2012 Reprint of 1949 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Steiner gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher. At the beginning of the 20th century, he founded a spiritual movement, Anthroposophy, as an esoteric philosophy growing out of idealist philosophy and with links to Theosophy. Steiner's work argues that body, spirit, and soul are bound together and determine the capacity of cognition. Exploring and developing ideas of occult science, the world, human nature, and similarly large, difficult concepts, this work asserts the existence and importance of the 'supersensible' world. Chapters: The Characters of the Occult Science; The Nature of Man; Sleep and Death; The Evolution of the World and Man; Perception of Higher Worlds; Concerning Initiation; The Present and Future Evolution of the World and of Humanity; Details from the Domain of Occult Science; Man's Ether Body; The Astral World; The Course of Human Life; The Principles of Man; The Dream State; Super Physical Knowledge; Beings in the Spiritual World.

Fast, informed answers to the challenges of false religions -- This is an age when countless groups and movements, new and old, mark the religious landscape in our culture. As a result, many people are confused or uncertain in their search for spiritual truth and meaning. Because few people have the time or opportunity to research these movements fully, the Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements series provides essential information and insights for their spiritual journeys. The second wave of books in this series addresses a broad range of spiritual beliefs, from non-Trinitarian Christian sects to witchcraft and neo-paganism to classic non-Christian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. All books but the summary volume, Truth and Error, contain five sections: -A concise introduction to the group being surveyed -An overview of the group s theology --- in its own words -Tips for witnessing effectively to members of the group -A bibliography with sources for further study -A comparison chart that shows the essential differences between biblical Christianity and the group -- Truth and Error, the last book in the series, consists of parallel doctrinal charts compiled from all the other volumes. Three distinctives make this series especially useful to readers: -Information is carefully distilled to bring out truly essential points, rather than requiring readers to sift their way through a sea of secondary details. -Information is presented in a clear, easy-to-follow outline form with menu bar running heads. This format greatly assists the reader in quickly locating topics and details of interest. -Each book meets the needs and skill levels of both nontechnical and technical readers, providing an elementary level of refutation and progressing to a more advanced level using arguments based on the biblical text. The writers of these volumes are well qualified to present clear and reliable information and help readers to discern truth from falsehood."

This book provides impressive dossier on the phenomenon of Saturnism, offering a new interpretation of aspects of Judaism, including the emergence of Sabbateanism. This book explores the phenomenon of Saturnism, namely the belief that the planet Saturn, as described by ancient astrology, influenced Jews, reverberating into Jewish life. Taking into consideration the astrological aspects of Judaism, Moshe Idel demonstrates that they were instrumental in the conviction that Sabbatei Tzevei, the mid-17th-century messianic figure in Rabbinic Judaism, was indeed the Messiah. Offering a new approach to the study of this mass-movement known as Sabbateanism, Idel also explores the possible impact of astrology on the understanding of Sabbath as related to sorcery and thus to the concept of the encounter of witches in the late 14th and early 15th century. This book further analyzes aspects of 20th-century scholarship and thought influenced by Saturnism, particularly lingering themes in the works of Gershom Scholem and seminal figure Walter Benjamin. "The Robert and Arlene Kogod Library of Judaic Studies" publishes new research which provides new directions for modern Jewish thought and life and which serves to enhance the quality of dialogue between classical sources and the modern world. This book series reflects the mission of the Shalom Hartman Institute, a pluralistic research and leadership institute, at the forefront of Jewish thought and education. It empowers scholars, rabbis, educators and layleaders to develop new and diverse voices within the tradition, laying foundations for the future of Jewish life in Israel and around the world.

One day, Christopher Hyatt and his friend Rick were enjoying the day and "tossing back a few", as Rick would say. So, naturally, they broke out the video camera to conduct an "interview". The result is this fun-filled, straight-from-the-shoulder and definitely gossipy DVD. Hyatt discusses his lineage from Aleister Crowley; S. Jason Black as galley slave; his relationship with Israel Regardie; his rather "unfulfilling" history with the OTO, sailing for AIDS research; the direction of his current work; his favorite cognac; the future of Magick, and a whole bunch more.

