This is volume 1 of a collection of magical poems that Taylor Ellwood has written in 2020 and 2021. In this book, Taylor shares the collection with you. It may inspire magical work on your part, or you might simply enjoy the verses written. It is a book of poems where Taylor intimately presents the experiences of his life, both the sadness and joy, mistakes and successes, in the form of poem. It is also where he shares some of his magical work with the spirits he works with. Occult Poetics is a glimpse of the weaving word magic that can be wrought with poetry, when we open ourselves to the mysteries of the universe.
Unique
Sometimes I feel so keenly the edge of Zero,the loneliness of one I am unique I'm told as if it were a gift and blessing but such uniquity is a burden as well providing a singular vision not shared by others I see at angles no one else sees understand the universe in a way so rare that it either invokes ridicule or awe from those who witness it. I can put magic together such as you've never known to make the universe dance and sing at my caress but there's no who knows that part of me that dances on the edge of zero gazing into the merging of not and all 0 and 1 discovering the secrets of creations, the tremors of destruction the dissonant harmony of all things and none Oh what secrets I could tell you if you could find a way to walk my path but there's no one to walk this path with me no one to really understand the way I see things. I am as alone as alone can be walking this path with my secret self along tongue lolling out eyes laughing mockingly you know, you know, you know but what you don't know is so much more. I'll continue on this path awhile but I fear I won't find another soul I'm unique you see, so different as far as others can tell. There's no one here to share this journey I'm on. I'm out here on the edge singing my song, telling my story, but there's no one there to hear no one there to tell.
Multiversal Tone
The hypnotic movement of the music,the sashay that calls for a steady shuffle as you and I move in time we create this altered reality a place of eyes, your eyes staring into mine mine staring into yours Your soul baring its truth to me showing all your possible timelines realities unfolding as you say, "Here I am in all my multiversal glory." You are everything and nothing Your eyes are eight arrowed stars that portray entropy The music swirls, stings, rattles its not just a sound its an experience shaking the very boundaries of the bodies engaged in this dance of robotic, synchronized movements back and forth, back and forth all is bliss, all is bliss Reveal yourself to me and I'll show you a new reality in my own eyes as I unveil my secret self displaying the glories of my true nature the celestial nature of my tone I bring to the universe perfect sound joining other perfect sounds we create this harmony gears in clocks, the ticking of time the movement of space Here we are you and I.
An infinity of possibilities
Multi-angled eyesstare into an infinity of possibilities absorbed in the flow of time acting on space unrealized possibilities folding into realities not are own as well fall into shimmering waves of existential bliss The angles of the angels reveals place, purpose, function, What are they but what they identify with? The angles of the demons reveals place, purpose, function The angles of the gods reveals place, purpose, function And what do you reveal child of light and shadow? You represent possibilities outside such fixed identities laughing chaos that reveals there's so much more than just form, function, place, or purpose I cannot be more than what I am is only reserved for those beings that have chosen that their function, form, place, and purpose have more importance than the opportunity to change and grow. You are that you are, I am that I am, the Breath of the universe ripples through your life and you reveal in that moment the glory of your multi-angled eyes... You'll pick and choose and turn possibilities into realities and we'll dance in those realities even as we look into the infinity of all things and none.
Divine Union
The Dance of the Day is sponsored by the song of the Night,The Twilight times are when the courts meet and share a moment of respect urging each other on in their chosen duties longing for the next moment when they meet exchanging brief pleasantries in an exhausted daze before resuming the festivities that move the natural rhythm of life.
You and I find glimpses of the divine gathering in our eyes when we look at each other in a moment of connection that is both empowering and vulnerable within you I see the secrets of the universe revealed in a moment of ecstasy that is less about doing and trying to reach an outcome and more about being just being with you without expectation without need just perfection in that moment of union and bliss
We see the coming of the day, the departure of the night the spirits of the air drifting lazily over the solid sentinels of the Earth The spirits of water splashing to touch daringly, fleetingly the sandy toes of the Earth The spirits of fire lighting up a plume of creativity and destruction promises of oblivion wrapped in promises of warmth.
In each others' eyes we see all the spirits, the fey, demons, angels, and deities parade before us, promising something that is intangible the rise of the Kundalini serpent fills us with a quiet heat spreading through every part of us in your eyes I see life and death, everything and nothing all possibilities and none
This is divine union not having, not doing being, just being.
Book Reviews
Ghost Story (affiliate Link) by Jim Butcher
The Dresden Files is one of my favorite Occult detective series. I think its the best out there and this novel continues to show why I do. Butcher crafts a story with surprising plot twists, while exploring the afterlife in a manner that reveals that even when Dresden dies, he hasn't left behind his triumphs or his follies. If you haven't read the rest of the series, start with Stormfront...otherwise pick this one up and enjoy!
