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Categotry Archives: witchcraft
June 17, 2018 by Abby
The Devil's Plantation: East Anglian Lore, Witchcraft & Folk-Magic – Nigel G. Pearson
Categories: folk, witchcraft, Tags: troy books
The title of Nigel G. Pearson's The Devil's Plantation speaks to a concept also known as the Devil's Holt, Halieman's Ley, or Guidman's Croft, in which a section of a field, often a triangular corner, was set aside, left unploughed and allowed to become infested with weeds. More pertinently, the title is also that of a manual of magic reputedly owned by a witch from 19th century Horseheath, Cambridgeshire. This now lost volume is believed to have been a collection of East Anglian lore and magic.
For those expecting the grimoire of its namesake, The Devil's Plantation doesn't attempt in any way to fulfil that expectation, and instead focuses at first on the East Anglian folklore, providing examples of various kinds of spirits, including the Good Folk, followed by a chapter on meremaidens, giants and spectral hounds. In this way, The Devil's Plantation resembles Gemma Gary's The Black Toad, also published by Troy Books, in that it's something of an encyclopaedic collection of folklore, albeit largely lacking the kind of fastidious referencing one might expect of an encyclopaedia. The data is presented expertly, but there's sometimes precious little information given as to its source, be it previously published works, first hand anecdotes collected by the author, or, and without evidence to the contrary one must inevitably allow for the uncharitable possibility, things entirely made up by the author. Some sources are explicitly mentioned, and so for example, several sequential quotes appear from Holinshed's Chronicles, but this section is inconsistently preceded by a discussion in which there is a direct quote from some unspecified and unreferenced source. There is a brief bibliography and further reading section at the conclusion of the book, but there is often no direct citing of these as references within the body. One could argue that this isn't intended to be an academic book, rigorously adhering to Chicago or APA style guides, but a little consistent contextual context would be nice when presenting facts, and especially quotes.
Things turn from matters folkloric to matters witchy in the next three chapters: Characters of Craft, Speak of the Devil…, and Witch Ways. The first of these surveys exactly that, presenting brief biographies of various witches drawn from trial records and folklore collections. This is a cast of colourful characters with evocative names such as Mother Lakeland, Old Winter, Jabez Few, and Daddy Witch (alleged owner of the original Devil's Plantation). The chronology in these profiles gradually moves forward until the narrative becomes one that concerns itself with modern witchcraft, embracing figures from living memory (though still caught in the slip of myth) such as Monica English, Lois Bourne, and their intersection with Gardnerian craft. In some ways, this period is of more interest and intrigue than that of hundreds of years ago, with the modern era of witchcraft having a certain appeal in the way it functions as a myth in the making.
Speak of the Devil… is a less directly witchy diversion into the folkloric appearance of the Devil in East Anglia, full of the usual Devil as builder type stories familiar from folklore, but Pearson uses these to segue into a how these and similar tales relate to witchcraft and in particular the role of the Black Man. Finally, in Witch Ways, Pearson presents a survey of the admittedly limited examples of recorded techniques of East Anglian witchcraft. Despite this caveat, there are a variety of techniques presented here, incorporating things such as the now familiar toad rite (given in both Horseman's Word and witch versions), ways of communing with the dead, and various forms of sympathetic magic. Again, there's an inconsistency to how the provenance of these are presented, with some given chapter and verse, source and all, but others, even when there's a block quote, not being referenced.
Things begin to wrap up with Green Ways, a brief little herbal documenting various popular East Anglian herbs and concoctions, before the longer Folk Ways explores several techniques of principally sympathetic and apotropaic magic which, as is acknowledged, are as witchy as they are folky. The final section, Three Crowns & Several Halos, is effectively a paean to East Anglia, with a consideration of local saints within that currently beloved intersection known as dual faith observance. Pearson states as undeniable that the lives and myths of these saints have intertwined with the energies and spirits of East Anglia, becoming part of its magical tapestry along with the other beings that preceded them. The biographies that follow of saints Felix, Fursey, Botolph, Ethelreda, Withburga, Edmund and Walstan don't provide too many examples of their magical application, or anything unique beyond the usual stuff of Golden Legend, save for a final paragraph in each. That is left for a closing consideration on working with saints in general where Pearson gives a few brief pointers concerning building a devotional practice.
Pearson's writing style throughout is competent and coherent, making for an easy, effortless read. As with similar books, the regional emphasis provides a much welcomed focus, though there is a certainly little that isn't familiar, both witchcraft and folklore wise, from broader considerations; and for anyone with a passing knowledge of this subject, there won't be too many surprises or revelations.
The Devil's Plantation is presented in Royal octavo format, with 272 pages, plus 16 pages of photographic plates, and line drawings and figures by Gemma Gary throughout. Never one to skimp on the editions, Troy Books has four options: a paperback edition with a matt laminated cover and 80gsm white paper stock; the fancy-enough-for-this-reviewer standard hardback edition with a blue cloth binding, gold foil blocking to the front and spine, 80gsm white paper stock, starkly vibrant buttermilk coloured endpapers, and black head and tail bands. Then, in the sold out department, there's the limited special edition of 300 hand-numbered examples, bound in dark brown recycled leather fibres, with gold foil blocking to the front and spine, light brown end papers, and black head and tail bands. And finally, the fine edition limited to fifteen hand-numbered exemplars, in a full black goat leather hand binding with inset dark blue goat leather shield panel with a blind embossed boarder and dark blue title panel on the spine, silver foil blocking to the front and spine and hand marbled end papers – plus a buckram slip-case with blind embossing to the front.
Published by Troy Books
January 12, 2018 by Abby
Lucifer: The Light of the Aeon – Written by Rebels. Edited by Diane Narraway
Categories: devotional, luciferian, witchcraft, Tags: black moon publishing
The popularity of Lucifer seems to be surging of late with the recent compendium The Luminous Stone: Lucifer in Western Esotericism from Three Hand Press, a similar anthological work on its way from Anathema Publishing, and, of course, Peter Grey's significant 2015 opus Lucifer: Princeps; not to mention the surfeit of Lulu and Createspace generated tomes that fill your Amazon recommendations with their appalling cover art, clunky sigils and poor typeface choices. Black Moon Publishing's foray into this tumescent Luciferian field brings together a vast array of contributors, sixteen in all, variously presenting essays, poems and a smattering of images.
The first section, Awakenings, compiles a multitude of contributions within a relatively slight space, mostly short, personal anecdotes outlining people's occult journey's within which Lucifer, in some form, has played a role. There are nine of these in all, and at the beginning they are largely interchangeable, with similar writing styles depicting similar journeys. There's often an estrangement from organised religion, which is followed by an encounter with an, at first, ambiguous supernatural figure whose identity is later confirmed to be Lucifer.
Speaking, erm, personally, the personal anecdote has never done much for me as a contribution to devotionals like this. While I realise that this approach is, in some ways, the very definition of a devotional, it seems to lack something when that experience isn't expanded upon, and given context within a greater anthropological or mythological framework. Otherwise, it remains just a personal testimony, the equivalent of a fireside ghost story, which the reader has to either accept or dismiss; and as a somewhat pragmatic reviewer of books about magickal shenanigans, my default setting is the latter.
The contributions in Awakenings are often short and it isn't until the second section, Love, Light and Laughter, that one realises why this is, with many of the stories now picking up from where they left off. Proof, mayhaps, that I didn't read the introduction too carefully. This is not an entirely satisfactory device, given that the somewhat interchangeable nature of the contributions makes it hard to keep track of where the narrative is up to. And then there's the additional wrinkle of perhaps not really wanting to hear anything further from a particular contributor after the introduction they've made in Awakenings. Because of how integral this multiple section structure is, it is worth mentioning the names of the nine contributors who reappear in this capacity: Dianne Narraway, Geraldine Lambert, Laurie Pneumatikos, Sean Witt, Eirwen Morgan, Richard K. Page, Jaclyn Cherie, Rachel Summers and Teach Carter.
