I love my daily walks in the forest.

There’s a few spots I enjoy, but a particular small beach with a half-fallen tree has a special place in my heart. In fact, it’s where I’ve often thought about starting this project.

The Downfall of an Oasis

Nikodemus of Psykeon (my nomen mysticum) is a way for me to share my sporadic creative and esoteric pursuits with the world and connect with like-minded people.

I wasn’t sure what form the Nikodemus of Psykeon project would take when I started the blog over two years ago. This project has first emerged as a small esoteric blog, then became my online persona, and due to the pressures of life and difficulties with blogging consistency, the blog morphed into an outlet to share my occasional esoteric and creative projects, whatever they may be.

Now, I lived the Wild West of the internet; no centralized social media, just a loose network of forums and personal websites popping up left and right. It was driven by a decentralized DIY ethos focused on human self-expression and genuine worldwide connection, which underlines the spirit of Psykeon and my usual technomancer mentality. Unfortunately, I’ve recently grown fed up with dead internet theory becoming dead internet reality. Today, the internet is mostly run by a handful of mega corpos and bots that only have profits in mind, and a zero-sum view of how to acquire it. The Internet I once knew and loved is virtually gone.

These sentiments will not stop any aspects of this project, but have made me want to bring parts of this project into the physical world. That’s a big shift, since the Psykeon project has been 100% online until now. 

My reflections on this question have brought me in a strange direction…

The Threefold Path 

Let’s get straight to the point. 

I’ve recently created a physical portal towards my digital portfolio, and developed an accompanying personal pilgrimage and ritual with the hope of bridging the decentralized DIY and human-to-human ethos of the old internet with the embodied reality of the physical world.

Let me explain.

Opening the Gates

A few days ago, I went into my local woods and attached to the exposed roots of the half-fallen tree a small hidden capsule containing a QR code directing users towards my new online portfolio (https://grimoire.psykeon.com).

This is a direct physical portal into my creations.

I create on my own time, upload my projects online as usual (YouTube, my blog, GitHub etc.), update the portfolio links, and everything takes care of itself when people find the portal during their walks. Simple enough, but not quite… Enough.

Binding the Guardians

As you may know from previous correspondences, I also struggle with creative procrastination from time to time, especially during busy times. But Plato saw creative inspiration, not as a conscious choice controlled by discipoline, but as the artist being possessed by the muses, or possessed by supernatural forces. As the spiritually homeless wizard that I am, I meditated on these words, and came up with three personal sigils to “possess me” with the intention of helping break my procrastination regarding my creative projects, in a constructive way.

I present to you Pathor the consumer of time, Serrak the keyholder of portals, and Velox the one who hides gifts.

As the guardians of the portal to my digital creations, these sigils are physical and psychological constructs bound to the portal’s physical location and my mind.

The first one, Pathor, is a time-based sigil that requires me to visit the capsule monthly, and offer the sigil a sacrifice if I haven’t been creative. If I haven’t created anything, I must pay a time debt by meditating silently on the way there, and on the capsule for 5 minutes. If I’ve created something that month, I can simply visit the capsule, thank each of the three sigils by name, and move on with my day. The walk can be relatively lengthy (and cold this time of year), so it’s quite the pilgrimage where I will be forced to reflect on my creative process.

The second one, Serrak, is the keyholder of the portal, who allows me to add a new QR “subportal” (a new QR code capsule elsewhere) only after I’ve created something. Creativity is the life force of these portals; without it, they are worth nothing and cannot see the light of day.

Finally, the third sigil, Velox, forces me to hide a unique physical media version of my monthly creations in my local woods within 24h of publishing it online. A kind of offering to the world. Together, they encourage me to feed them with my creative force (which is always present but not always expressed), or else I pay the price with guilt and sacrificed time.

I’ve drawn these three sigils on a strip of paper which I have placed into the capsule to bind them to the physical location of the portal. The capsule acts as the Axis Mundi of my virtual work in the physical world, and these three sigils are its guardians.

A New Oasis and an Abyss

The combined influence of the three sigils creates two feedback loops in my mind depending on whether or not I’ve created something this month:

1. When I create something, no time debt accumulates towards Pathor, and I can appreciate the pilgrimage and open new subportals if I so choose, since Serrak is also pleased. I must also turn my creations into a physical gift that I share with the world, according to Velox’s wish. Awesome!

2. But if I don’t, I’m forced to contemplate this painful reality heads on for the duration of my monthly pilgrimage to pay my time debt towards Pathor, am barred by Serrak from opening subportals until my next creation, and cannot share my magick with the world as Velox wishes, since I do not have anything new to show for, which honestly sucks.

The Ancient Greeks had muses they could invoke to inspire their creations, and I have three sigils working in the background to inspire mine. 

Your Turn

So, if you are like me, a technomancer tired of the virtual corruption brought on the internet by soulless corporations, take this pact, open your own portal, create your own sigils, walk your own pilgrimage, and let others find you organically when they are on their own path.

The woods are optional. The capsule is not.

Perhaps our paths will cross one day,

Nikodemus of Psykeon