November 1st is All Saints Day. It is a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church and one of my favorite feast days.  

On this All Saints Day, I went to Mass early and walked home under a gray sky, just before it rained. 

I like walking home from Mass - even though the hill can be challenging - because it gives me a chance to think about my confession, if I made one, and anything else I might want to remember. 

These are the things I want to remember from today's service:

All Saints Day gives us an opportunity to honor saints who may not be honored otherwise. 

Veneration of the saints is one of the things that sets us apart as Catholics. 

Thanks to our Catholic Faith, we are given reason to hope that we may someday be among them.

_______________

For more on All Saints Day, please see today's SSPX Newsletter 

Screenshot of a Google image of the Chapel I attend (I hope to share a clearer pic sometime soon)

This year, I am not doing NaNoWriMo proper. But I did set a goal for the vampire novel I've been working on. I want to finish the first draft during NaNo (by the end of November). 

The working title of the book is The Vampire Trackers. I designed the cover above just last week.

About the Book

I like to think that The Vampire Trackers is Catholic friendly (as opposed to just plain Catholic). I didn't write it in order to share my faith. But I do try to hang on to my moral compass as I write and edit. 

Writing about the paranormal without confusing good and evil can be tricky. Maybe it's easier for writers who draw a hard line between right and wrong, like Stoker. But for me it's a challenge.

So I am struggling a bit with the book and how to write it. But I'm still making my daily word count and doing my research and meeting with my critique group.  And basically getting it done.

This post shares my new cover and my intention to get the current draft written by the end of November. I hope to share some of my research and a couple of excepts in the weeks and months to come. 

Please wish me luck! Or, better still, remember me in your prayers.

Lecture and Meeting with Dr. Moody  

Several years ago, when I was still very much involved with the Spiritualists, I heard Dr. Ray Moody speak on the topic of near-death experience at a nearby Spiritualist church. Like many people in the audience, I had been influenced by Dr. Moody's first book, "Life After Life" and considered him an authority on near-death experience (a phrase coined by Moody himself).  

Written in 1975, "Life After Life," is based on case studies of people who reported having had very similar, apparently spiritual experiences when very near death. The book became a runaway best-seller and near-death experience (or NDE) became a household word.

I found Dr. Moody to be a charming and articulate speaker. His presentation covered a range of NDE related topics which included history, philosophy and the nature of the NDE itself.  In this article I will touch upon some of them.

According to Dr. Moody, the common elements of the NDE included the experience of a hyper-reality which is largely indescribable, vivid color, a warm and loving light, the presence of deceased loved ones and a panoramic life review. In some NDEs a being of great compassion conducts the review and tells the individual that they must return to their former life. To the best of my memory, negative or "hellish" NDEs were not discussed. 

Dr. Moody talked about the ancient Greeks, and their ideas about life after death, at length. Among other things, we learned that the ancients had a word for spirits who survived death and that these returning dead were called revenants (from the Latin reveniens - "coming back" or "returning").  

In mythology, revenants are often animated corpses (similar to classic ideas about vampires) as well as ghosts. If this was referenced in the lecture, I did not make a note of it.

Dr. Moody was especially interested in the practice necromancy in ancient Greece - so interested in this topic, in fact, that visited the ruins of the oracle of the dead in Greece, at Ephyra. Ephyra was a place thought to be the gateway to the underworld.

Upon returned to his home in Anniston Alabama, Dr. Moody set about constructing his own oracle of the dead (or necromanteion). In his book, "Reunions," Moody shares his own experience with the dead in his necromanteion and gives explicit instructions in how to construct one. The women who ran the Spiritualist circle I attended at the time, build her own necromanteion per his instructions.

The Influence of Ancient Greece

...what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. - 1 Corinthians 10:20-22 NRSV-CE

At the time I heard Dr. Moody speak, I was deeply involved in mediumship under the auspices of the Spiritualists. One of the first things things taught in our weekly "spirit circle" was to connect with our own personal spirit guide who would assist in contacting the dead. My guide, as it turned out, was tied to the same culture that had fascinated Dr. Moody - ancient Greece. 

I became convinced of this not through imagination but through the information I was given. This included obscure historic details that I was not aware of prior to my "spirit guide" experience.

At the time, the fact that Dr. Moody and I were both interested in ancient Greece seemed like a delightful "synchronicity." 

