The Syndicate

Banners, y'all.

Mongoose wrote:Thats why I voted for BWT so quickly -- I blocked him and then no kill.

Like thta bone time you blocked MP and there was no kill (coincidence) so you got him killed.

Alex, regarding your Tarot readings. I selected the card Death for Vompatti, because it signifies endings, beginnings, change, transformation, and rebirth. All of that tied in with Blavatsky's theories of Core Races and their progression through time. It was also a clue about his power of role checking the dead.

I selected The Hermit for BWT, not because he was an indie, but because it signifies solitude and inner reflection, which are conditions required for Abramelin to complete his operation.

Metalmarsh89 wrote:Hey llama, I don't know if A. E. Waite is dead or not, but can his night action only be used once or on a nightly basis?

On a nightly basis.

Having completed preliminary courses on all the occult topics provided at the outset, and none of them having proved sufficient to protect them from the unceasing onslaught of death and mayhem, the group decided to turn their minds inwards, engaging in deep meditation.

Meditation, as the most talked about occult practice in the West, is also the most commonly misunderstood. The word is all too often used as a synonym for relaxing or deep thinking. In fact it is neither of these. Although the results of successful meditation result in relaxation, the process itself, especially in the beginning stages, is anything but. The object of meditation is the cessation of thought, something that doesn’t sound difficult until you actually try to do it. The mind is constantly at work behind the scenes, engaging in unconscious and subconscious processes. It takes much practice first to become aware of these, and second, to halt them.

In the silence of the mind, consciousness is elevated and peace and understanding follow.

If you wish to defeat Abramelin, stop thinking about who he may be, and silence your minds. If you are successful. the answer will come unbidden.

Eliphas Levi queries the Tarot:
“What do you think of BWT?”

“Hmm, cryptic.”

No one has died. You have 24 to quietly reflect on whom to lynch, and then lynch them.

Evocation and invocation both refer to the communication with beings from other planes of existence for the purposes of communication, and sometimes to command them to do the mage’s bidding. Most commonly, these are what are commonly known as gods, angels, or demons (the gods of one religious tradition typically become the demons of the next.)

Evocation involves summoning the being in its own form, from within a protection magic circle. Invocation involves the mage’s own body serving as a conduit for the spiritual entity, similar to the spiritualistic practices of 19th century mediums. This is not to be confused with possession, however.

Invocation is general more dangerous than evocation, due to the necessity of letting the spirit inside one’s own body, although both carry a considerable amount of risk. Aleister Crowley, an extremely capable magician, even came close to death after losing control of an evoked spirit. Reportedly he was never quite the same afterwards.

Evocation is most commonly performed with the aid of a magic mirror, pictured above, consisting of a triangle inscribed with various occult formulae and a polished disc of onyx or other reflective black material. The operator gazes into the mirror while reciting the necessary incantations and the summoned entity becomes visible therein.

The study of Goetic magic deals with controlling summoned entities and convincing or coercing them to do the will of the mage. Since beings from other planes share very little in common with human thoughts, emotions, and morals, it is always risky dealing with them unless you have a very good command of the spells necessary to protect yourself and banish the spirit back from whence it came. However, when successfully employed, Goetic magic is among the most powerful there is.

The Sacred Book of Abramelin the Mage deals extensively with this topic, and describes a wide variety of remarkable effects produced by its successful application.


Eliphas Levi queries the Tarot: “What do the fates think of Vompatti?”
He reverently turns up a card:

”Well, that’s interesting.”

Hedgeowl has been killed by Abramelin the Mage.
You have 24 hours to lynch someone.

Metalmarsh89 wrote: And I don't know how anyone else feels about this, but it looks like llama slipped up here. I may get slammed for looking too much into this, but llama seems to imply in this post that the civvies are lucky that nutella was lynched over me, meaning I am civvie. Take it how you will.

I made no such slip up and I would never reveal identities in lynch posts, but good for you for trying.

Elohcin wrote: It was fun while it lasted.

You're just saying that to protect my feelings.

