Georg Winkler, Magdalena, 1901

Alchemical Symbols.

antique silver dragon chainmail clasp purse

Unknown Artist

Hekataion (Hecate, goddess of the Moon and the underworld, was depicted with three bodies), 3rd. cent AD, Roman sculpture of triple Hecate, after a Hellenistic original, marble

Vatican Museums (Chiaramonti Museum),  Inv. 1922

“I found myself, in truth, on the brink of the valley of the sad abyss that gathers the thunder of an infinite howling. It was so dark, and deep, and clouded, that I could see nothing by staring into its depths.”

Dante, Inferno.

"Against the ruin of the world, there is only one defense: the creative act." ― Kenneth Rexroth

Leo constellation, from Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia, part of Prodromus Astronomiae (1690) by Johannes Hevelius

Liberation from self-sabotage requires an understanding of how we co-create the life we experience. We are not innocent victims suffering at the cruel hands of fate. Rather, we participate in the circumstances of our lives by giving consent, consciously or unconsciously, to most of the pleasure or the pain we experience. Self-responsibility enables us to see that our reactions to the inevitable stresses and challenges of life are a result of choices that we are making. It requires the courage to acknowledge that we may have an emotional investment in maintaining our negative emotions and beliefs.

Freedom From Self-Sabotage

Peter Michaelson

Magic is a doorway through which we step into mystery, wildness, and immanence. We live in a world subject to extensive and seemingly, all embracing systems of social and personal control that continually feed us the lie that we are each alone, helpless, and powerless to effect change. Magic is about change. Changing your circumstances so that you strive to live according to a developing sense of personal responsibility; that you can effect change around you if you choose; that we are not helpless cogs in some clockwork universe. All acts of personal/collective liberation are magical acts. Magic leads us into exhilaration and ecstasy; into insight and understanding; into changing ourselves and the world in which we participate. Through magic we may come to explore the possibilities of freedom.

Condensed Chaos

Phil Hine

Victor Delhez (1902–1985) - Dance of Death VII – Kiss, 1940