by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
Bear with me for I will eventually turn this discourse towards Wicca. If you are impatient, do a ‘cut&paste’ and change ‘party’ to ‘ritual’ and change ‘costume’ to ‘tools’. WARNING: potentially disturbing images follow.
Ok, my daughter and friends have been complaining that I spend too much time inside writing articles and fan-fic. It seems the only times I get out are when I yard-sale, go to the book-stores or kayak. So some pagan group in Phoenix is hosting a Fantasy Costume Ball called “The Feast of Fools” and on the spur of the moment, I bought a couple tickets then advertised for a date.
I know, it’s an impulse equal to the “leap before you look” or “speak before you think” or ‘buy before you shop around” thing and I often regret these impulses. “But the deed is done” as Mark Twain would say.
So, it is a fantasy costume ball and I like to dress up. And looking through my closet, … Ah HA! Barsoom. Being a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs, I have been writing a lot of Fan-Fic and technical articles on the subject so why not? According to Phillip Jose Farmer, I am related to Tarzan and I have a lot of fake fur in my sewing box (yes, ladies, I can sew), a hunting knife and archery gear. Or there is John Carter. All I need for that are a few belts, a g-string (I am told my tush is my best feature) and some swords so why not?
A look in the mirror says why not. Too little sun and too few sit-ups convince me that I should not expose more skin than is asthetically pleasing. So cover up!
A glance in the closet revels a Toga made from a pattern from Republican Rome. Bacchus? Maybe. Also my kilt! Always a hit but women are always lifting my hem to see what I wear under (but let me try the same to them and they scream for the police). And a number of kimonos.
Now there is an idea. I have on the wall a complete set of Paul Chen P+ Daisho (Katana, Wakazashi, Tanto, Aichuchi) which I have yet to show off. I also have a Cold Steel Warrior Daisho (Katana & Wakazashi but no tanto yet due to finances) and a Jingasa helmet so why not? Raiko was a famous mythological Japanese Demon-hunter which fits the theme.
So I dug the kimonos out, had a female coven member tell me which ones to wear (I’m straight, single and male so have no fashion sense at all) and proceeded to put together a costume.
Now some people spend more than a year’s pay getting everything perfect! Other people hit the thrift store and wear whatever they find cheap. I’m somewhere in between for despite what my ex says, I do realize that foreplay is as important as the act itself and so preparing your costume is as important and as much fun as wearing it.
I have a medieval kimono. But unwilling to wear cheap rubber flip-flops, I spent a week searching for and found some tutorials for making authentic straw Waraji sandals. Not having rice straw and unable to get yucca stems as a replacement, I settled for rope. Not totally authentic but I made a pair of medieval Japanese sandals in two days from some rope I had laying around. Note: I had to make adjustments for the turorials weren’t very good but I soon fixed the problem and had them ready to wear. And they are comfortable!
Inro! I need to carry car-keys, drivers license and money so did another search and found that Inro (the traditional purse) cost $$$$$ and are too modern. Unfortunately, carving one from wood or bone or ivory is outside my abilities. So I was settling for a silk bag hung from a netsuke (I like to collect netsuke) when an idea struck! Cut some pine into 1x3/4 pieces, glued some 1/16” mahogany ply to them and after capping, drilled a cord hole down the pine, cut in two and fit slides inside then painted. Not perfect but adequate.
Now a hat, either my jingasa or a straw hat. I chose the straw simply because the jingasa is so poorly designed that it serves as a wall hanging more than a real hat. I don’t know how the Japanese wear these things. Plus the woman who chose my kimono said the straw hat works better
I made a paper-mache mask of a tengu and built the nose up (for those who refuse to look up Tengu, they are long-nosed Japanese bird-spirits that taught the Ninja everything they know. Note, dirty comment about Pinnochio deleted), then painted it red, added a few black feathers and some red tie ribbons.
Finished! (note, kids, republicans, Baptists and any potential dates should skip the next pictures)
Oops, underwear. How can you be authentic while wearing boxers? Some more research and I had the patterns for Fundoshi, which are medieval Japanese underwear. So while daughter is at her spinning class, I grabbed some old T-shirts, stripped down and while watching King Kong strip Fay Wray on the TV (I like to watch movies while I work), made, adjusted, tested, adjusted and finally had a decent set of Fundoshi. See, I told you to skip this one.
NOW I am complete and ready to go. Maybe even place in the costume contest IF anyone recognized hard work.
Note, more pics to be added her later after the Ball.
So, how does this relate to the Craft?
Simple.
One does not just throw a meal together. Well, I do which is probably why so few people are willing to eat at my place more than once.
You need preparation. Is this person a vegetarian or Jewish? Then no pork. What about allergies or medical conditions? Should I pre-heat the oven? Do I have the proper pots? What can I substitute that will add to the meal and not destroy it? You know what I mean. Quality materials present Quality results. There is a BIG difference between store-bought factory-farm eggs and the free-range eggs I buy. Taste them and see.
Or change the oil in your car in a tuxedo with a swiss-army knife. You need proper clothing, an oil catch, wrenches and so on. Then you have to block the tires, pull the brake, jack the car and block the raised car or else you may die!
Wicca is the same. You don’t just come home, pissed with the boss and think, “I’ll just do a Sabbat and everything will be fine!”
Crap!
What nasty feelings are you putting into that Circle/Temple you are building? What nasty entities are your feelings attracting?
Ceremonial Magickians believe that preparation is more important than the rite itself. So they spend months meditating and getting in the right state of mind. They spend weeks or months making and preparing their Tools and fasting.
Preparation is 90% of any ritual.
And that preparation includes fasting beforehand to flush toxins from your body. Focusing on the rite, not on that person you are trying to seduce or your idiot boss.
It also means dressing properly with proper Tools.
That expensive silk robe with all the hand embroidery and lace. Who are you trying to impress? And silk is an insulator. That’s why Magickians wrap their Tools in silk to protect them. Wear Silk (and a few other materials I won’t name here) and all that energy you are raising will go nowhere! Cosmetics are the same. And people, there is no such thing as safe-sex-magick because latex and rubber are also insulators.
Your Tools. You can Cast a Circle with a butter knife you grabbed from the drawer but there is something about that Athame you hand-forged yourself and fitted to a handle you carved that makes you want to put more of yourself into that Circle.
And what about previous influences? The Law of Contagion says that anyone who touched your Tool took some of your energy from that Tool and put some of their own into it. All that work is for nothing. And every person who touched that Cup in the store before you bought it put their own feelings, emotions etc into that Cup and so you need to work especially hard to clean all those feelings away.
So preparation for the Ritual and Preparation of your Tools and even yourself is as important as the Ritual itself.
So why didn’t I just say this at the beginning?
Because there is a LOT that I cannot tell to non-Initiates. That’s why we have Coven classes where I give this information and the why’s and demonstrate the hows. Here, in public, I have to use allegory to push the point forward.
Just as putting all that research and work into making an authentic Costume (and knowing where I can fudge and where I should not) makes the Costume Ball more enjoyable, doing an equal amount of research and preparation makes the Ritual more enjoyable AND more effective.
To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
