Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's getting on for midnight as I type this, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. This week's classic of Western occultism, since I've been indulging in Ross Nichols' poetry of late, is The Cosmic Shape, published in 1946, which contains his brilliant essay "An Examination of Creative Myth," which discusses the need for nature-myth and ritual as a counterbalance to the artificialities of modern life, and his related Arthurisn poem-cycle "The Cosmic Legend," as well as other poems of his and his fellow poet James Kirkup. He clearly discussed these ideas with his good friend Gerald Gardner; those ideas ended up playing a central role in the creation of Wicca as well as the transformations of 20th-century Druidry. Here's a bit from "The Cosmic Legend": 

I have made my ceremonies; the crisis
comes. None may reproduce, no water flow,
until the sword is from its sheath pulled.
Only I, the medicine-man Gawain, instructing 
at midnight Galahad, the pure one of 
spring -- only I can save you, faithless 
with the fallen leaf. I prove to you,
O my dead people, once again that
I alone am your strength.

In the first ray beating touching on the centre altar-stone
to the eye prepared at vigil-end, the vessel of the sun,
cup and heart, to Galahad. 

Ask me anything about occultism and I'll do my best to answer it. Any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 143,916th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.0 of The Magic Monday FAQ here.

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use the button below to access my online tip jar. If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here.

With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed -- and yes, this means you.  See you next week!*** 

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com! 

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Learning to write poetry:
1) Read a lot of it.
2) Look up the rules for classic forms of poems
Haiku is more than 17 syllables. It also must have an indirect seasonal reference and a ‘shock’ or ‘leap’. Alghazal is like discursive meditation in rhymed couplets. Italian sonnets are different from Elizabethan sonents. Chinese poetry can have a visual dimension as well as a verbal one.
3) Choose a theme and write the same core experience in two or three specific forms. Then write it again in your natural tone of voice. Note the difference. Rewrite.
4) Write a free-verse or prose paragraph about an experience you wish to share. Go through and strike out every ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’ ‘that, and other clunky-sounding particles of speech. Replace every instance of the verb “to be” with an action verb and a ‘shock.’. [The apple is red outside but white inside → Apple grins red shows white teeth. Bites back.] Read the new action-y version out loud. See what happens to the rhythm.
5) Read a whole lot more of it.

[(Anonymous)]

The above is all good advice. I'd add, read poetry out loud. Both the published stuff you're going to read tons of, and your own. Notice not only the rhythms of the lines and the stresses of the words, but notice where the poet breaks lines, and also where you naturally want to take a breath.

And, if you will forgive a brief rant: for all that is holy, NEVER EVER use Poet Voice when reading poetry! That is an abomination before the gods. It obliterates the rhythm and flattens the meaning--I suspect the poets who use it are subliminally aware their poetry is terrible and trivial, and are hoping to conceal the fact

https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/stop-using-poet-voice/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPoet%20Voice%2C%E2%80%9D%20is%20the,sounds%20overly%20stuffy%20and%20learned.