Paganarchy Press

Hello apple lovers!

I thought I'd write a quick note about Liber Malorum's subtitle, which you may have seen is Children Of The Apple.

Where exactly does this subtitle come from?

For a start, Children Of The Apple is one, but is not the only literal translation of the Latin words, "Liber Malorum". That's right! As outlined in the prologue which I posted on my blog there are in fact several possible translations.

Liber, in Latin has at least three different and useful meanings:

• Children Of (Noun, Pl)
• Book Of (Noun)
• Unimpeded (Adj.)

Malorum on the other hand also has at least three useful translations:

• Evil (Adj.)
• Apples (Noun, PL)
• Apple Tree (Noun, Singular)

Now this is all well and fine, and you can easily chop and change! Next time you pick up the book, take a moment to decide if you're really reading Children Of The Apple as the subtitle suggests.

Instead of Children Of The Apple, you could decide to be reading an altogether different book. How about picking one of Unimpeded Evil, Book of the Apple Tree, Children of Evil or even Unimpeded Apples.

One of my favourite translations is The Book Of Evil, just because it sounds fun, and well, following your truth even when your truth breaks the established status quo can be seen by outsiders as an "evil" thing to do. But when you're in that spiritual place, following your core truth even against the grain of established authority there's that inner feeling of total freedom and power and love. Thelemites would say this is where they are following their True Will.

I'm not really a Latin speaker, so if some of the puns in the title slipped you by, that's okay, I just thought it would be fun at the time! It's the biting of the apple which is really important. Have you bitten one today?

Hope everything is wonderful out there for you. Feel free to read the prologue and table of contents in full.

And if you're up to it, please leave a comment

Love to all from Sean

I thought that headline would grab your attention!

The hunt is now on to find Cthulhoid agents in our seas. Scientists, under the guise of conducting innocent experiments, are now gearing up to raise Cthulhu from the depths of the ocean and the depths of our collective subconscious.

I quote:

Twenty-five octopuses will today begin twiddling a Rubik's Cube in the name of scientific research.

Marine biologists concede they have little hope of the eight-limbed sea molluscs solving the fiendish plastic puzzle. Instead, the month-long project at 23 Sea Life Centres across Britain and Europe will examine octopus intelligence in an attempt to discover if they have a favourite tentacle for picking things up – much as humans are right or left-handed.

Insider information (that won't be published in any report!) reveals that it is not just Rubik's Cubes that will be lowered into the tanks, but also various water-safe versions of the Necronomicon. If one of the octopii can manage to either solve the cube, or immanentize the eschaton, it will be a massive year for Cthulhoids the world over.

Take hope great Cthulhu-lover! Our eight-legged water bound (distant) cousins are unlikely to fall for the bait and summon any of the great old ones... Nor are they likely to solve all-blue on the Cube. Light one red and one black candle and you will remain safe.

Full story at The Independent.

When John Denver first sang Shanghai Breezes, and I quote:

And the moon and the stars are the same ones you see

it's the same old sun up in the sky

And your voice in my ear is like heaven to me

like the breezes here in old Shanghai

he must have been staying on the outskirts of town. It is sad to say that because of the constant smog, there are no visible stars and I can't see the moon either. On Sunday, when she was full, there was not a speck of lunar love above this city due to the constant blanket of grey. I have come down with a nasty lurgy which is really quite sad as it really is dilapidating to the point that I can't muster the energy to get out there and explore during my spare time. gutted.

Well the good news is that my local area (west shanghai) is really wonderfully friendly, with loads of delicious food places and smiley people. I have learnt kung fu, and about 8 other chinese words.

My throat feels like some uber-domme (lady pinque?) has stuffed a handful of vacuum cleaner dust down it! congested and full of grey matter. I hope it'll clear out pretty smartly! My free time here is really limited what with a heavy work schedule.

Hopefully my lungs and throat will be clear tomorrow, just like the breezes here in old shanghai.

xx Sean

The controversial legislation banning "extreme porn" will become law on May 9th, but there is still time to stop it. This law would stop me and my lover taking photos or films of ourselves in some of our favourite erotic positions - with a prison sentence of up to THREE years for possession of said photos. This new legislation makes no difference between consenting adults filming the BDSM fun, and actual acts of violence which is already illegal.