This format ultimately makes Lucifer: The Light of the Aeon something of a struggle to get through. Personal reflections of people's experience with organised religion, and their all too similar awakening to their inner rebel, are just not engaging. On top of that, the rebellion feels rather entry level and earnest, with nothing truly transgressive or adversarial, and just an all too obvious kicking against the pricks of an equally dull brand of Christianity.
It is only when this personal formula is abandoned that things begin to pick up and there's more of a sense of focus. In Angels and Daemons, the cast of authors take a more exegetical approach with various, less-anecdotal explanations of Lucifer. These do largely cover the same ground because there's only so much ground to cover when it comes to exploring Lucifer's source material. These contributions still suffer, though, from the book's structural device, feeling piecemeal in some instances, while in others they're cast adrift from the anecdotal context of the previous two sections.
The other issue that arises here is that the less than stellar quality of some of the writing, which may have been protected by the personal nature of the previous entries, is laid bare when broader ideas have to be presented. In one piece, non sequiturs abound, conclusions are questionable, and facts are fuzzy: there's a nonsensical reference to "biblical gnostics," whoever they're supposed to be, and a lazy, or at least poorly articulated, claim that 'gnostic' means 'knowledge,' when obviously it's 'gnosis' that means 'knowledge,' not the adjective form.
The remaining four sections continue this same formula of slices from various contributors, focusing successively on blood and fire (identified as two of Lucifer's more famous associations), magick (with a variety of broad accounts of people's personal approach to ritual praxis, followed in some instances with specific exercises), questions concerning Lucifer's consort (straw poll suggesting most contributors don't see him as having one), and what could be described as concluding thoughts and miscellany. Naturally, these various shards range in quality, with some of the writing coming across as if they were written as an obligatory assignment simply predicated by the theme of that section. This is particularly noticeable in the discussion over whether Lucifer has a consort, with many of the authors writing as if it's the first time they've pondered the question, and therefore spending the length of their contribution thinking out loud in print, as they try to work it out.
In all, the writing in Lucifer: The Light of the Aeon appears to come from a very personal place. There are no half-hearted adherents here, with a sense of a great deal of affection and devotion being paid to Lucifer. Your mileage may vary as to what weight such sincerity carries for you, but based on the effusive reviews on Amazon, it certainly works for some people.
As with the previously reviewed Women of Babalon: A Howling of Women's Voices, I have reservations about the trademark Black Moon Publishing style with its 8×10 dimensions and use of wide decorative borders on every page. The dimensions make the book unwieldy, cumbersome to hold, and not conducive to being read, especially with the additional weight that comes from being over 300 pages long. This length is, no doubt, exacerbated by said border, which, whilst appealing in an over-the-top gothic aesthetic sense, does limit the amount of words that can appear on the page. It also overwhelms the occasional graphic contributions, which could all benefit from being reproduced larger and free of the competing rococo.
Lucifer: The Light of the Aeon has a companion volume, Songs of the Black Flame, also published by Black Moon Publishing, with many of the authors featured here returning for what is largely a compilation of Lucifer-themed poetry and artwork.
Published by Black Moon Publishing
Plants of the Devil – Corinne Boyer
Categories: folk, sabbatic craft, satanism, witchcraft, Tags: three hands press
With Daniel Schulke's recent Thirteen Pathways of Occult Herbalism and his forthcoming Arcana Viridia: the Green Mysteries, Three Hands Press seems to have something of a botanical focus of late, and Corinne Boyer adds to that with her Plants of the Devil. Having previously released Under the Witching Tree: A Folk Grimoire of Tree Lore and Practicum through Troy Books, it's pretty clear where Boyer's interests lie, and this makes a good fit with the current emphasis of Three Hands Press.
Rather than treading a familiar path through a witch's garden with all its usual botanical suspects, Boyer's focus is specifically on the garden of the devil, that is, plants that in folklore have an association with the devil, whether they be connected directly with witchcraft and maleficia, or not. This can sometimes be a minor connection, with one, perhaps little known, folk name having a diabolical variant, amongst many others. Inevitably, this can feel a little circumstantial, but Boyer sees a profundity in these names, assuring us that even if this connection seems trivial, it isn't for students of the deeper mystery.
As a trade paperback of some 160 pages, Plants of the Devil is a relatively slim volume. It is divided into chapters that categorise the devil's plants into broad areas of focus: painful or poisonous plants that bear his name, plants that were ill-omened or unlucky, plants that were used against him, and plants that were used to invoke him. Boyer writes effortlessly, with a capable tone that is free of too much in the way of convoluted occult writing; albeit occasionally a little too generous with the commas – rich, indeed, for me to say, yes.
The content of Plants of the Devil is quite encyclopaedic in nature, in that the consideration of each plant provides something of an info dump, harvested from a variety of sources. These sources, all correctly and meticulously cited, are often encyclopaedias and guides in themselves, and what this means is that the gems of information they provide are often without much in the way of context; a context which may well have been lacking in their original entry too. It is a minor quibble, but what this means is that there is no way to tell the value of a particular belief about a plant, or a quality attributed to it. One poorly remembered and potentially misrecorded anecdote, or all out lie, from a singular source long dead, could be sitting alongside a genuine and widely held belief. There's probably no way to remedy this unintended equivalency, and it is just something that one finds oneself noticing as one goes through the book.
Illustrations in Plants of the Devil are provided by Marzena Ablewska, whose work can be simply described as voluptuous. These, for the most part, take the form of full page, pen and ink illustrations that are densely populated with a surfeit of both plant, human and reptilian forms; all delightfully sensuous and corporeal in their intertwining tableaus. Her work, so redolent of Hans Baldung, makes for a power evocation of the spirit of witchcraft and the transgressive feminine; and a fitting compliment to Boyer's words.
Due to its unique focus, Plants of the Devil, makes for a satisfying meditation on diabolus est hortus, with both the relative brevity of the work, and Ablewska's illustrations, helping to tighten the lens still further. It is beautifully presented, with a competent layout style that has a hint of the archaic about it without telegraphing it too much or being overbearing.
Plants of the Devil is available in a variety of formats, the most humble of which is a trade paperback version with colour cover, as humbly reviewed here, and available from sellers such as Amazon. More exciting are the limited standard hardcover with colour dust jacket of 1000 copies, a deluxe edition in quarter red pigskin and slipcase, limited to 41 hand-numbered copies, and a super special edition in full red pigskin and slipcase, limited to 17 hand-numbered copies.
Published by Three Hands Press
Fiddler's Green: Peculiar Parish Magazine (Volume 1, numbers 3 and 4)
Categories: art, folk, witchcraft
I must admit to being unaware of Fiddler's Green before receiving copies from publisher Clint Marsh, but one look at these two issues and it was a "where have you been all my life" type thing. Fiddler's Green is described as "art and magic for tea-drinking anarchists, convivial conjurors and closeted optimists," an appealing cadre to be a part of, even if my tea-drinking is minimal at best. This brief is perfectly reflected in the style, illustration and formatting, with a look that is evocative of something one could imagine sitting alongside Jimmy Cauty's Lord of the Rings poster, or the work of Hapshash and the Coloured Coat; indebted as it is, like them, to the stylings of Art Nouveau and the pen and ink drawings of Arthur Rackham.
If there's one word to describe Fiddler's Green, it's 'delightful.' The small press feel, the whiff of a village newsletter, the smack of leather on willow… you get the idea. Each of the issues is a saddle-stitched, stapled magazine of 35-45 letter-sized pages, bound in a muted green coloured card, with everything rendered in black and white, save for the foiled title on the cover.
Editor Clint Marsh presumably provides much of the written content here, with a handful of the contributions being uncredited. These are often reflective musings based around little themes: bibliophilia, artistic process, creative thinking – all things one could enthusiastically support and subscribe to the newsletter thereof.
In addition to these credited and uncredited contributions, and alongside writings from authors unknown at least to me, there are a couple of familiar faces. Timothy Renner of Stone Breath provides illustrations to a piece by Kenneth MacKriell in the fourth issue, while Daniel Schulke contributes a eulogy to Michael Howard in number 3. Indeed, Schulke and Three Hands Press never seems that far away, with the imprint, amongst others, punctuating the volumes with adverts. The formatting also has a similar aesthetic to many of Three Hands Press titles, with that beloved combination of woodcuts and archaic typefaces.
