  It was the voice of the Nagara, the single note that was all, the love song of the Nagara to the Nagara, deep calling out to deep.  And it hung there in the darkness like a spark of light, like a seed, like a single harp string, or a single thread.  It was the first thread of the web, a single thread in the abyss of the outer darkness, a note ringing for none to hear.

And it echoed.  That single note reflected back on itself, reflecting off that which is not, the dark curve of the darkness.  It echoed back and in doing so, it changed, not the same as it was going out.  It rang in harmony with itself, a perfect harmonic, a perfect fifth.  The danced, round and round, catalyst and nexus, nexus and catalyst.  And so, one note became two, one thread became two, both vibrating in the darkness of the abyss, in the outer darkness, the first two threads of the web.  Two notes, hearing each other, responding to each other, first in dissonance, then in consonance, the dance of the twins.

From their play a third note arose.  It vibrated between them, both notes moving the third, the perfect third, a chord in the silence of the dark.  Three notes ringing out, moving, shifting.  A perfect chord.  Three mothers, three weavers each moving each other.  Three threads hanging in the abyss, the first three threads of the web.

But the song wasn't finished.  The chord grew and the perfect seventh came forth, four notes, four threads, stretching out into the abyss in four directions, four winds.  And still the song grew, for where there's a first, a third, a fifth, a seventh, there, too, there's a second, a fourth, and a sixth.  Seven notes ringing out through the darkness, and a melody formed, the vibrations of the web.  Seven builders, seven keepers, seven guardians.

Breath.  What is breath?  Breath is life, for even many one celled life take in oxygen and need it to live.  Breath is wind, for it is the movement of gas, in or out.  There is no breath in a vacuum.

Breath.  What is breath?  Breath is the most basic of sounds.  From it comes the vowel sounds in all oral languages, the sounds made without obstruction, without build up.  Sound passing through only changed in sound by the narrowness or movement of the side it passes between.  It is outward moving air, unblocked, unfettered, unbound, loosed.

Breath, vowels, are the first notes of music, pure sound, untempered.  They are the notes of the sound of the music, of a song, the song, the first song.  They are the beginning.

Breath bound, tied, constrained, blocked, fettered, becomes consonants.  As the vowels are given form, as the tent pole is raised, the bound vowels becomes first Three Mothers, then Seven Doubles, then Twelve Singles.  22 consonants, 22 letter.  Two Dancers, Three Weavers, Seven Builders, twelve in all, twelve notes, twelve threads, Twelve Watchers.

And consonants gather around vowels, the bound around the loosed, and words form.  Words, symbols of ideas.  And the complexity grows, the song grows.  Three Mothers, Seven Doubles, Twelve Singles, 22 consonants, 29 sounds, become 231 Gates, each gate a pair of consonants, the first and the fifth.  And the 231 Gates are joined by others, 20 consonants added to the beginning, to the middle, to the end, 13,860 roots if none repeat.  And roots combine to be words, and words combine to form sentences, and sentences combine to form paragraphs, and paragraphs combine to form chapters, and chapters combine to form books, and books combine to form sets and series, and sets and series combine to form shelves, and shelves combine to form racks, and racks combine to form rows, and rows combine to form stacks, and stacks combine to form floors, that the whole world is a library, the 10,000 things.

Every note holds power.  Every breath holds power.  Every vowel holds power.  Every sound holds power.  Every consonant holds power.  Every word holds power, every sentence, every paragraph.  And the longer they exist, the more they are used, the more their power grows.

Stand in a used bookstore or library.  Look at all those books.  How many are there?  How many words do they contain? How many letters do those words contain?  Each sound is a note in the song, the song of creation.  Each sound is a vibration in the web that is all, stretched across the face of the deep, the abyss, the outer darkness.  How much power is in those pages?  What secrets?  What notes?

Now think of the world.  How many books are in the world?  Right now.  And how many words in each one?

Now think of all time.  How many books have there been?  How many will there be?  And how many words in each one?

Now realize that books are just the ideas, the thoughts, the words that have been written down.  They are written language.  They have meaning because of the oral language that spawned them, the consonants with bound flow, the vowels with looses flow.  The power is in that oral language, the written is only that small piece that was written down, loosed power bound into a page.  How many words are spoken that are never recorded?  Each is a note in the song, the song of creation, the spider's song.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.  And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light." ~Genesis 1:1-3 JPS 1917 Edition of the Hebrew Bible in English

"darkness was upon the face of the deep" - וּ וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל-פְּנֵי תְהוֹם - v choshek 'al-peniy tehowm

וּ - v - and
וְחֹשֶׁךְ - choshek - darkness, obscurity, secret place
עַל-פְּנֵי - 'al-peniy - the face, the presence, the person, the surface of, that which is in front of, before, toward
תְהוֹם - tehowm - deep, depths, deep places, abyss, sea, ocean, abyss, grave

"spirit of God" - וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים - Ruwach 'elohiym - Ruach Elohim

רוּחַ - Ruwach, Ruach - breath, wind, air, gas, spirit, vivacity, vigour, courage, temper, anger, desire, sorrow, will, energy of life
אֱלֹהִים - 'elohiym, Elohim - rulers, judges, divine ones, angels, gods, god, goddess, godlike one, G-d

"hovered over the face of the waters" - מְרַחֶפֶת עַל-פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם - mrachaphit 'al-peniy mayim

מְ - m - from
רַחֶפֶת - rachaphit - to grow soft, relax, to hover
עַל-פְּנֵי - 'al-peniy - the face, the presense, the person, the surface of, that which is in front of, before, toward
הַמָּיִם - mayim - water, waters, urine, springs, fountains, flood

So we could read is as:

"and the secret place was upon the surface of the ocean, and the breath of the rulers settled upon the surface of the water."

or:

"and that which hides the face of the abyss, the wind of the gods, from the face of the water."

or:

"and darkness was the presence of the grave, the temper of the gods toward the flood."

But, a bit of a tangent.

Ruach is breath, but also wind and life.  Ruach is also, in Kabbalah, part of the soul.  In this way, it is the emotions, will, and energy of life.

The Breath.  The Soul.  The Wind.  Life.  Ruach, hovering above the waters of the abyss, in the darkness, is the notes of the song, which are also the threads of the web.

In the beginning was a song.

The song.

The only song there ever was, and ever will be.

It was a love song, and a song of loneliness.

It was a song of joy and sorrow, of love and loss, of peace and war, of life and death.

It was the song of creation, the song of all things.

It was the spider's song.

I made an offering of wind upon the altar of dust.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

All knowledge is not taught in one shed: My thoughts on books, oral teaching, and experience

I'm a firm believer that there is truth and things to learn in everything, even crap.  And by crap, I mean many "occult" books that which are being published lately.  And my "occult" (verses, say, occult), I mean things that claim to be secret or new but are just rewording of a thousand books mass produced before them.  Even in the shallowest, fluffiest, most full of plagiarism and dribble book, there is still truth and still things to learn, because even the most unoriginal and unimaginative person in the world is still led by the Muses once in a while, and will hit on truth and "secrets" and things worth learning unintentionally and often unaware.  I would of course rather read an author for whom that is the norm than the exception, but no book is without a nugget of truth for those that have eyes to see and ears to hear.  Though, that doesn't mean it's often worth the time to read the dribble to find it.