Nasr argues that the current ecological crisis has been exacerbated by the reductionist view of nature that has been advanced by modern secular science. What is needed, he believes, if the recovery of the truth to which the great enduring religions all attest: that nature is sacred.

The Book of Satanic Magic contains powerful Rites, Rituals, Conjurations, Spells and Invocations used by those who worship Satan. This book also contains the Theology of Darkness of the Left Hand Path and Demonic Invocations.

Many of the herbal and magical practices of the Scots are echoed in traditional Norwegian folk medicine and magic. This is a valuable resource book not only for the serious folklorist, but also for a wider audience interested in a deeper look at rural Scottish practices. Ms. Hopman has done an amazing amount of research, and her Scottish herbalism section is far more detailed than I've seen elsewhere. A "must have" for the northern European folklorist's library.
Jane T. Sibley, Ph.D., author of "The Hammer of the Smith" and "The Divine Thunderbolt: Missile of the Gods."
Through her books, Ellen Evert Hopman lifts the veil between worlds of the present and the past. She guides the reader on a fascinating journey to our ancient Celtic history, simultaneously restoring lost knowledge and entertaining the reader. Be prepared to be educated and delighted.
Wendy Farley, Clan McKleod
The first things is WOW Ellen Hopman has given us a volume that belongs in Harry Potter's library. This wonderful collection of enchantments, faery lore and herbal potions, is presented by a practicing herbalist and (I suspect) magician. It is a useful manual of magic, an unusual tourist guide to Scotland, certainly a delightful read, and at the very least, a comprehensive and thoroughly footnoted collection of folk lore for humorless librarians and scholars.
Matthew Wood MS (Scottish School of Herbal Medicine) Registered Herbalist (American Herbalists Guild)
Every now and again, a book emerges from the waves of occult and magical authorship that delves into the deep and ancestral waters of old magic This book is one of those rare occasions. From the lore of herbs to the blessing of stones; from avioding the elf-blast to healing through Faerie blessing - Ellen guides the reader through ancient groves of oral lore to discover a power and spirit that connects the reader to the oldest of magics, the earth and her elements. I am confident that the Scottish Ancestral Wise Ones, are renewed through this book and the old ways live once again
Orion Foxwood, Traditional Witch Elder, Conjurer in Southern Root-Doctoring and Faery Seer (www.orionfoxwood.com), author of "The Faery Teachings" (R.J. Stewart Books) and "The Tree of Enchantment" (Weiser Books).

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 Aspiring Adept" presents a provocative new view of Robert Boyle (1627-1691), one of the leading figures of the Scientific Revolution, by revealing for the first time his avid and lifelong pursuit of alchemy. Boyle has traditionally been considered, along with Newton, a founder of modern science because of his mechanical philosophy and his experimentation with the air-pump and other early scientific apparatus. However, Lawrence Principe shows that his alchemical quest--hidden first by Boyle's own codes and secrecy, and later suppressed or ignored--positions him more accurately in the intellectual and cultural crossroads of the seventeenth century.

Principe radically reinterprets Boyle's most famous work, "The Sceptical Chymist," to show that it criticizes not alchemists, as has been thought, but "unphilosophical" pharmacists and textbook writers. He then shows Boyle's unambiguous enthusiasm for alchemy in his "lost" "Dialogue on the Transmutation and Melioration of Metals," now reconstructed from scattered fragments and presented here in full for the first time. Intriguingly, Boyle believed that the goal of his quest, the Philosopher's Stone, could not only transmute base metals into gold, but could also attract angels. Alchemy could thus act both as a source of knowledge and as a defense against the growing tide of atheism that tormented him. In seeking to integrate the seemingly contradictory facets of Boyle's work, Principe also illuminates how alchemy and other "unscientific" pursuits had a far greater impact on early modern science than has previously been thought.

