Episode 44: The Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter
Welcome dear gentle listener to our forty-fourth episode, in which we honour the Feast of the Chair of St Peter.
This holyday – dedicated less to a saint than their relic – sees us talking about the seat of papal authority of Rome, the Petrine importance of Antioch, the matryoshka qualities of medieval-style reliquaries, the “throne of Theseus”, apostolic succession, and what it means to be the Rock upon which the Church is founded.
Our patron Demon for today is Trimasael, alchemical and many-aliased devil of the Grimorium Verum, by which we talk powders of projection and transmutations of metals; as well as muse on their sometimes-counterparted Exu of Quimbanda, Seu Pimenta, pondering on what it means to be a spirit who is (like) a pepper…
Our Herb of the hour, Storax, allows us to delve into some resinous mysteries of archaeo-botany and consider when plant-names are more descriptors than definitions, as well as how both recipes and titles are informed by ancient trade routes, and how planetary associations can shift.
Our Mineral this time is Cinnabar, ancient and once more alchemical ore of mercury, and constituent of the pigments called vermillion; by whose red-tinted light we illuminate a bloody history of mining, mercury poisoning, and Renaissance tips on getting the best colours.
Our emblematic Beast is the Wolf, the night-wanderer, the wild and ravenous one who infiltrates civilization, both guileful and blood-simple; considering animals fables, the birth of Rome, animalia materia, and choleric virtues and vices.
Planetary Hours are the Style of Magic we tackle this episode, considering rules-of-thumb for natural kairotic (rather than quantative public) time, Chaldean zeitgeists, the peak magical moments of a day, and the cross-pollinations of astrological hours and days to tailor our sorcerous strategizing.
Our Figure of the episode is the geomantic Laetitia and the Odu Obara, leading us to discuss both fieriness and the fiery-in-the-watery, along with the refreshing artisanship of joy and the revivification of inspiration.
Our journey into the Minor Arcana of the Tarot continues with the Ace of Cups, exploring not only the mysticism of primal waters and phlegmatism but the hearth and wellspring of the family home, intersocial harmony, and the overflowing heart.
Our explorations of Mesoamerican calendricals comes to Cuetzpalin, the Lizard: considering times of rapid transformation, turnarounds, and reversals of fortune under the patronages of tricksters and winter powers.
Finally, our honoured Dead Magician this time is Arthur Gauntlet, the mid-seventeenth-century London cunning man who left one of the richest working-books of early modern folk magics: we consider not only what this spellbook offers us but also discuss working necromantically with Uncle Arthur’s bawdy ghost.
We hope you enjoy this interweaving co-ramble of alchemical reddenings, chronomantic projections and proscriptions, and the chairs we leave out for the dead. As always, it is a ever-multiplying joy to sit down and record, and we at RFG HQ thank you for lending your kindly ears.
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