There’s currently a story on the web about Dave Mustaine, of the bands Megadeth and Metallica. I’m not a particular fan of metal so I don’t really know their music but apparently he used to do a song called The Conjuring. He’s now refusing to perform the song because it contains instruction for hexes. Word is he’s now found religion and doesn’t want to sing a song about what, we can only assume, he sees as the opposition. Or some bollox like that.
To be honest there are more complete instructions for a magickal ritual in Chapter 23 of The Hidden Masters and the Unspeakable Evil if you are feeling so inclined. A bit of vague guidance on placing the parchment and lighting candles with a reminder to use the eyelash from a black cat and a straw from a broom isn’t really going to get you banned from heaven. But that would be because heaven is as fictitious as my novel. (Oops, sorry, did I lead some people to believe that Nigel, Clint and Wayne are real?) I don’t fancy fighting anyone’s cat for one of its eyelashes, I know who’d come off worse, and I’ve never seen a broom made of straw!
In a complete reversal of the situation, in my early days of hanging out with occultists (as we used to call ourselves) a friend of mine had been a singer in the folk clubs during the sixties and seventies. He had a massive repertoire because he had to be prepared to perform almost any request from the audience. He used to do a fantastic rendition of The Old Rugged Cross that he hammed up in such a schmultzy style that is was a real pleasure to hear. It’s not about the song, it’s about the singer.
Then we would go in the back room and conjure Lucifer. ;o)
If you want to know more about the Hidden Masters and the Unspeakable Evil here are some extracts:
Chapter two on astral travel
Chapter three on breaking down on the M6
Until the second edition comes out you can still get the first edition, complete with the original typos, from Blackwells
Occult symbolism in the Old Rugged Cross is also briefly discussed in an interview on the Dateline Zero podcast #105: http://www.datelinezero.com/podcast/2011/02/ep105-guest-joseph-thiebes/