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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies
"The visualizations here draw their imagery from classical
grimoires and Qabalistic philosophy. Plus, they have a specific and
useful goal. Each visualization takes you on a journey into the
symbolic realm of an archangel, where you are introduced to the
entity's sigils and symbols and other sacred imagery before
encountering the archangel himself. Each visualization builds upon
those before it, until the aspirant has been led through the seven
circles of heaven and has established a personal link to the
archangel that governs each one. At the end, the aspirant will have
learned to recognize the images, seals and symbols they will
encounter in the Solomonic and other advanced systems of angel
summoning. Such guided visualizations are certainly absent from the
medieval texts about angels. So, why should I urge anyone who
wishes to work with angels - even Solomonic practitioners - to
follow the instructions in this book? Simply put, this book is
based upon the same principle I described above: safely
establishing first contact. It accomplishes this without resort to
the full-fledged summoning ceremonies intended to call the angel
down to the physical plane - an advanced practice the grimoires
tend to jump into without preamble. This book even includes simple
rituals by which you can submit petitions to the archangels in
times of need - and these rituals are not entirely removed from the
methods of the grimoires. Therefore, working through the steps
outlined in this book can serve as a wonderful bridge between
"square one" and the fully adept practices of angelic summoning.":
From Aaron Leitch's Preface
"The Secret Source" reveals the actual occult doctrines that
gave birth to "The Law of Attraction" and later inspired the media
phenomenon known as "The Secret." Follow the trail into ancient
Egypt to uncover where the law of attraction was first recorded,
and how it was brought back to America to foment the New Thought
movement and the prosperity cults of modern times.
The new, enlarged edition will have a new section on Sex Magic
and its relationship with the law of attraction.
Maja D'Aoust conducts popular lectures on esoterica.
Adam Parfrey is releasing this fall a visual history of
fraternal orders, "Ritual America."
Magician, Poet and Seer, Victor Neuburg was the disciple of
Aleister Crowley and literary godfather of Dylan Thomas. Really two
books in one. Firstly a record of one man's extraordinary journey
to magical enlightenment. Secondly the story of the Aleister
Crowley, the magus who summoned Neuburg to join him in the quest.
The book opens with the author's entry into the group of young
poets including Dylan Thomas and Pamela Hansford Johnson. They
gather around Victor Neuburg in 1935 when he is poetry editor of
the Sunday Referee. Gradually the author becomes aware of his
strange and sinister past, in which Neuburg was associated in magic
with Aleister Crowley. Neuburg had been Crowley's partner in
magical rituals in the desert and in rites even more dangerous and
controversial. The author sought out the truth behind the rumours
and with her intuitive understanding of deeper things presents a
sympathetic and compelling biography. 'Vicky encouraged me as no
one else has done, ' Dylan Thomas declared on hearing of Neuburg's
death. 'He possessed many kinds of genius, and not the least was
his genius for drawing to himself, by his wisdom, graveness, great
humour and innocence, a feeling of trust and love, that won't ever
be forgotten.' ' . . . there was a whiff of sulphur abroad, and all
of us would have liked to know the truth of the Aleister Crowley's
legends, the truth of the witch-like baroness called Cremers, the
abandonment of Neuburg in the desert.' - Pamela Hansford Johnson
Selected by "Choice" magazine as an Outstanding Academic Book
for 2001The highly-acclaimed first edition of this book chronicled
the rise and fall of witchcraft in Europe between the twelfth and
the end of the seventeenth centuries. Now greatly expanded, the
classic anthology of contemporary texts reexamines the phenomenon
of witchcraft, taking into account the remarkable scholarship since
the book's publication almost thirty years ago.Spanning the period
from 400 to 1700, the second edition of "Witchcraft in Europe"
assembles nearly twice as many primary documents as the first, many
newly translated, along with new illustrations that trace the
development of witch-beliefs from late Mediterranean antiquity
through the Enlightenment. Trial records, inquisitors' reports,
eyewitness statements, and witches' confessions, along with
striking contemporary illustrations depicting the career of the
Devil and his works, testify to the hundreds of years of terror
that enslaved an entire continent.Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther,
Thomas Hobbes, and other thinkers are quoted at length in order to
determine the intellectual, perceptual, and legal processes by
which "folklore" was transformed into systematic demonology and
persecution. Together with explanatory notes, introductory
essays--which have been revised to reflect current research--and a
new bibliography, the documents gathered in "Witchcraft in Europe"
vividly illumine the dark side of the European mind.
