Selena Lionheart

Little is known about the woman who calls herself Selena Lionheart except that her real name may be Betty Munroe and that she was raised in an orphanage somewhere in the Midwest. Betty ran away from the orphanage at the age of 16 sometime in the mid 1970’s and made her way to San Francisco. There she got lost in the counter-culture of the time.

Around 1975, Betty met a man who called himself Dionysus and who claimed to be the High Priest of a coven of witches who call themselves the Wise Fools. Dionysus taught Selena his particular brand of witchcraft which stressed reaching levels of Higher Consciousness through ritual sex and the use of drugs such as Tannis Root and Ayahuasca. It was during this time that plain old Betty Munroe learned that she had an aptitude for magic. Betty transformed herself into Selena Lionheart and pronounced her self to be the Priestess of Sekhmet, the Lion-Headed Goddess of Ancient Egypt.

For a time, Selena was happy being with Dionysus and assisted him in leading the Wise Fools. When shewasn’t with Dionysus, Selena could be found telling fortunes in Golden Gate Park or among the stacks of the San Francisco Public Library reading about magic and witchcraft. It was during this time that Selena learned she could make more money telling people what they wanted to hear rather than the truth. Hustling her clients with small time cons and candle scams became rather profitable for her.

It was during the ritual celebration of the Blood Moon  that the course of Selena’s life took a turn for the worse. Dionysus, her lover and Priest, died of an accidental overdose after ingesting a fatal amount of Ayahuasca. Being an underage runaway and having no desire to return to the orphanage Selena packed her bags and disappeared again taking with her the stash box in which Dionysus kept his drugs as a memento of their love. Later, Selena would fabricate a story about this stash-box being an ancient artifact of mystical origin which she called the Coffer of Shadow.

Selena resurfaced a few months later in a section of Gotham City known as The Village. Selena met Jon Billings in Gotham Park one day where he found her offering tarot reading. Billings, a professor of psychology at Gotham State University, became smitten with Selena and it wasn’t long before she moved into his apartment.

Billings considered himself an adept Sorcerer. Selena convinced Billings to teach her sorcery. Billings put Selena through several rituals which he claimed were to prepare her for uniting with her Higher Self. While Billings was at work one day Selena took the opportunity to study his personal Grimoire---something which he had forbidden her to do. Reading the rituals Billings had lead her through, Selena realized that Billings was preparing her to be a human sacrifice for the demon Nebrios.

Using the Grimoire as a guide, Selena summoned Nebrios and offered up Billings’ soul in exchange for power. Nebrios admired her viciousness and the pact was sealed. Billings died of a stroke that day and once again Selena disappeared taking Billings’ Grimoire with her.

Having tasted real power, Selena wasn’t satisfied with what had been given her and so she sought out those she believed could give her more power. Everywhere she went Selena made it a practice to seek out powerful men for their knowledge and then leave them as soon as she felt that she had outgrown them.

Selena met her final mentor, Nigel Lovecraft, while reading tea-leaves in Lake Tahoe where he was on vacation. Nigel impressed Selena with his knowledge of Ceremonial Magic and it wasn’t hard for her to convince him to take her back to Midvale with him. Whereas Selena found it easy to manipulate Nigel, getting him to reveal the inner-most secret of black-magic was another matter.

Frustrated with Nigel’s lack of sharing his knowledge, Selena began attending meetings of the Psychical Research Society of America (PRSA) in hopes of finding someone more forthcoming. It was at these meetings that Selena met Bianca Versace and eventually the two became roommates. Bianca taught Selena what she knew about Stregheria (Italian Witchcraft) and even allowed Selena access to her family’s extensive occult collection of Grimoires and personal magical diaries. In return Selena made a decent enough living to cover their expenses by telling fortunes out of an office she set up on the fairgrounds.

Selena eventually came into possession of a piece of alien technology in the form of a crystalline sphere. It was later identified as an omegahedron by Supergirl who had come from another dimension to retrieve the mystery ball. The omegahedron was a power-source vital to her home-world, but in Selena’s hands it became a powerful force of magic.

