The Occult Underground, Occult Paris, James Webb, Anna Kingsford And The Pippins

I came across the author James Webb by accident, earlier this year. This much esteemed author, heir to a Scottish estate no less, shot himself in 1980 at the age of 34. He was supposedly a very clever , but troubled person (his own father committed suicide), who wrote academic occult books,amongst other things, originally as a non believer and virtual atheist fact finder and then suddenly, he got drawn in and started to believe in everything he had previously scoffed at as representing a load of misguided baloney that had hood winked the great and the good.

There is an ebook available on Kindle called The Occult Webb by Colin Wilson and Joyce Colin-Smith which is quite factual but also threw up a lot of mystery.

James Webb was supposedly overworked and his explorations led him to have some kind of nervous breakdown. Not a term liked by the medical profession these days but highly accurate nonetheless. His wife, (who he fell out with his family in order to marry), was a total non believer and gave him short shrift and, according to the author,not much support. He had a few psychotic episodes and was convinced his publisher was persecuting him (he was contracted to write several books, including a history of Scotland and was under pressure). He also believed some French Freemasons were after him. He obviously spoke several different languages fluently so translating things wasn't a problem.

So I was intrigued and dived in to the world of the Belle Epoque. My great uncle was French and was born in Paris. He would have been a youngster in 1890's Paris and might even have seen some of the French magicians, or even Toulouse-Lautrec in the street. Even as a kid he must have known of the Moulin Rouge and the Chat Noir Club.

Anna Kingsford became a medical doctor in Paris because she was not allowed to do this in England in Victorian times. She fought hard against vivisection, a common practice of the day and was also very esoteric. She was a friend of one of the founders of The Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn.Webb mentions her in his book.

I managed to find details of Webb's last home and even a photo of it inside.I wanted to know if there was any truth in what he said or if he was just ill for a bit.

To be a good medium it is necessary to disassociate and psychic work requires both depersonalisation and derealisation so it can affect the mind. Both well respected Dion Fortune and even Aleister Crowley had their mentally affected moments.

So what happened with James Webb? Well on the surface he was stressed, overworked and did not have a good support network to hand. He lived in an isolated spot which is terrible for anyone with those kind of problems - too much not going on outside. He felt obliged to meet certain standards but he was changing due to his research and perhaps did not fit in with his old group of friends any more. He knew an older esoteric lady as a friend but whether that did him good or not in the long run is unanswered. Certainly his wife didn't like this friendship.

There could be something in what he said. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't totally off the page with it, but I still feel someone could have saved him in any case. What a waste of a talented life.

The Pippins got in on the investigative journalism with some serious study.

The Golden Sun Sets In To The Sea

The City Of Bradford used to have a temple which the original Hermetic Order Of the Golden Dawn set up and this was dedicated to the Egyptian Falcon God Horus, who is sometimes known as Heru. There have been other Orders in Bradford including one dedicated to Garuda whose exploits are mentioned in the Mahabharata. Garuda represents the spiritual energy that overcomes hatred.
Horus is represented by a Falcon.

I was once, many years ago, lucky to visit and enter the temple and see the painting of the sun before it was later destroyed. Horus stands for the Sign Of Silence, as shown in the Gif.

Lord Ganesha, The Celestial Gate Keeper

Lord Ganesha often is shown in tandem with his much adored pet rat. He is the Gatekeeper of Hindu Magick and is spoken to first, to open the gate between matter and spirit, before calling on the other Gods and then last, to close the gate. In Christian Magick, Saint Peter is the Gate Keeper and in  Haitian Voodoo, it is Papa Legba.
Most religious types of magick have a form of Gate keeper. Lord Ganesha is a very wise deity who is fond of sweet things. He also likes orange flowers and plants.

A South American lady I knew once told me about a very helpful deity connected to the Umbanda religion called Exu (or Eshu)  Lock-Streets. This deity was shown as a man wearing a wide brimmed black hat, sometimes with a cape, and often with a moustache, smoking a cigar.

A similar looking Folk Saint is San Simon or Maximon as he is also known. I have a statue of  Maximon/San Simon and we give him weekly cigars. He has a big bag of them now next to his statue, they are his gifts.

Centre For Spiritual Discovery Found On Main Road

We came across this very colourful and attractive set up just the other day. It has inspiring messages, attractive paint and happy plants. it even had a seat. We found it was a Christian Scientist Centre and indeed it appeared to be very welcoming. Mary Baker Eddy is the most famous Christian Scientist and I apparently had a great aunt and uncle who followed this religion.

Disused Church Get New Lease Of Life

This disused church we noticed when out the other day, has now become an Islamic Education Centre. This seemed a very dexterous use of an old building instead of it going to rack and ruin. The building was peopled and lively which adds good energy to the environment.

The Wild Urban Fox Eats The Cake

This short clip was taken with a hunting camera that was left outside disguised. The foxes eat the spell offerings we put out so they go back to nature. The clip shows a fox close up grabbing some cake.

See the vampiric mosquito larva on Brother Darklight & Rebecca

Interesting Book On Christian Voodoo

I recently came across an interesting book on Christian Voodoo and as we practice all kinds of spells ans rituals I did think I would have a look at it. The book was certainly an entertaining read and worth buying, I think.