FoolishPeople

A Load of Old Blather: Unreal Reports from Ireland and Beyond.

My friend Damien DeBarra has his first book out now, and it comes very highly recommended from FP. Damien is an incredibly smart writer, who never takes himself or the subject he's writing about too seriously. His new book covers everything from UFOs to Ancient Irish Astronauts. All the insane dreams of our mad dying species

Eleven years, three convictions, two deportations, ten thousand pints, six barring orders and a legion of leather-clad groupies later, Dave Walsh, Barry Kavanagh and Damien DeBarra (the cheap tarts that brought you Blather.net) bring you their latest labour of love: A Load of Blather: Unreal Reports from Ireland and Beyond.

 

Last Nights Moon

Pictures above feature FP members - Nicole Avraamides, David Monard, Claire Tregellas in preparations for the Desecration ritual.

Tonight

Myth Creation

Myth creation is a funny thing, Its very different from the construction of normal stories or narratives.

Myths must live on when you look away, they must breathe and live and fight for existence. In some ways they must already exist and wait for the right eyes to look upon them and see that they are ready and their time has come.

A group of incredible artists have joined myself and FP to look upon Terra Incognita and see that this Myth is now alive.

Terra Incognita is Open Source and each artists working within its landscape are wiping away the dream like clouds to see how they exist within the various realms of this Myth.

Terra Incognita will exist in solid form from the 31st of March 8pm as a colossal meta event that has broken through to this version of reality.

The construction of the next world has begun.

All Circuits Activated

So the Cycles are over and the alchemical process complete. Or is it? The seeds have been planted, will they germinate?

During my annual Yuletide cold, thankfully early this year, I recently found myself contemplating the Meaning of this cyclic journey. In a way this is a hopeless task, for in my view the whole play, or ‘hyper-sigil’ , was essentially meaningless, and in a sense that was the whole point, it was I think a transcendence of Meaning, or at least of ‘meaning’ as normally understood. Paradoxically at the same time it was rich in many meanings, many complex layers of alternative, and sometimes conflicting, meaning, some obviously deliberate, others apparently synchronistically generated. In fact a great part of the whole thing for me was the breakdown of the mono-meaning of conventional reality models, and the encounter with a kaleidoscope of multiple meaning. A rich and paradoxical panorama that better captures the essence of our complex reality. Whose dissonant expression and emotional intensity accounted for much of the hilarity generated (ably catalysed by some genuinely humorous moments). But it was not mere comedy that we experienced, its dark humour partially cushioned us from the impact of some of its more intense and disturbing moments. It was a true dark night of the soul, a crossing the abyss, and an encounter with a paradoxical reality beyond our everyday world, a liminal space in between. A place that can only be fully reached by a catastrophic fragmentation or death of ego, and its reintegration and rebirth in a new self. The Negrido of the Alchemists that was the first step in turning shit into gold.

In many ways its chief metaphor, the downloading of new software into the hardware of the audience (the desired effect of experiencing this rite on them), reminded me of Dr Timothy Leary’s ‘activation and imprinting’ of higher ‘neural circuits’. And the imagery of the play could be easily read as fitting this model. No doubt other models were also there, but the ‘eight circuit’ model was certainly present in the play for me. What else was the Carnival but the Hedonic Rapture of Leary’s fifth ‘Neurosomatic Circuit’ with its Bacchanalian excesses and ‘seership’, but a place where we are liberated from convention and can glimpse a variety of alternatives across time and space, but can do nothing to really change anything? Probably many things but certainly this. According to Leary it is only when we activate our sixth ‘Neuroelectric Circuit’ that we can really begin to change ourselves and our reality. Here is the realm of simultaneous multiple meaning and alternatives, a chattering chaos of conflicting archetypal forces, until we imprint it with a coherent program that reorders it into something conceivable to us. It is also realm of psychic, non-verbal and non linear communication, where we may commune with other minds and be enlightened by ‘higher beings’ (perhaps parts of our true self), a veritable ‘Spirit Parliament’ in the true sense of the word. Such a shift in perspective is said to expand out consciousness greatly, and we not only become aware of other realities but are able to shift between them and change our own. It is often regarded as equivalent to the opening of our third eye or the birth of a sorcerer. But in order to reach this state we must first enter Chapel Perilous and be torn apart by all our internal conflicts and fears, only to be reborn as a new being. The same process was known to the Alchemists as the Negrido, the Blackening, or the encounter with the Black Sun. I would regard Dr Bleach as essentially the Dweller on the Threshold between these two states the Carnival and the Parliament, enticing the audience to cross it, as well as embodying the very process of the transformation. His Parliament consisting of the Gristly Machine (a container for the Deep Unconscious?), whose drives and powerful images energise the whole process, much like the serpentine Kundalini in Tantra (or Leary’s primal ‘Bio-Survival Circuit’?); the Uber-Marionettes, egoless, driven beings who channel the images and energies from the Machine into powerful, dream like ‘astral’ narratives (Leary’s ‘Emotional Circuit’?); Mr Sam, the rational technician who built and attempts to control the Machine (the egoic and rational ‘Symbolic Circuit’?) ; Aquinas, essentially the Conscience and Karma bearer (perhaps Leary’s domesticating ‘Socio-Sexual Circuit’ responsible for our socialisation);and finally the Queen of Illumination, at first the seer Priestess Kato, and later the Dionysian goddess Kiskil-Lilla, who in different ways could be seen as representing aspects of the ‘Neurosomatic Circuit’. Dr Bleach himself was ostensibly the Ringmaster of the hedonic circus, but really perhaps the demon Asmodai, the Choronzon like figure, who stands at the Threshold of the Abyss, drawing the archetypal energies of these lower states into the abyssal ‘Sixth Circuit’, and forming from these his Parliament, exposed to interrogation and tearing itself apart with its internal conflicts, it attempts to reintegrate into a new reality. An attempt which itself is perhaps a ritual demon-stration to the audience of what is possible, and an attempt to disturb their everyday mindsets and ‘download’ a new program. As Bleach himself claims he brings an Armageddon, perhaps both of an outer civilisation and the inner order of conventional thought and ego structure that underpins it. Though by the end we discover there is no end as we have stepped outside normal time and space. Time has ended. Each declining civilisation faces this possibility it is suggested, and can either change or be fragmented into the chaos and death of the Abyss (though it will formally die whatever path it takes), and Dr Bleach will call his Spirit Parliament in to catalyse this process. Other players emerge of course, not least Jehovah and his angels, who perhaps represent the illusory tunnel realities of the lower circuits, the forces of order , who may have once been ‘Good’ and necessary for the survival and advancement of our ancestors, but who now act as prison wardens, through the agency of the degenerate Christian Demon Joffiert, a tyrannical jail keeper, and her chief agent, the Wound. Forces of ‘Lawful Evil’ who maintain the status quo. In contrast to these is the ‘Chaotic Evil’ of the demon Asmodai and Dr Bleach who seek to break out of this prison into a new more liberated ‘Good’. Between these various hosts stand a range of neutral Elemental Forces, acting under the influence of the tidal forces generated by these great hosts.

