WELCOME to the Edge of the Circle Newsletter. This newsletter has come about as an effort
to reach out to the Pagan/ Occult community (particularly in Seattle where we
are based) to inform the community of what events are happening at our store.
Without further ado, welcome, and enjoy. Regards,
Erica (Raven) Branch-Butler, Editrix
WHO
WE ARE: Edge of
the Circle Books is Seattle's resource for Paganism & the Occult. This
newsletter seeks to provide the Seattle community with a place to list events,
post articles, and do a bit of networking.
We are located at:
701 E. Pike St, corner of Boylston Ave., just two blocks west of Broadway, on
Capitol Hill.
Edge of the Circle
Books strives to be your ideal Magical Pagan store.
Open 7 days a week,
Noon 'till 9pm.
Call: 206-PAN-1999
**
Note: To see a
graphics version of this newsletter, please go to:
We are also now on Facebook:
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a Fan; post your event on the discussion page!
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REMINDER: We buy
used Occult Books! Our buyer is in on Wednesdays, Thursdays,
Saturdays, and
Sundays!
Classroom/Ritual
Space is available-- please call for details!
Note: all
prices are subject to change without notice.
EXU
& THE QUIMBANDA
OF NIGHT AND FIRE
By Nicholaj de Mat Frisvold
Publisher: Scarlet
Imprint
Caveira edition;
769 exemplars, Black moire boards with letterpress panel,embossed red end
papers, printed on archival quality paper.
List Price: $84.50
FROM
THE PUBLISHER:
Exu & the
Quimbanda of Night and Fire, is the strong companion to Pomba Gira and together
with her gives the most complete account of this sorcerous cult.
Exu is the fusion
of Umbanda, Angolan sorcery, European demonology and Kardec's spiritsm,
erupting in a uniquely Brazilian cult of practical magical action. Spells,
workings, hierarchies and origins are all given in detail.
This is an
essential text for students of the grimoires, Satanism and Traditional
Witchcraft, as well as those drawn to or working within the cults of Quimbanda,
Candomble, Santeria, Palo Mayombe and the ATRs.
Quimbanda is a
living tradition that gets results. It is a massive storehouse of magical lore,
heresies and history which has absorbed aspects of Goetia, Grimorium Verum, Red
Dragon and even Huysman's La Bas.
The origin of Exu
is explored from the iconic Baphomet of Eliphas Levi and the influence of St
Cyprian the patron saint of necromancers, back to Umbanda and the traditional
African religions. Exu revels in a unique heritage that encompasses a Gnostic
account of the crucifixion mystery, the concealed nature of St Michael
Archangel and the native Shamanism of the Caboclos.
A forceful spirit,
Exu presides over the kingdom of the world, and offers a fierce path for those
that would take him as companion. He asks, what does it mean to be a man?
The Seven Legions
of Exus are 'hot' spirits, and their work is considered black magic. The perils
of this work are given, with the dangers of obsession by the Qlippoth and
vampirism described. Guidance is offered and the path to ascension shown.
In Exu & the
Quimbanda of Night and Fire Frisvold gives explicit workings for good and ill,
a herbarium and details of offerings, powders and baths, songs and seals. He
discusses the fearsome Exu Mor for the first time, a subject not treated in his
previous works.
The standard
Caveira edition of Exu is a encyclopaedic study of the devilish opposer. An
octavo book of 352 pp illustrated with ten portraits of Exu in pen and ink by
Enoque Zedro, and over 120 of his pontos riscados/seals. The boards are dressed
in black moire cloth with a sunken letterpress panel depicting Exu Caveira. The
stark typography and design capture the energy of this most masculine and
demanding of spirits. Bibliotheque Rouge paperback and digital editions will
also be available.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Frisvold is an
intiate and gives an insider's view, drawing upon his years of experience in
the cult. With access to texts, manuscripts and personal testimony this is the
most definitive work on Exu available in English.
Many will be drawn
to this book by the prospect of possession work and necromantic practice, they
will not be disappointed. It is a veritable Devil's Bible.
