Unsent Letter Fragment, Document Number 19055437, February 17, 1948, Museum of Immigration Pippa Little Members' Poems - Identity What distinguishes poetry from other literary compositions? Nothing, says a vociferous body of opinion: they are all texts, to be understood by the same techniques as a philosophic treatise or tabloid newspaper. But that makes sense only to readers of advanced magazines, for poetry does indeed seem different. Even if we accept that poetry can be verse or prose – verse simply having a strong metrical element – poetry is surely distinguished by moving us deeply. In fact, for all but Postmodernists, it is an art form, and must therefore do what all art does – represent something of the world, express or evoke emotion, please us by its form, and stand on its own as something autonomous and self-defining.

Exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute, 39 Belgrave Square, 7-30 November, Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, FREE. Curated by Katia Pizzi and Ben Thomas. Powerful angels, just as this frog drips with blood and dries up, so also will the body of him, NN whom NN bore, because I adjure you, who are in command of fire, Maskelli Maskellō (add the rest, the usual). Jacco Dieleman, Priests, Tongues, and Rites: The London-Leiden Magical Manuscripts and Translation in Egyptian Ritual (100– 300 CE), Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 153 (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2005); Edward O. D. Love, Code-Switching with the Gods: The Bilingual (Old Coptic-Greek) Spells of PGM IV (P. Bibliothèque Nationale Supplément Grec. 574) and Their Linguistic, Religious, and Socio-Cultural Context in Late Roman Egypt (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016); Ljuba Bortolani, Magical Hymns from Roman Egypt: A Study of Greek and Egyptian Traditions of Divinity (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016); and Athanassia Zografou, Papyrus Magiques Grecs: Le Mot et Le Rite. Autour Des Rites Sacrificiels, Παράρτημα‎ 85 (Ioannina, Greece: Panepistimio Ioanninon, 2013). By the way, don’t feel constrained or pressured by ideas of “good poetry,” or popular poetry. These are poems for you; they’re magic. They’re your essence. They’re not meant to be published or shared with the world. Write the poetry that speaks to you. In your voice. In whatever language you want to write in. I, Abrasax, shall deliver. Abrasax am I! ABRASAX ABRASICHO'OU, help little Sophia-Priskilla. Get hold of and do away with what comes to little Sophia-Priskilla, whether it is a Shivering Fit—get hold of it! Whether a Phantom—get hold of it! Whether a Daimon—get hold of it! I, Abrasax, shall deliver. Abrasax am I! ABRASAX ABRASICHO'OU. Get hold of, get hold of and do away with .|.|. what comes to little Sophia-Priskilla on this very day, whether it is a Shivering Fit—do away with it! Whether a Daimon—do away with it! ( PGM LXXXIX 1–27)You can also create poetry spells by focusing each line or section on a specific intention, color, archetype, or goal. The recipe says to “add the rest, the usual,” that is, the whole formula, which is attested elsewhere in full: Maskelli Maskellō Phnoukentabaō Oreobazagra Rēxichthōn Hippochthōn Puripēganux. Poetry is magic. And poems are spells. The spirituality of poetry is clear — but it’s not always obvious; like many paths and practices (especially witchcraft, folk magic, or other spiritual paths), poetry is a way toward self-reclamation, finding autonomy, understanding yourself and the world, and getting in touch with the divine, mysterious force within us — creativity. At one time it shows a man in the guise of an ass, (at another time) it makes an ass (look like) a man and a notable.

Write a poem that speaks of the in-between, the crossroads, the liminal. What does it look at dusk? What does it feel like to be almost touched, almost loved, almost lost? How you capture what feels to straddle the liminal — in a poem? Word Worship

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And of course she’s not alone. Countless thousands of thoughtful and intelligent people have had experiences of a kind that they call religious. James paid them the compliment of taking these experiences seriously, and produced a classic of psychological insight. But could there be a Varieties of Magical Experience? Could the mental universe that produced witch bottles and sigil, and grimoires, and the whole idea of magic itself, be rich enough to sustain an examination of that sort?