Perhaps. Obviously that is just one of many rational cross sections of the complex events of these cycles, and not even a complete one at that for a play of such multi-layered depth and paradox. It, and other interpretations, may serve as a way of exploring and processing the experiences of the cycles, but ultimately it is not the creation of meaning that I suspect the author desired, but rather its disintegration into a chaotic flux in which many new multi-perspectival realities and truths could be experienced and learnt. It would thus be a mistake to diminish this to much by over interpretation.

I had no time to process all this myself immediately after the play as I was already focused on the Dionysian Underground’s own project, mentioned earlier in this blog. Not as ambitious as the Dark Night’s agenda but of equal importance on a planet still trapped in the hellish prison of its ‘everyday reality’. Our mission on the surface was merely the opening rite of a club called the Pleasure Lab, billed as an Erotic Electro club (essentially a cross between a fetish sex club and a 21st century disco). But the reality behind this appearance was as ever much deeper. For a civilisation still dominated by what Leary called the ‘Four Terrestrial Circuits’ of conventional reality, activation of the ‘Hedonic Fifth Circuit’ is of crucial importance, not to mention great fun. A circuit turned on by sex and excitement is never hard work for the Dionysian Underground, and its benefits extend far beyond the liberation of sexuality (crucial in itself), but also involve the Tantric ‘turn on’ of what Leary called the ‘Neurosomatic Circuit’. Bringing the Circus to town! Our own technique for this was a traditional evocation with a (post)modern  twist. We first protected our space by generating not a circle but a magically expanding disco ball, reflecting all negative energies from the venue. Then under the guidance of our own Carnivaleque Ringmaster and Hedonic Evoker, and the assistance of daemonic fiddler called Orryelle,  we raised up the energies of the Kundalini Serpent, through the ritual union of the twin currents of its energy, manifest as the God and Goddess, before spraying this energy out into the club in an explosive Magical Orgasm, activating the Hedonic Consciousness, whose fertilised Yonic energy then rained down on us all. The residual charge of this energy being stored in wine and bread, given to the audience, and each other, in erotic communion. The God and Goddess invoked for this rite were of course wild Dionysos and his traditional erotic consort Aphrodite, both of whom represent the life force in general, and particularly its sexual manifestation, but also are specifically associated with the Hedonism of  ‘Fifth Circuit’ consciousness. There role as bearers of this convention breaking level of consciousness was symbolic emphasised by the invocation of Dionysos into a girl carrying a Yonic Chalice (the Cunt of Bacchus) and of Aphrodite into a Phallus bearing Maenad (the Cock of Venus). It was through the ritual union of these inverted Godforms that the energies were entwined and raised. All with the assistance of the initiating power of a Baphometic Pan, who represented the guardian of the source of the Kundalini in the Root Centre (a bestial god akin to Ganesh), and whose energies split into ‘male’ and ‘female’ forces (through the ritual raising and passing of the yoni and lingam from the altar) and were absorbed into the respective Godforms empowering them. The Hedonic Deities could thus raise and channel the energy into its desired manifestation. The audience then drank from the ‘Cunt of Bacchus’ and ate the ‘Cock of Venus’ in the Erotic Communion. Throughout the ritual two BDSM clowns disrupted any terrestrialising ‘gravity’, that could have been generated by the formal ritual, through their comic mimicry of the rite and foolish antics, thus allowing the energy to achieve ‘escape velocity’ and transcend the conventional domain into Hedonic Rapture. Which to the strains Led Zeppelin’s ‘a Whole Lot of Love’ initiated the orgiastic revels of the Bacchanal. This of course was merely the magical precursor of liberating activity that subsequently occurred in the club, and will hopefully continue in its future manifestations.