Selena became aware of Supergirl’s existence on Earth when the heroine interfered in her plans to seduce Ethan, a local landscaper. Selena tricked Ethan to her fun-house, where she lived, with the prospect of hiring him as a landscaper. She secretly fed Ethan a love potion which rendered him unconscious and he wandered away while Selena was temporarily distracted. Selena scryed out his location in her magic mirror and called upon the power of shadow to bring him back. The spell animated a nearby bulldozer which pursued Ethan. After tearing apart a portion of the business district along Main Street the bulldozer captured Ethan inside its jaws.

A bystander interfered with the spell by climbing inside the bulldozer in attempt to bring its path of destruction to an end, which caused Selena to lose control of the bulldozer. Selena and her cohort Bianca watched as Supergirl appeared out of seemingly nowhere to save the bystanders from the effects of the bulldozer’s rampage. Once Supergirl secured the scene, she removed the jaws of the bulldozer to a safe location and freed Ethan.

Upon awakening from his potion-induced stupor, Ethan laid eyes on Linda Lee and subsequently fell in love with her. Enraged, Selena called upon the power of shadow to take the form of a destructive invisible force to destroy Linda. Supergirl interfered and, after a brief but hard-fought battle, defeated Selena’s demonic creation. Afterward Selena spied Linda Lee snooping around the fun-house, followed by a love-sick Ethan. When Selena confronted the couple, Supergirl interfered and removed the two to safety.

Desperate to defeat her enemy and master her newfound powers Selena called upon Nigel for assistance once again. Nigel brought Selena a special wand that allowed her channel the power of shadow more directly. Selena and Nigel were successful in teleporting Ethan back to the fun-house in hopes that Supergirl would come to save him and fall into their trap. Nigel didn’t trust Selena completely, but little did he know that she would betray him so soon. In a moment of passion, she snatched the Burundi Wand out of his hands and turned its power on him. Weak and helpless he could only stand by as Selena transformed her home into a castle stronghold high atop a mountain in the center of town.

When Supergirl arrived to save Ethan, Selena cleverly banished Supergirl to a dimension where her powers abandoned her. With Supergirl trapped in the Phantom Zone and Superman on a diplomatic mission in a galaxy several hundred trillion light years away there was no one to oppose Selena’s will. She quickly overtook the town and intended to expand her power until she had achieved nothing less than world domination.

Before Selena could achieve her sick dream Supergirl found a way out of the Phantom Zone and returned to Earth with her powers restored. Supergirl confronted Selena who called upon the full power of the Coffer of Shadow which had grown to gigantic proportions. Supergirl fought Selena’s evil creation and would surely have been defeated had Ethan not been able to sever Selena’s connection to her power-source. Supergirl used the opportunity to sweep Selena, Bianca, and her monstrous creation into the Phantom Zone and sealed the portal between dimensions. After Selena’s defeat everything returned to normal.

Nigel Lovecraft

The Omegahedron

The Omegahedron is one of two great power-sources vital to Argo City. Along with its partner, the Alphahedron, the Omegahedron powers the entire city, its devices and provides its people with light, heat, air, and all the things necessary to survive.

While on the surface the Omegahedron seems to create life, it only creates the appearance of life, a ‘fancy shadow of the real thing.’ Human science cannot explain how the Omegahedron works, in fact compared to our present technology it is indistinguishable from magic.

However, based on close observation, the abilities listed below can be attributed to the device, though it may have additional powers we have yet to define. They are:

• to generate unlimited energy.
• to power devices on Earth such as cars, telephones, lights etc…
• to convert energy to matter, and matter to energy.
• convert one form of energy into another (potential energy into kinetic, etc.)
• to re-arrange matter on a subatomic level.
• to manipulate and control human biology.
• to enable travel between dimensions.
• to manipulate all forms of energy such electricity, magnetism, light, gravity, etc….

With these abilities Selena was able to create fire from her fingertip, teleport Ethan from place to place, summon an invisible construct of her will, animate and control a bulldozer, cause Ethan to love her, banish Supergirl to the Phantom Zone, remotely view people and activities in her mirror from a faraway distance, and conjure material things out of thin air to name a few.

