the beginning of the end (?)

4 thoughts on “the beginning of the end (?)”

1. Dear Allison,

   Although the comment I’m now embarking upon composing (at long last: having been prevaricating for quite some considerable (further) while about whether or not to submit additional of my idle witterings for your considered perusal ~ and indubitably dubious “enjoyment”!) necessarily will seem to be a little “off-topic” initially (irrespective of whichever of your ’blog-posts I append it to ~ so may as well discontinue my prior prevarication by making a proper opening at the close of your most recent ~ and heartwarmingly optimistic ~ offering, “the beginning of the end”; it’s as good a starting-point as any, wherefrom to venture forth!), I trust that you will find what I’m about to impart reasonably interesting, at the very least…?

   Right: here goes!: I’m immediately tempted to pose the question: “What would you say, Allison, if I informed you that I was in contact with someone claiming to be the likely reincarnation of the historic personage ~ the central protagonist (or ‘antagonist’, depending on one’s viewpoint!) ~ of your fledgling novel, ‘Fool’s Gold’; and that he wished to convey some matters of Spiritual importance, and words of gentle encouragement, to you, in support of your creative endeavours and psychic explorations ~ how would you respond?” ~ but, No: I cannot bring myself to adopt even this mild Imposture or Deception, and must instead be as straightforward and honest with you as I would be (indeed, historically *was*!) with, say, a Holy Roman Emperor; to pretend or feign otherwise, to even the slightest detriment of Truth, is a quality (or, rather, lack of such) utterly inimical to my plain-dealing nature and (dare I say it; though you’d perhaps beg to differ! :P) essential Decency and Spirituality. But what am I driving at here, exactly?! Simply this: That my question of moments ago should be rephrased thus: “What would you say, Allison, if I informed you that I am (very likely) the reincarnation of the historic personage ~ the central protagonist (or ‘antagonist’, depending on one’s viewpoint!) ~ of your fledgling novel, ‘Fool’s Gold’; and that I wish to convey some matters of Spiritual importance, and words of gentle encouragement, to you, in support of your creative endeavours and psychic explorations ~ how would you respond?”

   Gawd ~ reading back over the above, I hope I don’t come across as being in any way Grandiose or delusional?! Because, far from wanting to bang on about myself (or my own veeeery modest psychic abilities); or to in any way assert any kind of daft “monopoly” over insights regarding John Dee or Enochiana or whatever, what I *instead* wish to do is to extol YOUR achievements and genuine Psychic abilities ~ because, simply put: I’ve been mildly astounded at the ever-growing catalogue of intriguing Synchronicities betwixt my own *private* ponderings and writings, and your (ensuing: subsequent, hitherto-unbeknownst-to-me) *public* pronouncements regarding your own (hitherto undisclosed) preoccupations and creativity, etc. ~ not only lately, but stretching back over quite a few years! (To give just one example, off the top of my head: I’ve long entertained a pun upon “fool’s gold”, ever since reading, during the early ’90s, in “The Silence of the Lambs”, of Dr Lecter waxing ~ and gloating ~ learnedly to Agent Starling concerning a pseudonym of another character, “Billy Rubin”: i.e., alluding to the physiological compound bilirubin: which bears chemical kinship with (is more or less identical or synonymous with, according to Lecter) iron pyrites: fool’s gold! ~ albeit I smiled to myself at thinking of “fools *gulled*”: that is, fleeced (of golden fleeces and suchlike treasures!) or otherwise duped! Interestingly, I was subsequently surprised, one day in more recent history, to learn that the very word “gull” derives from Nordic (Old Norse < Proto-Germanic) *gultha (with the “th” the runic/Old English letter Thorn, IIRC), which actually signifies its near-soundalike, “gold”, curiously enough! ~ perhaps on account of the predominantly yellow colouration of gull-beaks; or mayhap owing to the richly golden, highly nutritious goodness that lay within gull-eggs pilfered from nests by scavenging, hungry Norsemen of yore?)

   By the way, you’re not the only Writer I’ve contacted online to share my thoughts with (I say this, I hasten to add, primarily to reassure you that I’m not, like, fixating on “you alone, Allison!” or doing anything even remotely obsessive or unsavoury like that; nor am I insinuating any sort of “diminishment” whatsoever of my continuing positive, highly-impressed estimation of your really rather considerable Achievements and Talents!) ~ but that being said, I must confess that you’re the first individual (in my experience) to so consistently amaze me with your Psychic prowess; it really does betoken (as I hinted in a previous Comment I made: see your “on voting and [your] inner Pollyanna” post for a reminder!), IMHO, your deep and special kinship, indeed, with Dr Dee! (Those who take an interest in him tend to find their interest reciprocated by the good Doctor, I’ve found: he’ll gently exert his Spiritual powers over your subconscious mind so as to elicit responses from you ~ via your Creativity and Imagination ~ that, once subjected to thorough analysis, shall provide persuasive evidence of the Spiritual realm: the Afterlife, and so on! Plus, you habitually refer to your Other Half as “D.”, don’t you, so it’s really not so astonishing that a beneficent and kindhearted Spirit, every bit as beneficent and kindhearted as your Other Half, should be predisposed to lending ear to your apparently calling upon “D.”’s homophonic companion: “Dee!” :o))

   Anyway, maybe take a looksee at comments o’ mine submitted to a certain ’blog-post, “Seven Ways in which Saruman is like John Dee” (https://matthewrettino.com/2013/12/20/7-ways-in-which-saruman-is-like-john-dee/), on Canadian writer/academic Matthew Rettino’s “Archaeologies of the Weird” ’blog (formerly “The Vinciolo Journal” before he “rebranded” it a coupla years or so ago!); that’ll give you some idea of my interest in what so interests you! (Check out the wealth of other stuff he discusses in his ’blog besides Dee and suchlike Esoterica; much intriguing content to be found therein, methinks you’ll concur!)

