This year marked my 11th Babalon Rising. For those of you who have not experienced a Babalon Rising festival, it is a festival dedicated to living by the law of Thelema, held in southern Indiana every June. For 4 days, we communally create a space where attendees have room to push themselves in the exploration of their Will. With 3 tracks of workshops covering a broad range of topics, scheduled (& unscheduled) rituals, vendors, and a main fire every night it is a festival I highly suggest.
2025, the year of the Hierophant was a layered experience for me. Around the time I attended my first BR my etch-a-sketch had been violently shaken by the universe. Being a double Scorpio I am used to hard resets, but this one cut deep. The isolation brought by such a disruption in my world created a need to find a way out of the rubble. It wasn’t coming out of my shell, but rather it was more of digging myself out of the shattered shell before it collapsed taking me with it.
Through the last 15 years I have used this festival for the personal “shattering” aspect of my magick. I have had the blessing of meeting authors who changed my life as a teenager. I have attended workshops that blew open the fount of my magickal perception. I’ve made interpersonal connections that are worth more than their weight in salt 1k times over. I found my people, and in doing so I have, and continue to flourish. My fears decreased over time, and slowly I found my voice again. It was only fitting to debut my first ritual/occult book at the festival this year.
I wish to extend my gratitude to those who attended my workshops, and/or picked up a copy of Glamour of The Spheres: Practical Planetary Makeup Magick. Your interest and support in my work as I embark on this next life shift means more than you may realize. I am a firm believer in the living nature of magick, and the importance of its evolution through experimentation. I have spent the majority of my conscious magickal life pushing on the boundaries of how I practice. I often refer to it as throwing a ritual against the wall until it breaks. Breaks? Yes, I said I actively set a goal to break rituals. To paraphrase a quote a dear sister used in class Friday, you learn the rules like a professional so you can break them like a master. The rituals of old are powerful, but they can be so much more. The world is evolving…we, as a species, are evolving. It is up to us to progress the practices…to bring the magick to new heights with us. We are the weavers of our reality.
I have had a lot of firsts over the last 15 years. My first public ritual, my first workshop, my first community magick undertaking, they all brought me to the here and now of today. I stand to embrace the side of the hierophant that rang the bell of my soul. I stand to embrace the lesson of self-guidance. I stand to embody complete confidence in foraging my own path through the jungle. I claim the courage to teach my personal system to others without the sabotage of self-doubt. I acknowledge the validity of my power to be a guide for others The path of becoming is calling us all. As I embrace my new “first” I step into my future, and I invite you all to walk with me. Let’s make some magick happen!
The Art of Becoming 