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Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence and the Occult
Richard B. Spence - 2008
His wide, hypnotic eyes peer at us from the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his influence can be found everywhere in popular culture.Crowley, also known as the Great Beast, has been the subject of several biographies, some painting him as a misunderstood genius, others as a manipulative charlatan. None of them have looked seriously at his career as an agent of British Intelligence.Using documents gleaned from British, American, French, and Italian archives, Secret Agent 666 sensationally reveals that Crowley played a major role in the sinking of the Lusitania, a plot to overthrow the government of Spain, the thwarting of Irish and Indian nationalist conspiracies, and the 1941 flight of Rudolf Hess.Author Richard B. Spence argues that Crowley—in his own unconventional way—was a patriotic Englishman who endured years of public vilification in part to mask his role as a secret agent.The verification of the Great Beast’s participation in the twentieth century’s most astounding government plots will likely blow the minds of history buff s and occult aficionados alike.Author Richard B. Spence can be seen on various documentaries on the History Channel and is a consultant for Washington, DC’s International Spy Museum. He is also the author of Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly (Feral House).
The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life
Jessa Crispin - 2016
Jessa Crispin guides you through the intuitive world of the tarot to get those creative juices flowing again. Thought to be esoteric and mystical, tarot cards are approachable and endlessly helpful to overcoming creative blocks. Crispin offers spiritual readings of the cards, practical information for the uninspired artist, and a wealth of fascinating anecdotes about famous artists including Virginia Woolf, Rembrandt, and David Bowie, and how they found inspiration. With five original tarot spreads and beautiful illustrations throughout, The Creative Tarot is an accessible, colorful guide that demystifies both the tarot and the creative process.
The Occult Book: A Chronological Journey from Alchemy to Wicca
John Michael Greer - 2017
Take an enlightening journey through occult history, exploring 100 dramatic incidents, arcane knowledge, and key historical figures from around the world. John Michael Greer delves into two millennia of tradition, from the earliest alchemists to pagan rituals; from the Philosopher’s Stone to Cabala, the first tarot, and the Knights Templar; and from the first horoscopes to fortune-telling trials and the birth of modern witchcraft, or Wicca. Each entry features a stunning image or intriguing item of ephemera.
Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice
Robert Lawlor - 1982
Robert Lawlor sets out the system that determines the dimension and the form of both man-made and natural structures, from Gothic cathedrals to flowers, from music to the human body. By also involving the reader in practical experiments, he leads with ease from simple principles to a grasp of the logarithmic spiral, the Golden Proportion, the squaring of the circle and other ubiquitous ratios and proportions.Art and Imagination: These large-format, gloriously-illustrated paperbacks cover Eastern and Western religion and philosophy, including myth and magic, alchemy and astrology. The distinguished authors bring a wealth of knowledge, visionary thinking and accessible writing to each intriguing subject.
The Complete Picatrix: The Occult Classic of Astrological Magic Liber Atratus Edition
Maslama Al-Majriti
With all four books of the Latin Picatrix complete in one volume, translated & annotated by the noted scholars, magicians and astrologers John Michael Greer & Christopher Warnock, Picatrix takes its rightful place as an essential occult text. Picatrix is an encyclopedic work with over 300 pages of Hermetic magical philosophy, ritual, talismanic and natural magic. Greer & Warnock’s complete translation is lucid and well annotated. Renaissance Astrology & Adocentyn Press have released the complete Picatrix in a variety of different editions, including the Liber Atratus and Liber Rubeus editions. All editions contain the same basic text, but add additional variant passages, either from the Arabic Picatrix or authors cited, but not found in the Latin Picatrix. The Liber Atratus edition adds a passage on poisons from Ibn Washiyya’s Book of Poisons.
Folk Witchcraft: A Guide to Lore, Land, and the Familiar Spirit for the Solitary Practitioner
Roger J. Horne - 2019
Experienced witches will deepen and enrich their practices by connecting more fully to traditional magics from hundreds of years in the past.Learn how to: -Master ecstatic methods of spirit-flight described in witch-lore-Celebrate the turning of the seasons with traditional rituals-Cultivate closer relationships with nature spirits and personal familiars-Work powerful traditional charms, such as the witches' ladder, the poppet, and blessing/cursing by gesture-Discern the magical properties of herbs and plants without relying on tables from books-Augur practical guidance from the spirit world-utilize old craft incantations, remedies, and recipes-Connect with the Old Ones, the ancestors of Folk Witchcraft-Experience shapeshifting into various animal spirit forms-Craft herbal unguents, oils, powders, tinctures, and infusions-Interpret incantations, charms, and sigils received from your own familiar spirits-Research and hone your own lore and grimoire-sourced magical practicesWith over 50 rituals, charms, and exercises, Folk Witchcraft offers a refreshingly simple approach to the craft that is non-dogmatic, flexible, and rewarding as a personal spiritual practice
The I Ching or Book of Changes
Richard Wilhelm
It has exerted a living influence in China for 3000 years and interest in it has spread in the West. Set down in the dawn of history as a book of oracles, the Book of Changes deepened in meaning when ethical values were attached to the oracular pronouncements; it became a book of wisdom, eventually one of the Five Classics of Confucianism, and provided the common source for both Confucianist and Taoist philosophy. Wilhelm's rendering of the I Ching into German, published in 1924, presented it for the 1st time in a form intelligible to the general reader. Wilhelm, who translated many other ancient Chinese works and who wrote several books on Chinese philosophy and civilization, long resided in China. His close association with its cultural leaders gave him a unique understanding of the text of the I Ching. In the English translation, every effort has been made to preserve Wilhelm's pioneering insight into the spirit of the original.This 3rd edition, completely reset, contains a new forward by Hellmut Wilhelm, one of the most eminent American scholars of Chinese culture. He discusses his father's textual methods and summarizes recent studies of the I Ching both in the West and in present-day China. The new edition contains minor textual corrections, bibliographical revisions and an index.