In addition, the Omegahedron seems to have the capacity to interface with the human mind and respond to human thoughts. A person is able to either mentally or verbally express their desires to the Omegahedron and it will comply with that person’s intent in accordance with that individual’s concept of reality. The Omegahedron seems to be limited only by the imagination of the person who wields its power.

Nigel Lovecraft

Bianca Versace

Unlike Selena, who learned her craft from a series of teachers with dubious reputations, Bianca was born into a family of Italian Witches. Like a good daughter, Bianca learned her craft from the women in her family however she never showed as much interest in their witchcraft as she did in their family business.

The Versace family owned and operated the Midvale Fair and was successful enough to send Bianca away to business school to get her BA in Business Management. However, unknown to her, by the time she graduated from college the family business was bankrupt.  Despite her education, Bianca was unable to save the family business from failing. However, knowing the value of the land on which the Fair stood Bianca took on several jobs to ensure that the land stayed in her family’s name.

After her parent’s death, Bianca formulated a plan to convert the fun-house into apartments. She found an investor and construction began but never finished. Desperate to keep her family’s land, Bianca moved into the funhouse and decided to live there as she tried to complete the project. It took Bianca two years working two full time job to complete and furnish one apartment.

Despondent with her lot in life, Bianca began seeking spiritual fulfillment and looked to her roots. She found an active chapter of the Psychical Research Society of America (PRSA) in Midvale and began attending meetings. It was there that Bianca met and subsequently became friends with Selena Lionheart.

Bianca admired Selena’s confidence and lust for life. She re-energized Bianca’s spirit and gave the confidence to attempt to complete converting the fair grounds into apartments. Unhappy with her then living arrangements with her mentor, Nigel, Selena moved in with Bianca at the funhouse-apartment.

Bianca taught Selena what she knew about Stregheria (Italian Witchcraft) and even allowed Selena access to her family’s extensive occult collection of Grimoires and personal magical diaries. In return Selena made a decent enough living to cover their expenses by telling fortunes out of an office she set up on the fairgrounds.

When Selena came into the possession of an alien artifact that greatly amplified her powers to a considerable degree Bianca tagged along sharing in the spoils. Selena was nearly successful in obtaining world domination, but was defeated by a Supergirl who was sent to our dimension to retrieve the artifact. When Selena was defeated and banished to the Phantom Zone, Bianca shared her fate as well.

Nigel Lovecraft

The Secret History of Baphomet

The Ram of Mendes

Little is known about the true origin of Baphomet. Oral legend states that as far back as 2500 B.C. a tribe of hunter-gatherers located in the Valley of Shadows, in present day Egypt, were known to worship the God Banebdjedet. Banebdjedet has been described as having the form of a humanoid-goat hybrid, similar to the later deity known as Pan. In fact, it is believed that Pan is an aspect of Baphomet.

According to the legend, Banebdjedet spied a fair maiden named Hatmehit bathing in a stream and immediately fell in love with her. He seduced Hatmehit promising her that he would grant her any wish if she would agree to be his bride. Hatmehit replied that she only wanted to be close to him at which they became fused together resulting in a being of both sexes. Having the head of a goat, the upper-body of a woman and the lower-body of a man, this new God became known as Baphomet.

Baphomet through the Ages

It has often been said that the gods of one religion are the devils of another. Throughout the ages as nations rose and fell, Baphomet subsequently became identified with various devils and demons associated with Black-Magic. Around 525 B.C. after many years of peaceful co-existence Persia invaded and conquered the Valley of Shadows. Baphomet was absorbed into the dominant tribe’s mythology and was later identified with Ahriman (the prototype for the modern Satan.) Later scholars put forth the idea that Baphomet was the same Horned-God of fertility, lust, and wisdom associated with Pagans and their worship.

Christians interpreted the myth of Banebdjedet and Hatmehit as an inverted re-telling of the story of Adam and Eve. Whereas Eve was created out of the body of Adam, Baphomet was created by Hatmehit becoming fused with Banebdjedet. Around 1307, during the Crusades, the Knights Templar was accused of revering Baphomet in the form of a human skull. They were alleged to have considered the idol the source of their riches as well as a powerful charm for fertility.