A landmark contribution to women's history that sheds new light on
the Salem witch trials and one of its most crucial participants,
Tituba of The Crucible In this important book, Elaine Breslaw
claims to have rediscovered Tituba, the elusive, mysterious, and
often mythologized Indian woman accused of witchcraft in Salem in
1692 and immortalized in Arthur Miller's The Crucible.
Reconstructing the life of the slave woman at the center of the
notorious Salem witch trials, the book follows Tituba from her
likely origins in South America to Barbados, forcefully dispelling
the commonly-held belief that Tituba was African. The uniquely
multicultural nature of life on a seventeenth-century Barbadan
sugar plantation—defined by a mixture of English, American
Indian, and African ways and folklore—indelibly shaped the young
Tituba's world and the mental images she brought with her to
Massachusetts. Breslaw divides Tituba’s story into two parts. The
first focuses on Tituba's roots in Barbados, the second on her life
in the New World. The author emphasizes the inextricably linked
worlds of the Caribbean and the North American colonies,
illustrating how the Puritan worldview was influenced by its
perception of possessed Indians. Breslaw argues that Tituba’s
confession to practicing witchcraft clearly reveals her savvy and
determined efforts to protect herself by actively manipulating
Puritan fears. This confession, perceived as evidence of a
diabolical conspiracy, was the central agent in the cataclysmic
series of events that saw 19 people executed and over 150
imprisoned, including a young girl of 5. A landmark contribution to
women's history and early American history, Tituba, Reluctant Witch
of Salem sheds new light on one of the most painful episodes in
American history, through the eyes of its most crucial participant.
From black magic and Satanism to Gnostic sects and Gurdjieff's
Fourth Way, the left-hand path has been linked to many practices,
cults, and individuals across the ages. Stephen Flowers, Ph.D.,
examines the methods, teachings, and historical role of the
left-hand path, from its origins in Indian tantric philosophy to
its underlying influence in current world affairs, and reveals
which philosophers, magicians, and occult figures throughout
history can truly be called "Lords of the Left-Hand Path." Flowers
explains that while the right-hand path seeks union with and thus
dependence on God, the left-hand path seeks a "higher law" based on
knowledge and power. It is the way of self-empowerment and true
freedom. Beginning with ancient Hindu and Buddhist sects and moving
Westward, he examines many alleged left-hand path groups, including
the Cult of Set, the Yezidi Devil Worshippers, the Assassins, the
Neoplatonists, the Hell-Fire Club, the Bolsheviks, the occult
Nazis, and several heretical Sufi, Zoroastrian, Christian, and
Muslim sects. Following a carefully crafted definition of a true
adherent of the left-hand path based on two main
principles--self-deification and challenge to the conventions of
"good" and "evil"--the author analyzes many famous and infamous
personalities, including H. P. Blavatsky, Faust, the Marquis de
Sade, Austin Osman Spare, Aleister Crowley, Gerald Gardner, Anton
LaVey, and Michael Aquino, and reveals which occult masters were
Lords of the Left-Hand Path. Flowers shows that the left-hand path
is not inherently evil but part of our heritage and our deep-seated
desire to be free, independent, and in control of our destinies.