Point being, learning from a book, or a teacher, or the spirits, or anything, relies on the one learning more than anything.  You can't teach a rock to fly, you can just throw it and see if it can avoid hitting the ground.  The author may only produce dribble, but the right reader could find the secrets of the universe in the book (to quote Men in Black, "I promised you the secrets of the universe, nothing more.").  An author could be inspired and breathe the most profound truths into every sentence and the wrong reader might throw it away as nonsense.

Of course, on the other hand, it was fairly recent that the verb that is now our English "to learn" became the action of the student.  Even into the early 19th century, the usage was "He learned me to do it", not "I learned it from him."  A teacher, or author, imparts truth to the student, or reader, breathing that truth into them.  The teacher, or author, does the action, the student, or reader, only receives.  Receiving that truth is passive, teaching or writing it is active.  But, to passively receive something, you must be open to it.  Holding a fist in the air does not allow someone to give you a cup of water, but holding an open hand out in the air does.

This is what I mean above.  When I read, I read in a way that's open to receive whatever truth was breathed into it, intentionally and consciously or unintentionally and unconsciously.  I experience the truth in the book.  Same thing when I go out into the world.  When I stand on the top of a mountain 10,000 feet above sea level with the wind whipping through my hair, the solid rock under my feet, I'm open to receive what the spirits of that place want to teach me.  When I draw a circle, call to the spirits I work with and invite them, and perform a rite, I'm open to what the spirits and the rite has to teach me.  Reading a book really isn't different from learning from experience, it's just a different medium.

The key is to be open to it, and not make it your only source of truth.  There's a saying in Hawai'ian, "a'ohe pau ka 'ike i ka ha lau ho'okahi", basically "all knowledge is not taught in one shed."  This stems from a period when spiritual teachers in Hawai'i would teach in the three sided sheds that were common, to anyone who came to them.  The point being, each teacher teaches differently, and teaches different things.  The same is true here.  There are things best learned from a book, but things you can never learn from a book.  There are things best taught orally, teacher to student, and things that can never be passed through oral language.  There are things best taught only by experience, and things you can't learn from experience alone.  The moment you limit yourself to one source of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom is the moment you limit your knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

A'ohe pau ka 'ike i ka ha lau ho'okahi.

FFF,
~ Muninn's Kiss

Kickstarter Campaign a No-Go but Book Still in the Works

Okay, I think I timed my kickstarter campaign for my book poorly. The campaign ends tomorrow, but with work changes, I haven't had any time to promote it or give updates, and I haven't received a single pledge. At this point, any pledges 

won't be enough, so no one will be charged anything and no money will come to me, even if people pledge in the next day. So if you were thinking about it, don't worry about it. I'll either find a cheaper or non-self funded method of publishing or it will be released later. I'm still going to try to complete it before summer, but publication will probably be further out. This probably just means it wasn't time for the book yet, which I'm fine with. I'll keep everyone updated as I progress and as I find other options if there's a better way to do it. Any advise is appreciated. You can still read the campaign, but please don't pledge on it at this point, as it won't help and will just take your time that would be better used elsewhere.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/muninnskiss/grimrs-grimoire-a-book-of-myths-from-the-spiders-w

Discs, Coins, and Pentacles: A Look at Money and Esoteric Traditions

There's an interesting dance among the the modern esoteric, occult, and pagan communities when it comes to money that is a bit contradictory. On one hand, many in the communities believe a practitioner should never charge for their services, and a teacher should never charge their students. On the other hand, many in the community are adamant that any unauthorised reproduction of books or other material of a magic, pagan, or occult nature is the worst sin ever, that an author deserves money for every copy of their book. Often, these authors that should get money for their books are also teachers who shouldn't charge to teach, or practitioners who shouldn't charge for their services. But this seems a bit schizophrenia  Why are written teachings supposed to be paid for but charging for oral teachings anathema? Why are writings okay to charge for, but workings not? Is writing a profession but teaching or workings hobbies? I'd like to consider these things a bit.

In thinking about money, the suits of the Tarot comes to mind. While most modern decks contain wands, swords, cups, and pentacles, older decks commonly had rods or staves instead of wands and discs of coins instead of pentacles. The modern names tie heavily to ceremonial magic, of course. A pentacle for protection, a wand for directing energy and power, a sword for the masculine, a cup for the feminine. The sword is often tied to Excalibur, and cup with the Graal. Ceremonial magic then ties them to elements and understands them based on ceremonial usage of the tools, and on the understanding of the corresponding element. The pentacle becomes earth, the cup water, and the sword and wand becomes fire and air, though which is which can vary. Talking in generalities of course, as each tradition varies. But the Tarot are usually seen through these eyes.

Other modern readers use Jung's ideas and work with them as archetypes psychological constructs. Pentacles become material concerns, employment or financial. Cups become emotion and romance. Wands become intellectual and thought. Swords become action and will.

But it must be remembered that the Tarot didn't appear in Europe in a ceremonial magic context, and psychology and archetype theory developed later.

To understand the suits, a good place to look is the Three Estates of the Middle Ages, those who pray, those who fight, and those who labour. Basically, clergy, nobles, and peasants. But as the Middle Ages drew to a close, classes changed. The nobles drew further and further away from fighting, and the bourgeoisie developed. The Tarot was more a court and merchant thing than a peasant thing, and appeared in the days of bourgeoisie, so this seems a likely context to understand the it.

Looking at the suits, we can see some clear connections. A rod is probably a sceptre, the symbol of rulership, so the wands, the staves and rods, become those who rule, symbolising the governmental influence on life. A cup is the sacramental chalice, the symbol of the Church, so cups become those who pray, symbolising the spiritual and religious influence on life. A sword in the symbol of the military, those who fight, symbolising the influence of war and conflict on life. And a coin is the symbol of merchants, those who buy and sell, the middle class, the bourgeoisie, symbolising the influence of money and goods on life.

Interestingly, during that period, Mercury is used to designate trade and merchants and goods and money. Mercury/Hermes is the crosser between places, just as merchants cross between cities, between nations and kingdoms. But Mercury is never associated with earth, as Pentacles are now. Both god and planet is air, and the metal mercury. The goddess referenced for commerce was Minerva (Athena of the Greeks).

Mars was of course the god associated with fighting and wars. He is fire to most modern ideas, but he is iron, and while fire shapes iron, iron itself is a thing of earth. Iron comes from earth, and when used as a weapon, sends people back to the earth. War brings fallow fields, it's impact is on the earth itself.

Modern interpretation of cups as romance would put Venus (Aphrodite) and Cupid (Eros) there, but the cups as the Church brings a more chaste perspective. The classical image isn't that of Aphrodite and Eros bringing love and sex, but of the Vestal Virgins changed to male priests with vows. The chalice of the Church isn't a chalice of water but one in which wine becomes blood. Alcohol and blood are both more often linked to fire than water, but by their red colour (red wine is used in sacrament), and by their heat. The chalice of blood easily can be seen as the Vestial fires and the fires of Hestia.

Last we have wands, rods, staves, sceptres. We have secular authority which is rulership and royalty, government and kingship. This becomes Zeus quit easily, king of the gods. And Zeus' sceptre is a bolt of lightning, and Zeus is a storm god, and the very storm, the bringer of rain. This links wands nicely with water.

