"Goddess" by Jaira Burns

I'm stretching it a little in that I'm not exactly sure if Jaira Burns is a pagan/witch. She could be - she seems the type. One of those secret witches who drops hints in her songs - like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande. No, what it comes down to is I heard this on my new Spotify mix today and it fit the current astrological climate beautifully. Venus moved into the sign of Scorpio this week, moving from a sign where she is in her rulership (Libra) to a sign where she is in her detriment. Everything is a little darker, a little bit more mysterious, and a lot more secretive. Venus in Scorpio believes we never really understand the depths of our hearts. Sometimes, we keep things locked away - quiet, secret, safe - to protect ourselves. Venus in Scorpio - much like Moon in Scorpio - believes very much in soul mates. And more than anything, she wants love to be intense, passionate, and - maybe, just maybe - a little bit painful. In a good way. On the 13th, the night of the Full Moon in Aries, we'll also be hitting up against a hard opposition to Uranus. When that happens, it may manifest in various ways. Fights in normally harmonious partnerships. Secrets being revealed. A desire to change up your appearance in a drastic way. And, not least of all, perhaps some less-than-vanilla sex. Venus is in Scorpio, after all.

'Cause I'm a goddess, I'm fuckin' flawless, let's not be modest

'Cause if you fuck with me, I might just change your life

'Cause I'm a goddess, make you a promise

That if you fuck with me, I might just change your life

As I've mentioned, I'm reading "The Red Goddess" by Peter Grey, which is all about how the Sacred Courtesan became debased in modern society. It goes through the history of all the early fertility goddesses and how they were gradually demonized by the subsequent ascent of Abrahamic faiths (i.e., Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). For example, Lilith - whom I have a personal affinity for - began as one of the handmaidens of the Sumerian goddess, Inanna (who was later incarnated as Ishtar in Babylon). However, in Judaism, she has been transformed into the Mother of Demons, simply because she refused to be subservient to Adam. Ironically, in the latest season of "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina," Lilith the Demon has inhabited the body of a woman engaged to a man name Adam. Despite her reservations, she falls in love with him, because he vows to treat her as an equal (which is a better deal than when she married Lucifer). It's a long story but it's one of the reasons CAOS is one of my favorite shows. It uses it's campiness to shed light on some real societal issues that we apparently still haven't come to terms with, even in the Age of Information. Moving on, Peter Grey posits that sex - as well as other pleasures like wine and psychotropic drugs - were demonized by the Church because these had been the ways that ancient humans communed with the gods. And, specifically, it was the chief method of experiencing the Goddess. Being a prostitute was a sacred act - even the origin of the word prostitute meant to "stand on behalf of [the Goddess]." Herodotus, the Greek historian, remarked on a strange custom of the Babylonians, where women would sit on the steps of the Temple to be selected to sacrifice their virginity to the first man who dropped a coin in their lap. It was a sacred tradition to be of service to the Goddess in this way. It seems strange to read historical accounts like this and then turn around to see how much femininity and sexuality are viewed as shameful in the modern world.

'Cause my body is a temple

And it needs some extra detail right here, right now

And my name is monumental

Say it for me, for me, for me

No discussion of the Goddess would be complete without mentioning sex magick. It sounds really exciting and all, but what it comes down to is focusing on your intent (easier said than done) and trying to harness sexual release (i.e., orgasms) toward that intent. Obviously, the theory goes it's much more powerful with two participants, if that's possible. That being said, even some of the Big Name Pagans I follow on Twitter/Instagram are wary of just going out and asking a potential sexual partner, "Hey, do you want to perform some sex magic with me?" At best, they agree to sex but don't take the magic part seriously. And, at worst, they think you're a weirdo and you scare them off. Needless to say, most witches take it into their own hands (literally) and I'm sure things work out just fine. Maybe better, because you don't have to shoo anyone out of your house afterwards. Gaby Herstik, one of those BNPs I was talking about, is working on a book that supposedly focuses solely on sex magick, which I'm probably going to buy simply because I love her work (not the only reason, of course, but a big reason).