Power within the Land (Affiliate Link) by R.J. Stewart
In this book, R. J. Stewart explores concepts of time as well as working with the spirits of the land and how all of that fits into the underworld tradition, and how it fits into doing work to heal the land and our connection to it. The exercises are useful for demonstrating how to work with all of these elements, but what I found even more useful was his detailed explanation of working with the spirits and how it applied to his tradition.
Opening the Gate
Unlocking yourself releases heat that flows to all extremities,bringing forth a heightened awareness of life and your connection to the environment, There's a moment of oneness in everything, a close kind of warmth that snuggles and smothers simultaneously, releasing with it a cry of fear and liberation, I am free and chained at the same time
In the confrontation of opposites, there is the fusion of the similar, which creates a cycle of entropy, as the polar opposites turn on the similar and turn on themselves a cycle that never stops and reveals in its intricacies everything falling apart to come back together again
The inner worlds are revealed by the outer world unlocked by the people who can understand that its not all in your head there's real meaning and power in the symbols you hold so dear. There's liberation in the facing of fear and fear in the liberation you achieve for the unknown calling on and on that you come forth and face the consequences of your choices.
Beginning-Ending
My mind is all aglow and on fire with the secrets of the universe being whispered in my ears by all possibilities and none, XAH highest of me, EHEIEH, god breath that moves space and time into place to show me the silver pathway to all I can be. In these whispered words I hear the song of the elements combining everything together into patterns of manifest reality that present a sense of the universe that goes beyond any explanation and yet speaks more eloquently to the harmony of all things and none that come together to present possibility an opportunity to become reality tangible, palpable reality.
I gaze with crystalline eyes into the silver light seeing a web that hums and strums with power spatial nodes representing place, person, or thing, while temporal strands of activity move the spaces with their songs of power and promise.
I am in the zero space/time continuum where nothing matters and everything is revealed where identity becomes one from zero and emptiness gives way to realizations of empowerment through peace identity changing from dysfunction to function to awareness that no one is a victim of themselves unless they choose to wallow in their victimhood and excuse themselves from taking responsibility for their end of matters
Magic reveals the greatest truth that life is an endless play of possibility on reality of the conjoining sexual acts of space and time joining each other shuddering in lustful, blissful abandon to create this present moment a baby of circumstance, fate, destiny and the shattering sighs of universal harmony dissonant in our ears, for we cannot hear fully that song of time and space joining into one, The present is a present, with the past full of hidden secrets and the future blazing ahead to provide this final greatest moment of life passing to death passing to life the cycle has no end or beginning just endless possibility, endless illusion til you strip away the scales from your eyes and see all along it was a joke you played on yourself to bring meaning into your every moment a cruel explanation of why when we look into each other's eyes we realize we know each other for you are in me, and I in you and soon we discover we are all in each other everything we ever needed
Now join me for this one last act this blissful orgasmic death love lust act of sex, the little death the beginning-end of our song and drama I let you go, let go of myself and find in the release the expression of space/time that exquisitely presents this god breath whispering into me writing. We're all joined in this moment. Hello to me, hello to XAH my highest self telling me the secrets of the universe penning them down, laughing all the while. We'll meet again you and I, when we see ourselves in each other and realize it's all an illusion this joke of you and I.
A dance of possibilities
To enter into imaginary timefeeling the flow of possibilities as they merge with your linear position of reality shaping and shaped by you it all becomes one infinite, unto everything We're dancing here on the edge of time a quick slip into non-linear reality I could be everywhere, anywhere, all things and none The flow of words that come out, doesn't come close to expressing where I really am, what it is I'm becoming We are that we are, but you see we exclude all these possibilities by adhering to this space/time reality we are in. The song and dance of probability on possibility draws me in. I could stay here forever, infinite dreams flowing through me but would I ever really bring these possibilities into reality?
I am that I am back to linear reality I come with possibilities born out of imaginary time I am here with reality born anew.
Two cords, two colors
This is a poem I came up with at a workshop taught by Jaymi Elford on Tarot and Writing at Pantheacon. I dedicate it to Kat. Two cords, two colors, red for sex, white for understanding, Two hands, two tools, A wooden stick dipped in wine. A silver goblet holding life. The two hands strive for each other through their tools and will We meet in the bond of wine and blood, sex and understanding, in mutual bliss, in complete vulnerability giving ourselves over to the infinity of our souls that we see in the mirrors of our eyes. We look to each other for love and lust comfort and succor for the focus of magical energy and the realization of our goals.