Twenty three is the first primary number in which both digits are prime numbers and add up to prime numbers. According to the seventeenth century scholar Archbishop Ussher the world was created on October 23rd, 4004 BC. The end of the world, if we are to believe the Mayans, will be December 23rd, 2012. Julius Caesar was reportedly stabbed twenty three times by his assassins, which is the same amount of letters in the Latin alphabet and also the date in April on which our greatest literary canon, William Shakespeare, was born and died. If I was to tell you that it takes twenty three seconds for the blood to circulate around the body; that the axis of Planet Earth is 23.5 degrees and that computers communicate in 2³ bits (bytes) would you start to become a little suspicious? Maybe not. Some of you more illuminated readers will already have noticed that this article appears on page 23 of this magazine. Is this fate – the work of higher forces – or can it be simply explained away as the result of a particularly astute editorial team?
Article
The 23 Enigma
The Occult Experiance
This film interviews many Occultists from various traditions including the founders of the Temple of Set Michael Aquino and Lillith Aquino. … all » It also includes clisp from Anton Lavey’s Satanis as well and shows H.R. Gigers art.
Ayahuasca Article in National Geographic Magazine
Does this count as mainstream press coverage ?
I will never forget what it was like. The overwhelming misery. The certainty of never-ending suffering. No one to help you, no way to escape. Everywhere I looked: darkness so thick that the idea of light seemed inconceivable.
Suddenly, I swirled down a tunnel of fire, wailing figures calling out to me in agony, begging me to save them. Others tried to terrorize me. “You will never leave here,” they said. “Never. Never.”
I found myself laughing at them. “Im not scared of you,” I said. But the darkness became even thicker; the emotional charge of suffering nearly unbearable. I felt as if I would burst from heartbreak—everywhere, I felt the agony of humankind, its tragedies, its hatreds, its sorrows. I reached the bottom of the tunnel and saw three thrones in a black chamber. Three shadowy figures sat in the chairs; in the middle was what I took to be the devil himself.
“The darkness will never end,” he said. “It will never end. You can never escape this place.”
“I can,” I replied.
All at once, I willed myself to rise. I sailed up through the tunnel of fire, higher and higher until I broke through to a white light. All darkness immediately vanished. My body felt light, at peace. I floated among a beautiful spread of colors and patterns. Slowly my ayahuasca vision faded. I returned to my body, to where I lay in the hut, insects calling from the jungle.
“Welcome back,” the shaman said.
For the Unrepentant Patriarch of LSD, Long, Strange Trip Winds Back to Bay Area
The small, barefoot man in black T-shirt and blue jeans barely rates a second glance from the other Starbucks patrons in downtown San Rafael, although he is one of the men who virtually made the 60s. Because Augustus Owsley Stanley III has spent his life avoiding photographs, few people would know what he looks like.
The name Owsley became a noun that appears in the Oxford dictionary as English street slang for good acid. It is the most famous brand name in LSD history. Probably the first private individual to manufacture the psychedelic, “Owsley” is a folk hero of the counterculture, celebrated in songs by the Grateful Dead and Steely Dan.
Link: For the unrepentant patriarch of LSD, long, strange trip winds back to Bay Area
The Tao of Star Wars
Lately i have read and heard many. different people make mention to the philosophy behind the origional star wars, the following article is somewhat of a start to exploring that topic.
May the Force be with you. Utter this famous line and there’s no mistaking it. You’re referring to the driving force (pardon the pun) behind the Star Wars world of exploding planets and intergalactic wars. But what exactly is it? In the words of the character Obi-wan Kenobi, a Jedi knight:
“The Force is what gives the Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”
The Occult and Music
Great Article detailing some of the links between the occult and different music and musicians.
If one defines the occult as the unseen (which is technically is) then it would be easier (and less lengthy) to write an article on times that music was not affected by the unseen world than on the times it was.In the world music tradition, we have rather extensive history (extending all the way back to the Greeks) of the use of music to induce certain states- modes were thought to have certain qualities. There is even some evidence to suggest that the Egyptians used music as a healing tool This anticipated the later utilization of these techniques by figures as diverse as Sun Ra, Jimi Hendrix, the Misunderstood, Rudolph Steiner, various “new age practitioners” such as Stephen Levine and the biased experiments tying plant growth to listening to classical music.1 These types of customs are utilized in Africa, India, South America and within most native cultures (shamanic cultures from Russia to the Americas to the Pacific) have some kind of tradition of sacred song to them. The links run from the Russian shamanic traditions, the Australian aborigines to East Indian Gandharva Veda and Karnatak musics to Hawaiian chanting, to perhaps the most infamous occult music tradition of all, the Yoruban culture in Africa which found its expression as Voudon (Voodoo) in Haiti and Santeria throughout most of the remainder of South America. This tradition has found its way into contemporary culture through jazz, tango, Cuban music, and of course, blues and rock and roll (more on this later).