There's no persistent theme to Fiddler's Green, other than a fulfilment of the broad and charming mission statement. There are elements of witchcraft and folk magic, but by no means in an all-pervasive manner. There's a certain reflective and philosophical attitude, but again this doesn't dominate. And there's a palpable sense of spirit of place and landscape. In all, it perhaps lives up to that othertimely aura that permeates from cover to cover, redolent of Victorian and fin de siècle journals, fitting written companions for salon and parlour.
Each issue concludes with a couple of regular features: letters to the editor (usually pretty unanimous praise for previous issues) and a review section. In the third issue, the reviews are something of a revelation, focusing predominantly on zines and other small press outputs, an area I feel woefully unaware of. In the fourth, it is books attract the reviewer's attention with a certain degree of crossover with the content and themes found here at Scriptus Recensera.
Fiddler's Green is published occasionally by Wonderella Printed and can, along with other exquisite publications, be ordered from www.fiddlersgreenzine.com/shop
September 22, 2017 by Abby
The Luminous Stone: Lucifer in Western Esotericism – Edited by Michael Howard and Daniel A. Schulke
Categories: luciferian, sabbatic craft, witchcraft, Tags: three hands press
This compendium of essays on the role of Lucifer in Western Esotericism represents the last significant contribution to occult publishing by Michael Howard before his passing in 2016. In addition to his role as co-editor, he provides an essay and is joined by Frater U.:.D.:., Robert Fitzgerald, Ethan Doyle White, Fredrik Eytzinger, Richard Gavin, Raven Grimassi, Lee Morgan, and Madeline Ledespencer.
The Luminous Stone is the third entry in Three Hands Press' Western Esotericism in Context series, following on from previous explorations of Babalon and Traditional Witchcraft. As with any compendium such as this, the most interesting contributions are ones that explore territory less travelled. Any consideration of the usual biblical or folkloric accounts, and the intersection thereof, are going to be pretty uninspiring, without much, if anything, new to offer. Mercifully, there are instead several explorations of completely alien territory. Such territories are ones in which the Luciferian spirit of inventiveness seems to have been fully embraced by its adherents, with each providing something of an idiosyncratic interpretation.
The occult scene of 19th century Paris as described by Madeline Ledespencer is a prime example of this, with Ledespencer showcasing two figures, L'Abbé Boullan and Maria de Naglowska, each with a Luciferian supra or subtext, but each with a unique take on it. After a less than stellar start from this volume's first two contributors (English as a second language for one, and just a bit stilted for the other), Ledespencer's piece is refreshingly well written, with an ebullient style that reads easily and conveys a sense of both the love and knowledge she has for her subject matter.
As one would expect from a Three Hands Press book, there's the occasional nod to the Cultus Sabbati and the work of Andrew Chumbley. Robert Fitzgerald's The Hidden Stone: Devotion, Lucifer and the High Sabbat uses the Cultus as an example of a modern witchcraft sodality with a particularly Luciferian anatomy, focussing, by way of example, on Chumbley's rite A Lover's Call to the Angel of Witchblood. Fitzgerald steps through the rite line by line in order to untangle its cosmology, making a little more sense of Chumbley' picturesque prose. In a similar area, Ethan Doyle White considers the role of Lucifer in broader contemporary pagan witchcraft, tracing the tantalising mentions from the original witch trial records into the modern era and the various works of Doreen Valiente, Robert Cochrane, and the Farrars et al.
In Teachings of the Light, Michael Howard returns to material covered in his Book of Fallen Angels, a work that seems a significant touchstone for many of the authors included here. He describes his encounters with Madeline Montalban, and gives an overview of the system of Luciferian magic from her Order of the Morning Star. This provides a little more depth than his previous discussions of her system, placing it within the context of the occult milieu in which she existed and noting the connections, for example, with the Atlantean mythos of Dion Fortune and Gareth Knight.
A less recently seen but welcomed faceless face is Frater U.:.D.:., whose piece, the gloriously titled 'Non Seviam' as Ontological Paradigm, oh yes, begins dryly enough, discussing Lucifer's antinomian qualities, before briefly taking a more interesting turn and considering him in relation to the Fraternitas Saturni; of which the frater has been a member for over thirty years. It is an instance like this, where an insight is provided into an organisation's particular understanding of Lucifer, that provide some of the most satisfying content in this book; as is the case with the essays considering the Cultus Sabbati, or Madeline Montalban's Order of the Morning Star.
The consistently disappointing Raven Grimassi keeps the disappointment consistent with Lucifer in the Lore of Old Italy, a clumsily written piece, full of sentence fragments, redundancies, spelling mistakes and non sequiturs, always meandering without any clear direction. As highlighted in a previous review, Grimassi's grasp of history seems casual at best. In one case he refers to the "Middle Ages and Renaissance periods" (as if they were synonymous), but then uses an event from the 17th century as an example of his claim. Another contribution also somewhat disappointing in its lack of thorough proofing is The Latent Radiance, which opens this anthology: a single sentence runs breathlessly to seven lines, there are prochronistic references to inhabitants of Canaan between 1200 and 1000 BCE as 'Jews,' rather than the more accurate 'Israelites,' and everyone is hyperbolised as 'renowned.' It does use the word 'sodality' though, which seems to be the new 'praxis,' given its popularity in this volume (poor 'praxis' only gets a single look in).
The Luminous Stone features cover art by Francisco Divine Mania (with the rather gloriously Symbolist and Decadent-styled Garden), while the interior is punctuated occasionally with the black and white silhouetted images of Hagen von Tulien. It's not always clear if von Tulien's images relate to the essays that precede or proceed them, but they are as striking as ever. I'm particularly partial to the one that looks like an airline safety card, in which the hazard appears to be a sorcerous attack; the only option seems to be to panic.
Overall, The Luminous Stone is an enjoyable volume, if a little underwhelming. Its 150 pages fly by, and while there are some very good contributions, there's less of a sense of this being as essential a read as, say, Hands of Apostasy was. There's a few glaring spelling and formatting errors that are somewhat unexpected due to the usually high standards of Three Hands Press. Raven Grimassi's piece is particularly prone to this, referring to 'Gain Mysteries' when surely 'Grain' is intended, and having St. Jerome miraculously turn into St. James between paragraphs. He's not alone though, and in another essay, an explanatory note is incorporated, italic styling and all, into the Robbie Burns poem it is commenting upon. The best of these errata, due to its surreal qualities, is in Lee Morgan's piece The Lucifer Moment, where he notes that the ubiquitous image of the Luciferic anti-hero means we are ready to see Lucifer in a new way "very shorty" …which certainly would be a startling new look for the Light Bearer; and indeed, one could argue that an encounter with a diminutive fallen angel would create that paradigm-shifting moment of Morgan's title.
The Luminous Stone is available in a total run of 3049 copies: 2000 as a trade paperback, as well as a hardcover edition of 1000 copies bound in green cloth with colour dust jackets, and a deluxe edition of 49 copies quarter-bound in goat leather with hand-marbled endpapers. The paperback version, conveniently available via Amazon, features a stiff, weighty card for the cover and reverse, making for a tight binding that requires a little more effort than usual to keep the book open.
April 22, 2017 by Abby
The Black Toad – Gemma Gary
Contrary to what one might expect from the title and the talismanic cover of this book, this volume is not an exploration of the toad rite, or all that much to do with toads at all. Instead, the title marks this out as something of an annotated grimoire, a West Country Black Pullet as it were, collecting magic and charms from that area of England. While much of Gemma Gary's work presents a system of witchcraft that speaks to a living, breathing, tradition, this is work is more of a documentary, free of much comment or integration into a broader system.
One of the specific focuses of this book is what is referred to as dual faith observance, the way in which the practices of witchcraft and magic were not always, or at all, pagan, and instead were contextualised within the prevailing Judaeo-Christian paradigm of the time. Michael Howard makes mention of this in his introduction, and Gary does likewise in hers. What this means on a practical level is that many of the longer charms included in this work incorporate biblical psalms which might sit somewhat incongruously for people more familiar, and comfortable, with the idea of witchcraft as entirely a continuation or revival of ancient pagan religion.
