Tag: myth

Gotham Tales: Magicks & Machines

Gotham Tales: Magicks & Machines


Flashback


The High Priestess of the Clockwork Cult fell from the skyship…
while the victorious teenage  ‘Guardian Angels’ celebrated their success, the High Priestess activated her enhanced clockwork cloak to glide away, but her flying device malfunctioned!

CRASH!

Hooded cult members carried the body away to their hideout, it seemed The High Priestess will survive this defeat to return another time!

…meanwhile some adventurers who survived the mythago invasion gathered information on Leonardo automata.

“Da Vinci had the right idea but not the right materials”
Visiting the library, they had some trouble with the janitors who resented their ‘disruptive’ discussion and research actions.
With some luck they discovered interesting symbols in a book mentioning golems!
They continued their research with visiting a Qabalist
“Erasing the magick symbols of a golem will destroy the entity”

The adventurers remembered using a portal to the netherworld for information.
“Lets do this”

This time the portal delivered the adventurers to the realm of the MachineGod!

A confusing realm with border-wars between automatons  and mages…

After some confrontations with automatons, the adventurers found their way to the regent of this place: Lady Mechanica!
The Lady showed the way…

to a guarded portal!
After a hectic combat the guardian was defeated, now the adventurers were free to return to Middle Earth!

 

 

 

 

Gotham bastion under attack

Gotham bastion under attack


Some members of the Guardian Angels’ vigilante group were enjoying R&R in the community center where the Sisters of Our Lady  offered some soup and bread to the needy.

A Chinese New Year Parade passed by…
After the passing of the parade, the vigilantes went to the streets..

Suddenly they  were aware of a sound of screeching and wailing…a flock of birds was attacking a small child!
“Angels Assemble”…the vigilante came to the rescue, chasing away the evil birds!

Where are these clockwork birds coming from?

Rumour on the street mentioned a gathering of birds at the temple of Electra
Investigating the temple, looking at the four Karyatids
Looking at the amber eyes, one of the kids tried to steal one..
ZAP!

Apparently some alarm was triggered…
A flute playing priestess arrived and summoned birds to chase away the intruders!
The vigilantes retreated to an office nearby…
The caretaker of the place provided them the clue to speak with ‘Mister Night S.’ the director of the current theater drama ‘the Arrival‘ 

Sneaking out of the office, meeting ‘Mister Night S.’  who apparently was the guardian of the small boy that was attacked by the birds, he was able to give more clues:
Go to the Wang Triad, they know how to fight the evil birds!

Meeting the Elder of the Wang Triad went quite well…

“The master of the evil birds hides in the cloud-castle in the sky…”


“We will summon the Dragon-energy and arrange an all-out attack against their cult-members in the city, then you can surprise their garrison|”

The Wayne corporation provided a sky-ship, the Wang Triad, lent them some of their crew ..
 
 
 
Battle ensued on the streets, the vigilantes captured a leading priestess and boarded their sky-ship while the Wang Triad fought the Thunderbird Cult…

Using the captured priestess flute, the vigilantes chased away the Thunderbird, surprised the High Priestess in the Cloud Castle and destroyed the doomsday clock!
The vigilantes escaped with their lives while the explosion went off…
 
Gotham: Mythago invasion

Gotham: Mythago invasion


‘Mister Johnson’ delivered his instruction to some members of the vigilante ‘Guardian Angels’ who were aware ‘something’ weird changed in Gotham while most ‘normal’ people reacted as if ‘business as usual’.
“sometimes the world goes black and white and everything seems to flicker, like a strobe light flashing just faster than the eye can register…When the Flicker Effect starts, strange things often happen. They may be subtle or they may be screamingly obvious, but they usually involve some intrusion, arriving out of nowhere, from the alternate realms”

…some weird sightings …:

Clusters of clouds gathering as if having a conference.
Dreams manifesting on the rooftops.
A statue of goddess Elektra.


Mechanical birds

Mannikins with pointy hats and sharp swords parading fashion district
…some rumours about Gotham Below..:
An ancient cult practicing dark rituals.
Disappearing cats.
Chaotic plumbing.
A stargate.
Tricky Shib, Shining Azoth, Arty Cassy, Kiddo Ralph gathered at their Treehouse in the park. 
Suddenly ‘something’ crashed on top of the tree!
Shib shape changed into cat to investigate and found a vaguely flickering humanoid person, but as soon as he touched the person, it fell down the tree.
It seemed unharmed but unconscious!
After some care, the person came by…
‘I Rhl fell down from the Heavens because an evil wizard bound me with his summoning!’
The person was still very confused, difficult to understand.
After a while it wandered off, singing to a magic egg in its hands, at last it started fading into distance.
Following its trail, passing an old woman sitting at a street corner..
Asking her for information, receiving some small blessings and a gift…
Now Arty Cassy carried the Magic egg!
Looking for more clues, joining an Free Mason information meeting…
Aleister the wicked is hiding in Gotham Below!”

