"Timely Ghazal" by Alison Stone

Timely Ghazal
Alison Stone

Things you can’t control – love, weather, grace, time.
My favorite cliché is race against time.
Like an undertow, her phone sucks my teen
daughter into YouTube, Snapchat, FaceTime.
Our elm’s branches brought the power lines down.
In darkness, distortion of sound, space, time.
She let her hair go silver, wears her lined
face without shame. Her motto -- Embrace time.
Death is a salesman, shoes worn from peddling
silence, blank brochures, a briefcase of time.
My mother’s cancer isn’t novel, nor
is yours. Our worst griefs commonplace as time.
In the high-tech future, will metal eggs
grow children, computer code replace time?
Focused on Eternity, poets tend
to lateness, sloppy with lowercase time.
Miss Havisham’s stopped clocks. White Rabbit’s watch.
Welles’ machine. Classics, a showcase for time.
Not all wounds heal. Not Columbine, Sandy
Hook. Not Parkland. Some stains won’t erase. Time
to do nothing, the senators agree.
Bowie’s cranked-up voice claims, You can’t trace time.
In a dream I float between stones and stars.
Wake with wisps of another name, place, time.

"I am" by Jeremy Void

I am
Jeremy Void

I am a demon
corrupted
by lust & desire
the thrill of fixations
the kill
the shrilling sensations
of tempting
death
and all of its fledglings
I am the real deal
a cursed
& disturbing
burden
I’ve kept locked up
inside my mad-
ness like fragile
vibrations
tremors seizing through
my core
my trilling bones
wrapping their slimy
tentacles
around the ether
and holding it
so tight
it might explode
I am a goblin
a tautological disease
a shooting tingle
ripping up the space/
time contagium
I loosed my soul
upon the radical rat race
dissolved my refined
continuum like
a diluted system
of lust
& desire
thrusting its wanton
appendage
outward into
the nothingness
I succumb to
when I’m feeling bored
& numb
I am a dalek
haunted by temptation
and my own
shadow of a past

Article: "Day of the Vampires" by Goddess Rosemary Sahjaza

The DOV is August 13 every year the Day of Vampires

The day our community comes together to give the gift of life and donates blood the lifesaving supply is always in great need this is our time to give back in gratitude thanks for a beautiful blessed life and give blood.

Goddess Rosemary Sahjaza - A Message to Everyone

Day of the Vampires - August 13, 2010

Give back the gift of life, save a life today. Give in the name of my cousin Steven, my family and friends unite and come together. Here is his story; my cousin needed a liver and kidney transplant, and the donor came just in time, he was in surgery and received the gift of life, then there was an infection, so a second surgery, more blood was used to keep him alive because people had given blood he lived through that surgery, now another surgery is to be done as they sewed the incision too tightly and he has a hernia in an area close to his lungs and heart pushing on him.

My cousin was the Captain of a SWAT team in California all his life he gave to his community to keep people safe, he was saved because when he needed it the blood was there, please give so that others will live this August 13th take your friends and arrange to donate blood in a worldwide effort to save even one life make sure the needed blood will be there when its needed. Join in this worldwide effort started in Sao Paula Brazil this is the annual campaign day called Day of the Vampires to give one and all and if you would give back for my cousin Steven who is alive and doing well so that everyone’s cousin will have a chance if they need blood, my family thanks you, my dayside and nightside family thanks you, give this year and next year to, join in for a nice supper or another event after, turkey builds the blood back the most fast followed by chicken, a good meal after and you will have your blood back. So do be generous and give one and all. Make sure that your papers are right and your family knows that if something was to happen to you that you would be an organ donor and make sure that you carry the card to save a life. Giving blood the rest of the year when you can and will help save lives let’s get together this day and make sure that the cups overflow at the blood banks with the gift of life that flows in each of us.

My blessings to you and yours,

Goddess Rosemary

Matriarca Fundadora da House Sahjaza e Artista Multimídia

It's 20th year anniversary of the Vampire Day Campaign! It will be Campaign 21!

Filmmaker, actress and writer Liz Marins (daughter of Joe Coffin), creator and interpreter of the character "Liz Vamp" Liz Marins Liz Vamp created the Campaign on August 13, 2002

Article: "A History of Magick in Memory of Herman Slater" by Goddess Rosemary Sahjaza

A History of Magick in Memory of Herman Slater

Article by Goddess Rosemary Sahjaza

(Born 1935 – Died 09th July 1992)

On this date in the year 1992, Herman Slater - a Wiccan High Priest and well-known occult author, the proprietor of “The Magickal Childe” bookstore and Witchcraft supply shop in New York City, lost his battle against AIDS. His death was a great loss to the magickal community. We remember you, Herman!!

