EDGE OF THE CIRCLE NEWSLETTER ISSUE FOURTEEN, VOLUME TWO: SEPTEMBER 2007
Welcome to the 14th edition of 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. I've got great plans for this newsletter. Hopefully, as time goes by, it will only get bigger and better. 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 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 everything that you could want in a Magickal Pagan store.
Open 7 days a week, Noon till" 9pm.
Call: 206-PAN-1999
**
NEWS:
On July 1st, 2007, Horizon began renting dedicated temple space in Seattle! Our member's and associate's willingness to step forward and support Horizon Oasis with their dues has made this possible. Thank you all so much. The temple is on Capitol Hill, on 10th Ave between Pike and Union. Take the door on your right as you enter the building, and go down the ramp; you’ll see Horizon signs that will direct you to the temple.
We are still in fundraising mode, as our dues don't yet cover all our expenses. If you've been meaning to start paying dues, but haven't gotten around to it yet, now is the time! http://seattle-oto.org/Dues/dues.htm
Check out our yahoo site for pictures of the temple as it becomes beautiful: http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/sea-oto/photos
Horizon Monthly Classes: Horizon classes will resume in October at their new space. For more info: General inquiries: horizon@seattle-oto.org
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW TEMPLE, O.T.O !!!!
**
THIS MONTH'S THEME: DIVINATION
**
DIVINATION (FORTUNE TELLING)
Divination is the attempt to foretell the future or discover occult knowledge by interpreting omens or by using paranormal or supernatural powers. The list of items that have been used in divination is extraordinary. Below are listed just a few. Many end in 'mancy', from the ancient Greek manteia (divination), or 'scopy', from the Greek skopein (to look into, to behold).
aeluromancy (dropping wheatcakes in water and interpreting the result)
aeromancy or acromancy (divination by examining what the air does to certain things)
alectoromancy or alectryomancy (divination by a cock: grains of wheat are placed on letters and the cock "spells" the message by selecting grains)
alphitomancy (dropping barleycakes in water and interpreting the result)
anthropomancy (divination by interpreting the organs of newly sacrificed humans)
arithmancy (divination by numbers)
astragalomancy or astragyromancy (using knucklebones marked with letters of the alphabet)
astromancy (by stars)
axinomancy (divination by the hatchet: interpreting the quiver when whacked into a table)
belomancy (divination by arrows)
botanomancy (divination by herbs)
bronchiomancy (divination by studying the lungs of sacrificed white llamas)
capnomancy (divination by the smoke of an altar or sacrificial incense)
cephalomancy or cepthaleonomancy (divination by a donkey's head)
ceromancy (by the melting of wax)
chalcomancy (by vessels of brass or other metal)
cleidomancy (divination by interpreting the movements of a key suspended by a thread from the nail of the third finger on a young virgin's hand while one of the Psalms was recited)
coscinomancy (divination by a balanced sieve)
cromniomancy (divination by onions)
crystallomancy (by crystals)
dactylomancy (divination by means of rings put on the fingernails or the number of whorls and loops on the fingers)
daphnomancy (divination using the laurel branch: how did it crackle when burned?)
extispicy (divination by examining entrails)
fractomancy (interpreting the structures of fractal geometric patterns)
gastromancy (by the sound of or marks on the belly)
gyromancy (divination by walking around a circle of letters until dizzy and one falls down on the letters or in the direction to take)
haruspicy (inspecting the entrails of slaughtered animals)
hepatoscopy or hepatomancy (divination by examining the liver of sacrificed animals)
hydromancy (divination by examining what certain things do in water or when taken out of water, such as coffee grounds or tea leaves); hydatoscopy (if rainwater is used); pegomancy (if spring-water is used)
kapnomancy (by smoke)
katoptromancy (by looking0glasses)
kephalonomancy (burning carbon on the head of an ass while reciting the names of suspected criminals; if you're guilty, a crackling sound will be heard when your name is spoken)
koskinomancy (by sieves)
krithomancy (by corn or grain)
lampadomancy (interpreting the movements of the flame of a lamp)
libanomancy or knissomancy (interpreting the smoke of incense)
lithomancy (divination using precious stones)
lecanomancy (dropping precious stones into water and listening for whistles)
logarithmancy
macharomancy (by knives and swords)
margaritomancy (divination by the pearl: if it jumps in the pot when a person is named, then he is the thief!)
