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Caspar Veteran user Tacoma 316 Posts |
The Nephilim or Al –Jin
Intro – Following is a set I am hoping to have ready for Halloween. Ideas were taken from some coincidences in my life and some very good reading some years ago. It is a little deep, but beneath my reserved and then goofy layer that is the person I am. I hope that some may provide me with some honest feedback. In asking for this feedback you can take off the kid gloves within the realm of respect and give your honest thoughts and feeling. This piece is a bit theatrical and I am hoping to perform it from the parlour floor. Also keep in mind that this is only a second draft and has some fat to be cut away and some rough corners to be polished. Thanks in advance! Chayne The Routine - Center Tear Ashes & Billets Stacked Volition Mirror Of Time Lost Brethren Center Tear The Magus calls few audience members forward and asks them to write the name of a person, a place, or a thing on a slip of paper, as he or she is tearing the paper…* I cannot read minds, but I can see things whether they are near or far. Hidden or unhidden, in the past, the present, and to some extent…the future. The Magus ignites the torn pieces of paper from a burning candle and sets them in a small brass dish or ashtray to burn completely* I can even see your words that are hidden in the folds and pieces of this paper, even as this paper is destroyed. The Magus looks deeply into the eyes of the audience members, slowly close his own eyes with a slow deep breath and reveals the words that were hidden and destroyed after which his shoulders are seen to relax* Ashes & Billets *The Magus next introduces a fragment of parchment bearing a strange symbol and hands it to the audience member to look at and pass around* <an angelic sigil to be precise, devise your own or reference any number of them that can be found in books of the Kabbalah or Occult>. *When the billet is returned refold it, switch it, and hand the fake billet to someone to keep in a safe place such as pocket, wallet, or purse. <Seal it in an envelope if this makes you feel safer> About a year ago I became obsessed with this fragment of parchment found in an old, crumbling, Western paperback. *The Magus passes the fragment out for inspection amongst the audience*. I cannot explain why, but when my eyes first fell upon this symbol I felt a vague familiarity with it. Contemplating upon this for a moment I concluded that it must have been a brand used for marking cattle by the characters in the book and that I had seen this symbol in one of its illustrations as I scanned the pages, hence this seemingly odd familiarity. Shortly after, this symbol began to appear in my dreams and my dreams went from black and white to visions of stark color and vivid detail. In these dreams I saw an ancient city, its people, and their strange inventions. I could hear their language and smell the very earthy and sweet air they breathed. Every time I closed my eyes and journeyed to this place, this time, it began to feel as if I were journeying home. I did not begin to question these things until I started to hear my name being called in my waking hours. I know many people have heard their name called yet there was no one there, an auditory memory perhaps. But no, my name was being called in the tongue of the people in my dreams and whenever I was alone I began to feel their presence. *The Magus borrows a business card or some slip of paper from the audience, sets it alight from a candle on a table, and drops it onto a small brass plate* Now whenever I closed my eyes, it was not just the ancient city I saw, but many places and the people and things that inhabited them through the ages. Then one day something peculiar happened. I found myself visiting a friend at his new home. This was my first visit and as I entered his new home it was if I had walked into one of my dreams for there in his living room, stood the mantle of his fireplace and I knew it, the mirror that hung above it, the white marble, and every piece of bric-a-brac that had found its place there… from my dreams. That night as I pondered these strange things I drifted to sleep with many questions in mind. At some time before the dawn I awoke to feel a presence in my bed, oddly I was not frightened. Instead, as I lay in the crook of her arm, as she tenderly stroked the side of my head, a word from my heart of hearts, from the depths of my gut, from my spine, the word… Ammah left my lips. From the tongue I had learned in my dreams this was the word for mother. As the many questions of late began to well up, she gently pressed her fingers to mouth with an shhhh, as she told me to sleep. I will never forget the light of the moon as it entered my room, the pale light that held a life of its own, and the matronage that I felt from this woman. And so I slept and she was there in my dreams and she spoke of my many lives and showed them to me. She spoke of strange coincidences from my childhood. She told me that I was descended from the Nephilim, Al-Jinn, that ancient race created before angel or man, that race of men of old and renown. She showed me a mark on my hand of the very symbol that you hold in your hands. *The Magus gestures to the audience member holding the parchment*. She said to uncover the mark in my waking world, to study it, to learn what it means, and to find my brethren. I asked her how and she replied with fire and ash. It took me some time before I realized this very simple instruction she gave to me, and indeed it was simple *The Magus looks down at the business card or slip of paper that is now nothing more than ash, takes the brass tray and drops the ashes on his hand* With fire and ash! *The Magus brushes the