Natural magic is a broad category of magical effects produced from simple combination of elements of the natural world. Unlike ritual or ceremonial magic, where the actions and will of the operator produce the effect, natural magic is self-working. A classic example is the way that iron disrupts the connection between the material and etheric planes.

The basic principle of natural magic is sympathy, the notion that like affects like. In voodoo, which contrary to popular opinion is largely drawn from European witchcraft, the voodoo doll is made by collecting hair or nails from the victim, binding them up into a facsimile of him, the theory being that action taken upon the doll will be transferred to the victim through sympathetic magic.

Sympathetic magic was used extensively in rainmaking, and the curing of diseases. Food can cure the body's ailments through the principles of sympathy. Since the heart is believed to be characterized by courage, it was believed that eating the heart would grant courage to the eater. The eating of animal genitalia was believed to cure impotence. And so on, and so on. The list of plants, stones, and animals that can produce magical effects is enormous.

Further reading:
Natural Magic by Albertus Magnus
Four Books of Occult Philosophy, Book One: Natural Magic, by Cornelius Agrippa
The Golden Bough: a Study of Magic and Religion by J. G. Frazer.


Elohcin has been killed by Abramelin the Mage
You have 24 hours to avenge her.

Largely popularized in the 19th century by Madame Helena Blavatsky, Theosophy is a complex theory of the evolution and nature of humanity and of divinity. Theosophy posits a structure of the universe that is logical and which can be extrapolated to discover truth. The meaningful coincidences, describe by psychologist Carl Jung as Synchronicity, are key.

Blavatsky claimed to have received direct knowledge of many races of mankind, gradually progressing from the purely spiritual to the physical beings we are today. She claimed that the human race passes through predictable cycles, and that the next phase of human evolution was rapidly approaching.

The present race of humanity was believed to be the Fifth, known as the Aryan. There would be a total of seven races before the cycle completes. Blavatsky was a believer in lost continents such as Atlantis and Lemuria, and theorized that their inhabitants came from the Fourth and Third Root Races respectively.

Further reading:
Synchronicity by Carl Young
The Secret Doctrine by Helena Blavatsky


Ninja Blooper has been murdered to death by Abramelin the Mage.
MovingPictures07 has been resurrected.
You have 24 hours to lynch someone. Actually, I am going to a baseball game tomorrow night. You have 48 hours.

thellama73 wrote:I have received all the PMs I expect to. Does anyone object if I end the night a little early? I will be at a baseball game tomorrow night, so the day period will last 48 hours.

Well, I'm going to anyway. Deal with it.

Metalmarsh89 wrote: llama, if the mafia is eliminated, will it be declared in the game thread?

The mafia has been eliminated. You're just after the indie now.

birdwithteeth11 wrote:

thellama73 wrote:Oh, and since it's annoying when hosts are too cryptic about these sorts of things, I will go ahead and tell you that yes, you have to kill Abramelin. Someone like that just can't be allowed to live.

Did he do some not-very-nice things?

Let's just say that power corrupts.

One of the most powerful and interesting powers at the disposal of witches was reportedly their Flying Ointments, which they rubbed on their bodies to allow them to fly to the Witches’ Sabbath. Recipes for Flying Ointments have been handed down to us from a number of sources, but of course their authenticity is questionable, and there is a need to change with the times.

Your assignment for tonight is to come up with a modern recipe for flying ointment for your personal use. Points will be awarded for thoroughness of research, creativity, personal appropriateness, panache and moxie. Rewards will be given arbitrarily according to my fickle, transient whim.

While MetalMarsh and Nutella were diligently working away at this task, the rest of the group was engaged in sneaky talk behind their backs. Some wanted to lynch Metal, the others, Nutella. It was such a tough decision they could barely make it! Finally, though, they settled on Nutella.

Was this the end for poor Nutella? Would her career as an occultist be cut short by an angry and fickle mob?

Yep.

Nutella has been lynched. She was Aleister Crowley.
Chronozon, with a satisfied smirk, has receded into the realm from whence he came.
You have 24 hours to submit your PMs and post a recipe for a flying ointment in the thread.

