Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle


C.G. Jung - 1952
    While he had advanced the "synchronicity" hypothesis as early as the 1920s, Jung gave a full statement only in 1951, in an Eranos lecture; the following year (he was seventy-seven) he published the present monograph in a volume with a related study by the physicist (and Nobel winner) Wolfgang Pauli. Together with a wealth of historical and contemporary material on "synchronicity," Jung describes an astrological experiment conducted to test his theory."The concept of synchronicity indicates a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of chance is involved. Chance is a statistical concept which 'explains' deviations within certain patterns of probability. Synchronicity elucidates meaningful arrangements and coincidence which somehow go beyond the calculations of probability. Pre-cognition, clairvoyance, telepathy, etc. are phenomena which are inexplicable through chance, but become empirically intelligible through the employment of the principle of synchronicity, which suggests a kind of harmony at work in the interrelation of both psychic and physical events."—The Journal of Religious Thought

Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small


Ted Andrews - 1996
    Meet and work with animals as totems and spirit guides by learning the language of their behaviors within the physical world.Animal Speak shows you how to:Identify, meet, and attune to your spirit animalsDiscover the power and spiritual significance of more than 100 different animals, birds, insects, and reptilesCall upon the protective powers of your animal totemCreate and use five magical animal rites, including shapeshifting and sacred danceThis beloved, bestselling guide has become a classic reference for anyone wishing to forge a spiritual connection with the majesty and mystery of the animal world.

The Occult, Witchcraft and Magic: An Illustrated History


Christopher Dell - 2016
    Magic and magicians appear in early Babylonian texts, the Bible, Judaism, and Islam. Secret words, spells, and incantations lie at the heart of nearly every mythological tradition. But for every genuine magus there is an impostor.During the Middle Ages, religion, science, and magic were difficult to set apart. The Middle Ages also saw the pursuit of alchemy—the magical transformation of base materials—which led to a fascination with the occult, Freemasonry, and Rosicrucianism.The turn of the twentieth century witnessed a return to earlier magical traditions, and today, magic means many things: contemporary Wicca is practiced widely as a modern pagan religion in Europe and the US; “magic” also stretches to include the nonspiritual, rapid-fire sleight of hand performed by slick stage magicians who fill vast arenas.The Occult, Witchcraft and Magic is packed with authoritative text and a huge and inspired selection of images, some chosen from unusual sources, including some of the best-known representations of magic and the occult from around the world spanning ancient to modern times.

Qabalah, Qliphoth and Goetic Magic


Thomas Karlsson - 2004
    The main thread of the book is the exploration of the Qliphoth and the dark mysteries which have for so long been a repressed part of western esotericism. Instead of ignoring and denying the dark side, the author reveals, step by step, how man can get to know his Shadow and, through this, reach a deeper knowledge of the Self. By exploring and not by repressing the Shadow it can be transformed from a destructive force into a creative power. The book deals with the problem of evil, the symbolism behind the fall of Lucifer and mans creation process according to Qabalistic philosophy. The theories that are presented in this book are also linked to practice. Several examples of rituals, meditations, magical exercises and occult correspondences can be found within. Qabalah, Qliphoth and Goetic Magic contains more than one hundred demonic sigils and pieces of art that were created specifically for this book. A unique collection of all the sigils from the classic grimoires Lemegeton: The Lesser Key of Solomon and the infamous Grimorium Verum are also included.

Witchcraft: The Gay Counterculture


Arthur Evans - 1978
    It compares this history with present-day LGBT culture with an intent to show how the current persecution and marginalization of queer people is an extension of a history of religious intolerance.

Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson


G.I. Gurdjieff - 1950
    I. Gurdjieff (1866-1949) has come to be recognized as one of the most original, enduring, and penetrating of our century. While Gurdjieff used many different means to transmit his vision of the human dilemma and human possibility, he gave special importance to his acknowledged masterwork, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson. Beelzebub's Tales is an "ocean of story" and of ideas that one can explore for a lifetime. It is majestic in scale and content, challengingly inventive in prose style, and, for those very reasons, often approached with apprehension. The first English language edition of the Russian original appeared in 1950. Since then, readers have recognized the need for a revised translation that would clarify the verbal surface while respecting the author's own thought and style. This revised edition, in preparation for many years under the direction of Gurdjieff's closest pupil, Jeanne de Salzmann, meets this need. Originally published in 1992, this translation offers a new experience of Gurdjieff's masterpiece for contemporary readers. It is presented in a sturdy cloth edition that echoes its original publication.

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft


Raymond Buckland - 1986
    The workbook formats includes exam questions at the end of each lesson, so you can build a permanent record of your spiritual and magical training.