The Black Toad is divided into three main sections, each dedicated to a different Old Mother: Red-Cap, Green-Cap and Black Cap. The first of these, Old Mother Red-Cap, is a compendium of charms and spells. These spells address relatively common concerns of folk magic, protection and the healing of physical ailments, with a preponderance of methods for dealing with warts, perhaps not quite the scourge now that it evidently once used to be. The charms in the second half of this section incorporate magic squares into their formulae, including familiar ones such as MILON and NASI, suggesting some passing knowledge of The Book of Abramelin or similar texts, while the words of the famous SATOR square are expanded into a longer invocation used to attain anything you desire. All of these charms and spells are presented without comment, and without any referencing or specific provenance, so it is unclear as to whether they come from a single written source, what time they date from, or how widely they were used.
Old Mother Green-Cap, as its name suggests, focuses on matters botanical, beginning with a brief survey of various plants and their magical and medicinal properties; though principally the latter. These are followed by sections on various ways in which specific plants can be used: as infusions of virtue, as protective plant charms, as plant charms for love, for animals, and in a general curative capacity. Here, naturally, if Old Mother Red-Cap's methods of dealing with those troublesome and persistent warts proved less than efficacious, there are plant-based options available to you using Groundsel or Gooseberry.
In the final mother, she of the Black-Cap, the focus turns to maleficia, with Gary prefacing the section by referring to the Double Ways practitioners of Cornish and West Country witchcraft, in which one's status as black or white is entirely dependent on what the client expects of you. This section is, thus, comprised of various spells and formula of opposition and attack. There are spells with a focus on sympathetic magic, using footprints as the focus of attack and control, and the intriguing method called the Ill-Wishing Bag. Old Mother Black-Cap also provides an opportunity to turn to the more darkly-dyed side of the Double Ways, with a discussion of the role in West Country witchcraft of the Old One of Many Names: the Bucca Dhu, Old Nick, the Black God, the Devil. With this is also a brief consideration of the black toad of the book's title, which is described as having the most inextricable and symbiotic relationship with West Country witchcraft of all the theriomorphous entities of witchlore. Gary makes a distinction between the West Country toad witch and the perhaps more familiar toad doctors, who would cruelly use batrachian body parts in their charms, as well as the equally-lethal initiatory use of the toad in East Anglian practices. Instead the relationship, which appears to act as an overall philosophy for West Country witchcraft, is a symbiotic one, better represented in the image of witch and beloved familiar.
As a whole, The Black Toad is devoid of much in the way of an editorial voice, indeed it lacks much of a distinctive voice at all, seeming to shift tone, manner and vocabulary at times, as if some of the spells have been taken verbatim from their source. Information is presented in a brief, matter of fact manner, and it is only in the final Black-Cap section that a more expansive tone makes a welcomed appearance, allowing for elaboration and analysis. It is here, in the discussion of the Old One with its accompanying paean to toads, that one gets a sense of Gary's true voice, with the emergence of her writing style that is always a joy to read.
As with all of Gary's books, The Black Toad is copiously illustrated in her trademark style of line and stipple. These range from beautifully rendered little page fillers, with a surfeit of skulls and other magical accoutrements, to full page, chapter-prefacing illustrations. As ever, these are beautifully rendered and make the perfect visual accompaniment to Gary's subject matter: suggesting elements both archaic and hands-on, but with an unmistakeably modern touch. In addition to these, there are several pages of photographic plates by Jane Cox, documenting, for the most part, various magical objects, predominantly from the author's personal collection or the Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft.
January 9, 2017 by Abby
Serpent Songs – Curated by Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold
Categories: folk, robert cochrane, sabbatic craft, witchcraft, Tags: scarlet imprint
In my mind, I always find this book from Scarlet Imprint occupying the same mental space as Hands of Apostasy from Three Hands Press. Both are compendiums of essays on various witchcraft topics, with a focus on what is referred to as traditional witchcraft. And both take themselves pretty seriously.
One comes to expect much of a muchness when encountering collections such as these, with the usual range of suspects and the usual familiar topics. Like Hands of Apostasy, though, Serpent Songs delivers in regard to both the diversity of matters considered, and the breadth of contributors. While there are some familiar, and by no means unwelcome, faces, there are also writers that may not have had much published before, if at all. That doesn't mean that the writing is sub-par, in fact, the very opposite. Edited by Peter Grey and sub-edited by Troy Chambers, Serpent Songs hangs together cohesively, despite the disparate contributors. There's a rigour to the text, evidence of the dedication that Scarlet Imprint pour into their publications, with no sign of those common occult writing pitfalls: poor spelling, poor grammar and poor sentence construction; all of which have been, one assumes, expunged by the very welcomed red pens of Grey and Chambers.
This exploration of witchy paths less travelled results in a broad itinerary that, in addition to sojourns in the usual locales, includes stops in Sweden, the Balkans, and the Basque region. There are actually two contributions that deal with Basque witchcraft, and welcomed contributions they are too, as it remains an area for which precious little of worth has been written. In Lezekoak, Arkaitz Urbeltz provides what is effectively a primer on Basque witchcraft, introducing the goddess Mari, her lover and son, Akerbeltz the Black Goat of the Sabbath, and the adversarial figure of Etsai. The second contributions, But the House of my Father will Stand, comes from Xabier Bakaikoa Urbeltz, who, like Arkaitz Urbeltz, is described as "a sorgin from one of the few remaining houses of Traditional Craft in Euskalerria;" it's a small world. Urbeltz the Second's piece, as its subtitles informs us, explores the concept of etxe or house in Basque witchcraft, both as a metaphorical concept and a tangible symbol of Basque culture. The etxe becomes a living entity, something of an alchemical egregore, comprised of the physical house (etxe, salt), the property (etxeondo, sulphur) and the inhabitants (etxekoak, mercury).
Elsewhere on this trotting of witchy globes, Johannes Gårdbäck of Sweden gives a hands-on, introduction to Trolldom. He uses an anecdote of a consultation with a couple troubled by a spirit as a device with which to explain his techniques, and give a solid understanding of the paradigm and terminology with which he works. Gårdbäck's approach is refreshingly pragmatic, with little sense of pretence or occult smoke and mirrors; unless lack of pretence is one of those smoky mirrors… we're through the looking glass here, people.
Some of the more familiar names here deliver to their usual high standard, with the trifecta of Gemma Gary, Shani Oates and Sarah Anne Lawless doing what they do best. Gary's essay and brief ritual, The Witch's Cross, doesn't necessarily cover much new ground, being a meditation on some familiar tropes of witchcraft and the lure of sites of liminality, but it's done with such a beautifully rendered, poetic narrative that you don't mind. The same is somewhat true for Lawless who in Mysteries of Beast, Blood and Bone, covers exactly that. It's something of a familiar area for the ever sanguineous Lawless but her writing is always a joy to read and fair reeks of her subject matter, such is the unpretentious delight she obviously takes in it. And Oates writes, true to form, in her part stream of consciousness, part exegesis, part what the hel is this about manner, where you just buckle yourself in and see where it goes. It is, if nothing else, an intelligible journey, so you forgive a little disorientation here and there.
Elsewhere, Stuart Inman and Janes Sparkes take the reader across the Atlantic for a look at the 1734 Tradition, an always interesting diversion in what is quite an exhaustive piece, documenting influences and confluences, mythos and ways of working. Steve Patterson goes matters Cornish with an exhaustive consideration of the Bucca, while Richard Parkinson considers the intersection between exorcism and the cunning arts in post-reformation England, where the lack of Catholic clergy left a hole in the market and job opportunity for versatile former exorcists. For once in matters of witchcraft traditional, the Andrew Chumbley vault has nothing to directly offer posthumously, but he does make an appearance via Anne Morris' But to Assist the Soul's Interior Revolution, an analysis of Chumbley's art as representative of the idea that art born of magical practice expresses secret iconography. As with Jimmy Elwing's piece in Hands of Apostasy, it's always interesting to read takes on Chumbley, sometimes more so than reading Chumbley's arcane prose itself, and this is the case here, with Morris taking a rather academic approach to frame and understand his artwork.