What is The Pseudonomicon? It's Cthulhu Mythos. It's Cthulhu
Madness! It's a Cthulhu Pathworking!! First published in a very
limited edition in 1994, and reprinted only once since, The
Pseudonomicon has been extremely difficult to find. By special
arrangement with Dagon Productions, we have brought it back in this
revised and expanded edition. Of The Pseudonomicon the author says:
"Disclaimer: It is generally agreed by experienced magicians that
working with the Cthulhu Mythos is dangerous due to the high risk
of obsession, personality disintegration or infestation by
parasitic shells. Whilst giving this opinion due consideration, I
have decided to release this material since, before the throne of
Azathoth, questions of who is sane and who is mad become
inconsequential." and: "Each god brings its own madness. To know
the god -- to be accepted by it, to feel its mysteries -- well you
have to let that madness wash over you, and through you. This isn't
in the books of magic. Why? For one thing, it's all too easily
forgotten, and for an other, you have to find it out for yourself.
And for those who would sanitise magic, whitening out the wildness
with explanations borrowed from pop psychology or science -- well,
madness is something that we still fear -- the great taboo. So why
did I choose Cthulhu -- High Priest of the Great Old Ones -- lying
dreaming "death's dream" in the sunken city, forgotten through
layers of time and water? It sounds so simple to say that I merely
heard his "call" -- but I did. Gods do not, generally, have a lot
to say, but what they do say, is worth listening to". With a new
Introduction and a completely new, and greatly expanded section on
Banishing.
In the living room of a London flat, a man stands naked and
blindfolded. His wrists are bound together behind his back with red
cord, which is looped round his neck and holds his arms up to make
a triangle. A white cord is tied round his right ankle. What do
witches do? What is it like to be a witch? Experience the process
through the eyes of Stewart Farrar, author, journalist and witch,
as he describes in detail in this new paperback edition for 2021
the activities and practices of modern-day witches. Principles of
healing and clairvoyance as well as rituals, invocations and
initial rites are covered in depth as Farrar accompanies the reader
into the personal life of his own coven.
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486 1535) was a controversial
Renaissance theologian and writer who published work on the occult
and magic, and his writings influenced later leading literary
figures such as Goethe. Agrippa, although born near Cologne, spent
his life travelling around Europe, to Italy, Spain, France,
England, Switzerland and the Netherlands. He wrote his De occulta
philosophia in 1511 (though it was not published until twenty years
later) and its three volumes are the best-known works on
Renaissance magic, though Agrippa tried to distance himself from
the occult side and instead stress more metaphysical aspects. In
Henri Corn lis Agrippa, published in 1911, writer Joseph Orsier
examines Agrippa's life. The first part of the work discusses
Agrippa's travels, writings, thoughts and controversies. The second
part is a translation collection of seventy of his letters, dating
from 1509 to 1532, to and from a range of correspondents, including
Erasmus.
Harry Gilmore has no idea of the terrible danger he faces when he
meets a beautiful girl in a local student bar. Drugged and
abducted, Harry wakes up in a secure wooden compound deep in the
Welsh countryside, where he is groomed by the leaders of a
manipulative cult, run by the self-proclaimed new messiah known as
The Master. When the true nature of the cult becomes apparent,
Harry looks for any opportunity to escape. But as time passes, he
questions if The Master's extreme behavior and teachings are the
one true religion. With Harry's life hanging by a thread, a team of
officers, led by Detective Inspector Laura Kesey, investigate his
disappearance. But will they find him before it's too late?
*Previously published as The Girl in White*
Examining the theme of child sacrifice as a psychological
challenge, this book applies a unique approach to religious ideas
by looking at beliefs and practices that are considered deviant,
but also make up part of mainstream religious discourse in Judaism,
Islam, and Christianity. Ancient religious mythology, which
survives through living traditions and transmitted narratives,
rituals, and writings, is filled with violent stories, often
involving the targeting of children as ritual victims. Christianity
offers Abraham's sacrifice and assures us that the "only begotten
son" has died, and then been resurrected. This version of the
sacrifice myth has dominated the West. It is celebrated in an act
of fantasy cannibalism, in which the believers share the divine
son's flesh and blood. This book makes the connection between
Satanism stories in the 1980s, the Blood Libel in Europe, The
Eucharist, and Eastern Mediterranean narratives of child sacrifice.
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