But there is movement and a growing wave of people opposing this thought-crime legislation. MPs and Lords are being lobbied and I urge you all to write to your MP to help put some sense back into this thing.

Full info on the Backlash UK website.

Watch Deborah Hyde from Backlash speak out the new legislation on youtube:

I'm really surprised to see something like this in the Jerusalem Post:

The Palestinian Authority is planning to mark Israel's 60th anniversary by calling on all Palestinians living abroad to converge on Israel by land, sea and air.

The plan, drawn by Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister for Prisoners' Affairs in the Palestinian Authority, states that the Palestinians have decided to implement United Nations Resolution 194 regarding the refugees.

Article 11 of the resolution, which was passed in December 1948, says that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible."

The initiative is the first of its kind and is clearly aimed at embarrassing Israel during the anniversary celebrations by highlighting the issue of the "right of return" for the refugees.

I'm sure this will be embarrassing for the Zionist movement. It's turn the old Zionist call of the "Right of Return" to Israel on its head. And why wouldn't the Palestinians also have the right to live in the land where they grew up eh?

The rest of the article is over on the Jerusalem Post.

Sean

I find it fascinating how different groups can get their estimates so drastically differently depending on their political affiliation:

"The Stop the War coalition, which organised the event, along with CND and the British Muslim Initiative, estimated that around 100,000 participated in London. The Metropolitan Police estimated about 2,000-3,000 took part."

from http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2020933,00.html

I have been reading about the Flying Spaghetting Monster

Chicago resident Malachi Ritscher last week wrote his own obituary, then set fire to himself causing his own death by fatal burns.

Reading through his blog (which includes his obituary) is a pretty intense experience. His action was a protest against the Iraq war and more generally "for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country".

Malachi says of his own country, the United States "To the rest of the world we are cowards - demanding Iraq to disarm, and after they comply, we attack with remote-control high-tech video-game weapons. And then lie about our reasons for invading. We the people bear complete responsibility for all that will follow, and it won't be pretty."

It's tragic that so many people are so full of turmoil at the state of the world that they feel the only way they can express themselves is via their own deaths. It's tragic that no media has given this much attention so I feel the need to help Malachi have his story heard.

Link: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Policy_Timeline.htm

A fascinating and well-researched history of the prohibition of drugs, psychedelics and other intoxicants.

Freedom of the mind is just as important as freedom of the body. It is outrageous that anyone can stop explorers from conducting personal psychological research in the magical realms of mind-altering substances.

http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Policy_Timeline.htm

Link: http://www.backlash-uk.org.uk/index.html

"The British Government is planning to criminalise material showing sexual practices that it doesn't approve of, even if they're between consenting adults.

If you and your partner film yourselves doing something the Government doesn't like, you could go to prison for three years.

An alliance of diverse groups, backlash represents hundreds of thousands of British people who are trying to make the government see sense. "

http://www.backlash-uk.org.uk/index.html

Link: http://www.fromisraeltolebanon.info/

Sickening, disheartening, disgusting.

Israeli Children write letters on missiles to Lebanese Children:

The letters arrive:

This is so sickening!

More at From Israel To Lebanon

Link: http://www.petitiononline.com/MKSApril/petition.html

To: JOHN REID - Secretary of state for Defence

We the undersigned condemn the prison sentence passed on Flight Lieutenant Dr Malcolm Kendall-Smith and offer our full solidarity and support.
The sentence of eight months passed on him for refusing to serve in Basra is an outrage, we demand his immediate release.

He acted on his conscience in refusing to serve in an illegal war. In doing so, he acted on behalf of many people in this country.

The judge’s remarks that orders have to be obeyed also give cause for concern. The Nuremberg trials after the 2nd World War established that obeying illegal orders was no defence against charges of war crimes.

It is even more unjust that Kendall-Smith has been jailed while the advocates and perpetrators of this war have never been held to account.