Levi’s Baphomet

Baphomet, as Lévi's illustration (see above image) suggests, has occasionally been portrayed as a synonym of Satan or a demon, a member of the hierarchy of Hell. The downward-pointing pentagram on its forehead is enlarged upon by Lévi in his illustration of a goat's head arranged within such a pentagram, which he contrasts with the microcosmic man arranged within a similar but upright pentagram.

Lévi's Baphomet is clearly the source as well of the later Tarot image of the Devil, in the Rider-Waite design. The symbol of the goat in the downward-pointed pentagram was adopted as the official symbol — called the Sigil of Baphomet — of the Church of Satan, and continues to be used among Satanists.

The Crowley Connection

The Baphomet of Lévi was to become an important figure within the cosmology of Thelema, the mystical system established by Aleister Crowley in the early twentieth century. Baphomet features in the Creed of the Gnostic Catholic Church recited by the congregation in The Gnostic Mass, in the sentence: "And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in His name BAPHOMET."

In Magick (Book 4), Crowley asserted that Baphomet was a divine androgyne and "the hieroglyph of arcane perfection":

“The Devil does not exist. It is a false name invented by the Black Brothers to imply a Unity in their ignorant muddle of dispersions. A devil who had unity would be a God... 'The Devil' is, historically, the God of any people that one personally dislikes... This serpent, SATAN, is not the enemy of Man, but He who made Gods of our race, knowing Good and Evil; He bade 'Know Thyself!' and taught Initiation. He is 'The Devil' of the Book of Thoth, and His emblem is BAPHOMET, the Androgyne who is the hieroglyph of arcane perfection... He is therefore Life, and Love. But moreover his letter is ayin, the Eye, so that he is Light; and his Zodiacal image is Capricornus, that leaping goat whose attribute is Liberty.”

For Crowley, Baphomet is further a representative of the spiritual nature of the spermatozoa while also being symbolic of the "magical child" produced as a result of sex magic. As such, Baphomet represents the Union of Opposites, especially as mystically personified in Chaos and Babalon combined and biologically manifested with the sperm and egg united in the zygote.

Etymology of Baphomet

While modern scholars such as Peter Partner, Dr. Malcolm Barber, and the Oxford English Dictionary, state that the origin of the name Baphomet was a probable French version of "Mahomet" (i.e., "Muhammad") alternative etymologies have also been proposed:

• Emile Littré (1801–1881) in Dictionnaire de la langue francaise asserted that the word was cabalistically formed by writing backward tem. o. h. p. ab an abbreviation of templi omnium hominum pacis abbas, 'abbot' or 'father of the temple of peace of all men.' His source is the "Abbé Constant", which is to say, Alphonse-Louis Constant, the real name of Eliphas Lévi.

• Arkon Daraul proposed that "Baphomet" may derive from the Arabic word أبو فهمة Abu fihama(t), meaning "The Father of Understanding".[21] "Arkon Daraul" is widely thought to be a pseudonym of Idries Shah.

• Dr Hugh J. Schonfield,[22] one of the scholars who worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls, argued in his book The Essene Odyssey that the word "Baphomet" was created with knowledge of the Atbash substitution cipher, which substitutes the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet for the last, the second for the second last, and so on. "Baphomet" rendered in Hebrew is בפומת; interpreted using Atbash, it becomes שופיא, which can be interpreted as the Greek word "Sophia", or wisdom. This theory is an important part of the plot of The Da Vinci Code. Professor Schonfield's theory however cannot be independently corroborated.

• Some believe that Baphomet’s name is derived from the Greek words baphe and metis to mean "Baptism of Wisdom", alternatively "To Absorb Knowledge

The Teachings of Baphomet

Baphomet is the patron God of the Coven of Shadows and the High Priest or High Priestess of the coven is believed to be his representative on Earth.  The coven abides by the teachings of Baphomet as found written in The Witch’s Guide to Heaven and Hell.