metoposcopy (interpreting frontal wrinkles)
molybdomancy (divination by melted lead: interpreting its noises and hisses when dropped into water)
myrmomancy (divination by watching ants eating)
necromancy (communicating with spirits of the dead to predict the future)
oinomancy (divination by wine)
omphalomancy (interpretation of the belly button)
oneiromancy (interpretation of dreams)
onomancy (divination by names)
onychomancy (interpreting the reflection of sun rays off fingernails)
ornithomancy or orniscopy (interpreting the flights of birds)
ovomancy or oomancy or ooscopy (breaking eggs into a container of water and interpreting the shape of the egg white)
papyromancy (divination by folding paper)
podomancy (by the feet)
psychometry (divination by touching objects)
pyromancy or pyroscopy (divination by fire)
rhabdomancy (using the divining rod or magic wand)
rhapsodmancy (divination by a line in a sacred book that strikes the eye when the book is opened after the diviner prays, meditates or invokes the help of spirits)
rumpology (divination by the lines on the buttocks)
sciomancy (by shadows)
sideromancy (interpreting straws thrown on a red-hot iron)
skatharomancy (interpreting the tracks of a beetle crawling over the grave of a murder victim)
stereomancy (diving by the elements)
spatilomancy (by skin, bones, etc.)
splanchnomancy (reading cut sections of a goat liver)
sternomancy (divination by the marks from the breast to the belly)
sycomancy (by figs)
tasseography (reading tea leaves)
tephromancy (by ashes)
theriomancy (divination by beasts)
tiromancy (interpreting the holes or mold in cheese)
tyromancy (by cheese)
urim v'tumim (reading sacred stones attached to the breastplate of the high priest in ancient Judaism)
uromancy (divination by reading bubbles made by urinating in a pot)
*
LOOKING FOR GIFTS FOR DIVINERS?
RAVEN'S SUGGESTIONS:
We carry more than 150 tarot decks and oracles-- also, pendulums, scrying bowls and mirrors, Ouija boards, Coffee divination kits, Runes, I Ching Sets, plus books on all of the above and more. I daresay you'll be able to find whatever you'd like to buy for the Diviner in your life!
**
NEW STUFF:
New T-shirts are in! We are now carrying a line of shirts from Tara Graphics that bear the Seals of Solomon, including : the 2nd Pentacle of Venus, the 5th Pentacle of Mars, 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter, 3rd Pentacle of the Sun and the 5th Pentacle of Venus. We also have our infamous Baphomet and Vlad Tepes t-shirts in, some are also available in Baby Doll shirts. We also have St. Michael T-shirts available , both in regular short sleeve and Baby doll shirts.
** NEW BOOKS
**
KAOSTAR! MODERN CHAOS CUNNING CRAFT
Francis Breakspear
List Price: $22.50
Paperback: 124 pages
Publisher: Hidden Design Ltd (April 1, 2007)
Mighty oaks from little acorns do grow… this book of practical ‘Results Magick’ sprang from a brief conversation about cunning folk, the European village sorcerers of old, and how they might do their work today.
The cunning man or woman of history would have traveled around their local area performing the craft with probably a bag full of herbs, some pins, a flint and tinder to make fire, some ready-made charms, a knife and a weighty book or two (about anything) with which to impress the illiterate. By comparison the modern chaos magician cunner would be likely to have a groovy backpack to carry various problem-solving tools in, like a cellphone, a cigarette lighter, a Swiss Army knife, a packet of some painkilling drug, a bag of a quite different herbs for ingestion in various ways, a disk of some computer software, various dark-looking sorcerous books and probably some weird and discordant spooky sounds on their mp3 player to impress the musically illiterate…
But the underlying magic is not be so different across the centuries; being based around the usual and enduring human motivations of sex and love, power and pride, prejudice, envy, revenge, curses and health. Much of the content and methods given in this book are not so much immoral as completely amoral; the practitioner being left to their own devices and choices as to how they use it, rather than any overwrought and baleful prescription to only use it for “good” (whatever that is) taking no account of circumstance. Among many other things you will learn in this book how to change traffic lights to Green, how to use a cellphone and a compact disc to send a spell, a fabulous new source-method of making magic squares, and a great deal about cursing and healing methods. This is some real results magic, shorn of a lot of the ethical dogma…. and for adults.
This book is timely, in that there has existed for some time a need for balance in the expression of what magic is about, balance with the overarching fluffiness and ‘do-anything-as-long-as-it-is-white-light’ of modern paganism.
‘Harm None’ Wiccans will hate this- indeed, one who saw the initial manuscript called it ‘simply monstrous’, and left.
What reviewers think:
"outrageously funny and scurrilous little book of Chaos Cunning Craft....This tasty morsel of off-white magic will outrage fluffy bunny new-age spiritual types and delight Chaoists everywhere. It contains a wealth of handy tips and I particularly liked the Nightmare Catcher idea, I shall probably build one later today. Peter J Carroll.
