EDGE OF
THE CIRCLE BOOKS NEWSLETTER
 |
| An altar depicting a three-faced god identified as Lugh/Lugus |
BLESSED
LUGHNASADH!
Gule
of August ,Gŵyl Awst, feast of August, Lammas, Lughnasadh.
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.
THE
VISIONS OF THE PYLONS:
A
Magical Record of Exploration in the Starry Abode
by J.
Daniel Gunther
Hardcover:
224 pages
Publisher:
Ibis Press (June 18, 2018)
List Price:
$40.00
FROM THE
PUBLISHER:
Here is a
modern grimoire and record of a vision quest utilizing Aleister
Crowley’s instructions for astral exploration as given in “Notes
on the Astral Plane,” published in Magick in Theory and Practice.
Daniel
Gunther provides a detailed account and interpretation of a series of
visions exploring the Pylons of the Duat, or “Starry Abode.” To
the ancient Egyptians, the Duat was the place where the sun god Ra
made his 12-hour nocturnal journey through the underworld.
The Visions
of the Pylons describes a perilous journey where the gate of each
hour is protected by a fearful guardian or “watcher.” In modern
Jungian psychology terms, the Duat is a representation of the
unconscious of mankind, inhabited by gods and daemons, the living
symbols called primordial images or archetypes.
The
author’s study of the ancient texts led him to suspect that these
Pylons were also hidden gateways to the higher planes of the Tree of
Life, possibly including secret entrances to the thirty Aethyrs as
described by Elizabethan magician John Dee.
**
LIBER
420:
Cannabis,
Magickal Herbs and the Occult
by
Chris Bennett
Paperback:
777 pages
Publisher:
Trine Day; 1 edition (April 20, 2018)
List Price:
$34.95
FROM THE
PUBLISHER:
Although
little known, cannabis and other psychoactive plants held a prominent
and important role in the Occult arts of Alchemy and Magic, as well
as being used in ritual initiations of certain secret societies.
Find out
about the important role cannabis played in helping to develop modern
medicines through alchemical works. Cannabis played a pivotal role in
spagyric alchemy, and appears in the works of alchemists such as
Zosimos, Avicenna, Llull, Paracelsus, Cardano and Rabelais. Cannabis
also played a pivotal role in medieval and renaissance magic and
recipes with instructions for its use appear in a number of
influential and important grimoires such as the Picatrix, Sepher
Raxiel: Liber Salomonis, and The Book of Oberon. Could cannabis be
the Holy Grail? With detailed historical references, the author
explores the allegations the Templars were influenced by the hashish
ingesting Assassins of medieval Islam, and that myths of the Grail
are derived from the Persian traditions around the sacred beverage
known as haoma, which was a preparation of cannabis,opium and other
drugs. Many of the works discussed, have never been translated into
English, or published in centuries.
The
unparalleled research in this volume makes it a potential perennial
classic on the subjects of both medieval and renaissance history of
cannabis, as well as the role of plants in the magical and occult
traditions.
**
SHARDS
OF A BROKEN MYSTERY:
Restoring
Hekate and Our Divine Feminine Soul
by
Shira Marin
Paperback:
476 pages
Publisher:
Mute Swan Publishing (September 17, 2017)
List Price:
$35.95
FROM THE
PUBLISHER:
Shards of a
Broken Mystery: The Restoration of Hekate records the real-time
unfolding of the relationship between the author and a Titan Greek
goddess, Hekate: denigrated, discarded, and all but forgotten during
the rise of the patriarchy in millennia past. The work could be
called a psychoactive memoir as page after page seeds and grows a
sense of inner process. This book supports the evolving nature of
full, true psychological development, including a fresh perspective
on the often discussed shadow aspect of the human condition.
**
THE
SECRETS OF SOLOMON:
A
Witch's Handbook from the trial records of the Venetian Inquisition
by
Joseph H Peterson
Paperback:
254 pages
Publisher:
Twilit Grotto Press (May 26, 2018)
List Price:
$23.95
FROM THE
PUBLISHER:
A witch's
handbook from the trial records of the Venetian Inquisition.