Nicholaj de Mattos
Frisvold is an anthropologist and psychologist who over the course of the last
fifteen years been studying, both academically and practically, African and
Afro-derived cults in the New World. This has led to a multiplicity of
initiations into Vodou, both from Benin and Haiti, Santeria, Kimbanda, Palo
Mayombe and Ifá. He belongs to the council of elders in the Ogboni society of
Abeokuta, Nigeria. This is a significant expansion of the material first
presented by Frisvold in his early work on the subject Kiumbanda. He has for
the last decade lived in Brazil where his studies and involvement in
traditional forms of metaphysics, faith, cult and witchcraft is a constant
theme in his life.
His previous works
with Scarlet Imprint are Pomba Gira, Palo Mayombe and an essay on Ifa in At the
Crossroads.
His blog can be
read here: www.starrycave.com
**
AT
THE CROSSROADS
By
Alkistis Dimech, along with Peter Grey & Jake Stratton-Kent (Editors)
Publisher: Scarlet
Imprint
Crossed edition;
800 exemplars; Small 4to, black and white cloth. Blood red blocking. Embossed
end papers.
Black & white
and colour printed on archival paper.
List Price: $84.50
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
At the Crossroads, the paths of magicians and worlds meet.
Grimoire and root
workers, Hoodoo and Vodoun, Quimbanda and Ifa. A potent fusion is occuring, a
second diaspora.
At the Crossroads
tells the stories of what happens when the Western Magical Tradition encounters
the African Diaspora and Traditional religions, and vice versa. It is a mixing
and a magic that speaks of a truly new world emerging.
In this gathering
of kindred spirits, experiences are shared between initiates of very different
cultures whose magic proves to be underpinned by the same principles, though
clothed in different garb.
We find the
grimoires of Old Europe flourishing in the New World, Juju spreading through
the United States, the Cunning men of Essex rendering service to the Lwa of
Haitian Voudon, alchemists who are Paleros, the techniques of the Greek Magical
Papyri applied to Conjure counter-hexing. This is fertile ground for the
imagination, and practice.
At The Crossroads
is extensively illustrated, in both black and white and colour with original
artworks and in depth essays by leading practitioners of the occult community
from New York to Bristol, and from London to Brazil.
An important
contribution made at the point where all the roads meet.
Where we encounter
the most traditional approaches and the wildest fringes of the avant garde, At
the Crossroads boldly demands your attention.
CONTENTS:
Peter
Grey - Preamble: Standing Still
Jake
Stratton-Kent - Necromancy: the Role of the Dead in a Living Tradition
Aaron
Leitch - Folk Traditions and the Solomonic Revival
Eric
K Lerner - Eleggua; Eleggua's Worlds (art)
Stephen
Grasso - Open up the Gate
Nicholaj
de Mattos Frisvold - The Invisible City in the Realm of Mystery
Richard
Ward - In the Shadow of the Cross
Drac
Uber & Ivy Kerrigan - Libations for the Lwa
Michael
Cecchetelli - Countermeasures
Humberto
Maggi - Crossing Worlds
Ryan
Valentine - A brief history of the Juju
Hagen
Von Tulien - Soul Dream (art)
Kyle
Fite - The Syncretic Soul at the Cross of Cosmic Union
ConjureMan
Ali - Goetic Initiation
Christopher
D Bradford - Nigromantic Putrfaction
Chad
Balthazar - A Garden Amidst the Flames
Angela
Edwards - Queen of Fire & Flesh (art)
Jake
Stratton-Kent - Magic at the Crosssroads
**
 |
| The image above is of the front cover, utilising a painting Melek Taus (© Stuart Littlejohn, 2012), showing the Peacock Angel emerging from under a Yezidi arch. |
BEELZEBUB
AND THE BEAST:
A
Comparative Study of Gurdjieff and Crowley
By David Hall.
STARFIRE
PUBLISHING:
This first edition
of Beelzebub and the Beast is an attractive, sewn hardbound book, octavo
format, 350 pages long, with a full-colour wrap-around dustjacket, and limited
to 750 copies. Included is an eight-page section of colour plates, a colour
frontispiece, black and white custom printed endpapers, and line drawings
throughout the text.