**
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH MAGIC AFTER CROWLEY
by Dave Evans
List Price: $45.00
Paperback: 440 pages
Publisher: Hidden Design Ltd (March 1, 2007)
"not only a good read in itself, but it will also stand as an historical document and a work of reference for generations to come- Peter J Carroll"
"The word ‘sensible’ keeps coming back to me. It may not seem appropriate in the context of the furthest far out reaches of the UK counterculture which this book documents , but that is the way I see it.... Dave Evans has managed to write a ‘sensible’ book on a not-sensible subject - Alaistair Livingstone"
"provocative thought provoking ...material on K(enneth) G(rant) and... a long overdue survey of Chaos magick, is certainly the strongest part of the whole book and well worth the read... certainly quite different to any previous history you might have read. The subject matter is the kind of stuff that was almost invariably left out of previous studies- Mogg Morgan"
The History of British Magic After Crowley: Kenneth Grant, Amado Crowley, Chaos Magic, Satanism, Lovecraft, the Left Hand Path, Blasphemy and Magical Morality
About Dave Evans:
Both a professional academic researcher and practising magician, Dr Dave Evans delves deeply into modern British history to present a serious, but accessible and fascinating work, based on his recent and unique PhD, on developments in British magic after Aleister Crowley died.
**Not just the result of extensive book-research, this project involved attending rituals and having meetings with some quite remarkable men and women, who are examined and given a voice in these pages, some of them for the first time. Topics covered include Aleister Crowley and Thelema, How many magicians there actually are in Britain, The claims of Amado Crowley to be Aleister's son, the work of Austin Osman Spare, Kenneth Grant and the Typhonian OTO, Blasphemy, Chaos Magick, Gerald Gardner, Ramsey Dukes, Alex Sanders, HP Lovecraft, Satanism, Cursing, The Left-Hand Path, creating the Journal for the Academic Study of Magic, plus the work of Ronald Hutton, Dennis Wheatley, Dion Fortune, HP Blavatsky and others, all meshed into a broader philosophical, cognitive-psychological and moral-history framework of the broader Twentieth Century.
Also includes how Academia deals with studying 'the Weird', and how Academia deals with having Magicians in their ranks in the first place (aka 'Reflexivity'), plus a host of tangential issues including Satan in advertising, Drugs, the Millennium Bug and 'End-Times Fever', Andrew Chumbley, Sex Magick, Inversion and Carnival, Witchcraft, neoPaganism and Wicca, Harry Potter, Breaking Taboos, Sigmund Freud, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the madness of Montague Summers, Black and White magic, Censorship, how Tolkien and CS Lewis made magical belief the majority view in Britain, Genesis P Orridge, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Thatcherite Politics and Magic, Oscar Wilde and homosexual moral panics, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Satanic Ritual Abuse, Bela Lugosi, messages decoded from a dead squid and the cabbalistic importance of a cat called Tibbles.
Not just a book about the history of magic, this research places magicians and their work into the broader society that we all live in, and shows how that magic has always been a part of our culture.
Read Alistair Livingston's review - see http://greengalloway.blogspot.com/2007/05/history-british-magick-after-crowley.html
Peter J Carroll wrote: This book ... exhibits high standards of research and reference and contains new and previously unpublished material. We must congratulate Evans for bringing the study of modern magic into the realm of credible academic study and for writing an account of it plainly based on plenty of hands on involvement and personal interviews. Basically, although it necessarily involves a resume of Crowley's works and significance, the thesis covers the period from the end of WW2 till the present day. We get extensive material on the works, ideas and influences of Austin Spare, the ghastly Amado 'Crowley', Kenneth Grant, and then the confusing and unfinished history of the Chaos Magicians, plus of course a mention of a fair selection of other figures. The whole account appears helpfully punctuated with historical and sociological asides which puts the events in context. This book provides not only a good read in itself, but it will also stand as an historical document and a work of reference for generations to come. Its definitely one for the archives, and I'm not just saying that because it contains numerous references to me and my colleagues and friends.
Mogg Morgan wrote : (on his yahoogroups newsletter Mandrake Speaks!)
This is a very readable, at times fascinating if perhaps slightly tendentious account of magick since the death of Aleister Crowley in 1947. It is strongest on material of the last thirty years that more or less corresponds with the author’s own entry into the chaos magick scene.
The first 200 pages of the book lays down the theoretical basis for the author’s approach to the material, the kind of thing that would please the examiners for Dave Evans successful PhD submission at British University under the supervision of the world renowned pagan scholar Professor Ronald Hutton.
