TONY ON GEORGIA, BOIL & MORE

Including ReadWritePoem and Manic Monday.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Monday Magazine post.
The outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Georgia should have us all worried. And don’t think it has anything to do with South Ossetia. The problem is much more complicated.

Georgia traditionally comes under Russian influence.

And as with most recently freed satellite states, will do so again. The area between the Black and Caspian Seas is the new flash point for 21st century conflict.
To the north, the Russian Federation, to the south, Iran. North west, you have the Ukraine, and the south west, Turkey. Hence, you have major states wanting to court the west, lying next door to the heart of Islamic fundamentalism.

Further trouble comes from oil.

Just south of this region are the Middle East oilfields, which more than ever have proved to be the crucial element of western economy. Hence, these satellite states are the major element in Russian strategy to damage the west financially.
But more than even this, a new US-backed oil pipeline actually runs through Georgia, allowing the west a degree of independence from Middle East oil. Hence, whoever rules Georgia has the on/off switch of western wealth. Indeed, the area, including the Caspian Sea, is rich in oil.
In terms of religion, politics, economics and security, this region is the new strategic centre of global intrigue. So forget any idea that anyone cares for South Ossetia. This is all about who rules the world.
Tomorrow, my Tuesday Essay. Next Magzine post, Wednesday.

© Anthony North, August 2008

MARCH
A month and an action

A month ago we bought some potatoes, they were rather cheap,
now they cost a fortune, inflation, it does creep
upon us as the economy turns, plummets to the depths,
and we all worry for the future, fearing all those debts

I sometimes think I’m selfish to rant about such things,
when so many in the past have shed their blood; freedom’s song they sing;
But the credit crunch is quite important, it speaks of our society’s dearth,
as Big Biz conned us out of our money, their power turning us into the serf

Since man thought of civilisation, it has infected just a few,
the idea of ruling everything, including me and you;
Today’s Big Biz is no different, they just use more subtlety,
so better to say it now, before we’re all buried under a tree

Read the words of the martyrs who fought dictators long,
written in blood of the dead of a supposedly obedient throng,
do this month what we should have done before their power was big,
‘cos as Orwell made very clear, there’s no difference between them and a pig

(c) Anthony North, August 2008

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BOILING MAD CHEF – Horror Fiction

Chef was not happy, and to be fair, you could hardly blame him. The hotel manager had called the police, and when they arrived, he had put it thus:
‘This is the fourth kitchen porter we’ve lost since he’s been here. But according to this one, he threatened to cut him up and boil him.’
The police were, of course, skeptical. After all, chefs will be chefs, and they weren’t exactly known for placid behaviour. But when it was discovered that the other three had disappeared without trace, the case took on a new urgency.
‘You cannot be serious’ Chef had said as he stirred the big, bubbling vat. But indeed they were. And as they emptied the contents and took it away for analysis, the manager commented further on the complaints of chewy meat of late.
Chef was, of course, cleared. No human remains were found, and the police and the manager felt suitably stupid.
And so they should, thought the Chef as he picked up the phone. ‘Yes, that’s right,’ he said to the suppliers, ‘a new deep fat frier. Large.’

© Anthony North, August 2008

HOW GRIMOIRES WORK

A grimoire can be best described as an occult book of instruction. Describing systems for invoking demons, mastering divination and detailing magical spells, they are instruction manuals for gaining magical powers.
Becoming popular in the Middle Ages, the name comes from the Greek, ‘grammatikos’, meaning ‘relating to letters’. Associated, initially, with Jewish mysticism, such books are thought to go way back into antiquity.

Some grimoires have become classics.

These include ‘The Book of Sacred Magic’, thought to be written by Abramelin the Jew around 1450, and ‘The Greater Key of Solomon’, written in the 16th century.
It is through the grimoire that we know of the often ridiculous incantations and instructions that often accompany any magical ceremony or invocation. Indeed, they seem so ridiculous that they encourage scorn concerning the whole subject.

Is this ridicule valid? I don’t think it is.

Perhaps we should look beyond the words and instructions, and see what is really going on in such instruction. And the first point to be raised is the ‘leap of faith’.
This is an absolute knowing that a belief system is true. It ignores reason, and takes the believer to a oneness with whatever system is being believed in. And often, to ignore the rationality that says it is wrong requires you to accept what to others would be gibberish.

Hence, the ridiculousness of it all has rationality.

And this attitude continues into the spells themselves. For in order to carry out such irrational instructions, your beliefs have to be strengthened with every utterance or action. Hence, the very ‘stupidity’ of it all enhances your confidence that a result can be achieved.
Spells are also related to normal life. Most people, when they get up in a morning, carry out a specific number of tasks in a specific way, and in a specific order. We’re talking here about ablutions, breakfasting, etc. Most of the subsequent day may be very different, but we do seem to have a ‘routine’ first thing in the morning.

Now, what happens if, for some reason, this routine is disturbed?

You usually find that the rest of the day seems to be a catalogue of disaster, with nothing quite fitting where it should. In effect, we’ve had ‘one of those days’.
Now, is this the world going wrong, or is it more likely that your mind has been knocked out of equilibrium with the world? If so, then we can argue that your morning ‘routine’ is required to attune yourself with the day, thus allowing the day to go smoothly.
If we compare such a ‘system’ to the grimoire, then we can argue that the ridiculous magical spells actually impose a form of routine, in order to attune the adepts mind to the task in hand.
Some people will, of course, decide I’m being too skeptical, comparing ‘magic’ to ‘routine’, but I don’t think I am. It’s simply a matter of interpretation. For instance, soldiers often carry out the most miraculous tasks. Interestingly, military training also contains ridiculous instruction concerning drill, beasting, and much more.
It seems to me that a form of psychological ‘magic’ occurs through such ‘routines’, ordering the world around the person, and literally allowing them to ‘fly’. So perhaps the instructions in the grimoire are simply the more extreme version of the magical spells we all access in order to succeed in life.

© Anthony North, August 2008