If MagicaNova were a functioning <<religion>> (for want of a better word); what kind of festivals would people here like to celebrate?
Obvious candidates are the start of spring, the end fo the growing season, midwinter and midsummer. But moving beyond the obvious, (or indeed including them but extending them somehow); what kind of festivals would you like to celebrate? What would be the point in the celebrations? Just fun? Or some psychological role? How would your festival be celebrated? When should it be held? What kind of rituals, if any would you write?
For example, I would hold a festival at every lunar and solar ecliipse. For Solar Eclipses, obviously they are not seen worldwide, so minor observances could be held at the correct time, but major festivals under the actual eclipse path.
I would call these the "feasts of the God and Goddess conjoined", and I would include some sort of public sexual ceremony to reflect the conjunction happening in the sky. Eclipses are also moments of unique impact, as they bring astronomical events into our level of awareness, in a way that no other astronomical event does. (shooting stars excepted, but they are somewhat terrestrial). Total solar eclipses have inspired fear and relief and awe to civilizations through the ages. So the ritual should work with these emotions, amplifying them. There should be liturgical wailing and gnashing of teeth as the moon eclipses the Sun, followed by pleading with the God to return his light, followed by a triumphal celebration as it returns.
And so on.
What are your ideas of celebrations you'd like to do?
Obvious candidates are the start of spring, the end fo the growing season, midwinter and midsummer. But moving beyond the obvious, (or indeed including them but extending them somehow); what kind of festivals would you like to celebrate? What would be the point in the celebrations? Just fun? Or some psychological role? How would your festival be celebrated? When should it be held? What kind of rituals, if any would you write?
For example, I would hold a festival at every lunar and solar ecliipse. For Solar Eclipses, obviously they are not seen worldwide, so minor observances could be held at the correct time, but major festivals under the actual eclipse path.
I would call these the "feasts of the God and Goddess conjoined", and I would include some sort of public sexual ceremony to reflect the conjunction happening in the sky. Eclipses are also moments of unique impact, as they bring astronomical events into our level of awareness, in a way that no other astronomical event does. (shooting stars excepted, but they are somewhat terrestrial). Total solar eclipses have inspired fear and relief and awe to civilizations through the ages. So the ritual should work with these emotions, amplifying them. There should be liturgical wailing and gnashing of teeth as the moon eclipses the Sun, followed by pleading with the God to return his light, followed by a triumphal celebration as it returns.
And so on.
What are your ideas of celebrations you'd like to do?
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Re: Festivals
Sun, August 19, 2007 - 9:30 AMAnother example;
Prometheus is a very important archtype to humanity; the one who defied the Gods to bring Fire to Man.
Satanists use this archetype in relation to Lucifer, the light-bringer; but unfortunately this archetype is muddied by too many connotations of rebellion. Rebellion against Authority for the sake of rebellion against Authority, is puerile and sterile. However the defiance of Authority is acceptable, when it serves a higher cause, as for example, the American Revolutionaries thought.
It is worthwhile to honor Prometheus as a hero of mankind, because indirectly it also honors and respects humanism, courage, freewill, and other virtues.
The festival of Prometheus requires a visionary journey to the Rock in the Caucuses where he is chained, and to slay the Eagle which comes to rip out his liver daily. The Eagle is immortal as Prometheus is, so this will only give him relief for one day, but it would be an important gesture from mankind to thank him for the gift of fire.
Suitable occasions for ruch a ritual would be at the beginning of the summer BBQ season, or in fall, when fires begin to be relit to warm out homes. The BBQ season gives better options to incorporate feasting into the ritual. Either way, the ritual contains rich images, bringing the first fire of the season in hollow fennel stalks.
Prometheus is also the creator of Man in Greek mythology. -
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Re: Festivals
Sun, August 19, 2007 - 12:29 PMhow about august i8th exactly , the moment you suggested we have festivals. 1:25 pm -
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Re: Festivals
Sun, August 19, 2007 - 3:34 PMI like it. It should be a festival in praise of festivals also. We can just call it "Festivals" and we can celebrate by discussing whether r not it should even exist /the details of how it should work etc. and by debating what our various rituals should be/should we have any at all and then and then everyone can treat it like it's just a joke and not a real Holiday.
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Re: Festivals
Mon, August 20, 2007 - 9:10 AM"how about august i8th exactly , the moment you suggested we have festivals. 1:25 pm "
that's a pretty cool suggestion. i Like that
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Re: Festivals
Mon, August 20, 2007 - 9:24 AMDo what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
it really depends on how far you want to go. for example, the book of the law suggests
"36. There are rituals of the elements and feasts of the times.