ashes from his hands as if washing them and shows the audience the sigil of the Nephilim* <Maybe working Omega Fire could add to effect>. For several weeks I was in shock over this mark, in my mind it was an abomination and I wanted to return to my happy ignorance. I barely ate or slept. I sought the perpetual company of society and friends who started to flee from me as my appearance became disheveled, as I started to speak gibberish from lack of proper rest, and an unbearable reek began to envelope me. Sleep finally found me, frightened, weeping, and alone. That night there were no dreams, only a merciful black abyss. But when I awoke, I awoke to the sound of singing that faded as slumber left my mind. I was surprised to find myself shaven and freshly bathed. My house that was in shambles from the previous weeks of my distress was spotless. Even my morning coffee was percolating and inviting me to start my day. I questioned none of this and took it as parting gift from whatever force had tormented me. As I dressed and went about my morning routines, there were no voices calling my name. I had no visions of strange places, and this mark was no longer visible. It was if I had wakened from a nightmare and the previous months had slipped away into a vague memory. That night, I ate heartily, I drank an old bottle of cabernet and as I set before my fire reading Tennyson in the quiet of my house, the warmth of the fire and wine crept into my bones. I felt powerful and realized that I feared nothing and I wanted to find…my mother. As I lay in bed waiting for sleep to take me I called to her, but there were no dreams only the fathomless black of a resting mind. In my waking hours I now strained to hear the voices and could only imagine strange places. And so it was for three days. On the third night I cast myself upon my bed weeping, crying out for Aimmah, begging her to return to me at first, then cursing her for having left me. I screamed into me pillow as my fingers ripped it to pieces. My heart felt as if it were torn from chest and yet another black sleep took me. *Now is the time to reveal the billet switch of the parchment. Have whoever is holding it to unfold it to reveal that the sigil has vanished. Have them refold it again, mark it, and lay it on the table in plain view against the candlestick* I was beside myself with grief and I secluded myself from public. Again I ate little, slept little, and did not bathe. I practiced a schoolboy’s dark ritual of blood that I had learned in my youth. I cursed out loud as I broke my furniture and punched holes into the walls of my house. and suicide crept into my mind more than once. After several days and nights of this, I finally dreamed. I stood beneath the pale light of the moon and before me was a stair and at the top of that stair were two pillars inscribed with the words of Boaz and Jacinth in the ancient tongue. And before the stair was a sea and in the midst of that sea she stood upon the back of a tortoise her arms open, tears and longing were in hear eyes. She beckoned to me. I climbed the stair and as I approached the waters edge I did not hesitate and I walked upon the coursing waves to embrace her. When I reached here I fell upon my knees before her and laid my head upon her waist. Again she told me that I was of the Nephilim, of Al-Jinn and that my blood had descended from the stars, created from a smokeless flame before the time of Angels and of Men. As I looked up into her eyes the wind began to rage and the sea was in tumult and riding in the clouds were the remnants of my race, the Nephilim, the Jinn. I said to her you are my mother and never again will I flee from you. She said to me that she was the mother of all, of Jinn, Angels, and Men. She said that when God created the void within himself to create the worlds, he filled that void with me. She spoke again and told me that I am of the watchers in the sky and that given to me was the gift of sight. To see things that are hidden or unhidden, near or far, in the past, the present, and a little ways into the future. That with this sight I could even see into the hearts of men and so have understanding not to take advantage but to reconcile them of their differences. Of the future she told me not to pry to far as I would become as one of those that are cast down that I was not to walk the way of the sorcerer, the soothsayer, or necromancer. I was to walk the way of the Wise or face a painful humiliation. As I nodded to acknowledge her gift to me two of the Jinn stepped down from the fleeting clouds and bore me home. As they left me they told me to remember my childhood. In the morning when I woke, I performed the ritual of Fire and Ash and so that power of sight that was given me, and that had left me, was returned to me again. *The Magus now takes the folded billet and invites several spectators to witness the ritual of fire and ash. He holds it over the flame of the candle and the selected audience see the mark of the sigil slowly return. He then takes some of the remaining ashes from earlier and sprinkles them on the paper. When he brushes them away the sigil is now bolder. * Stacked Volition I remembered what the Jinn had told me. To remember my childhood and as I began to think back to that time that was innocence I began to recall certain experiences. I remembered vividly of having the ability to see things and places of which I had no empirical knowledge. On one occasion, I believe I was five or six, my family had just moved into a new house, and my mother was hanging pictures. She had asked me if I knew where any nails where. I remember, that I closed my eyes and sat still for a moment. I could see a coffee can, a green MJB coffee can, containing nails, sitting on a shelf of a concrete