But, back to money and esoteric, occult, and pagan services. As far as I can tell, the idea that a magic practitioner's magic will only work if they don't take money for it is a very new concept, maybe originating in the Golden Dawn proviso against the use of magic to bring material wealth, as this is often associated with the pleasures of the earth, and the Golden Dawn, much like the gnostics, focuses on rising out of the physical onto the spiritual. Most records, myths, legends, and folktales concerning magic users, however, seem to describe it being a profession, their main source of income or provision, their main contribution to their communities. As far as teaching goes, apprenticeships to magic workers seems to have worked the same as other apprenticeships, in what I've read. The parents of the prospective apprenticeship bought the apprenticeship, paying the master. Definitely money for teaching.

In societies without currency, of course, payment was in goods or services, but this was true for any profession. If there's no physical money, goods and services are the only possible payment, and goods are the only wealth, as services can't be stored. Currency developed as a means to set rates and values of diverse things. The old metaphor, comparing apples and oranges is literal if you are trading them. How many apples is orange worth? How many oranges is an apple worth? You can barter, work out a deal, but what if you need 100 apples and live half a day's travel from where you will trade your oranges for the apples? How many oranges do you need to bring? Currency solves this, as it's easier to bring enough coins. Bartering was still the norm, but you bartered to sell what you could bring, then battered to buy what you needed. You didn't need to worry about exchanging between the types of goods. But the real reason for currency is governmental and religious. Taxes and offerings are easier in currency. As a temple or church or government gets large, what are they going to do with the large amount of grain or animals or whatever? Currency makes this easier, both for storing and for accounting.

Exchange of goods and services could work in our society, if those using the services of the magic user gave toward a need in response. "I'll pay your rent in exchange for delivering our baby." "In exchange for that charm for love, I'll bring groceries and come over and cook you dinner." Same for teaching, it's entirely possible to exchange. "I'll mow your lawn every week if you'll teach me every week." "I'll update your website in exchange for being taught." "I'll buy you dinner once a week and you can teach me while we eat."

In societies that didn't have a concept of trade, all things were held in common by definition, regardless of what role you served. In this case, the magic user tended to be in a role like a medicine man, or a shaman, or a priest, sometimes a governmental or military type leader as well. Basically the village doctor and preacher in one, or those plus the chief or warband leader. They provided a need, and the village provided for their needs. If the magic worker or teacher was completely taken care of by the pagan or occult community, there would be much less need to charge for services. The community would care for their physical needs, and they would care for the community's religious, spiritual, magical, and healing needs. They would teach others' their skills as the need grows and to carry on the service. The students wouldn't pay per se, the training would be part of the service in exchange for being provided for.

So there are options going back to older ideas, but why should the magic user or teacher function differently than the rest of the community? Do those in the same community that have "mundane" jobs, the programmers, the system administrators, the plumbers, the mechanics, the school teachers, the college professors, the nurses, the doctors, the lawyers, the architects, the engineers, the construction workers, the editors, the writers, and all the other professions, do all these work only for goods and services, or do they work for free, with the needs outside their profession met by the community?

Not to say it's wrong for magic users or teachers to serve for free if they choose, but why is it okay to require them to, while not requiring it of other professions? It's something to think about.

Back to the original comparison, what about writing? There's a strong reaction in the community against pirating, though a lot of it goes on. The statement made, which is legitimate, is that when a book is pirated, and distributed, the author gets no money for these, and that a writer can't survive without the income from their books, that they should be paid for their work.

Three points seem to be ignored.

The first is that resold copies at high prices on the Internet of out of print books is considered horrible, while buying them in used bookstores are trumpeted. However, neither of these, nor loaning or giving copies legally bought, give anything to author. The author only makes money from the initial sell. If one copy is sold, then passed around to a thousand people, the author makes the same thing as if one copy is bought, scanned, then passed out on the Internet to a thousand people. The first is legal and not critisized, and the second is illegal, piracy, and copyright infringement. Yet both hurt the author just as much. Not to say the second is good and should be done, but the finances of the author is obviously not relevant to what is right or wrong or good or bad.

Second, the initial question of this article, if piracy is wrong because the author deserves pay for her work, why doesn't she deserve pay for magical work or teacher-student training? Why is the same information portrayed in a book worth money, but not presented orally or privately? Esoteric, occult, and pagan traditions tend to talk a lot about oral tradition being better than writing, yet at the same time belie this by saying you should get paid for your writing but not your oral teaching.

Third, what is the purpose of publishing esoteric or occult books? Is it to provide the material to larger audiences than you can in person? Is it to cast it out into the world so a few that are meant to have it will find it? Is it for the purpose of funding your magic work and teaching? Is it to make as much money as you can?

Piracy helps the first two but hurts the second two. Same with selling copies used, loaning them out, or passing them on. So if either of the first two are your main goal, piracy should be seen as a good thing to the author, as it widens distribution beyond what traditional sales can do.

If your main goal is funding your magic work and teaching, how is that different from charging for those services? It's not as direct, true, but presumably your book is consistent with your teaching and informed by your practice. How can it be seen as a separate entity from either?

And if your main purpose is purely bringing in money, it's hard not to fall into the trap of mass production and following the latest trend. This would of course diminish quality, and doesn't seem to be something anyone serious in the esoteric or occult community would laud and encourage.

Ultimately, the question becomes, do you reject the physical world and wealth and money with it, or do you consider the physical, along with money and wealth, to be equal to the spiritual? If the first, it seems consistent to not charge for magic work or teaching, but also to provide books and writing for free, not charging for these either. This would make sense for gnostic oriented traditions, like many ceremonial traditions, mystery schools, and mystery-based witchcraft traditions. But for those that consider themselves earth-based religions or traditions that don't reject the physical, charging for magic work or teaching doesn't seem like something to fight or criticize any more than charging for books.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Kickstarter: Grimr's Grimoire: a Book of Myths from the Spider's Web

I've launched the Kickstarter project to raise funds to publish my book, if anyone wants to pledge, to help me make this happen.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/muninnskiss/grimrs-grimoire-a-book-of-myths-from-the-spiders-w

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Book Update: Grimr's Grimoire

Okay, I'm looking at seriously moving forward on my book that I've discussed a few times. I've been working on it off and on, and have the basic idea and structure worked out, and some of the content.

This will be the first of three books if I can pull it off and there's enough interest to move forward on more after the first. I've nicknamed this one the White Book. It will be called Grimr's Grimoire: a Book of Myths from the Spider's Web. The second potential book, the Black Book, will be Tome of the Builders: a Book of More Myths from the Spider's Web. The third and final, the Red Book, will be Codex of the Dancers: the Final Book of Myths from the Spider's Web.

The purpose of the books is to teach the fundamentals of Grimr and my practice in a way that can be applied outside the Grimr context and lead people to a more independent, dynamic, and powerful esoteric practice. They will include myths, lore, poetry, experience, theory, and praxis in a consistent format that people with different backgrounds and learning styles can connect with. I will attempt to do in writing what is fundamentally accomplished through oral teaching. Not all readers will connect with the material, because it is essentially esoteric mystery. My hope is that enough will to make the writing and publishing of the books a worth while venture.

