Ecstatic Agendas

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“When the spirits ask ‘who are you?’, you better have a damn good answer.”

– Aaron Leitch (on Glitch Bottle podcast episode 10 Aug 8 2017)

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Hello my friends, and Happy October!

It is Autumn in Portland and although the weather here is still warm most days, other harbingers of the season have arrived- the crows in their cackling are calling all around me, and dry leaves skitter, raspy and skeletal, across the pavements.

I began this newsletter / blog 12 months ago, on another platform, on OCT 31st 2021! That post included a link to my then brand new essay INTO HOWLING, a subjective prose piece on the history of werewolves and related global lore. Recently I revisited that piece; now expanded with several illustrations and some needed corrections, it is available as a printed booklet on my web store:

INTO HOWLING

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In less than two weeks I will be in attendance at PNW WITCHES MARKET in Kirkland WA, tabling my wares at their SAMHAIN CELEBRATION on Sunday Oct 23, 12-6! I’d love to see you there, or for you to tell your Seattle- area friends! The event will be held at PNW Krav Maga martial arts studio, 715 8th St, Kirkland, WA 98033 It’s free to attend and costumes are encouraged!

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https://www.instagram.com/pnwwitchesmarket/

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Then the following weekend I will be conducting a Lunar Salutation live on my Instagram account. This short PRAYER TO THE MOON is a syncretic magical working and will come to you three times, on Saturday the 29th, Sunday the 30th, and Monday the 31st, 6pm PST. I hope you can join me for one or all of those!

And finally, on November 22 my artwork will be featured alongside several other creators in an anniversary exhibition at my favorite PDX art space, 1122 Outside! I don’t believe they’ve posted about it yet but you can find out more about their general programming HERE and HERE.

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Once upon a time I promised my subscribers exclusive content and sneak peeks at upcoming projects- and so I would like to give you a glimpse of the aforementioned lunar prayer now. This is still not quite finished, but aside from a few possible tweaks this is what I’ll be reading on the 29th 30th and 31st. The text is an amalgam of different sources and mainly my own words, and in its format of naming and describing, of compelling, and of self-identifying the speaker with gods, ancestors, and supernatural forces it follows loosely the type of incantation one might encounter in ancient sources such as the spells found in the Greek Magical Papyri. Feel free to adapt it, add to it, improve it for your own use.

That’s all for now; I hope this letter finds you all rising in glory and exaltation!

Very Best,

Jason Triefenbach, HFHR

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PRAYER TO THE MOON

Oh Luna, Oh Luna, we call to Thee,

You who rise with trembling arms over desert and forest

Your essence lifted burning in the sky

Whose supplicants and bacchantes dance beneath your silver spray, 

Braided tresses swinging wildly in your light

You who witness the oaths of secret lovers, 

You who fill us with your intoxicating nectars, 

You who order the rhythms and seasons of the beasts and the fields

You who reign at the confluence of dreams and ecstasies

Oh glistening bull, oh ancient mirror, oh mistress of tides who bathes us in your saturating glow

We raise our arms to thee, we call thee,

Bright coin encircled by serpent of night, 

You who vested in flowing cloud steps forth, 

Alighting on pool and stream, river and lake, 

Upon oceans and through the storming heavens, 

We call to thee, we compel thee,

We who stand in the lineage of Moses, of Simon Magus, 

Of Marie Laveau, compel thee

We who are Shipton, Tituba, Endor

We who are Cameron, We who are Dee,

We who are Cyprian, Faustus, and Circe

We who are Rasputin, we who are Blavatsky,

We who are Thrice-Majestic Hermes compel thee

In the names of Helios Akebukrom, of Abrasax, of IAO Adonai,

In the name of dark and furious Persephone,

Of Morrigan, of Mother Night,

Of that which waits beyond the Void, 

In the names of our blessed dead, 

Our valiant ancestors who danced as well beneath your rays of enchantment-

Come! You who are the throne of Hekate,

You who are the shield of Athene, 

Come! You who are Selene, Artemis, Thoth,

You who are Diana, you who are Khonsu, 

You who circle the earth, compelling the waters

And setting the pathways of our blood and our dreams,

Come forth, come forth, be with us now,

Ghostly mother of the mist that rises from our hollows! 

Come forth in your silence, come forth in your glow!

Mark our words and hear the keening of our souls!

Be with us now!

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