Blue Fox Shaman

Another episode of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

[… Fox, Azar and The Twins are sitting around a low table covered with charts and diagrams …]

Fox: Our favorite source for ritual material is the Christian Mass. We’re particularly fond of the Holy Eucharist: Rite Two from the Book of Common Prayer.

Azar: Oh!

Fox: Of course, we’ve re-interpreted it to the point of blasphemy.

Azar: Of course. Give me an example, I’m curious.

Fox: Well, in the Credo, I can’t stop Bärchen from using She/Her pronouns for the Holy Spirit. He says “You identify as Female, don’t you?”

Azar: I get it. Blasphemy in the first degree. I have to say I’m proud of you, sis! This is like the third outrage that you’re responsible for?

Fox: Yeah, I can’t think of too many others.

[… Bärchen enters …]

Bärchen: Hi, hon! I’m home! … Oh, we have company. Hi, Azar! Hi Guys!

Fox: We’ve been working on that question about the nature of the symbolic system of Astrology and how it might correspond with our own.

Bärchen: That’s great! I’ve had to work, of course. Glad you all had the time. So, do you want to go over it now?

Azar: You two can. I’m going to take off, sis. And I’ll take these two jokers with me.

The Twins: You couldna done it without us! I think you’ll find that it follows perfect logic.

Bärchen: Well, I’m impressed by the time you all have been putting in recently. Thanks again for doing this!

Azar: See ya later, bro!

[… Azar and The Twins leave …]

Bärchen: Whaddaya got?

Fox: Look over this table of correspondences with accompanying texts, my love.

[… Bärchen looks at a printout of an Excel spreadsheet …]

Fox: So, all this is important because that’s the interface that the Alpha 428 uses to reach those places in Non-Ordinary Reality… where we can interact with Spirits. Rather than “summon” them. The Sorcerers who consulted on the Navigation System were steeped in that symbol system. In Astrology, I mean. You’re looking at me confused…

Bärchen: No, no, I think I’m getting this. This is just a new way, again, of looking at things. You’re very good at that, but sometimes it takes me a moment to catch up, to follow the logic.

Fox: I bet an example will help. One time a Sorcerer summoned a friend of mine to visible appearance right when she was having a spa day with her friends and getting her nails done. Not easy when they’re about 4 inches long and laced with poison. Ruined the whole thing. You can bet she was pissed, and I told her she should take the contract he coerced her to sign to Legal, but she shrugged it off. The Sorcerer was asking for hidden treasure, and she just gave it to him. She led him to a stash in the desert that the Las Vegas Mob had hidden. Needless to say, that did not end pretty.

Bärchen: Ooof! But, so, Hell has a Legal Department?

Fox: Hell has an excellent Legal Department. They have oodles of experience in contracts and covenants. You should know that.

Bärchen: Yeah, that explains a lot. You gotta have a dedicated team to turn up that many loopholes.

Fox: Uh huh. So, usually, that’s what Sorcerers are after, I mean, the usual triad of Power, Prestige, and Wealth.

Bärchen: And by “Power” you mean…

Fox: Power over other people, of course. With or without consent. Doesn’t seem to make much difference in their minds. Oh, they sometimes ask for Power over Matter. Like that’s going to happen.

Bärchen: You mean “Miracles”?

Fox: Right. When that’s in the contract, we Spirits usually make up a good little show for the victim, er, I meant to say, for the Adept. Ha!

Bärchen: Hallucinations, then.

Fox: Not that I don’t do that with you, sometimes, in a milder form.

Bärchen: And you’ve got quite the palette, I must say!

Fox: Thank you! But, anyway, what all this was leading up to is to say that there’s one more reason Sorcerers, and their ilk, interact with Spirits–to gain Knowledge. And that got me to thinking, now we’ve got a way to do that. You and I, I mean.

Bärchen: Oh! So, you’re going to be my familiar?

Fox: [in a sexy voice] Your very familiar familiar. Wanna see something I’d like you to familiarize yourself with?

[… they both laugh …]

Fox: But, in a word, yes. You see, there’s a feature of the Alpha 428 Navigation System that makes it possible to go to the Realm of a Spirit of Knowledge at a time that’s convenient for them. Actually, it’s outside of time, in Non-Ordinary Reality. So its convenient for everyone.

