time & tide
Of Books:
Is that subject the title of a book? I don't remember where it came from...anyways...
I have been away from my normal internet haunts for a time. I was welcomed back to LJ with a friends list at skip=80. *grin*
I have spent these past weeks (?) mostly reading. My previous post is a quote from Lovecraft story. I read the book The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories edited and with footnotes etc. by a "Lovecraftian scholar" named Josti, I believe. At any rate I found it quite fulfilling to have finally read this book as I have had it in my possesion for nearly 2 years.
I was a bit put off by Josti's work when upon finishing the book I found the story, which he referenced repeatedly, The Dreams of Unknown Qadath (this was written from memory so excuse my spelling), was not included in his selection. This seems to be an integral story to the Cthulu Mythos tying together all the lands: Leng, R'Lyeh, and those others mentioned in the dream stories.
Reading Lovecraft's work also made me realize Stephen King's inspirational claim. From what I have read I have found that Lovecraft and many of his colleagues tied thier weird stories together, sometimes quite blatantly, and other times with subtle references. This same style can be found in King's work where even his Bachman drama, Stand by Me, includes a passing reference to Derry, Maine. Which is of course the setting place for IT and oft referred to as a place of strange occurences.
Most of King's works include at least a passing reference to Derry, or if not a subtle reminder of the Dark Tower Universe and Roland. The weird vans from Regulators are no doubt the very same creatures that are after the old man in Hearts In Atlantis. For those of you who have seen the movie and not read the book the men and vehicles after Anthony Hopkins' character were not from Hoover's FBI but were creatures from another realm. The old man had escaped the plane of the Dark Tower story where he was a slave to the mysterious Crimson King, breaking the "beams" that supported the Tower with the power of his mind.
At any rate I have also read Armand and am currently reading Blood & Gold from Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. I started reading Armand at 2 one morning and didn't stop until I finished it at about 3 in the afternoon. *lol* It had been a long time since I had devoured a book so voraciously and I must admit that my brain hurt. I am sort-of looking for the hardcover of Interview with a Vampire and then I will have them all, well except for Merrick which I haven't read.
Of Gematria:
I often do things without regard to what should be done as a whim or fancy takes me. It is the only "magickal quality" I still (according to my mom I often saw my great-grandfather when I was little *he was dead*) naturally possess, my intuition, and it often times leads me away from responsibility and school much to the chagrin of others.
At any rate, I went to a local new agey shop but for various reasons I could not leave when I thought I should and I arrived right as they closed. *lol* So the next day I went back and found a book I had been passively searching for, Heeley's second Golden Dawn fiction called Ronin.
I also picked up a softcover of Crowley's 777, the introduction of which pointed me too Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah and Grant's Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism. It also mentioned Gray's Ladder of Lights but I could not find it on shelf so I got the 3rd Ed. of Regardie's Garden of Pomegranates. I was a bit overzealous finding much the same information in all three, as usually happens, but they each have a few things the others do not.
Also, I was a bit wary of Fortune for I had read her Natural Magick previous to this and found her too set in the ways of the English ceremonialist of the times regarding iniation, white magic/ black magic etc. I was also put off by her thoughts on the racial consequences of magick and religion although I do understand it, I find that ultimately it has no relevance.
So my study of the Qabalah begins, it is stange to me that my interest in this grown so quickly so soon. It feels to me that the GoN has infected me, the Archetypal Theriomorph has injected me with his dirty needle and the infection has spread. When I first came to GoN and looked at it thoroughly a few weeks ago, I was utterly possesed, I got no sleep that night.
Now I find the same thing happening with this system I thought stodgy and dumb when first coming into magick through wicca. I am finding that allowing my book work with the Qabalah late into the night is doing more harm then good, however. My dreams the first few nights were full of symbolism, shapes, and numbers quite foreign to me but perfectly understandable as an abstract idea, if I try to think of it consciously its meaning and contents eludes me...*grrrr*
Of Movies:
The Count de Monte Cristo was too short, it's French predecessor being somewhat close to 8 hours I believe. I have never read any of Dumas' works, though my sister fell in love with them some time ago and read them all in the space of a month or two.
Black Hawk Down was decent though not necessarily historically acurate, or to the book, but what movie is?
Le Pacts de Loups was excellent, it is probably Mark Dascascos best role ever. I loved the story and the cinematography. I found the changes in film speed enhanced the mood dramatically. I went to see it again in fact.
The Mothman Prophecies was kind of scary, but unfortunately the scare wears off at this point where you think the movie is going to end and if it does it will be the shittiest ending ever in the history of movies but then it kind of picks up again with the incident at the end.
I am disapointed in some movies where they feel they have to "dumb down" for the audience and this was certainly one of those. Instead of keeping its little secrets (Sixth Sense's red connection comes to mind) for you to discover after leaving the theatre and talking with your friends it plays them all out in plain sight. For instance the #37, the zoom from the factory to the bridge which we obviously already realized was on the water, duh, there are others but they have faded from my memory. Overall though I enjoyed the movie.
On Love:
I find it disappointing that a certain Angel is returning to her female side of the cycle when I am just coming back to mine. Although I held no realistic hope of being in a relationship with her, having never met her or even heard her voice, I have, since seeing her new pictures this morning, entertained the fantasy of going to Vancouver and whisking her away to a ski resort in the Canadian Rockies where...never mind...*smirk*
I find it interesting that so many people I know are bisexual or at least operate on some sort of cycle where they go from liking one sex exclusively to liking the other exclusively. I must admit that the space in between is a weird one for me indeed.