The standard
edition is bound in black cloth and is priced at $49.95 .
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
David Hall, who
died in 2007, will be a familiar name to many as one of the founders and
editors of SOTHiS, the substantial and diverse Thelemic magazine which was
published from the United Kingdom in the 1970s. David was passionately
interested in the work of Gurdjieff as well as that of Crowley, and in the
early to mid 1970s he wrote this penetrating study comparing the work of both
men. Unfortunately it failed to find a publisher at the time, although
publication was referenced as forthcoming in Kenneth Grant’s Nightside of Eden.
(Muller, 1977)
Crowley took an
interest in the work of the Greek-Armenian occultist G. I. Gurdjieff, and
visited Gurdjieff's Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in
Fontainebleau in 1924 and 1926. There have been other comparative studies of
the work of the two men, the most recent being The Three Dangerous Magi by P.
T. Mistlberger (O Books, 2010).
Examining in turn
the life and work of the two men at various levels, the author discerns a
common source. Commenting circa 1919 on the first chapter of The Book of the
Law, Crowley wrote “Aiwaz is not as I had supposed a mere formula, like many
angelic names, but is the true most ancient name of the God of the Yezidis, and
thus returns to the highest Antiquity. Our work is therefore historically
authentic, the rediscovery of the Sumerian Tradition”. Similarly, the author
here shows that the roots of Gurdjieff's work can be traced to the same source.
With a full-colour
wrap-around dustjacket, a substantial Foreword by Alistair Coombs, plates,
tables and line-drawings throughout the text, a Bibliography, a comprehensive
Index, and an Afterword about the author with contributions from Mike Magee,
Jan Magee, Michael Staley, Janet Audley-Charles and David Tibet, this book will
be of considerable interest to many.
**
ALU,
AN ADVANCED GUIDE TO OPERATIVE RUNOLOGY
By Edred Thorsson
Paperback: 256
pages
Publisher: Weiser
Books (December 19, 2012)
List Price: $24.95
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
This follow-up to
the classic Futhark breaks new ground by applying current scientific theories
on how magic works in traditional societies to the world of practical magic.
ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology contains completely new and fresh
descriptions of all the individual runes based on traditional sources,
rune-poems, Old Norse literature, and more.
Thorsson one of the
most respected runic scholars living today, synthesizes the old and the new,
the scholarly and the practical, and brings the use of runes in magical work to
a new level in ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology.
ALU features:
·
Practical
magic
·
Divination
practices
·
Reveals
new techniques and methods
·
How
modern English can be used in the creation of runic writings
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Edred Thorsson
received his doctorate in Germanic languages and Medieval Studies from the
University of Texas. He is the translator of Guido von List's The Secret of
Runes, and a former university professor of humanities. He is the author of the
bestselling Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic and Runelore. Thorsson lives near
Austin, Texas where he practices rune magic. Visit him at: www.runaraven.com.
**
MAGICAL
QABALAH FOR BEGINNERS:
A
Comprehensive Guide to Occult Knowledge
By Frater Barrabbas
Paperback: 360
pages
Publisher:
Llewellyn Publications (January 8, 2013)
List Price: $15.99
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Discover the
history and theory of Qabalah as well as its practical ritual uses. Explore the
five basic but essential parts of Qabalah: the ten Sephiroth, the twenty-two
paths, the Four Worlds, the Three Negative Veils, and the Tree of Life.
The Qabalah is the
symbolic key to the Western Mystery tradition. Gain invaluable insights into
all occult systems including high magic, Tarot, astrology, alchemy, hermetics,
and more. In Magical Qabalah for Beginners, Frater Barrabbas shows ritual
magicians, Pagans, and occult students how to incorporate the Qabalah into
practice, using tables of correspondences, numerology, acronyms and formulae,
sigils and ciphers, contemplation, and the theurgy of ascension. Now is the time
to penetrate the mystical properties of Qabalah and make them work in your
life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Frater Barrabbas
(Twin Cities, MN) is a practicing ritual magician who has studied magick and
the occult for over thirty-five years. He is the founder of a magical order called
the Order of the Gnostic Star and he is an elder and lineage holder in the
Alexandrian tradition of Witchcraft.