At the moment, I intend for all three books to have the same basic structure to each chapter. Each chapter will start with an opening poem to set the stage for the chapter and plant the seeds in the reader that will grow throughout the chapter. This will in a way be an invocation.

After the opening poem, there will be a major myth. This myth will be the core of the chapter, and all the myths in the books will tie together with larger themes. The myth will relate the core material of the chapter in story form, with the purpose stories in many cultures serve to pass down the ideas that are central to the family or tribe.

Following each major myth will be a commentary on that myth, helping the reader to connect on a conscious, intellectual level. After the commentary will be a ritual section, maybe one ritual, maybe three, not any more than that but I don't want to limit to one if the chapter lends well to multiple. The rituals will probably vary a lot in nature and makeup. I don't want to just give a script and say, do this, I want to provide a framework to help the reader develop their own while still experience the material in a tangible, usable way that will allow them to understand the material on a physical, emotional, and intuitive level. But I also want to help them be able to use what they learn from the material on a practical real level, not just creative visualization and psychobabble. And I want them to come away from the book knowing how to construct their own ritual to be able to do the work themselves and not just follow ceremony and scripts.

After the commentary and ritual sections, I'm planning on closing the chapter with a minor myth related to the first but pulling things back from head space and ritual space back into story, tying everything back together. And then I'll have a closing poem bringing it to a close.

The first book is currently slated to contain the following thirteen chapters:

1. Exitium in Initio Ponebatur: An Introduction to Grimr and the Grimoire
2. The Prophet and the Mirror: Through a Mirror Darkly
3. The Priest and the Bridge: Across the Abyss
4. The Poet and the Cauldron: Stillness and Motion and the Inspiration of Change
5. The King and the Wasteland: Sacred and Sacrificial Kingship and the Land
6. The Wanderer and the Mask: A Thousand Frightful Faces
7. The Mistress and the Blade: Hidden Lovers and Thrice Cut Threads
8. The Watchers and the Ten Thousand Things: A Myriad Divisions of Variety and Distraction
9. The Builders and the Compass: The Star Map of Eternity
10. The Weavers and the Threads of Fate: Into the Spider's Web
11. The Dancers and the Eternal Dance: The Catalyst and The Nexus
12. The Nagara and Everything: Secret Names and the Unity of Illusion
13. Ex nihilo: The Beginning of All Things

I have created a Kickstarter project to raise the necessary money to get the first book written and published. I'm hoping for publication next June (2013) if I can get the writing and footwork done by then. I have not made the Kickstarter project live yet, but hope to in the next week or two. I'm going to attempt to raise $2000 to cover the expenses to get it to press and available as an eBook with the major readers, plus provide some copies and fun items for some of those that contribute to the project. The project will only run for 30 days, and if I don't reach the $2000 goal, I won't get any of it to work with, so I'm hoping it brings in enough to make this happen.

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss

Reading List

Below is my newest updated reading list.  The official version I will update, in an indexed form, can be found by link at the top of this blog or with any of the following links:

http://www.grimr.org/reading-list

http://blog.grimr.org/p/reading-list.html

http://muninnskiss.grimr.org/p/reading-list.html

http://tomesoflore.grimr.org/p/reading-list.html

While it is practice that defines a path, tradition, or system, and it cannot be learned from books, but only passed down or experienced, books and other media can provide pointers to practice and can serve as guides or inspiration to find the Truth that must be found alone.  The reading suggestions on this page form a collection of pointers that might help the seeker, student, or practitioner to dig deeper and find the Truth they seek.  This list is mostly non-Grimr sources but contain truth and ideas relevant to Grimr.  All must be taken critically and not taken as necessarily true or complete.  There is a saying in Huna, that not all knowledge is taught in one school.  Use this list to find tidbits and hints to find what you truly seek.

Non-Fiction

The following are called "non-fiction" not because anything in them is true, but because they are no intentionally fiction. There is truth in all things, but also illusion, lapwings, and lies. Always judge for yourself. The following are arranged by category. None are directly Grimr books, but contain truth that will help both those pursuing Grimr and those on different paths. Take what you can, throw out what you can't, and weigh and judge all. May you find a seed of wisdom in each of these books. Some categories overlap, and I've listed the books in multiple categories. The categories reflect my views on the books, not necessarily those of the authors or other readers. In each category, books are sorted by author, series, and date.

American Witchcraft

• Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America - Margot Adler
• Fifty Years in the Feri Tradition - Cora Anderson
• Thorns of the Blood Rose - Victor H. Anderson
• Lilith's Garden - Victor H. Anderson
• Heart of the Initiate: Feri Lessons - Victor and Cora Anderson
• Etheric Anatomy: The Three Selves and Astral Travel - Victor H. Anderson, Cora Anderson
• Evolutionary Witchcraft - T. Thorn Coyle
• Kissing the Limitless: Deep Magic and the Great Work of Transforming Yourself and the World - T. Thorn Coyle
• Goddess Initiation: A Practical Celtic Program for Soul-Healing, Self-Fulfillment & Wild Wisdom - Francesca De Grandis
• Share My Insanity: It Improves Everything - Francesca De Grandis
• Children of Cain: A Study of Modern Traditional Witches - Michael Howard
• The White Wand: Ruminations, Meditations, Reflections Toward a Feri Aesthetic - April Niino
• The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess - Starhawk
• Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery - Starhawk
• The DustBunnies' Big Damn Handout Volume I - Valerie Walker

Balkan Witchcraft

• Balkan Traditional Witchcraft - Radomir Ristic, Translated by Michael C. Carter, Jr.

British Isle History

• Book of Invasions - Anonymous
• History of the Kings of Britain - Geoffrey of Monmouth
• Blood & Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain - Ronald Hutton

British Witchcraft

• Azoetia: A Grimoire of the Sabbatic Craft - Andrew D. Chumbley
• Qutub. Or, The Point - Andrew D. Chumbley
• Mysticism: Initiation and Dream - Andrew D. Chumbley
• The Robert Cochrane Letters: An Insight into Modern Traditional Witchcraft - Robert Cochrane, Evan John Jones
• Pillars of Tubal Cain- Nigel Jackson, Michael Howard
• The Book of Fallen Angels- Michael Howard
• Children of Cain: A Study of Modern Traditional Witches - Michael Howard
• The Roebuck in the Thicket: An Anthology of Robert Cochrane Witchcraft Tradition - Evan John Jones, Robert Cochrane, Michael Howard
• The God of the Witches -Margaret Murray
• Tubelo's Green Fire: Mythos, Ethos, Female, Male & Priestly Mysteries of the Clan of Tubal Cain - Shani Oates
• The Star Crossed Serpent Volume I: Origins: Evan John Jones 1966-1998: The Legend of Tubal Cain - Evan John Jones & Shani Oates
• The Star Crossed Serpent Volume II: The Legacy Continues: Shani Oates 1998-Present: The Legend of Tubal Cain - Shani Oates
• The Rebirth of Witchcraft - Doreen Valiente
• Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed - Doreen Valiente, Evan John Jones

Buddhism and Hinduism

• Kalachakra Tantra: Rite of Initiation - His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Translated by Jeffrey Hopkins