The main tenets of their beliefs are:

1. The path to at-one-ment with Baphomet begins with the reunification of our inner masculine and feminine selves.
2. Before power can be claimed, knowledge must be attained. Therefore the goal of the true witch is the accumulation of knowledge in order to wield power.
3. Nations rise and fall, kings and queen are born and die, currency changes…but power is absolute.
4. The path to power is a life-long process. It takes a life-time to discover the secrets of black magic from the ancient Grimoires
5. Power without knowledge, over-reaching ambition, loss of control, short-sightedness, impatience… these are the paths that lead to one’s destruction.
6. Knowledge shared is power lost. Be ever mindful with whom you share your knowledge and wisdom.
7. Power which is not exercised is tantamount to being powerless. What good is a sword if it is not unleashed?
8. Indulgence is expected but only in mediation, however addiction is a sure sign of loss of personal power.
9. To hesitate...to have fear is to be powerless. Therefore it is wise to be an active force in one’s own life as well as to seize control of every opportunity before one.

On the Virtues of the Red Toad

The Red Toad that lurks in the briars and brambles is full of sorceries. There is a little bone on the left-hand side which if bound to a man stirs up the greatest lust. Legend states that should it be placed in cold water, it will make said water hot. This water fed to dogs, will make them serviceable and procure their loyalty. The right-side bone makes hot water cold and so long as it remains no heat will warm the water. Bound to the sick in the skin of a snake it cures quartans.

Nigel Lovecraft

Source:

The Magus, Francis Barrett

The Coffer of Shadow

The Coffer of Shadow is an ancient artifact of immense power. It is an ornate box made of lead in the form of the God Baphomet. The Coffer has been in the possession of the Coven of Shadows for over 1000 years. It is the symbolic seat of power and is always held by the High Priest or High Priestess of the coven. The High Priest/ess is always the strongest member of the coven and a Master of the Mystic Arts commanding the Power of Shadow.

The shadow in the Coffer of Shadow refers to the combined energy of every current and past member of the coven. When a new member is initiated into the Coven of Shadows his or her blood is ritually spilled onto the Coffer of Shadow. Thereafter that individual's strength, energy, and knowledge is added to the pool of power contained within. The High Priest/ess of the Coven commands this power, wielding it as he or she sees fit.

The last holder of the Coffer of Shadow was a wicked sorceress named Selena Lionheart. Through a series of events which I am unclear about myself, Selena came into possession of a piece of alien technology in the form of a crystalline sphere. It was later identified as an omegahedron by Supergirl who had come from another dimension to retrieve the mystery ball. The omegahedron was a power-source vital to her home-world, but in Selena's hands it became a powerful force of magic. Selena placed the omegahedron in the Coffer of Shadow exponentially increasing her power.

Selena became aware of Supergirl's existence on Earth when the heroine interfered in her plans to seduce Ethan, a local landscaper. Selena tricked Ethan to her fun-house, where she lived, with the prospect of hiring him as a landscaper. She secretly fed Ethan a love potion which rendered him unconscious and he wandered away while Selena was temporarily distracted. Selena scryed out his location in her magic mirror and called upon the power of shadow to bring him back. The spell animated a nearby bulldozer which pursued Ethan. After tearing apart a portion of the business district along Main Street the bulldozer captured Ethan inside its jaws.

A bystander interfered with the spell by climbing inside the bulldozer in attempt to bring its path of destruction to an end, which caused Selena to lose control of the bulldozer. Selena and her cohort Bianca watched as Supergirl appeared out of seemingly nowhere to save the bystanders from the effects of the bulldozer's rampage. Once Supergirl secured the scene, she removed the jaws of the bulldozer to a safe location and freed Ethan.

Upon awakening from his potion-induced stupor, Ethan laid eyes on Linda Lee and subsequently fell in love with her. Enraged, Selena called upon the power of shadow to take the form of a destructive invisible force to destroy Linda. Supergirl interfered and, after a brief but hard-fought battle, defeated Selena's demonic creation.  It was then that Selena made a shocking discovery... the omegahedron had a strange and unexpected effect on the Coffer of Shadow. Much like Selena's over-reaching ambition, the coffer had grown bigger and uglier! As Selena's hunger for power grew the coffer continued to grow and morph into a simulacrum of Selena's evil.

