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FORMAL GATHERING OF THE BAST CABAL

PRELIMINARY NOTES

I employ a term that I coined in a prior post. “Caballion” shall mean “member of the Cabal.”

Also, I write this as if the Cabal will meet in person. Adapting what I’ve written to fit online sessions is a simple matter. However, there’s an element of trust implicit in an in-person gathering, and this element should not be casually set aside. Even online, Caballions should show their faces and reveal their names. If you can’t rise to that level of trust with a certain group of people, you don’t belong in a Cabal with those people. The corollary is this: Every formal gathering is private; the names of its attendees, secret; and all that goes on, confidential. Whoever violates this principle shall become prey.

Finally, there’s no hierarchy in a Cabal. Every formal gathering has a leader, but that role should rotate among the members. Also, to the extent practical, the role of providing the meeting place should rotate among the members. Caballions shall treat the meeting place, its owner, and its uninvolved residents, in particular any pets, with the utmost courtesy and respect, or risk being hunted for sport.

THE GATHERING

Any time after sundown, the Cabal enters the meeting room and all take their seats. The last person entering shuts the door and turns off any electric lights before sitting down. If the room has no windows and is therefore pitch black, the last person entering uses a cigarette lighter to provide some illumination.

LEADER: “Caballions: Light your candles.”

Each member places a small purple candle on the table and lights it with a match, cigarette lighter, or utility lighter – just nothing ridiculous like a blowtorch.

LEADER: “In the name of BAST we begin.”

The leader turns to the member on his or her immediate left.

LEADER: “Caballion [Name], What lust have you under way?”

The member describes any romantic or sexual conquests he or she is embarked upon.

LEADER: “What do you ask of us who sit here?”

The member describes any assistance that could be helpful. Discussion ensues, offers are made, or not, and are accepted, or not. When common sense indicates the discussion has run its course, the leader turns to the next member on the left, poses the same questions, and allows the same discussion. This continues until all members have been heard from.

Then:

LEADER: “Caballion [Name], What greed have you under way?”

The member describes any treasures, raw materials, or resources he or she seeks to purchase, or take from the earth, sea, or sky, or steal or swindle from the unsuspecting, or sell in any market, be it black, red, gray, pink, or white*.

LEADER: “What do you ask of us who sit here?”

The member describes any assistance that could be helpful. Discussion ensues, offers are made, or not, and are accepted, or not. When common sense indicates the discussion has run its course, the leader turns to the next member on the left, poses the same questions, and allows the same discussion. This continues until all members have been heard from.

Then:

LEADER: “Caballion [Name], To what do you aspire in your envy and your ambition?”

The member describes any prominence or favor he or she is scheming to attain, and who or what might need to be displaced to make room.  

LEADER: “What do you ask of us who sit here?”

The member describes any assistance that could be helpful. Discussion ensues, offers are made, or not, and are accepted, or not. When common sense indicates the discussion has run its course, the leader turns to the next member on the left, poses the same questions, and allows the same discussion. This continues until all members have been heard from.

Then:

LEADER: “All is complete. In the name of BAST we bring this gathering to a close. Caballions, extinguish your candles.”

All do so. If needed, the person who was last entering once again uses a cigarette lighter to provide some illumination. This same person stands up, turns on the electric lights, and opens the door. All exit the room in silence. The last person leaving the room turns off the electric lights and shuts the door. Any subsequent conversation must not have anything to do with what was said in the gathering. This sets the tone for privacy, secrecy, confidentiality - and also protects against inadvertent hearing by the meeting place’s uninvolved residents.

*Note:

Black Market: Illegal products.

Red Market: Illegal services.

Gray Market: Legal products or services are sold through illegal or extra-legal channels.

Pink Market: All is legal but some delicate sensitivities might be offended, for example selling military-grade firearms, or, where legal, prostitution.

White Market: Everything is on the up and up and might even be advertised on TV.

ISCHYROS DIAVOLOS!

INVOCATION OF BAST

Alone in a dark room at night, light your candles, the best color for which is purple.

If you will play music, start it now. I don’t usually play anything, but if I do, it’s Nightwish and it begins with their rendition of “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Cross your forearms on your chest, hands fisted. Close your eyes. Regulate your breathing.

Imagine an oak sprouting from seed and growing tall to drop acorns unto the womb of soil whence it sprung. See this in fast motion photography. Hear the wind blowing through the leaves. Smell the sap on the trunk. Feel its acorns on your palms.

Say:

HAIL BAST!

My Greed – HAIL!

My Lust – HAIL!

My Mirth – HAIL!

My Love of Food – HAIL!

My Smart Sloth – HAIL!

My Vanity – HAIL!

My Envy – HAIL!

I live a sensuous and vital existence.

I live an elegant and luxurious existence.