   Looking forward to your reply with enthusiastic anticipation as always,

   Best Wishes & Warmest Regards,
   Max
   () :o)

   (P.S.: I’d written a load of poems and whatnot ~ much of which turned out to possess no small degree of “Prophetic” import (silly though that may sound; and much to even the ostensible writer’s ~ i.e., my own ~ surprise!) ~ appertaining to political developments in the U.S., etc., and had been intending to send ’em to you; and would *yet* like to share with you ~ but decided (for the meantime) *not* to submit such… oddities? insights into my “psychic methodology”? (such as it is; it’s pretty haphazard! Plus, the Modern Rationalist in me baulks at making myself seem unduly credulous in Paranormal goings-on; I’m actually really quite Sceptical about Strange Phenomena, truth be told!), etc., to your ’blog unless you grant unequivocal permission for me to do so (or at least express mild interest in what me waffling on about, hehehe!)! :P)

   Loading...

2. “STYLLE* THY† SYLLABYLLES ENCRESE EVER-ECHE LYNE!” /[10 or 11 Syllables, for starters!]

   [*Imperative? Or simple observation?: Facts! ~ YOU decide!]

   [†The Middle-English spelling lends itself to the intentional ambiguity of EITHER: Verily “thy” as we nowadays know it: i.e., Determin(er)edly Possessivus (in which case, the Title *is* an Imperative directed at affectedly-ME me (the author) by some imaginèd, disapproving, syllable-rationing Rival In Poetry!); /OR: ’Tis simply a ME variant of “the”: a Definite Article! (In which case, we’re talking: simple observation (courtesy Critique) that increasing syllable-count, in ensuing lines below, arguably pushes the “Envelope of Acceptability”™ waaay past bursting-point? :P]

   Sith Breuity’s the verie Zenith, Crovvne of VVitte /[12]
   (An be it Contrarie? Digges the deepeſt Pits, for Twitte!), /[13]
   Behooues it mee (too Verball uſually?) heere to curtall, /[14]
   Forthvvith, vvhat elſe ’comes o’er-Expoſition? ~ VVhereon (heere,vvithall!): /[15]
   https://matthewrettino.com/2016/02/13/one-thousand-and-one-hockey-nights-in-canada/

   Hehehe! (“Scooby” chuckling!) 😛

   Btw, further to my previous (and possibly ill-advised or ill-timed?) comment: FWIW, methinks your approach to tackling the subject of Dee ’n’ Kelley is absolutely persuasive and the totally correct conclusion (indeed, the only genuinely valid conclusion!) that can be, erm, concluded: yep, Kelley undoubtedly *was* a bit of an unscrupulous trickster who so cozened and bamboozled Dee as to (eventually) have his way in ways still shocking (even in this highly permissive day and age); I can only conjecture (or, rather, offer or safely vouch) that such was (must have been) the metaphorical dirt that Walsingham (and his network of brutal enforcers) had on Kelley, the selfsame medium (pun intended) betwixt Walsingham and Dee didn’t ultimately have any choice in duping the good Doctor ~ or at least stringing him along as long as the dictates of the undercover Intelligencer-ing job demanded ~ and no amount of mystical or alchemical “dirt” (soil; red tinctures of Projection; and suchlike paraphernalia of out-of-kilter make-believe) could ever abrogate the fate that Fate and State (and, of course, Kelley’s own actions) dictated should befall! (And besides, given the pressures of the very fraught job, as a reluctant “Spy in the House of Love”, is it really so surprising that Kelley finally cracked ~ beyond his already-fragile state and State! ~, succumbing to the Temptation embodied in Jane Dee by determining to exploit just about the only real, literally *tangible* “perk” of the assignation? (An assignation that was at first a halfway straightforward *assignment*, arguably “innocent”: only duplicitous insofar as pandering to Dee’s thirst for Occult mumbo-jumbo and pious ritual; and only considerably *later* descending into “assignation(s)” in the modern ~ and Biblical (ironically!) ~ sense: with the emphasis on “ass” (or “arse”, as a Brit like moi would put it!)! Plus: Kelley should have been firmly, sternly rebuffed as soon as he started making inappropriately saucy overtures (and the firm, stern rebuff should have come from *Dee himself*, one might assert, who was surely the first to hear those smutty yearnings voiced? Unless…, of course, Kelley had *already* been conducting an affair with the other man’s wife for quite some years, and finally ~ several years of covert cuckoldry later! ~ just wanted Dee himself to undeniably *know* what he surely must have at least *suspected*: let’s rub the Doctor’s face in it whilst we’re at it? That sort of twisted impulse); the fact that John Dee was too overly, so resolutely “impatiens” (as ’twere), and so miserably failed to brusquely and forthrightly thunder at Kelley (apropos of Jane, and K’s intentions towards her), “Hey, noli, Noli: NOLI *EAM* TANGERE!”, has to go down 😛 in History as a (largely) inexplicable Mystery ~ I’m sorry, but the justification “We were only following orders!” (even if they *seem* Divine directives!) rarely exonerates anyone of personal culpability for their own individual (or even collective: in the historical case under scrutiny, *folie, et ménage, à quatre*) choices and decisions and actions, does it?) But my conjecturing about such bygones needn’t (definitely *shouldn’t*!) prove of any consequence to your Novel; it’s impressive enough as it stands, I’m sure, and likely wouldn’t “benefit” from anyone else’s input or interference (mine least of all!): it’s YOUR unique creation, and is perfectly constructed as it is, of that I’m highly confident! I mean, I particularly like the way you initiate your Opus with Kelley performing ~ and taking literal physical pains over (besides psychically fretting about!) ~ incantatory Ritual; it seemed highly apposite to yours truly (for reasons I shan’t belabour here, at this present juncture)!