With sixteen contributions, one could reasonably wager there's something for everyone here. Not all of it is gold, some a tarnished silver or shameful bronze, but this is largely a matter of personal taste, rather than anything inherently wrong with the quality of the writing or the ideas put forward. The cultural diversity provides interest, preventing that feeling of wallowing forever in issues of Folklore, and listening to the Incredible String Band, in Bocastle; fun though that may be.
Serpent Songs comes in two editions: a Sylvan edition of 750 exemplars, bound in olive cloth, and a Serpentine edition of 64, hand-bound in verdant goatskin. Title, publisher and a dual snake motif are rendered on the spine and cover in gold, but as with most Scarlet Imprint books in my possession, this has started to flake and fade, being perhaps not entirely enamoured with the cloth binding into which it has been imprinted. End papers are black with a serpentine wave pattern rendered in copper or a muted gold, while the internal pages are a creamy, and gloriously heavy, stock; so heavy in fact that you find yourself checking the page numbers each time you turn the page as it feels like you've grabbed two. The type is set with initials in Paris Verand and the body fully justified in a small Satyr face that might be too tiny for some readers but which is just right for me. This is all formatted with the generous margins that give that trademark Scarlet Imprint refined and archaic look. Splendid.
Published by Scarlet Imprint.
The Devil's Dozen: Thirteen Craft Rites of The Old One – Gemma Gary
Categories: folk, luciferian, sabbatic craft, witchcraft, Tags: troy books
This beautifully presented and compact little book brings together, as the title suggests, thirteen rites for the Old One. And, as also indicated by this title, the cover image and the abundance of horns throughout the book, this Old One is most unashamedly the Devil of folklore, viewed through the lens of Traditional Witchcraft. Distinct from the church's concept of Satan, this Devil still presides over evil, but these are the perceived evils of personal freedom, indulgence and ecstasy. He is, as Gemma Gary explains in her introduction, the bearer of forbidden gifts, the opener of the Way Betwixt, and the old spirit of the land.
Gary is at pains to point out that these rituals make no claim to any great antiquity or hereditary descent, but rather draw on extant themes that are well documented in the folk record. There is, naturally, a focus on matters Cornish, with several dealing with the Bucca, and these rites act as a concise adjunct to much of the material found in Gary's more explicative Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways. This book is not without its own explications, though, and each ritual is preceded by a brief explanation providing its context and attendant folklore. Gary defines these thirteen as rites of vision, dedication, initiation, consecration, empowerment, protection, illumination, union, transformation, devotion and sacred compact.
It is a sacred compact to the Devil as the Man in Black or Dark Man that acts as the first rite in this collection, establishing a relationship and setting the scene for that which is to come later. This is a simple procedure, effectively an elaborated statement of intent that is preceded by a little ritual structure (thrice utterance of the Lord's Prayer backwards in a remote location), and followed by a period of reflection during which the Man in Black may manifest in some manner. This compact is indicative of Gary's ritual style: fairly succinct with some nicely written liturgy. There's not much in the way of obscure ingredients, elaborate correspondences, complicated formula or extended periods of time, with the rites having more of a feel of hedgewitch pragmatism. The only temporal imperatives are fairly standard things like midnight and during a full moon, while the ingredients and tools list tends to speak to things that anyone embracing the aesthetics of Traditional Witchcraft will end up acquiring (if only too look cool in their altar photos on Facebook): iron nails, an iron knife, a scourge, horned skulls, dragon's blood incense and a stang. Circles abound in these rituals, as does the use of mill treading as a way to generate power and there is a general feeling of getting out amongst it, with hands dirty from soil and the soot of flaming torches.
It is the written word in which Gary excels, with her incantations having an archaic quality that doesn't wrap itself up in arcane complexity (or misapplication), and instead flows with a degree of authenticity. This is aided by the occasional use of rhymed couplets and alternate rhymes, which gives some of the words a folky familiarity, as if they've been overheard in playgrounds for centuries; obviously those would be rather spooky playgrounds.
At 187 x 114mm, The Devil's Dozen is a small volume that has a diary-like quality to it, fitting comfortably in a single hand or handbag for easy transportation to ritual locales. Its slight width does lead to rather snug gutters that do require the book to be splayed wide in order to catch everything and having the, one supposes unintentional, side effect of a sense of bibliographic intimacy as one spreads and peers in.
As with most if not all of Gary's books, The Devil's Dozen is illustrated by the author herself in her trademark stippled style of pen and ink. These are usually found as full-page preludes to the various rites, while a veritable study of horned skulls is dotted throughout the work as fillers. In addition to these in-body illustrations, there is a selection of black and white plates by Jane Cox, providing a photographic record of some of the procedures contained herein, along with various apposite images of witchcraft-related accoutrements.
The Devil's Dozen is published in four editions, each consisting of 160 pages, along with eight black and white photo plates. In addition to a regular paperback version, there is a hardback incarnation which attains a pretty nice level of quality for what is the affordable standard edition with its 80gsm cream paper stock, black case binding, copper foil blocking on the front image and the spine, hunter green endpapers, and green and black head and tail bands. There are two special editions, the 300 hand-numbered Special Edition bound in dark, grained green recycled leather fibres, with the cover and spine elements in blocked in gold foil, green end papers and green and black head and tail bands. The even more luxurious Special Fine Edition is suitably limited to 13 sold out hand-numbered copies in full black goat leather binding with a gold border and a blind embossed thicket of branches on the bevelled front board, inset with a high quality glass goat's eye cabochon. This is further housed in a full goat leather solander box, blocked in gold and lined.
Published by Troy Books.
September 3, 2016 by Abby
Craft of the Untamed: An Inspired Vision of Traditional Witchcraft – Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold
Categories: faery, folk, sabbatic craft, witchcraft, Tags: mandrake of oxford
There is no shortage of books about Traditional Witchcraft upon the shelves in the Scriptus Recensera library, filled as it is with worthy contributions from Michael Howard, Gemma Gary, Shani Oates, Andrew Chumbley, Nigel Jackson and others. And that's not to mention the works of the pretenders and imitators that haven't been granted access to these hallowed halls. The question that arises, then, is whether Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold is able to bring anything new to the table. Frisvold certainly seems to think so, cutting my musings off at the pass and making his case early on for one major point of difference: a focus not just on the British and Scandinavian sources for witches, but on the parallels that are to be found in Italy and even further afield in South American expressions of magic, especially those connected with African diasporic religions. Thus, a consideration of the crossroad in witchcraft inevitably makes a brief detour into the comparable symbolism in Yoruba belief and Vodou, facilitating a full circle of motifs when 'the kingdom' from the Cult of Exu finds an analogue in the Witches' Sabbath.
Frisvold makes another distinction at the outset, noting that similar books are often highly eclectic in their approach, uncritically embracing myths and legends, with an attendant use of etymology and epistemology. However, there is often little to differentiate what is presented in this book with the style of, say, Michael Howard, Nigel Jackson and Shani Oates, three authors who, to my mind, have often written with an encyclopaedic, info-dump approach that embraces folklore, legend, myth and etymology in a rather broad manner. Frisvold's sources are a little different from those of Howard, Jackson and Oates, though there are certainly some common ones; and titles from Cappall Bann do make a significant contribution to the bibliography. Instead, Frisvold draws heavily on material from Hermeticism and the Western Tradition, with an obvious and fairly frequently fondled touchstone being found in Cornelius Agrippa.
There is a utilitarian approach to the writing here with a conversational tone that precludes much in the way of scene setting or background exposition when information is presented. Frisvold obviously knows his stuff (except perhaps for the bit about Robert Johnson dying at the crossroads, wahhh?), so there's no feeling of him skimping on the details out of ignorance, and while you don't need to over explain things to an occult audience (where a certain familiarity with the material is expected), it still feels like more context could be provided before the nuggets of knowledge are dropped. The brevity of Frisvold's writing is also evident in a lack of transitional phrases tying paragraphs together, with ideas often being abruptly introduced as if they have no immediate relation, to the subjects that have gone before. This leads to a jarring effect when blocks of information appear, if only briefly, as if they are non sequiturs, barren of any relation to the wider discussion.
