The Occult | Period 1 | Tuesday

[thepaledreamer.livejournal.com]

"Today," Paige started once everyone had filed in and settled, "we're going to examine chaos magic. Chaos magic is, to put it blandly and not at all clearly, a school of the modern magical tradition which emphasizes the pragmatic use of belief systems and the creation of new and unorthodox methods. See what I mean? Not very clear at all so we'll try and define it a little easier before we get into our activity."

Paige held up a picture before she continued. "This is one of the more popular symbols of chaos magic. Chaos magic magic, at its core, believes that belief is a tool. Chaos magic draws inspiration from science fiction, scientific theories, traditional ceremonial magic, neoshamanism, Eastern philosophy, world religions and individual paradigms. It's not at all uncommon for chaotes, as those who practice chaos magic are called, to believe in whatever god suits their current paradigm and discard it when necessary. Chaotes can be agnostic or atheist and regard magical practice as merely psychological, not paranormal. Some chaos magicians also use psychedelic drugs in practices such as chemognosticism."

She paused. "We're not going to be using any sort of drug in this class. Apologies. Chaos magicians are often seen by other occultists as dangerous and worrisome revolutionaries. Why do you think that is? Perhaps because no one can really tell what exactly a chaote is practicing at any one time? That they can seemingly draw from anywhere and call it theirs and explain away whatever they might do to another person or group?"

Paige shrugged. "Could be a lot of things, actually. But, let's not forget that most people who do things differently are oftentimes seem as being revolutionary or troublesome. The world's most common reaction when they're presented with something that they don't understand is to label someone and try to silence them."

Sometimes to terrifying extremes. Paige sighed. "Today, we're going to focus on one specific concept for our activity. It's called the gnostic state. It's defined as an altered state of consciousness that is necessary for working most forms of magic. There are three main types: inhibitory gnosis, excitatory gnosis and indifferent vacuity. Inhibitory gnosis is is a form of deep meditation into a trance state of mind. This type of gnosis uses slow and regular breathing techniques, absent thought processes, progressive muscular relaxation, self-induction and self-hypnosis techniques. Excitatory gnosis describes a mindlessness reached through intense arousal. It is aimed to be reached through sexual excitation, intense emotions, flagellation, dance, drumming, chanting, sensory overload, hyperventilation and the use of disinhibitory or hallucinogenic drugs. Indifferent vacuity is a third method. Here the intended spell is cast parenthetically and we're not really going to go into that one today."

With that said, Paige turned the lights of the classroom down a bit. "We're going to specifically attempt the inhibitory gnosis state. You're all welcome to try the excitatory gnosis state on your own time. I don't know how far we'll get since sometimes these states take awhile to reach but we'll give it a try. I'm going to go through a series of breathing techniques, some exercises that are meant to relax your muscles, and I've some white noise that might help the self hypnosis. We'll see if any of you reach that altered state of consciousness."

With that being said, the lights went down lower so they could get started.

How to Make Friends and Influence People [Tuesday, January 28, 2014]

[sith_happened]

The Danger Room today was set up like a diplomatic cocktail party: people were mingling through a living and dining room, glasses of wines and small plates of canapes in hand, chattering about nothing in particular while inoffensive and bland music played in the background.

Anakin, bundled up in his cloak still because when you grew up in the desert, you would always hate winter, was looking bored to tears. "Greetings, class," he began. "I trust you have regained your original body parts and haven't lost any extremities to the cold yet. If you have, well, that's what the clinic's for. There is going to be a date night in town this weekend, so if you choose to participate, I will grant you extra credit for the class under the guise of 'making friends'. Today's lesson is learning how to make small talk without wanting to kill yourself."

It's not that bad, Anakin. "I've been lectured on any number of occasions--" because this was the price you paid when your secret wife was a Senator, "--that hiding in the corner with a plate of food and a scowl is no way to spend an evening, however much I was enjoying it. This also appears to be true for school dances, so keep that in mind for Valentine's Day as well. Today your task is to talk with at least two other students during the class. You may not talk about the weather or about how you accidentally turned into a woman for the weekend." He held up a piece of paper and handed it to Korra assuming she was there. "You must also try to pass this piece of paper between each classmate without my noticing it happening--much of what's really going on at a reception like this is below the surface, where getting caught results in far more dire consequences than merely being caught as passing notes."

Handling Your Powers, Tuesday

[not_a_whiner]

"I don't know how many of you have powers that tie into the way your body functions," Kaidan said, "Though I have some idea. My biotics-- are integrally bound into the way my muscles work. I have to have perfect control of my body when I'm using them, because certain motions activate bursts of energy."

He crossed his arms. "That's why what happened last weekend is never a good time for me," he said. "When my body changes, the foundation of my reflexes change. When my reflexes change... I start making kitchen appliances float."

Kaidan managed a wry smile before continuing. "So today we're going to be dealing with the body in its resting state," he said. "For some of you, accessing your powers comes naturally, like breathing. Some of you, on the other hand, forget they're even there, and I think a lot of that... has to do with the way you've trained your body to react, consciously or subconsciously."

"So first I want to talk about that - how much does your body factor into your powers? Then I'm going to show you a couple of exercises they taught us to figure ourselves out."

Literature- Wednesday- 2nd period

[puppyinacup.livejournal.com]

Today, there were cups and carrying cases of Starbucks in the classroom, because Jess thought she was funny.

"Last week you were assigned the meta for Moby Dick," Jess said, and paused, half expecting snickers. Or totally expecting snickers. "In case you didn't read and are going to try and spend the class pretending you did, let's help you out a tiny bit. This is the story of a crew who goes on a three-year whaling expedition to capture the title character, a whale, and the captain just gets increasingly weird about it.

"So today we're gonna talk about the meta for Ahab. Do you think he was crazy or just super focused? Why do you think he was so obsessive about hunting one whale? And is there anything you think that could have been done to stop him? Let's start with you over there."