   Also of possible interest: me have completed/am (further) developing/scribbling-out several pomes ~ some similarly daft as the above-linked (e.g., there’s one ’bout a sinister “were-donkey” whom I’ve christened “Geraint Calvus”, in a cheeky nod to the I.D. of… oh, I dunno; now he’s just Somebody that we used to know!); whereas in other, different pomes, me attempting to sound a somewhat/rather seriouser note! (In fact, even the “were-donkey” nonsense is actually just a pretext, a framework, for demonstrating quasi-“Divination” techniques involving me ad-hoc “Table of Practice”, i.e., writing paper(s) leant on an old cereal packet whilst me ponder the usually Imponderable!)

   As an example of me verse in more straightforward-and-serious mode:

   VOTARIE

   “Wherefore am I no longer votarie /
   to Silence, and yet remaine Diſciple /
   (poſt complαinτe) to Euer-
   during Silence?”

   —Eduardus Kellæus, {“Prouerbia Prouidentiæ”}

   THesſe VVords Compile: Th’ Tender of my extant Thoughts, /
   A hard and heauie Vndertaking proues: /
   In that I purpos’d this, my late, Returne be made /
   Much ſooner (ſooth, it had been my Intendment /
   More Impartment follow Chriſtmas nigh as cloſe /
   As Thunders diſcourſe blazes Lightning flaſh!), /
   But that darke Conſiderance, of thine owne; /
   And ſecondarily, Worldly Conſequence, /
   Likewiſe darke, conſtrain’d mee to abandon /
   (Till this Preſent paſſe) all newer Witte to Silence; /

   And Farthermore,

   tho’ I would ’twere not my ſeeming Ayme /
   To thinke and ſpeake on’t, my Pauſe (anon, my Prate?) /
   Too ouer-much ({much} Farther? More, perhaps: /
   To ſuch {unended} Meaſure, that, at length, /
   The Paſſe be raught, nay, paſs’d, whereat, what’s ſaid i’ Ieſt, /
   {Videlicet}, VNENDED, ere verie long /
   Comes vnto, and indeed becomes, but Vanitie: /
   And, in a word, quite {Purgatoriall}, /
   If ou’r-inioy’d: an abſolute {Euermore}!), /

   And inſomuch there’s much o’ quiet (yett Deepe) Diſquiet, /
   Indeed, in thy meere melancholly Straine; /
   And, likewiſe, the like Woe (in faith, nay, {more}), /
   In much of Wordly Conſequence of late /

   (The Latter of which twaine Regards was ☝Precedent☝, /
   And did firſt proceed: in that it was, and is, /
   O’courſe, th’accurſèd Precurſe of the Former), /
   That, in Coniunction Crabbèd, quite diſcomfited /
   The workings of our vnquiet Mindes of late; /

   _☟
   ☞Concerning which Importance, I will thee reſolue, /
   By and by: Knowe thou {this}, deere Lady A.: /
   That, Certes, my ſtraight (yet euer-ſtraying) Tenour /
   Doth (in it whiſp’ring low) round roundely in thine eare /
   Such ſtarke, ſtrange-vnaccuſtom’d Ouer-plus /
   Of Matters meruaile, and moſt Wondrous wyrd /
   (Albeit vnwholeſome-fraught wi’ things o’ Deepeſt Night?), /
   As t’impart certaine

   (but not {the} certaine? Or, rather, the {☞Certayne}?☜)

   Meane whereby thine Art /
   (Of ſecret ſort) may compaſſe Bettering, /
   Through the appertaining Auguration, /
   Wondringly, of diuers Signes and Emblemes: /
   Yea, great manie Inſtances (Ile Warrant) /
   Deſignèd and Predeſtinate by Heau’n, /
   Wherewithall thou ſhalt be VVitneſſe too Effect, /