Leaving the gathering, walking on the streets, suddenly burning paper lanterns fell down!
Fleeing the fire, going to the market, where a squad of Mannikins with pointy hats and sharp swords were parading…
A lone mechanical bird flew down to a Mannikin and started twittering in its ear.
Suddenly the Mannikin pointed their swords in the direction of the investigators…
Melee and total chaos!

Surviving the battle, continuing looking for clues in the library, finding a vague reference about a legendary hidden Stargate.

Decyphering the clues, finding and entering the gate…
Into Gotham Below!
The lights are failing, what’s wrong with the Generator?
Several workers are busy fixing cables and turning the wheels…
“Och, the engines cannae take it Captain!”
Steam and sparks escaping from the machines…
‘Where is the mayor?’

The investigators went searching for the mayor at his office, but it seemed he left !
“Lets go back to the Gate!”
“It is not there anymore!”
“Quick, maybe there is some more information at the Library!”
Department ancient historical maps:
“Here, at the other side of this place, a hidden gate”
The lights are dimming fast, heavy tremors shake the buildings…
“Run!”
“Look! Somebody opened the hidden gate!”
A long corridor ending at an underground river…
“Quick! He escapes with the boat”
Charging the boat about to escape, grappling with the Mayor…
He fell overboard while the boat sped up downriver!

At last the adventurer escaped, but where did they end up?

Ping:

MRI Dreams

MRI Dreams


There you go…


Relax, listen to the music, count your breath…
Some nice ladies will put a blanket over you to keep you warm…

Feeling like a glass coffin…

Dream your travel to Avalon…

Let it all go…

I sing in the shields, | and in strength they go
Whole to the field of fight,
Whole from the field of fight,
And whole they come thence home

(Havamal 157)

Bear spirt appears!

The bear puts both arms around the tree above her
And draws it down as if it were a lover

Arise!

 

Angels in Gotham 

Angels in Gotham 


Some refugees from the Haven met again at Gotham
Esther ‘the Strange’, Gabriella ‘the Aeronaut’, Ralph ‘ the Tinker’, Justin ‘the Clown’… a bunch of misfits that bonded because of common dreaming Paradise Lost

Words on the streets: the teenage vigilante group ‘Guardian Angels’ disappeared a month ago, what happened?
According to rumours, the vigilantes went missing during the  hunt on spooks in the woods.
Any threat that was able to destroy these vigilantes, made other gangs very nervous also!

Gathering information in the slums, they convinced  vagrant John to show them the last known ‘Guardian Angel Treehouse’.
Graffiti on the wall confirmed the location!

The house apparently had been used by squatters: broken windows and door outside, terrible amount of garbage and offal inside…
Surprise! A vintage carpet in the centre of the room, hiding a secret trapdoor!
Neutralising some hidden sigils, unlocking the trapdoor, going down a spiral staircase, entering a long corridor with warding sigils…
Discovering a savage tribe!

Gabrielle made an impressive entrance with spread wings and some firework support from the Clown: instant shock and awe, chasing the  tribe away!

Following the trail, arriving at a guarded bridge, paying the toll…

Entering a mysterious room, looking at three paintings: past-present-future!

The futuristic painting drew them into another place…

A room with several alien prison cells, containing several teenage vigilante ‘Guardian Angels’!

While the adventurers were liberating the vigilantes, they heard ominous footsteps approaching ….

Talos is coming!

Esther prepared her sigils, Justin lit his fireworks…

The explosion halted the monster!

Escaping the monster, the adventurers escorted the vigilantes through the underground maze…
Discovering a gate, but how does it work?

Justin found a loophole in the timetravel-paradox:
‘This is a time/space gate we can walk through to our own time, there we can write a letter to ourself how to do this, then we return to this place to hide the letter here to find it now!’

