William G. Gray was a real magician, a kind of primeval spirit who worked his magic as an extension of the Life Force, not as a sop to ego. He reeked of psychism like he often reeked of incense, could give you the uncomfortable feeling that he could see right through you and beyond, and had been to places in spirit that we could scarcely imagine. Many of the books on magic and the Qabalah which appear today owe a huge if unrecognised debt to his pioneering writing. If there is anything evolutionary about the current urge to work with harmonic energies within the Earth and ourselves - whether through green eco-movements, the Celtic Revival or the Wiccan arts - then it is due in no small degree to the work that was done by an old bastard who lived near the bus station in a town in Gloucestershire. Bill Gray met and worked with many of the most important figures in the British esoteric scene. His boyhood meetings with Dion Fortune and Aleister Crowley are described here in his own words, along with his personal recollections of working magic with Pat Crowther, Doreen Valiente, Ronald Heaver, Robert Cochrane and many others. This lively, entertaining and authoritative biography tells the story of how a difficult, psychic child grew into a powerful adept who challenged established and stagnating traditions within paganism, magic and Qabalah alike, and revitalised them from within - often falling out with those he worked with but maintaining their affection and respect. Generously illustrated with photographs, many never published before, the book also includes contributions by R.J. Stewart, Gareth Knight, Evan John Jones, Marcia Pickands and Jacobus Swart, plus, of course, W.G. Gray himself.

Aradia is perhaps the first 20th century text of Witchcraft revival. It is repeatedly cited as being profoundly influential to the development of Wicca. The text corroborates the thesis of Margaret Murray that early modern and Renaissance witchcraft represented a survival of ancient pagan beliefs, The Charge of the Goddess, an important piece of liturgy used in Wiccan rituals, it was inspired by Aradia's speech in the first chapter of the book. Parts of the speech appeared in an early version of Gardnerian Wicca ritual.Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment.

2011 Reprint of 1929 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Francesco Maria Guazzo was an Italian priest in Milan. In the "Compendium Maleficarum" (Compendium of the Witches), he cites numerous experts on the subject, among them Nicholas Remy. He describes the eleven formulas or ceremonies previous to the vow to Satan, allegedly necessary to participate of the Sabbath; besides, Guazzo offers detailed descriptions of the sexual relationships between men and succubi, and women and incubi. The book was not translated into English until 1929, when this was accomplished under the direction of the witchcraft scholar Montague Summers. It discusses witches' alleged powers to transport themselves from place to place, create living things, make beasts talk and the dead reappear. Also discusses witches' powers, poisons and crimes, sleep-inducing spells and methods for removing them, apparitions of demons and specters and more. Guazzo also established also a classification of the demons, inspired by a previous work by Michael Psellus.

1965-1967 ...As the New Age seemed to explode into being, everything spiritual had to be Eastern. Psychedelic artwork showed Glastonbury Tor overshadowed by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, or Stonehenge sending its energies up to Lord Krishna - imagery which William G. Gray summed up quite simply as "Balls." He was working hard to make sure that our weakened (or slumbering) Western Traditions would survive. Among his endeavours at the time was this guide to the inner and outer practicalities of ritual magic, which includes instruction on god-forms, words of power, magic circles, initiation, extension of consciousness and raising power through ritual. Previously unpublished, Working with Inner Light is the first new book by William G. Gray since the author's death in 1992. Written in the form of a journal or magical diary, it includes his original sketches, and forms a detailed course in modern Qabalistic magic which will be of immense value to esoteric students and practitioners working within the Western Mysteries today.

The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet is an outstanding example of a seventeenth century London Cunning-man's book of practice. Cunning-folk were practitioners of magic and herbal medicine who dealt with problems in their local communities. Cunning-man Arthur Gauntlet was based in Gray's Inn Lane in London, and his personal working book contains a fascinating diverse mixture of herbal remedies, prayers, magical and biblical charms, with previously unseen angelic conjurations and magic circles, in an eclectic blend of practical magic for health, wealth, love and protection. This unique manuscript demonstrates both the diverse and spiritual nature of such Cunning-folk's books of practice, as well as their magical emphasis on Biblical scripture, particularly the Psalms, and their opposition to witchcraft, found in charms and conjurations. Arthur Gauntlet worked with a female skryer called Sarah Skelhorn, and drew on numerous preceding sources for his craft, including the Arbatel, the Heptameron, Folger Vb.26, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, the Book of Gold, the writings of the German magus Cornelius Agrippa, the astrologer William Bacon and Queen Elizabeth I's court astrologer Dr. John Dee, as well as other London Cunning-folk. In his introduction, the author provides fresh insights into the hidden world of seventeenth century magical London, exploring the web of connections between astrologers, cunning-folk and magicians, playwrights, authors and church figures. These connections are also highlighted by the provenance of the manuscript, which is traced from Arthur Gauntlet through the hands of such notable angel magicians as Elias Ashmole (founder of the world's first public museum, the Ashmolean in Oxford), Baron Somers (the Lord Chancellor), Sir Joseph Jekyll (Master of the Rolls) and Sir Hans Sloane (founder of the British Museum), as well as the astrologer John Humphreys and the cunning-woman Ann Savadge. This is a unique work which draws attention to the often neglected place of women in seventeenth century magic, both as practitioners (such as skryers and Cunning-women), and customers. It also emphasises the vital and influential role played by Cunning-Men and Women in synthesising and transmitting the magical traditions of medieval Britain into the subsequent centuries, as well as their willingness to conjure a wide range of spiritual creatures to achieve results for their clients, including angels, demons, fairies, and the dead.