   Why!, ſimple Continent, and plaineſt Summarie, /
   Cannot hold heerein, ſimply cannot bee /
   (Albeit I would it would, and were vnto my Ayde, /
   Rather then, wel-a-neare, alacke!, the Want thereof, /
   Turn’d fruſtrate Furth’rance: O’! my likelier Faile?): /
   Ay (and aye): ſuch the fruitfull Croppe (and Rote) /
   Of eu’rie Gayne that euer iſſueth /
   From Thrice-Great {Hermes} Thrice-bleſt, Goodly {Tree}, /
   Nigh (yet ne’er fulle!) gets th’ better of all ſtrife, too deepe /
   And penetrably ’ſcry: and (ſay I) euer, truly {looke}: /
   Thorough, and euer paſt, th’ preſent Myſterie of {Iſis} Vaile! /

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   First section (“THesſe Words Compile” down to “all newer Witte to Silence”) I wrote just before the New Year ~ though there was another poem just before it (immediately post-Crimbo); and yet another penned immediately after it (certainly pre-January 6th, at any rate): which, taken together, seemed oddly prescient (my conscious concerns notwithstanding; it’s not like I don’t follow the News from time to time!), like I implied previously, of the Capitol Riot; I only realized subsequently that “M-E-L-E-E” ( i.e. mêlée) had been acrostically hinted in the writing: chiming with the ensuing significant disorder and chaos of that fateful day (a Right old wrongful GOP-instigated-and-executed mêlée, indeed, if ever there was ~ “IF ever there WAS…!”(un)ironically becoming the mantra of Reality-Revisionist A-holes ever on the Right, and ever plainly in the Wrong! *Sigh*.) Let me know if you’d care to read this other stuff (it’s vaguely interesting (to me, anyhoo!) ’cos I was seeking to emulate Nostradamus ~ despite not being anywhere even vaguely close to fluent in French! ~ *me*, not him, I mean! Lol!), and I’ll oblige (sans any waffly Explication next time, I assure you; I’ve already done that here!).

   Anyway, just seeking to encourage you (in my own weird way) to take even deeper interest in the Paranormal so as to see you(rself) venturing just a soupçon *beyond* viewing the subject as arguably “mere” (albeit thought-provoking!) entertainment or “hobby” or suchlike equivocality (if that ~ equivocality; or, rather, equivocally? ~ is indeed how you view, or how/what you feel about, the Paranormal; you strike me as being inherently more Sceptical than credulous, at any rate ~ which is no bad thing, actually: healthy Scepticism is to be applauded, IMHO; otherwise, we might be looking at an instance of “Put the Kool-Aid down, Allison! ~ and hearken to thine Ally’s son: forasmuch he right dissuadeth thee of any such misplac’d belief: lest unwisely should’st thou sup a draught from Cuppe of Blind Belief!”? Heh.) Though that being said, you undeniably possess Psychic abilities: you had a dream prophetic of 9/11 (September the 11th, 2001), did you not, in the week or so preceding the event: Dreamt of your body turning to dust ~ which, although such eventuality (indeed, (eventual) *inevitability*?) is solemnly addressed oft enough at the graveside to uncomfortably remind us of the “ashes, dust” (galactic nebulae, if we’re beings Scientific!) whence we were/are made, and whereunto we must return (no worries, though: our clay (t)hereafter is simply remoulded: and then(ce) we rise afresh, revivified!), nevertheless, I consider your dream to be not so much a subconscious (or, for that matter, conscious!) intimation of (y)our own mortality (“fear of dying” or anything quite so simplistic and scaredy-cat ~ perish the thought!), but instead a “heads-up”, a veritable Message, from The Other Side; I mean, it’s highly unlikely that Psychicism, Intuition, and suchlike unusual (or at least intriguing, even if it is quite commonplace!) phenomena arises purely in isolation, in just the mortal realm ~ no, rather: it operates in conjunction with the gentle imprecations and interpolations of Spirit (which are all too often but dimly perceived by the recipient/percipient: “It’s just MY imagination, and mine alone… erm, isn’t it?!” is how the message is typically construed, even as it’s ostensibly “understood” in its entirety! (That is: yet/still largely overlooking the subtler imports; and likewise largely missing the actual PURPOSE of the message?)) Ergo: methinks there’s comfort to be derived from, say (for example: given your experience) Precognitive dreams (even if they touch upon troubling stuff), because they confirm ~ are enlightening, joyous Affirmation of ~ the Spiritual, Other Universes and Life Everlasting! So: What’s your opinion on such topics (or the likelihood of your own Psychic abilities)? I’d be interested to know! :o)

   Anyway! That’s quite enough for one “comment” (“Flamin’ ESSAY, more like!” would be the understandable riposte!); I can only trust that my interest in (and enthusiasm about!) your ’blog and creative endeavours is welcome: and similarly trust that it’ll be reciprocal Bouquets you’ll be inclined to cast my way (rather than any potential Dracula-esque “flying bricks” ~ i.e., BrickBATS, geddit?! ~ getting lobbed in my direction?!)!