37. A feast for the first night of the Prophet and his Bride!
38. A feast for the three days of the writing of the Book of the Law.
39. A feast for Tahuti and the child of the Prophet--secret, O Prophet!
40. A feast for the Supreme Ritual, and a feast for the Equinox of the Gods.
41. A feast for fire and a feast for water; a feast for life and a greater feast for death!
42. A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture!
43. A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost delight! "
so you've got one for the writing of the big holy book which is a good idea. there's one for the formal union of the beast and scarlet woman which, you know... i don't think much of that one but we still celebrate it here. after that, though, it starts to get interesting. i've always liked the idea of the secret feasts - in a formal group setting a separation between public and private celebrations creates a nice dynamic and breaks up the monotony over the course of the year.
the life and death feasts are obvious; fire and water are less so. that actually refers to puberty for boys and girls which is what i was thinking about when i asked you how far you want to go. the idea here is people actually growing up in thelema and i think this is really important.
see, i believe there are two basic types of feasts or festivals that any religious/spiritual/magickal/whateverthefuckkindathing has. you've got your cyclic festivals, and your linear festivals. i was raised roman christist, and they're pretty savvy with that. they've got this whole wheel of the year with holy times, ordinary time, somewhere in the neighborhood of eight festivals of one kind or another a year. along with that, they've got a kind of primitive initiatory set of linearn festivals with your baptism, your first communion, your confirmation, marriage, and last rites.
see what i'm saying? it all depends on what kind of scale you're thinking about.
if it was up to me with the linear festivals, i'd do something along the lines of birth, consciousness of self, puberty - and then i'd start with formal initiation. i know that's kind of young, but there's nothing like puberty to really blast those psychic channels wide fucking open. i'd add marriage, childbirth, "maturity" (although i've no idea what form that might take) and death. the other milestones in life would be - at least in theory - marked by the various initiations.
but that's just me.
Love is the law, love under will -
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Re: Festivals
Mon, August 20, 2007 - 12:41 PMThats exactly what I have in mind. I too was raised a catholick, although unlike a lot of catholicks I have met in the US, it wasnt really a big deal for me; my Mom was Lutheran, My Dad Catholick, and neither bothered wih church. Having gone through the hoops required to get married, they werent exactly thrilled with the power trippers.
However I did gain an appreciation of the value of rituals. So yeah; the more the merrier. Whats important is that they work. I've ben doing some research of my own in this area, and its amazing what goes into the Catholic rituals, the depth behind them. You have the incredibly rich mythology on which they are based; the latin language, and a rich structure of purifications, group versus priest dynamics, supplications, theophagy, ceremonial elements; but then, they have been at this for thousands of years. Recent modifications have actually messed them up greatly; guitars on the altar really deflate the energy.
Better yet are the eastern orthodox rituals; but I only know them to see and hear, i dont really have an indepth knowledge of them; let alone Shinto rituals, Zoroastrian, etc.
Regarding what I saying earlier about research groups within magicanova; one would certainly be on developing satisfying rituals. To be honest, I would hope to produce better than the Gnostic Mass (heresy, heresy, she shrieks). But it should work in tandem with a mythology group, which is developing the background for the group.
I know this all sounds dangerously like replacing one christianity with another; and that many people here say "a pox on all your houses"; but I think that it should be possible to keep the best of the old, while building the structures of the new.
I would like to go as far as possible, and indeed beyond. The beauty of the modular structure that I have in mind, is that some people will want to celebrate some festivals, and others, others. And some, both. There would not be one set of required festivals, but rather a palette of possibilities.
I must however go against the crowd however; and respectfully say that I have no plans to join the group who wish to celebrate the day of the posting of the post. I'm not a Crowley who wishes my idle thoughts to be fixed in the stone of a future religion.
But keep posting; your contributions here have been sparkling of late. Your initiation seems to have taken.
I wish I could get some sort of a working group forming on these questions though; but I guess the internet just doesnt cut it. It will probably have to wait until I can get people tied down in a motel room somewhere with a crate of liquor to make a stab at this grandiose act of creation that I have aimed at. -
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Re: Festivals
Mon, August 20, 2007 - 6:29 PMit needs to have a giant pink rabbit with a red and green suit, wings and a pumpkin for a head. He comes in to your house at night through the natural gas pipes to remove your teeth and leave eggs in your socks as payment, but he eats all of the shamrocks on your lawn before leaving in a covered wagon pulled by 20 midget santas... ....one with a green nose. -
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Re: Festivals
Tue, August 21, 2007 - 8:12 PMBioregional Festivals based upon such eco-energetic phenomena as the first singing of the cicadas or the blooming of the trees....
timing human sexual celebrations with the first flirtations of the flora so as to signal symbiotic sensuality with our fellow Terran life-forms -
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Re: Festivals
Wed, August 22, 2007 - 10:35 AMExcellent idea. And thinking about the cicadas which have a 17-year cycle?, I'm reminded also of the locusts which have a 7? year cycle. The beauty of your idea is that we can build in human mythology as well. -
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Re: Festivals
Wed, August 22, 2007 - 10:41 AMAstonomic-Astronlogical festivals based upon some of the slower orbits and cycles...and upon such things as the Perseid showers, certain commits....and my favorite....things like solar flares....
there could be epic length stories that are related to, let us say, the passage of Saturn through the signs...and chapters of these are enacted in festivals every time Saturn changes signs...and every 28 years or so, the whole story is told....
imagine the mystique that this story would have! -
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Re: Festivals
Thu, August 23, 2007 - 12:15 PMFantastic. Check out the Book of Hiram thread below.
You really are spot on with respect to what I had in mind.
May I also recommend your new group tribes.tribe.net/evolvingthelema to everyone here; as its aims are closely aligned to why I set up MN.
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