This
grimoire, or handbook of magic, was confiscated by the Venetian
Inquisition in 1636 from practicing witches. After decades of
searching for this elusive text, I now have the pleasure of
presenting and translating it here for the first time. It contains
their secret techniques for dealing with the more dangerous spirits
or daemons, intentionally scattered and hidden within a collection of
“secrets” comprising many detailed examples. Together these
provide enough clues to enable practitioners to create their own
spells for working with all the spirits cataloged.
It
distinguishes itself as a supplement to the better known Clavicula or
Key of Solomon; whereas that text focuses on aerial spirits, this one
focuses on chthonic spirits.
This text
is one of the primary original sources for the popular Grimorium
Verum.
**
A
WITCH'S NATURAL HISTORY
by
Giles Watson (Author, Illustrator)
Paperback:
174 pages
Publisher:
Troy Books (February 1, 2013)
List Price:
$18.95
FROM THE
PUBLISHER:
A Witch’s
Natural History, originally published as a series of essays in The
Cauldron, is a meditation on the relationship between folklore and
nature. The world’s dogmatic religions all have their devotional
texts, and biological science, too, has its own rationalistic
equivalents, from Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle to Richard
Dawkins’s The Ancestor’s Tale. Natural historians have written
their works of devotion to the works of nature: a genre which has
been recognisable ever since Gilbert White wrote The Natural History
of Selborne. It is at work in the poems of John Clare, and the essays
of W.H. Hudson, Richard Jefferies and Richard Mabey, but it also
stands at the centre of the beliefs and practices of modern pagans. A
Witch’s Natural History is intended as a small contribution to
modern witchcraft’s own devotional literature of nature, drawing on
scientific, folkloric and experiential sources.
Giles
Watson explores the lore, legends and life-histories of a selection
of animals which are commonly employed as motifs in the history of
witchcraft: culturally maligned creatures such as reptiles,
amphibians, crows and rats. He also casts light on the magical
significance of more commonly neglected birds, spiders, insects and
snails, before turning his attention to plants, and whole ecosystems
which have cultural associations with witchcraft. He combines a call
for a new reverence for nature with a fascination for some of
folklore’s strangest representations of our dependence upon it:
from the toad-bone amulet in East Anglian witchcraft to the seductive
Queen Rat of the Toshers in Bermondsey. This is a book not only for
those practitioners of the Craft who wish to be more informed in
their response to the natural world – but also for anyone who is
interested in natural history and its impact on folkloric beliefs and
practices.
Contents:
- Pagination: 174 pages, plus 18 illustrations by the author.
- Preface
- Unfamiliar Spiders
- The Witch and the Insect
- Slugs, Snails and Sorcery
- The Curse of the Oracle: Corvids in myth and lore
- Yaffles, Gabble-Ratchets, Wudu-Snites and Assilags
- ‘Foul and Loathsome Animals’: Amphibians and the Lore of the Witch
- Adder’s Fork and Blind-Worm’s Sting’: the Magical Reptile
- The Queen Rat and the Hanoverian Curse
- Cryptogams: The Spore-Bearing Plants
- Through the Lychgate
- The Witch by the Hedge
- The Witch by Moor and Wood and Shore
- Beyond the Crooked Stile 139
- Epilogue ~ The Living Bones: A Meditation
**
THE
DRUID REVIVAL READER
by
John Michael Greer
Paperback:
240 pages
Publisher:
Lorian Press/ Starseed Publications (July 28, 2011)
List Price:
$19.95
FROM THE
PUBLISHER:
In the
midst of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, a handful of British
intellectuals turned their backs on the social and cultural trends of
their time and set out to reinvent the spirituality of the ancient
Druids. The movement that rose out of this effort played a central
role in struggles for cultural identity in most of the Celtic nations
of Europe, provided inspiration to such world-class creative talents
as William Blake and Frank Lloyd Wright, and inspired an innovative
tradition of Western nature spirituality that remains active to this
day.
