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- golanv1@yahoo.com
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.
Edge of
the Circle Books strives to be your ideal Magical Pagan store.
Open 7
days a week, Noon 'till 8pm.A
Call:
206-PAN-1999
**
We
are also now on Facebook:
Become a
Fan; post your event on the discussion page!
Also on
Facebook: THE SEATTLE PAGAN, OCCULT AND METAPHYSICAL RESOURCE BOARD
has been created in order to facilitate networking throughout the
Pacific Northwest.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1000179343332589/
If
you have a Magical Group, Ritual Group, Pagan Church or organization,
Druid Grove, please feel free to post your events and classes here.
Meetups,
talks, book signings, public rituals, etc—all are welcome here.
We'd prefer
no advertisements for Professional Readers, Reiki practitioners, etc.
However, if you are teaching a class, or giving a workshop or talk,
feel free to post your event.
This group
is specifically for sharing events of interest to the local
community, it is not meant for discussing magical paths and
traditions, or asking general questions about magick or paganism.
Please remain civil, do disparaging posts about groups or
individuals. Off topic posts WILL be moderated.
..and
check out the Edge’s new TUMBLR Page!
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!
No
charge if your class or event is free!
Prices
subject to change without notice.
ALEISTER
CROWLEY IN AMERICA:
Art,
Espionage, and Sex Magick in the New World
by
Tobias Churton
Hardcover: 768 pages
Publisher: Inner Traditions
(December 5, 2017)
List Price: $40.00
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
An exploration of Crowley’s
relationship with the United States
• Details Crowley’s
travels, passions, literary and artistic endeavors, sex magick, and
psychedelic experimentation
• Investigates Crowley’s
undercover intelligence adventures that actively promoted U.S.
involvement in WWI
• Includes an abundance of
previously unpublished letters and diaries
Occultist, magician, poet,
painter, and writer Aleister Crowley’s three sojourns in America
sealed both his notoriety and his lasting influence. Using previously
unpublished diaries and letters, Tobias Churton traces Crowley’s
extensive travels through America and his quest to implant a new
magical and spiritual consciousness in the United States, while
working to undermine Germany’s propaganda campaign to keep the
United States out of World War I.
Masterfully recreating
turn-of-the-century America in all its startling strangeness, Churton
explains how Crowley arrived in New York amid dramatic circumstances
in 1900. After other travels, in 1914 Crowley returned to the U.S.
and stayed for five years: turbulent years that changed him, the
world, and the face of occultism forever. Diving deeply into
Crowley’s 5-year stay, we meet artists, writers, spies, and
government agents as we uncover Crowley’s complex work for British
and U.S. intelligence agencies. Exploring Crowley’s involvement
with the birth of the Greenwich Village radical art scene, we
discover his relations with writers Sinclair Lewis and Theodore
Dreiser and artists John Butler Yeats, Leon Engers Kennedy, and
Robert Winthrop Chanler while living and lecturing on now-vanished
“Genius Row.” We experience his love affairs and share Crowley’s
hard times in New Orleans and his return to health, magical dynamism,
and the most colorful sex life in America. We examine his
controversial political stunts, his role in the sinking of the
passenger ship Lusitania, his making of the “Elixir of Life” in
1915, his psychedelic experimentation, his prolific literary
achievements, and his run-in with Detroit Freemasonry. We also
witness Crowley’s influence on Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard
and rocket fuel genius Jack Parsons. We learn why J. Edgar Hoover
wouldn’t let Crowley back in the country and why the FBI raided
Crowley’s organization in LA.
Offering a 20th-century
history of the occult movement in the United States, Churton shows
how Crowley’s U.S. visits laid the groundwork for the establishment
of his syncretic “religion” of Thelema and the now flourishing
OTO, as well as how Crowley’s final wish was to have his ashes
scattered in the Hamptons.
**
SIGIL
WITCHERY:
A
Witch's Guide to Crafting Magick Symbols
by
Laura Tempest Zakroff
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publications (January 8, 2018)
List Price: $19.99
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Discover the Power of Line
and Symbol~
Visual Magick for Everyone~
Sigils are magical symbols
that are designed to influence ourselves and the world around us.
Tracing through history, art, and culture, this illustrated book
offers an innovative and fresh approach to sigil magick that is
accessible and intuitive. You don't need a degree in art or magick to
make effective sigils!
Learn how to manifest your
will through your very own designs. Explore traditional and modern
meanings of shapes, symbols, numbers, letters, and colors, while
receiving guid- ance on how to add personal meaning to your marks.
Sigil Witchery includes methods of application, tips for choosing
materials, and important considerations for both temporary and
permanent sigils. This book helps you improve your drawing
techniques, use sample exercises to challenge yourself, and gain
deeper metaphysical insight and inspiration―all to guide you to
develop your own powerful sigil magick.