Vompatti wrote:Why is MP on the poll?

Because I forgot to remove him from my list, obviously. Please don't vote for him.

Epignosis wrote:

Metalmarsh89 wrote:

Elohcin wrote:As for who I am voting for today, it is between Mongoose and Nutella. I have explained my suspicions of them both and Nutella's most recent post seems like distancing to me.

Niju, what do you think of Mongoose? You had said before the MP lynch that his case on her seemed sound and then you voted MP. What was your reasoning there?

There's only one mafia left. Who is nutella distancing from? As far as I know, distancing is something that baddies teammates do.

My bad.

I totally missed that we are down to one baddie. I am on vacation and trying to participate as much as possible in Mafia b/c I LOVE it! But I am not as involved as I would be if were at home. As there is only one baddie, I agree with Niju, we ought to look at those lying low. That is what I would do if I were the last baddie. Nutella pinged me in the very beginning of the game and has been a pretty low poster. I am voting her way. Now for some awesome homemade fettuccine chicken alfredo with steamed broccoli. Mmm!

Aren't you supposed to be dead, Rob?

Cryptozoology is not strictly a form of occultism, but typically refers to the search for non-magical animals undiscovered by science. However, there is some overlap, when these animals are believed to exist on planes other than the physical one.

For example, the vampire myth is believed to have originated from the “old hag” phenomenon, where people from all cultures awake in the middle of the night feeling as though the life is being sucked out of them. When resulting in death, this is referred to as Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS). There is no medical explanation at present.

Werewolves were never really thought to be the product of physical transformations, but a sort of etheric representation of an animal summoned and controlled by a witch or wizard via an out of body experience.

Fairies and other forms of sprite were etheric beings whose diminishing presence in the world is explained by the rise of industrialization and widespread use of metals. Iron, as well as silver, are believed to disrupt the connection between the etheric and physical planes.

Most experiences with angels and demons are also thought to come from interplanary contact, all of which falls vaguely within the realm of cryptozoology. The communication with both angels and demons is one of the chief aims of many forms of magic, as will be seen presently.

Further reading: Monsters, by John Michael Greer.
Vampires and Vampirism by Montague Summers
The Werewolf in Lore and Legend by Montague Summers
werewolves


Boogs has been killed by Aleister Crowley
Chronozon has awakened.

You have 24 hours to lynch a baddie.

Amulets used to propel evil have an important place in the magical tradition, and one of the most powerful amulets is what is known as a Magic Square.

Pure mathematics, transcending as they do the material realm, have always been thought to have special powers. A Magic Square consists of an equal number of rows and columns filled with unique numbers, such that every row, column, and the two main diagonals, add up to the same number. (if this is confusing, PM me and I'll clarify.)

Your assignment for tonight is to populate a magic square and PM it to me. The example above is 3x3, which is easiest, but higher numbers of rows and columns will be accepted. A correctly made amulet will serve as a valuable protection.

It was too late for any such amulet to protect MovingPictures07, however.

MovingPictures07 has been lynched. He was Eliphas Levi.
You have 24 hours to submit your PMs and entries to the Magic Square assignment.

MovingPictures07 wrote:Thanks for the game, Llama!

You're welcome, but there are still four missing votes and a sold 18 minutes.

Mongoose wrote:

thellama73 wrote:

Mongoose wrote:Late host is late.

I am not late. Look at the poll ending time. I said I would close the poll at 6 IF all the votes came in by then. It would not be fair to cut it off when I previously told people they had 24 hours.

I'm just poking ya. But it's after 640?

Check your daylight savings time settings.

Mongoose wrote:Late host is late.

I am not late. Look at the poll ending time. I said I would close the poll at 6 IF all the votes came in by then. It would not be fair to cut it off when I previously told people they had 24 hours.

nutella wrote:Llama -- would blocks/protects/stuff like that be written into the post at all?

In the event that a kill fails, my policy is to write "no one has died" without explaining the reason.

S~V~S wrote: Llama~ Do you randomize roles? I got that impression somewhere.