wall. I immediately deduced that this place I had envisioned was the garage and told my mother to look there. She went into the garage and came back with a green MJB coffee can half full of nails, and with a perplexed look on her face. This coffee can of nails were left by people that had lived in this house before us and even past the time of my spontaneous clairvoyance, I had never stepped foot in that garage. I am sure that some of you have heard, or may have even observed a marked intuition among some children. And I am sure that even more of you have heard of and observed “A woman’s intuition”. During the course of my study, study that led me to forgotten books from cultures the world over, I came across some traditions that related the story of the Jinn. One tradition of Arabia in particular struck me. It purported that women and children were part Jinn and it was because of this that women and children were sensitive to subtle perceptions. I read of the Nephilim as our people were called in Hebrew lore and found that some scholars believe that it is from this ancient line that great kings such Giglamesh descended. Perhaps some of you here may have experienced an occurrence of clairvoyance or sight, as I like to call it, or some other strange coincidence. *The Magus produces a deck of Tarot cards and selects four members of the audience at random* I am aware that some of you may associate these cards and the imagery they bear with fortune telling, and indeed within certain limits they can divine the past, the present, and to an extent…the future. There is really nothing mystical about the Tarot, I have found that the images are merely images that reflect life and sometimes these images may connect with our fate and introduce a probability at some point in time. However tonight, we will not divine our fortunes instead I would like to attempt to awaken the sight that some of you may possess. <Reference Volition found in Annemann’s Practical Mental Magic. The effect here is that audience members each select a card from the deck and seal it in an envelope. A fifth member of the audience collects these envelopes and returns them to the Magus. Since the deck was stacked the Magus knows what cards were selected. And each participating member told what card was selected. Once the cards have been revealed the spectators are then asked to exercise their latent sight to find their card as outlined in Volition. Once the audience members have their sealed cards have them open them to find the card they have originally selected. > Mirror of Time 1 1I am not sure of the name of this particular effect. I first came across it in Devil’s Doorways from the book Sheherazade by Borodin and again Box Office in Mind, Myth, & Magick by T.A. Waters. Mr. Waters does give credit to Ed Mellon but a believe that is for a particular handling of the effect. In lieu of this particular effect I suggest an adaptation of Corrinda’s Money Box, and a Billet Index both found in his 13 Steps. There is nothing to it really; all of creation has this sight to some extent or another. Some foster it; others forget it, and others still are oblivious of it…especially in this age of technology and convenience. I see doubt in some of your faces but how much difference is this from holding a cell phone and speaking to someone on the other side of the planet or watching a live presentation of the evening news or sporting event. Do not be troubled by this debate though, there is new age approaching when these plastic encased gadgets with their silicone microchips and wires will no longer be needed. An age where man will develop a latent part of himself that has only been spoken of in children’s storybooks or some strange tale of science fiction. However before man can evolve beyond our gadgets, or technological hedonism we must look to the past and learn from it so that the many terrible deeds that stain our history are not repeated. If we fail in this then we are doomed to repeat the cycle of the wheel that was forged in the Garden and has rolled down through the ages. This must be done as a world, as nations, as communities and family, and within the heart of the individual. Is there anyone here who will gaze into the mirror that will look back upon his or her many lives? Is there anyone here that has the courage to look at their true self, to strip away the many masks that we wear? *The Magus now performs Devil’s Doorways routine. * <I would describe it here if it were not for exposure as my presentation is very similar to Borodin’s. If you do not have Sheherazade or Mind, Myth, & Magick you are missing out on some very good stuff. I apologize for omitting this part of the script. > Lost Brethren Before I leave you tonight, there is but one last thing. It is a trifle really, a mere curiosity. Aimmah hinted that there are others descended from the Jinn. I believe this because she told me find my brethren. I would like to ask for but one more member of the audience with whom to perform the ritual of Fire & Ash. < Okay so here is a synthesis of Burger’s Ash on Palm, Borodin’s Witchcraft with a twist (an untried twist I must confess) and…. figure the last one out. The effect is that the mark of the Nephilim is revealed on the spectator’s hand just as it was on yours at the middle of this set. Some of you may remember it from my Dark Mother Thread> Again I hope that some here will like this. It still has a few sharp corners but these will be polished in a third and final draft, especially in regards to the Lost Brethren, which needs a little more dressing. Thank you for your time and feed back! Chayne |
kaytracy Inner circle Central California 1793 Posts |
I have only had the chance for a quick read through, I want to look closer as time permits!