   Best Wishes & Warmest Regards as always,
   Max
   () :o)

   P.S.: Lately watched a particular pair of movies on Netflix (assume you’ve got access to that particular streaming platform? Most folk have!) that I believe you’ll really rather enjoy:

   (1): “Things Heard & Seen” (styled with the ampersand in the poster & much of the promotional stuff!) ~ starring Amanada Seyfried, James Norton (upcoming Brit actor; I’ve caught him in the two series thus far of Beeb drama “Happy Valley”!), Natalia Dyer (only really seen her in intriguing oddity “Velvet Buzzsaw”, but understand she’s in “Stranger Things” ~ which I’ll get round to viewing eventually!), and F. Murray Abraham (Salieri himself!) in a welcome higher-profile role at long last! (Though me bruv forced me to watch him ~ starring alongside then-bankable Eric Roberts! ~ in early-’90s, Fencing-related curiosity “By the Sword” recently! ~ which was… OK? (Actually, I rather enjoyed it!)) Anyway, this Swedenborgian fable is quietly fantastic, IMO, for the way in which it clearly signals (without descending into overt Preachiness!) how remorseless Imposture (the Self-regarding sociopath comtinually regarding their Self in the distorting mirror of their own delusional Self-regard!) can inexorably, irrevocably precipitate truly calamitous unfoldings! (Sadly, these unfortunate consequences are frequently all too predictable? Here implying: “Prophecy” is quite oft predicated upon *predictability and likelihood*: the Prognosticator having weighed possibilities carefully up, upon and in accordance with the Balance of Probabilities? Unfortunately, however, the Truth of even obvious catastrophe(s) is a hellish and unforgiving Reality that inveterate liars persist in *continuing* to refute, as is their habitually craven, desperate wont!) In short: I don’t understand anyone who didn’t find this movie *at all* horrifying (but going by the User Reviews on IMDb, a lot of folk seem blankly unfazed by tragedy domestic?! ~ with my emphasis on the latter word in its every sense: since the film was/is doubtless intended as a telling allegory for the *American* audience primarily?); nor can I fathom how so many folk missed the central, most important takeaway: though Evil’s apparent Might might *seem* to triumph a lot of the time, even its temporal “victories” are but illusory in the longer term (Ultimately: in the context of Eternity; though that’s not to disregard or downplay the suffering Evil causes in the interim, obviously!) ~ and thus, we, the audience, are afforded quiet Optimism, once the passing storm has passed. :o)

   (2): “Coven of Sisters” (2020; alternative title: simply “Coven”): set in the Basque region in 1609, and with much of the dialogue in the Basque language (alongside Spanish), the film follows a group of sisters unjustifiably (by modern/enlightened standards!) charged with VVitchcraft! What I really liked about the movie (aside from its original title being “Akelarre” ~ back when I was younger, I’d intended to write a Diabolism-themed novel entitled “The Cathedral on Akhelarre Hill”; the word means “goat-pasture”, “grazing meadow for goats”, summat like that!) was the way in vvhich ;), during a certain sequence, it keeps switching back and forth between, firstly, the alleged “ringeader” of the sisterhood describing ~ much to the delight and salivating relish of her Inquisitorial interlocutor (the visiting Spanish Magistrate who’d ordered their arrest and incarceration) ~ *exactly* what the saucy old devil desires to hear concerning the alleged “coven”’s supposed deliciously immoral, sexually-charged antics ~ and secondly (albeit primarily!) the PERFECTLY INNOCENT PICNIC and female get-together that *actually* transpired (we in the audience can plainly witness, thanks to our omniscient viewpoint!)! (The poor peasant-girls’ collective fate is, however, almost certain? Or so their “ringleader” pragmatically surmises to herself and her confederates ~ so they may as well have some fun in *sexually* bewitching the presumptuous, Holier-than-thou Patriarchy in the meantime, eh!)

   Anyway! ~ enough! I’d best be off! {Exeunt.}

   Loading...

3. ~~~~ A Very Silly Triptych! ~~~~

   [Imagine (if you *can*!) that you’re listening to a TV announcer who sounds veeery much like Stephen Colbert does when he’s delivering his suave comedic spiel (you know the sort of thang I’m on about: a lengthy ~ or brief-ish! ~ introductory monologue, typically segueing into an interview with a guest, welcome or otherwise!) on “The Late Show” (lately “{A} Late Show” in the programme’s online incarnation!) ~ aaand… ACTION!:]

   [I.]

   “eE·K· HE’S AN EVILL NECROMANCER!” : THE ASININE GIBE!!! /X12

   VVe apologize for now interrupting /A11
   The current Docudrama (THAT WAS all about /B12
   That evergreen British fad: for reusing /A11
   Old, ALREADY-jam-pack’d-groaning graves!); but no doubt /B12
   “Grave Concerns: The Plots Thicken as Folk Sicken /C11
   Of Their ‘ANTIENT’ Funeral Monuments’ Abuse!!!” /D12
   Will reair in SOME *THREE* hours’ time (post-“Wiccan /C11
   Wicker-Armchair Thriller”!) ~ but we’ve got Breaking News ~ /D12
   The Truly Most Alarming News! ~ that the craz’d /E11
   “Onanthrope” (that is, “VVere-Donkey”!), Geraint Calvus, /F12
   Hoof’d it from the *CENTURIES*-old Dēmēns-Frais’d /E11
   Nuthatch mere minutes *AGO*! Thus, we Caution thus: /F12
   This Man-Mule™®© Maniac’s scary, man, you dig? /G11
   Why, he’s even horribler threat than ManBearPig™!!! /G12

   [N.B.: “eE·K·” signifieth Threefold possibility:
   (i) Exclamation, cry of disgust (“Eek!”) ~ appropriately enough?;
   (ii) Mayhap “Also”: an Additional consideration, perhaps? As in, “Would you believe it, but he’s not only a Graverobber, ALSO [eek/eke] he’s a Necromancer!!!”;
   (iii) Disregard the lowercase letter (“e”); and, paying attention to the two small dots, we seem to be faced with the initials “E.K.” ~ extrapolate these according to the Evident Klue into the *very obvious* full name; CAPITALIZE that name; and then, in normal reading sequence (left-to-right; and top-to-bottom), consider it together with all the other CAPITALIZED WORDS (there will be Seventeen altogether, including the name) in the above, first (or do I mean… initial?) section ~ hmmm, whatever message might the Caps-string convey?! :P]

   [II.]