Numerous authorities are cited including the highly influential work of Paul Heelas, whose theoretic stricture that ‘the academic simple does not have the tools to assess’ a magician's theology or claims to power’ (p230). The academic must, so we are told, confine himself to surface contingencies of a belief system rather than any underlying meaning. This I must say I find an odd position and makes for a book that is strong on anecdotal detail but has little to say about the meaning and purpose of magick. But there again these are my own presuppositions and I would have to admit they are not shared by a great many, if any other magicians, certainly not many of those cited in the book.
This book is certainly quite different to any previous history you might have read. The subject matter is the kind of stuff that was almost invariably left out of previous studies. So whereas Chaos magick was pretty much dismissed in a few sentences in Tanya Luhrman’s notorious study, Dave Evans, who is a chaos magician, bends the stick the other way. So much so that we might call this a chaos magick history of British magick. And no bad thing that. Some so-called scholars often can not see the wood for the trees. Professor Keith Thomas once strode through an Oxford’s town hall full of magicians, on his way to an interview where he denied the possibility of contemporary magical practice!
For Dave Evans British magick since 1947 really only comprises three topics – Kenneth Grant, who for a short time was Crowley’s unpaid secretary before becoming one of several claimants who attempted to seize control of the OTO when Crowley’s caretaker Germer began to fail. But before that a bit of light relief in a long disquisition on Amado Crowley, self-styled ‘love child of the beast’ and claimant to some sort of secret hereditary ‘Thelemic’ tradition. And finally Chaos magick in various permutations, beginning with its putative progenitor – Lionel Snell.
So despite describing itself as a history of British magick this is no serial account but more of an examination of three related examples. You won’t find very much here about the practice of magick within Wicca, or even very much of the so-called tradition of ‘white magic’ as in for example Gareth Knight, Marian Green, William Bloom etc. Also strangely absent is Mike Magee, one time editor of very influential occultzine Sothis. In the 1970s he was groomed to be the head of KG’s 'Typhonian' OTO but when he asked for the kind of tantrik initiation alluded to in Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God, was told that he needed to look elsewhere for authentic 'diksha' and which he eventually found. It is this same stream that is the source of the Left Hand Path material that resurfaces in the works of several chaos magicians, although I’m not sure they always acknowledge such. So respect.
Personally I could have done with knowing less about Amado Crowley. I just don’t see the point of taking fifty odd pages to tell us that the author cannot validate any of his claims to his ‘father’s’ magical inheritance. The strange thing is that Amado does have a circle of devoted followers and what I wanted to know is what keeps them going? Is it really just inherent human credulity? The fact that ‘people prefer fakes’ or is there something interesting going on behind the scenes. Amado’s magical system is dismissed as a mere blend of Wicca with Francis Barrett, which doesn’t sound so unpromising to me, depends if Amado is good a ritualist. Maybe the guy has charisma – we are never really told because this is not something ‘academics’ have an opinion on??
I was happy to leave the Amado behind and much more interested in Kenneth Grant –
Although here I guess the line that has emerged all over now is that KG is really a game player - to him nothing is really that serious? Of course game playing, or to give it a fancy name – the ludic – can be a very productive mental activity – especially for the artistically inclined – witness the whole surrealist package of which KG is part. As an indication of the territory midway between hard fact and fiction inhabited by KG, consider the possibility that the character of Phineas Nigellus who appears for the first time in The Ninth Arch has an uncanny resemblance to Phineas Nigellus, the ex-headmaster of Hogwart's School for Wizards! Dave Evans avoids the thorny question of how this all fits with being head of a magical order. In fact I should warn folk that this is afteral a chaos magick view of magical development and traditional order type activities play very little role in this account. In fact the British revival since 1981 of the so-called ‘Caliphate’ OTO is pretty much ignored throughout this book which will delight some and infuriate others.
This material on KG and the final section, a long overdue survey of Chaos magick, is certainly the strongest part of the whole book and well worth the read. Of course some will see in this one long series of pub-stories of the kind much liked by chaots. Perhaps to the outsider it will confirm the belief that magick really is just a castle in the air. To which I’d say some of it clearly is just glamour or pose with very little content. But perhaps that is the value of this provocative thought provoking book. It makes you ask – surely that’s not all there is? But there again this is where we pass out of the arena of the academic and into the real theatre of magick.