Bärchen: Ah!

Fox: Each Spirit of Knowledge has a place of their own. I won’t say “home”, because that concept only applies to some of them.

Bärchen: And to get there, you had to figure out how Astrology corresponds to your knowledge of The Realms.

Fox: Exactly. And now that I have figured it out, just one question remains–do you have a Spirit you want to visit first? I’ve got an idea…

Bärchen: Hmmm! You tell me, then! You know The Realms better than I do.

Fox: [growls] That’s because I’m your familiar. [winks]

Bärchen: I could think of ways to make you even more familiar.

Fox: Oh, you can, can you? Well, you’ll just have to tell me about them after our little trip [smiles]

[… Fox and Bärchen go to the garage, take the covers off the Alpha 428, and strap in. Fox sets the Navigation System to “Sun in Capricorn” and Bärchen gives the order to “engage”. In a short time they land in a forest clearing where there’s a Workshop. A Master Craftsman stands before the entry with a leather apron around his waist and goggles on his forehead. His sleeves are rolled up and he folds his arms over his chest …]

ΨΗΦΟΣ: Welcome to my workshop. Come in! We’ll soon see what you’re made of.

[… They enter an anteroom. Just beyond is a studio with a furnace, work tables, and tools arranged neatly on the wall behind …]

ΨΗΦΟΣ: You! Follow me!

Fox: [to Bärchen] Go on, sweetie. He’s going to ask you three questions.

[… Bärchen enters the studio …]

ΨΗΦΟΣ: Hold this stone. Grasp it tightly in your left hand so it may register the desires of your heart.

[… Bärchen takes the stone …]

ΨΗΦΟΣ: What is the past?

Bärchen A dream I had where I was disconnected and alone.

ΨΗΦΟΣ: What is the present?

Bärchen: Another chance to awaken to Love and Beauty.

ΨΗΦΟΣ: What is the future?

Bärchen: The lives I have touched, for good or ill. Though grant, O Great Mystery, that it may be for good.

ΨΗΦΟΣ: We will now set these elements in a Ring of Power. Give me the stone.

[… Bärchen returns the stone to ΨΗΦΟΣ who gets to work sizing a gold ring and setting the stone in it …]

ΨΗΦΟΣ: What do you wish to know from me?

Bärchen: Only this– what is my right rule of action where I see your Realm impinge upon Ordinary Reality?

ΨΗΦΟΣ: Why, that’s easy to answer because I cannot tell you. That can only be answered at those times when this occurs. Then you must prepare a question carefully, and I will send an answer via the usual methods.

Bärchen: You mean, via divination?

ΨΗΦΟΣ: You have chosen it. Here, the Ring is now ready.

[… ΨΗΦΟΣ escorts Bärchen back to the anteroom …]

ΨΗΦΟΣ: He’s all yours now.

Fox: Thank you, ΨΗΦΟΣ. Let’s see that Ring of yours, sweetie. Uh huh, a stone light and clear, a slightly greenish citrine mounted between what I think are golden wings. Nice!

Bärchen: It’s obviously important, and I’m guessing the reason why we came here first. So, what do I do with it?

Fox: You were expecting a Ring like Solomon’s, one that grants Power over the Spirits?

Bärchen: That thought had crossed my mind, yes.

Fox: Well, that, and other Magic Rings… I can’t even start to name them all now… all have one thing in common. And I’m going to lump them together with the Wish Fulfilling Gem, the Cintāmaṇi which is always present in or on the Ring. You see, when you are able to express your Power, you gain the ability to make wishes come true. The Ring, and especially the Gem, is the Seal and Symbol of this.

Bärchen: Ahhh! I think I see where this is heading…

Fox: Yes, if your wishes are out of whack, chaos and conflict results. But this particular one, I’d say, is meant to ground you in your Power which is Knowledge. And to the Spirits it signifies one who comes among them as an equal to gain that, and ultimately, Wisdom. Are you up to the task, my love?

Bärchen: I am, but only with the help of a particularly familiar familiar.

Fox: Mmmm! Let’s head back, shall we? Didn’t you tell me you wanted to become more familiar with, uh, certain things?

Bärchen: See! My wishes are already starting to come true. [they laugh]