easy-bake coven

Via the Awesomer, we learn that the gag children’s book cover parody has been expanded into a whole series of retro-inspired educational texts for precocious young witches and warlocks and other delinquents—see also. Be sure to Steven Rhodes’ complete Sinister Seventies line and My Little Occult Book Club collection at the links above.

your daily demon: forneus

Presenting as a dread sea monster and governing from today through 22 August, our thirtieth spirit is an infernal marquis whose office it is to endear individuals to friend and foe alike and impart skills in the rhetorical arts. Countered by the Shem HaMephorash guardian angel Omael, Forneus (from the Latin fornus for oven, crucible and can take many forms) rules over twenty-nine legion. 

 

wormwood star

We very much appreciated the introduction to actress, artist, poet and occultist Marjorie Cameron Parsons Kimmel—known by the professional mononym Cameron by way of the short film by friend Curtis Harrington, the eponymous piece featuring Cameron’s paintings and recitations and the sole documentary source for much of her work as much of her fame came posthumously. The title is also in reference to the name she choose for her first child, the first of many moonchildren devoted to the veneration of Horus, Cameron being adherent of Thelema and becoming a convert from her first husband, rocketry pioneer Jack Parsons having also worked at the Joint Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) during World War II, to be breed according to magick sex rituals called “Babalon Working” that Cameron herself oversaw, like a Bene Gesserit mother superior. Instead, Cameron’s surviving child, born on 24 December 1955, from a subsequent marriage though paternity is uncertain was named Crystal Eve. Cameron was also in the film Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome.

your daily demon: astaroth

Our twenty-ninth spirit is an infernal grand duke ruling from today through 17 August is part of the unholy trinity along with Beelzebub and Lucifer and likely derives his identity from the goddess Astarte, consort of Ishtar. Presenting as a fallen angel and commanding forty legions, Astaroth chiefly lures individuals to do wrong through laziness, self-doubt and rationisation but can be compelled to impart skill in mathematics and handicrafts as well as the power of invisibility. Treasurer of the Underworld, Astaroth is countered by the guardian angel Reyiyel as well as appeals to Bartholomew the Apostle who can repel the archdemon’s vices.

bodice-ripping

Presently an imprint of HarperCollins publishing, Avon paperback and comics was established in 1941 and entered the market as a rival to Pocket Books, copying their successful repertoire and format and though with a reputation for harlequin and romance fiction did take a decidedly demonic turn in the mid-1960s following and informing the popular surge of interest in Satanism coinciding with the founding of Anton LeVey’s church and Rosemary’s Baby, even publishing the gospel of the former in 1969.

your daily demon: berith

Hebrew for covenant and sometimes associated with the Canaanite deity Ba’al for the devotion shown to him by the keeping of graven images, this twenty-eighth spirit is an infernal duke who presents as a soldier clothed in red and riding a red steed and governs from today through 12 August. His office is to impart the art of divination and alchemy when compelled by his sigil and a magic ring, Bolfry as he is also know controls twenty-six legion and is opposed by the guardian angel Shaahiah.

6x6

roll for perception: the official video for the 1987 Rick Astley hit (previously) surpasses one billion views   

until proven safe: EURIDICE, the eponym from the mythological Eurydice who Orpheus failed to retrieve from the Underworld, is the acronym for European Underground Research Infrastructure for the Disposal of Nuclear Waste in a Clay Environment  

a clokey production: a bot scours Gumbasia for random screen-grabs

pelagic waters: exploring the oceans’ midnight zone beyond the reach of the sun’s rays

portrait of a teenage alcoholic: a 1975 after school special starring The Exorcist’s Linda Blair and Star Wars’ Mark Hamill  

an eternal golden braid: some crib-notes and a course on the 1987 classic Gödel, Escher, Bach

your daily demon: ronové

Our twenty-seventh spirit is a monstrous marquis governing from today through 7 August and whose office is to teach the art of rhetoric, persuasive speaking and language arts in general. Controlling nineteen legion and sometimes described as a taker of old souls—coming to harvest those decrepit and approaching death, Ronové is countered by the guardian angel Yorethael.

your daily demon: buné

Governing from today through the first of August, our twenty-sixth spirit, a powerful infernal duke commanding thirty legion, presents as a three-headed dragon, one visage like a dog, one like that of a griffon and the middle the face of a man. Able to rouse the dead and imbue eloquence of speech to the summoner, Buné—whose name may ultimately derive from Buto, a place sacred to the Mesopotamian goddess Isis and the Egyptian cobra goddess Wadjet (the Eye of Horus is called wedjat, 𓂀 )—is countered by the Shemhamphorasch guardian angel Haaiah.

your daily demon: glasya-labolas

Governing the first degrees of the zodiacal sign of Leo from today through 27 July, this twenty-fifth great president, also known as Caassimolar, presents in the form of a dog with the wings of a griffin. Trafficking in manslaughter and violence, Glasya-Labolas can give good counsel and confound rivals by engendering love between them. Commanding thirty-six legion of subordinates, Glasya-Labolas is countered by the guardian angel Nethahiah.