The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet is an outstanding example of a seventeenth century London Cunning-man's book of practice. Cunning-folk were practitioners of magic and herbal medicine who dealt with problems in their local communities. Cunning-man Arthur Gauntlet was based in Gray's Inn Lane in London, and his personal working book contains a fascinating diverse mixture of herbal remedies, prayers, magical and biblical charms, with previously unseen angelic conjurations and magic circles, in an eclectic blend of practical magic for health, wealth, love and protection. This unique manuscript demonstrates both the diverse and spiritual nature of such Cunning-folk's books of practice, as well as their magical emphasis on Biblical scripture, particularly the Psalms, and their opposition to witchcraft, found in charms and conjurations. Arthur Gauntlet worked with a female skryer called Sarah Skelhorn, and drew on numerous preceding sources for his craft, including the Arbatel, the Heptameron, Folger Vb.26, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, the Book of Gold, the writings of the German magus Cornelius Agrippa, the astrologer William Bacon and Queen Elizabeth I's court astrologer Dr. John Dee, as well as other London Cunning-folk. In his introduction, the author provides fresh insights into the hidden world of seventeenth century magical London, exploring the web of connections between astrologers, cunning-folk and magicians, playwrights, authors and church figures. These connections are also highlighted by the provenance of the manuscript, which is traced from Arthur Gauntlet through the hands of such notable angel magicians as Elias Ashmole (founder of the world's first public museum, the Ashmolean in Oxford), Baron Somers (the Lord Chancellor), Sir Joseph Jekyll (Master of the Rolls) and Sir Hans Sloane (founder of the British Museum), as well as the astrologer John Humphreys and the cunning-woman Ann Savadge. This is a unique work which draws attention to the often neglected place of women in seventeenth century magic, both as practitioners (such as skryers and Cunning-women), and customers. It also emphasises the vital and influential role played by Cunning-Men and Women in synthesising and transmitting the magical traditions of medieval Britain into the subsequent centuries, as well as their willingness to conjure a wide range of spiritual creatures to achieve results for their clients, including angels, demons, fairies, and the dead.

The world of magic is one of high imagination. In this wide-ranging historical survey Gareth Knight shows how the higher imagination has been used as an aid to the evolution of consciousness, from the ancient Mystery Religions, through Alchemy, Renaissance Magic, the Rosicrucian Manifestos, Freemasonry and 19th century Magical Fraternities, up to the modern era. Knight considers magic as a middle ground between science and religion, reconciling them in a technology of the imagination, which properly used, can bring about personal regeneration and spiritual fulfilment. He uses Coleridge's theory of the imagination as a basis for the validity of magic as science and art in its own right. Many systems and structures have come down through the ages slightly shoddy, misrepresented, maligned, misaligned. With this book a deconstruction becomes a recycling of raw material for the purposes of re-ordering and re-configuring - a righted prism, a shored up temple, a foundational re-ballasting.

2011 Reprint of 1913 Edition. Illustrated Edition. Aleister Crowley (1875 -1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. Book Four, Parts I & II, published herein, together with Magick in Theory and Practice [which is part III of Book Four] make up the complete course of Crowley's Magick, with practical instruction in Yoga and Mysticism. This book is the introduction, the foundation upon which all further magical work by Crowley is based. The second part of Book Four is an encyclopedia of magical symbolism, the working tools in practical magick. All of the paraphernalia employed in ritual magick are carefully explained in both psychological and mystical terms.

