Dark Inspiration (March 2018)

 

“But there is a third aspect of genius which is yet more rare. It is the ability to open the door of the theatre and admit the influences from outside, from the swarming gulfs beyond the grasp of the mind, and accessible only to the magical entity whose fantastic feelers can snare the most fugitive impulses as they flash through the holes in space, the kinks in time, to be reflected in the magic mirror of the artist’s mind.”
― Kenneth Grant

 

Echoes, Drops, Shifts
That line goes there
shift that layer 90 degrees
alter the colours
use that filter
see it appear
yes
now that you see it
grasp it
make it appear to others
the right colour
shading
filters
until the intention is complete

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Silent Voice (redux) by GAR

 

Will to Destroy by GAR

 

Awakening Shadows (March 2018)

 

The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination.
— Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

 

I seek not to comfort
but to be a gardener
planting dark seeds
awakening the shadow within
inspiring deeper understanding
of our inner world
and what dwells there in the depths

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Faces of Transition (redux) by GAR

 

Random Sacrifice

 

Notes From the Shadows (March 2018)

 

““Confrontation with the shadow produces at first a dead balance, a standstill that hampers moral decisions and makes convictions ineffective or even impossible. Everything becomes doubtful, which is why the alchemists called this stage nigredo,”
-Carl Jung

 

When we learn our depths and explore them, judging the depths of others, except possibly in how it may or may not inconvenience us or in how it may or may not make their lives work for them becomes difficult. In the end tho, it is not as much a matter of morals but of ethics. What is my code of honour that I will not violate? What will I accept in others? It is by that process that we become sovereign individuals as opposed to people following any code dictated from outside themselves

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Vampyric Abstraction by GAR

 

Necroscopy by GAR

 

Dawn and Decay (March 2018)

 

Invent yourself and then reinvent yourself,
don’t swim in the same slough.
invent yourself and then reinvent yourself and
stay out of the clutches of mediocrity.

invent yourself and then reinvent yourself,
change your tone and shape so often that they can never categorize you.

reinvigorate yourself and
accept what is
but only on the terms that you have invented
and reinvented.

be self-taught.

and reinvent your life because you must;
it is your life and
its history
and the present
belong only to
you.

-Charles Bukowski

 

Reinventing ourselves, challenging who we are in order to become more, is a necessity. No matter what stage of life we are in, we should never surrender who we may become for the day to day.

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Bringer of the Dawn (Redux) by GAR

 

Visions of Decay by GAR

 

Some Hard Won Lessons Said by Others Better Than I Could (March 2018)

 

Trivial Note: Am I one of the few people not surprised or outraged by the fact that data that we share on FB got used badly? Anything that we share publically (or even far too often privately) runs the risk of being shared further. This is true of gossip, art, or personal data. All too often very few of us show little or no caution in these matters. Indeed many of the people outraged at Facebook and Mark Zukerberg are the same who post jokes about the government listening in to our phone calls and Alexa tracking our every recipe request.
Facebook and other Social Media are these free gifts that were provided for us. They are also businesses out for profit and their product is us. Everything costs, whether it be our time, our money, or our data and things that appear free too often tend to be the most expensive of all.
I have said often that I believe in personal responsibility (and have been recently surprised at how provocative those words can be). We can blame Zuckerberg, Facebook, Cambridge Analytics (etc) for illicit use of our data. Would they have that data if we didn’t offer it in the first place?
Which is a nice lead in to what I intended to be a blog entry consisting entirely of quotes:

 

“Gospodin,” he said presently, “you used an odd word earlier–odd to me, I mean…”
“Oh, ‘tanstaafl.’ Means ~There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.’ And isn’t,” I added, pointing to a FREE LUNCH sign across room, “or these drinks would cost half as much. Was reminding her that anything free costs twice as much in long run or turns out worthless.”
“An interesting philosophy.”
“Not philosophy, fact. One way or other, what you get, you pay for.”
–Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