[mogg]
**
ALEISTER CROWLEY AND THE 20TH CENTURY SYNTHESIS OF MAGICK
By Dave Evans
List Price: $22.50
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Hidden Publishing; 2Rev Ed edition (June 1, 2007)
Both a professional academic researcher and practising magician, Dr Dave Evans delves into modern history to present a serious, but accessible and fascinating work, based on research work done for a Master of Arts degree on the history and literature of British magic, focussing especially on Aleister Crowley. Topics covered include Aleister Crowley and Thelema, Dennis Wheatley, Kenneth Grant, Jack Parsons, Tom Driberg, the British spying community, Austin Osman Spare, Gerald Gardner and others. Being a useful biography of Crowley, plus more, this accessible and diverse book can be considered a prequel of, and a seed for the author’s larger subsequent volume The History of British Magic After Crowley.
What Readers think:
This fairly slim biography of Crowley provides both a quick introduction to the life and times and significance of the man and it also introduces some original new material... (which) seems fascinating and controversial. He explores in some depth Crowley's connections to British Intelligence and their relevance to the two world wars. He presents some interesting background material on some of the people associated with Crowley, and most controversially for Thelemites, he suggests that the Book Of The Law shows evidence of plagiarism from other sources, and he doesn't mean Aiwass. This probably won't bother Chaoists in the slightest. For them the Book of the Law stands or falls on its own merits or usefulness, but Crowleyites may suffer apoplexy.
Peter J Carroll
**
THE ALPHABET VERSUS THE GODDESS: THE CONFLICT BETWEEN WORD AND IMAGE
by Leonard Shlain
List Price: $17.00
Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (September 1, 1999)
"Literacy has promoted the subjugation of women by men throughout all but the very recent history of the West," writes Leonard Shlain. "Misogyny and patriarchy rise and fall with the fortunes of the alphabetic written word."
That's a pretty audacious claim, one that The Alphabet Versus the Goddess provides extensive historical and cultural correlations to support. Shlain's thesis takes readers from the evolutionary steps that distinguish the human brain from that of the primates to the development of the Internet. The very act of learning written language, he argues, exercises the human brain's left hemisphere--the half that handles linear, abstract thought--and enforces its dominance over the right hemisphere, which thinks holistically and visually. If you accept the idea that linear abstraction is a masculine trait, and that holistic visualization is feminine, the rest of the theory falls into place. The flip side is that as visual orientation returns to prominence within society through film, television, and cyberspace, the status of women increases, soon to return to the equilibrium of the earliest human cultures. Shlain wisely presents this view of history as plausible rather than definite, but whether you agree with his wide-ranging speculations or not, he provides readers eager to "understand it all" with much to consider. --Ron Hogan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal:
The advantages of a literate society are self-evident, but is there a dark side to language? In this extraordinary book, Shlain, a surgeon and the author of Art and Physics (LJ 9/1/91), argues that when cultures acquire literacy, the brain's left hemisphere dominates the right?with enormous consequences. Alphabetic writing, Shlain believes, "subliminally fosters a patriarchal outlook" at the expense of feminine values. Focusing on Western cultures, Shlain surveys world history and religion to illustrate how alphabet literacy fosters extremes of intolerance. Indeed, a subtheme of the book is that overreliance on the left hemisphere "initially leads a society through a period of demonstrable madness." Such aberrations as group suicide, religious persecution, and witch-hunting are the result of a dominant linear, reductionist, and abstract method of perception. While admitting that "correlation does not prove causality," Shlain presents a forceful case based on a wealth of circumstantial evidence. An absorbing, provocative, and, ironically, highly literate work that should receive considerable review attention; recommended for most public and academic libraries.?Laurie Bartolini, MacMurray Coll. Lib., Springfield, IL
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Blurb:
Is it sheer coincidence that the European witch hunts quickly followed the invention of the printing press? In his groundbreaking work The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, Leonard Shlain proposes that the invention of writing, particularly alphabetic writing, rewired the human brain, causing profound cultural changes in history, religion, and gender relations. While the advent of literacy brought innumerable benefits to society, the switch to left-brain thinking upset the balance between men and women. The rise of male dominance led to a corresponding decline in goddess veneration and the status of women. Ending on a positive note, Shlain notes that the return of an image-oriented culture - through the media of photography, film, television, and the Internet - has brought about a sharp rise in the feminine values denigrated during the 5,000-year reign of patriarchy and literacy.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Card catalog description:
Making remarkable connections across a wide range of subjects including brain anatomy and function, anthropology, history, and religion, Shlain argues that, with the advent of literacy, the very act of reading an alphabet reinforced the brain's left hemisphere - linear, abstract, predominantly masculine at the expense of the right holistic, concrete, visual, feminine. This shift upset the balance between men and women, and initiated the disappearance of goddesses, the abhorrence of images, the decline of women's social and political status, and a long reign of patriarchy and misogyny. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess tracks the correlations between the rise and fall of literacy and the changing status of women in society, mythology, and religion throughout European history, and in other cultures as well. Shlain goes on to describe a colossal shift he calls the iconic revolution, now under way, that began in the nineteenth century: the return of the image. The invention of photography and the discovery of electromagnetism have brought us film, television, video, computers, advertising, graphics - and a shift from the dominance of the left hemisphere to reassertion of the right. Image information has gradually been superseding print information, and in the resulting social revolution women have benefited as society shifts to embrace feminine values. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author:
Leonard Shlain is the author of Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light. He haswritten for many publications, and lectures widely. He is the chief of laproscopic surgery at California Medical Center in San Francisco. He lives and writes in Mill Valley.
