The Magic of Magick by Peter C. Whitaker
In my last blog post I suggested that I would consider the subject of magick in my up and coming fantasy book ‘The Queen of the Mountain Kingdom’. For those who might not be aware of it Magick is ‘the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will’. Magic, on the other hand, is the kind of thing that entertainers do. Is there really a difference? Well, it depends on your view of authenticity I suppose. I believe that the best examples of speculative fiction, that is anything that goes beyond the norm of everyday life, is actually rooted in that same everyday life. Fantastical things may occur, fabulous creatures may exist, but there is also a logic to the fantasy world that they occupy that
Read More »Joining the Dots – A Short Story
It was sometime in his mid-fifties that it struck him. Sitting one night, bored behind his computer screen, he suddenly had an idea. Increasingly feeling isolated and alone, he had begun to feel as if, somehow, life wasn’t really real. Reality wasn’t real. The feeling had started in his thirties and intensified as he got older. Life seemed out of control, beyond his sphere of influence. It was as if the world had been created just to keep him afraid and controlled. Or was it occupied? Yes, occupied. The more wars, threats of war, strikes, accidents and so on, the more occupied humans become with fear. Then there was the rise of social media and its avalanche of idiots who suddenly thought they knew more than the experts. This manifested
Read More »There is Magic…..
I believe in magic. Strange thing to say coming from a Ph.D. I guess. The thing is that these days I think many people do not believe in magic at all and it’s a shame. For me, magic is what happens when you just let it. It is that thing you feel when you observe things in a certain way – that moment when you catch a glimpse of eternity in the Universe in seeing the sky, that moment when you feel the oneness of the All, that moment when you are filled with a certain feeling of happiness and contentment despite everything (and everyone!). You know magic is alive in your life when things just happen. Coincidences and unexpected events that take you in an often unexpected direction. To
Read More »Other Eyes
Sometimes I see things. Its been that way all of my life. Now, when I say ‘see’, I’m not sure this is an accurate description yet it is the only word I can use. I see and feel all at the same time and the two ‘senses’ are somehow merged as if one. As an example, a few months ago, as two friends and I stood within a stone circle close by the Scottish border, I ‘saw’ a lady step out from behind one of the stones and smile. Her hair was loose and flowing in the wind and she wore a flowing gown of sheer simplicity. As I mentioned to my friends “Oh, we have a visitor!” They both looked down the approach path expecting someone, well, physical. Then,
Read More »The Modern Mysteries ~ Steve Tanham
The ‘mysteries’ have been with mankind as long as we have existed. They are a collection of paths that take us inwards; restoring a sense of self deeper than that which reacts, and showing us that mankind is much more than a biological animal – though animals, and their focus on the ‘now’ have much to teach us, too. The reason these paths work is that we are more than we appear to be. The reactive nature of the self-in-the-world, the personality, fixes it into a certain relationship with its world. This is vital for survival but not so for our potential evolution. Mankind is not a finished project. Nature can only take us so far, beyond that point we have take responsibility for our own self-development, and the power
Read More »Rock music ~ the sound of prehistory – Reblogged from SC Vincent
During the summer, I spent a magical weekend with friends Sue Vincent and Stuart France… Here is Sue’s account of a small part of that weekend and a lot of fun trying to make music from a rock…. Way back when the world was warm and the sun remembered to shine, our friend, Gary Vasey, came over from the Czech Republic for a weekend. It was to be our second meeting in the going-on-fifteen-years that we have been close friends, and it was a memorable one for a good many reasons. We wanted to share some of the places that had played such important roles in The Initiate, the first of the books Stuart and I wrote together, which Gary had called “a work of brilliance“, sharing our excitement in the journey. So
Read More »Exploring Islands and Castles – and Ourselves
This time, the Ryanair flight from Brno to Stansted was on time. This time, I arrived at the scheduled time and skipped through immigration without issues. I found my hotel and had an early night after all, it would be a long drive the next morning. After a British breakfast (a treat!), I went for my rental car – now this was a slight issue and I will only say this – do NOT rent from Easirent (difficult and expensive rent is more apt I think). Finally, I left the Stansted area around 10 am – an hour behind schedule but no matter – I was in good spirits. Now, the drive from Stansted to Seahouses looked doable. Google maps told me 5 hours and if I factored
Read More »Singing to Myself
For the last couple of years, I’ve been writing songs. It’s a lot of fun and occasionally, one of them gets played on a radio station – usually in the USA – which is quite a thrill if I’m honest about it. Like almost everything these days, anyone can now make a record and put it out on digital platforms like Spotify. It’s an era in which anyone can, if they desire, do pretty much anything creatively whether they find an audience or not. And most of us don’t. Most of us are singing to ourselves because there is simply so much choice – music, books, videos and so on. In fact, there is a scientific rule that the distribution of things is always unequal such that a country will
Read More »Just Be
I once thought I knew where this was going But that was the old controlling me Now I know, I found a treasure Someone different Who makes me feel like me I’m just gonna let go now And see Where this take us I’m going to go with the flow To live in the moment And just be
Read More »OK, OK,I get it!!!!
Recently, I wrote about being on the menu. It seems as if I still am. Over the weeks that have followed, so many strange things have occurred that defy really any logical explanation, that seem to be repeating the same message to me over and over. Yesterday, was quite bizarre and was a day in which I saw a friend connect with a girl in a rapid and strange way. My friend is a younger generation to me, and the girl he/we met, considerable younger – in her early twenties. Her English was not so good, but my friend was able to translate. So, let me repeat – met this girl for the first time at 9pm as a result of an event that took place with my friend and
Read More »