The Magickal Childe, New York City’s oldest and longest-running occult bookshop, started life as “The Warlock Shop” in Brooklyn Heights, situated on Henry Street, just off Atlantic Ave, during the early 1970s. In 1979, Herman moved the shop to 35 West 19th Street in Greenwich Village, and with the move changed its name to The Magickal Childe. The new shop soon became established. Inside was an ever-flowing waterfall, and as the smell of incense invaded your senses, the sight of shelves stocked with jars and books filled the mind with intrigue. This was where I first met Herman in about 1985. You can get a glimpse of the shop in the movie “Vampire's Kiss.”

The Magickal Childe in Greenwich Village, New York

Herman Slater’s Jewish parents hailed from New Paltz, a lower middle-class suburb of New York, where he was born in 1935. From the beginning, he was in search of his own path. In the 1970s - 1980s he published a newspaper called Earth Religion News. I think my favorite book he had his pen on was: The Magickal Formulary I & II. He also wrote: The Hoodoo Bible, Introduction to Witchcraft, Pagan Rituals, and A Book of Pagan Rituals I & II. This included the idea of pre-initiation into a Coven and the concept of a Pagan Grove as an Outer Court extension of the Coven.

He also published his own version of H.P. Lovecraft’s: Necronomicon, which was perhaps the reason some people started to call him “Horrible Herman”? This body of work was rumored to have come from the Catholic Church, from a library text given to him by an Old Catholic Archbishop named Simon. Another rumor was that a mysterious Russian Monk called Simon delivered it to his shop. Those who knew about this unsubstantiated information; then dubbed the work Simonomicon. The truth of this will never be revealed, as this is one of the mysteries that he would never deny or confirm.

Herman’s Necronomicon was published in 1977, with a publication of 666 copies. The next year another 3,333 copies were published, followed later by a third issue of an unknown number of copies. The first books were all leather bound with a price of $75.00 each. Then an elaborate “manuscript” was created and touted to be the manuscript that Herman received under mysterious circumstances, but no one knows the real story. Herman created a beautiful work as his version of the Necronomicon with the help of Schlangekraft and James Wasserman as part of the layout team, and Khem Set Rising who designed the book raised seals. In 1980 the rights to the book were then sold to “Avon Publishing”, who produced a paperback copy at a cost of $5.00 each.

Herman also produced his own version of the Gardnerian Wicca Sword created by Gerald Gardner, of which he sold replicas of the original given to him as a gift by Raymond Buckland. Herman had a good sense of humor and was a trickster, but he could get you just about any candle, herb, potion, book, card-deck, charm bell or whistle you would ever want or need.

Herman was known as Lord Govannan in his Earth Star Temple, and was a smiling player of the “Witch Wars of the Seventies”. The NY Welsh tradition came to be with the help of Herman and his partner Ed Buczynski, who founded the tradition in the 1960s. Eventually, Gardnerians, Welsh Trads, Alexandrians and Sicilian Trads all came to be seated around a table in the back of Herman’s shop. Lady Rhea could often be found mixing oils there, as did many other prominent people from various traditions involved in the world of magick, meet and work together there. People from different religious areas, from Voodooen’ to Wicca, to Crowley's Magickal Order (the O.T.O.), also found a safe haven there.

Herman studied Business at NYU, and Liberal Arts at Hunter College in 1969 until ill health caused him to stop working. He had TB (tuberculosis) of the bone. While he was recovering he began to explore the Occult and Psychic Sciences. During his stay in bed, and after a year or so in casts, they managed to cure him of TB, but it cost him a hip replacement. Science was not as progressed then and hip replacement was not what it is today. His interest in psychic phenomena began with levitation, which no doubt was due to the fact he was unable to get around in a body cast. He also gained an interest in divination and the tarot. He studied the occult sciences for many years after his recovery and insisted that he had on a few occasions been able to levitate. You could never tell when he was serious or when he was joking, so one never knows, perhaps he did?

At the end of his life, Herman owned 3 of his beloved dogs, Salukis, but as his hip prevented him from walking the dogs, he always maintained someone to serve as a “dog-walker”. He also had a cat and a boa constrictor, and at the end, he spent some of his time at his home in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and some of his time in NYC where he lived on 16th Street. For a while after his death, loyal fans, friends and employees tried to keep the shop open, and for a while, it stayed open, but debts, taxes, and bills left unpaid, all took their toll and sadly it was closed in 1999.