**
THE GOETIA OF DR RUDD
Stephen Skinner & David Rankine
List Price: $72.00
Golden Hoard Press, Publishers of Original Source Works of Ceremonial Magic
& other rare esoteric works.
Hardback
The Goetia (Lemegeton) is the most famous grimoire after the Key of Solomon. This volume contains a transcription of a hitherto unpublished manuscript of the Lemegeton which includes four whole grimoires:
* Liber Malorum Spituum seu Goetia
* Theurgia-Goetia
* Ars Paulina (Books 1 & 2)
* Ars Almadel
This was owned by Dr Thomas Rudd, a practicing scholar-magician of the early seventeenth century. There are many editions of the Goetia, of which the most definitive is that of Joseph Peterson, but here we are interested in how the Goetia was actually used by practising magicians in the 16th and 17th century, before the knowledge of practical magic faded into obscurity.
To evoke the 72 demons listed here without the ability to bind them would be foolhardy indeed. It was well known in times past that invocatio and ligatio, or binding, was a key part of evocation, but in the modern editions of the Goetia this key technique is expressed in just one word ‘Shemhamphorash’, and its use is not explained.
This volume explains how the 72 angels of the Shemhamphorash are used to bind the spirits, and the correct procedure for safely invoking them using dual seals incorporating the necessary controlling angel, whose name is also engraved on the breastplate and Brass Vessel.
Publisher's Notes:
This volume is a transcription of Harley MS 6483, the Lemegeton. Unlike other copies of the Lemegeton, Rudd included the use of the 72 angels of the Shem ha-Mephorash as controlling spirits for the demons of the Goetia, transforming the practice of Goetic magic. He also included far more of the material from Peter de Abano's Heptameron, the source of much of the grimoire tradition. Material from Rudd's other major work, Harley MS 6482, is also included to set the context of the work with the Shem ha-Mephorash angels.
Although much work has been done on the Lemegeton, Skinner and Rankine trace component parts of the grimoire back further than has previously been done, and include other relevant manuscript material not previously available. This includes proto-Goetic material from Sloane MS 3824, such as a Spirit Contract, invocations of the Wandering Princes and Ruling Demons. The Goetia of Ebenezer Sibley, found in Wellcome MS 3203 is also included to show a later derivative version and complete the range of available Lemegeton material in the public forum.
Table of Contents of "The Goetia of Dr Rudd" by Stephen Skinner & David Rankine
Introduction 14
History and Origins
Liber Malorum Spirituum seu Goetia 20
Theurgia-Goetia 53
The Pauline Art 57
The Art Almadel 59
The Notory Art or Ars Notoria 60
Ars Nova 63
The Lemegeton 63
Evocation Methods
Physical Methods for Binding a Demon 65
Names of the 72 Demons 68
Names of the 72 Adversarial Angels 71
The Invocations 73
The Equipment of Evocation 76
The Ceremony or Procedure 91
The Manuscripts
Content & Provenance 95
Liber Malorum Spirituum seu Goetia 101
The 72 Spirits of the Goetia 103
The Conjurations 176
Of the Magical Circle 186
Of the Names of the Hours 188
The Consecrations & Benedictions 193
The Directory for the Seven Days of the Week 198
Theurgia-Goetia 212
The Four Emperors 215
The Sixteen Dukes 223
The Eleven Wandering Princes 278
Conjurations 301
The Art Pauline 308
Book 1 - Spirits of the 24 Hours of the Day & Night 311
Book 2 - Spirits of the Degrees of the Zodiac 326
The Art Almadel 342
Appendices 348
Appendix 1: The Theurgia-Goetia in Sloane 3824 349
Appendix 2: Tables of Demons from the Lemegeton 366
Demons of the Goetia
Powers and Specialties of the Demons of the Goetia
Ranks of the Demons of the Goetia
Demons of the Goetia by Rank, Planet and Zodiacal Sign
Good and Evil Aerial Spirits (of the Compass) from Theurgia-Goetia
Good and Evil Aerial Spirits (Wandering Princes) from Theurgia-Goetia
Good and Evil Aerial Spirits (Emperors) from Theurgia-Goetia
Spirits of the 24 Hours from Ars Paulina (Part 1)