**
JOURNEYS
IN THE KALI YUGA:
A
Pilgrimage from Esoteric India to Pagan Europe
by
Aki Cederberg
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Destiny Books; 1
edition (December 12, 2017)
List Price: $16.95
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
A beautifully evocative
account of one man’s odyssey to discover authentic and unbroken
magical traditions in the East and reawaken them in the West
• Details the author’s
encounters with the Naga Babas, his initiation into their tradition,
and his experience at the Kumbh Mela, the largest spiritual gathering
on Earth
• Shares the similarities
he discovered between the teachings of the Indian tradition and the
Western traditions of magic, alchemy, and pagan pantheons
• Introduces a wide cast
of characters, including Goa Gil, the world-renowned guru of the Goa
techno-trance scene, and Mahant Amar Bharti Ji, a “raised-arm
Baba,” who for more than 40 years has held up one arm in devotion
to Shiva
Beautifully detailing his
spiritual pilgrimage from West to East and back again, in the age of
strife known as the Kali Yuga, Aki Cederberg shares the authentic and
unbroken magical traditions he experienced in India and Nepal and how
his search for a spiritual homeland ultimately led him back to his
native Europe.
Cederberg explains how his
odyssey began as a search for spiritual roots, something missing in
the spiritually disconnected life of the Western world, where the
indigenous traditions were long ago severed by the spread of
Christianity. Traveling to India, he encounters the ancient esoteric
order of mystic, wild, naked holy men known as the Naga Babas, the
living source of the Hindu traditions of magic and yoga. Immersing
himself in the teachings of the tradition, he receives an initiation
and partakes in the Kumbh Mela, the largest spiritual gathering on
Earth. With his evocative descriptions, Cederberg shows how traveling
in India can be an overwhelming, even psychedelic experience.
Everything in this ancient land is multiplied and manifold: people
and things, sights and sounds, joy and suffering. Yet beyond the
apparent confusion and chaos, a strange, subtle order begins to
reveal itself. He starts to glimpse resemblances and analogies
between the teachings of the Indian tradition and the Western
traditions of magic, alchemy, and pagan pantheons. He meets a wide
cast of characters, from mystical hucksters in Rishikesh and the
veritable army of naked, chillum-smoking mystics of Maya Devi to Goa
Gil, the world-renowned guru of the Goa techno-trance scene, and
Mahant Amar Bharti Ji, an urdhvabahu or “raised-arm Baba,” who
for more than 40 years has held up one arm in devotion to Shiva.
After extensive traveling
and immersing himself in the extraordinary world of India, Cederberg
returns to his native soil of Europe. Traveling to holy places where
old pagan divinities still linger in the shadows of the modern world,
he dreams of forgotten gods and contemplates how they might be
awakened yet again, reconnecting the West with its own pre-Christian
spiritual traditions, sacred landscapes, and soul.
**
THE
THORNISH PATH:
A
Neo-Tribal Tradition
by
Jack Wolf
Paperback: 236 pages
Publisher: Mandrake (October
31, 2016)
List Price: $22.00
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
From words of prophecy made
in earlier times, to the newsfeeds of the today’s internet, more
and more people are becoming aware of the changes taking place in the
world. The old and much abused industrial model, driven largely by
human ignorance and greed, has placed the future of both humankind
and the Earth herself on a path to a questionable future. But there
is hope.
Over the past handful of
decades, a great many people have been awakening to the realities of
the world but as well, also hearing – and heeding – the call from
the wisdom that lies in the heart of all human beings. It is a call
to an older way, a better way; a way of returning to the realms of
deeper spirit; of magic and of tribe. As individuals and as groups,
those who have heard this call of the heart are rising to once again
take their place as true human beings: as stewards of the land.
Canadian author Jack
Wolf brings us a collection of stories from one such group of
Earth-stewards. He does so with the desire that what he shares will
kindle the fires of awakening in the hearts and minds of those who
are ready for the return of the primal spark-of-hope.
Told in the narrative
form, The Thornish Path, is intended to provide the reader with an
intimate glimpse into the workings and relationships found within
this formerly secret society. It is also intended as an introduction
to this unique tradition for those who may wish to explore further.
Thornish people believe
that they are but one tradition of many emerging now, into the modern
world in order to be of assistance in the ongoing battle to heal the
Earth, and in the words of Jack Wolf: “The time has come for the
folk of the green to come into their own – as protectors and
managers of the Earth, not the despoilers of it.”