When I asked him for book recommendations he happily gave me the names of two books on necromancy, The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation and Greek and Roman Necromancy.   Both of which I bought.

But what stood out to most both then and now about that lecture was what Dr. Moody said about a life almost wholly devoted to the study of NDE . Everything I have done in life, he told, is because of my interest in ancient Greece.  

Not faith. Not science. Greece.

Ancient Greek culture was wonderful in many ways but the religion of Greece and its emphasis on the dreams and the dead was dark. And it is no coincidence, in my opinion, that those who are deeply interested in mediumship and witchcraft are drawn to it.

Is Near-Death Experience of demonic origin? Or is it a true experience of the divine?

I'm not sure. But an analysis of Scripture in Our Sunday Visitor rings true to me:

There are, however, some details [of NDEs] that seem at odds with Biblical accounts of what happens after we die. The Scriptures do not say we die and at once experience the pleasantries of heaven. Rather, our first destination is the judgment seat of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 5:10, Heb 9:27). Further, St. Paul describes a kind of fire that both purifies us and burns away any imperfections: “[The judgment day] will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:13-15) Hence, Scripture does not present dying as mere or immediate pleasantries. Why do most NDEs skip these steps if they are authentic? - Our Sunday Visitor "What Should Catholics Make of Near-Death Experience"

I share a bit more on this topic in my podcast which you can listen to via the player below. Pictures of myself and Dr. Moody follow the player. If you are receiving this post via the elist and do not see the player you can access it directly through the blog or on the podcast page (at NewAgeToCatholic.com)   

I hope to write more about this subject, both in my testimony that I have gone back to (again) and here in the blog. So please check back!

 Dr. Moody and Me

Dr. Ray Moody is a lovely, gracious man and I enjoyed meeting him. This article does not in any way imply that he is a bad or evil person. I do believe however that it is easier to be negatively influenced, or deceived, than most people realize and have personal reservations about NDEs.

My Vampire Magic Challenge  

"Noir or humorous, hard-boiled or cozy, mysteries are the descendants of morality plays, and in an increasingly ambiguous world, they provide the comfort of the absolutes of right or wrong..." - Gillian Roberts, You Can Write a Mystery  

While what Gillian Roberts says here about right and wrong is usually true of mystery and crime fiction, it often NOT true of the genre I write in (paranormal fantasy). This is at least partially because it can be hard to reconcile some of the elements of the paranormal fantasy genre with what what we know to be true about morality. Or at least for me it is.

But I am trying.

This week I'm struggling to create a vampire magic system that draws a line between good and evil - in a way that makes sense for my story.

In some ways creating my system is relatively easy.

I am definitely not starting from scratch. Like Bram Stoker's Dracula, for example, my vampires are sensitive to holy and blessed items. Unlike Stoker, my vampires are not the undead - or irredeemable. Instead they are creatures who fell, just like the rest of us, but harder. 

I still have a lot to work out. But I do know this. I want to divide good from evil, in my story, while still leaving room for hope.

Creating a Vampire Magic System

Like Clarke, Brandon Sanderson came up Three Laws. While Clarke's laws were about science fiction, however, Sanderson's are about fantasy.

They are:

1. An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic. 
2. The second law can be written very simply as: Limitations > Powers
3. Expand what you already have before you add something new.

My magic system is very simple compared to the systems of most fantasy writers. It incorporates the rules I liked from Stoker and leaves out those that I don't.

Here's what I have so far:

1. Vampires and to a lesser degree fae are not the undead or truly immortal. Instead they are ancient magical races with particular, fairly believable, abilities.
2. All magical races possess a discernible energetic signature (name to be determined) that can be tracked by special fae trackers.
3. Vampires hunger for and feed off human blood but since they are not the undead they also eat regular food and don't die if they can't get blood - though they are affected.

I have a long way to go with this.. Especially in terms of expanding what I have before I add new rules.  But I am going to keep at it.

Wish me luck.

____________

You Can Write a Mystery (affiliate link) is available on Amazon in book ebook and print copy.

For more about Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic please visit his FAQ page here

Please note: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase a book through one of my links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.