Pictures from the Rite can be found here  http://trismegistus.org.uk/DU/Events/pleasurelab.htm

A ten minute video of it can be downloaded from here   http://z13.zupload.com/download.php?file=getfile&filepath=57910

More on the Pleasure Lab here  http://www.pleasurelab.org

Dr Timothy Leary’s theories are explored in more detail in this extract from RAW’s  Cosmic Trigger here http://www.futurehi.net/docs/8circuit.html

First Post

So this is my first proper post on the FP Blog and to be honest I have no idea what to say! Despite being hard to shut up at times and writing copious amounts of verbiage on email groups like the DIGlist, on being asked to write something every Thursday for the Blog has got rather stumped. So I'm basically sitting here with a laptop wondering what to say. I guess there's an almost infinite amount of material I could share but what would interest people and could I be arsed. Well the first thing on my mind today was the excellent book launch yesterday of Stella Damiana's amazing Sex Spells book, those who know who Stella really will know what I mean when I say its always a pleasure to share a space with one of the most insightful, talented, and downright gorgeous women in the occult scene today, and so we were all pleased to see her get the recognition she's long deserved. But an even greater attraction that night was the crowd that gathered there. Treadwell's has for a long while had the reputation of a place to be to meet the most interesting people in the London occult scene, I lost count of the number of fascinating conversations I've had there, but a Treadwell's packed with Stella's friends, lovers and colleagues was one step beyond even that, an evening with some of the most stimulating company anywhere. The event of course was centered on the Sex Spells book, and naturally this lead me to contemplate the thorny question of magic and sex, not just the efficacy of sex spells in obtaining a desired result, or even LHP Tantra so favoured by old school groups like the OTO, but the very nature of the relationship between sex and magic itself. I'm no Freudian but have long recognised the fact that sexual energy is by far the most powerful psychological force in the modern psyche, partly no doubt to the sexually repressive nature of contemporary society and because of this it is also the most powerful energiser for magic, its no accident that Chaos magicians decided to wank over their sigils to energise them (even though thats just one of many ways to do it) and its not surprising that sex magic spells are some of the most effective and well suited for an introduction to the reality of magic. Tantra is one of the most obvious manifestations of sex in magic, and despite the fact it is too often used as an excuse for a fuck, I can vouch for its efficacy in consciousness transformation both in terms of accidental effects of an active sex life and the more controlled use of sex in Taoist practice. But given that sex is such a powerful tool in magic it is not without its problems, the sexual dynamics of working occult groups is a typical case of this. If sex is being deployed as a tool in such groups as it inevitably always is, even if not openly, the free flow of sexual energy is a crucial factor in the success of the groups working. However while our ancestors probably lived much as the Bonobo chimpanzees do, contemporary society while both sexually freer and slowly evolving beyond such archaic and malign cultural institutions, such as monogamy and romantic love, is still plagued by both an anti-sex ethic, as well as a corresponding over-valuation of what is an essentially recreational past time. Thus the free working of sexual energy, crucial though it is, can open a can of worms in the context of this reality. We may all think we are evolved beyond such problems, but alas we are products of the dysfunctional society we have been born into and so cannot help but internalise its pathologies.

Unfortunately this is an area that has barely been addressed by occultists, outside of the ground breaking but horrendously bigoted writings of Dion Fortune on the sexual dynamics of such groups. The issues in this area (and I've been deliberately vague because the actual issues are many, involving diverse sexualities, tensions, hang ups, jealousies, emotional problems, past histories and gender issues to name a few) are  I think resolvable, though a few may always be problematic due to the imperfections of the world we have fallen into. But this will not happen without a fuller exploration of the many and diverse issues that are raised by this situation. For my part I hope to dedicate part of the forthcoming F.U.C.K website (1) to tackling these issues and will post links to here as they arise.

Another important area of magic is the confrontation with the unknown of course, a degree of awe and even fear is a crucial element of any ritual magical practice. There  is considerable evidence that in more sex positive times in the distant past this factor was probably the most prominent energiser of magic. Such powerful factors are rarely found in the tamer climes of modern magic however and have largely been taken up solely by the more avant garde of the arts, such as Surrealism. One of the things that first impressed me with Foolish People productions was there awareness of both of these energising elements and their reincorporation from art back into popular magic.

Fear of course is also a weapon and one we see all too often used against us in the current political situation, with its false alarms and pseudo-terrorism, here used as a generator of insecurity and a foundation for an oppressive form of government. Such fears also need to be faced and overcome and by facing our own internal fears and using those as a springboard we can transform ourselves in this area too.

I apologise for the rambling nature of this post today, but my recent drifts have been rather chaotic as many may know.

