Kittens

There is a new cat in the house. A black and grey tortoise-shell. Still counting age in months although I have no idea how many, she just showed up here. Climbed through the window and made herself at home. Cats are everywhere, the cliche of venus in leo made universal truth. Whats left for a mars ruled dude to do when his planet hits cancer? Watch a kitten act like an idiot.

A tortoise-shell showed up once before, far enough back that I didn't know the astrology of the times. Deep in my saturn return. In some ways its a fearful omen. It means that somehow I am again deep into it. I remember the last time vividly and it is recorded in the gnostic piece 'Six Days in Sodom' which describes my confrontation with the devil of a 14th century heretical exorcism (CLM 849). Good stuff that was the product of some evil times in my life.

Its when the shit is hitting the fan that people seek out the services of the bokors. So a bokor has to be able to work while the shit is hitting the fan. Sometimes that means getting deep into it. That's why there are so many grimoires. Necessity. This round I see a daemon of the grimoire traditions, a duke named Gramary (Gremory, Gamori), everywhere I look. Whats more she courts my attention and I find it impossible to find fault with her. I mentioned this last night to V and she said, "ya, her name means glamour. In the Feri magic sense of the word. So you see whatever she wants you to see." That caused a pause in my consideration of this daemon which allowed me to finally conceive of the tremendous danger hidden in this spirit.

You absolutely must be able to penetrate her glamours in your continuous observation of the world beyond you. Seeing what you want to see leads to an unimaginative, limiting and impractical praxis. In its most destructive forms it is paranoia and delusion. With glamour you have to turn the dynamic around to really benefit from it. You want the world to see whatever they want in you. Real talent in glamours is pretty rare, and it has a very steep learning curve as far as the old magics go. I have never gotten it exactly right. The contemporary daemon I have encountered that are masters of it are as I mentioned earlier, tremendously dangerous. I speak from experience here. When the orange and black tortoise-shell came those years ago, the great devil within the exorcism was Satanachia. In the old hierarchies, the Grand Duchess and a Lieutenent to Lucifer. She too could make me see whatever she wanted me to see. I remain to this day deeply frightened of Satanachia, my grand mal. Always take saturn seriously, or it will fuck you up.

Saturns energy isn't traditionally equated to the duchies, but libra very much is and that's where saturn is headed. Out of virgo and into libra. So it goes like this. The Grand Mal(saturn)+Venus-rulership(libra)=Duchess of Hell, Gramary. Already a space has been created for her. Her sigil chalked out on the floor and marked with candles and offerings of cigarettes and perfumed oils. Already she has reunited lost lovers, and seduced men and women into acts of daring romance. Thus far she has asked nothing of me. No fetish or ritual or sacrifice. Nothing.

But there is a tortoise-shell kitten.