The Druid
Revival Reader provides the first collection of original writings
from that movement. Its selections, beginning with William Stukeley's
survey of Druid theology from 1743 and ending with Ross Nichols' 1947
essay "An Examination of Creative Myth," cover two
centuries in the life of an evolving tradition.
Edited and
introduced by contemporary Druid John Michael Greer, The Druid
Revival Reader is essential for understanding the sources of modern
Druid and Pagan traditions, and offers a wealth of insights relevant
to the ecological and spiritual crises of our own time.
**
DICTIONARY
OF GYPSY MYTHOLOGY:
Charms,
Rites, and Magical Traditions of the Roma
by
Claude Lecouteux
Hardcover:
192 pages
Publisher:
Inner Traditions; 1 edition (July 10, 2018)
List Price:
$29.99
FROM THE
PUBLISHER:
A
comprehensive A-to-Z reconstruction of the oral tradition of the
Rom--gypsies--based on sources never before available in English
• Presents
the origin myths and magical traditions of the gypsies, including
their legendary ties to Egypt, animal ancestors, and tree spirits
• Examines
the three major settings of gypsy folktales--the forest, the waters,
and the mountain--and shows how their world is full of spirits
• Shows
how the religious concepts of the Rom testify to a profound
syncretism of the pagan traditions and Christianity
Although
their own myths and their common name point to Egyptian origins for
the gypsies, the Rom, as they call themselves, originated in India,
as evidenced by studies of their language. They arrived in Europe in
the ninth century and spread across the continent from East to West,
reaching England in the 15th century and Scandinavia by the end of
the 16th century. A nomadic people, these wanderers were reviled by
local populaces wherever they went and regarded as misfits,
intruders, foreigners, and thieves.
Drawing on
a number of sources never before available outside of Eastern Europe,
Claude Lecouteux reconstructs the gypsy oral tradition to provide a
comprehensive A-to-Z look at gypsy mythology, including their
folktales, rites, songs, nursery rhymes, jokes, and magical
traditions. His main source is material collected by Heinrich
Adalbert von Wlislocki (1856-1907), an ethnologist who lived with
gypsies in Romania, Transylvania, and Hungary in the latter half of
the 19th century. He presents the origin myths of the gypsies,
legends which form the ancestral memory of the gypsy tribes and often
closely touch on their daily life.
Lecouteux
explores the full range of supernatural beings that inhabit the gypsy
world, including fairies, undines, ogres, giants, dog-people, and
demons, and he examines the three major settings of gypsy
folktales--the forest, the waters, and the mountain, which they
worshiped as a sacred being in its own right. He also reveals how
coexisting with peoples of different religions led the gypsies to
adapt or borrow stories and figures from these groups, and he shows
how the religious concepts and sacred stories of the Rom testify to a
profound syncretism of pagan traditions and Christianity.
Complete
with rare illustrations and information from obscure sources
appearing for the first time in English, this detailed reference work
represents an excellent resource for scholars and those seeking to
reconnect to their forgotten gypsy heritage.
**
EGREGORES:
The
Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny
by
Mark Stavish (Author), James Wasserman (Foreword)
Paperback:
160 pages
Publisher:
Inner Traditions (July 10, 2018)
List Price:
$16.99
FROM THE
PUBLISHER:
The first
book to explore the history and influence of egregores,
powerful autonomous psychic entities created by a collective group
mind
• Examines
the history of egregores from ancient times to present day, including
their role in Western Mystery traditions and popular culture and
media
• Reveals
documented examples of egregores from ancient Greece and Rome,
Tibetan Buddhism, Islam, modern esoteric orders, the writings of H.