There were times when the shop did not keep regular hours, it was open when it was and closed when it was not. I remember many times in the 80s and 90s going there during normal hours only to find it was closed. Herman’s Magickal Childe was an institution for East Coast Pagans of all paths. Curiosities stacked on dark wood shelves and in glass cases, still cause one to recall the combined smell and aroma of books, candles, and large glass jars full of herbs to one’s memory.

I can still remember the first time I opened the door to that fragrant shop and came in out of blinding sunlight. The first person I focused on when I could see again was Herman behind his counter. He was counting bones or some other items for display. I looked around and there were colored books, oddities and flyers all over the place. He was both friendly that day and none committal like he was curious and could care less. At the same time he was a man of many contradictions and was from that first meeting my strange and totally interesting friend.

Copyright © June 2010 by Goddess Rosemary Sahjaza

Published by Goddess Rosemary under Silky Rose

Slater wrote the books:

Introduction to Witchcraft, ISBN 978-0-939708-16-1,

The Hoodoo Bible,ISBN 978-0-939708-06-2

A Book of Pagan Rituals I & II,ISBN 978-0-87728-348-5

Pagan Rituals III, ISBN 978-0-939708-27-7

Published:

Earth Religion News magazine

Edited:

The Magickal Formulary Spellbook, ISBN 978-0939708000,

The Magickal Formulary Spellbook II, ISBN 978-0939708109

Starting in 1973, Herman Slater (died 1992) became a mainstay of the New York Wiccan scene.

Here he is explaining his religion. Three more parts of the documentary available on YouTube

https://youtu.be/R9ZO0NGSpR0

Educating people on the subject of witchcraft became an important mission for Slater.

He did not believe in the use or indulgence of sex magic or drugs were ok in his any of rituals he thought of his practice of witchcraft as earth magic.

Sources:

George Knowles at Controverscial.com

The Witch Book - The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism - By Raymond Buckland

Plus many other personal sources.

"You’ll Know Just Who I Am" by Levi Mericle

You’ll Know Just Who I Am
Levi Mericle

Verse 1
They spat in my direction, they fortified their wrath
But I proved my resurrection, as I re-paved the path
They clawed me down to nothing, but vengeance will be mine
I wear this halo like a crown of thorns, and it cuts me to the spine
Drive the spikes that crucify, and I’ll wait for you on the other side
My torture will not go unjustified, as it’s now your time your time to die

Chorus:
Light the sky with ash and flame
Maybe then you’ll know my name
Fill the sea with the lust of blood
And wait for me inside the flood
Choke the smoke and rewrite the plan
And then you’ll know just who I am
I live in the shadow of my disgrace
I hate myself, I hate this place
Hold me under this wave of man
Then maybe you’ll know just who I am

Verse 2:
Cut the vein and tie the noose, reach for Heaven and beg for truce
Sick the Hell hounds on the loose, this asylum was built for me and you
I cast my line in the sea of fire, I pulled down Heaven with rage rewired
Feel the heat as I perspire, you said your fine, you’re such a liar
I’m lost inside this human globe, shake me well and I might explode
These acid tears make my heart corrode, I dream a dream I’ll never know
Seal my fate and take a stand and maybe then you’ll know just who I am

 
Chorus:
Light the sky with ash and flame
Maybe then you’ll know my name
Fill the sea with the lust of blood
And wait for me inside the flood
Choke the smoke and rewrite the plan
And then you’ll know just who I am
I live in the shadow of my disgrace
I hate myself, I hate this place
Hold me under this wave of man
Then maybe you’ll know just who I am

"The Consequences Permeate" by James Kenneth Blaylock

The Consequences Permeate
James Kenneth Blaylock

honestly, it’s so hard to imagine
life on much simpler terms…

namely, because, many of us
have had to fight through it all

calling ourselves conquerors
while battling to stay afloat

our hearts go drifting on as
the consequences permeate

yet, even if our crest have fallen,
we should get up wildly storming,

james kenneth blaylock
7-25-22

"My Kevorkian Alter Ego" by Judge Santiago Burdon

My Kevorkian Alter Ego
Judge Santiago Burdon

Please go ahead jump
It's time to put you out of my misery
You don't have the balls
All talk no devastation
Charade after charade
an overplayed drama.
Another boring non event
The only thing that has died
Is my interest

