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Underground > Temple >

Teach him how to fix and tine the moon?

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08:27 / 18.05.07

then it'd be time for the lost kitten arcana, and the kitten mafia.

They'd definitely be doin some tinin'.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

08:39 / 18.05.07

Given that some people see magic as being a mostly experiential and underground activity, a comic book can seem to be the ideal medium for magical teaching as its focus is on the experiences of its characters, and it's not as bound by the limitations of cultural expectancy and curricular standards as other mediums. In the case of bullshit, this can make it a subversive tool against magical theory and practice if the bullshit is accepted.

Mako, I kind of feel that anyone who's decided to get all of their occult knowledge out of a comic deserves everything they get. You can get inspiration, insight, and perhaps the flavour of an experience from works of fiction, but anyone who relies entirely on fiction for all hir information and understanding of magic is, frankly, a prat.

Sure, I personally get irked by the uncritical acceptence of certain popular tropes as holy writ by a lot of modern magicians, but I don't blame the authors for that--I blame the readers.

Mako is a hungry fish

09:15 / 18.05.07

I was thinking that "to fix and tine the moon" might be a reference to celestial navigation and the tools it uses, which fits in with Dr Dee being an astronomer.

Mako is a hungry fish

09:55 / 18.05.07

Do many people think his work is damaging to the occult in general?

I actually think it's helpful. There's nothing like a bit of popularity to inspire new blood and ideas into an outdated mode of thought - take a look at what Tiger Woods has done to Golf, Bruce Lee did for martial arts, or Backstreet Boys for music (ummm... maybe not) and you should get the idea.

Sure, Moores bullshit is there and it's there in spades, but if it inspires people to do something with their lives or even just be a little more enlightened, than it's not such a bad thing. There's reasonable accuracy to his work, and it's not like people are going to get a rather skewed image of magic from it, as they would from watching Willows progression over the series of Buffy.

harmonic series

20:58 / 21.05.07

your words and ideals flow through the universe like sparkling trails of light borne time.

While this leads me to think that thewalker has been satiated I was wondering...

what happens in the rest of the book?

So this guy is to "fix and tine the moon". Does he? How; what happens? Is it mentioned and then forgotton? Is there a magical theme to the rest of the story (astrology, alchemy, etc)?

Use the text! All relevant questions should be answered.

That's all. Literature-addict.

Thank you.

03:06 / 22.05.07

Literature-addict.

Oh, you should definitely pick it up. You won't be disappointed, and I certainly wouldn't want to spoil the experience for you.

Though, I suppose if you want to spoil it for yourself, you could check out this thread over here.

13:16 / 22.05.07

It's a lament by the Judge. I'll post the relevant paragraph when I get home, but it's not a big part of the story and doesn't get mentioned again.

20:19 / 22.05.07

It's from the chapter titled Angel Language A.D. 1618 narrated by a corrupt judge, and the paragraph goes;

"Dee was the cause of it, else I am not a judge. It is some five and twenty years since Francis suffered his regrettable enthusiasm for things thaumaturgical and first sought out the charlatan's advice, going to Mortlake where he made the doctor promise of one hundred pounds if Dee should teach him how to fix and tine the moon, along with other dark things of this type. While Queen Bess was in life, Dee had her ear and was much sought after in matters sorcerous, for such dire practices were then respectable, however difficult it may be to accredit this behaviour now."

harmonic series

16:36 / 24.05.07

According to the paragraph it seems like the event of "fixing and tining" itself is not central to the story, except to show in which brand of thaumaturgy the character is interested.

For the sake of fun, in my opinion the reference to fixing and tining the moon is definitely an alchemical reference. The moon is the metal silver and to fix something means to make a chemical substance nonvolatile or solid. Tining, of course, has already been defined.

Because the paragraph mentions it and then says something to the effect of 'and other things of this nature', I would guess that the author is not 'fixed' on the particular action... but that's really for you to decide.

harmonic series

16:40 / 24.05.07

Though, I suppose if you want to spoil it for yourself, you could check out this thread over here.

I'm not ready to spoil it! I even try not to read the back covers/dust jackets of books if I'm really going to spend time with them.

But I will read it eventually; thank you for the prodding.

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