Magic may thus be defined as a discourse (that is, not a thing, but a way of talking about things) pertaining to non-normative ritualized activity, in which the deviation from the norm is most often marked in terms of the perceived efficacy of the act, the familiarity of the performance within the cultural tradition, the ends for which the act is performed, or the social location of the performer. 2 Greek magic is then the discourse of magic within the ancient Greek world, which differs in various ways from the modern discourse of magic, as well as other ancient discourses of magic: Hebrew, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Phoenician, and even Roman. Poetry is the use of precise, concise and condensed words that can resonate on many levels, with layers of meaning. Poems are words arranged in patterns of sound and imagery that can create both an intellectual and intellectual response in the reader. Across different cultures and traditions poetry has universal usage, perhaps performed with music. Song lyrics are a different genre, since they are deliberately written with musical information, with refrains and repetitions that do not function as well without the music. Yet, in the right hands, poems can function as song lyrics with exciting results as shown by Gabriel Kahane, Eric Moe, and many more. His most famous work, The Divine Comedy, is as rich in science, astronomy, and philosophy, and as it is rooted in 14th-century Catholicism and Italian politics. The epic describes Dante’s imagined journey through Hell and Purgatory to Heaven. Inferno, the most popular and widely studied section of The Divine Comedy, recounts Dante’s travels through the different regions ofHell, led by his mentor and protector, the Roman poet Virgil. In his translation of Inferno, Mark Musa writes, “Dante invites us to read his poem as he expects us to read the Bible, that is, to believe in the historical truth of the literal level. And this extends to the figural symbolism of the main characters in the allegory of the poem. We are not dealing with consistent or typical allegory ... his is much more sophisticated.” Constructed as a huge funnel with nine descending circular ledges, Dante’s Hell features a vast, meticulously organized torture chamber in which sinners, carefully classified according to the nature of their sins, suffer hideous punishment, often depicted with ghoulish attention to detail. Sinners who recognize and repudiate their sins are given the opportunity to attain Paradise through the arduous process of purification, which continues in Purgatorio. A shift from human reason to divine revelation takes place in Purgatory, a place where penitents awaiting the final journey to Paradise continually reaffirm their faith and atone for the sins they committed on earth. A mood of brotherly love, modesty, and longing for God prevails in Purgatory. Although in Hell, Virgil—a symbol of human reason—helps Dante understand sin, in Purgatory the poet needs a more powerful guide who represents faith: Beatrice. Finally, Paradiso manifests the process of spiritual regeneration and purification required to meet God, who rewards the poet with perfect knowledge. Written between 1292 and 1294 in commemoration of Beatrice’s death, Vita Nuova ( The New Life) reflects Dante’s first effort to depict her as an abstract model of love and beauty. In this collection of early canzoni, Dante uses a refreshing and innovative approach in love poetry, dulcestil nuovo (sweet new style), which equates the love experience with a divine and mystical spiritual revelation. Vita Nuova ends with Dante’s promise to write “what has never before been written of any woman.” Criticism of Vita Nuova has been almost invariably positive, although an occasional scholar has taken exception to its sensibility, finding in it an overwrought imagination and sensitivity. The story of Dante’s love for Beatrice is often taken as allegory, particularly by critics reading the book in the light of his later works.Read Natalie Diaz’s “ No More Cake Here.” What kind of magic appears in these poems? What kind of party does Diaz imagine, and what purpose does it serve? What story does it tell about the speaker’s brother, and why might she have chosen to write a poem like this to tell that story? Patricia Contreras Torres is a Chilean painter exhibiting at leading galleries in London and the provinces. She brings a wider perspective to matters of aesthetic and literary interest. My name is Legion: for we are many’ Ramona Herdman Winner, Hamish Canham Prize 2017. Members' Poems - Getting Out And like an incantation or a mantra, we can read a poem anytime to evoke the energy we programmed to it. It will always be there, encapsulated at the moment we created it. It can transport us, infuse us, remind us. Write a poetry spell with a certain number of lines or stanzas