**
CELESTIAL
ARCANA:
Precession,
Tarot & the Secret Doctrine
by
Titus Salmon
Hardcover: 402 pages
Publisher: Mandrake
(November 30, 2017)
List Price: $45.00
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
This book is an in-depth
study of Tarot symbolism that explores the Arcana’s mythology and
how it relates to the phenomenon of precession and the Secret
Doctrine of Aeonic succession. Much of the symbolism is shown to have
been derived from ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Hellenistic, and medieval
customs, rituals, and myths, which are traced at least as far back as
the Age of Taurus (c. 4200-2100 BCE).
The annual flooding of the
Nile River, and its connection to the star Sirius was of paramount
importance to the equatorial cultures of this era, and it is
demonstrated how much of the mythology and symbolism of later Ages
are derived from this fundamental mythos – in which the Mother
Goddess was revered rather than vilified, as the case has
subsequently become during the Ages of Aries and Pisces.
The ancient Egyptians were
quite aware of the phenomenon of precession well before it was
“discovered” by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus during the
Hellenistic era. Plato recounts how the Egyptian priests of the 7th
century BCE maintained that they had knowledge of multiple
precessional cycles, and the concomitant periodic destruction of
humanity through various celestial cataclysms. Ancient Hindu
knowledge of this cycle led to the development of the Yuga concept,
wherein each Yuga represents a portion of the Great Year with unique
celestial characteristics that influence the relative level of
humanity’s spiritual advancement.
The structural components of
the celestial sphere are shown to be keys to unlocking much of the
symbolism behind various esoteric constructs and symbols, such as the
Kabbalistic Tree of Life, Yggdrasil, the Enneagram, the Great Seal of
the United States, and the Porta Alchemica. These keys are then
applied to the Major Arcana in a multifaceted approach that considers
astromythology, equinoctial precession, and ancient modes of
chronometry in the examination of trump attributions.
Previous systems are
discussed, drawing from various historical sources, such as Arthur
Waite, Aleister Crowley, A. E. Thierens, Eliphas Levi, and Antoine
Court de Gebelin. The tradition of ascribing a Hebraic letter to each
of the 22 trumps is also addressed, and a new system is proposed.
This system interprets the threefold categorization of the Hebraic
alphabet into the “3 mothers,” “7 doubles,” and “12
simples,” according to the celestial mechanism of precession.
**
**
SPIRITSONG
TAROT
by
Paulina Cassidy
78 cards
and 108-page Guidebook; Boxed Set
Publisher:
U.S. Games Systems Inc.; Pap/Crds edition (October 30, 2017)
List Price;
$23.95
This
Spiritsong deck is a melding of two traditions of divination: one in
which animals are seen as guides between our world and the spirit
world, and one that uses 78 cards as a tool to connect with our
highest self. Each animal was specifically selected based upon
Shamanic and Native American symbolism, merging each animal’s
unique power with classic tarot practices. For example, the
Spiritsong animal, Raven, has attributes such as ‘creation’ that
parallels some of the same symbolic tarot attributes of the
traditional Magician card, which is why the Raven is the animal
representing that card.
The
Spiritsong Tarot structure is based on the traditional tarot,
containing the 22 Majors, the 56 Minors, and four suits: Acorns for
Wands/Fire; Feathers for Swords/Air; Shells for Cups/Water; and
Crystals for Pentacles/Earth.
Connected
to the portals of higher worlds, the 78 Spiritsong animals are
mentors of divine guidance. Bearing their own Shamanic powers,
they’re forever open to providing their energy when called upon.
They’re always available to help you attain your greatest spiritual
potential. If you ask, they will provide guidance needed to assist
you in finding the best remedy for any situation. Set includes 78
cards and 108-page guidebook.
**
MARGARETE
PETERSEN TAROT
by
Margarete Petersen
A.G.
Müller-Urania, 2017
78 cards,
book ad deck set.
card
language: English, booklet: English, 78 pp.
Margarete
Petersen Tarot
List Price:
$39.95
FROM THE
PUBLISHER:
In her own
ingenious way Margarete Petersen has created and lived the Tarot
cards since 1979. The Berlin based artist succeeded in creating
archetypical motifs, although or perhaps because she has often broken
with traditional imagery. Various forms of contemporary art and
spirituality as well as the traditional structure contributed to the
paintings.
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!
We
have Seattle's best Psychic Readers, in house, 7 days a week, from
2pm—8pm.
*
DON'T
FORGET THAT WE HAVE MOVED!!!!
We
are NOW located at: 1307 NE 45th St., between Brooklyn Ave NE and
University Way NE, next to the Neptune Theatre, in the University
District.
This
concludes our Newsletter for this month.
Look for
us again FEBRUARY 1st, 2018!!!!
Raven,
Editrix, Edge of the Circle Books Newsletter
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