That was a fun rant. Probably more about this in the future because Mars is about to enter Scorpio to, which means that planet is going to be very powerful because it will be in the sign of its rulership (think war, anger, and more sex). Late October and November are going to be pretty intense, astrologically. Only time will tell if that reflects in real life. I'll end with the following random words of wisdom, because based on what I'm reading on Twitter, people really fucking don't understand some things and need some clarification. Being tied up doesn't make you submissive. Being on the bottom doesn't make you submissive. It's who's making the demands that matters - are you making the rules or just doing what you're told? Food for thought....my mind gets so low in the gutter lately, but it seems to be comfortable there. 😈

"Goddess" Video

"Pop/Stars" by K/DA

This song was composed for the 2018 League of Legends tournament and ended up on Billboard's Top 40. I love that - League of Legends always made really great music for their character releases and tournaments, but it's rare that video game music makes the charts. Guess that means gaming is mainstream, eh? Anyway, K/DA (short for "Kill/Death Assist," which is LoL lingo) is a fake band comprised of two members from the Korean girl group (G)I-DLE and American artists Jaira Burns and Madison Beer. Technically, that makes KDA a "superband," which is what they call it when already successful artists form a new group. Examples of superbands include A Perfect Circle, Audioslave, Amaranthe, Journey, and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, just to name a few.

I've been listening to "Pop/stars" a lot. It's a good song to dance to, especially when you're pissed off and need to get some energy out. I throw in a lot of punches and kicks, just because. I've been running on my own steam lately, I need some sort of outlet. Dancing has been it. It helps that the video has a bit of a routine to try and copy. No, I haven't nailed the moves yet but I will. My favorite part is Jeon So-yeon's rap break. I couldn't explain why - as I've said before, good rap is no different than poetry. If it's performed right, it conveys an emotion as unique as the words. Even though I don't understand Korean, it speaks to me. After looking up the translation, now I get why I like it:

See me anytime; using magic

Just once, I can get you

My spirit never dies, uh!

Pow-pow, you don’t know anything

It’s irresistible even if you don’t want it

I can tell from your face what you want

Love it! That's dark goddess energy right there....even earlier in the song, the lyrics refer to Akali being a "goddess with a blade." Anyway, the rap lyrics are from the point of view of Ahri, one of my favorite characters to play in LoL (when I played). Ahri is supposed to be based off the Korean Kumiho spirit, which is similar to other Japanese (Kitsune) and Chinese (Huli Jing) legends. These are spirits that appear as foxes - sometimes with 9 tails - but can transform into other things. Most notably, they can turn into beautiful women who seduce young men and eat their hearts. They live a long time, thousands of years. Depending on the legend, they can be friendly and kind but in most tales, they're bloodthirsty and malicious. Naturally, this is one of my favorite spirits. In LoL, one of Ahri's abilities is to blow a kiss that stuns her target and makes them move towards her, regardless of their free will. The kiss also drains their health a little bit. Sounds like a good ability to have.

Since I'm rambling about kitsune, komiho, and other fox-related nonsense, I'll recommend a book for those interested. It's called "The Sacred Book of the Werewolf" by Victor Pelevin. Pelevin is a Russian novelist so it takes place in post-Soviet Moscow (an interesting landscape, to say the least). Basically, a kitsune falls in love with a werewolf. However, it gets weird and highly philosophical, because two thousand year old monsters think way too much. But it's funny (if you're a fan of black comedy) and is an interesting twist on what is essentially the story of Little Red Riding Hood. I will caution - even though they keep it in the Horror section of the bookstore, it is not Horror, it is very much high-brow narrative literature inspired by the works of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. It's dark, but a different kind of dark than what you're probably used to.

Here's the official video for "Pop/stars" - it's better than the videos for most songs, nowadays, in my opinion but I like it when fictional characters put out music. I'm not sure there's enough out there to a whole month, but I'll figure something out. Enjoy!

"Pop/Stars" Video