Those Magical Books

This last two weeks 'unpayed holiday' was a blessing. I haven't slept normally for a while, I was really tired …and I had time to read at last. I mean I usually read on the evenings, but it was far better to read all day if I wanted to. Finally I could finish some books I started reading a quite some time ago and I even had the time to buy some new ones.

So my new books for the Spring:
The History of Magic by Eliphas Lévi
The Book of Ceremonial Magic by A. E. Waite
Elementals by Paracelsus 

In Spring when the nature just awakening I usually in a magical mood when I'm open to the unknown and everything mystical and surprising [well, a little bit higher salary would be surprising…].

As I said once I'm into occultism/esotericism to a certain limit, especially into the second half of the 19th century, when the archeological excavations brought a complete new aspect to the world and many philosophers, scientists [and charlatans as well] started to rediscover the late cultures with its own mysteries, religious ceremonies, rituals and of course they started to rediscover the Eastern philosophies as well as researching the roots of "witchcraft". The first pioneers of the modern occultism were H. Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, Alice Bailey, but there aren't any Hungarian translation from them. Then the big names were Eliphas Lévi, A. Crowley, A. Edward Waite, Papus, T. Reuss. There aren't any translation from Reuss and Papus as well and I can't stand that Crowley guy so there are only two persons left to read from... I knew well Waite before by his writings about their Rider-Waite tarot deck with the illustrator Pamela C. S. I'm crazy about tarot cards, I just don't know why… anyway I hope I will find something interesting in these writings, due to I have a little scepticism about esoteric and occult books. But maybe this feeling in me comes from the contemporary authors. There are too many hogwash books without certain knowledge, most of them just repeating each other and less about some philosophical/theoretical background or inspiration but more about the - typical - appearance, unique lifestyle [what is not unique if all imitate each other...], stones and scents and that is all... and there are too many bigoted "witch" as well who for me are just as frightening as a bigoted catholic or a simple stupid but egoisticly proud person like most of my colleagues... Maybe that's why I never had the slightest intention following a coven or whatsoever. Catholic Church was enough for me for a lifetime to ruin me. I called it the Same Old Church of Narrowness and Manipulation... This is just my bitter opinion, before you openly send me into hell in the comment section... 😑 Not that I  care. If someone ask me about my religion I usually say I'm simply a nature lover neo pagan whatever, who is into Buddhism as well and that is all. I'm interested in the Ancient Greek religion but that is just an interest and not about adoring the chauvinist/hedonist Zeus or doing ceremony imitations and other funny things. I have a pagan altar thing but I only meditate and is rather a room decoration than a used altar. Rarely I follow the group meditation in the local Buddhist community but nothing other Buddhist events ever again what are mostly about the money [sadly in this Western Buddhist way] and making "friends"... surprisingly always the lonesome men found me... It's a Buddhist social gathering not a village matchmaking party for god sakes...

Sometimes I read Buddha's and the Dalai Lama's teachings and - somewhat sensible - esoteric and neo-pagan books and that is all what I can call my "spiritual life"... 

But I think I will enjoy Waite and Lévi's books and I hope I can follow their thoughts. Seems a little high to me. Well, we'll see.

I bought that Paracelsus book, because the preview said it's about fictional creatures of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and that this book and some other Medieval thinkers in the topic were who possibly inspired later Tolkien and maybe Rowling as well who wrote the two well-known modern magical myths...

What can I say, I read out the book under 1 hour... no joke, and it was a dissapointment. Well there were some interesting thoughts about creatures what could be the hobbits later and some things about melusines and water nymphs, but the rest of the book was nothing but a bigoted religious blah blah around God and Adam... and that women, animals and creatures[?!] are just the same and both have no souls only Adam has and other stupidness... not to mention the lame, sometimes unfinished sentences... I would expect more from a big hit Renaissance humanist thinker... [Maybe his other works are far sensible but I don't care...] Sorry Mr. °C but you were a dissapointment to me, although I respect the humanists, especially Cosimo de' Medici, the patron of arts. I think I'll just back to my heroine H. of Bingen. She lived min. 300 years earlier than Para C. but there have more wiseness and ratio [apart from some of her poetical religious visions] in her thoughts about humanity than some of the men had later in the Renaissance for sure... That is what I'm missing from the R. humanist era [too], a female thinker's aspect... but due to usually a woman's title was "shut up and bear child - and sons, if it's possible" it is but a naive expectation from me... If Hildegard would be a simple woman not an abbess with political patroners around her, probably would died a horrible death as well as any other free-spirited thinkers...