 About The Image

The image above is a colorized version of "Saint Michael" by Italian master Guido Reni (1575–1642).  This image is featured on the St. Michael printable prayer card available in my Etsy shop, Catholic Book And Card.  For the card, I tinted the original paint to the vivid blue associated with Saint Michael (as shown above).

Saint Michael in the Bible

Saint Michael, is one of three archangels the Bible mentions by name (the others being Saints Raphael and  Gabriel). Saint Michael is mentioned four times - twice in the Old Testament, and two more times in the new.  

The first reference is in the Book of Daniel. In Chapter 10 St. Michael comes to comfort Daniel after he has had a vision, and promises to be his helper in all things. In Daniel 12, St. Michael is called "the great prince who standeth for the children of Thy people."

In these references St. Michael is shown to support Israel during the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity. In writing about St. Michael Daniel, strove to show his people that God had not forgotten them, and remind them that even in bondage they had a royal champion. In St. Jude 9, we are told that Michael disputed with the devil over the body of Moses - an episode not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.

In the Revelation (Chapter 12) we find the most dramatic reference to St. Michael. Here St. John recounts the great battle in Heaven, when the wicked angels under Lucifer revolt against God. In this passage, Michael, leading the faithful angels, defeats the hosts of evil and drives them out. 

Because of this victory, St. Michael is revered in Catholic tradition and liturgy as the protector of the Church. 

Michael's battle against the rebel angels has been painted by many artists (one such painting serves as the main banner of this blog). It has been written about various writers, as well, including the poet Milton in book 6 of Paradise. 

In the Eastern Church, St. Michael is placed over all the angels, as prince of the Seraphim. And, in Asia Minor, many curative springs were dedicated to him.

St. Michael is a powerful figure in spiritual warfare. He is considered to be the special patron of the sick, police officers, the military, the state of Israel and the Catholic Church.  St. Michael's emblems are a banner, a sword, a dragon, and scales. 

St. Michael's name is a variation of Micah, which asks (in Hebrew), "Who is like God?"  It is the same question posed by Moses in Exodus 15:1-11. The passage, also called the Song of the Sea, is thought to be a very old section of Scripture that can still be heard today in the Mi Kamocha of Jewish worship:

Who is like You among the gods, Adonai? Who is like you? Glorious in holiness, awesome in praises...

About Michaelmas

Today September 29th is St. Michael’s feast day. During the middle ages this day - known as Michaelmas - was a holy day of obligation.  

In 1969, the Novus Ordo Calendar added combined the feasts of St. Gabriel and St. Raphael with St. Michael's and discontinued the individual feasts of the archangels. Traditional Latin Mass congregations using the pre 1962 liturgical calendar keep the original dates for all three feasts.  So, for me, this is St. Michael's day alone.

The SSPX (Society of St. Pius the X) devotional newsletter suggests that today is a good day to read the proper of the Mass of St. Michael, as found in the traditional missal.  The newsletter also encourages us to "pray to St. Michael when temptations arise, especially those related to abuses of the internet, radio, and telephone."

The St. Michael Prayer

The Saint Michael Prayer is an amazing prayer for spiritual warfare.  The abridged version (below) is short and easy to memorize and it can be said anytime you are feeling in need of spiritual protection.  The prayer was written in Oct. 1, 1884 by Pope Leo XIII following a disturbing mystical experience at Mass.

The Pope had just finished celebrating Mass when he suddenly stood transfixed in front of the altar as if in a trance, his face drained of color. Once recovered, he went to his office and composed a prayer to St. Michael. He told his staff the prayer should be offered throughout the Church.

Pope Leo told others that he had heard two voices which he believed to voices of Our Lord and of Satan. The Pope heard Satan boast that he could destroy the Church in 75 or 100 years, if given the opportunity. Then he heard Our Lord give Satan permission to make the attempt.

The prayer was recited after Low Mass in the Catholic Church from 1886 until it was discontinued in 1964. Thirty years later, in his Regina Coeli address, Pope John Paul II said, “Although the prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask every one not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of the world.”

I'm happy to say that, at the SSPX Chapel I attend, the priest leads the faithful in the prayer to St. Michael after each and every Mass!

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host - by the power of God - cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. 

To purchase the St. Michael printable prayer card (75¢ US) please check out my Etsy listing here.

Or so Mariikel Serix a young, up and coming guild markmaker once believed.