   “A don·key on ‘roof tiles’? It’s no laughing matter!” /X12

   Is what Geraint Calvus’s long-time {Dr}, /A11
   Head-Shrink-in’-Chief™ at Dēmēns-Frais’d, {Dee L. Lawkey}, /B12
   Had to say (somewhat Cryptically?) when her /A11
   Long-Time-Lord™ charge (yes, that’s another Fantasy /B12
   That Calvus has: thinks he’s Doctor… y’know: *Who!*) /C11
   Escap’d the Nuthatch!!! We turn now to the Expert, /D12
   Doctor Dee, to ask *her* what’s “False”, and what’s True, /C11
   About the myths encircling Calvus: How much Dirt, /D12
   In your opinion, Doctor, rightly sticks to’im? /E11
   (Thanks for being with us, by the way!) “No problem; [!] /F12
   Thanks for having me! Well, if we ask what Urim /E11
   And Thummin have to say…” —Wait a sec! Aren’t they them /F12

   Whochamacallit-dooDad-DooJiggers that /A11
   Joseph Smith (founding “prophet” of Mormonism!) /B12
   Us’d to consult ~ “scry” with ~ within’s murky hat?!?! /A11
   “Don’t be ridiculous; there’s no way you’d get him ~ /B12
   Joseph Smith: a full-grown man! ~ to fit inside! /C11
   And besides, Urim and Thummin are fellow Docs /D12
   (And highly Professional ones, mind!) who’ve try’d, /C11
   Here at the Nuthatch with me, via Drugs; and Shocks /D12
   (Full five-thousand volts!); ’n’Ice-baths, looong, to fathom /E11
   Quite *What* it is that makes him ~ Geraint ~ tick! Lately, /F12
   We’ve found his core Delusion’s in a phantom /E11
   ‘Angelicke Androgyne’: ‘Moroni-Madimi’!! /F12
   But to answer your *real* Point: about *Scrying*: /G11
   Helpful, it can be; and there’s NO harm in trying!!! /G12

   [III.]

   Oui : « A·doncque·s (crier sur les toits !) sur les {teilles} » /X12

   Is what the French might well say about using {tiles} /A12
   (Such as from the ‘Scribal’™ game; or make your own /B11
   From cut-up cardboard squares, once letter’d? Yes: that’s {miles} /A12
   Cheaper than ‘Scribal’™!), pair’d with your mobile ’phone /B11
   (Whose screen, when Darkly ‘Off’, be quite the VVitch’s glass!), /C12
   For Divination: O great Adonai!, pray /D11
   Reveal to us the Secrets of Things Yet To Pass!!!” /C12
   …Riiiiiiight(!) ~ Well, *thank you* for that… insightful? foray /D11
   Into the mind of *i · Madman*! (Though the phrase /E12
   “You’ve been working there too long” (or p’raps even /F11
   “The lunatics have taken over the workplace!”) /E12
   Springs to mind…?) But since you’ve mentioned “tiles” again: /F11
   Please, tell us, Doctor: hWat did you mean by saying /G12
   “A don·key on ‘roof tiles’”: at hWat’s he *braying*?! /G11

   “I’m glad you ask’d me to clarify! There’s a chem.: /A12
   A potent, Antipsychotic mix, we use”— /B11
   I’m sorry ~ that YOU, the DOCTORS, use?! “—No: on THEM: /A12
   The patients! Anyway!, this drug’s now got loose”— /B11
   Just like Geraint Calvus? “—on the streets, and is call’d, /C12
   Colloquially, ‘roof tiles’: owing to the way /D11
   E’en a relatively {Old man}: weak, feeble; {Bald} /C12
   (Like {Geraint Calvus} was), will feel years melt away, /D11
   Once it’s taken; and, moreo’er, when his form’s full chang’d, /E12
   He’ll gallop to the {roof}, there the {tiles} to stride!” /F11
   Ah, I *see*! Is he, though, the *sole* soul thus derang’d, /E12
   Or are there more? “…Well, there {was} that Strange Case: {Hyde}: /F11
   DR H{E}N·RI J{EKYLL}¹ was already Seven- /G12
   Thirteenths KELLEY: who fell; dy’d; then? Went straight t’HELL!!!” /G11