I'll end on a slightly lighter note with a little self plug if I may and announce that my Wyrd Walks project will be exploring another aspect of fear and magic on the 22nd October, when I explore the East End of London and the history of the infamous Spring Heeled Jack, the phantom Terror of London.

The walk is scheduled for that Sunday starting at around 4:30 outside Bow tube station (details to be announced).    

(1) F.U.C.K the Foundation for Unrestricted Carnal Knowledge, is the Sex Poll section of the Dionysian Underground and its website should be appearing in the coming weeks.      

'The Wicker Man' Review

This re-make of the 1973 U.K cult classic ‘The Wicker Man’  was insulting to itself and even to the most intellectually challenged audience member. The so-called ‘Pagans’ were disappointingly portrayed as matriarchal feminists isolated from the mainstream that resembled more of a Nazi Aryan Magick camp than of a Magickal community.

I found it slow-paced and boring to the point I was more interested by Willow’s (Kate Beahan’s) over-sized lips than the actual plot. The only moments that briefly captured my attention were the hallucination/dream sequences of Cage’s character that were woven into the story with interesting cinematography. However these were drowned in his wails of ‘Rowan’ that made me wish I could actually join in the ritual and burn him to death myself. 
Even the film’s ‘climax’ was made into a painful ineffectual joke- unless people have started using giant fish heads and bear costumes during rituals that I don’t know about?!

So definitely one to see…if you want to waste a couple hours wondering if Willow (Kate) has had Botox or just been stung in an attack by the Summersisle bees!

Mole Man of Hackney is ordered to stop

"This is no ordinary house. Since the early 1960s, the man who owns and lives inside the £1m Victorian property has been digging. No one knows how far the the network of burrows underneath 75-year-old William Lyttle's house stretch. But according to the council, which used ultrasound scanners to ascertain the extent of the problem, almost half a century of nibbling dirt with a shovel and homemade pulley has hollowed out a web of tunnels and caverns, some 8m (26ft) deep, spreading up to 20m in every direction from his house."

Sabotage

Subject has threads of sabotage woven into her life.
Every action is constructed to propel destruction in the glorified and positive.

Collapse of the tower.

Initial thought?
Unknown.
Chain of consciousness?
Locked away.

Subject will fall
And fall again inside herself.
She will dissect her own brain
And stab the life out of her heart.

The empress is crying blood.
Whilst carving into her cunt.

Blood loss?
Fatal.
Massacre?
Defined.

Subject will gulp down her repulsive infested blood.
And regurgitate a pure diseased infection
As the acid burns into her skull.

The hermit is cocooned underground.

Last thought?
A burnt blur in this hell.
Break free?
Unlikely.
She's fused into the walls.

Scanning sabotage...
Hidden enemies?
None.

Just yourself.

Guerrilla Zoo

GUERRILLA ZOO

PRESENTS
Deadhead Haunts
Saturday 19th August 06
8pm-3am
@  The Corsica Arts Club
5 Elephant Road, Elephant & Castle, London SE17 1LB
£6 on door
advance available tickets online
----------------------
The third event in a series of underground happenings curated by Guerrilla Zoo.

A mixture of western and eastern influenced acts with a sprinkling of horror thrown in for good measure -
3 rooms containing;
belly dancers, punk bands, political/esoteric poets, live graffiti art, improvised drawing, a whirling dervish, glitchcore/break djs, hip hop emcees, short films, theatrical horror acts, weaponised art performance 
- plus much much more!!

SEE FULL LINE UP @
GUERRILLAZOO.CO.UK
myspace.com/guerrillazoo

FP will be headlining the performance space at DeadHead Haunts on the 19th of Aug. We are currently in the process of creating something unique and contagious that has a half life of forty four years.

The Mask of the Harelquin

FP's old friend Steve Ash of the Dionysian Underground has an article in this months Fortean Times.

THE MASK OF HARLEQUIN Could some of the greatest artistic revolutionaries of 20th-century Europe have formed an occult group with the intention of transforming Western society? Steve strays from conventional paths of art history in search of modernism’s magical agenda.

Mr Ash is one of the brightest and most intelligent Magicians I have ever met, so I'm eagerly awaiting issue 212 of FT.

Dark Nights Of The Soul: Cycle IV- Congealed

Dearest Brethren, sorry for lack of correspondence of late- we have been diligently preparing the service for Cycle IV at the Church Of Jofiert. If you want to witness the collating of the Magick and disillusion of the spirit parliament, then visit the Horse Hospital this Saturday Night at 7.30pm. Be prepared to experience the unnameable horrors lurking in our Lord Jesus' heart....

Villagers Blame Radioactive Pollution for 2-Headed Calf Birth

A calf with two heads has been born in a Siberian village near a nuclear plant, Gazeta.ru website said Tuesday.

Naumovka village is located in dangerous proximity to one of Russia’s largest nuclear sites — the closed Seversk territory, the former secret Tomsk-7 site, where weapons-grade plutonium used to be produced.

Wound & Tana at Uncon

 

Hacker Gary McKinnon on UFO Cover up

In 2002, Gary McKinnon was arrested by the UK's national high-tech crime unit, after being accused of hacking into Nasa and the US military computer networks.