'The Corpus Hermeticum' is a collection of second or third century treatises that have survived intact the systematic destruction of the early Catholic Church.Given mainly in the form of a dialogue between Hermes and a human interlocutor, the writings reveal knowledge of the origins, nature and moral properties of the divine, and (on the principle of 'as above, so below, as below, so above') of humanity and all other spiritual beings. Using this sacred knowledge, humanity can rise above the material and enter the realms of the gods. 'The Corpus Hermeticum' is a foundation document for all students of the Hermetic tradition.

The late Victorian period witnessed the remarkable revival of magical practice and belief. Butler examines the individuals, institutions and literature associated with this revival and demonstrates how Victorian occultism provided an alternative to the tightening camps of science and religion in a social environment that nurtured magical beliefs.

2010 Reprint of 1903 Edition. The Book of Goetia, or the Lesser Key of Solomon the King Clavicula Salomonis]. Introductory essay by Aleister Crowley. The Lesser Key of Solomon or, Clavicula Salomonis, is an anonymous 17th-century grimoire, and one of the most popular books of demonology. It has also long been widely known as the Lemegeton. It appeared in the 17th century, but much was taken from texts of the 16th century and late-medieval grimoires. It is likely that books by Jewish kabbalists and Muslim mystics were also inspirations. Some of the material in the first section, concerning the summoning of demons, dates to the 14th century or earlier. The book claims that it was originally written by King Solomon, although this is certainly incorrect. The Lesser Key of Solomon contains detailed descriptions of spirits and the conjurations needed to invoke and oblige them to do the will of the conjurer (referred to as the "exorcist"). It details the protective signs and rituals to be performed, the actions necessary to prevent the spirits from gaining control, the preparations prior to the invocations, and instructions on how to make the necessary instruments for the execution of these rituals.

Le Livre d'Or (The Book of Gold) is a unique 17th century French magical work comprising numerous amulets, charms, prayers, spells and sigils for working with the Biblical Book of the Psalms of King David. Written in a simple style akin to a medieval Book of Secrets combined with magical practices from the ancient world, Le Livre d'Or brings together practices which have their roots in major works from the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Cairo Genizah, to the Greek Magical Papyri and Sepher Shimmush Tehillim (Magical Use of the Psalms). Now translated into English for the first time, this exceptional text demonstrates the significance of the Psalms as a unifying and vital thread throughout the development of Western magic. From Sweden to Syria, Britain to the Baltic, the use of appropriate Psalms has spread as a significant part of popular folk and religious magic, and Le Livre d'Or is an inimitable example of the transmission of divine power through the written and spoken word. Le Livre d'Or was originally bound as part of Lansdowne MS 1202 with a 17th century French copy of the most important of grimoires, the Key of Solomon. The extensive commentary by David Rankine and Paul Harry Barron emphasises the place of the Psalms within the Grimoire tradition, detailing their extensive apotropaic, amuletic and coercive uses in works such as the Book of Abramelin, the Key of Solomon and the Goetia. The editors also illustrate how the magic of the Psalms has underlain and cross-fertilised numerous traditions over the last two thousand years, from Hellenic magicians, early Christians and Jews of the ancient world to practitioners of the medieval Grimoires and Renaissance Cunning-folk. Whether it was for benevolent or malefic results, Le Livre d'Or provided the appropriate Psalm verses and relevant techniques. This previously ignored work is an outstanding example of eminently practical magic which not only draws on such major works as the Heptameron and the Steganographia, but also many of the divine names found in the Kabbalah. From Saints to spirits, characters to Creeds, Le Livre d'Or shines forth as a significant and reclaimed chapter in the Western Esoteric Traditions. There is also a paperback edition available of this book.

2010 Reprint of 1909 Edition. Illustrated. The Key of Solomon, in Latin Clavis Salomonis or Clavicula Salomonis, is a grimoire, or book on magic, attributed to King Solomon, probably dating to the 14th to 15th century Italian Renaissance and presenting a typical example of Renaissance magic. The text dates to the Late Middle Ages or the Italian Renaissance. Many such grimoires attributed to King Solomon were written in this period, ultimately influenced by earlier (High Medieval) works of Jewish kabbalists and Arab alchemists, which in turn hark back to Greco-Roman magic of Late Antiquity. This scholarly edition of the Latin manuscript in the British Library was published by S. L. MacGregor Mathers in 1889.

This study explores the roles played by magic in contemporary African warfare, specifically through the case of Sierra Leone, to assess its impact on behaviour in conflict. In the last two decades, rituals designed to imbue people with supernatural power and make them immune to enemy fire have been seen on post-Cold War battlefields across Africa. Wlodarczyk argues that the use of magic in warfare can be understood, not as an illustration of how Africa's reality is qualitatively different from the West's, but as appropriate and logical. Here, a conceptual framework is suggested for analysing culturally alien practices more broadly, to inform approaches to civilian and military intervention not only in Africa but in conflict theatres around the world.