Celtic Myth and Legend

• Book of Invasions - Anonymous
• Blood & Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain - Ronald Hutton
• The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol - Roger Sherman Loomis
• The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Myth and Legend: A Definitive Sourcebook of Magic, Vision, and Lore - John and Caitlin Matthews

Ceremonial Magic, Grimoire Tradition,Rosicrucian, Golden Dawn, and Thelema Related

• 231 Gates of Initiation & The 32 Paths of Wisdom Tarot - Rawn Clark
• Magic in Theory and Practice - Aleister Crowley 
• The Book of Lies - Aleister Crowley
• The Book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians, Being the Equinox Volume III No. V - Aleister Crowley
• The Book of the Law: Liber Al Gel Legis - Aleister Crowley
• Chicken Qabalah - Lon Milo DuQuette
• The Lesser Key of Solomon - S. L. MacGregor Matters
• The Greater Key of Solomon - S. L. MacGregor Matters
• The Middle Pillar: The Balance Between Mind and Magic - Israel Regardie

Charms and Spells

• The ABC of Magic Charms - Elizabeth Pepper

Christian Mystics and Mysticism

• The Cloud of Unknowing - Anonymous
• The Interior Castle - St. Teresa of Avila
• The Way of Perfection - St. Teresa of Avila
• The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila By Herself - St. Teresa of Avila
• The Dialogue - Catherine of Siena
• Little Flowers of St. Francis - Brother Ugolino
• Living with Contradiction: An Introduction to Benedictine Spirituality - Ether de Waal

Cultus Sabbati

• Azoetia: A Grimoire of the Sabbatic Craft - Andrew D. Chumbley
• Qutub. Or, The Point - Andrew D. Chumbley
• Mysticism: Initiation and Dream - Andrew D. Chumbley

The Devil

• Satan: The Early Christian Tradition - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• The Prince of Darkness: Evil and the Power of Good of History - Jeffrey Burton Russell

Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Myth and History

• The Golden Bough - James George Frazer
• The Golden Ass of Apuleius - Translated by Robert Graves
• Diodorus Siculus: Library of History - Diodorus Siculus

European Heresy, Dissent, and Religious History

• Miracles and Pilgrims: Popular Beliefs in Medieval England - Ronald C. Finucane
• Blood & Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain - Ronald Hutton
• The Return of the Dead: Ghosts, Ancestors, and the Transparent Veil of the Pagan Mind - Claude Lecoiteux
• The Formation Of A Persecuting Society: Power And Deviance In Western Europe,950-1250- R.I. Moore
• The Origins of European Dissent - R.I. Moore
• Inquisition - Edward Peters
• Dissent and Reform in the Early Middle Ages - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• Witchcraft in the Middle Ages - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• Religious Dissent in the Middle Ages - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• Satan: The Early Christian Tradition - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• The Prince of Darkness: Evil and the Power of Good of History - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• A History of Medieval Christianity: Prophecy and Order - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics, Pagans - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• Dissent and Order in the Middle Ages: The Search for Legitimate Authority - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• A History of Heaven: The Singing Silence - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• Paradise Mislaid: How We Lost Heaven and How We Can Regain It - Jeffrey Burton Russell

Faeries and other Hidden People

• An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies,  and Other Supernatural Creatures - Katharine Briggs
• Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia - Carol Rose
• A Field Guide to Irish Fairies - Bob Curran

Feri Tradition and Related or Influenced Traditions

• Fifty Years in the Feri Tradition - Cora Anderson
• Thorns of the Blood Rose - Victor H. Anderson
• Lilith's Garden - Victor H. Anderson
• Etheric Anatomy: The Three Selves and Astral Travel - Victor H. Anderson, Cora Anderson
• Heart of the Initiate: Feri Lessons - Victor and Cora Anderson
• Evolutionary Witchcraft - T. Thorn Coyle
• Kissing the Limitless: Deep Magic and the Great Work of Transforming Yourself and the World - T. Thorn Coyle
• Goddess Initiation: A Practical Celtic Program for Soul-Healing, Self-Fulfillment & Wild Wisdom- Francesca De Grandis
• Share My Insanity: It Improves Everything - Francesca De Grandis
• The White Wand: Ruminations, Meditations, Reflections Toward a Feri Aesthetic - April Niino
• The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess - Starhawk
• Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery - Starhawk
• The Dust Bunnies' Big Damn Handout Volume I - Valerie Walker

Healing, Plants, and Herbalism

• The Web That Has No Weaver - Ted J. Kaptchuk
• The Herb Book: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to More than 500 Herbs - John B. Lust
• Practical Chinese Medicine - Penelope Ody
• Plants of Life, Plants of Death - Frederick J. Simoons
• The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy: Over 600 Natural, Non-Toxic and Fragrant Recipes to Create Health, Beauty, A Safe Home Environment - Valerie Ann Worwood

Italian Witchcraft

• Aradia: Gospel of the Witches -Charles Godfrey Leland

Jewish, Arabic, and Middle Eastern Magic and Traditions

• Black Book of the Yezidi
• Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation
• The Zohar
• The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons - Jill Hammer
• Magic that Works: Practical Training for the Children of Light - Frances Harrison, Nineveh Shadrach
• I Asked For Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology - Abraham Joshua Heschel
• The Guide for the Perplexed - Moses Maimonides
• The Kabbalah: The Essential Texts From the Zohar - Bharat Rochlin
• Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism - Howard Schwartz, Caren Loebel-Fried, Eliot K. Ginsburg

Judaism and the Kabbalah

• Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation
• The Zohar
• The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons - Jill Hammer
• I Asked For Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology - Abraham Joshua Heschel
• The Guide for the Perplexed - Moses Maimonides
• The Kabbalah: The Essential Texts From the Zohar - Bharat Rochlin
• Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism - Howard Schwartz, Caren Loebel-Fried, Eliot K. Ginsburg

King Arthur, the Grail, and Arthurian Legend

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Anonymous
• The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends - Ronan Coghlan
• The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol - Roger Sherman Loomis
• The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend - Alan Lupack
• Le Morte D'Arthur - Thomas Malory
• The Elements of the Grail Tradition - John Matthews
• The Faerie Queene - Sir Edmund Spenser
• Erec and Enide - Chrétien de Troyes
• Cligès - Chrétien de Troyes
• Yvain, the Knight of the Lion - Chrétien de Troyes
• Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart - Chrétien de Troyes
• Perceval, the Story of the Grail - Chrétien de Troyes

Literary Theory

• Monster Theory: Reading Culture - Jeffrey Jerome Cohen

Miscellaneous Non-Fiction

• The Book of Qualities - J. Ruth Gendler
• Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom - Caitlin Matthews 
• Stillness Speaks - Eckhart Tolle

Mythology, Faerie Tales, Folk Stories, and Inventive History

• Book of Invasions - Anonymous
• Phantoms and Fairies from Norwegian Folklore - Tor Age Bringsvaerd
• The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends - Ronan Coghlan
• A Field Guide to Irish Fairies - Bob Curran
• Roles of the Northern Goddess - Hilda Ellis Davidson
• The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion - James George Frazer
• History of the Kings of Britain - Geoffrey of Monmouth
• The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth - Robert Graves
• The Golden Ass of Apuleius - Translated by Robert Graves
• Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages - Claude Lecouteux
• The Return of the Dead: Ghosts, Ancestors, and the Transparent Veil of the Pagan Mind - Claude Lecoiteux
• Aradia: Gospel of the Witches -Charles Godfrey Leland
• The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol - Roger Sherman Loomis
• The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend - Alan Lupack
• The Elements of the Grail Tradition - John Matthews
• The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Myth and Legend: A Definitive Sourcebook of Magic, Vision, and Lore - John and Caitlin Matthews
• Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia - Carol Rose
• The Religion of the Teutons - Pierre Daniel Chantepie de la Saussaye
• Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism - Howard Schwartz
• Diodorus Siculus: Library of History - Diodorus Siculus
• Plants of Life, Plants of Death - Frederick J. Simoons
• The Poetic Edda - Snorri Sturluson
• The Prose Edda - Snorri Sturluson
• Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World - Barbara C. Sproul
• Goddess of the North - Lynda C. Welch
• Magical Creatures - The Witches' Almanac, LTD.