The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy of Personal Transformation
Dennis William Hauck - 1999
Ostensibly concerned with turning base metals into gold, alchemy was in fact dedicated to transforming the lead of self into the gold of spirit. This brilliant history of alchemy traces its sources back to ancient Egypt, and presents alchemy as a useful, practical system of self-transformation. Each of the seven steps of alchemical transformation is explained, with hands-on techniques and exercises, treating alchemy as a living discipline for achieving a spiritual awakening.
Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey Into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism
Daniel Pinchbeck - 2002
While psychedelics of all sorts are demonized in America today, the visionary compounds found in plants are the spiritual sacraments of tribal cultures around the world. From the iboga of the Bwiti in Gabon, to the Mazatecs of Mexico, these plants are sacred because they awaken the mind to other levels of awareness--to a holographic vision of the universe.Breaking Open the Head is a passionate, multilayered, and sometimes rashly personal inquiry into this deep division. On one level, Daniel Pinchbeck tells the story of the encounters between the modern consciousness of the West and these sacramental substances, including such thinkers as Allen Ginsberg, Antonin Artaud, Walter Benjamin, and Terence McKenna, and a new underground of present-day ethnobotanists, chemists, psychonauts, and philosophers. It is also a scrupulous recording of the author's wide-ranging investigation with these outlaw compounds, including a thirty-hour tribal initiation in West Africa; an all-night encounter with the master shamans of the South American rain forest; and a report from a psychedelic utopia in the Black Rock Desert that is the Burning Man Festival.Breaking Open the Head is brave participatory journalism at its best, a vivid account of psychic and intellectual experiences that opened doors in the wall of Western rationalism and completed Daniel Pinchbeck's personal transformation from a jaded Manhattan journalist to shamanic initiate and grateful citizen of the cosmos.
Real Magic: An Introductory Treatise on the Basic Principles of Yellow Light
Isaac Bonewits - 1971
Examines every category of occult phenomena from ESP to Eastern ritual and explores the basic laws of magic, relating them to the natural laws of the universe.
Moon Spells: How to Use the Phases of the Moon to Get What You Want
Diane Ahlquist - 2002
Now, through the magick of Moon Spells, you can learn how to use its energies to achieve your desire--whether it's a joyful romance, a successful career, or superb physical and emotional health.Magickal practitioner Diane Ahlquist guides you on a journey to attuning your spirit with the moon. You'll be amazed at how much more you can achieve in life when you synchronize your activities with the moon's phases. With the proper use of candles, gemstones, and incense, spells can be conducted at exactly the right lunar moment to enhance the flow of power and make your wishes come true.By practicing the spells in this book, you can be more successful, more often, when you want to get a pay raise, release your fears, attract a lover, receive divine messages, begin a new life, or move on after a loss. The moon, our closest celestial neighbor, continues to offer you her power. Moon Spells shows you how to embrace it.
Entering the Diamond Way: My Path Among the Lamas
Ole Nydahl - 1985
This is the genuinely compelling story, and spiritual odyssey, of Ole and Hannah Nydahl, who in 1968 became the first Western students of the great Tibetan master, His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. Their exciting travels on the worn path between the green lowlands of Europe to the peaks of the Himalayas, led them to experience the skillful teachings of numerous Tibetan lamas who helped transform their lives into "limitless clarity and joy." From their first contact with Tibetan Buddhism in Kathmandu in the form of a lama with extraordinary psychic powers, Ole and Hannah encountered the full spectrum of the Buddhist "view." Their aim in writing this book is "to form a bridge between two worlds, and especially to share with all who are looking for their true being ... an introduction to a time-proven way to Enlightenment." "One cannot really transmit anything, except what one has directly experienced, and the reason many of you will be able to identify with what happened to us is that, deep within, we are so very much alike."
Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work
Gary Lachman - 2007
People everywhere have heard of Waldorf schools, Biodynamic farming, Camphill Villages, and other innovations of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Indeed, Steiner-as an architect, artist, teacher, and agriculturalist-ranks among the most creative and prolific figures of the early twentieth century, pioneering work in alternative education, holistic health, and environmental research. While his accomplishments are felt all over the world, few people understand this unusual figure. Steiner's own writings and lectures fill several bookcases, intimidating those who would like to know more. Works on Steiner are often dense and "insider" in tone, further deterring the curious. No popular biography, written by a sympathetic but critical outsider, has been available. Gary Lachman's Rudolf Steiner provides this missing introduction. Along with telling Steiner's story and placing Steiner in his historical context, Lachman's book presents Steiner's key ideas in a readable, accessible manner. In particular, Lachman considers the spread of Steiner's most popular projects, which include Waldorf schools-one of the leading forms of alternative education-and Biodynamic farming-a popular precursor to organic farming. He also traces Steiner's beginnings as a young intellectual in the ferment of fin de si?cle culture, to his rise as a thought leader within the influential occult movement of Theosophy, to the founding of his own metaphysical teaching called Anthroposophy. Finally, the book illustrates how Steiner's methods are put into practice today, and relates Steiner's insights into cosmology to the work of current thinkers. Rudolf Steiner is a full-bodied portrait of one of the most original philosophical and spiritual luminaries of the last two centuries, and gives those interested in the history of ideas the opportunity to discover one of the most underappreciated figures of the twentieth century.
Doing Magic: A Course in Manifesting an Exceptional Life (Book 2)
Genevieve Davis - 2014
In these two books, I outline the exact steps which enabled me to move my own life from one of poverty and drudgery, to manifesting one of previously unimaginable wealth, purpose and joy. ‘But Magic? I do hope you are joking!’ That’s what I would have said, five or ten years ago. I once despised all things ‘New-Age’, all these spiritual types and their airy-fairy views, their bad science and their irrational beliefs. I read The Secret and all the great Law of Attraction books - writers like Wallace Wattles, Anthony Robbins, Rhonda Byrne, Napoleon Hill, Esther Hicks and Wayne Dyer. But no matter how many books I read, or how closely I followed their instructions for manifesting love, money, happiness or abundance, I couldn’t make it work. It was only when I recognized, accepted and finally embraced that what I was doing was actually some kind of Magic that suddenly things began to fall into place. Once I realized that the power came from within me, it was as if the light had suddenly been switched on and my manifestations began to work. I learned how to manifest money and love, but I also learned how to be happy, truly happy. If you’re jaded by spirituality and the whole New Age Law of Attraction idea, or have become bored by its failure to deliver… this book is for you. It is my intention to lead you by the hand through a marvelous journey of wonder and adventure. Part one of this course, Becoming Magic, laid the groundwork for becoming a magical person, while this second book, Doing Magic, offers concrete techniques and instructions for attracting wonderful things into your life. The plan is to build your knowledge slowly, gradually, building on what has gone before, moving on to more complex manifestation techniques only once the basics are mastered. So many people fail with manifestation and the Law of Attraction because they rush headlong into using techniques, trying to create enormous manifestations, making very simple but crucial mistakes. When they are disappointed, they imagine they have been duped. The sceptics are right. This is all a load of scammy nonsense. And they give up, declaring it just doesn’t work. I am telling you that it does work. And you can make it work. And these books will show you how. My intention is that this book will allow you to become a true creator of your own exceptional life, reawakening and rekindling your belief and interest in Spirituality, The Law of Attraction, Reality Creation, Cosmic Ordering or whatever you wish to call it. I prefer simply to call it Magic.
By Rust of Nail & Prick of Thorn: The Theory & Practice of Effective Home Warding
Althaea Sebastiani - 2017
It is a preventative measure that uses your skill as a witch to tap into wild and ancient forces in order to take very ordinary objects and render them powerful wards. In this book, you’ll explore the theory behind warding with an in-depth look at the three things generally warded against, those things that cannot be warded against, and the surprising benefits warding affords to your witchcraft practice. You'll then put that information into practice with simple yet powerful wards you can easily make to guard your home, as well as techniques for warding your home when you don’t have access to tools but need immediate magickal protection. You will learn: • Why blanket protection spells are generally ineffective at providing the protection you need • How to make your magick stronger by identifying what you can and cannot ward against • How to transform your home into a spiritual safe-haven with a powerful hands-on approach to witchcraft • To simply yet effectively protect yourself from curses and unwanted energy • How to quickly ward your home without any tools in the event of a spiritual threat • To rely more strongly on yourself and make fewer excuses about why you can’t do the witchcraft With an emphasis on common sense, practicality, and a no-excuses approach to witchcraft, this book will help you to look at your spiritual protection needs for your home more objectively and to devise an immediate plan of action using materials you already have on hand.