Originally published in 1975, Experience of the Inner Worlds is a classic magical textbook of the Western Mystery Tradition. Covering a wide range of topics within a Christian-oriented Qabalistic framework, Gareth Knight explains the difference between magic and mysticism, natural and revealed religion, monism and theism. He also covers the practicalities, examining methods of inner plane communication, contact with the Masters, the 'consciousness' approach of Carl Jung, the vision of Dante and the archetypal power of the Hebrew alphabet - all within the context of the Qabalistic Tree of Life. The book also contains powerful visualisation exercises and examples of communication with angelic and elemental contacts. While this book can be used as a course of self-instruction, it is also an important modern reference book of magical theory and practice, and has been used for decades by students of Western Qabalah and magic.

This is a NEW (2010) easy-to-read translation by ancient languages scholar Dr. A. Nyland and is NOT one of the many Public Domain translations of Enoch NOR IS IT A REWORDED PUBLIC DOMAIN VERSION of Enoch. Great advances which have been made in ancient word meaning in the last twenty years were unknown to the translators of the public domain versions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are copious background notes and cross references. This book is an easy to read translation with cross references and notes. Ideal for those interested in Theosophy Despite the current trend for non-translators to reproduce public domain versions (both as is and disguised by slight rewording) as a commercial venture, be aware that such public domain versions do not take advantage of recent scholarship. This new translation by Dr. A. Nyland contains all three books of Enoch: 1 Enoch (Also called The Ethiopic Book of Enoch) 2 Enoch (Also called The Slavonic Book of Enoch, The Secrets of Enoch). This volume contains the extended version of 2 Enoch, The Exaltation of Melchizedek. 3 Enoch (Also called The Hebrew Book of Enoch) Note that this is Dr. Nyland's translation and NOT a public domain work. 1 Enoch tells of the Watchers, a class of angel, who taught humans weapons, spell potions, root cuttings, astrology, astronomy, and alchemies. The Watchers also slept with human women and produced the Nephilim. For this, they were imprisoned and cast into Tartarus. This is also mentioned in the New Testament. In 2 Enoch, two angels take Enoch through the 7 heavens. This volume contains the extended version of 2 Enoch, The Exaltation of Melchizedek. In 3 Enoch, Enoch ascends to heaven and is transformed into the angel Metatron. This is about the Merkabah and is of interest to Kabbalists. People interested in Theosophy and Rosicrucianism will find this book invaluable. Dr. A. Nyland is an ancient language scholar and lexicographer who served as Faculty at the University of New England, Australia. Dr. Nyland is also the translator of "The Book of Jubilees," and "The Gospel of Thomas," among others. She is also the author of the Amy Stuart Mystery series.

There have been many grimoires attributed to St. Cyprian of Antioch due to his reputation as a consummate magician before his conversion to Christianity, but perhaps none so intriguing as the present manuscript.

This unique grimoire addresses the summoning and use of the four Archangels, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel as well as their opposite numbers, the four Demon Kings, Paymon, Maimon, Egyn and Oriens. The latter are shown in their animal and human forms along with their sigils, a resource unique amongst grimoires. The text is a mixture of magical scripts, Greek, Hebrew, cipher, Latin, (and reversed Latin) made plain by the editors.

Full of dark humor, how-to advice, and self-proclaimed hard-won wisdom, the essays in this new collection present more of the opinions and ideas from famed satanist Anton LaVey. Photos.

The history of witchcraft and sorcery has attracted a great deal of interest and debate, but until now studies have been largely from the Anglo-Saxon perspective. This book shows how that approach has blurred our understanding and definition of the issues involved, and sheds new light on the history of witchcraft in England. What had thus far been seen as peculiar to England is here shown to be characteristic of much of northern Europe. Taking into account major new developments in the historiography of witchcraft--in methodology, and in the chronological and geographical scope of the studies--the authors explore the relationship between witchcraft, law, and theology; the origins and nature of the witch's sabbath; the sociology and criminology of witch-hunting; and the comparative approach to European witchcraft. An impressive amount of archival work by all of the contributors has produced an indispensable guide to the study of witchcraft, of interest not only to historians, but to anthropologists, criminologists, psychologists, and sociologists.