It worked in a way…

‘We are back, but what happened really? Who abducted the vigilantes? Why? Who created the gate? ‘

 

Ping: Flight  to Gotham – Dreamquest

Herinnerdingen 01…vervolg…

Herinnerdingen 01…vervolg…


Guan Yu (krijger-literaat) :  beschermheer van krijgers en literati,  lijfwacht van Guanyin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yu

Guan Yin (godin van wijsheid en genade):  toen de missionarissen naar China kwamen, werd Maria herkend als verschijningsvorm van deze godin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanyin

Tokeh (gekko):  bij het horen van deze hagedis in Indonesia voelde ik mij meteen verwelkomd, en herinnerde ik mij hoe sommige mensen de roep van het dier gebruiken als een ja/nee orakel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokay_gecko

 

Eleggua/Eshu/Legba (opener en bewaker van de kruiswegen) wordt ook wel geassocieerd met Sint Petrus die de sleutels tot de werelden bewaakt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papa_Legba

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eshu

ArtJournal
: Voor mij is dit een soort intuitief dagboek, als ik ermee begin weet ik nog niet waar het naar toe leidt. Dan kan het veel later pas blijken wat mijn onderbewuste mij te vertellen heeft.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_diary

HappyStone/Runen

Tijdens de Covid Lockdown in de twintiger jaren nieuw millenium, begon ik runenstenen te beschilderen, waardoor ik meer inzicht kreeg in de energie van de runen.
https://www.thekindnessrocksproject.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runes

Trouwring van mijn vader, overleden 10 december 2009.  Mijn moeder had beide trouwringen om bij haar overlijden 26 november 2015.

yogya zilver ring: herinnering aan java, verloren vrienden.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotagede#Silver_crafts

sjamanenspiegel: Deze gebruik ik healing, scryingfengshui:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_magic_mirror
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toli_(shamanism)

kris (javaanse rituele dolk): deze heb ik ooit ontvangen als dankgeschenk, en zal dan ook een erfstuk worden voor degenen die na mij komen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris

talking stick  (Batak sjamanenstaf): deze heb ik gebruikt bij trance-rituelen, door het vasthouden van de staf maak ik verbinding tussen de drie werelden.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_stick

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunggal_panaluan

wayangpop Irawan: dit was de  eerste authentieke wayangpop die in mijn bezit kwam, een bijzonder krachtige aanwezigheid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayang_golek
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iravan

The Dreamquest of unknown Kadath: de sleutelroman die me hielp tijdens trancereizen door de werelden.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream-Quest_of_Unknown_Kadath

Florida water: Dit gebruik ik vaak als middel voor rituele zuiveringen, voor mij werkt dat beter dan salie branden

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Water

Kristallen schedel: Voor mij is dit een object waarmee ik connectie maak met de voorouders.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_skull

Inwijdings schilderij : De kunstenares die dit maakte, had eerst een uitgebreid gesprek met mij, waarna ze intuitief aan het werk ging. Het resultaat was een bijzonder schilderij dat me hielp bij trancereizen.

Lyke Wake Dirge:
Een toegezongen reisgids door de benedenwereld, een korte Europese versie van het Dodenboek.

Magische boom:
Bij visualisaties helpt deze mij tijdens trancereizen naar de andere werkelijkheid

Chinees Taiji zwaard: Deze gebruik ik wel eens in rituelen: ruimtes afbakenen, energiekoorden doorsnijden, energie richten.  Voor mij werkt dit beter dan een athame.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jian

Inanna in de onderwereld :

De shamanistische reis door de benedenwereld is een thema dat me regelmatig bezig houdt, voornamelijk om onderbewuste emoties onder ogen te kunnen zien: angst, woede, verdriet.

Malachim
De Engelen blijven me bezighouden, soms als beschermer, en op andere momenten als psychopomp.

Ganesh
Doorbreekt barrieres en bewaakt de poort.

Symposion
Heren op middelbare leeftijd filosoferen over de (Platonische) Liefde onder genot van wijn …was Aristophanes de comediant wel serieus met zijn tweelingziel verhaal?

Atlantis

Weer een mythisch verhaal van Plato over een paradijs dat door hubris ten val kwam..
Het beeld van de opkomende zondvloed die de tempel van Poseidon verwoest, blijft me ontroeren.

Ping:

Escape from the Garden

Escape from the Garden


The Bard sang the myth while the refugees traveled their Exodus 

“The Administration took power over the Garden, the Rebels lost the War:
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lightbringer, son of the morning!
Hear! Azrael will  rebuild  our Republic of Heaven

Hearing the song, the traveled wondered what would lay ahead.

Random thoughts:
When they came for yours, you had the plan, the escape route already mapped…
You may never reach a promised land, like the one you tell stories about, but you’ll find a home, if you can make it one…
When things started to get bad, you knew whose side you needed to be on…
You couldn’t stay where you were, could never spread your wings there

Ping:
Malachim in Gotham

Malachim in Gotham


Gotham Malachim Voices/Images manifesting in Mythago World

We are angels, fallen into our world, wandering in unfamiliar, fragile bodies, looking for a people, places, and selves we can find comfort in.
The Nameless One perceived Its intention to create, and immediately the intentions scattered as fragments in the material time/space.
….
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name;
this appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.
…..
Dreams Askew in Mythago World

Dreams Askew in Mythago World


 

Collapse of civilization didn’t happen everywhere at the same time, it’s happening in waves. Every day, more people fall out of the society.