your daily demon: naberus

This twenty-fourth infernal marquis or field-marshal who governs from this day through 22 July and commands nineteen legion. With the office to imbue cunningness in rhetoric and the natural sciences, Naberus presents as a three-headed hound with the body of a raven and according to most Goetic sources is synonymous with the Cerberus of Greek mythology which guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from escaping. Naberus is opposed by the guardian angel called Chahoah.

your daily demon: aim

Also known as Haborym, this twenty-third spirit and infernal duke governs from today until 17 July and exhibits pyromaniacal tendencies, presenting as a three-headed (one of a handsome man, one of a serpent and one of a calf) apparition riding a viper and bearing a firebrand and will upon request set things a-blaze. A secondary virtue is in imbuing wit to those who summon him. Twenty-six legions at his command, Aim is countered by the guardian angel Melahel.

your daily demon: ipos

This twenty-second spirit governing from today through 12 July presents in the form of a chimera described as having the body of a lion with the head and talons of a vulture, the feet of a goose and the tail of a hare, a fearsome earl commanding thirty-six legion. Giving good counsel on things to come, he imbues wit and charisma, Ipos is sometimes conflated with the ancient Egyptian jackal-headed Anubis (originally Inpu), god of the dead, protector of tombs and ferryman conveying souls to the Underworld, and is countered by the guardian angel Yeyayel.

your daily demon: morax

Governing from today through 7 July, this twenty-first spirit and infernal earl presents alternately like a bull-headed Minotaur or a mighty bull-like chimera with the face of a man. Giving wise counsel in astronomy and astrology, impairing the virtues of herbs and precious stones, Morax commands thirty legions and is opposed by the guardian angel Nelakael, and according to some sources is a syncretism with the Ancient Egyptian goddess of Truth and Justice Ma’at, as well as the patroness of writing and rhetoric.

8x8

banning: a 1967 forgotten film about a sordid tryst at a country club 

remains of the day: six relics of once ubiquitous fast-food empires  

plain chachalaca: more badly named bird friends—see previously here and here, via Super Punch

awestruck: short, initial pieces optimised for joy and wonder from NPR 

gallery 88: an electronics line for kids from Sony—see also  

dhead xlvi: a David Bowie painting (see previously) saved from a landfill fetches over one hundred thousand CA$  

grand opening: a brief history of the ribbon-cutting ceremony  

britbox: an interactive fiction project for a cult 70s television programme that dabbled in paganism and the paranormal—see also—which never existed

your daily demon: purson

Governing from today through the first of July, the twentieth spirit is an infernal king that commands twenty-two legions. Heralding his own appearance with a mighty blast of trumpets, Purson presents as a man with a lion’s head bearing a viper and astride a bear. Matched with Pahaliah, both with the angelic rank of the Order of Thrones, the demon can be persuaded to reveal the secrets of creation and foster good familiars.

your daily demon: sallos

Governing the first degrees of Cancer—from this day until 26 June, the nineteenth spirit is an infernal duke ruling thirty legion of subordinates and presents as a soldier riding a crocodile, as can be seen in his sigil. Despite this fearsome appearance, Sallos is a peacemaker and helps to reconcile relationship strife and encourage fidelity between partners. Opposed by the angel Leuviah, Sallos is possibly a conflation of the iconography associated with the Ancient Egyptian goddess Taweret, a fertility deity often portrayed with Nile crocodile and hippopotamus attributes or the Hindu river gods often personified as carried by the reptile.

your daily demon: bathin

Ruling from today through 21 June, this eighteenth spirit is an mighty infernal duke who presents as a mounted muscular man with a serpent’s tail and imparts knowledge on plants and stones and has the power to transport people across wide swaths of land or sea instantaneously through astral projection. Governing thirty legion, Bathin is sometimes conflated with the Egyptian goddess Nephthys, sister-wife of Set, associated with funerary rites and the preparation and preservation of mummies and by the process of syncretion, patroness of the mourning, magic, health, embalming and beer. Bathin is opposed by the angel Caliel.

sympathy for the devil

Via Boing Boing, we are treated to a delightful animated overview of Satan and his tripartite forms, counterweight of a righteous god, trickster spirit and rebel, forms in this TED-Ed short from priest and historian Brian A. Pavlac and how we limn our experience and understanding of evil and temptation in art, theology and scholarship. Shem HaMforash!

your daily demon: botis

The seventeenth spirit as described in the Lesser Key of Solomon is an infernal earl, ruling from today through 15 June, who presents initially as a repulsive viper commanding sixty legion. Skilled in giving good counsel should one be able to tolerate his sight—the serpent considered sufficiently oughly as to give rise to the occasion of being a gerund with to oughie meaning to make ugly, Botis is opposed by the angel Lavayah.