Every culture makes a distinction between what it perceives as `true religion' and `magic'. These essays explore the history of this tradition in Judaism and Christianity.

Trade third edition. A completely revised and edited Trade Edition now available Additional typeset and editing by Fra. Tymoleaon and Sor. Shylah Luciferian Witchcraft is a complete grimoire of Left Hand Path initiation. Many books have been written of the so-called left hand path, very few actually were written by initiates. Beginning with a lengthy exploration of the forms of the Adversary throughout history, a foundation of ideology is given by identification with the Adversary. The reader is then led through dark and twisting corridors with Four Chapters, a complete system of the History of the Adversary and the Witchcraft associated with the Left Hand Path. What is found within Luciferian Witchcraft is a Talismanic text which presents the medieval concepts of the Black Book being a conjuration itself of the Devil, a complete initiatory system detailing High Ceremonial Magick, Approach with caution, you may open the gates of hell within...

Its author is as mysterious as its subject matter. The one appearance of English occultist FRANCIS BARRETT (b. circa 1770) upon the literary scene is this mammoth 1801 work, a complete study of ritual magic, in practice and in its theoretical underpinnings. Drawing on numerous works of the arcane and the occult, this one-of-a-kind book ignited a fervor for magic, in all its forms, in the Europe in the early 19th century, and may have even influenced Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church.Subtitling his tome Celestial Intelligencer, Barrett promises here to present a "complete system of occult philosophy," containing the "ancient and modern practice of the Cabalistic art," and showing "the wondering effects that may be performed by a Knowledge of the celestial influences, the occult properties of metals, herbs, and stones." Alchemy, talismanic magic, magnetism, ceremonial magic, the conjuration of spirits... Barrett reveals the secrets of all these disciplines, and more.Featuring all the original charts, diagrams, and illustrations, and including Barrett's biographies of famous occultists from Agrippa to Zoroaster, this is a fascinating work of occult and cultural history.

Also available in an open-access, full-text edition at http: //repositories.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/86080/Marlin_585444251_Txt.pdf?sequence=1 The black sun, an ages-old image of the darkness in individual lives and in life itself, has not been treated hospitably in the modern world. Modern psychology has seen darkness primarily as a negative force, something to move through and beyond, but it actually has an intrinsic importance to the human psyche. In this book, Jungian analyst Stanton Marlan reexamines the paradoxical image of the black sun and the meaning of darkness in Western culture.
In the image of the black sun, Marlan finds the hint of a darkness that shines. He draws upon his clinical experiences--and on a wide range of literature and art, including Goethe's "Faust, " Dante's "Inferno," the black art of Rothko and Reinhardt--to explore the influence of light and shadow on the fundamental structures of modern thought as well as the contemporary practice of analysis. He shows that the black sun accompanies not only the most negative of psychic experiences but also the most sublime, resonating with the mystical experience of negative theology, the Kabbalah, the Buddhist notions of the void, and the black light of the Sufi Mystics.
An important contribution to the understanding of alchemical psychology, this book draws on a postmodern sensibility to develop an original understanding of the black sun. It offers insight into modernity, the act of imagination, and the work of analysis in understanding depression, trauma, and transformation of the soul. Marlan's original reflections help us to explore the unknown darkness conventionally called the Self.
"The image of Kali appearing in the color insert following page 44 is (c) Maitreya Bowen, reproduced with her permission, "[email protected].