It was above the Earth's hemisphere. It kind of looked like a satellite. It was cigar-shaped and had geodesic domes above, below, to the left, the right and both ends of it, and although it was a low-resolution picture it was very close up.

This thing was hanging in space, the earth's hemisphere visible below it, and no rivets, no seams, none of the stuff associated with normal man-made manufacturing.

Guantanamo Bay for the Asbo Generation

I'm in a place that time forgot, watching the beautiful working class drink, eat and smoke themselves to death. This is Guantanamo bay for the Asbo generation (Lucifer Benway would love). Bognor Regis. Holiday hell.

Tomorrow I return for Uncon, FP has been chugging away in my absence. Inducting Mark (Latour from Cycle II) and Lola (The New Actant) into the narrative of Cycle III. After three Cycle's of Dark Night's I'm getting use to the Archetypes being inhabited by new people for each Cycle. The only other person who has been in all three Cycles is Mark Wright.

Dennis Publishing the publishers of Fortean Times have been very generous and have taken care of Hotel rooms etc for us over the weekend of Unconvention. The Dark Nights of the Soul Carnival will be open over the entire weekend of Unconvention situated next to the FP table.

Not sure what the Parliament will make of Unconvention.

The Great Beast and The Great Beast: Crowley at Loch Ness

In 1899 a flamboyant character arrived in Inverness. He purchased the brooding Boleskine House on the shores of Loch Ness for twice the amount the building was worth, becoming the laird of Boleskine. The man was Aleister Crowley and he had good reasons for paying over the odds for the remote foreboding house.

Crowley was born in Lemington, Warwickshire, in 1875. Rebelling against his ultra strict Christian upbringing he became the most flamboyant and colourfull character in British occult. His magickal and sexual experimentation shocked the prudish Victorian society. Crowley reveled in this and wove an intricate web of mythos about himself.

He chose Boleskine on account of its occult architecture. Previously he had scoured Britain for an abode to suit his needs and found none. Once in Boleskine he intended to carry out the ritual of Abra-Melin, an ancient rite that took 18 months to perform.

The ritual harkened back to the 1400s. The ritual was translated by a Jewish scholar called Abriham the Jew from a North African manuscript. Abriham was wandering the Middle East looking for true magicians from which to learn. He finally came upon a wizened mage called Abra-Melin whom passed the rite onto him. It dealt with the summoning of demonic forces. The ritual demanded idiosyncratic architecture and Crowley had previously tried to replicate this in his London flat. Though not having the desired effect strange things happened there. In the Great Beast’s own words…

“During this time magical phenomena were of constant occurrence. I had two temples in my flat; one white, the walls being lined with six huge mirrors, each six feet by eight; the other black a mere cupboard in which stood an alter supported by the figure of a Negro standing on his hands. The presiding genius of this place was a human skeleton, which I fed from time to time with blood, small birds and the like. The idea was to give it life, but I never got further than causing the bones to become covered in a viscous slime.”

UnCon 06

FoolishPeople have been invited to perform at this year's Fortean Times UnConvention on the 29th and 30th April.

UnConvention is an annual exhibition celebrating the world of strange phenomena, organised by the Fortean Times. Talks and exhibits cover subjects such as ghosts and poltergeists, folklore and magic, paranormal events, UFOs, new and out-of-place animals, conspiracy theories, weird science and any unusual happenings in the news.

Running over two days at Friends House, in Kings Cross, London, UnCon is a chance to immerse yourself in the weird and wonderful, meet fellow Forteans, and open up the cosmic cabinet of curiosities.

We will also have a stall, where you can meet the various freaks of FP. Myself included. I will be the one suffering with after effects of a guilt Hyper Sigil.

In the meantime Cycle III of Dark Nights of the Soul - Emergence takes place Friday the 14th and Saturday the 15th at 7:30pm at the Horse Hospital. Tickets available on 020 7833 3644 or via popculture@thehorsehospital.com

Oh and we some letters for you, you can pick them up on Friday or Saturday at Cycle III.

Retro-active manifestation

“I’m asked but once to do my show And once I’ve finished, I must go.”

Due to increased levels of acervulus cerebrin sand in the pituitary glands of the hardware, The Spirit Parliament of The Dark Nights Of The Soul Carnival, will be manifesting for a retro-active performance/haunting on the 14th April at 7.30pm at the horse hospital, as well as the 15th. To celebrate an alternative Easter with the Spirit Parliament and obtain tickets for these evenings of illumination and soul scarring, contact the Horse Hospital on: 020 7833 3644 or www.thehorsehospital.com. Be swift, so you can gain a means of self defence against the virulent corporate plastic flu. Because once we’ve worked our magick, the Spirit Parliament must go to...

True Will

"The Inner mystery of being creative is that of life itself. If we understand and apply true principles to our work, then we, like our forebears, can be in harmony with the world and its underlying essence at all levels of our being. It is up to us to know what we have to do, and to do it."
'Muses and Fates' by Nigel Pennick & Helen Field

Firstly, let me introduce myself! My name is Lucy Allin and I am a new member of FP, though I use the term 'new' loosely, as although I've only been cast for Cycle III: Emergence, if feels like I've been a member for aeons, as FP is an integral part of my life at the moment. In fact...I'm pretty sure my old friends are going to send out a search party for me anytime now!