*lol*
~AM~
Is that subject the title of a book? I don't remember where it came from...anyways...
I have been away from my normal internet haunts for a time. I was welcomed back to LJ with a friends list at skip=80. *grin*
I have spent these past weeks (?) mostly reading. My previous post is a quote from Lovecraft story. I read the book The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories edited and with footnotes etc. by a "Lovecraftian scholar" named Josti, I believe. At any rate I found it quite fulfilling to have finally read this book as I have had it in my possesion for nearly 2 years.
I was a bit put off by Josti's work when upon finishing the book I found the story, which he referenced repeatedly, The Dreams of Unknown Qadath (this was written from memory so excuse my spelling), was not included in his selection. This seems to be an integral story to the Cthulu Mythos tying together all the lands: Leng, R'Lyeh, and those others mentioned in the dream stories.
Reading Lovecraft's work also made me realize Stephen King's inspirational claim. From what I have read I have found that Lovecraft and many of his colleagues tied thier weird stories together, sometimes quite blatantly, and other times with subtle references. This same style can be found in King's work where even his Bachman drama, Stand by Me, includes a passing reference to Derry, Maine. Which is of course the setting place for IT and oft referred to as a place of strange occurences.
Most of King's works include at least a passing reference to Derry, or if not a subtle reminder of the Dark Tower Universe and Roland. The weird vans from Regulators are no doubt the very same creatures that are after the old man in Hearts In Atlantis. For those of you who have seen the movie and not read the book the men and vehicles after Anthony Hopkins' character were not from Hoover's FBI but were creatures from another realm. The old man had escaped the plane of the Dark Tower story where he was a slave to the mysterious Crimson King, breaking the "beams" that supported the Tower with the power of his mind.
At any rate I have also read Armand and am currently reading Blood & Gold from Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. I started reading Armand at 2 one morning and didn't stop until I finished it at about 3 in the afternoon. *lol* It had been a long time since I had devoured a book so voraciously and I must admit that my brain hurt. I am sort-of looking for the hardcover of Interview with a Vampire and then I will have them all, well except for Merrick which I haven't read.
Of Gematria:
I often do things without regard to what should be done as a whim or fancy takes me. It is the only "magickal quality" I still (according to my mom I often saw my great-grandfather when I was little *he was dead*) naturally possess, my intuition, and it often times leads me away from responsibility and school much to the chagrin of others.
At any rate, I went to a local new agey shop but for various reasons I could not leave when I thought I should and I arrived right as they closed. *lol* So the next day I went back and found a book I had been passively searching for, Heeley's second Golden Dawn fiction called Ronin.
I also picked up a softcover of Crowley's 777, the introduction of which pointed me too Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah and Grant's Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism. It also mentioned Gray's Ladder of Lights but I could not find it on shelf so I got the 3rd Ed. of Regardie's Garden of Pomegranates. I was a bit overzealous finding much the same information in all three, as usually happens, but they each have a few things the others do not.
Also, I was a bit wary of Fortune for I had read her Natural Magick previous to this and found her too set in the ways of the English ceremonialist of the times regarding iniation, white magic/ black magic etc. I was also put off by her thoughts on the racial consequences of magick and religion although I do understand it, I find that ultimately it has no relevance.
So my study of the Qabalah begins, it is stange to me that my interest in this grown so quickly so soon. It feels to me that the GoN has infected me, the Archetypal Theriomorph has injected me with his dirty needle and the infection has spread. When I first came to GoN and looked at it thoroughly a few weeks ago, I was utterly possesed, I got no sleep that night.
Now I find the same thing happening with this system I thought stodgy and dumb when first coming into magick through wicca. I am finding that allowing my book work with the Qabalah late into the night is doing more harm then good, however. My dreams the first few nights were full of symbolism, shapes, and numbers quite foreign to me but perfectly understandable as an abstract idea, if I try to think of it consciously its meaning and contents eludes me...*grrrr*
Of Movies:
The Count de Monte Cristo was too short, it's French predecessor being somewhat close to 8 hours I believe. I have never read any of Dumas' works, though my sister fell in love with them some time ago and read them all in the space of a month or two.
Black Hawk Down was decent though not necessarily historically acurate, or to the book, but what movie is?
Le Pacts de Loups was excellent, it is probably Mark Dascascos best role ever. I loved the story and the cinematography. I found the changes in film speed enhanced the mood dramatically. I went to see it again in fact.
The Mothman Prophecies was kind of scary, but unfortunately the scare wears off at this point where you think the movie is going to end and if it does it will be the shittiest ending ever in the history of movies but then it kind of picks up again with the incident at the end.
I am disapointed in some movies where they feel they have to "dumb down" for the audience and this was certainly one of those. Instead of keeping its little secrets (Sixth Sense's red connection comes to mind) for you to discover after leaving the theatre and talking with your friends it plays them all out in plain sight. For instance the #37, the zoom from the factory to the bridge which we obviously already realized was on the water, duh, there are others but they have faded from my memory. Overall though I enjoyed the movie.
On Love:
I find it disappointing that a certain Angel is returning to her female side of the cycle when I am just coming back to mine. Although I held no realistic hope of being in a relationship with her, having never met her or even heard her voice, I have, since seeing her new pictures this morning, entertained the fantasy of going to Vancouver and whisking her away to a ski resort in the Canadian Rockies where...never mind...*smirk*
I find it interesting that so many people I know are bisexual or at least operate on some sort of cycle where they go from liking one sex exclusively to liking the other exclusively. I must admit that the space in between is a weird one for me indeed.
*lol*
~AM~