   Really? You sound *very* sure the last bit happen’d…?(!) /A12
   “I AM!” —I see. By the way, I lik’d the way /B11
   You made the sound of (what *should have been*?) “Henry” bend /A12
   So that it went all “French”: “*’EN*-RI”!: in that way…?(!) /B11
   “That was delib’rate! So to sound much like ‘JOHN DEE’: /C12
   My forename’s demi-namesake; and likewise a Doc! /D11
   (‘DR’’s given, though: let’s lose both ‘R’s²; then, shift th’ ‘D’ /C12
   To meet ‘I’’s left³; then ‘J’ goes left of ‘HEN’ block⁴; /D11
   Lastly, ‘HEN’’s ‘E’ joins mix’d ‘EKYLL’: yielding ‘KELLEY’!⁵ /E12
   Final tweaks (post-tidying⁶)?: Add ‘O’: make ‘JOHN’: /F11
   And grant he’s ‘dR’! And let ‘DI’ be reckon’d ‘Dee’! /E12
   And un-hide th’ ‘Edward’ {Hyde} doth hint ~ and we’re done!”⁷ /F11
   Well, I gotta say, Doc Dee, that’s persuasive Proof: /G12
   NOT Delusion’s Circlings ~ but *the Ring of Truth!* /G11

   AS ABOVE there feature superscript numerals in the text, SO BELOW there features a parallel schema of the respective Anagrammatic Transformations heralded (each indicated by the relevant corresponding numeral, obviously!):

   1) DR H{E}N·RI J{EKYLL}
   2) D–H{E}N –I J{EKYLL}
   3) ––H{E}N DI J{EKYLL}
   4) –J-H{E}N DI {EKYLL}
   5) –J-H — N DI {KELLEY}
   6) J-HN DI + KELLEY
   7) [dR] JOHN Dee + KELLY,E[dward]

   The Insightful reader will readily grasp the true Purpose of the author of the preceding verses: he seeks to introduce the novel idea that Dr John Dee continues to exert his considerable influence, from Beyond, over mankind’s Creative Imagination (what Jungian psychology terms “the Collective Unconscious”) ~ for not only has Dee (accompanied by some darker echoes of his odious, Caliban-like, left-hand man, Edward Kelley) shaped such significant Western Cultural touchstones as “Doctor Who”, “(The) Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, and “The Lord of the Rings” (to name but a few), but his Spiritual imprimatur can further be perceived in an astonishing range of Creative and Imaginative works: from Literature to Visual Art; from Cinema and Televisual fare to the more Artistic, less outré aspects of Magick; and much else besides! ~ what I have merely *touched* upon herein, via these inconsequential and idiotic poems, is but the very tip of an awe-inspiring Iceberg! (Of the Polar kind ~ not some peculiarly-pointy Lettuce!)

   E.K., aka “Max”
   (But actually Steve(n)!)
   () :o)

   P.S. Was gonna incorporate some more “Donkey” stuff (e.g., Biblical episode involving Balaam’s Ass; “Akhewanebre (IIRC) Repulsing the Donkey of Evil” ~ or vice-versa! ~ as depicted on a papyrus in the British Museum; and suchlike!), and also overtly call Kelley an “Ass Supreme” (or somesuch; *twerks Supreme Bootay!*) ~ but there’s obviously only *so* much time I’m willing to devote to this arrant nonsense! (“Thank God for that!”, you sigh in relief! Hehehe!)

   Anyway, hope I’ve raised at least a smirk or two; keep up the Good Works (give my regards to fellow charitable soul, the kind-hearted “Badger”!); and fingies cwossed for your Literary success!

   Best Wishes,

   S.

   Loading...

4. “You Must Be Leaving the ‘Best’ Til ‘lust’ (horribly!), love!”

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   The midnight hour is close at hand as, seated in a cigarette-smoke-hazy broadcasting booth, the shadowy figure of a late-night Radio D.J. finishes the last mouthful of dark and bittersweet coffee from his favorite cup (a robust glazed earthenware vessel, turquoise mottled with Payne’s Grey in coloration, and embossed with a Dragon not unlike that sported upon the Welsh flag); sighs softly; stretches with vague fatigue; and then, now that his short break is nearly over as the last of a pair of back-to-back tracks finishes playing, reactivates the “ON AIR” signal and prepares to re-engage with the modest army of night listeners he knows is (like the Truth attested in the poster on Agent Mulder’s office wall) *out there* somewhere, even at this very moment, quietly tuning-in to his soft-spoken nocturnal musings about music and all manner of other things besides.

   “Welcome back to Radio WNKR”, he drawls. “And just in case any of you music-lovers out there have forgotten yours truly’s name (and to be honest, I’d almost forgotten myself, what with all the excitement of the last coupla tracks(!)): your Host for this evenin’ (and all through the remainder of the night: all through the VVitchin’ Hour and beyond, into the wee, small hours o’ the morning) is *Clink Greatnorthwood*: Murmurer of smoky midnight mantras, and Bringer of all the best tunes and artists you’ve never heard (or indeed even heard *of*) before… and may possibly never want to hear (or even hear *of*) again ~ *if*, that is, you don’t know what’s good for you, nor what *good music* is…(!)”

