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I was recently dicussing pseudonyms with @wallpaperflower and we made a connection over our word/name stories. You can check out @wallpaperflower's post "Why do I Call Myself Wallpaperflower?" to see her mythology and how the ball got rolling.

I have come to the conclusion that words are a powerful magic, with names being the crux of that power. We don't call it spelling for nothing. The written word has kind of power which is different to the spoken word. I have made this conclusion from an interest in the occult for many years, and just generally being exposed to super lit Steemians.

Choosing a name, or taking our name is a powerful thing, and as the individual grows into a more expansive or multidimensional state it can be necessary to take a new name. It marks a clear point of change or transformation, it states our intent, and we claim our own ability to weave mythologies and create the reality we choose.

So Why PhillyC?

It started when I took up a new job pushing out lumps of dough into circles, and 'firing them' into an oven. I was making pizzas, in Italy they call this role pizzaiolo. I was coming out of a depressive stage of my life, whereby all my inadequacies became known to me almost at once. I needed to start moving again, and this job was a life line coming out to me, to be a part of something and to slowly master a skill.

One of the legendary Pizzaiolo's before me was a Drum & Bass MC known as Philly Basic, reportedly because his 'bass was sick'. I enjoyed this story, and in time people who knew of PhillyB came to call me PhillyC. So initially the implication was Phil Complex, being the opposite to Basic. And this was a true and insightful sentiment, due to my inclination for contemplation and over thinking. I find it humorous how philisophical people often end up making food or even washing dishes for a time. If we only want to stretch in one direction then life will pull us back down to touch the ground for sure. Gratitudes.

What does Philly See?

This role making pizzas also marked a new group of friends who were decidedly magical and I still keep in contact with them today. Through the lens of the RPG game (shoutout @kennyskitchen), I saw this motley group as a collection of rogues, bards, and druids. They had some cool special abilities, and accepted me for the ragged dog I was.

I read Grant Morrison's The Invisibles around this time and that also was seeping into my consciousness. For those who haven't read it, it's an occult graphic novel. The characters are a kind of pyschic extra dimensional anarchist group, fighting for freedom, truth, and love - in the face of mass mind control and some seriously dark shit. So we could say The Invisibles is loosely based on reality ha ha 😂

The name PhillyC is a marker to indicate breaking the spell to write my own story, and the burgeoning spiritual seeking erupting in my heart.

Developments

Since that time PhillyC has become an online pseudonym for many things, as well as an informal rap name. Humorous to see that I would unknowingly follow in PhillyB's footsteps. The mythology grows through making raps, and through living and loving.

The 'C' is a homonym for 'See', which is a big part of my being. It all comes back to seeing, which is perception. The nature of our perception determines the nature of our life. A huge unfolding for me has been in changing my seeing, and in letting go of my dead and outdated perceptions. This is the spiritual path in a nutshell, let go of our egoic tendencies to see things truly. For the magician, we go a step further to create a reality as we please, naming life and bending it to our will. It's all in the seeing, and reclaiming our vision.

C is also Sea, which is big and blue. We have not found the limits of the sea, it has depths and mystery. It is a very modern day metaphor which ties into pollution and our disconnected way of living. The sky and the sea are vast and as far as our eyes are concerned limitless. Philly Sea invokes the power of the infinite blue, the great mystery. In The Invisibles each member of the squad can at times use 'blue magic' which is their most potent ability - to transfigure reality and create truth. Blue is also the Visshudha or Visshuddhi Chakra, the 5th Chakra. If we inhabit this then we inhabit our own power, we find a voice to name reality and take ownership of our lives.

A Sea of C's

Being a simple letter it can stand for any 'C word' which is appropriate (yes even that 'C-word' haha 😂).

Here is a short list to get your brain warmed up

• Clarity, in our perceptions
• Communication, through Steem interface or person to person
• Consciousness, our essence
• Cold, the astrological sign Scorpio is associated with Ice, and has the useful ability to freeze emotions and examine them
• Calm, like the blue sea and in maintaining a meditative state
• Connected, and always striving to be more connected
• Common Sense, as an Irish flat mate once told me "keep it simple stupid"
• Complex, this life is the most intricate game anyone could hope for or be a part of
• Clouds, these thoughts just a passing moment in the context of the limitless one
• Creator, of content and worlds, and paying homage to the infinite that spawned me as this fractured being
• Choice, in each moment to respond to reality and navigate our lives beautifully

You could probably come up with a few more your selves. It's my hope that this offering can inspire you to go away and thing about your own name or names, and to reclaim your 'spelling' power. Truly these words shape our realities, so let's be conscious creators and use them with intent to make a world of our choosing.

Blessings and Gratitude
Thank you for reading!