Comment by egypturnash

4 months ago

This reads like a vague idea of a spellbook from someone who has never even looked at a caricature of a grimoire, let alone a real one.

I think you should read some actual grimoires before developing this further. I suggest the Picatrix or the PGM as starting points. Maybe a copy of 777 as well.

16 comments

egypturnash

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poolhead45  4 months ago

Abstraction is at the core of programming. I get your point — but obsessive adherence to baroque complexity has rarely been the M.O. of computer science in rational circles. More often, an elegant simplification that captures the essence has sufficed.

That said, perhaps something like this would be more thematically appropriate:

'O Master of sublime name and great power, O Saturn: Cold, Sterile, Mournful, Pernicious; Sage and Solitary, Impenetrable and Sure; Thou who knowest no joy, bringest prosperity or ruin, deceivest wisely, judgest truly— I conjure thee, Supreme Father, by thy bounty and ancient cunning, to do as I ask: print("hello world")'

b_e_n_t_o_n  4 months ago

Absolutely incredible to see a snarky nit on a project like this. Hackernews never fails haha.

  • shakna  4 months ago

    The project is a carricature of real world religions that are still active today.

    Where is the surprise that it raises ire?

    • egypturnash  4 months ago

      Magic != Religion.

      Magic can certainly interact with things commonly seen as religion - talking to gods, angels, demons, saints, ghosts, ancestors, and other non-physical entities - but it doesn't have to. You can cast a spell without ever mentioning a single deity. Chapman's Advanced Magick For Beginners discusses some of the techniques involved in this but skips others that make it much more likely for you to be able to say "this is what is going to happen now" and have the universe listen.

      You can also have your magic deeply intertwined with your religion. Prayer is magic. A pantheon of gods or a list of angels, saints, or demons is a dictionary of specialists; ask this god for help with your problems involving going on a trip, ask this saint for help with finding a thing you lost, ask this demon for help with learning math. And part of how you make one of these entities more likely to lend a hand with your problem is by regularly saying hi to them and making some kind of offering, which is definitely getting into the territory of religion.

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