From its inaugural Black Plaque in honour of Witchfinder General director Michael Reeves, this unique collection follows a veridical trajectory to the frontiers of belief. Reeves' film becomes a conspiratorial cauldron drawing in a host of tragic players in the end game of the Sixties. The Cornwall of Du Maurier's The Birds is ploughed to reveal the hidden psychic codes of our Blitz spirit. In a powerfully relevant occult rendering of a bruised Island, the myth of Churchill is dissected and re-animalised. New maps of hell are drawn by colliding the forensic vision of JG Ballard and Lovecraftian magic. Actors, witches and psychopaths maraud across a nightmare terrain of murderous henges and abandoned military bases; conflating creative research into a surreal documentary, history as hallucination. Geography becomes an alchemical alembic, a vale of soul-making distilled by the lysergic psychobiology of Stanislav Grof, the alcoholic lyricism of Malcolm Lowry, and the convulsive travelogues of the Marquis de Sade. If history is revealed as paranoid ritual, how do we escape its time traps to wild new imaginative geographies? The English Heretic collection is a darkly comical, urgently lyrical, mental escape hatch from the hells of our own making.

This volume is a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed print publication, covering all areas of magic, witchcraft, paganism and all geographical regions and all historical periods.

"There are forces better recognized as belonging to human society than repressed or left to waste away or growl about upon its fringes." So writes Valerie Flint in this powerful work on magic in early medieval Europe. Flint shows how many of the more discerning leaders of the early medieval Church decided to promote non-Christian practices originally condemned as magical--rather than repressing them or leaving them to waste away or "growl." These wise leaders actively and enthusiastically incorporated specific kinds of "magic" into the dominant culture not only to appease the contemporary non-Christian opposition but also to enhance Christianity itself.

Aleister Crowley's appeal on the level of popular culture has been well catered for by a number of biographies that have appeared in recent years, but the more intellectual side to him, which is equally fascinating, has not received so much serious treatment. Crowley, a Modern Master is neither an account of his life, nor a straightforward presentation of his teaching, but an attempt to place him clearly in the context of modern ideas as well as a number of older traditions.

Written in 1597 in old english, King James I, the author of the King James bible, wrote Demonology. This work includes his beliefs in satan and witches. A historical work and important read for scholars of religion, this title allows readers to study the beliefs and ideas and King James. Demonology is known as one of the most interesting and controversial writings in the history of christianity.

Most scholars dismiss research into the paranormal as pseudoscience, a frivolous pursuit for the paranoid or gullible. Even historians of religion, whose work naturally attends to events beyond the realm of empirical science, have shown scant interest in the subject. But the history of psychical phenomena, Jeffrey J. Kripal contends, is an untapped source of insight into the sacred and by tracing that history through the last two centuries of Western thought we can see its potential centrality to the critical study of religion.
Kripal grounds his study in the work of four major figures in the history of paranormal research: psychical researcher Frederic Myers; writer and humorist Charles Fort; astronomer, computer scientist, and ufologist Jacques Vallee; and philosopher and sociologist Bertrand Meheust. Through incisive analyses of these thinkers, Kripal ushers the reader into a beguiling world somewhere between fact, fiction, and fraud. The cultural history of telepathy, teleportation, and UFOs; a ghostly love story; the occult dimensions of science fiction; cold war psychic espionage; galactic colonialism; and the intimate relationship between consciousness and culture all come together in "Authors of the Impossible," a dazzling and profound look at how the paranormal bridges the sacred and the scientific.

"The Greek magical papyri" is a collection of magical spells and formulas, hymns, and rituals from Greco-Roman Egypt, dating from the second century B.C. to the fifth century A.D. Containing a fresh translation of the Greek papyri, as well as Coptic and Demotic texts, this new translation has been brought up to date and is now the most comprehensive collection of this literature, and the first ever in English.
"The Greek Magical Papyri in Transition" is an invaluable resource for scholars in a wide variety of fields, from the history of religions to the classical languages and literatures, and it will fascinate those with a general interest in the occult and the history of magic.
"One of the major achievements of classical and related scholarship over the last decade."--Ioan P. Culianu, "Journal for the Study of Judaism"
"The enormous value of this new volume lies in the fact that these texts will now be available to a much wider audience of readers, including historians or religion, anthropologists, and psychologists."--John G. Gager, "Journal of Religion"
"[This book] shows care, skill and zest. . . . Any worker in the field will welcome this sterling performance."--Peter Parsons, "Times Literary Supplement"