Northern European and Asian Shamanism

• Phantoms and Fairies from Norwegian Folklore - Tor Age Bringsvaerd
• Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy - Mircea Eliade
• Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages - Claude Lecouteux
• Riding Windhorses: A Journey into the Heart of Mongolian Shamanism - Sarangerel

Northern European and Heathen Traditions, Myth, Magic, and Practice

• Roles of the Northern Goddess - Hilda Ellis Davidson
• The Elements of the Runes - Bernard King
• Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages - Claude Lecouteux
• The Religion of the Teutons - Pierre Daniel Chantepie de la Saussaye
• The Poetic Edda - Snorri Sturluson
• The Prose Edda - Snorri Sturluson
• Northern Magic: Rune Mysteries and Shamanism - Edred Thorsson

Possession

• Drawing Down the Spirits: The Traditions and Techniques of Spirit Possession - Kenaz Filan, Raven Kaldera

Robert Cochrane, Clan of Tubal Cain, and Related or Influenced Traditions

• The Robert Cochrane Letters: An Insight into Modern Traditional Witchcraft - Robert Cochrane, Evan John Jones
• The Roebuck in the Thicket: An Anthology of Robert Cochrane Witchcraft Tradition - Evan John Jones, Robert Cochrane, Michael Howard
• Tubelo's Green Fire: Mythos, Ethos, Female, Male & Priestly Mysteries of the Clan of Tubal Cain - Shani Oates
• The Star Crossed Serpent Volume I: Origins: Evan John Jones 1966-1998: The Legend of Tubal Cain - Evan John Jones & Shani Oates
• The Star Crossed Serpent Volume II: The Legacy Continues: Shani Oates 1998-Present: The Legend of Tubal Cain - Shani Oates

Saints, Sages, Hermits, and Other Figures

• Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints, and Sages: A Guide to Asking for Protection, Wealth, Happiness, and Everything Else! - Judika Illes

Taoism, Chinese Folk Religion and Practice, and East Asian Thought and History

• I Ching - Anonymous
• The Web That Has No Weaver - Ted J. Kaptchuk
• The Elements of Feng Shui - Man-Ho Kwok, Joanne O'Brien
• Practical Chinese Medicine - Penelope Ody
• Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai - Yamamoto Tsunetomo
• Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
• The Art of War - Sun Tzu

Traditional Witchcraft and Witchcraft History

• Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America - Margot Adler
• Fifty Years in the Feri Tradition - Cora Anderson
• Heart of the Initiate: Feri Lessons - Victor and Cora Anderson
• The Robert Cochrane Letters: An Insight into Modern Traditional Witchcraft - Robert Cochrane, Evan John Jones
• Magic and Witchcraft: From Shamanism to the Technopagans - Nevill Drury
• The Book of Fallen Angels - Michael Howard
• Children of Cain: A Study of Modern Traditional Witches - Michael Howard
• Pillars of Tubal Cain - Nigel Jackson, Michael Howard
• Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft - Ronald Hutton
• Masks of Misrule: The Horned God & His Cult in Europe - Nigel Jackson
• Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages - Claude Lecouteux
• Aradia: Gospel of the Witches -Charles Godfrey Leland
• The God of the Witches -Margaret Murray
• Balkan Traditional Witchcraft - Radomir Ristic, Translated by Michael C. Carter, Jr.
• Witchcraft in the Middle Ages - Jeffrey Burton Russell
• A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics, Pagans - Jeffrey Burton Russell and Brooks Alexander
• The Rebirth of Witchcraft - Doreen Valiente
• Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed - Doreen Valiente, Evan John Jones

War, Martial Thought, and Fighting

• Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai - Yamamoto Tsunetomo
• The Art of War - Sun Tzu

Poetry

Victor Anderson once said, "White magic is poetry, black magic is anything that works," and "Every poem is a love letter to the Goddess." Poetry is the language of the soul, or ritual, of magic. It speaks on a deeper level than prose does, and can say things that can't be put into words any other way.

• Thorns of the Blood Rose - Victor H. Anderson
• Lilith's Garden - Victor H. Anderson
• Azoetia: A Grimoire of the Sabbatic Craft - Andrew D. Chumbley
• Qutub. Or, The Point - Andrew D. Chumbley
• The Faerie Queene - Sir Edmund Spenser

Fiction

Not all stories are false, not all tales are lies. The following are considered fiction because they were written as fiction, not because the are not true, or true for that matter. These is truth in all things. Read them as fiction, but look for the truth underneath. I have grouped them in categories, then sorted them by author then series. The books listed aren't the only good ones by these authors, but are the ones I see truth in relating to Grimr. My he who has eyes see and she who has ears hear.

Fantasy

Anne Bishop

• Daughter of the Blood
• Heir to the Shadows
• Queen of Darkness
• The Invisible Ring
• Dreams Made Flesh
• Tangled Webs
• The Shadow Queen
• Shalador's Lady
• Twilight's Dawn
• The Pillars of the World
• Shadows and Light
• The House of Gaian
• Sebastian
• Belladonna
• The Voice: An Ephernera Novella
• Bridge of Dreams

Steven Brust

• Jhereg
• Yendi
• Teckla
• Taltos
• Phoenix
• Athyra
• Orca
• Dragon
• Issola
• Dzur
• Jhegaala
• Iorich
• Tiassa
• Broken Down Palace
• To Reign in Hell

Lewis Carroll

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Through the Looking Glass

David Eddings

• The Diamond Throne
• The Ruby Knight
• The Sapphire Rose
• Domes of Fire
• The Shining Ones
• The Hidden City

Lyndon Hardy

• Master of the Five Magics
• Secret of the Sixth Magic
• Riddle of the Seven Realms

Robin Hobb

• Assassin's Apprentice
• Royal Assassin
• Assassin's Quest
• Ship of Magic
• The Mad Ship
• Ship of Destiny
• Fool's Errand
• Golden Fool
• Fool's Fate
• Dragon Keeper
• Dragon Haven
• City of Dragons
• Blood of Dragons

Nancy Springer

• The Book of Suns
• The White Hart
• The Silver Sun
• The Sable Moon
• The Black Beast
• The Golden Swan
• Chance and Other Gestures of the Hand of Fate

King Arthur, Grail, and Arthurian Legend

Stephen R. Lawhead

• Taleisen
• Merlin
• Arthur
• Pendragon
• Grail
• Avalon: the Return of King Arthur