Stop with the Greek Tragedy
Cutting your wrists
Swallowing pills
Attempted O.D.'s
Pathetic cries for help
Ya know what
No one is listening.
It's embarrassing to watch
Your acts of a coward

Methods to end it for sure
A gun in your mouth
With a hair trigger nice touch
An electric appliance in the bathtub
Oh yeah, use a toaster
Makes a great headline
"He's Toast!"
Your slow boat to death
Has run out of rivers
The Heroin, Cocaine, Oxys, the Meth
All condiments to flavor your depression

What do you say
let's get it over with
Time to make the grand exit.
What makes you think
Anyone cares anyone gives a fuck
Go ahead take the jump
Make a big splash
That'll show them
You don't give a fuck either.

"The Tenth Of September" by M Teresa Clayton

The Tenth Of September
M Teresa Clayton

Today I woke up and looked out the window,
I felt the pressure of the years on my bones,
The sun was shining and casting long shadows,
Where the seeds of my past had been sown.

It’s six a.m.; I could feel myself growing older;
Aches and pains and getting hard to remember,
And it just got worse as the days grew colder
Seemed early, it was only the tenth of September.

But, just as I was swinging my head low
I heard the phone ringing out in the hall.
She had no heat and it was 10 below zero
Just before now, I had no problems at all.

Damn the luck, and it was still morning.
It wasn’t how I wanted to start the day.
Bad things happen, at times without warning,
To good people, isn’t that what they say?

I got up to take a quick shower and shave
When I found myself taking another call.
He gambled away all the money he saved,
And killed himself taking a ninety foot fall.

I was balancing the checkbook around ten,
Another call answered, she was the mother of four.
It seems he started drinking and beating her again.
She died fighting; she just couldn’t take any more.

The news came on with a news flash up-date,
The little girl that was missing was found dead.
I thought I had problems that seemed too great,
What was I thinking; I must be out of my head.

Feeling down, I decided to go out for fresh air,
Nearly tripped over the beggar on the sidewalk.
I was still trying to figure out why life isn’t fair
When I saw them outline her body in chalk.

She had been struck as she was crossing the street.
She looked to be no more than twenty-five or thirty.
I noticed her shoes were knocked clean off her feet
As she lay exposed on the ground cold and dirty.

It was dinner-time and I had covered several stories,
Submitted them to press for the paper the next day.
In my line of work, you could lose yourself in worries,
I’ve had my fair share but there were bills yet to pay.

I went to bed early, muscles aching and tight.
Oh, what I would give to just not feel a thing.
I hope I can finally sleep through the night.
Only God knows what tomorrow might bring.

The call came at nine and I was just waking.
I wrestled with whether or not to answer the call.
I turned on the television as the story was breaking,
Up to then, it seems, I had no problems at all.

"The Monsters Between Us" by Jerry Langdon

The Monsters Between Us
Jerry Langdon

I tried to fill the gap between us
But the bridge became another void.
Every stone was a burden upon us.
We drifted further apart.
And the bridge took a toll.
Our sorrows became a haunting troll.
Monsters are a shadowed heart
That dwell in the darkness of the void
Which stands between us.

© Jerry Langdon 2022

"Rage of Wrath" by Erik Leviathan

Rage of Wrath
Erik Leviathan

Behold the hope of man is in vain
Cast abroad The Rage of Wrath look upon all that are proud and take them low
Tear down the wicked in their palace and bind them from their lust
Empty shells left rotting in their dust
Parasites Gorge themselves upon an altar of sin

Purge your hunger staying hungry fill your mouth like whores feel your souls with emptiness your toxic waste gives birth to our world's bitter taste.
Humanity's existence exuberates your toxic waste a septic disease Vermin plug in filth and infection silently attacking with he's an intricately disguise sustenance of time depleting life.
They rip themselves apart to seek counsel in the Stars yet the universe rejects their Council for in death there is no Remembrance in the grave let all my enemies find their slumber

Music created by Panos Karayannis
band: Misanthropik Torment
Lyrics and vocals: Erick Leviathan Scarlet
Artwork Design: Erick Leviathan Scarlet
Computer Graphic Design: Claudiu Ciorbaru

Blindly following the masses will render you to being a mindless drone, leaving you with mindless hate. Mindless hate, breeds meaningless violence. Think for yourself, if you must hate, hate for your reasons, not someone else's