Jests aside, our rehearsals for Cycle III are well underway, and I have to say I have never worked with more talented, creative and amazing people than I have with our 'FP Family'! Like any family, we have our domestics, but there is unspoken support and love in abundance, which is well needed when these last few weeks I've had to confront a lot my demons (and I don't just mean the ones from my past!)

Not only have we been venturing into all of our pasts, but we have been communicating with our future selves, which manifest into the most intriguing and intense rehearsals I have ever encountered. It has been a truly magnificent experience for me as an artist, and personally, as I really feel like I've had an immense rebirth in my life: experienced an 'Emergence' in myself. John's beautifully scarred writing has really inspired me to channel all my experiences and pains into my own writing for the first time; and its like a window has been opened into my heart, and is so empowering to know that such pain and negativity can be turned into such exquisite beauty. It is like I've stumbled across my true will and I now know what I have to do in life, and I am going to do it.

I truly hope Cycle III provokes similar magick for you!

Lourdes wants to create new miracle category

The Roman Catholic shrine at Lourdes may introduce a "miracle lite" category for sudden unexplained recoveries because modern medicine increasingly refuses to declare any disease incurable.

Every year, dozens of seriously ill people leave the town in southwestern France convinced they have been cured, but the Church does not rate their cases as miracles because its rules say doctors must attest their ailments could not be remedied.

Urban Monsters

We like to think of monsters as inhabiting the wilds of the earth. Deep forests and jungles, remote mountain ranges, far away lakes and seas, but it is not always the case. Sometimes the monsters come out of the dark and distant places to haunt our suburbs like demonic urban foxes. Lumbering out in front of cars or lurking in gardens to remind us how haunted our strange little planet is. Eschewing mountains for high-rise blocks and forests for estates.

The slums of East Delhi are filthy and overcrowded. Hundreds of people are compelled to sleep outdoors. Streets are usually dark, as the streetlights remain unrepaired. In some areas running water is available only one hour a day. It was into this unwholesome place a strange figure bounded on the night of May 13th 2001. Four to five feet tall, it walked upright like a man but was covered in hair. It had red glowing eyes and an ape like face. The entity was christened ‘Monkey Man.

The creature leapt from building to building and attacked its victims with raking claws and sharp teeth. Panic swiftly spread through the filthy, overcrowded slums. The police received accounts of fifty attacks on the night of May 14th alone. The merest mention of the creature could send whole areas into a frenzy of panic. In stampedes to escape the creature two people fell to their deaths from rooftops and stairs. One was a pregnant woman.

With rehearsals for Cycle III of Dark Nights of the Soul come nerves this time.  Which is a rarity believe me. They kick off tomorrow at the usual place with most of the usual cast, but something has struck me as very unusual for this, our third venture into Dr Bleach's realm.

A sort of expectation, waiting for that moment where all the cards get tossed up into the air; which seems to come as mandatory with each script, but never when you expect it. Waiting for that moment to come and peak and do it's worse and leave again...and waiting...and waiting...but it's not coming.

Holy shit, things are moving along very neatly indeed. Zut alors! But this can not be, 'tis simply not the FP way!

Part of this success is owed to the marvelous lady responsible for the beautiful shot you see above and also for the brand new DNOTS trailer for Cycle III - Emergence.

Alexa Looker is now not only cast but is throwing onto the FoolishPeople pyre her skills within digital art.

Having studied performance, digital art, live art and contemporary theatre at Northampton University and also trained in contemporary dance and ballet with a background in sonic art/music Alexa makes for the most modest, gifted all around artist you could ever meet.

I'll update here as soon as we secure the date for the next cycle.

06 Events at Treadwell's

Treadwell's have some very interesting event's between now and May 06, if your finding 2006 a bore already then you should be able to find at least one event below that take's your fancy.

Cycle II, Complete.

So another cycle completed. I think John and I both knew Dark Nights of the Soul was going to be a tough experience from the beginning, but I dont think that even the torment of Ruined Steel could have prepared us for it's magnitude.

John has been largely on his own for this cycle owing to me being unavoidably detained for the past few weeks, so Saturday night was all very, very fresh to me and that was such a blessing.

I think I can speak for the both of us when I say what a relief it is to be reaching out and finding the right audiences for us. Every night becomes more like a gathering of select souls and cohesive minds, so much so that during the interval there is an air of 'family get-together' about the place. Previous audience meeting fresh audience, old friends meeting new and granny in a corner with a bottle of stout and a plate of cockles  (me).

The cast have been outstanding in their commitment to their roles and the production, way beyond any reasonable expectations. Once again it was a very long and arduous  set up on the day, only pushed through by everybody's positivity and humility. It was a real fucking pleasure for a change.

Seems like we are getting good feed back again, which makes everything sooo much rosier, we'd be lying if we denied it.

So people, if you're interested I would keep your eyes peeled here for news of Cycle III.

Anyhow, I've a few opinions of my own this time....you pesky actors (and humans), so if you'd like to read on a little...