Nancy Springer

• I am Mordred
• I am Morgan le Fay

Mary Stewart

• The Crystal Cave
• The Hollow Hills
• The Last Enchantment
• The Wicked Day
• The Prince and the Pilgrim

T.H. White

• The Once and Future King
• The Book of Merlyn

Celtic Myth and Legend

Lloyd Alexander

• The Book of Three
• The Black Cauldron
• The Castle of Llyr
• Taran Wanderer
• The High King

Stephen R. Lawhead

• The Paradise War
• The Silver Hand
• The Endless Knot
• The Iron Lance
• The Black Rood
• The Mystic Rose

Robin Hood Legend

Stephen R. Lawhead

• Hood
• Scarlet
• Tuck

Modern Day

Hal Duncan

• Vellum
• Ink

Neil Gaiman

• American Gods

John Twelve Hawks

• The Traveler
• The Dark River
• The Golden City

Mythology, Faerie Tales, Folk Stories, and Inventive History

• The Complete Brother Grimm Fairy Tales
• One Thousand and One Arabian Nights
• Aesop's Fables
• Andersen's Fairy Tales

Graphic Novels

• The Sandman - Neil Gaiman
• Promethea - Alan Moore, J.H. Williams III, Mick Gray

Magazines and Periodicals

Magazines and periodicals of course vary from books in that they are on going, not one time projects. Because of this on going nature, they can address more topics within the stated subject. The following are magazines or periodicals that have had presented articles in the past that were interesting or helpful in context of Grimr.

• The Cauldron [http://www.the-cauldron.org.uk/]
• Witch Eye: A Journal of Feri Uprising [http://www.feritradition.org/witcheye/]
• Circle Magazine [http://www.circlesanctuary.org/circle/]
• The White Dragon [http://whitedragon.org.uk/]
• The Witches' Almanac [http://thewitchesalmanac.com/]

Blogs and Website Articles

In this information age, many good books are available that would never have been published fifty years ago.  But there are a lot of rotten books, books that are lapwings leading you away from the Truth.  This is doubly true on the Internet where anyone with access to a computer can commit their thought or ideas where the whole world can read them.  You have to be careful and separate the crap from the good stuff.  Usually, the best thing is to use the Internet to point you in the direction of more verifiable sources, or go out and do the work yourself.  However, there are articles and blogs on the Internet worth while reading, that can lead you to Truth. The following are a few.  Some of these are my own, but most are other people's.  Some are no longer updated, but include good information.

Articles and Websites with Articles

• 1734 Witchcraft: The Authentic Method of Robert Cochrane and Joseph Bearwalker Wilson [http://www.1734-witchcraft.org/]
• Atho: The Horned God of the Witches (WitchVox) [http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a= ussc&c=words&id=13989]
• BlackHeart Feri Musings [http://blackheartferi.com/topics/musing/]
• BlueRose Feri Writings [http://www.blueroseferi.com/]
• Bran Mak Morn's Draconian Pictish-Elven Witchcraft [http://www.pictdom.org/]
• The Compost Coven Disk of Shadows [http://www.wiggage.com/witch/cnl/compost/contents.html]
• The Coven of Atho [http://www.thewica.co.uk/coven_of_ atho% 20article.htm]
• Dirty Magic: Seiðr, Science, and the Parturating Man in Medieval Norse and Welsh Literature [http://www.illinoismedieval.org/ems/VOL11/11ch10.html]
• The Erotic Trinity (Storm Faerywolf) [http://www.myspace.com/faerywolf/blog/72277674]
• a faery tale by mike rock [http://www.mike-rock.com/faery/]
• The Feri Grimoire: a Faerie Book of Shadows [http://www.feritradition.org/grimoire/grim.htm]
• George Pickingill and the Origins of Modern Witchcraft [http://bissekart.zoomshare.com/files/pickingill/contentnofrm.html]
• Jewitchery Essays and Articles [http://jewitchery.com/essays.html]
• feri tradition: articles, exercises, lore [http://www.wiggage.com/witch/fericontents.html]
• Lilith's Lantern articles [http://www.lilithslantern.com/links.htm]
• Mayim Nokbin & Mayim Dukhrin - 
• Female and Male Waters (Kosher Torah) [http://koshertorah.com/PDF/man%20&%20mad.pdf]
• The names of the Watchers [http://echoes.devin.com/watchers/names.html]
• Partzufim - The Sefirotic Faces (Kosher Torah) [http://koshertorah.com/PDF/Partzufim%20-%20the%20Sefirotic%20Faces.pdf]
• People of Goda, CLan of Tubal Cain Library [http://www.clanoftubalcain.org.uk/library_cat.html]
• Traditional Cornish Witchcraft [http://www.cronnekdhu.co.uk/]
• Walking the Hedge Articles [http://walkingthehedge.net/wildgeekhang/index.php?option=com_phocadocumentation&view=sections&Itemid=433]
• The White Dragon: The Dragon's Hoard [http://whitedragon.org.uk/articles.html]
• The White Wand Lore [http://www.whitewand.com/lore.html]
• The Wiccan & Faerie Grimoire of Francesca De Grandis [http://jenyatbeachy.wordpress.com/]
• Witch Eye: A Journal of the Feri Uprising [http://www.feritradition.org/witcheye/webindex.html]

Blogs

• Across the Abyss [http://muninnskiss.grimr.org]
• Alchemist's Garden [http://herbalwitchcraft.com/blog/]
• Artes Magicae [http://artesmagicae.blogspot.com/]
• Awenydd [http://awenyd.blogspot.com/]
• Besom, Book, and Wand [http://besombookandwand.blogspot.com/]
• callmeumeboshi [http://callmeumeboshi.livejournal.com/]
• Chattering Magpie [http://chatteringmagpie-summonerofthehearth.blogspot.com/]
• Black Birdy [http://zionmystic.livejournal.com/]
• Book of Stars [http://awenstormfool.blogspot.com/]
• Clan of the Tangled Thicket 1734 [http://clanoftheentangledthicket.blogspot.com/]
• The Crane Bag--Musings of a Modern Bard [http://aislingthebard.blogspot.com/]
• DoreenValiente.org [http://doreenvaliente.org/]
• Dreams of a Coyote [http://dreamsofacoyote.blogspot.com/]
• eldri [http://eldriwolf.livejournal.com/]
• The Eye of the Storm [http://faerywolf.blogspot.com/]
• Grimr [http://blog.grimr.org]
• Heart's Desire [http://heartssdesire.livejournal.com/}
• Hoodoo Roots Traditional Spiritual Supply [http://hoodooroots.blogspot.com/]
• Jenya T. Beachy: Living in Accordance With My Own Divine Will [http://jenyatbeachy.wordpress.com/]
• A Journey within Feri [http://journeywithinferi.blogspot.com/]
• T. Thorn Coyle: Know Thyself [http://www.thorncoyle.com/]
• Lore of the Lakes [http://loreofthelakes.blogspot.com/]
• Meaderings of the Muse [http://meanderingsofthemuse.blogspot.com/]
• Memoirs of a Heather [http://red-oak-za.livejournal.com/]
• Modern Conjure [http://modernconjure.blogspot.com/]
• moonroot: Paganism, Permaculture & Poultrykeeping on a Welsh Hillside [http://moonroot.blogspot.com/]
• Muninn's Laughter [http://muninnslaughter.grimr.org]
• Our Musings [http://clanoftubalcain.org.uk/blog]
• Outlaw Bunny [http://www.outlawbunny.com/]
• Peeling a Pomegranate: Juicy Bites of Embodied, Earth-based, Relevant Judaism [http://www.peelapom.com/]
• Petals of the BlueRose: Discussing the Great Unfolding [http://blueroseferi.blogspot.com/]
• ...pieces, threads, patterns... [http://madgypsy.blogspot.com/]
• Soul Alignments [http://soulalignments.blogspot.com/]
• StarDrenched [http://stardrenched.com/]
• The Starry Cave [http://www.starrycave.com/]
• TarotWitchery [http://tarotwitchery.blogspot.com/]
• Temple Oracle [http://templeoracle.com/]
• Therioshamanism [http://therioshamanism.com/]
• Thought of a Jewitch [http://gav-jewitch.blogspot.com/]
• till the wheels come off [http://veedub.livejournal.com/]
• Tomes of Lores, Grimoires of Wisdom [http://tomesoflore.grimr.org/]
• Trystn's Occult Journal [http://walkthroughtheforge.blogspot.com/]
• Walking On Fire [http://walking-on-fire.blogspot.com/]
• The Witch of the Forest [http://witchofforestgrove.com/]
• The White Wand [http://whitewand.blogspot.com/]
• The Wild Wood of Owls and Starlight [http://istari.livejournal.com/]
• Wytch In-The-Woods (Wytchwood Witchcraft and Magick - J’té Argent) [http://www.wytchwood.com/WytchBlog.htm]

