On Monday – Shiva’s Day – at the height of Shravan Maas (Shiva’s Month), two weeks previous, we carried out something simultaneously both ‘traditional’ and ‘ground-breaking’.

An ancient Vedic rite – which, via the availment of both modern technology and innovative application of archaic theology & metaphysics – we were able to conduct on two points, some ten thousand kilometers plus  distant across the globe, simultaneously entwined.

The ‘heavy lifting’ of the operation was conducted by a very traditional Bengali Brahmin clan (and yes, I said “clan” … because this involved multiple priests operating simultaneously – along with their wives & mothers; also of their number, the young gentleman whose photography this album is comprised of), along with our close comrade, Nirjharah Mukhopadhyayah … whom you can see in various shots not only carrying out various ‘traditional’ ritual operations, but wearing various headphones / microphone arrangements (so as to facilitate greater coherency of co-ordination for ritualistic actions with me over here on the other side of the world).

We are, of course, immensely indebted to all involved – it feels remarkable enough (to me, at any rate) that the clan were prepared to undertake such a Rite for somebody who might be thought an ‘outlander’ (as he is not just ‘foreign’ but whom they have never met, and running purely upon Nirjharah’s attestations as to my character and piety prior to the co-ordination / planning meetings aforehand … ); that they were prepared to work with us to enable the ‘intercontinental’ uplink (replete with ‘troubleshooting’ about ritual substitution necessities due to certain plants not growing here, flowers not yet in bloom due to southern hemisphere, etc.) … well, ‘incredible’ does not really begin to describe it.

And now you begin to see partially why those Runes are in the title to the post 😉

It was also – as it ever is, with me, it seems – a very cool feeling to see elements I’d been writing about for the past few weeks/months ‘come to life’ in front of me. Various of which I hadn’t realized would actually become pertinent until they unfolded both in front of and actively through us – or which we realized when we sat down to de-brief upon proceedings afterwards.  

Yet whereas Professor Frits Staal, when he was privileged to film the Agnicayana rite (as recorded in the ‘Altar of Fire’ documentary), no doubt had also felt a marvel to witness his academic speciality ‘living’ and ‘in motion’ in front of him … he had to do so from a film-tower some ways distant from proceedings.

Perhaps for him, it was mere ‘anthropology’.

And while it can be fairly said, I suppose, that sitting ten thousand kilometers to the South East on the other end of an audio-visual-link, might be in some ways analogous to such a scenario of detachment …

… I do feel that my situation of ritual participation (not least, as the bearer of that name, ‘Curwen Ares Rolinson’, which was frequently to be invoked within the course of the relevant ritual liturgies) renders my relative vantage-point quite the opposite to his.

Over the past two years, some of you have heard me use the phrase ‘Combat Operations’.

Perhaps we may term it:

ᛗᚱᚨ Ḍima Pravartanam

Jai Sri Rudra !