Babalon Rising Next week, starting on June 6, I'll be in French Lick, Indiana, at the Babalon Rising festival. As with most festivals, there will be lots of music, rituals, dancing, bonfires and workshops. I'll be giving three workshops, one on a form of numerology most people don't know about (hint: it's Kabalistic), one on the five types of magick generally practiced by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (they call it the Magic of Light), and one on the practice of sex magick. I encourage adults—this is an adults-only festival—in the area (and even out of the area) to consider attending. One of the people giving workshops is the noted hypnotherapist, NLP trainer, magician, and

One of the questions I often receive is a request for contact with an occult group, order, coven, etc. As a policy, I don't recommend such organizations. The reason for this is that I, personally, have been "burned." That is, some time ago an organization that was great evolved into something that was not good. As a result, when I recommended that group, I was sending people into a bad situation. I never want to send people into such a situation, so rather than make a recommendation for a group with which I've had no contact for a long time, I just don't recommend any particular group. If people are looking for a group I do recommend places they can look to find one. For example, the

At the recent Babalon Rising festival I saw the usual assortment of cars, trucks, and SUVs in the parking areas. Many were old and rather beat up, being held together with bumper stickers such as "Freedom of Religion Means ALL Religions." But a surprising (to me) new entry was a bright and very shiny Jaguar. It was newer and obviously quite expensive. Someone had enough money to spend on that car. This Jaguar was at a car show in England Why is it that so many people who profess to be able to do magick are constantly in poor financial condition? Yes, I know the world's economy is in the dumpster, but there are still lots of people making lots of money. Shouldn't magicians be part of

Home...And Ready to Rock and Roll Well, I'm back home from the Babalon Rising festival and hard at work. I had a brief stint of jet-lagged tiredness, a surprise for me since even with overseas travel I've never experienced it previously. Babalon Rising is a great and growing festival. Each year more people attend. Unlike other festivals that have become increasingly "family friendly" ("Bring the kids! We have special activities for them."), BR remains staunchly adults only, giving it a different ambiance than many other events. As with any festival (BR is in French Lick, Indiana), the location plays second fiddle to the people who attend. The people at BR, including those who run the