Proof of UK anti-Roma sentiment, both cultural and institutional

These are links to various pages on the interwebz for people who live in the UK and don't, for some reason, think Travellers and Roma are being institutionally abused: http://www.monbiot.com/archives/1996/10/10/britains-ethnic-cleansing/ http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2003/11/04/acceptable-hatred/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/3683483.stm http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/index.php?link=template&story=119 http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2007/11/13/106414/gypsy-roma-and-traveller-children-speak-out-over-racism.html http://nickgriffin.eu/2009/06/17/bnp-leader-condemns-belfast-anti-gypsy-violence-and-immigration-policy-which-a *the above also notable for user comments which bolster the premise of the story, oddly. And here are a couple that are notable mostly for the comments: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090524070522AAjUwrX https://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=63903 Hope that clears a few things up for people.

Make your own ghost

This is kind of a fascinating article, even if it is on about.com (link through title). This seems very similar to invoking a god-form, and is pretty similar to techniques I employ in magickal workings- I don't believe in a literal, sentient deity, but I do believe that the mind is a very powerful tool that can change its environment with the right mindset and with properly focused intent. Thus, I believe that anything can be invoked, essentially; a god-form is an archetypical template (hence the reason for the mixing of pantheons employed in working- each pantheon is a mixture of archetypes that correspond cross-culturally), and can be anything. While I tend to invoke more traditional god-forms (on the occasions I invoke anything, which can be described as, "occasionally, but not all that often"), it makes sense that one could conjure Daffy Duck or Superman, if one so chose. The possibilities, as with anything, are limitless. I recommend "Pop Magic!" by Grant Morrison as a good starting point- it might have a lot of hype surrounding it and I don't endorse everything in it, but there are some good ideas and information contained in it. It's important to remember, however, that reading books is no substitute for actually practicing magick. Learn what you can, and take necessary precautions, but dig in and do it- book knowledge is no substitute for experience and practice.

***LATEST TRACKS, 082409***

There will be a real-live, non-link-based post soon; however, my primary computer has suffered some difficulties, so I'm using a shitty Compaq from nineteen-diggity-six that hates it when I try to do complex things. Also, my time is heavily-invested in negotiating my recording contract at the moment, so why don't we do that when we're not being hustled by Brits, yeah?

Zombies will destroy us all.

From the Onion:

Lady Gaga: Spokesperson for mind-control programs and the Illuminati, apparently; plus, Beyonce's\Sasha's hypersigil

Interesting thought, at least- a shadow world government turns a person into a public face? Probably not really, though the idea's tantalizing... hasn't there been a movie like that? Oh, yeah, Metropolis. So could somebody do that from the other end? I might try that (not that I'm remotely famous)- change names and looks every three or so years, litter my music with references to Chaos... Oh, yeah, I do that. Another interesting idea: a music video as a hypersigil. I'm sure it's been done a few times, but I never really thought of it that way before. The video in question is (oddly) "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce and Jay-Z, and seems on some level to represent a rebirth ritual: story here. Again, probably alarmist on a few counts, but the idea remains a tantalizing one, particularly as it's of a genre you wouldn't expect to have much to do with magick. The central idea presented in the story, though, seems more to be that Beyonce's possessed, and her record company did it to her, somehow. Again, almost certainly not. Just some thought-provoking, if imaginative, stuff I found all at once :D

Simple Tarot Matrix

There are loads of places online, and lots of rather overpriced books, that will go inordinately deep into the meanings of the Major Arcana, and maybe the suits' meanings, but little seems to get said about the individual meanings of the Minor Arcana. Here's a very simple matrix; adapt it as it suits you. Meanings by suit:

• Swords: Communication (Air element)
• Pentacles/Stars: Materiality* (Earth element)
• Wands: Action, Deed (Fire element)
• Cups/Bowls: Emotions (Water element)

*Materiality, as in things of the physical plane. Materialism might and frequently does get tied up in that, but that's not the primary meaning. Numerical Minor Arcana by Position:

• A- beginning\power
• 2- partnership\duality
• 3- synthesis\joy
• 4- stabilize\construct
• 5- chaos\versatility
• 6- decision\challenge
• 7- wisdom\mystery
• 8- judgment\versatility
• 9- attainment
• 10- perfection\wholeness
• Page: child
• Knave: adolescent
• King: man\outer competence
• Queen: woman\inner competence

Example: 7W Wands symbolize action; 7 symbolizes wisdom or mystery Possible interpretation: at the heart of the matter in question lies acting on a matter with wisdom, either by doing the right thing, or by merely doing what you must; possible fear of what the action will mean or do, or a fear of going half-cocked and not understanding underlying dynamics to the situation. For the face-cards of the Minor Arcana (Page, King, etc), each symbolize a particular person (e.g., Knave symbolizes adolescent, as above). Here's a shortcut for incorporating the suits into the meanings of the cards. For this example, I'll use the suit of Cups, keeping in mind that they relate to emotion-

• PC: (child) emotional response of a child
• KnC: (adolescent) emotional response of a teen
• KC: (male, outward competence): emotional response of a man
• QC: (female, inward competence): emotional response of a female

This will hold for the other suits (e.g., KW- what a man would do in a particular situation). Thus:

• Swords: how do the people communicate?
• Wands: how do they act?
• Pentacles\Stars: how do they handle practical or sensual matters?
• Cups: how do they feel?

The real trick with Tarot readings when they concern others, whether we know them well or not, is to separate prejudices and the querent's personality from who is being read for\about. Anyway, hope that's helpful. Sometime soon I hope to have an updated gematria I've come up with that seems to work pretty well, particularly for sigilization of intent.