I live a playful and high-spirited existence.

I live a haughty and high-handed existence.

BAST – My Carnality – HAIL!

BAST – My Materialism – HAIL!

BAST – My Egotism – HAIL!

Queen of the Clowder – step daintily. Your dignity and grace are mine.

Queen of the Glaring – sit regally. Your stillness and self-assurance are mine.

The tree that I climb is the axis of the world.

The tree in which I sit and watch is the axis of the world.

Pleasures await.

Treasures await.

Prominence awaits.

Favor awaits.

I – AM – BAST!

(Breathe. Be silent. Imagine the oak tree with all your senses as before.)

(Open your eyes. If music is playing, stop it. Extinguish your candles. Either leave the room or turn on a light.)

ISCHYROS DIAVOLOS!

There are four features of the face of BAST that I haven’t really discussed. All I’ve done is name them. Time to rectify that omission.

“Blessed are they who love food, for the world is their oyster.”

Fixation on the quantity of food can potentially lead to an eating disorder, and is therefore not to be recommended. Fixation on the quality of food is better overall for one’s health. I have a bit of the former and therefore I wrestle constantly with my weight. My best solutions so far have been Weight Watchers and a quote from the novel Shibumi by Trevanian, regarding fine wine: “I do not consider two sips to be more delicious than one.” That said, I heartily recommend exploring all the delicacies of all the regions of the world, from the simple to the complex, the intense to the subtle, the silly to the sublime. Try it all. Be adventurous. Whatever delights you, come back to, again and again.   

“Blessed are they who work smarter, not harder, for by sloth they conquer.”

Smart sloth is the best impulse of the engineer. The refusal to stupidly waste time and energy has spawned more innovation than any other human impulse. “This laborious process is how it’s always been done? What the fuck! Who came up with this? There are at least three different ways we could do this quicker and easier. I’ll pick one and give you a strawman to pick apart by tomorrow morning.” And so is born yet another creative transformation of tools and techniques. Whatever company can best harness this impulse will inevitably pull ahead in the race to be first to market.      

“Blessed are the vain, for they adorn the best subject.”

The best subject is of course the self. The vain love clothing, shoes, jewelry, and accessories. They love hairstyles, cosmetics, and fragrances. They love excellent physiques, be they slim, voluptuous, or muscular. They love teeth that are white and straight. Some of them love tattoos, and some, piercings. Adorning oneself is an art form, one that I personally only dabble in, minimally, but which I admire in others, for the better they look, the more they demonstrate the esteem in which they hold their own bodies. Simultaneously carnal and materialistic, the vain are edifying muses for us all.  

“Blessed are they whose envy elevates their ambitions, for they will have the last laugh.”

Most people don’t realize this, but ambition rests on envy. We compare ourselves to others, note the discrepancy, and if it isn’t in our favor, the best of us set ourselves the objective of redressing that imbalance by doing the work, learning the skills, developing the strategies and tactics, and facing the challenges that will get us from where we are to where those other people are. All of this begins in earliest childhood. We envy the autonomy of our parents and we set ourselves the objective of growing up so we too can be autonomous. Later we envy our teachers and our more accomplished classmates. Still later we envy the rich, the famous, and the triumphant in any field. All of this fuels our ambitions.

Life-enhancing virtues, all four above, and the furthest things from deadly sins. ISCHYROS DIAVOLOS!

My philosophy has two faces: one positive, one negative. Don’t misunderstand: positive and negative do not divide along some good/bad or true/false axis, nor some beautiful/ugly one. Positive is the “yes/more/do it” face while negative is the “no/less/stop it” face.

I personify the positive as BAST, the Egyptian cat goddess, to whom I assign the principles of greed, mirth, lust, love of food, smart sloth, vanity, and productive envy.

I personify the negative as SEKHMET, the Egyptian lion goddess, to whom I assign the principles of malice, misanthropy, and blasphemy.

Some people’s practice is more BAST; other people’s practice is more SEKHMET; and still others pursue a practice pretty evenly balanced between the two.

Here I’ll introduce the concept of a Cabal, which is a group of practitioners who get to know one another more intimately than people on an online forum typically would. They share with one another their goals and plans, their victories and defeats, and their good and ill fortune. They brainstorm ideas together, suggest information sources, introduce one another to individuals who might prove helpful, and even take part in one another’s schemes. They can also, if practical, dine together, enjoy cultural activities together, engage in athletics together, or have sex with one another.

As might be expected, a Cabal can lean more toward BAST or more toward SEKHMET, though there are no hard and fast rules about this. It simply makes sense that if you yourself lean more toward BAST, then you would gravitate toward other practitioners who do also, and the same would be true if you lean more toward SEKHMET.   

Know yourself. ISCHYROS DIAVOLOS!