2010 Reprint of 1947 First Edition. Written for Magicians, this book is a complete explanation of the inner secrets of Stage Hypnotism. The information is presented in a very logical manner by first showing what hypnotism is, and what it can do through actual instruction in how to hypnotize, and then proceeding directly on, into the modus operandi of Stage Hypnotism itself. The little subtleties, insights and techniques that come only from careful research and practical presentation are also given, making this book of the most valuable of its kind for Magicians. Profusely illustrated.

2009 reprint of 1910 edition. Two Volumes Bound into one. Arthur Edward Waite was a scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. Waite's name has survived because he was the first to attempt a systematic study of the history of western occultism - viewed as a spiritual tradition rather than as aspects of proto-science or as the pathology of religion. Paracelsus (1493-1541) was an alchemist, physician, astrologer, and general occultist. Born Phillip von Hohenheim, he later took up the name Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, and still later took the title Paracelsus, meaning "equal to or greater than Celsus," a Roman encyclopedist from the first century known for his tract on medicine. Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine and is considered among the most important alchemists of the period.

A Collection of Magical Secrets Taken from Peter de Abano, Cornelius Agrippa and from other Famous Occult Philosophers and A Treatise Of Mixed Cabalah Which comprises the Angelic Art Taken From Hebrew Sages Translated from Wellcome MS4669 by Paul Harry Barron from the original French manuscript dated 1796 With Introduction by Stephen Skinner & David Rankine This book bridges the worlds of learned magic and village cunning, providing rare and previously unavailable material from the late eighteenth century. It comprises two parts, A Collection of Magickal Secrets and A Treatise of Mixed Cabalah, both of which contain unique and exciting magical material, that were previously bound together in a French manuscript with The Clavicule of Solomon and The Universal Treatise of the Keys of Solomon. These are reproduced along with The Keys of Rabbi Solomon, in the most significant grimoire publication of modern times, The Veritable Key of Solomon by Stephen Skinner & David Rankine. A Collection of Magical Secrets contains a collection of charms, ranging from the very simple to the complex. There are charms for healing, winning in love and gambling, gaining familiar spirits, regaining stolen or lost property, instructions for the creation of magic rings for controlling spirits, and a rare angelic conjuration of a Prince of the Thumb. A wide range of sympathetic magick techniques such as dreaming, poppets, using bread, herbs and sieves, are utilised to ensure the success of the charms. A Treatise of Mixed Cabalah contains four parts, three of which fit together to develop a greater knowledge of the practical Qabalah. This includes a ritual sequence of prayers and actions for increasing knowledge, practical instructions for the construction, consecration and use of wax pentacles for absent healing, a technique for angelic dream incubation and a system of divination with 112 possible answers.

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject History Europe - Other Countries - Middle Ages, Early Modern Age, grade: English Grade:58% von 70%, University of Nottingham (School of History), course: Hauptseminar: Gender and Society in Early Modern Europe, language: English, abstract: 'Witch- hunting is seen as something pathological, a disease infecting like a plague the body of the communities in witch it raged.'1 With these words the historian Bob Scribner described witchcraft and witch-hunts. They are defined as something negative and pathological and it is obviously that witchcraft could easily emerged because of the traditional beliefs rooted in the early modern society of Germany. Witchcraft and witchhunts emerged in this period and made the population susceptible to the carrying out of denunciation and elimination of innocent people. The population had been easily influenced by the authorities like magistrates and their fellow citizens. In the following discussion/passage, witchcraft and witch-hunts concerning the early modern Europe will be less prominent rather than the study about witchcraft and witchhunts in early modern Germany. In particular the main focus will stress on the south of Germany because it was the centre of witchcraft and witch-hunts. In addition to that some examples will be mentioned to show special witchcraft and witch- hunt cases. First it will be examined how the term 'witch' is defined shown in a historical, linguistic and an etymological way. Then the two authors of the Malleus maleficarum2 and their ideas about witches and witchcraft will be mentioned. In the forth chapter the social context shall be examined. In this passage the accused shall be represented and the reasons which led to their accusation. In the last chapter the witch-hunts in early modern Germany shall be represented. It keeps the question in what way the witch-hunts increased during the early modern period and which reasons contributed to their decline. Furthe

