A great idea, Mordant. It has had me ruminating ever since you suggested it, but nothing really concrete has formed yet. The first thing that sprung to mind was the "Symbolize-Section" (Chapter 10) of "SCHWA World Operations Manual" which appears to convey a story through stick figures without the use of many words.
I had a similar idea to archabyss in that we could illustrate the steps of the LBRP: arrows to show which way to draw the pentagrams, inset box to show the plan view as we move through the quarters, etc. Despite the fact that there are definite vocalisations (thus the nuisance of words in a post-Tower-of-Babel world  ), they could be rendered semiotically: thus "Adonai" could be represented as a speech bubble containing a crown with the Hebrew upon it and the universal syllables below (e.g. รค'dō-nī':"ahh-doh-nai").
Other than that, I'm kinda low on ideas.
311 - I'm also very fond of Alex Grey, the only trouble with the Sacred Mirrors you linked to is the intricate level of detail. Unless the tract was going to be printed as a single image on a minimum A4 sized sheet, the viewer would probably never realise that the frame actually represents the simultaneous evolution of Biology (left side) and Technology (right side), plus the process of conception, gender differentiation, maturation, leading back to copulation (top frame). I reckon most people will clock the "cradle to grave" motif at the top, but at this magnification it's nigh impossible to tell what that circle of discs represent (each symbol denotes a belief system, philosophy, religion).
That said, I reckon the margin-narrative device is a brilliant idea and should at least be considered - depending on what we're trying to convey. Perhaps with Ember's idea of individual sephiroth / tarot card / animal allies, this margin could be used as a map of where the tract in question fits within the overall system being illustrated?
Another artist who manages to condense complex ideas into harmonic visual forms is Paul Laffoley. Take a look.
[Runic aside: In my experience, divination by runes is usually under the auspices of Mimir (memory) or the Nornir (fate), neither of which put you directly on Mr Wink's to-do list. Once you try using the runes, exerting your will through them rather than letting the chips fall where they may, it's a whole different set of deities and rules.]
So. If the intent behind this subversive publication is the file-in-cake motif, what are your cakefiles, people? Mine is obviously Handrunes. It's easy enough to write the runes on the sections of your fingers, stick your palms on the photocopier and hit go. I tried sending that to a few occult publications, with my PO Box written on my palms, but got no response. This was a few years before I posted it to Barbelith, when I realised that what seemed so obvious to me really wasn't so crystal to anyone else.
Point? sorry... thought I had a point. Yes! What are your personal cakefiles? Techniques, Practices and Meditations you couldn't possibly manage without. Forget about the How just yet and let's assemble the Barbelith Essentials. hmmm... wasn't there a thread about that somewhere?
Under the section heading "Ritual" we already have Grounding, Shielding, LBRP. Under "Divination" we have Runes, Tarot. Under "Tools" we might include Witch Bottles, Candle Dressing, Dolly / Homunculus. Under "Spelling" we have Sigils, Bindrunes, Visualisation.
We can address how to break these down once we have a basic list of essential skills and practices for Charlie Brown. |