Sincerely,

http://www.petitiononline.com/MKSApril/petition.html

Link: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/05/339335.html

"With their bare hands and the most basic of tools, prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have fashioned a secret garden where they have grown plants from seeds recovered from their meals."

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/05/339335.html

A person's spirit cannot ever be completely broken. No matter how hard authority comes down, no matter how much injustice is faced, no matter how much the power-hungry try to control what we do, people will always have a spark of Will inside them, and that spark can be used to move Mountains.

Link: http://www.saveparliament.org.uk/

from the Save parliament site

Do you like living in a democracy?

Well, enjoy it while you can, because it might not last much longer if the UK government get their way.

Unnoticed by the majority, the government is quietly slipping through legislation that is being called the "Abolition of Parliament Bill", the "Totalitarianism Bill", and other equally scary names.

Its real name is the "Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill", and it threatens to bypass normal Parliamentary controls, and make it almost impossible to stop government ministers from enacting any law they like.

Next: What's The Problem? Visit the Save Parliament site to find out everything!

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4857800.stm

My heroes are the women and men who have the courage to refuse immoral orders, who speak out against injustice and want to make amends for what they feel they have done wrong.

Here's a 22 min vid about some US soldiers just back from Iraq who are speaking out against the war. This is what we need more of.

Click "Former US Soldiers" to watch the vid.

And I quote from Once More:

In case you have failed to notice, Our Dear Leader is currently trying to get Parliament to dissolve itself and hand power over to the ministers that he gets to choose. His meglomania has increased recently as has his distain for Freedom and Democracy. His latest wheeze is breathtakingly bold however.

Its called the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. What a boring sounding name.

The Times says "The boring title of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill hides an astonishing proposal. It gives ministers power to alter any law passed by Parliament. The only limitations are that new crimes cannot be created if the penalty is greater than two years in prison and that it cannot increase taxation. But any other law can be changed, no matter how important. All ministers will have to do is propose an order, wait a few weeks and, voilà, the law is changed."

This is dangerously similar to The Enabling Act as used by Nazi Germany to turn their democracy into a dictatorship. Word for word. Wikipedia says "The Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz in German) was passed by Germany's parliament (the Reichstag) on March 23, 1933. It was the second major step after the Reichstag Fire Decree through which the Nazis obtained dictatorial powers using largely legal means. The Act enabled Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his cabinet to enact laws without the participation of the Reichstag."

Are you afraid yet?

Link: http://india.indymedia.org/en/2006/01/211375.shtml

From IMC India: "You would think that peace organizations would be working 24/7 to alert the people of the world to this serious danger. But many seem to be so shocked by the terrible belligerence of Washington DC's war-makers that they have turned into so many tiny rabbits being mesmerized by a great cobra. "

So true.

I sit here looking at my screen, like millions of others around the world, wondering, like them, what I can do to stop the US regime from gaining complete control of our planet and her resources.

Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, more more more and soon Iran. So disempowered are we, the people of the planet, that there is almost nothing we can do to stop this madness. So far removed from any semblance of a real democracy that we cannot even express our opinions here in London without being arrested as "serious organised criminals".

Is there anything we can do to stop the destruction?

Read the full report on IMC India, then check this Media Lens article, then post solutions as comments:

Usually the Fool's dark side is the malicious clown, the buffoon or sinister trickster who plays trickery tricks on people that can, on occasion, end up with the people being hurt. Most people certainly learn a lot from encountering the dark jester! SHe has many occult tricks up hir sleeve to outwit the unaware; to awaken the sleepy or poke fun at authority. The objective of the dark jester is not to hurt, but to ridicule in order to teach. Speaking the plain truth, devoid of attachment can often hurt whoever you're talking about.

But that's not what this rant is about. This rant is about the dark emotional inside of the fool. As SHe moves about the world encountering people, delighting them, tricking them and having fun with them, the fool also falls in love very easily. As easily as stepping off a cliff. Trusting in the universe and believing it will all be fine in the end. For a fool falling in love is as easy as dancing in the rain. Can you do that?