Angels of the Degrees of the Zodiac from Ars Paulina (Part 2)
Angels of the Altitudes (Choras) from Ars Almadel
Appendix 3: Thomas Rudd's Synthesis of the 72 Demons and
Dr John Dee's Tabula Sancta cum Tabulis Enochi 389
Appendix 4: Thomas Rudd's Description of 61 Demons 393
Appendix 5: Some of the Sources and Constituents of the Lemegeton 399
Appendix 6: Seals from Sibley's Goetia 402
Appendix 7: The 72 Shem ha-Mephorash Angels 405
Appendix 8: The Ecclesiastical Planetary Hours 413
Appendix 9: 'Ars Nova': An Explanation of Certain Names 414
used in the Figures of the Goetia
Appendix 10: Derivation of some of the Words of Conjuration 422
Appendix 11: Narrative of Dr Rudd, Sir John Heydon and a Spirit 424
Appendix 12: The Variant forms of the Heptameron style Circle 428
Appendix 13: Observations on Metals and Binding Times 429
Appendix 14: Equipment Diagrams from Sibley's Goetia 431
Appendix 15: The Form of Commanding Spirits given in Scot 436
**
Vampires in Their Own Words: An Anthology of Vampire Voices
by Michelle Belanger
List Price: $15.95
Paperback: 245 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (September 1, 2007)
Book Blurb:
Michelle Belanger, an expert on vampirism, author of The Psychic Vampire Codex, and self-professed psychic vampire, convinced nearly two dozen real-life vampires to break the silence that has so often kept their community shrouded in suspicion and secrecy.
A diverse collection of contributors--including Madame X and Sanguinarius--speak candidly about their beliefs, practices, and how they awakened to their identities as vampires. These fascinating firsthand accounts come from both psychic vampires who feed on energy for spiritual and physical nourishment, and sanguine vampires who drink actual blood.
Their true stories shed light on the compulsion to feed and what it feels like, working with donors, living with a social stigma, ethical principles, and other aspects of modern vampire culture.
About the Author:
Michelle Belanger (Ohio) is a popular author best known for her writings on psychic vampirism and the modern vampire subculture. A self-professed energy vampire, she has appeared on the British documentary American Vampires, Peter Anthony Holders Soul Call, Coast to Coast, the X-Zone, as well on the History Channel, WE!, and A&E. She has lectured at colleges across the United States and occasionally tours with her Chicago-based dark metal band URN.
**
FICTION
The Tree Shepherd's Daughter: The Faire Folk Trilogy
by Gillian Summers (Author) List Price: $9.95 Reading level: Ages 9-12 Paperback: 331 pages Publisher: Flux (September 1, 2007)
Book Blurb:
When her mother dies, fifteen-year-old Keelie Heartwood is forced to leave her beloved California to live with her nomadic father at a renaissance festival in Colorado. After arriving, Keelie finds men in tights and women in trailer trash-tight bodices roaming half-drunk, calling each other lady and lord even after closing time! Play-acting the Dark Ages is an L.A. girl's worst nightmare.
Keelie has a plan to ditch this medieval geekland ASAP, but while she plots, strange things start happening—eerie, yet familiar. When Keelie starts seeing fairies and communicating with trees, she uncovers a secret that links her to a community of elves. As Keelie tries to come to grips with her elfin roots, disaster strikes, and Keelie's identity isn't the only thing that's threatened.
One part human determination and one part elfin magic, Keelie Heartwood is a witty new heroine in a world where fantasy and reality mix with extraordinary results.
**
NEW TAROT DECKS:
AFRICAN AMERICAN TAROT
by: Lo Scarabeo
List Price $19.95
The culture of two continents blends together in this one-of-a-kind tarot deck-creating a fresh perspective on what it means to be African-American.
**
NECRONOMICON TAROT
by: Anne Stokes & Donald Tyson
Price $26.95
Donald Tyson strikes again with another innovative tribute to renowned occult writer H. P. Lovecraft. Tysons trilogy of works—inspired by the magical adventures of the mad sorcerer Abdul Alhazred—achieves brilliant completion with Necronomicon Tarot.