This slight lack of focus bleeds into the chapters, which, although given clear titles and themes, don't necessarily reflect an obvious flow throughout the book; suggesting, although I have no evidence to corroborate it, that they started as individual essays. These chapters cover off various areas of witchcraft, with the first one being the aforementioned consideration of the symbolism of the crossroads. Chapter two, Solomonic Magic, is a wide-ranging slightly unfocused discussion that covers more than what its title would suggest, lurching from grimoire magic, to folk concepts of the Devil, to liminal Roman and Etruscan deities and ultimately to inverted crosses. The focus is tightened a little more in a discussion of blood and ancestry in systems of witchcraft and, inevitably, beyond. Arguably the most successful chapter is one in which the gaze lingers on a central theme for longer with a consideration of the Witches' Sabbath and the traditions surrounding the Mount of Venus. I am rather partial to the emphasis Frisvold gives to Hela, focusing on Her role as an initiatory goddess of witchcraft and the underworld, addressing Her as "Ninefold Mother, Hel, Herodias, Holda. Queen of Elphame, Queen of Venus' mount."
Many of the chapters conclude with a practical activity that put into action what has just been discussed. Thus, a chapter that could be broadly said to be concerned with sympathetic magick concludes with a series of brief malefic spells, such as a poppet charm for harm and healing, and a procedure for creating a mojo bag for protection. In the chapter on the Witches' Sabbath, instructions are given for a rite of transvection using flying ointments, while the consideration of blood ties is concluded with a procedure for feeding the ancestors
Each chapter in Craft of the Untamed is prefaced with a black and white illustration by Audrey Melo, who also provides the painting that features on the cover. The reproduction of these internal illustration varies widely in quality, with everything from acceptable to quite pixelated, to goodness me, they've put pixels in their pixels so they can pixel when they pixel. These images are also wildly inconsistent in style, with Melo having no discernible look of her own and instead riffing on the aesthetics of various familiar esoteric artists. There's a few atavistic Austin Osman Spare motifs, a fairly convincing Aubrey Beardsley pastiche, and a couple of images that are an obvious tribute to the unknown artists of a thousand wishful metal album covers scrawled across a thousand school exercise books. One image takes Brian Froud as its inspiration and by inspiration I mean that at its centre is one of his rather distinctive characters, economically traced, without credit.
Craft of the Untamed is better formatted than many Mandrake of Oxford titles, with none of the cramped styling that is usually found amongst their books. In place of it, though, and proving I'm never satisfied, is an overly generous leading that almost approaches double line spacing in depth and which, although allowing things to breathe, does result in just 30 lines of text on a page. This count is reduced even more when the style is applied to what ends up being rather spaced out invokations that can't help but be read in a stilted, broken tone worthy of William Shatner. There's an unfortunately typical lack of attention to detail in the formatting and proofing: chapter headings can't decide if they're meant to be bolded or not, the first page of each chapter flaunts convention and includes the header with the book's author and title in it (as do all other pages, regardless of the content), and there's a reckless disregard for punctuation, with a surfeit of missing, redundant or misplaced commas.
With its overgenerous leading, Craft of the Untamed makes for what feels like a slimmer volume than its tally of 180 pages would suggest. When this is twinned with Frisvold's brisk style of writing, the reader can find themselves skipping quickly through the pages. As an overview of some of witchcraft's themes, Craft of the Untamed meets its brief, and the point of difference, largely unpromised at the start, is a tendency to relate these to Western Occultism and Hermeticism, with Frisvold's affiliation as a Traditionalist occasionally coming through via this approach.
Published by Mandrake of Oxford


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Q: No Sound In Headphones Dell studio 17 I recently decided to try Ubuntu. I made a dual-boot installation on my Dell Studio 17.
The audio plays just fine through the speakers, but will not play through the headphones. Only one of the head phone jacks is acknowledged as an output source.
Please help. I am new to Ubuntu so step by step instructions would be preferable. Thanks.

A: I had the same problem, turned out the second headphone jacked was muted. This can be seen when you start alsamixer in the terminal.
Use Tab to select playback items and Left/Right to select the second headphone. Mute/unmute with M.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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The Decaturian • October 8, 2014 • https://decaturian.com/arts/2014/10/08/so-long-solo/
So Long Solo
Katy Swift, Staff Writer
Last week, the musical duo "So Long Solo" visited Millikin on their fall tour. Throughout the performance, Mark and Heather Miller sang original songs and even did a few covers. The music was filled with passion, and the lyrics to their songs show a lot about them.
"So Long Solo" used a variety of instruments during their performance including: acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, ukulele, cello, piano, and melodica. This created a new concert experience for everyone who attended. One student mentioned they were getting ready to leave when they turned around and saw Mark playing the cello like a guitar. Other students were walking around singing one of "So Long Solo's" catchy tunes "We Will Save the World (with Tea)" long after the performance had ended. Along with the performance, there was a merchandise and tea table set up.
Since the group is partners with "Adagio Teas," they had samples of different teas for everyone to try, along with bags for sale. Their own merchandise consisted of colorful string bracelets and their albums. However, only one of these albums comes from "So Long Solo." The other albums they have come from their old group named "theothermarkmiller." Mark and Heather were kind enough to leave lyric booklets on the tables for students to look at. In them, there was a lot of information about the group, including their Facebook and Twitter pages under the name "So Long Solo." There was even a blurb at the bottom mentioning that for every like to their Facebook page, a tree will be planted through Eden Reforestation Projects.
Although last week was probably the first time most students at Millikin had heard of the duo, they were founded back in 2012; Mark and Heather did not meet until 2009. Mark started performing under the pseudonym "theothermarkmiller" long before they met. His performances took him out of Kansas and he became an artist in residency in Tokyo for a year, along with other accomplishments. During that same time, Heather received her music degree, moved to Uganda to teach, volunteered to spend time with orphans in Mexico and played the flute in a wind ensemble across China. Afterwards, she moved back to Kansas where she created her flute studio.
Soon after this, Mark and Heather met at a boutique coffee shop. From there, their relationship grew. A short year later, they were married, and "theothermarkmiller" turned into a touring duet. This led to a busy year of promotional and radio campaigns before the release of their second album "Things of This World and Things That Aren't." This album marked the beginning of a new multi-instrumentalist concert experience much like those they have been inspired by.
After the success of their second album, Mark and Heather emerged with their new name. At this point, they have traveled over 100,000 miles, touring coast to coast with a growing fan base. The duo performed for audiences at more than 200 shows throughout the US, Japan, and Uganda, and their accomplishments are nowhere near over.
Throughout this year, the multi-instrumentalist duo has had many accomplishments. They started out the spring with a 30 show college tour, then traveled to Nashville to record their debut album. This album was recorded with Grammy award winning producer Mitch Dane, and they were joined by many well-known artists such as Taylor Swift, Ben Folds, and REM. The duo's album was released in the beginning of September, before they started the fall tour they are currently on. The group was definitely a hit on campus, and many students are looking forward to hearing from more groups like this in the future.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The internship I was mentoring has ended. My intern did an excellent job working on the Palantir project. Before I announce the project to the main public, I would like to have some eyecandy so people will actually notice the announcement. That's why I'm playing around with povray and trying to make a goodlooking palantir scene.


text:
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Wormhole cryptotrading company turns over $340,000,000 to criminals
To misquote (and, indeed, to mispunctuate) Charles Dickens: it was the best of blockchains; it was the worst of blockchains.
This week, cryptocurrency company Wormhole lived up to its name by exposing an exploitable vulnerability that apparently allowed cybercriminals to run off with an eye-watering 120,000 Ether tokens.
Assuming a conversion rate of ETH1 = US$2800, that comes out close to $340,000,000.
You'll find mention of this cyberheist on Wormole's Twitter feed (@wormholecrypto), under an apparently un-ironic heading that describes the company's business as:
Interoperability protocol powering the seamless transfer of value and information across 7 high value chains with just one integration"
"Seamless transfer" indeed!