Ok, I finish my happy thoughts again. Unbelievable how I can reach an average feminist topic from an innocent book again... or books are everything but innocents? Nooo! They make us think! OMG, no thinking! That is the fall of [wo]Man!!!!! ... You know what? I'm in! 😜

Good Day!/Szép napot! ✌

Seahorse Pipe And Cookie Tobacco

So it seems I can stay another year in that holy place [office] with the sunny-shiny holy trinity [colleagues]... well, better than nothing. But this week is mine, due to the new start starts only on next Monday. Till then I have/had nothing to do but eat, sleep, paint, read and the new one... to puff.

When I was young I always considered myself an anti-smoker and I was till I was at the end of my twenties. My college final year was a hell and one day I just bought a pack of cigarette... Especially liked kretek [Djarum Black], that Indonesian kind with clove. My luck that later I hadn't got the money for such things [neither cigarette nor vodka and tequila...] anymore because of the unemployment so I just quitted smoking... Ok I finish talking about my late decadent life... The point is that sadly I missed something or I don't know what was in my mind in this January. I thought about buying a tobacco pipe. My dad used to smoke when he was younger. I found his beautiful handmade carved briar pipe. Maybe the memories about him again I cannot put aside... Anyway. I watched again one of my favourite the Jeremy Brett's Sherlock series when I just said to myself "I should buy a pipe". With the age I'm more and more loony... What is missing are a hundred cats, or in my case a hundred bunnies...
Well I didn't know a thing about this whole topic, but what is the internet for. I found some pretty nice sites about the history of tobacco pipes etc. In Hungary the first pipe shop was the 'Gallwitz' on Váci street at Budapest. A Hungarian-Jewish business family established it somewhen in the late 19th century and they still has this first shop. They had their own hardships through the 20th century. The shop was the first in Hungary what not only selled [their own] handmade pipes but other pipes from popular brands and tobaccos as well [Dunhill, Savinelli, Peterson]. I found their story interesting. I was in the original shop not long ago and now it's run by the grandson of the establisher Mr. Lipót Gallwitz.

Then the next thing was to buy one... Well, Ebay is the less expensive for me, so I started to search something I would like but not to costly, due to I'm a starter so maybe it's not necessary to start with a Peterson or Vauen or whatever else... but I doubt I will have money for such branded pipes later as well.

Well as I saw this Mr.Bróg brand is somewhat popular in Europe among the average budget customers like me too. They have nice designs and as I saw they are handmade. I bought a pear-wood pipe. I know the best is from briar, but as for a start this is good enough for me [to ruin under a short time].

So from the variety of Mr.Bróg I chose this pretty one, called Seahorse

I think it's cute [typical female opinion about everything I know...], but look a tiny seahorse

As for tobacco I bought this nut flavoured from Peterson. The smell is torturing, reminds me of a Hungarian cake, the Zserbó [chocolate, walnut, marmalade and vanilla pastry]. Yep, nutty flavour for a nutty lady...

My first was incredibly funny... I felt myself an old pirate or something... Hahaha 

My face as I concentrated... Hahhahha I had to relight my pipe min. 15 times... I did very lame at the beginning Hahha but who cares...

The mess I left 

So thanks for Sherlock Holmes and the hobbits for I wanted to try this fun too... but I think I will just do this piping thing moderately because I'm still against smoking... or am I just shut up this time? Ok.

Good Day!/Szép napot! ✌