Forums and Online Communities

• Conjure Yahoo Group [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Conjure/]
• Freeformcraft Feri Yahoo Group [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freeformcraft/]
• Jewitchery Yahoo Group [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jewitchery/]
• Students of Feri Yahoo Group [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StudentsofFeri/]
• Traditional Witchcraft Forums [http://www.traditionalwitchcraft.net/]
• Traditional Witchcraft Yahoo Group [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Traditional_Witchcraft/]
• Walking the Hedge [http://walkingthehedge.net/]
• Witch Eye readers Yahoo Group [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WitchEye/]
• WitchVox [http://www.witchvox.com/]

Online Texts

• Aradia, Gospel of Witches by Charles G. Leland (Sacred Texts) [http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/aradia/ara02.htm]

Shops and Businesses

• The Briar Rose [http://thebriarrose.webs.com/]
• Carnivalia [http://www.carnivalia.com/]
• Harpy Books [http://www.harpybooks.com/]
• Mandrake of Oxford: Specialist Independent Publisher [http://mandrake.uk.net/]
• The Mystic Dream [http://www.themysticdream.com/]
• Toad's Bone Apotheca: Craft & Conjure Goods [http://www.toadsbone.com/]
• Trois Chats Noirs [http://www.troischatsnoirs.com/]

Traditions and Paths

• 1734 Witchcraft: The Authentic Method of Robert COchrane and Joseph Bearwalker Wilson [http://www.1734-witchcraft.org/]
• BlackHeart Feri [http://blackheartferi.com/]
• BlueRose Feri [http://www.blueroseferi.com/]
• Bran Mak Morn's Draconian Pictish-Elven Witchcraft [http://www.pictdom.org/]
• The Compost Coven Disk of Shadows [http://www.wiggage.com/witch/cnl/compost/contents.html]
• The Coven of Atho [http://www.thewica.co.uk/coven_of_atho%20article.htm]
• Covenant of Rhiannon Community: The Witches of Cape May: A Congregation of the Church of Ravenstar [http://covenantofrhiannon.org/]
• Feri: American Traditional Witchcraft [http://www.feritradition.org/]
• Lilith's Lantern (Vicia line of Feri) [http://www.lilithslantern.com/]
• Morningstar Mystery School [http://www.thorncoyle.com/mystery-school/]
• People of Goda, Clan of Tubal Cain [http://www.clanoftubalcain.org.uk/]
• Reclaiming: a Community of People, a Tradition of Witchcraft [http://www.reclaiming.org/]
• Third Road [http://www.well.com/user/zthirdrd/index.html]
• Traditional Cornish Witchcraft [http://www.cronnekdhu.co.uk/]
• The White Wand: an exploration into the intersection of feri and the arts [http://www.whitewand.com/]

Movies, Videos, and Television

Not only written media is valuable and helpful, but other mediums as well, including film. The following are movies, videos, television shows, and other types of films that contain truth, elements, or ideas relevant to Grimr, in alphabetical order.

• 12 Monkeys (1995)
• The 13th Floor (1999)
• 13th Warrior (1999)
• Alice (Miniseries 2009)
• Alice in Wonderland (Disney Animated 1951)
• Alice in Wonderland (2010)
• Brave (Disney Animated 2012)
• The Brothers Grimm (2005)
• Caroline(Animated 2009)
• Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
• Dark Crystal (1982)
• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010)
• Kung Fu Panda (Animated 2008)
• Labyrinth (1986)
• Lady in the Water (2006)
• Legend (1985)
• The Order (2003)
• Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
• Sword in the Stone (Disney Animated 1963)
• Tangled (Disney Animated 2010)

Tomes of Lore, Grimoires of Wisdom

Off and on over the last few years, I've posted book reviews and book related posts on various blogs.  They have always been mixed in with my other posts, just as my poetry often was.  A little over a year ago, I moved my poetry posting to Muninn's Laughter, to have it all in one place.  I've now done so with my esoteric book related posts as well.  I have imported the posts I have of that nature from both Blogger and LiveJournal, and plan to post more reviews and book related posts in the future.  The new blog is Tomes of Lore, Grimoires of Wisdom.

For reference, here are my blogs and webpages:

Across the Abyss (General):
http://muninnskiss.grimr.org (Blogger)
http://muninnskiss.wordpress.com (WordPress - Mirror of Blogger)
http://muninnskiss.livejournal.com (LiveJournal - Try to post everything here)
http://muninnskiss.tumblr.com (Tumblr - Miscellaneous)
http://tradwitch.com/component/option,com_myblog/blogger,muninnskiss/Itemid,38/ (Blog on The Traditionalist Witches Companion)

Muninns's Laughter ( Esoteric Poetry):
http://muninnslaughter.grimr.org (Blogger)
http://muninnslaughter.wordpress.com (WordPress - Mirror of Blogger)
http://muninnslaughter.tumblr.com (Tumblr - Mirror of Blogger)
http://hellopoetry.com/-muninns-kiss/ (Hello Poetry - Mirror of Blogger)

Tomes of Lore, Grimoires of Wisdom (Esoteric Books):
http://tomesoflore.grimr.org (Blogger)
http://grimoiresofwisdom.wordpress.com (WordPress - Mirror of Blogger)

Social:
http://www.facebook.com/muninnskiss (Facebook)
http://twitter.com/muninnskiss (Twitter)

Grimr:
http://www.grimr.org (Homepage)
http://www.facebook.com/Grimr.org (Facebook)
http://www.despoena.org (Home of Arcadian Mysteries)

FFF,
~Muninn's Kiss