I like the flow, though depending on the venue, you might do just the first two, but you will be the best judge of that! I would say that the burning of the billets should provide you with the ash, so no need to ask for a business card (I think that might "POP" folks OUT of the mood you are trying for- to use the ashes already in the little tray or censer seems to me like it would flow more smoothly. (my 2c worth ) Kay
Kay and Tory
www.Bizarremagick.com |
Caspar Veteran user Tacoma 316 Posts |
Thank you Kay,
I plan on working on the third draft this weekend or sooner if time permits. The borrowing of a business card comes from reading one to many books or descriptions for effects and definitely does not belong. I hope to address issues of transitioning once I start to rehearse. Thank you for your time and your feedback, it is very much appreciated. I have learned a lot from the folks in this forum. Caspar |
Kaizen Magick New user Torrance CA 72 Posts |
Have you read the books by Sitchin? They mention the Nephilim. "Those who were cast down"......
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Caspar Veteran user Tacoma 316 Posts |
I have not read Stichin, I just took what I knew of the Jinn and the Nephilim and made them one and the same. I also have cut away some of the fat and need to cut away a little more. And I have pared the effects down to two: The center tear and Borodin's Witchraft.
I tried this out on my Toastmasters group using only the CT and got some great feedback to include some constructive criticism for my storytelling. They have invited me to tell the story again which I plan on doing Halloween week. Take Care |
Laughing Otter Loyal user Behind you! 205 Posts |
Great story, and a wonderful basis on which to build a strong and well-rounded performance persona.
Aren't Toastmasters great! They are always a willing audience, and never hesitate to tell you just what you need to hear. |
Kaizen Magick New user Torrance CA 72 Posts |
Sounds great! Much success to you!
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Caleb Strange Special user Manchester UK 676 Posts |
Great stuff - very involving. I enjoyed this very much.
A couple of things came to mind, which I'm not sure improve things, but I'll share them anyway. The first concerns the ashes on the arm. Whilst I like the idea of a secret symbol/hallmark, I was also reminded of a bit from one of the 'Red Dwarf' books, where Lister finally realises that he is in a virtual reality because, when he rubs cream on his mysteriously painful arm, he notices that the sore bits spell out 'U=BTL' (or 'You = 'Better than life', the name of the game he's unwittingly playing). Maybe the mark on your arm is discovered because it is the SHAPE of your pain, if you see what I mean? Now, with some scripting/coaching, it might be possible to make it seem that the audience member rubs ashes on her arm 'to trace out the shape of her pain' - i.e. as if she not only draws the shape, but actually feels it, too. This suggests that a deeper connection is made - that the magic is more than skin deep. Similarly, I'm wondering if the symbol can seem to haunt more than your dreams: maybe a drawing dup. would be out of place, but something that seems uncannily familiar to one or two of your guests? Regards, Caleb Strange.
-- QCiC --
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Caspar Veteran user Tacoma 316 Posts |
Caleb thank you for your thoughts. Sorry I did not reply sooner. I performed this piece at my Toastmaster's Group this past Tuesday and she still has a few kinks for me to work out or I should say, I have few kinks to work out.
Take Care! |
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