I always randomize roles so that no one can can try to figure out roles by guessing my thought process.

Thank you all for your wonderful magic circles! I'm giving the prize to Metalmarsh for creativity, symmetry, and beauty.


Qabalah (or Kabbalah) is an aspect of ancient Judaism dealing with the structure of the universe. It s an incredibly complex and subtle discipline, but the key doctrine involves the Tre of Life, a symbolic diagram describing the organization of existence. Essentially, the theory is that limitless non-being (filled with potential for everything) spilled over into a series of sephiroth (containers) that one by one overflowed and refined towards the physical world. The sephiroth are Keter (pure light, sometimes thought of as God), Chockmah (boundless energy, force), Binah (form, the nature of two dimensional space), Chesed (mercy, imagination, three dimensional space), Geburah (strength, will), Tiphareth (consciousness), Netzach (growth, nature), Hod (reason, abstract thought), Yesod (the etheric world, magical operations), and Malkuth (the physical world.)

This is an oversimplification and all the sephiroth have many different aspects and can be interpreted in many different ways. There are also paths that link the sephiroth together each with its own unique character. Meditating on the tree can yield profound insights into the nature of the universe. Beneath Malkuth are ten more sephiroth known as qlippoth (shells) that represent the continued degradation of matter. These are sometimes referred to as demons, generally considered to be evil or at least dangerous, and mostly avoided by all but the practicioners of black magic. The qlippoth are thought to be remnants from a previous attempt to create the universe which failed due to instability.

The sephiroth also correspond to parts of the human body. As above, so below.

The Hermetic Qabalah is a very useful organizational tool to help magicians craft spells, astrally travel, meditate and learn new truths. It remains the most popular magical system for the serious student.

For additional reading see: The Holy Kabbalah by A.E. Waite
Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune
The Garden of Pomegranates by Israel Regardie
and The Qabalah Unveiled by S.L. MacGregor Mathers.

The students were pleased with their magic circles, as well they should be. They seem to have done just the trick. They still had to lynch someone, though.

No one has died. You have 24 hours to lynch a baddie.

S~V~S wrote:Will we have a contest that does not involve drawing/Paint/visuals? I am so awful at those, i don;t even try. Especially after some of the awesome submissions we have had.

Linki~ oooooo thats cool

I have two more contests currently scheduled and neither of them involves drawing.

Mongoose wrote:

Metalmarsh89 wrote:This magic circle I constructed this morning. From within this realm, I study the secrets of this world.

I can't see your magic circle, sug.

Neither can I, and I'm the one who counts.

Mongoose wrote:Sorta OTQuick drive by post to say I'm packing and doing a million errands today, but I'll be back later tonight to vote in the lynch post. Probably Sock, but I gotta catch up on the thread first.

It is Night. There is no lynch poll.

Poor Boogs just couldn’t catch a break. After a heated exchange with Dom, the group came to a consensus that he was probably not a jolly good fellow, a crime for which the penalty was death. In any case, the admittedly vague signs yielded by their amateur divination seemed to point to him. Nevertheless, they lynched A Person instead, who got we he deserved for not showing up to vote in his own defense.

A Person has been lynched. He was Israel Regardie. Yay!

Magic can be fun, but it’s also serious bidness. There are all sorts of dangerous and unpredictable entities lurking behind the etheric veil. These are not always malevolent, but even so they can cause inadvertent harm to an unprepared human.

That’s why smart magicians always operate within the confines of a magic circle, sealed with a protection ritual to keep out all the unwanted nasties. A magic circle is an enclosed space sealed by various holy words, names of God, protective symbols, and miscellaneous meaningful symbolism. These circles vary greatly depending on the personality and inclinations of the mage. Hebrew is frequently employed, as is the obscure ENochian language discovered by John Dee and Edward Kelley. An example can be found on the first page of this thread.

Your assignment for today is to design a magic circle to protect you from all the badness out there. Post in the thread, and once again, my favorite gets a prize.

You have 48 hours (because I am busy tomorrow night) to send in PMs and submit an entry for the contest.