Supergirl somehow tracked Selena to the abandoned fun-house where the two women confronted one another. For some unknown reason, Ethan was present as well. Rather than continue her battle with Selena, whose powers were growing by leaps and bounds, Supergirl chose to remove Ethan to a safe location.

Desperate to defeat her enemy and master her newfound powers Selena called upon me for assistance. Desiring to be close to such power, and perhaps taking it for myself, I decided to attempt to use the Coffer of Shadow in conjunction with my Burundi Wand. Selena and I were successful in teleporting Ethan back to the fun-house in hopes that Supergirl would come to save him and fall into our trap. I didn't trust Selena completely, but little did I know that she would betray me so soon. In a moment of passion, she snatched the Burundi Wand out of my hands and turned its power on me. Weak and helpless I could only stand by as she transformed her home into a castle stronghold high atop a mountain in the center of town.

When Supergirl arrived to save Ethan, Selena cleverly banished Supergirl to a dimension where her powers abandoned her. With Supergirl trapped in the Phantom Zone and Superman on a diplomatic mission in a galaxy several hundred trillion light years away there was no one to oppose Selena's will. She quickly overtook the town and intended to expand her power until she had achieved nothing less than world domination.

Before Selena could achieve her dream Supergirl found a way out of the Phantom Zone and returned to Earth with her powers restored. Supergirl confronted Selena who called upon the full power of the Coffer of Shadow which had grown to gigantic proportions. Supergirl fought Selena's evil creation and would surely have been defeated had Ethan not been able to sever Selena's connection to her power-source. Supergirl used the opportunity to sweep Selena, Bianca, and her monstrous creation into the Phantom Zone and sealed the portal between dimensions.

After Selena's defeat everything returned to normal, including the Coffer of Shadow.  I found the Coffer, in its original form, lying in the road where Selena's fortress once stood high atop what came to be affectionately known as Mount Midvale. Knowing the Coffer's value and history, I took it with me. Soon thereafter, I was approached by Sandy Dixon a pretty young lady who had been one of Selena's followers. Sandy became my apprentice and it was through her that Selena's coven learned that I assisted in Selena's defeat and that I now held the Coffer of Shadow. The coven saw this as a clear sign that I should now be their new  High Priest and I accepted the position.

Since that time I have discovered  that a portion of the omegahedron's power continues to reside within the Coffer of Shadow on a molecular level. The Coffer of Shadow simply IS power, and it is capable of all manner of sorceries....

Nigel Lovecraft

The Burundi Wand

The Burundi Wand gets its name from the region of Africa in which its use was first noted. It is a powerful tool of magic used by magical practitioners to direct their will in the world and to shape the fabric of reality. It has been described as pure, unadulterated evil--- not for the awesome power it possesses, but rather for the rituals employed to make and consecrate the wand.

How to Make a Burundi Wand

When blood appears on the moon, you must take an iron knife and strip the bark from a length of wood that came from a tree struck by lightning. The bark is burned along with bitter herbs until they are ashes. The ashes are then mixed with the blood of a black hen which has been beaten to death with a white cane and the fat of an albino-heifer which has been ritually sacrificed to Imana the source of all life. The resulting paste is smeared on the wand and acts as a natural stain. The wand is then allowed to dry and then decorated with the feathers of the black hen and the bones of the albino-heifer.

Once properly made, the wand is buried in a cemetery at the grave of a child whose gender is the opposite of yours. There the wand should remain for three days and three nights. Each day an offering of whiskey is laid upon the grave as an offering to the spirit within. On the third day the spirit will appear before you upon approaching the grave. The offering must be given to him or her directly at which time s/he will take the whiskey from you and hand you the wand.

~Nigel Lovecraft~

Sources:

• African Tribal Rites, Chauncey Williamson © 1985
• Voodoo for the Vexed, Peter Watson © 1998
• The Book of Pacts, Fred Maddow ©1967