Let's rewrite history
As pointed out by Elliptic, a company that offers blockchain analytics to assist with compliance, the Wormhole team tried the same trick that was used by cryptocoin company Poly Networks when it was defrauded of more than $600,000,000 in August 2021.
The company apparently asked the crooks nicely, in a comment embedded in zero-value Ether transaction aimed at the criminals, to give the money back:
Printing out the input data above in ASCII text instead of as hexadecimal codes reveals an apparent offer to redefine the criminals as bona fide researchers and pay out a $10,000,000 bug bounty…
…if the crooks were to reveal the exploit they used:
We're sure that anyone who thinks that ransomware payments should be illegalised – and there's a vocal minority who think they should – will be aghast at this sort of retrospective offer to "give the money back and we'll write the whole thing up (and off) as legitimate security research".
Nevertheless, you can understand why a company in Wormhole's desperate position might make the offer, even if it's hard to imagine at first thought why crooks who had already – and apparently anonymously – made off with $340,000,000 would waive their anonymity in exchange for a fraction of the amount.
In the Poly Networks hack, the ruse seemed to work: the alleged hacker or hackers did utlimately return most of the stolen funds, with Poly Networks referring to them as "Mr White Hat", telling them they could keep $500,000, and offering them a role as a security advisor to the business.
Thanks, but no thanks
This time, the cybercriminals don't seem to have come to the party. Instead, vaguely mysterious blockchain startup Jump Crypto seems to have, hmmm, jumped in with money of its own to backfill the third-of-a-billion-sized, ahhh, wormhole opened up by Wormhole's exploitable cryptocurrency code:
So, according to Wormhole, "All funds have been restored and Wormhole is back up," and, "The team is working on a detailed incident report and will share it asap." Not a word about the disaster, however, on Wormhole's blog or website, which still leads unashamedly with the words THE BEST OF BLOCKCHAINS in giant text… …albeit with an unintentionally hyper-accurate strapline underneath in tiny characters: "Move information and value anywhere."
As the saying goes, you couldn't make this stuff up. So, as we did after the Poly Networks hack, where customers' funds similarly vanished and later reappeared as if by magic, we'll leave you with some general cryptotrading advice, rather than anything specific to this incident:
If you're thinking of getting into the cryptocurrency scene, never invest more than you can afford to lose. And when we say "lose", we mean "lose everything", not merely "fail to make any profit". There are more than 10,000 different cryptocoins currently in existence, many of which were kicked off by cash injections from early investors. Not all cryptocoins can or will follow the Bitcoin pattern of going from a few cents in value in 2010 to just under $40,000 each in February 2022. Even worse, some are unreconstructed scams in which the "creators" of the cryptocoinage collect startup funds from early investors in what's known as an ICO (initial coin offering), only to run off without ever establishing a new cryptocurrency or trading site at all.
If you plan to buy and hold cryptocurrency, keep as much of you can offline in what's known as a cold wallet. A cold wallet is an encrypted file that you keep where you won't lose track of it, and where other people can't use it unless they know your password. Be careful of trusting too much of your investment to hot wallet situations, where you need to trust other people totally, just so you can trade faster and more aggressively.
We started by misquoting Mr Charles Dickens, so we'll end by reminding you that the quotation goes on to say, "It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity." Remember that trust is quick to evaporate precisely because it is supposed to take time to gain in the first place.
We've always been happy to report on malware takedowns, cybercrime busts and other disruptions that have removed or reduced cybercriminality, but we've also always advised against relaxing too much when that sort of report appears.
Here's our advice, whether this Emotet "revival" is the same criminals who've returned from takedown to active duty or new recruits; whether it's the old malware code or a re-written variant; whether the new botnet has the same goals or yet more aggressive ones:
Old malware rarely actually dies. Sometimes, as happened with floppy disk boot sector viruses, malware families get killed off by technological changes. But the truth is that once a technique is out there, and is known to work, even modestly well, someone new is likely to copy it, re-use it, or revive it. So we live with the sum of the threats of the past as well as all the genuinely new tools, techniques and procedures that come along.
Don't focus on individual malware families or malware types when planning your protection. Emotet may be well-known, and rightly feared, but its method of operation (MO) is widely copied in many, perhaps most, malware attacks these days, and this MO has been in use since malware first became a money-making game. In some senses, an initial infection by nmalware like Emotet is the end of one attack chain, because it doesn't itself contain specific malware tools such as password stealers, keyloggers, cryptominers or ransomare scramblers. But it is also very much the start of a whole new attack chain, ready to receive and deploy "updates" or "plugins" – new malware samples that may vary over time, by region, by victim's computer type, or simply at the whim of the criminals in command-and-control.
Consider managed threat response (MTR). If you don't have the time or expertise to keep track of criminality on or against your network on your own, an MTR service can help you ensure that you chase back any attacks that you do detect to their root cause. Sometimes, this might be a weak password or an unpatched server, but often it's down to "beachhead" malware like Emotet. If you find and remove only the end of the attack chain, but leave the entry point in place, then the command-and-control crooks behind that beachhead malware will simply sell you out to the next cybergang that's willing to pay the asking price.
If you need any help with your IT security or suspect your system is compromised, don't hesitate to contact us at JohnCruzIT.
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DNA is inherited from both biological parents DNA, also known as deoxyribonucleic acid, is found in all cells of the body. It is composed of four different molecules—adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), and guanine (G). Like the letters of an alphabet, these four molecules are arranged in strings of specific sequences that spell out instructions for our body's everyday functions. DNA contains information that dictates our physical characteristics, such as facial features, height, and even health.During conception, the father's sperm cell and the mother's egg cell, each containing half the amount of DNA found in other body cells, meet and fuse to form a fertilized egg, called a zygote. The zygote contains a complete set of DNA molecules, a unique combination of DNA from both parents. This zygote divides and multiplies into an embryo and later, a full human being. At each stage of development, all the cells forming the body contain the same DNA—half from the father and half from the mother. It is this fact that enables scientists to use a variety of sampling methods for DNA testing. We can take samples at virtually any stage of development and from any part of the body—and still obtain the same results, because these samples contain the same DNA.
The science behind DNA Paternity Testing.
10. "I have to wait until the baby is born to have a paternity test done."
9. "I can't stand the sight of blood or needles, so I could never participate in a paternity test!"
8. "A $79 test is the right choice for me."
7. "If I get a test, people will find out about it."
6. "Paternity testing divides families."
5. "Paternity testing takes too long. I need results now."
4. "My ex-boyfriend is gone. Without him, we will never know who the father of my child is!"
3. "I cannot do a paternity test because the potential father of my child lives hundreds of miles away from me."
2. "It doesn't matter where a paternity test is performed because all labs are created equal."
1. "Paternity testing is expensive."
No. Paternity can be established before the baby is born using a prenatal paternity test. ATG's NEW prenatal paternity test now makes it possible to get accurate answers in a safer way than ever before. ATG offers a variety of testing options, with payment plans. Each situation is unique, and testing can be arranged to fit your specific needs. We encourage you to call one of our paternity experts for a brief, confidential consultation at 1-205-933-0609 or read more about our prenatal DNA tests.
While a blood sample can be used, most labs use a painless buccal swab to collect sample DNA from inside the participant's cheek. The swab is similar to a cotton swab, but is made of a material called Dacron, which creates a consistent surface for the cheek cells to adhere to. As mentioned above, this collection process is painless.
A $79 paternity test can be more expensive to the consumer in the long run. These tests do not hold up in court. They are generally not reliable because the testing could be done outside industry protocols and/or performed by inexperienced staff, which could lead to results that are interpreted incorrectly leading to false results. If you are inquiring about a paternity test for any legal matter, further testing would have to be done, which would require more fees. Wouldn't it be better to pay only once for something so important? ATG offers legal paternity testing options that not only provide the answers you need, but a legal document that can be used for legal purposes, such as child support and custody.
Each case is unique and should be handled with the utmost confidentiality. The procedures should be private and discreet. At a private laboratory like ATG (ATG Diagnostics Center), your results are confidential. However, if you go through a child support agency, your results will be public record. Also, if the case goes to court, a judge may need to see the results.With a privately conducted test, once you receive the results, you decide what to do with them.