Aradia: Gospel of the Witches


Charles Godfrey Leland - 1899
    What is certain is that this 1899 classic has become a foundational document of modern Wicca and neopaganism. Leland claimed his "witch informant," a fortune-teller named Maddalena, supplied him with the secret writings that he translated and combined with his research on Italian pagan tradition to create a gospel of pagan belief and practice. Here, in the story of the goddess Aradia, who came to Earth to champion oppressed peasants in their fight against their feudal overlords and the Catholic Church, are the chants, prayers, spells, and rituals that have become the centerpieces of contemporary pagan faiths. American journalist and folklorist CHARLES GODFREY LELAND (1824-1903) was editor of Continental Monthly during the Civil War and coined the term emancipation as an alternative to abolition, but he is best remembered for his books on ethnography, folklore, and language, including The Gypsies (1882), The Hundred Riddles of the Fairy Bellaria (1892), and Unpublished Legends of Virgil (1899).

In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching


P.D. Ouspensky - 1947
    I. Gurdjieff's thoughts and universal view. This historic and influential work is considered by many to be a primer of mystical thought as expressed through the Work, a combination of Eastern philosophies that had for centuries been passed on orally from teacher to student. Gurdjieff's goal, to introduce the Work to the West, attracted many students, among them Ouspensky, an established mathematician, journalist, and, with the publication of In Search of the Miraculous, an eloquent and persuasive proselyte.Ouspensky describes Gurdjieff's teachings in fascinating and accessible detail, providing what has proven to be a stellar introduction to the universal view of both student and teacher. It goes without saying that In Search of the Miraculous has inspired great thinkers and writers of ensuing spiritual movements, including Marianne Williamson, the highly acclaimed author of A Return to Love and Illuminata. In a new and never-before-published foreword, Williamson shares the influence of Ouspensky's book and Gurdjieff's teachings on the New Thought movement and her own life, providing a contemporary look at an already timeless classic.

The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World


David Ulansey - 1989
    Christianity, for example, was one of the innovative religious movements that arose during this time. However, Christianity had many competitors, and one of the most remarkable of these was the ancient Roman mystery religion of Mithraism. Like the other mystery cults of antiquity, Mithraism kept its beliefs strictly secret, revealing them only to initiates. As a result, the cult's teachings were never written down. However, the Mithraists filled their temples with an enigmatic iconography, an abundance of which has been unearthed by archaeologists. Until now, all attempts to decipher this iconography have proven fruitless. Most experts have been content with a vague hypothesis that the iconography somehow derived from ancient Iranian religion. In this groundbreaking work, David Ulansey offers a radically different theory. He argues that Mithraic iconography was actually an astronomical code, and that the cult began as a religious response to a startling scientific discovery. As his investigation proceeds, Ulansey penetrates step by step the mysteries concealed in Mithraic iconography, until finally he is able to reveal the central secret of the cult: a secret consisting of an ancient vision of the ultimate nature of the universe. Brimming with the excitement of discovery--and reading like an intellectual detective story--Ulansey's compelling book will intrigue scholars and general readers alike.

Freedom Is a Two Edged Sword


Jack Whiteside Parsons - 1990
    His eloquent writings on the human condition convey passion, intelligence and deep conviction. "Freedom Is A Two-Edged Sword of which one edge is liberty and the other responsibility, on which both edges are exceedingly sharp".

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.

S.S.O.T.B.M.E. Revised: An Essay on Magic


Ramsey Dukes - 1975
    Magical thought is described and contrasted with Science, Art and Religion. The dynamic relationship between them is explained. Modern magic and its role in the 21st century is outlined with respect to practices ranging from ritual magic, through alchemy to New Age therapies. Specific topics include: secrecy, initiation, sacrifice, cyber-animism, Crowleyanity, morality, pseudo-science, demonology, deity, miracles and divination.

The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians: A Lost Classic by Magus Incognito


William Walker Atkinson - 1949
    In the 1600s they issued a set of manifestos calling for an enlightened revolution that would reshape society into a more democratic ideal. Even the American Founding Fathers were influenced by these manifestos.Writing as Magus Incognito, William Walker Atkinson reintroduces a new generation of readers to the Rosicrucian ideals, as well as to a myriad of connections between occult concepts as varied as alchemy, reincarnation, the astral plane, auras, Eastern and Western mysticism, and the "evolution of mankind" among seven esoteric versions of planets in our solar system.There are more than two dozen organizations of Rosicrucians, with local groups in nearly every state--more than 100 in all--and half a million or more followers. Interest continues to be high in this group.

By Oak, Ash, & Thorn: Modern Celtic Shamanism


D.J. Conway - 1994
    But the Native American and African peoples were not the only cultures to traditionally practice shamanism. For centuries, shamanism was practiced by the Europeans, as well - including the Celts.