Well I danced in the rain and fell off the cliff - I fell in love with completely the wrong person - and now my darkness is churning churning churning with the bitter pain of being heart-broken... once again... so soon after sushi... Love hits hard, but falling off this cliff and feeling the rush of the earth as it zooms up towards me is even harder.

Oh to be rid of the Fool and to be a normal conservative straight-man like most of the people in the world. Oh if only my life would be simple and boring. If only I didn't care about the world. If only if only if only. I would have one partner, female, and I would have my life and future mapped out before me. I wouldn't think about climate change, corporate greed or the right to express myself. I'd probably watch sport, read the mainstream press and wank over the next release of whatever programming language is hot this week. I wouldn't fall in love because I would hardly even be aware of my emotions except when somebody hit a home run or scored a goal. I would block all emotions out and never ever cry. Never cry. Never.

But no... That's not me. I'm crying now see.

Instead I tread the crooked and windy path of the Fool. As well as joyful peaks, I must also learn to explore the emotional darkest pits. As well as the full celebration of life and lust, I have to fully feel the power of despair and anguish. And right now I must learn to deal with the intense pain and anguish of heart-break. A lesson hard to learn and a pain hard to embrace time after time ... after time ... after time ... after time ... after time ... after time ...

"You can walk a step ahead of me,
but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm following you"
- Sahara Piksie

Here's a secret: This fool's power lies in experiencing the emotional world within and without as much as possible; living with a willingness to express all joy and pain when it arises; and living life to it's full potential by singing and dancing to imagined love songs in the rain. Now there's the fools challenge - can you do that?

[Disclaimer: I have tried to make light of last week's experience in Strathclyde Police cells but this in no way reflects the serious torment I, and my fellow G8 protestor detainees experienced. I wrote the following as my clown whilst actually in the cells and the act of writing was therapeutic for me during an intensely dehumanising experience.]

On the weekend of July 8th through July 11th, I was a very lucky clown as I was invited to the Strathclyde Police Slumber Party! I got the invitation because I hugged a fairy during a street parade. "Oh What Joy" I thought to my little clown self, excitedly anticipating party food, party games and new friends!

We did indeed play many games. I think the favourite was "Wake Up Everybody! Wake Up!" We really liked that game so much that we played it about 70 times over the weekend... Every hour on the hour "Wake Up Everybody!" It was great!

Another game we played was called "Please Sir, Can I have some more?" We played that a lot too. Whenever we wanted a glass of water or a sheet of toilet paper we played this exciting game.

All weekend we played party games and we even played tricks on each other. They played a lot of tricks on me. One trick they liked to play was "Dinner Time"... This trick involved telling me it was "Dinner Time" but instead of bringing me dinner, they brought "gloopy poopy". A very clever trick I thought. Of course, I knew it was a party trick and I didn't eat it.

When I was a young clown I onced played a trick on my clown friend. This trick involved hiding my friends clothes behind the washing machine when he was in the bath. My friend had to look for a whole 10 minutes before he found his trousers!! I think the Strathclyde police liked this trick too because they took Dr Kramer's clothes off him (except his underwear). They hid his clothes so well that he didn't get to find them the whole time we were at the slumber party!

Speaking of hiding things, one of the favourite games was "hide and seek"...Everyone played this game really well! In fact I didn't see any of the other guests at the slumber party for the whole 3 days I was there!

I must say, there were a couple of things that I didn't understand that are different from a normal slumber party. For example when my cousin had his party we all slept in the same room. But at Strathclyde Police slumber party we each had to sleep in our own room! They have a very big house you see... My room was called "Isolation Unit C, Cell 5."

Also, I wish they had told us to bring our own sheets and pillows because they didn't have any of their own but they did give me a feral duvet... Hmm, come to think of it they didn�t have any beds either. Hey maybe they had furniture too, but I didn�t see that either! Oh they do hide things ever so well.

It was a fun slumber party and I can still hear the policeman's voice saying "Wake Up Everybody! Wake Up!" ringing in my ears. I shall write to them and my solicitor friends and tell them about what a fun slumber party it was and how they could make it more fun the next time.

Bye For Now!

Major Hassles