These are wilting flowers. They have nothing to do with the rest of the post except for the keyword “wilt.”
We’re all familiar with the Wiccan Rede, right? The full version is pretty long, but most people remember the last line:
“Eight words the wiccan rede fulfill. An’ it harm none, do what ye will.”
That’s the guiding principal of many witches, but is it really possible to live a life where you harm none all of the time? I don’t think so.
As an example, if you’re doing some spellwork to help secure a new promotion at work, might you inevitably be causing someone else to not get that promotion? Isn’t that harm?
Maybe Crowley’s version is better.
“Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”
Thelema’s philosophy removes the whole “harm none” clause and simply says to just do. Don’t interfere with what I’m doing and I won’t interfere with what you’re doing.
Any magick you do has consequences. Everything, just like whether or not you get a promotion at work, has cause and effect, which we see explained in the Hermetic Principles.
“Principle 6: Every cause has its effect. Every effect has its cause. Everything happens according to law. Chance is but a name for law not recognized. There are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the law.”
It’s best to consider the effects, including understanding the potential karmic repercussions, of any planned spellwork. As long as you’re willing to accept that karma, you’re clear to move on. There are seven total Hermetic Principles… and you should probably take them all into account.
Or how about this set of principles? These are the “Eight Wiccan Virtues.”
- Beauty and strength
- Power and compassion
- Honor and humility
- Mirth and reverence
You might even say that the four cornerstones are a set of guiding principles.
Wow, that’s certainly a lot of things to think about all the time, right?
Good morning and happy Monday, friends!
This past week was a blur. What can I say?
The interview with Oracle Hekataios is filled with cool information, which I’m doing my best to turn into M3 episode 4. It was also filled, unfortunately, with some background noise, like cats meowing. I didn’t realize it while we were recording, but it’s actually a bit loud and I really don’t want it to distract from his message. As such, I spent a lot of time seeking solutions.
I asked on Reddit (r/audioengineering) and received a few suggestions. The first response stated that I needed to use a DeCatter plugin in my audio software. I guess I should have realized that was a joke, but… come on, is DeCatter any more unrealistic of a name than Maserati, Kaleidescopes, Vitamin, Infected Mushroom Pusher, or Submarine (which are legit plugins made by Waves)?
The real solution, of course, is to use the Spectral Editor inside Izotope RX. I’ve owned this program for about 6 months and have always shied away from using it for the simple reason that I literally have no idea what anything does. I also never had any legitimate need to learn.
Okay. It was time to roll up the sonic sleeves and dive into the aural unknown without the aid of guides, tutorial videos, or product manuals. As Ms. Frizzle taught me on The Magic School Bus: “Take chances. Make mistakes. Get messy.”
And you know what? I can now see sound. I sat and watched a linear spectrogram for the solid 60 minutes of the interview audio and made mental notes of patterns. It was kind of like staring into one of those 3D pictures where you have to let your eyes go out of focus. Once you see it, you really see it.
So check this out. You see this grouping of horizontal lines, which oddly enough kind of resemble a cat scratch? This is the sound of a cat meowing on top of Oracle’s voice.
The rest of the editing is basically like using a paint program. You paint out the sound that you want to erase. Pretty much one of the greatest things ever.
And now its gone.
I’m obviously oversimplifying, but I was definitely able to remove a chorus of cats from the interview. Now it’s time to get that audio back into my video files, which of course takes more time. Everything takes time. Video editing may be the single greatest time sink I’ve ever discovered.
I’ve also been working on my setlist for the show at FPG. In addition to the Thursday night concert, I’m going to be giving a Friday workshop called “The Magickal Voice.” Here’s the description I wrote for it…
The Magickal Voice
1:00pm – 2:30pm ~ Salamanders Inferno ~ Aerik Arkadian
Come and rediscover one of the witch’s most overlooked tools: the human voice. We will take a trip through history to explore where our voices came from and how sound has been used in magick since ancient times. This is not a singing workshop, but we will examine proper vibration and intonation as these concepts can drastically alter the energy of any ritual. After some practical exercises, we will also begin to touch on the concept of Sonic Alchemy and how sound can be the catalyst for transformation within ourselves. (All Ages Welcome)
Sounds like a pretty cool class, right? Now I just have to… uh… write it.
Oh, and I got my first patron on Patreon. I’m just tickled pink. But really and truly honored that anyone would choose to help support all of these endeavors financially.
Stay tuned. More is coming soon.
Aerik Arkadian 
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