Thursday, March 13, 2014

Led Zeppelin Remasters

You can get your pre-order buying done right now at http://www.ledzeppelin.com/buy/  The Remasters will be released June 2, 2014.  You will at some point be able to order on Amazon as well.

Lots of choices! (Note image is not a live link. Use THIS to see ordering options).


Thursday, March 6, 2014

Mage, Invent Thyself

"For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
~ Leonardo Da Vinci, Codex on the Flight of Birds

Mage Music 80

Once upon a time, years and years ago, a young musician worked at his craft and honed his skills, biding his time until at last his music had so far surpassed the bonds of his apprenticeship that his dreams could no longer be contained.  He stepped away from the safety of the conventional in order to invoke the Magick of his dreams.

He had envisioned something that had never existed before. It was a sound that had not yet been heard, a musical message that had not yet been shared. His dream was bigger than any but the boldest had ever dared. His dream was even greater than that.

We know today that this was no ordinary musician, of course. We know that this is no fable. This is the true story of a musician who became a Mage, of a man who understood that without imagination there can be no Magick, and that it was Magick that would carry his music into realms beyond the dreams of most mortals.

Unclipped wings

It's no accident that we use words associated with flying to talk about the dreams we have while we are awake.  Flights of imagination, soaring imagination, on wings of dreams - the words are about taking yourself far beyond where you ordinarily dwell.

Magick exists everywhere as potential - Magick is purposeful use of the energy of the universe, after all. But Magick stubbornly remains as only potential until the Mage activates it though desire, will and ritual. A Mage’s desire is more than just a vague wish, however – it is specific, it is powerful, and it is held in place by will so that it can be manifest through ritual.

Imagination is what turns a wish into a desire. A Mage must invent his new reality, and because the new reality has never existed before, a Mage must imagine it so strongly that on some level it already exists for him. Once the new reality already exists - even if only in a Mage's imagination - the heavy lifting is done.  All that remains is for the Mage to use the ritual of Magick to make it so.

A Mage’s will is the discipline to know with all the cells of his body that there is nothing more important than that he attains his desire.  His discipline allows him to ruthlessly remove all obstacles that may be in the way. The first and foremost of these obstacles is doubt.  Doubt is the wing-clipper, doubt is the imagination-blocker, doubt is the Magick-slayer.

Eyes turned skywards

To step outside the comfort zone and launch into the sky takes a rare kind of bravery. While the world enjoys the results of invention, it is human nature to be cautious, even fearful, of new things. A Mage stands alone, eyes turned skywards, dreaming the new reality into his soul until he spreads his wings and flies free. The rest of us may follow if we dare.