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Devil's Gate Dam is a flood control dam in the Arroyo Seco in northern Pasadena between La Cañada Flintridge and Altadena. The location is the narrowest spot on the Arroyo Seco's course below Millard Canyon. Occultists Jack Parsons and Aleister Crowley believed the site of the dam was a portal to Hell. The area surrounding the dam has officially been renamed "Hahamongna," a Tongva phrase meaning "Flowing Waters, Fruitful Valley," although this is not the original Tongva name for the site.

In the 1930s, possibly at the behest of Aleister Crowley, who believed the Devil's Gate Dam was one of the seven portals to Hell, physicist and occultist Jack Parsons began practicing ritual magic at the site. His early rituals were intended to invoke the nature god Pan, but he also performed experimental ritual evocations with L. Ron Hubbard.

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Sigils of Leo

• ... that people born under the sign of Leo are stubborn and inflexible?
• ... that pure beryl is colorless?
• ... that the demon Moloch may have only accepted animal sacrifice?
• ... that Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's occult work Three Books of Occult Philosophy contains many errors?
• ... that in the tarot, the King of Swords means an emphatic "yes"?
• ... that the mineral associated with Pehuy Djat is galena?
• ... that lighting a lamp is a common practice in Hindu worship?
• ... that nicotine is acceptable to use in Judaism?

This month in history Jan Hus being burnt at the stake 2 July - French seer and mystic Nostradamus dies. (1566) 3 July - Folk saint and shaman Don Pedro Jaramillo dies in Brooks County, Texas. (1907) 6 July - Jan Hus is burned at the state for heresy. (1415) 10 July - Czech occultist and author Franz Bardon dies from pancreatitis while in police custody. (1958) 14 July - The New Horizons spacecraft completes the first-ever flyby of Pluto. (2015) 12 July - French author Jean-Baptiste Pitois, who coined the terms Major Arcana and Minor Arcana, dies. (1877) 13 July - John Dee, court astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, is born. (1527) 17 July - The last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, dies. (1918) 19 July - Date of the heliacal rise of Sirius used to begin the Egyptian calendar. (3000 BC) 19 July - Accused witch Rebecca Nurse is executed by hanging. (1692) 19 July - Australian cannibal murderer Alexander Pearce is executed by hanging. (1824) 19 July - Occultist Aleister Crowley begins his 40 day seclusion on Esopus Island. (1918) 22 July - Elizabethan astrologer Simon Forman marries 17-year-old Jane Baker. (1599) 26 July - Argentine folk saint Eva Perón dies. (1952) 28 July - Accused witch Lilias Adie is arrested for witchcraft. (1704)

Featured image The Echols Sigil Oracle is a deck of 42 oracle cards created by occultists Damien Echols, Travis McHenry and Lorri Davis. It is somewhat unique because it exclusively utilizes sigils in its artwork and is specifically designed for use in ritual magic as well as divination. The Echols Sigil Oracle contains 42 cards, a number with ancient spiritual connotations, including veiled references to the 42 Assessors of Maat who judged the souls of the dead in the afterlife alongside Osiris in the Egyptian religion. This number is also found scattered throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, where it appears in 12 different verses. In the New Testament, it appears twice in the Book of Revelation in reference to the Antichrist. Photographer: Travis McHenry (More Images)

Featured Quote "An idle man will never become a magician. Magic is an exercise of all hours and all moments." - Éliphas Lévi

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