TAROT BOOKS AND DECKS:
TAROT
OF THE MAGICIANS:
The
Occult Symbols of the Major Arcana that Inspired Modern Tarot
By Oswald Wirth
(Author), Mary K. Greer (Introduction)
Paperback: 256
pages
Publisher: Weiser
Books (February 1, 2013)
List Price: $24.95
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Tarot of the
Magicians by Swiss occultist artist and author Oswald Wirth was first published
in Paris in 1927, and a Weiser edition was later released in 1985.
Long unavailable,
the book is back in print in a beautiful new package with full-color pull-out
cards reproducing Wirth's 1889 tarot deck. With a new introduction by
bestselling tarot author Mary K. Greer, Tarot of the Magicians offers tarot
enthusiasts and students of the occult an in-depth and authoritative analysis
of one of the most beautiful and evocative of all modern tarot decks.
In this important
tarot work of the Major Arcana, Wirth combines the imagery and symbolism from
Alchemy, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and the magical heritage of Egypt and
Chaldea, and explores the astronomical (rather than strictly zodiacal)
associations for the Major Arcana cards.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS;
Oswald Wirth (1860-1943) was a Swiss
occultist, artist and author. He was a student of Elphaas Levi and was mentored
by Stanislas de Guaita.
Mary K. Greer is an author and teacher and a
Grandmaster of the American Tarot Association. She is a member of numerous
Tarot organizations, and is featured at Tarot conferences and symposia in the
United States and abroad. She is the founder and director of the learning
center T.A.R.O.T. (Tools and Rites of Transformation) and the author of several
books, including 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card and Who Are You In the Tarot?.
Visit her at: http://marygreer.wordpress.com
.
We also carry the accompanying
deck:
OSWALD
WIRTH TAROT DECK
By
Oswald Wirth
List Price: $24.00
**
ONGOING AT EDGE OF THE CIRCLE BOOKS
·
EVERY WEDNESDAY: IRISH LANGUAGE
DROP IN CLASS-7-9PM
·
SUNDAY, JAN. 6th (first
Sunday of each month) SEATTLE CHAOS MAGIC
We
meet at 3:33 pm. on the first Sunday of each month, at Edge of the Circle Books,
701 E. Pike St., Seattle, WA 98122.
Anyone practicing, curious about,
or otherwise interested in Chaos magic is welcome to attend.
·
MONDAY, JAN. 7th (Every
1st Monday of each month) CELTIC RECONSTRUCTIONIST GROUP 7-9PM
For
More Information:
SERVICES
AVAILABLE AT EDGE OF THE CIRCLE BOOKS
REMINDER: We buy
used Occult Books! Our buyer is in on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and
Sundays!
We also have
classroom/ritual space-- please call for details.
Need Spell advice?
Just ask!
*
TAROT READINGS
/ SPIRITUAL ADVICE
UNCOMMONSENSE TAROT
Tarot readings by
Erica (Raven) Branch-Butler
"I've been
reading Tarot for more than thirty years, and reading professionally
at the Edge for a
decade. My belief is that Tarot is best used for
putting you in
touch with your own subconscious, allowing you to make healthy
decisions that can
change your life for the better. My readings tend to be
rather
commonsensical. They are often geared toward helping the client
deal with the often
self-imposed obstacles in their lives in a healthy,
self –affirming way,
so that they can achieve their goals and fully
enjoy the fruits
that life has to bring."
Please inquire
about Tarot Parties, classes and other events.
Available every day
except THURSDAYS-- 12:30-8.30PM.
Sundays 12:30-8:30
PM
**
This
concludes our Newsletter for this month.
Look
for us again February 1st, 2013!
Raven,
Editrix, Edge of the Circle Books Newsletter
**
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