   He smiles to himself, sitting there in the gloom of the booth, and leans-in just that little bit closer to the mic: and starts purring in earnest, in that faintly ASMR-esque way that he knows so many of the WNKR faithful happen to quietly (or, sometimes, *not*-so-secretly) enjoy: “Speakin’ of which: *good music*: ‘You Must Be Leaving the “Best” Til “lust” (horribly!), love!’} was the name of that first little number we just played for you; it was by upcomin’ Washington (Wearside, UK) Industrial Metal outfit, DONSTAINES. And the one before that was, o’ course, {‘Sesam, öffne dich!’} by the Neue Deutsche Härte rockers, Kosmicher Jerry und die Herzschrittmacher…

   “Next up, we’re playin’ a smoooth Jazz Classic for all you lovers o’ rare, melodious invention out there, listenin’ away in the BroodX-expectant darkness o’ the misty Cheesypeck night; this song was requested by a not-so-little lady goin’ by the name of Maris Atollhunn (whose favorite TV sitcom of all time ~ so she informs me in her letter ~ was ‘Frasier’!) ~ so, here it is for ya, Maris: Ed ‘B-Roll’ Garnier’s evergreen tearjerker, ‘Ply Misdeeds Pour Moi’, featuring talented percussionist Evelyn ‘Annabel’ Draper-McConaughey on bongos…”

   Hehehe! 😛

   On a more serious note:

   Re: MOTIVATION(S) FOR PERFORMING NECROMANCY?

   Hm, IMO, there’s a clear trajectory ~ working backwards through history, from modern-day spiritual attitudes and religious practices, thence to older beliefs ~ of, respectively, streamlined simplicity versus recondite complexity; I mean, Spiritualism nowadays tends to revolve around purely (or at least *predominantly*) Mentalism-like techniques: the psychic medium and sitter simply having a conversation, a discussion ~ largely devoid of unnecessary ritual ~ about the departed, right? (Which approach seems to me to be arguably the most persuasive way of demonstrating the various kinds of “clair-” (-voyance, -audience, -sentience, -alience, -gustance; and assorted other methods of intuition, etc.) ~ concerns about chicanery and “cold-/hot-reading” techniques and similar subterfuges notwithstanding!)

   Travel back merely a century or two, however, and *Physical* Mediumship was all the rage: wherein playthings would be provided for the departed to interact with (e.g., timbrels which the dead could shake and rattle, or indeed tabor away at, fit to outdo e’en the infernal Drummer of Tedworth!) so as to provide supposed ultimate proof, to those doubters still living, of the continuance of the eternal Soul! (Though admittedly, photographic “evidence” of “ectoplasmic” cheesecloth materializations are about as convincing as “South Park”’s Randy Marsh when it comes to his *own* type of, erm, “ectoplasm”!)

   Travel even *further* back in time (to, say, the Elizabethan era! Oh yesh!), and doubtless there existed a belief (albeit misguided) that, in order to *truly* make contact with the departed, one had to *literally make contact* with the dead: the *dead body*, the cadaver itself: *physically* (but NOT sexually, God forbid! *Tuts* @ Tiger Torre for her nawty insinuations! Though that being said, if the dead individual looked anything like “Jane Dee” did ~ sorry, I meant: “Jane *Doe*” (as portrayed by buxom, eerily-vvitchy-looking Kelly, Olwen) ~ in “The Autopsy of Jane Doe” (whose husband is or was ~ you guessed it! ~ *John*! ;)), I can’t say the Perverted Mortician in me wouldn’t be tempted to give her bottom ~ and allll other areas ~ a veeery thorough inspection!!!). And actually, this superstitious belief in establishing (or, rather, re-establishing) physical contact (or at least maintaining close proximity!) with the dead continues to be exemplified ~ even unto the modern age ~ by the funerary customs and ancestor-worship rituals of many cultures (though not many, fortunately, go as far as the Fore people of Papua New Guinea used to, and mayhap still do ~ such endo-anthropophagism as they practice(d) is simply *staggering* in its ramifications; and even more staggering were the utterly *bovine*, immensely foolhardy Farming practices in “Great” Britain ~ of quite recent past, and ongoing present ~ which shall yet see the populace of this Spectred Isle succumb to the most terrifying of grim and inexorably fatal maladies!); why, even in the supposedly enlightened West, we often insist upon open-casket funerals (allowing not merely a last, lingering look at the departed loved one, but also limited physical contact with the deceased, should one wish: a final pat on their cool, unmoving hand; a final, perfunctory kiss on their pale cheek, perhaps?); leaving keepsakes and mementos in the coffin or in the grave; and what is Psychometry, if not the belief (or possibly *actuality*) that even objects merely belonging to ~ and thereby much-handled and much-loved (or at least *occasionally* handled, and *semi*-“treasured”, or *halfway*-“valued”!) by ~ the departed, can harbour psychic residual energies that have somehow “rubbed off” upon, and thereby imbued or infused, the objects ~ which residual energies can (so the borderline-irrational “reasoning” goes!) consequently be intuitively detected, and consciously interpreted, by the modern-day Psychic… and hence, we’ve come full-circle: the old beliefs STILL persist (albeit in diluted, more-palatable form, as befits an increasingly secular and Scientific age!)! :o)

   But I’m inclined to concur with Backyard Alchemist: “finding treasure would be good”: doubtless that motivation alone: of pecuniary advantage, surely *must* have been the deciding factor in emboldening the “necromancer” (or, rather, mundane graverobber!) to overcome whatever last vestiges of squeamishness (may have conceivably) lurked within him?

   Will write again later, in more detail, re:
   necyomantīa (-tēa) ~ but got stuff to do for noo!

   Best Wishes,
   Max/S.
   🙂

   Loading...