Paternity testing has many benefits. It is used in adoption, immigration, genealogy and other family-building cases. Testing benefits the child in cases where paternity must be verified for inheritance or insurance purposes and in cases that involve child support. It's true that you do need to prepare for the results; the important thing, however, is to be able to move forward once you know the truth.
5."Paternity testing takes too long. I need results now."
If a lab can dedicate a team to your case, the testing can be done as fast as one day. It is more expensive if the results need to be performed in a swift manner. A few labs can offer results in an average of five days in most cases—ATG Diagnostics Center can complete it in 3 days. In general. you will receive prompt service and results if you are using a private laboratory. If you are planning on going through a government child support agency, it could take months for the processing and paperwork to go through, even though the actual testing may only take a week or two.
In some situations the alleged father is unavailable or unwilling to partake in a paternity test. In these situations, a grand parentage test can be performed. This test uses the paternal grandparents' DNA to determine if the child is biologically related to the grandparents. This test determines if the child is a descendant of the grandparents, so if they had more than one son, all sons would be included as a potential father of the child.
Some companies have satellite DNA sample collection sites. ATG has many collection sites in all 50 states and in 168 countries around the world. Each ATG sample collection site is equipped to handle the Chain of Custody process, which requires samples to be taken by a neutral third party. The Chain of Custody enables the results to be used in court. Separate appointments for sample collection can be made to accommodate those not living in the same area. Samples can be collected at different times and at different collection sites.
2. "It doesn't matter where a paternity test is performed because all labs are equal."
All labs are not equal. You should check the accreditations of any laboratory you are considering. You can also check to see if the lab you are considering has perfect accreditation and certificate scores. It is also a good idea to find out if the DNA samples will be tested twice to ensure accuracy and to rule out false results. Not all laboratories fulfill these requirements.
Only a few years ago, paternity tests cost over $1,000. Due to more advanced technology, a test can now be performed for between $350 and $500. Quality should never be sacrificed for price, especially in situations as sensitive as paternity testing. Make sure that the laboratory will test the results twice to ensure accuracy. Efficient and accurate paternity testing should be as affordable as possible. Some companies, such as ATG, offer to start the testing process as soon as they receive a deposit of only $200.


If your organization has turned on video calls and conferencing, you can make face-to-face video calls with your contacts.
Depending on how you set your VoIP call options, when you make or receive a video call it might use Wi-Fi or your cellular data plan. For more information, see Manage Wi-Fi for VoIP options.
To make a video call, from the Contacts screen find the person in your Contacts list, or type their name in the search box. When you find the contact, tap their name, tap the Video icon, and then tap Start Video to start a video call.
When you're in a video call, you have the option of using your front or back camera. If the person you're calling doesn't have a camera or chooses not to turn on their video, you won't be able to see their video but you can still hear them. The other person can still see your video even if they don't turn on their video.
Tap video to accept an incoming audio and video call or tap audio to accept an audio call only.
Mute icon to mute and unmute the call.
Hold icon to put the call on hold, and then tap the Hold icon again to resume the call.
Speaker icon to turn the speaker phone on and off.
End call icon to end the entire conversation including any audio, video, and IM.
IM icon to view or send an IM to people in the call, and then tap the Phone icon to go back to the video screen.
stop camera to turn off your video, but still see another person's video.
switch camera to switch from the front or back Windows Phone camera.
end video to end everyone's video for you only, but still have audio.
end conversation to end the video call.
see contact card to view participant's contact card.
send as email to send the conversation in email.
see conversations to view other conversations including past and current conversations.


text:
Mark Gonzales by Mark Gonzales. Photographs by Sem Rubio. Contributions by Hiroshi Fujiwara, Tom Sachs, KAWS, and Gus van Sant © Mark Gonzales by Mark Gonzales, Rizzoli New York, 2020. Images © Sem Rubio.
NEW YORK, NY.- Named the "Most Influential Skateboarder of All Time" by Transworld Skateboarding, Mark Gonzales aka The Gonz is one of the most recognizable names in skateboarding, art, and street style. Born in California in 1968, Gonzales entered the skateboarding world at age 13, and by 16, was featured on the cover of Thrasher magazine. Widely revered since then as the inventor of street skating, Gonzales has remained one of the most prolific innovators in both skateboarding and contemporary art.
This October, Rizzoli will be publishing Mark Gonzales, the first comprehensive monograph on the Mark Gonzales universe. Part skate photography, part intimate portrait, this is a bold collection of work straight from the mind of the artist, as seen through Sem Rubio's iconic photography. A great action as well as portrait photographer, Rubio's eye for gesture, textural landscapes, and atmospheric framing is worthy of the best poet-journalists. After working together for over a decade, Rubio and Gonzales have created an impressive archive that became the seed for this stunning monograph.
Hailed for a sense of fearlessness and creativity, Gonzales has always had a way of changing the game, whether through his inventive skateboarding or his creative art and writing. His long-standing collaborations with brands including Adidas, Supreme, Thrasher, RETROSUPERFUTURE, JanSport, and Études, gathered together for the first time in this volume, showcase a rebellious vision that has cemented his place in both skateboard and pop culture history.
This indispensable volume gathers new, personal insights into legendary tricks and collaborations. It is a verbal and visual testimony of his many worlds. Specially commissioned interviews with Spike Jonze, Hiroshi Fujiwara, KAWS, Ed Templeton, Tommy Guerrero, Tony Hawk, Blondey McCoy, Gus Van Sant and more are peppered throughout the book, making this a truly kaleidoscopic portrait of the ever-evolving, revolutionary artist.
Mark Gonzales, also known as "The Gonz", is an American professional skateboarder and artist. He is known as a pioneer of modern street skateboarding and was named the "Most Influential Skateboarder of All Time" by Transworld Skateboarding magazine. Sem Rubio cut his teeth as an artist by becoming one of the world's foremost skateboard photographers. He is based in Blanes, Catalunya. Hiroshi Fujiwara is a Japanese musician, producer, and designer. Tom Sachs is an American contemporary artist. Gus Van Sant is an award-winning American filmmaker.
Lou Andrea Savoir is a writer and creative director at Cascade in Berlin. Cascade, co-founded by long-time collaborators Lou Andrea Savoir and Julian Dykmans, is a creative production studio and agency based in Berlin.


I had the pleasure to re-record my Christmas classic Because of Love with my friends and Contemporary Jazz Saxophonist Elan Trotman and also featuring is Pannist Mikhail Salcedo. The track produced by Michael "Ming" Low Chew Tung of Elan Parle. Do check it out on your favorite digital platforms and help spread the Christmas cheer by requesting on your favorite radio stations.
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Aboriginal Power is a new book by environmental business leader Chris Henderson of Wellington West. The book tells stories of how First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities are using green energy to help power Canada's future.
Henderson lays out his vision in a series of 30 stories that profile over 80 Aboriginal communities across the country. The stories tell of an evolving relationship between the government and Aboriginal people.
"How do we write a better story for the future?" is the question Henderson is answering in Aboriginal Power. Henderson says that better future will come with the production cleaner energy sources, like hydro, wind and biomass. The places these energy sources are coming from now are Aboriginal communities. To achieve a future we can all share in requires a reduced reliance on fossil fuels and a shift to clean, green, renewable energy – this is the heart of Henderson's message.
Henderson started his business to protect the environment 25 years ago, when he launched the Delphi Group, a company that provides environmentally friendly business solutions and advises governments on environmental strategies.
It was 10 years ago that Henderson shifted his focus to Aboriginal people in Canada and became a clean energy advisor to over a dozen Aboriginal communities. He has been working hard ever since to develop the potential of Aboriginal power.
To launch Aboriginal Power, Henderson is embarking on a coast to coast tour, spreading his message to nearly every major city in the country.
June 6 will be a special event for Henderson's home community with a reading and book signing taking place at Kitchissippi United Church, 630 Island Park, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. "Being active in…and around Kitchissippi, I thought it would be interesting to do a community launch as well," says Henderson.