Alexa dear, thank you so much for your humour, feathery lashes and drops of elegance you bought to the day (not so much the glugging absinthe from the bottle part tho ;0) ). And your unfaltering Mary..I told you not to worry about the lines. Grace, you were amazing, I never would have expected at your first audition that the next time I saw you would be as the sleek, untouched and mystifying creature I witnessed last night. Kiki, simply put you are a professional to the utmost and beautiful to boot. Marcus, congratulations on your night, I was riveted by Alick and you've really captured "Aquinas the Shite'! Mark1, I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to say it on the night but your commitment and hard work is truly inspiring, as is your ability and passion. Mark2, you captured every moment of your dialogue and used it to it's fullest degree with awesome talent and perception. Rob, your compositions were truly beautiful, and bought so many sympathetic undertones to the performance it wouldn't have been the true spectacle without you. Kittie, babe, what an entrance...I just cant fucking wait...! James, visuals fucking rocked...again...no great surprises there then. Orrin, dear Oracle Orrin, I could listen to you all day, thank you hon. And to John (who does not know I'm posting this, as would only tell me to fuck off and blush), your vision, determination and gift for this thankless task has been and will continue to be the epitome of inspiration. You are fucking beautiful.

Dark Nights of the Soul - Update

Cycle II has been moved back to Saturday, January 14th.

See you there...

Treadwell's Vs Anti-Christmas

Just found out that Phil Hine is selling many of his overstocked books via Treadwell's. Some of these title's are extremely rare and interesting, and they will no doubt be disappearing fast. The list below is also an invaluable tool for anyone looking for details on the contents of specific Magick Book's and periodical's.

So especially for all you Magickal entities out their who are looking for the perfect gift for Anti-Christmas here is the full list along with some other specialties that Treadwell's have before Christmas.

Chaos Magic and Related

CHAOS AND SORCERY
Author: Hall, Nick
Price: £650.00 (reduced from £800.00)
Published: Nicholas Hall, 1992.
Format: Paperback in good condition. 111pp.
Notes: Extremely rare first edition, self-published, with the distinctive black cover with demon and chaosphere. This copy signed by Nick Hall to Phil Hine, also signed by Phil Hine. Also signed by the illustrator, Robert Taylor. This copy is from Hine’s personal library. This is one of the great classics of chaos by the nexus of UK practitioners in the 1990s. Sorcery, as defined by the book, is "the art of using material bases to enhance a magickal conjuration, the outcome of which is determined by the sorcerer's will. It has been described as "sharp, fast, unsentimental". Chapter Titles: 1) Tools of Sorcery. 2) Techniques of Sorcery. 3) Malicious Doll Magick. 4) Beneficial Doll Magick. 5) Word Weaving. 6) Chaos and Sorcery.

CHAOS SERVITORS, A USER'S GUIDE
Author: Phil Hine
Price: £60.00
Published: Pagan News Publications and Chaos International Publications, 1991
Format: A5 Booklet, paper covers. Good condition. Content: Phil Hine tells you, in his inimitable style, all his thoughts in servitors. Collectible -- and with reason.

IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH? TRESPASS AND FIND OUT
(TOPY magazine)
Contributors: TOPI Nomads, Ray Sherwin, Malchick Nostra, Coyote 182, Eden 304, Coyote 144.
Price: £30.00
Published: Temple ov Psychick Youth, 1991.
Topics: sigilisation, revolution, Kali, 'action sigils', Aleister Crowley's last Will and Testament, Thoth Tarot divination, sodomy as spiritual fulfilment, Dream Sigil Sex. TOPY was flourishing in the UK during the era when this was produced; now it is active in the USA, with things somewhat moribund in the UK by comparison to the 1990s heyday. This booklet shows how much creativity and verve TOPY are capable of!
Format: A5 Booklet, paper covers. Fine condition.

DARE TO MAKE MAGIC
Author: Edwards, David
Price: £40.00
Published: Rigel Press, 1971
Notes: this copy is from the personal magical library of Phil Hine.
Format: Hardback with dust cover in good condition.
Phil Hine recommends this book as a really good work on a subject that produces great amounts of substandard work: real magic. One of the formative influential texts that inspired the first wave of chaos magic. Want to see who and what inspired Carroll, Hine, et al?  Look no further.

SSOTBME: An Essay on Magic, its foundations, development and place in modern life.
Price:  £12.00
Published by: The Mouse That Spins, 1977.
Topics covered:  One of the classics of experimental and chaos magic by the much-revered master of the Art, Ramsay Dukes.  It is a concise account of the disciplines of magic, art, religion, and science.  The book explores the interrelationships between these disciplines, whilst stressing the different premises upon which they are founded.  This copy comes with the original pink advertising flier bound into the back of the book.

SSOTBME:  An Essay on Magic
Price:  £30.00
Published by:  The Mouse That Spins, 1979.
Topics covered:  One of the classics of experimental and chaos magic by the much-revered master of the Art, Ramsay Dukes.  It is a concise account of the disciplines of magic, art, religion, and science.  The book explores the interrelationships between these disciplines, whilst stressing the different premises upon which they are founded.  The illustrations, only found in this edition, are by Austin Osman Spare, and constitute the first full republication of his A Book of Satyrs since its original appearance in 1907.  In MINT condition, from Dukes’ own personal collection. Signed by Ramsay Dukes on the title page.

