View From The Big Hills

  William Stoltz - Rest In Peace - 21st September 2026 "For Light and Life shall be drawn at last to the radiance of one Star,  and that Star shall mount to the unshadowed height." Farewell old companion. You welcomed me with open arms into your home, into Ordo Astrum Sophiae and onwards in the Greater Mysteries. You taught me much. We went on road trips and dog walks, often staying up far too late. You initiated me into the Mysteries of Ancient Scotch and the Guild of the Golden Thistle. I'll miss you hugely. May you march onwards with your next adventure.  "O lion-headed serpent of light Whose breath is flame and the splendour of divinity: Receive us into thine embrace! Receive us into thine embrace, O Lord Agathodaimon And clothe us in thy Light. Receive us into thine embrace, O Agathodaimon And clothe us in fire. Receive us into thine embrace, O Agathodaimon And clothe us in earth. Receive us into thine embrace, O Agathodaimon, Even into the empurpled shroud of n...

 A man was cutting diamonds, and in order to minimise wastage used a torturous technique involving fine diamond-edged wheels. A manufacturer of similar jewellery in ground glass said: “We merely grind off the surplus, and so work more efficiently.”   “Maybe,” said the Diamond Smith, “but so precious are my diamonds that even a tiny fragment is worth sparing , and so my care is worthily bestowed.”   “True, true,” assented the worker in glass. “I see that your attention is relatively devalued by the scarcity of your material. Well, never mind - soon we will have techniques for making diamonds by the ton, and you can afford to waste your surplus, as we do.”   The Diamond Smith was unhappy.   “But I only wish to work with what is precious!”   “It is false,” said the worker in glass, “for your preciousness springs from mere scarcity and is the index of your own poverty.”   “And the flower springs from the dung heap,” retorted the D...