Gruesome gods, sinister monsters, and other strange creatures lurk throughout this fully functional tarot deck. All seven rulers of the Old Ones from Tysons Necronomicon star among the decks trumps, including the great amphibian deity Dagon as the Hierophant and the ancient witch Ithakuah as the Hermit. The symbolism of these vividly illustrated cards corresponds with astrology, the elements, and the Golden Dawn, while the decks structure honors the boundaries of traditional tarot.
The enclosed book features detailed descriptions of the cards and the meaning for both upright and reversed positions. Tyson also offers divination guidance and a special divination spread.
IN DEPTH DESCRIPTION: NECRONOMICON TAROT
Grim Agents of Cosmic Forces...
In the early twentieth century, legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft described an ancient tome as "the unmentionable Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred . . . a book which I had never seen, but of which I had heard monstrous things whispered." In the early twenty-first century, best-selling author Donald Tyson wove the myriad rumors and whispers of Lovecraft's dread grimoire into the epic fantasy novels Necronomicon and Alhazred. Intended as a trilogy, this tarot completes Tyson's formidable work.
The Necronomicon Tarot brings the phantasmagoric desert wanderings of Alhazred to life in a stunningly visceral deck and companion book. Seventy-eight captivating illustrations by fantasy artist Anne Stokes capture the mythic and monstrous world of Tyson's Necronomicon while remaining true to the underlying structure and tradition of tarot. Prepare to enter a world where the accursed and tormented poet wanders in search of the greatest and darkest magic — divination with the dead.
This kit includes 78-card tarot deck with a black organdy bag and 240-page companion tarot book.
** CALENDAR: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
September 20th : Aquarian Tabernacle Church: Mabon Ritual: starts at 7Pm.
September 26th : Temple of Light and Darkness, workshop with Damian: Topic: Talismans
September 29th : Celtic Shamanism, a class taught by Oscar: $15.00 per person.
Starting Saturday, October 6th, and continuing on these dates: October 13th, and 20th, free class:
Skiing the Magickal Bunny Slopes
A Really, Really Introductory Course on Wicca, Magick, and Everything...
...at Edge of the Circle Books, 701 E. Pike (Pike & Boylston) on Capitol Hill in Seattle(Click here for a map...). Class includes instructions, exercises, and question-and-answer time. Note: Due to class structure and content, attendance on the first day's class is required. If you can't make it the first day, please catch us for the next session. These classes are offered twice a year.
Dates and times for Bunny Slope sessions are announced at our public rituals, on the OLOTEAS Community mailing list, and on the "What's Up?" page of this website as soon as they've been scheduled. Classes usually start in late March and late September.
This class is a very brief introduction to some simple techniques of magick, community ethics, and etiquette, and a chance to get answers to some of your questions. The class is free and requires no formal registration, and is provided as a community service of Our Lady of the Earth and Sky.
Class Materials These are some of the materials that are given to students of our Skiing the Magickal Bunny Slope classes:
* A Brief Guide to Pagan Etiquette
* House Blessing
* Some Tips for Aspiring Herbalists
* Magical Ethics
* Basic Circle Casting
* Correspondences - Key of Solomon
* Magickal Weapons and Tools
* Spellcraft
* The Oracle™
* The Tree of Life
* Temple Arrangement
* The Chakras
* Curriculum for Wiccan First Degree
* The Wheel of the Year
* Glossary
Recommended Reading List
October 31st: Aquarian Tabernacle Church Samhain Ritual : 7PM.
**
ONGOING:
HOLY WELL CIRCLE
Open Circle, Wiccan
Meets at the Edge every Sunday from 5PM -8PM
cybra@earthlink.net
Subject Line: Holy Well
**
SERVICES AVAILABLE AT EDGE OF THE CIRCLE BOOKS
TAROT READINGS /SPIRITUAL ADVICE
UnCommonSense Tarot Tarot readings Erica (Raven) Branch-Butler
Please inquire about Tarot Parties, classes and other events Available every day except Wednesdays, 12:30-8.30PM.
**
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Edge of the Circle Newsletter is looking for writers and artists! Our Focus has been on the Pagan community, Sabbatic Witchcraft, Hoodoo, Western Ceremonial Magic, African Traditional Religions, Asatru and Heathenry, Wicca, Celtic Paganism and more obscure aspects of the Occult. If you have an article or art to share, please email golanv1@yahoo.com with "Newsletter" in the subject line. Please send only original material. All Copyrighted material will be honored and credited to/as the property of the original writer.
**
This concludes our Newsletter for this month. Look for us again on the first of October.
Sincerely,
Raven
Comments
K.W.D.-C.