 

“The recommendation for warriors is not to have any material things on which to focus their power, but to focus it on the spirit, on the true flight into the unknown, not on trivialities. Everyone who wants to follow the warrior’s path has to rid himself of the compulsion to possess and hold onto things.”
–Carlos Castaneda

 

“Nothing of any importance can be taught. It can only be learned, and with blood and sweat.”
–Robert Anton Wilson

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Inner Reflection by GAR

 

Woodland Sinistral by GAR

 

Vampyric Observances (March 2018)

 

I awaken hunger
I feed the occulted beast
I rip off this civilized façade
and feel the raw power surge
from the seeds of the self
too long repressed.
I offer myself
with no hesitation
I receive all that is due
I will journey through
shadowed tunnels and vaults
and the light shall shadow become
Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Vampyric Observation by GAR

 

Moving On (redux) by GAR

 

Black Lotus Visions (March 2018)

 

“Whistlings of death and circles of muffled music make this adored body rise, swell and tremble like a ghost; scarlet and black wounds open in the magnificent flesh.”
— Arthur Rimbaud, Illuminations

 

Ancient exiles, tell me about your seas…
— Arthur Rimbaud

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Black Lotus in the Storm (redux) by GAR

 


 

Solitary Roads (March 2018)

 

“Nothing of any importance can be taught. It can only be learned, and with blood and sweat.”
― Robert Anton Wilson

 

If we’re honest we cannot accept another’s path without losing our own,
We can learn from others and even seek an understanding of their road but when it comes to our own path, it is a forging of the way. No one can walk it for us and we have to do our own work. It is we who interact with our deities and demons and we will have to meet them all along the way.
“seek to shine darkness
not reflect another’s questionable light
and laugh …
if everyone, man, demon, or deity turned away
you would be left with a clear screen
find that empty hole in yourself
and throw yourself in
there you will find me.”

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Beacon by GAR

 

Kephera (redux) by GAR

 

Echoes of Sheol by GAR

 

Images in the Mist (March 2018)

 

“The best way to avoid responsibility is to say, ‘I’ve got
responsibilities.”
― Richard Bach

 

The above is another quote that I find applies to so many things. The best way to avoid studying is to say “There are so many things I want to study.”
The best way to avoid learning a skill is to say “I have so many skills I want / need to learn”
The best way to avoid spiritual growth is to say “There are so many directions I can go in”
It feels so easy to be like the mule who starved to death because he stood in between two bags of feed and could not decide which to start with. Ultimately, what action we choose to take doesn’t matter. What matters is doing something that will further us in some way. Everything we do eventually benefits us more than inactivity ever will. We can always course correct later. This is a lesson that has taken me way too long to learn.

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Manifesting in the Flames by GAR

 

Neuronic Roots by GAR

 

Changed Channeling (March 2018)

 

The more you invoke
the more of a connection
the more you read of books profane and energized
the more dark seeds you plant within
that is not success
on this path
it is through inner development
and actions that these seeds are nurtured
we engender the changes
overcoming the inertia of past patterns is up to you
with each word spoken, with every action or in action
with every thought you strenthen your new self or old
your becoming or your being

your inspired dark self writes these words
based on your understanding

Your bones are what we replace
they are your structure and properties
your heart is your identity’
the blood that it pumps
becomes envenomed
by our touch
thus the heart changes as you will
but it is you that changes it
as you ask for our touch
and our venom

In here are clues to the ripping of the veil
on the side of the veil you reside in
you become our bones and our venom

 

 
“…the basic law, the inherent tendency of each individual, is toward that total transformation of himself from the limited entity that he believes himself to be, to that which he really is in essence, i.e. a transcosmic, extra-terrestrial and – ultimately – ultra-dimensional /absence/.”
— Kenneth Grant

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Entering the Abyss (Abaddon) by GAR

 

Psychopomp #2 (Shimaelok) by GAR