P. Lovecraft and Kenneth Grant, and the followers of Julius Evola and
Aleister Crowley
• Provides
instructions on how to identify egregores, free yourself from
parasitic and destructive entities, and destroy an egregore, should
the need arise
One of most
important but little known concepts of Western occultism is that of
the egregore, an autonomous psychic entity created by a collective
group mind. An egregore is sustained by belief, ritual, and sacrifice
and relies upon the devotion of a group of people, from a small coven
to an entire nation, for its existence. An egregore that receives
enough sustenance can take on a life of its own, becoming an
independent deity with powers its believers can use to further their
own spiritual advancement and material desires.
Presenting
the first book devoted to the study of egregores, Mark Stavish
examines the history of egregores from ancient times to present day,
with detailed and documented examples, and explores how they are
created, sustained, directed, and destroyed. He explains how
egregores were well known in the classical period of ancient Greece
and Rome, when they were consciously called into being to watch over
city states. He explores the egregore concept as it was understood in
various Western Mystery traditions, including the Corpus Hermeticum,
and offers further examples from Tibetan Buddhism, Islam, modern
esoteric orders such as the Order of the Golden Dawn and
Rosicrucianism, the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and Kenneth Grant,
and the followers of Julius Evola and Aleister Crowley. The author
discusses how, even as the fundamental principles of the egregore
were forgotten, egregores continue to be formed, sometimes by
accident.
Stavish
provides instructions on how to identify egregores, free yourself
from a parasitic and destructive collective entity, and destroy an
egregore, should the need arise. Revealing how egregores form the
foundation of nearly all human interactions, the author shows how
egregores have moved into popular culture and media--underscoring the
importance of intense selectivity in the information we accept and
the ways we perceive the world and our place in it.
**
HEART
VISION:
Tarot's
Inner Path
by
Michael Orlando Yaccarino (Author), Nomandi Ellis (Afterword),
Rachel Pollack (Foreword)
Paperback:
284 pages
Publisher:
Mandrake of Oxford, (December 21, 2017)
List Price:
$22.00
FROM THE
PUBLISHER:
Each of us
is traveling upon an ever-evolving path toward greater illumination.
The Tarot can provide deep awareness on many levels. Performed
effectively, a Tarot reading encourages individual strengths, while
proposing options to overcoming unhelpful blocks. Revelation unfolds
within the open heart. The mystical deck has fascinated both
nonprofessional and paranormal scholar alike since its early
development in the 15th century. Today, a myriad of books on using
the cards’ to read for others is readily available. However, few
works focus exclusively on the process of self-reading. Heart Vision:
Tarot’s Inner Path is your in-depth, hands-on guide for a balanced
path of discovery through the art of the solitary reading.
Highlights
include card-by-card message interpretations; a special focus on
self-contemplation; the step-by-step process of self-reading unique
to this work; and a variety of simple yet powerful spreads utilizing
no more than six cards original to this book, many illuminated by
actual self-readings. World-leading Tarot authority Rachel Pollack
provides an insightful foreword. Award-winning author and specialist
in Ancient Egyptian spirituality, Normandi Ellis offers an
illuminating afterword. In addition to the wisdom of diverse
spiritual traditions, the text includes exclusive comments by a
variety of contemporary luminaries in the realms of the mystical and
magical. And acclaimed artists Scot D. Ryersson, Gary Lund, and David
Palladini all contribute to the book’s stunning illustrations.
Enriched throughout by the wisdom of diverse spiritual traditions, in
these pages you will find an innovative pathway to inner
transformation.
The author
has read, taught, and written about the Tarot for many years. He
holds degrees in psychology and film studies from New York
University. Previous books co-authored with Scot D. Ryersson include:
Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati, The
Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a Muse, and The Princess of Wax: A
Cruel Tale. Also with Ryersson, he co-edited Spectral Haunts and
Phantom Lovers. Visit marchesacasati.com to learn more.
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 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 SEPTEMBER 1st, 2018
Raven,
Editrix, Edge of the Circle Books Newsletter
**
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