For some reason we thought the collapse was going to hit everybody at the same time.
But nothing happens like that: neatly, evenly.

Gangs roam the apocalyptic wasteland, and scarcity is becoming the norm. T
he world is getting scarier, and just beyond our everyday perception, howling and hungry, there exists a psychic maelstrom.

Apocalypse is only a distant nightmare for the privileged, a cautionary tale about
what might happen to them if they should fall from the master’s arms.
You’d be surprised what one of  those people would do to keep their society intact.
Avery Alder
What happens outside the bastion of Gotham, where the privileged kids play at being wannabe guardian angels?

Several outcast banded together to create a safe space 
 More than ever before, each  is responsible for the survival and fate of community.

Let us look at one of the communities in  the broken lands:
 Some tents clustered around a market nearby the sea in the east, in the  south the great gathering tent, in the  west the permaculture garden.
 
Free spirits trying to adapt to barren world, how would this work out?
Some people try to gather surplus for the future, others prefer to celebrate life every time there is more than needed at the moment…

Spook, the Stitcher worked on creating a channel between the market and the sea, making a desalinisation system to transform seawater into grey water for the garden.
Because the channel crossed the path between the gathering tent and the market, the organizers of the market and the gatherings protested strongly.
 
While a riot was brewing, Azure the Iris tried to connect with the Akashic Records in the otherworld.
The Psychic Maelstrom reacted strongly, giving Azure information overload:
A storm is coming

The community was in disarray, when a  Mohawk chief came with two horse warriors to demand tribute
Angler the Hawker tried to negotiate, but the chief was not satisfied.
While the negotiation was going on, Spook sneaked up on the chief and backstabbed him!
The horse warriors retreated immediately, not knowing that Spook also sabotaged their saddles to breakdown after a few hours riding.

Azure kept on shouting his prophecy, convincing Noni the Torch to spread the message.

An apocalyptic cult formed with Azure as prophet and Noni as leader, influencing a few tribes in the neighbourhood, even some Mohawk clans!

A delegation from mainstream society decided to investigate the cult, armed men in black arrived in the community.
They convinced the cult-leaders to come to Area 51 for further negotiation.
The compound was heavily guarded and fortified, and outside the perimeter were many hovels built by refugiees.
The cult-leaders were given a tough choice: working under jurisdiction of the men in black, allowing the influx of refugees in the community, otherwise the cult would be hunt down as being heretic.
In the end the cult-leaders complied, hoping to be able to keep their ideals within the new administration.

 
 
 
 
Ping:
Tricube Tales – Weird Sisters toil and trouble

Tricube Tales – Weird Sisters toil and trouble


Three Sisters of our Lady welcomed four teenage  guests at the Lighthouse…

Granny commanded Aunty and Junior to the waiting sailing boat with a hurry, they had to go to the mainland immediately!
Junior was already huffing and puffing, almost ready to deliver the next generation…

After the boat left, Granny showed the guests their rooms…

That night the teenagers saw Granny wandering around the Lighthouse, three times she circled the island, yelling at the four Winds!

Next morning was very clouded, Granny directed the teenagers to light the fires of the Lighthouse, but when the light refused to stay burning, Granny suspected a gremlin invasion.

The teenagers investigated the whole Lighthouse up and down while Granny was taking a nap….

Ari, the household spirit appeared shortly in the topmost part of the tower, but disappeared suddenly!

What happened with Granny?
Her body laid lifeless in bed, some claw marks were found…

Following the trail, there was the gremlin!

The fierce monster was defeated, thanks to a very effective cold iron skillet!

Now the gremlin was gone, it was quite easy to fix the lights and to summon the household spirit again…
Ari warned them of the approaching danger:  the White Ship returns!

The bright beam of the lighthouse showed in the distance a hulk approaching from the dark North…

The White Ship crashed on the beach!

Investigating the ship, entering the hold, a large chest was found….

A well preserved body was in the chest!

Suddenly the body arose and started attacking!

Fire and cold iron put down the monster…

Returning to the tower, the teenagers used the lights to signal the mainland for help…

To their surprise, the help arrived with a sailing boat with  Aunty and Junior, who was carrying a newborn girl!

‘Granny’s time in this world has passed away, but the new generation is here’

 

Ping: Tricube Tales – Weird Sisters – Dreamquest