Soon after "Markmaker" opens, however, we learn that Mariikel now suspects that he has given an exile mark to an innocent man. At great personal risk, the young markmaker begins to visit the place of exile, in the depths of the ship, to make amends. 

As we follow him, we begin to learn that there is more to the Noxxiin than meets the eye.

This is the beginning of an epic story about the Noxxiin and their struggle to reclaim their ancestral homeland. But it is also a very personal story about one man coming to terms with a very difficult realization and rising to the challenge that is presented. 

"Markmaker" hooked me immediately and kept me interested from beginning to end. I read it over the course of a single weekend and enjoyed every minute!  

I especially appreciated the complex world of the Noxxiin and the idea that there is more to a culture than what what we see on the surface.  In "Markmaker" I think the point is well made that it is often what's hidden that matters - whether it is what lies under the skin or below deck or just beneath the veneer of a society.

Highly recommended!

___________

Preorder Markmaker here! (affiliate link)

Please note, this post contains Amazon affiliate links.  If you buy a book through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.

My Experience with Light and Dark  

It's not a coincidence that the title of this post is a lot like the title of the blog.  

I've toggled between light and dark enough, over the course of my life, for it to be a theme for me.  And angels and demons are part of that theme.  

Largely because I believe that I've had experience with both.  

I believe, for example, that I've felt the influence of my guardian angel on several occasions.  And I'm quite sure that I dealt with the demonic directly, and repeatedly, during my time in the occult.

I have tried (on multiple occasions) to write the story of my experience of spiritual light and darkness.  But I've failed to finish that book.

So I decided to put a condensed version up here on the blog.  That may well be the end of that particular story.  But my interest in light and dark persists.  

An Study in Contrast

I've been studying spiritual light and spiritual darkness ever since I came back to the faith.  My reference, right now, is Catholic exorcist, Fr. Chad Ripperger's excellent book Dominion (affiliate link).

In Dominion, Fr. Ripperger breaks down the the teachings of "angel saint" (and flat-out genius) Thomas Aquinas on the topic of angels and demons.  And Ripperger does so in a way that sacrifices nothing.

Or that's my sense of it anyway.  I can't really know for sure because I find the writings of St. Thomas difficult.  Dominion on the other hand is perfectly readable.  Though this does NOT mean the book is a breeze (or at least it isn't for me).

For me, reading Dominion is a little like reading a textbook and, as with many textbooks, the only way I can really be sure I'm not missing anything is by taking notes as I go.  This way of working through a book is slow going, however, and my wrist has been hurting lately  - so I had set Dominion aside.

Then an interesting thing happened. 

Talking About Angels

This week, I received a Facebook message from someone I had done a bit of Internet radio with when I was still in the New Age and occult.   In the message I found a series of questions about my current beliefs. One in particular stood out.

"Do you still work with the angels?"  

So I responded as best I could - basing much of what I said on what I'd learned from Fr. Ripperger's book.

I should get back to that book, I thought, and maybe I would have.  Or maybe not.

Then, as luck or providence would have it, I finished writing out my response and went out for a walk.  I was only a few blocks from the house when I noticed a book lying on the pavement in front of me.  It was a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.  

I'm not really a huge a fan of the series but the title did catch my attention.  

"Believe in Angels."

I already do, I thought, though probably not in the way this particular book suggests.  

Later that day I shared a picture of the Chicken Soup angel book with the person who'd sent the questions.  She  told me that she felt I was meant to read it.  But it's my practice, as of late, to stick with books that are true to the faith.

So I went back to Dominion, sore wrist and all, and began to take notes.

To purchase Fr. Ripperger's book on Amazon, please click here: Dominion (affiliate link)

If you want to know more about my time in the New Age and occult, please check out My Story.

Please note, this post contains Amazon affiliate links.  If you buy a book through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.

In this episode of New Age To Catholic, I talk about the concept of a Catholic "Rule of Life" and how it is directly opposed by the teachings of occultists like Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardener. Topics covered include what a Rule of Life is and how having such a rule can help us withstand the many influences of popular culture. Relevant occult history is also discussed.

Please note: This is a new idea I'm just beginning to grapple with and I could have expressed it better. I will be doing some sort of blog post on it very soon, which will hopefully explain it better!

 _____________

To hear Fr. Ripperger's teaching on developing a Rule of Life please check out this video.