SSOTBME:  An Essay on Magic Revised
Price:  £15.00
Published by:  The Mouse That Spins, 2001.
Topics covered:  One of the classics of experimental and chaos magic by the much-revered master of the Art, Ramsay Dukes.  It is a concise account of the disciplines of magic, art, religion, and science.  The book explores the interrelationships between these disciplines, whilst stressing the different premises upon which they are founded.  In MINT condition, signed and dated by Ramsay Dukes on the title page.

I-Was: A Journal of Arcadian Disturbances - No. 3 (n.d)
Limited Edition of 70 copies; this copy out of series
Contributors:  various anonymous. Large format, card covers 80pp.
Price:  £15.00.   Thelemic stream of consciousness. Wow. Worth it for the content alone.

DREAMTIME IS UPON US! THE SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AUTONOMOUS ASTRONAUTS
Author: Various contributors.
Price: £15.00
Published: London and Watford: AAA, 1997 Format: Paperback in good  condition
Content: an amazing cult flowering of a group pushing out the limits of the bizarre. Their stated aim? Dreamtime. What is it? An alternative reality, the reality of outer space. This book was reviewed by The Guardian, who said of it, ‘Equipped with no money but big dream, the AAA have a simple programme: space travel in the community by the year 2000’.  They say of themselves on their current website, the following: The Association of Autonomous Astronauts is a non-hierarchical network of local, community-based space exploration programmes. Disconaut AAA was set up to explore the potential of dance cultures for autonomous space exploration. Everybody is a Star!, is named after a 1979 track by Sylvester (1946-1988), also responsible for such otherworld explorations as "Dance Disco Heat", "Do you wanna funk" and "You make me feel mighty real". Seriously collectible.

The Grimoire of Pharaon:
Sorcery, Chumbley, Spare, Chaos

Liber Niger Legionis, The Grimoire of Pharaon
£350
First Edition: Octavia Press 2005. Hardback 162pp. Author: Pharaon. This copy is Number 4 of the numbered limited edition of only 36 copies. It is signed and sigilised by the author. In this first edition, sigils to 36 daemons were individually produced.  Copy 4 is dedicated to Samael; this unique sigil is starkly remarkable. The book’s content consists of an original grimoire, though it is evident that inspirations are drawn from Austin Osman Spare, Kenneth Grant and Andrew Chumbley. The grimoire  presents an original system of Gnostic sorcery, which is both practical and cosmological. Eschewing the traditional esoteric cosmology that describes the Supernal or Divine that is in opposition to the Infernal, it  instead it regards the ‘hostile’ or ‘demonic’ forces as being inherently illusory, indeed that which is the illustory itself. The response to this insight is the spiritual aim, what Pharaon calls ‘Black Gnosis’. In it, the sorcerer apprehends mystically the transience of identity. As the infernal (illusory) nature of reality is identified, one is enabled to ford the currents that underlie it, recognising their sentience and power.  In this system, the sorcerer becomes a mirror for that which is beyond.  As the author draws upon the entire magical tradition, the Daemons summoned are traditional ones, ones that  most will recognize. It is their relevance to postmodern reality that is emphasized, however. The author is transgressive, fiercely iconoclastic, and solitary; despite the fact that  Infernal Sorcery is explicitly referred to as Cainite and relates to the work of Andrew Chumbley,  the author is not a member of his Cultus Sabbatai, but instead works independently. The book, after outlining and instructing the system of Gnosis and magical practice, lists the 36 daimons, with their natures, their meaning and relevance to the system and sigil.  The first edition, in which only 36 copies were printed, has become highly sought after even within the first six months after its release. Issue points distinguishing it from the second edition are the upright direction of the cover pentagram, and the particular decoration of the endpapers.

Liber Niger Legionis, The Grimoire of Pharaon
Author: Pharaon
£60.00
Second Edition: Octavia Press 2005. Hardback 162pp. This copy is Number 22 of the numbered limited second edition of only 72 copies. It is signed and sigilised by the author.  This second edition features a different decorated end paper to the first edition. Also, compared to the first edition, the pentagram on the cover is inverted, which in fact was the author's original intent.

Liber Niger Legionis, The Grimoire of Pharaon
Another copy of the second Edition: Octavia Press 2005
£60.00 - Number 36, of the numbered limited edition of 72 only copies
Like all copies in this limited second edition, it has the author’s sigil and signature, hand-drawn.

Liber Niger Legionis, The Grimoire of Pharaon
Another copy of the second edition: Octavia Press 2005
£90.00 - Number 36 of the numbered limited second edition of 72 copies
This copy has the author’s sigil and signature, hand drawn (like all copies in this limited edition). In addition it also has a special sigil individually drawn for Treadwell’s: the elaborate invocatory seal is appended by the caption, ‘Our Name is Legion, for we are Many’. The anonymous author is a regular at Treadwell’s, and produced this artwork at the request of the owner, herself a magician.