This collection of articles by distinguished scholars and experts in their particular fields of research is introduced by a chapter dealing with general matters of the current hermeneutics of magic: what is the nature of magic and what is the understanding of magic in the Western world-view and what - for instance - in the African world? Centered around studies on Jesus and magic the second part contains studies on the use of the term magic in the New Testament and especially in Acts. The third section broadens the understanding of magic through selected case studies in different approaches to magic in the environment and background of the New Testament (Old Testament, Qumran, Apuleius, Women as Magicians). Early Christianity subsequent to the New Testament develops its own view of magic, criticizing pagan magic but not being uninfluenced by magic or magic-like practices. This development is part of the fourth and last chapter of the collection along with two different papers on the possible use of Jewish and Christian themes in later magical texts. The collection explores the importance of magic within Early Christianity, an issue shared with its Old Testament and Jewish roots and with its ancient background, implying reluctance and critique. Both magical traits and the critique of non-Christian magic have an impact on later scripture and still exert influence now on modern theoretical discussion and popular ideas.

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

Magic has stepped out of the movies, morphed from the pages of fairy tales, and is more present in America today than you might expect. Soccer moms get voodoo head washings in their backyards, young American soldiers send chants toward pagan gods of war, and a seemingly normal family determines that they are in fact elves. National bestselling author and award-winning religion reporter Christine Wicker leaves no talisman unturned in her hunt to find what's authentic and what's not in America's burgeoning magical reality. From the voodoo temples of New Orleans to the witches' covens of Salem to a graveyard in north Florida, Wicker probes the secrets of an underground society and teaches lessons she never dreamed could be taught. What she learns repels her, challenges her, and changes her in ways she never could have imagined. And if you let it, it might change you, too.

In this classic work, first published in 1899, one of the most prolific Egyptologists of the Victorian era offers his renowned insight into the magical power names, spells, and talismans held for the ancient Egyptians. How did beliefs that predated the worship of deities come to become associated with controlling gods and goddesses? How did magical amulets ward off evil spirits? What role did scarabs serve in bestowing immortality? The writings of E.A. Wallis Budge are considered somewhat controversial today because of his use of an archaic system of translation, but useful illustrations and an abundance of information make them necessary works for students of ancient civilizations as well as those of the evolution of historical study. This entertaining overview of the connection between religion and magic in ancient Egypt remain a vital resource today. SIR E.A. WALLIS BUDGE (1857-1934) was curator of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities at the British Museum form 1894 to 1924. Among his many works of translation and studies of ancient Egyptian religion and ritual is his best-known project, The Egyptian Book of the Dead.

Especially since the Renaissance, some in Western Christendom have suspected that the deeper dimension of their tradition has somehow been lost, and have therefore sought to discover, or create, an 'esoteric' or 'initiatic' Christianity. In the middle of the nineteenth century two scholars, Gabriele Rossetti and Eugne Aroux, pointed to certain esoteric meanings in the work of Dante Alighieri, notably The Divine Comedy. Partly based on their scholarship, Gunon in 1925 published The Esoterism of Dante. From the theses of Rosetti and Aroux, Gunon retains only those elements that prove the existence of such hidden meanings; but he also makes clear that esoterism is not 'heresy' and that a doctrine reserved for an elite can be superimposed on the teaching given the faithful without standing in opposition to it. One of Ren Gunon's lifelong quests was to discover, or revive, the esoteric, initiatory dimension of the Christian tradition. In the present volume, along with its companion volume Insights into Christian Esoterism (which includes the separate study Saint Bernard), Gunon undertakes to establish that the three parts of The Divine Comedy represent the stages of initiatic realization, exploring the parallels between the symbolism of the Commedia and that of Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and Christian Hermeticism, and illustrating Dante's knowledge of traditional sciences unknown to the moderns: the sciences of numbers, of cosmic cycles, and of sacred astrology. In these works Gunon also touches on the all-important question of medieval esoterism and discusses the role of sacred languages and the principle of initiation in the Christian tradition, as well as such esoteric Christian themes and organizations as the Holy Grail, the Guardians of the Holy Land, the Sacred Heart, the Fedeli d'Amore and the 'Courts of Love', and the Secret Language of Dante. In addition to Dante, various other paths toward a possible Christian esoterism have been explored by many investigators-the legend of the Holy Grail, the Knights Templars, the tradition of Courtly Love, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and Christian Hermeticism-and Gunon deals with all of these in the present volume as well as his Insights into Christian Esoterism. In the latter, one chapter in particular, 'Christianity and Initiation', will be of special interest with regard to the history of the Traditionalist School. When first published as an article, it gave rise to some controversy because Gunon here reaffirmed his denial of the efficacy of the Christian sacraments as rites of initiation, a point of divergence between the teachings of Gunon and those of other key perennialist thinkers. Both The Esoterism of Dante and Insights into Christian Esoterism will be of inestimable value to all who are struggling to come to terms with the fullness of the Christian tradition.