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JOCUS SEVERUS
A Serious Joke –
Michael Maier’s
Alchemical Aviary
Trade Cloth Edition.
Full foil-stamped bookcloth with
printed dust jacket. Alchemical Aviary folding plate. Fine typography
with emblematic ornaments.
Publisher: Ouroboros Press
List Price: $45.00
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In addition to the new translation,
the Ouroboros Press edition of Jocus Severus distinguishes itself by
employing new emblematic illustration work by Benjamin A. Vierling,
who in keeping with our publishing style has produced fine
illustrative ornaments and a fold-out plate depicting the aviary
creatures of the text. These graphic elements complement the
typographical details with an effect befitting a piece of fine
Renaissance book art.
Michael Maier is well known in the
historical milieu of alchemy due largely to his important work on
alchemy and music; Atalanta Fugiens, yet his other works have
remained obscure and unobtainable until now. An excellent biography
of Maier can be found in the work of Hereward Tilton, The Quest for
the Phoenix: Spiritual Alchemy and Rosicrucianism in the Work of
Count Michael Maier (1569-1622 (de Gruyter). In the foregoing work
Tilton indicates the thrust of the Jocus Severus thus: The Jocus Severus takes the form of a
court of judgment upon the bird of wisdom sacred to Pallas Athena,
the Owl – in this instance embodying chemia as the highest science.
The Owl stands accused of a number of misdemeanours by an assembly of
squawking and cantankerous birds, who represent the various critics
of chemia. Council for the defense is the Hawk; presiding over the
court is the Phoenix, the symbol of the Work’s perfection . . . .
After facing her fellow birds’ accusations, the Owl and her Art are
eventually vindicated by the Hawk’s expert defense, and she is
adjudged Queen of the Birds by the Phoenix.
We now have the newest issues of Hex
Magazine in stock!
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HEX MAGAZINE: ISSUE 8 SPRING/SUMMER
2011
Now printed with a color cover and B/W
interior.
List Price: $11.95
ARTICLES:
Reynardine the Shape-Shifter
[T]hat folk songs by their very nature
change or are changed over the years cannot be disputed, and the ones
that survive do so because they are powerful and/or have something
important to say. The version of Reynardine that A. L. Lloyd left us
with is undoubtedly one such example. Indeed, Winick himself
acknowledges this in the same paper…Article by Michael Berman
The Gods in Our Bodies: Dance as a
Voice of the Heathen Spirit
I worship the gods in many of the
traditional Heathen ways. I offer them drinks of wine and good meals.
I pray to them. I dream of them. I study their history. And I have
found that there is an extremely important method of grounding myself
in my body and the Earth that is often ignored by modern
Heathens—dance.
Article by Salena Glassburn
The Language of Myth: The Highest
God
Were you to ask anyone possessed of
even the faintest familiarity with the Norse myths which god in the
pantheon they believe the most preeminent, you will almost invariably
receive the answer “Odin.” After all, as Snorri informs us: “He
is called All-Father, but in Asgard the Old, he has Twelve names: One
is All-Father, a second is Herann or Herjan, a third is Nikar or
Hnikar, a fourth is Nikuz or Hnikud, a fifth is Fjolnir, a sixth is
Oski, a seventh Omi, an eighth Biflid or Biflindi, a ninth Svidar, a
tenth Svirir, an eleventh Vidrir, and a twelfth Jalg or Jalk […] He
lives through all ages and governs all things in his realm. He
decides all matters great or small. […] He has made heaven, earth
and the skies and everything in them. […] Most important, he
created man and gave him a living spirit that will never die, even if
the body rots or burns to ashes.”
Article by Antonius Block
Heathenism: An Earth-Centered
Religion
It has recently come to my attention
that there are some Heathens who believe that our ancestral religion
has little to do with ecology or reverence for the earth. Such
colossal and inexcusable ignorance on the part of people who ought to
know better requires a response. Reverence for the numinosity of
nature was so pronounced that worship itself was centered in sacred
groves. In addition to quoting classical sources as well as native
Heathen sources, I will be extensively citing from modern studies of
sacred groves in India which underline their religious and ecological
importance, for this is the material which amplifies and brings into
both focus and significance the former sources.
Article by Siegfried Goodfellow
Therapeutic Ancestor Worship
This essay is about örlog – the
layers of causality which shape the present and anticipate the
future; and it is about rethinking the nature of ancestor worship. It
is about healing and growth, which I take as being the highest
expressions of reverence one may have for one’s roots.
It is also an invitation to my reader
to embrace the challenge of coming to terms with the
multi-generational patterns under which each of us live – often
without much awareness.
Article by Henry Lauer
Searching for Sahsnôt
Though Sahsnôt may be taken to mean
“companion of the Saxons” this still does very little to cast
light on his identity. On this question there seem to be three
popular proposals. The first is that Sahsnôt is a god unique to the
Saxon peoples, entirely unknown to the Norse. The second connects him
with Tiuu (ON: Týr). The third identifies him as Frô (ON: Frey). In
searching for Sahsnôt, each of these theories should be given its
due consideration.
Article by Thorbert Línleáh
HEX MAGAZINE: ISSUE 9 FALL/WINTER
2011
Now printed with a color cover and B/W
interior.
List Price: $11.95
ARTICLES:
How Hex Magazine Changed My Life
Old Ways and New Days: A Multi-Issue
Poll of Heathen Thought and Practice
Uuúdenes
Rid (Woden's Ride)
Seasonal Recipes
Six Questions to Six Heathen
Hexologists and Their Six Hexes
Winter Traditions
More:
The Language of Myth: Sky-Father,
Folk-King, and Warlord
The Importance of Sooth in Heathenism
The Sacred and the Holy
Speckled Snake and brother Birch:
Amanita Muscaria Motifs in Celtic Legends
Cover Art: Baba Yaga by Ravenari
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